If there's a definitive black American motion picture, it's Roots followed by Roots: The Next Generations. Starting out as a novel in 1976 by Alex Haley about nine generations of African descendants, Roots was developed into a TV miniseries one year later, and just about everybody in the country tuned in, setting viewership records. There's nothing like it.

This is the best picture of the decade. It's what I see in books about the Holocaust: Nazi brutality in black and white. Schindler's List is the stark truth of what happened in German-occupied Europe from 1933 to 1945. There are many powerful scenes that are beyond belief. Steven Spielberg should be praised for the singular cinematic achievement.

Dith Pran, the subject of the film, was the first to coin the term "killing fields" to describe the Cambodian genocide. Sydney Schanberg received the Pulitzer Prize for his wartime reporting there. A first-time nonprofessional actor, Dr. Haing S. Ngor lived through the experience. Therefore, The Killing Fields is a powerful film of what it's like to be in a war zone.

Salvador is another great, albeit unknown, Oliver Stone picture with a fantastic James Woods performance. No person in his right mind would go to a war-torn country if he had another choice, but that's what Richard Boyle did during the early 80's by traveling to El Salvador on the cusp of a civil war, resulting in mass murder of the populace. Today, El Salvador has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

Based on the true story of Francine Hughes, The Burning Bed is a motion picture example of battered woman syndrome. With that being said, it's not an easy watch, even for 75 million people when it was first aired on television in 1984. If The Burning Bed was theatrically released instead, Farrah Fawcett should've gotten an Oscar, and it's the best performance of her career. I'm not going to see a better description of an abused wife.

The Mission is a powerful film about the plight of the Guaraní people under the heel of Portuguese and Spanish colonizers. The reality is underscored by the loss of their homes because the Portuguese and Spanish viewed the land as an imperialistic opportunity to expand their empire while harvesting it for resources, most especially gold. There's a display of concern by the Jesuits, wanting to save them from a predictable wipeout of their culture and habitat.

Before Schindler's List hit the silver screens, there was Triumph of the Spirit. Calling it a Holocaust boxing picture will be a serious mistake because that's not what the movie is about. It's survival during the Holocaust, period. Based on Jewish Greek boxer Salamo Arouch's account, he had to go through over 200 fights to survive; the loser of each match was sent to the gas chambers.

Pretty much the film to foretell what's to come, The Boys of St. Vincent highlights the cover-up of child sexual abuse at the hands of priests and their leaders. It's not just the Catholic Church but every religion denomination that's part of the problem. The setting may be Newfoundland, Canada, but this has happened all over the world for centuries. Henry Czerny, as Brother Peter Lavin, is pure evil. Not to miss is the follow-up of the consequences fifteen years later.

A landmark in black cinema, The Color Purple captures the human spirit so well that it's a strange yet moving work of art with powerful scenes. Making her astonishing film debut is Whoopi Goldberg. There's so much for the characters to overcome such as domestic violence, incest, forced separation, rape, slavery, pedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism.

Apart from the Alien movies, it's Sigourney Weaver's most famous role, and she was rightly awarded an Academy Award nomination. The film is both beautiful and sad. Of course, the gorillas are the stars. Dian Fossey had a reputation of being emotionally unstable which is often glossed over. Instead, she's credited with reversing the downward trend of the world's gorilla population. There are over a thousand now, the highest ever recorded since the 60's.

A Dry White Season is a sad movie about apartheid in South Africa which is now thankfully over. Euzhan Palcy, a black female director, is brave enough to put the truth in front of the screen for everybody to see, and it's difficult not to be moved. There are many strong performances by the ensemble cast who play a mix of heroes and villains.

Black residents were lynched. The state government of Florida knew about the incident but did nothing about it. The town was never rebuilt, and no black residents talked about what happened until the 1980's, hence Rosewood. Filled with great acting, it's a rare film that's about the dark history of racism which existed in the United States for hundreds of years.

Brace yourself because The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is truly a depressing movie and is as Southern Gothic as it gets. The ending which shows the lead character dealing with the news of his friend is both shocking and powerful. Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke are unforgettable, earning themselves Oscar nominations.

The title may look strange to you, but it has an enormous reputation as landmark picture in black cinema history. Hence, the tagline reads: "This is the movie the Man doesn't want you to see. Rated X by an all-white jury!" Not the first black film made, it's, along with Shaft, credited with the creation of the Blaxploitation genre and is about racism, alienation, misery, persecution, police brutality, escape, and survival.

Lady Sings the Blues is a depressing biopic about Billie Holiday all the way through. Diana Ross of the Supremes had no acting experience prior to being cast, and it's a stunning debut for her. She has many sad moments. Now, you know Billy Dee Williams, but this is the film, along with Brian's Song, that made him a household name. Richard Pryor is impressive as Piano Man.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a brilliant, sad movie about a now-banned sporting event that went on during the Great Depression. The most surreal moment is when the contestants performed the derby and everybody was all exhausted and desperate not to be the last couple to cross the finish line. It's powerful stuff.

Buoyed by Hilary Swank's Oscar-winning performance, Boys Don't Cry is one of the most important films about hate crime. While watching her play Brandon, I actually believed she was a he. Thanks to the cast, most especially Chloë Sevigny, it's a well-played masterpiece from start to finish with a superbly handled direction by Kimberly Peirce.

Talk about a powerful film. The producer of Halloween, Moustapha Akkad, had one goal in mind when he set out to direct an epic in Lion of the Desert which involved thousands of extras, armored vehicles, and horses: to present the events as they happened with a high level of realism. It was all accomplished right in the middle of the Libyan desert. Anthony Quinn is every bit as spectacular as Omar Mukhtar.

The Ox-Bow Incident is mob injustice at its finest. Stupid white men get together, think they possess all the facts, and go on to kill others only to find out they've been dead wrong all along by failing to gather evidence. Calling the movie one of his favorites along with The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men, Henry Fonda is great.

Not Without My Daughter is a scary movie. So, I must ask Betty Mahmoody: "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" However, I can understand her position which was between a rock and a hard place. But it's a very bad decision she made from the outset, no matter what. Anyway, the acting is top-notch and holds up well. All the thespians play their parts to perfection. It's almost like being there.

Just like the Nobel Prize-winning book by John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath is a historically important picture that depicts the great migration caused by the Dust Bowl during the 30's, the class struggles between the haves and the have-nots, and workers' rights. It's just powerful stuff along with the superlative performances by Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, and John Carradine.

Although there were many prisoner of war (POW) camps during the U.S. Civil War, Andersonville Prison, aka Camp Sumter, remains the most famous of them all, resembling an early Nazi concentration camp. Approximately thirty percent of 45,000 captured Union soldiers died in captivity at Andersonville Prison, mostly due to starvation and disease.

Shot on location in Houston, Texas, Jason's Lyric is a unique, powerful Southern Gothic picture with strong performances. The love story may be ordinary, but it's sexually charged and gets better as time goes on because of the compelling thread between two brothers which leads to a shocking ending. Not to miss is the wonderful acting job by Bokeem Woodbine.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a heartfelt story about a decent man, down on his luck, who dreams of being a civil engineer so he can build roads and bridges. The on-screen portrayal of the chain gang in the Deep South was enough for the public to denounce the practice, and forever gone that was by 1955. Paul Muni's performance is more than outstanding, and the haunting ending is timeless.

James Caan and Billy Dee Williams...they're unforgettable in Brian's Song which is among the greatest, most powerful movies ever made. It's also one of the saddest, proving a made-for-TV picture with a simple moving story is infinitely better than a pointless violent film with an overblown budget.

All too real, Music Box is a powerful drama about a daughter realizing the truth of who his father is, a former Nazi commandant whose brutal murders of Jews went unpunished. The lies he tells her are chilling, and she had been in denial for so long because she was thinking about how well he treated her all her life.

Powerful and violent, This Sporting Life is the definition of British kitchen sink realism. Richard Harris' performance is a testament of what an enormous talent he was back then. It's hard not to be bowled over by his tough, uncompromising acting. Rachel Roberts is special, too.

Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman give the best performances of their careers. They'll be forever remembered for this film. Midnight Cowboy is a study of human nature: the hopes, the broken dreams, the disillusionment, the desperation, the suffering, the loneliness, and the loss of innocence. They're all brilliantly read on Jon Voight's face. The "I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" scene is priceless.

The Swimmer is a strange, disturbing movie, but Burt Lancaster is a dream. In fact, he said it was the best work he had ever done in his career and called it Death of a Salesman in swimming trunks. Once again, it's a strange, disturbing movie because the story is so frustrating that I want more details about Neddy to know what happened to him in the past. The ending is haunting to watch.

The Academy Award committee has a long, extensive history of giving out Oscar nominations and wins to actors and actresses who play drunks. Not the one to miss a chance, Nicolas Cage gives the performance of his career, netting an Oscar win. Leaving Las Vegas is a difficult movie to watch but has many iconic moments. It's also haunting and surreal with more questions than answers.

Out is the Old Hollywood, in is the New Hollywood which happens all in one fell swoop through two hours of A Streetcar Named Desire. Pitting Vivien Leigh's classical acting against Marlon Brando's realism, a change of the guard has taken place. The battle of these two styles is unlike anything ever seen in cinema history or since then, making everybody forget this film is supposed to be a theatrical play.

There's no doubt that Russia had its own Audrey Hepburn, and her name was Tatiana Samoilova. Her most famous performance is given in Letyat zhuravli, otherwise known as The Cranes Are Flying. Highly romantic, it's one of the prettiest pictures made with unique shots. Whenever Tatiana appears, she enhances the visually striking black-and-white cinematography even more.

One of the most famous movie scenes of all time is when Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr embraced themselves on the beach while being engulfed by the water. It's simply breathtaking. If that's all anybody can remember about From Here to Eternity, then so be it. The performances, especially by Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, and Frank Sinatra, are unforgettable.

Not many motion pictures are as deeply haunting as this one. To depicit the Arctic wilderness, the whole thing was shot on location in Alaska and Yukon and British Columbia, Canada. The cinematography is thoroughly outstanding. Based on Farley Mowat's book, the story is powerful without the need to rely on words. It's about nature and adventure in the spirit of The Man Who Would Be King. As a bonus, wolves, caribou, and mice are featured a great deal. Not many would have pulled off an exceptional performance like how Charles Martin Smith did. He's just perfect for the role.

It's certainly among the hardest types to produce on screen because there's only so much the survivors can do to fill in the time while being trapped in a room with barely anything for entertainment. As a matter of fact, this makes for a strong version of prisoner's dilemma: do you want to suffer in a concentration camp or be stuck in an isolation hole for years with only food and wine?

Susan Tyrrell may have been Oscar-nominated, but Stacy Keach gives the best performance as Billy Tully. His constant glassy eyes have the appearance of a brain-damaged person. What a shock Tully is only 30 years old. That's one truly washed-up person for such age. Muhammad Ali even praised Stacy Keach's performance by saying, "Man that's for real, that's me talking up there." How ironic decades later.

A Brooklyn paint store clerk by day and undisputed king of the dance floor by night, it's John Travolta's most famous, iconic movie role. When I think of a film that captures a lost period, it's this one. At that time, disco was strictly underground, but when the movie came out, the subculture just blew up and John Travolta, although already famous because of the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, became an instant international superstar.

The final film for Cabaret's director Bob Fosse, Star 80 presents a compelling story of how a Playboy Playmate of the Year named Dorothy Stratten was raped and murdered by her husband Paul Snider. Because of his "personality of a pimp," Eric Roberts is captivating and gives the performance of his career.

Alfie is the one that made Michael Caine an international star. There's no question he's brilliant. Scoring the first Oscar nomination of his career, Michael Caine is beautiful when it comes to the delivery of the English language. Of course, Bill Naughton's Oscar-nominated screenplay is a major part of it.

Longtime Companion is a terrific period picture about the nascent AIDS pandemic; in fact, it's the very first mainstream picture to touch the topic. What's interesting is the preservation of the initial fears and misconceptions by heterosexuals and homosexuals alike about AIDS. I can see how the disease was once labeled as "gay cancer." People thought it was spread by simple contact through touching, kissing, and breathing; simply put, nobody knew what was going on.

Alive is a true story of human courage and the will to survive. It's the last ten minutes, from the trek to the helicopter rescue, that makes the film transcendental. In short, there's nothing like it. There are many other powerful scenes. As good as the cast is, Ethan Hawke gives a special performance as Nando Parrado.

The best Pat Conroy film made, The Lords of Discipline is superior to Taps in every respect. It's also realistic and has a lot to say about racism, backwards thinking, and misplaced male superiority. The author attended The Citadel, and the story is based on his experiences and what he witnessed during four years there.

This is the one that started it all. George Romero will forever be remembered for Night of the Living Dead which is an underrated American horror classic picture. Unintentional or not, it's also groundbreaking for casting a black actor as the main protagonist who's intelligent with a lot of common sense. Unique is the use of radio play to narrate what's happening at the moment.

If there's a strong reason not to abuse drugs, legal or illegal, then by all means see Requiem for a Dream. The free fall of individual characters into despair is what makes this one extraordinarily haunting in the long run. The editing team did a wonderful job putting the film together as the horrific spectacle that it is.

River's Edge is a cult masterpiece because it offers a realistic insight into teenager's social disaffection in the face of death. The characters live in the moment and try to get stoned or drunk as much as they can. When all of them see their deceased friend lying on the ground, they act like as if she had gone on vacation and it was no big deal even though they all grew up with her since kindergarten.

Buffalo '66 showcases the talent that Vincent Gallo has for filmmaking. Shot in twenty-three days, it's a unique movie that's dark and gritty with surreal characters. Although the pace is slow at times, the atmosphere, the story, the cast, and the direction are sensational. There's an unmistakable aesthetic quality that makes it real.

Move over, James Bond...here comes a real spy by the name of Alec Leamas. Nominated for Best Actor Academy Award, Richard Burton is devastatingly good as a "seedy, squalid" spy who has seen it all and is disgusted with life. His performance is in the top two or three of his career.

As Southern Gothic as the film gets that's based on Tennessee Williams' play, it's the beautiful Natalie Wood, draped in Edith Head's wonderful costumes, who runs away with the show by giving the best performance of her career. Reminding me of Blanche DuBois and Scarlett O'Hara but more toward the former, her character lives in a fantasy world and sees only the positive things.

Up the Down Staircase will always stand the test of time because it's a true representation of what goes on in urban schools. Being a teacher there is an impossibly hard job. Academic expectations are nil. Common sense is thrown out of the window. Everybody passes, no matter what they do, because handing out F's isn't allowed. It doesn't matter if somebody knows virtually zero about anything or does nothing in school.

This one shows everybody why Eric Roberts is among the finest American actors. The Big Chill for homosexuals, It's My Party is a wonderfully directed picture by Randal Kleiser with one of the best collection of performances by an ensemble cast. It presents a perfect case of why there's nothing wrong with suicide so one can die with dignity.