Best Black Films
by gloss123 | created - 19 Nov 2011 | updated - 30 Dec 2011 | Publictruly great underated film and the score is marvelous
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1. Eve's Bayou (1997)
R | 108 min | Drama
What did little Eve see--and how will it haunt her? Husband, father and womanizer Louis Batiste is the head of an affluent family, but it's the women who rule this gothic world of secrets, lies and mystic forces.
Director: Kasi Lemmons | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good, Lynn Whitfield
Votes: 11,621 | Gross: $14.82M
2. School Daze (1988)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Kyme
Votes: 8,040 | Gross: $14.55M
this is a timely classic about life at an all black college
3. Malcolm X (1992)
PG-13 | 202 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Votes: 102,096 | Gross: $48.17M
this is a movie everyone must see
4. The Inkwell (1994)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A shy, troubled young man who set his own house on fire and has an imaginary friend, is sent to a vineyard where he finds himself in the middle of his political-arguing, party-loving family and his love torn between two girls.
Director: Matty Rich | Stars: Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglas, Glynn Turman
Votes: 1,582 | Gross: $8.88M
not many movies made like this with black characters anymore
5. The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992)
120 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the Jackson family and their rise to success.
Stars: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Angela Bassett, Holly Robinson Peete, Margaret Avery
Votes: 3,775
this movie was brilliant
6. Carmen Jones (1954)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Contemporary version of the Bizet opera, with new lyrics and an African-American cast.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James
Votes: 5,925
even though this movie is old you cant deny its one of the best black films ever made
7. Crooklyn (1994)
PG-13 | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
Spike Lee's vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school teacher, her stubborn jazz musician husband and their five kids living in Brooklyn in 1973.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, David Patrick Kelly, Zelda Harris
Votes: 11,341 | Gross: $13.64M
spike lee does no wrong
8. Jungle Fever (1991)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
Friends and family of a married Black architect react in different ways to his affair with an Italian secretary.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis
Votes: 19,670 | Gross: $32.48M
covers a great topic most are afraid to discuss to bad spike lees black listed
9. What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.
Director: Brian Gibson | Stars: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, RaéVen Kelly, Virginia Capers
Votes: 24,599 | Gross: $39.10M
very deep and heart turning
10. Light It Up (1999)
R | 99 min | Drama, Thriller
A group of teens are bent on improving the run-down conditions of their high-school.
Director: Craig Bolotin | Stars: Usher, Forest Whitaker, Rosario Dawson, Robert Ri'chard
Votes: 3,949 | Gross: $5.87M
11. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 606,054 | Gross: $306.17M
12. How She Move (2007)
PG-13 | 94 min | Drama
Following her sister's death from drug addiction, a high school student is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of step dancing.
Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid | Stars: Rutina Wesley, Tre Armstrong, Brennan Gademans, Boyd Banks
Votes: 6,774 | Gross: $7.07M
13. Coming to America (1988)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Romance
An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais, Feather
Votes: 223,696 | Gross: $128.15M
14. Boyz n the Hood (1991)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama
Follows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.
Director: John Singleton | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Hudhail Al-Amir, Lloyd Avery II
Votes: 154,777 | Gross: $57.50M
15. Waiting to Exhale (1995)
R | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Based on Terry McMillan's novel, this film follows four very different African-American women and their relationships with men.
Director: Forest Whitaker | Stars: Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon
Votes: 12,207 | Gross: $67.05M
16. Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A couple's seemingly solid marriage begins to crumble when the wife discovers that her husband intends to divorce her.
Director: Darren Grant | Stars: Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Tyler Perry, Cicely Tyson
Votes: 15,853 | Gross: $50.63M
17. The Wood (1999)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
While dealing with a friend's cold feet on his wedding day, a writer reminisces about his youth with his best friends.
Director: Rick Famuyiwa | Stars: Elayn J. Taylor, Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, Sean Nelson
Votes: 10,211 | Gross: $25.05M
18. Love & Basketball (2000)
PG-13 | 124 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
Monica and Quincy love and play basketball together through many life challenges from childhood to adulthood.
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood | Stars: Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, Glenndon Chatman, Jess Willard
Votes: 24,340 | Gross: $27.44M
19. Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
R | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan
Votes: 4,848 | Gross: $6.03M
20. The Wiz (1978)
G | 134 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross
Votes: 17,060 | Gross: $21.05M
21. How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
R | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Stella is a highly successful, forty-something San Francisco stock broker who is persuaded by her colorful New York girlfriend Delilah to take a well deserved, first-class vacation to Jamaica.
Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan | Stars: Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, Whoopi Goldberg, Regina King
Votes: 8,332 | Gross: $37.67M
22. Save the Last Dance (2001)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A white midwestern girl moves to Chicago, where her new boyfriend is a black teen from the South Side with a rough, semi-criminal past.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington, Fredro Starr
Votes: 66,001 | Gross: $91.06M
23. Seventeen Again (2000 TV Movie)
TV-G | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
While divorced and bickering grandparents watch their grandchildren, a lab experiment gone awry transforms the elders into teenagers again.
Director: Jeffrey W. Byrd | Stars: Tia Mowry, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Mark Taylor, Tahj Mowry
Votes: 3,235
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