Viola Davis

Prisoners Is Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal's Ploy for Oscars That's Bound to Fail

Historic Parent Trigger Approved in California by Adelanto School Board

It's official. For the first time ever in the United States, a California school district has approved a Parent Trigger, which allows parents to make changes to a failing school. The landmark decision by the Adelanto School District to allow Desert Trails Elementary School in the Mojave Desert to ... More >>

Yes, Won't Back Down Takes a Controversial Stance on Teachers Unions. But That's Not a Bad Thing

See also: *California's Parent Trigger *Parent Trigger's Second Try Teachers' unions don't want you to see Won't Back Down, an underdog film that opened Sept. 28, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as a working-class mother in Pittsburgh who will do anything to give her young daughter a great education -- ... More >>

Parent Trigger Movie 'Won't Back Down' Inspired by L.A. Weekly Feature Story

You may have seen a trailer for the new film Won't Back Down, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis and Holly Hunter. The movie's subject matter revolves around education reform and a thing called the Parent Trigger, a California law that allows parents to takeover a failing school. From what a re ... More >>

Does Madea's Witness Protection Mark the Mainstreaming of Tyler Perry's Iconic Character?

For many, especially black people who see in her a mockery of our own grandmothers, Tyler Perry's Madea is little more than a mammy -- an insult to the matriarchal community figure that Perry claims to celebrate. And unforgivably, when compared to Flip Wilson's Geraldine or even Martin Lawrence's Bi ... More >>

In Major Political Split, U.S. Conference of Mayors Supports Parent Trigger Law

The Parent Trigger, the California law that allows parents to take over a chronically failing school, got a major political boost Saturday when the United States Conference of Mayors endorsed it as part of its education platform. In the national political landscape, this is big news. Democrats in t ... More >>

Post-Oscar Bitching, a Chance to Prove How Young and Hip We All Are

Ew, old people. They're so old! Especially that Billy Crystal. What is he, 105? Get off the stage! In your electric walker! If you buy into the prevailing narrative of the post-Oscars Twitterverse, all Academy voters are elderly, with a quirky fondness for nostalgic moving pictures about moving pic ... More >>

Dee Rees, Director of Pariah, Interviewed

Her identity struggles as a black lesbian, funneled into her first feature

Eddie Murphy's 10 Comedy Bits To Avoid as Oscar Host

Flicker/wereswanEddie Murphy's head is about to get bigger as the upcoming Oscar host.​ What a wild idea: Eddie Murphy as Oscar host. On the bright side, it's a relief from James Franco and Anne Hathaway, whose chemistry last February rivaled that of a sasquatch and Kathie Lee Gifford. For t ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, Must Read After My Death, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Also, Dog Eat Dog, Echelon Conspiracy and more

Movie Reviews: Delhi-6, Fired Up, Madea Goes to Jail

Also, Chain Link, Moscow, Belgium and more

For Your Reconsideration: Doubt’s Viola Davis

One-scene wonder

Film Poll 2008: WALL-E World

The little robot that could tops another chart

Best Films of 2006 (In No Order That Makes Sense, With Liberal Cheating)

Tear Down These Walls

Middle-class malaise meets inner-city despair in The Architect

An Idol's Story

14th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival

Global Currency

In Syriana, oil makes the world go round

Sewing Circle

Lust, cash and Intimate Apparel

Truth or Consequences

Washington soars, Lee stumbles

Planet of the Dupes

Solaris' soulful simulacra

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs

Todd Haynes' postmodern tearjerker