John Ridley
Movie Review: Ben-Hur
It can be very difficult to judge a film on its own merits, especially when it is a story that has been retold several times, and when one of those times was one of the most heavily awarded films in the history of cinema, it has a lot of baggage to live up to. While Ben-Hur has been updated for modern audiences, who wouldn’t dare watch a film older than the 21st century in a serviceable adaptation...[Read More]
Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave
On first encountering the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, a free black man drugged and kidnapped from an educated, domestic life by opportunistic slave-traders in Washington D.C., director Steve McQueen felt he had read the “[American version of the Anne Frank story]” – two historical people fated to represent institutionalized evils through very personal words and experiences. Northup, as embodie...[Read More]
Movie Review: Red Tails
The inherent issue with having an all-black cast is mainstream society will label Red Tails a “black” movie. This would be a grave disservice. The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, or the 332nd Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Corps, is an integral part of American history. Because of their successes, World War II could not have been won, therefore making Red Tails a movie about the freedom...[Read More]