No matter how you slice it, a problem once relegated to the inner city is now all of America’s crisis. From a homeless person living under a bridge in New York City, to a kid OD’ing in a wealthy, bedroom community, drugs are killing people and making families implode. The latter is the central focus […]

This follow up to the very popular boxing film Creed (worldwide gross $174M) throws a lot of left hooks, right jabs and uppercuts, but only a few connect and none land a knockout punch. Count on the mass appeal (young, old, urban, male and female) of Creed II to put viewers in seats this holiday season. But, […]

Back in the day, if you couldn’t get to church on Sunday to hear the pastor’s sermon, you’d put on Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace album, the best-selling gospel record of all time, and she would give you your spiritual fix. After a long delay, and its share of controversy, this uplifting documentary that preserved her […]

Recently, two films explored the experiences of families living on the edge of poverty and homelessness. The Florida Project chronicled the lives of poor people living in a pink motel steps away from Disney World, in Orlando, Florida. As told through the eyes of cheery little kids, its tone was way too rosy for the subject. […]

The phrase “The Hate U Give Little Infants F—s Everybody” gave the hip-hop group T-H-U-G-L-I-F-E its name. The sentiment fromTupac Shakur (and other group members, Big Syke, Stretch, Mopreme Shakur, The Rated R and Macadoshis) was that the kids you ignore or deride turn into young people who will be a stone in your shoe. […]