Products are independently selected by our editors.
We may earn an affiliate commission from links.
How to watch: Stream onMax.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection
Summer of Soul(2021)
Summer of Soulis that movie for me.
I love Black documentaries because they transport us back to our ancestors, back to where we came from.
So much of our history has been erased.
Malcolm X(1992)
I think its Spike Lees masterpiece.
Its such a nuanced portrayal of a difficult man, and its such a high degree of difficulty.
Normally biopics that are from cradle to the grave are sort of a terrible idea.
And really all of it is necessary.
Theres not a wasted frame in the entire movie.
But you see the ways in which theyre interconnected.
On top of that, the cinematography is just beautiful.
I always think of him traveling to Mecca, and him in that big mosquethose are beautiful shots.
I just think that the performances are incredibleAngela Bassett, Denzel Washington, Delroy Lindo.
There’s not a bad performance in the movie.
It is just masterful, as far as I’m concerned.
and all of those genres in under two hours.
How to watch: Stream on theCriterion Channel.
How to watch: Stream onKanopy.
How to watch: Stream onPeacock.
Paris Is Burning(1990)
The category is: influential cinema, darlings!
(The Library of Congress named it to the National Film Registry in 2004.)
It was a major influence on Beyonces 2016 visual albumLemonade.
How to watch: Stream onKanopy,Mubi, and theCriterion Channel.
How to watch: Stream onOvid.
(Dunye invented the Watermelon Woman because she couldnt afford archival footage of real-life actors.)
How to watch: Stream onthe Criterion Channeland other platforms.
Adding context and notes on the periods legacy are contemporary interviews from notables like Erykah Badu and Questlove.
How to watch: Stream onAMC+.
How to watch: Rent onPrime Video.
How to watch: Stream onShowtime.
