REFLECTION & REASON

Sanaa Lathan is an inspiration: her movie choices, her artistic talent, her tabloid anonymity, her beauty, her grace, and what she represents. She is my favourite actress, and someone who has consistently been a fabulous on-screen representation of class and Black female self-awareness and identity. "Brown Sugar" has been my all-time favourite film from the day I saw it, in 2002. A budding journalist fresh out of university, the character Sidney Shaw represented everything I wanted to be. She was a high-profile magazine editor, embedded deep in hip hop and "urban" culture. She was slightly "tomboy-ish" and passionate about her work, yet strong in her convictions and pure in spirit. I would watch the movie repeatedly and think to myself: now here is an example of a strong Black woman who hasn't lost sight of what drives her. The combination of music, writing, and pop culture meant everything to me. "Brown Sugar" was my blueprint. The...

Beyond the Lights. Top to bottom, my kind of film. All I needed to see was that Gina Prince-Bythewood directed and wrote this movie, and I knew I couldn't go wrong. She was a writer on A Different World and Felicity (two of my favourite "childhood" television programs), and of course, she is responsible for the film I watch at least twice a year since it came out in 2000, Love and Basketball . There is a simplicity to Ms. Prince-Bythewood's stories; she always creates characters that speak to me. There is a cultural reflection that is always subtle, but definitely strong in impact. I am admittedly biased...I love (and prefer) to watch a "Black" film with Black characters, and Black writers. It is something inherent in me that I can not change. And as a story writer myself, I am moved by tales that are representative of my generational experience, whether in print, on television, or on the big screen. It happened in Love and Basketball when Monica and Q...

I'll be the first to admit that my taste in movies is very simple: I like to laugh, I like to see reality, I like a little bit of drama (nothing too over-the-top or complicated) and I love a good "black" movie. Now, to classify Jumping the Broom as a "black" movie is not to take away from its writing, direction, production, or the crazy star power that made this film a hit. In fact, as a film with any other race and the same general plot and hilarity...it would have remained a good film. But as a writer, and an as an official connoisseur of "'black" movies...I really just love the familiarity of it all. Even the stereotypes (at times), the predictability of it (often), and especially the faces (always). I've grown up watching Angela Bassett on screen. Loretta Devine , and even the younger cast members Meagan Good and Paula Patton . I've seen Lil Romeo practically as a toddler, so of course it's hilarious to see him flirting on-scree...