Black on Black Cinema | Black Movie Reviews

In 1950, Hollywood put a young Black doctor, a hateful patient, and the language of racism on screen in a way audiences hadn't seen. This week on Black on Black Cinema, we're discussing No Way Out (1950), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's landmark social drama and the film debut of Sidney Poitier.Poitier stars as Dr. Luther Brooks, a young physician assigned to a prison ward whose care is rejected by a patient, Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark), who then accuses him of wrongdoing and sets a community on edge. Linda Darnell and Stephen McNally co-star, and the film features early screen appearances by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, making their first film together.We break down Poitier's debut, Linda Darnell's convincing performance, the film's Oscar-nominated script, how it handled race in 1950, and how it holds up today, including whether its perspective centers Black characters or the white audience Hollywood was courting.New episodes of Black on Black Cinema are available wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.#BlackOnBlackCinema #NoWayOut #SidneyPoitier #ClassicFilmBlack on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to discuss why Nicki Minaj is being floated as White House Press Secretary, and the growing list of Black celebrities that feel the need to saddle up to the Trump administration. The next film to be reviewed will be the 1950 film "No Way Out." The film follows two hoodlum brothers who are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies the other accuses their black doctor of murder.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

A mysterious VHS tape shows up in the mailbox, a children's TV host steps out of the television, and one mother has to get her son back. This week on Black on Black Cinema, we're reviewing Mr. Crocket (2024), the Hulu Original horror film from first time feature director Brandon Espy, just in time for Halloween.Jerrika Hinton stars as Summer Beverly, a mother starting over in 1993 after losing her husband, opposite Elvis Nolasco as the sinister Mr. Crocket, with Ayden Gavin, Kristolyn Lloyd, and Alex Alomar Akpobome. The film expands Espy's 2022 short for Hulu's Bite Size Halloween and wears its 80s and 90s horror influences openly, with practical puppets, a nightmare kids' show, and Black characters at the center of the story.In this episode, we break down the performances, the puppet and practical effects work, how the film uses nostalgia and 90s TV, and where it works and falls short as Black horror. Is Mr. Crocket a new Halloween staple or a missed opportunity? Spoilers ahead, so watch first if you haven't.New episodes of Black on Black Cinema are available wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.#BlackOnBlackCinema #MrCrocket #HorrorBlack on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted the whole country to watch the military's Dec. 3 capital punishment of Fort Hood terrorist, Nidal Hasan, and the Pentagon confirmed it would be livestreamed. In this preview episode of Black on Black Cinema, we argue the plan is a sign of American increased barbarism under the Trump administration, and that you can believe Hasan should face his sentence and still believe broadcasting globally crosses a line a democracy shouldn't cross(Update: This episode was recorded Oct. 14. On Oct. 15, President Trump said the Pentagon will not livestream the event, though victims' immediate families may attend in person).Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema reviews "Antwone Fisher" (2002), Denzel Washington's feature directorial debut, based on the true story of Antwone Fisher, a young Navy sailor sent to a psychiatrist who must face his painful past and search for the family he never knew. Derek Luke makes his film debut in the title role, opposite Washington as Dr. Jerome Davenport, with Joy Bryant, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and Viola Davis. Fisher wrote the screenplay himself, drawing on his memoir "Finding Fish." We break down Luke's breakout performance, Washington's choices as a first-time director, how the film portrays a Black man opening up in therapy, and whether it holds up more than two decades later.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Tesla is on trial in California over claims it let a hostile, racist work environment run for years at its Fremont factory with KKK imagery, swastikas, and the N-word scrawled in bathrooms, Black workers reportedly paid and promoted less, one worker testifying he heard slurs up to 100 times a day. Tesla's defense? Attorney Tyree Jones (a Black man!!!!) argued in open court that the N-word can be a "term of respect and endearment," comparing white employees using it to how Black people interact with each other. We break down why that argument is beyond ridiculous, why it completely dodges the actual hostile workplace claims, and the real question underneath all of it: why do so many white people want permission to say that word so badly? Plus, we announce our next film: Antwone Fisher. The film follows a young navy man, who is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to discuss the 2026 Boots Riley film, "I Love Boosters." The film follows a group of shoplifters (aka boosters) who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, what they call "fashion-forward philanthropy." Narrative overtones of anti-capitalism, push back on the moderate political establishment, the fashion industries exploitation of both its customer base but also the worker creating the products in far off nations for pennies on the dollar. Does Boots Riley's film balance his unique style, in this case, extremely bright colors and an almost anime like aesthetic with a story worth its two hour runtime? The film stars Keke Palmer, Lakeith Stansfield, Naomi Ackie, Taylor Paige, Will Poulter, and Demi Moore.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema tackles Trump's ongoing assault on American landmarks. The East Wing of the White House was abruptly demolished last October, sparking legal battles over the approval process. Now the Kennedy Center is facing demolition threats over his childish desire to have his name on the building. The historic East Potomac cherry blossom grove; a 1912 gift from Japan is at real risk as Trump terminates a 50-year lease to build a "championship" golf course, with debris from the demolished East Wing literally dumped on the same site. The Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool sits in disarray after a botched, unbid renovation.We ask the harder question: why does this president's legacy consistently manifest as destruction rather than creation? And as Black people, we sit with the real complexity here, many of these landmarks were built by enslaved people, monuments to a history that never fully included us. Is preservation even our fight? We land somewhere honest: this is still our country, our history, our capital, and watching it get torn down for spite and a golf handicap isn't something we're willing to be apathetic about, however complicated our relationship to these buildings really is.The next film to be review will be "I Love Boosters," written and directed by Boots Riley. The film follows a group of shoplifters who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, what they call "fashion-forward philanthropy."Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to break its one rule, NO MORE TYLER PERRY MOVIES. This decision came only because of "Why Did I Get Married Again?" is the final movie(?) in this Tyler Perry trilogy, and the other two in the series were previously reviewed (and we actually enjoyed the first one). So this film follows the children of the main characters in the series and as two of the kids are getting married. The film aims to show the character development of the cast that we've been following for almost 20 years. Does the movie succeed?Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema breaks down Raven-Symone's resurfaced comments questioning whether her own iconic character, Raven Baxter from That's So Raven, was actually Black. On her podcast Tea Time, Raven told Kalen Allen, "Take away the color, make them green, and hear the words. What color are they?," challenging the idea that the show's Blackness was inherent rather than just visual.The internet had immediate and strong reactions. Fans pointed to the show's entire episode about racial profiling, Tonya's locs, Victor's soul food references, Cory's Black history paper storyline, and Della Reese's jazz singer character as clear, undeniable markers of Black identity woven directly into the writing, not just the casting.We break down both sides of this: is Raven making a nuanced point about Blackness not being monolithic, or is she minimizing a show that meant something real to a generation of Black kids who rarely saw themselves centered on Disney Channel?The next film to be reviewed is Tyler Perry's upcoming third movie in the "Why Did I Get Married trilogy." We will be breaking our promise about no more Tyler Perry films to review "Why Did I Get Married Again?" which reunites most of the original cast for one last wild time.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).