Citizen Dame

This week we're concluding Women's History Month with the historical fiction, Belle. Amma Asante directed this 2013 film about Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsey, a young, biracial orphan in 18th century England who is raised by her uncle, Lord Mansfield, the Chief Judge who presided over an insurance fraud case that would eventually be one of the steps to ending England's slave trade. The film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Penelope Wilton, Sarah Gadon, Sam Reid and Tom Felton.

We carry on our Women's History Month films with Kasi Lemmons' remarkable Harriet Tubman biopic Harriet, starring Cynthia Erivo. While the film received mixed reviews on release, it is more than worth seeing it for yourself, as it explores the life and history of one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad and the psychological and generational trauma of slavery.

TW for discussions of violence.

Next up: Belle (2013), directed by Amma Asante and starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

This week we kick off a Women's History series with The Woman King, the 2022 film directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Viola Davis stars as Nanisca, an Agoije warrior in the Kingdom of Dahomey, a powerful African kingdom in the 19th century. The film also stars Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, John Boyega, Sheila Atim, Jordan Bolger, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

*Clip from The Woman King courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing.

We wrap up our Black History Month discussions with the most nominated film in Oscars history: Ryan Coogler's brilliant Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, to open a juke joint...only to have it invaded by vampires hungry for the blues. A searing, joyful, and blood-soaked film, Sinners really does have to be seen and heard. But we try to do justice to it.

We're taking a brief break at the start of March, but we'll be back for some Women's History Month films later on!

This week, we continue our journey through some recent horror films from Black directors, we discuss Nia DaCosta's 2021 sequel to the 1992 film, Candyman.

Yahya Abdul Mateen II stars as Anthony McCoy, a Chicago artist who visits the gentrifying neighborhood of Cabrini-Green and learns about his connection to a decades-old urban legend. The film also stars Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Vanessa Williams, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kyle Kaminsky, Brian King, Rebecca Spence, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, and Michael Hargrove, with an appearance by Tony Todd.

It's Black History Month and the Dames return for a series of horror films focusing on the Black experience. We start with Jordan Peele's fantastic Get Out, starring Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, who goes home to meet his girlfriend's parents and discovers a sinister conspiracy in her white liberal enclave.

Next up: Nia DaCosta's Candyman!

We complete our tribute to Rob Reiner with a look at his 1986 film Stand by Me. Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Reiner was nominated for the Golden Globe and DGA awards for this adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novella, The Body.

Wil Wheaton stars as 12-year-old Gordie Lachance, a boy in Castle Rock, Oregon in 1959. Along with his friends Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O'Connell), the boys set off into the Oregon forest in search of the body of a missing boy. The film also stars Richard Dreyfuss as narrator and adult Gordie, as well as Kiefer Sutherland, Marshall Bell, Frances Lee McCain, and John Cusack.

We will deeply miss Rob Reiner. May his memory be a blessing

We're carrying on our tribute to Rob Reiner this month with the one of the first (and certainly funniest) rockumentaries of all time: This is Spinal Tap, starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer as Britain's loudest and most punctual rock band. This is Spinal Tap was also Reiner's first feature film as a director.

Next week, we'll be chatting Stephen King and Stand By Me!

It's a brand new year and we're starting off with a tribute to director Rob Reiner. And what better way to kick off both than with his enduring, perfect romantic comedy, When Harry Met Sally. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan star as two strangers who gradually become friends and then eventually fall in love. Written by Nora Ephron and co-starring Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, this classic had a successful box office run in 1989 and is still just as beloved nearly 40 years later

For our last episode of 2025, we talk about one of the best movies released in 2025: Wake Up Dead Man, the third film in Rian Johnson's Knives Out series. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back to take on a locked-room mystery in the depths (literally and figuratively) of the Catholic Church. Come for the twisty plot, stay for the thematic grappling with faith and humanism, stay even longer for Josh O'Connor in a clerical collar.

Thank you so much for joining us and for supporting us this year! We'll be on break for the holidays, but will return in January in a month-long tribute to Rob Reiner, starting with When Harry Met Sally. See you in 2026!