The new independent film, “The Visitor,” explores in a sobering manner the plight of Black and Arab immigrants—as well as that of dazed Americans—in the United States during the post 9/11 era. Read more>>

If you remain an Al Pacino fan despite his many film bombs, even you may find yourself shaking your head in confusion during moments of his new release, “88 Minutes.” Read more

As long as there is a contentious relationship between Black communities and the police, perhaps there is reason to consider another shoot-em-up police drama like “Street Kings,” which lurks in that underworld of rogue cops, criminals and corruption. Read more>>

It is difficult to pick what is worse about the new action film �10,000 B.C.� Is it the White folks in bad �dreadlock� wigs? Is it the creation of a new Tarzan who tames African tribes? Is it the warping of Egyptian history to include a non-existent White king 10,000 years before the birth of Christ? Or is it the fact that this is another epic about rescuing a valued White woman? Read more>>

�Be Kind Rewind,� the new movie starring Mos Def, Danny Glover and Jack Black, revels in its silliness. Surely, no other flick has gathered in one production, such varied film classics as �Ghost Busters,� �Rush Hour� and �Driving Miss Daisy.� Read more>>

If �Jumper� is intended as the first in a possible series, it will have to offer more heart to go with its flash and poof. Read more>>

Take four comedians with onscreen chemistry, add a spoof of the vacuous soul of celebrity and sprinkle in a dysfunctional family reunion and you have the amusing elements of �Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins,� one of the better recent efforts from the funny wing of Black Hollywood. Read more>>

Though it cannot help but be somewhat formulaic�a talented dancer faces obstacles to succeeding in life��How She Move� freshens up the mix by taking as its protagonist a working class Black girl, Raya, who is struggling to remain enrolled at an expensive private high school. Read more>>

As events are unfolding in this country�with home foreclosures, layoffs, a falling stock market and rising fuel and food prices, there is a certain synergy between the real world and the plot of �Mad Money� that makes it the perfect, funny antidote for financial angst. By featuring three women at varying rungs on the economic ladder, it emphasizes both the illusion of American wealth and the common effort among the working class and middle class to �get money.� Read more>>

In �Honeydripper,� the virulent racism of 1950�s Alabama exists as a matter-of-fact backdrop to the lives of Black a nightclub owner, his family and his friends. Director John Sayles captures the joys and sorrows of Tyrone Purvis, his wife and their surroundings without ever sinking to the level of a soap opera, a pity party or heavy-handed social commentary. Read more>>