COMING IN FEBRUARYIn honor of Black History Month, the Stafford Library will be holding four DVD discussion groups on consecutive Thursday nights at 7pm.
The
79th Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, February 25th, 2007, on ABC channels. We'll be discussing two films that received Academy Awards in 2006,
Crash and
Hustle & Flow. Our other two discussion films,
Akeelah & the Bee and
Inside Man, have received a great deal of critical attention and may be among the 2007 Academy Award nominees announced on January 23rd, 2007. All of these films have performances by notable African American actors, and director Spike Lee has been nominated for Best Documentary (for
Four Little Girls, 1997) and Best Original Screenplay (
Do the Right Thing, 1989) in the past.
2/1 - CrashWinner, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, 2006 Academy AwardsWinner, Outstanding Motion Picture, 37th Annual NAACP Image AwardsA car accident brings together a group of strangers in Los Angeles. Crash takes a provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America.
2/8 - Hustle & FlowWinner, Best Original Song, 2006 Academy AwardsWinners, Best Actor (Terrence Howard), Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Anderson), Best Supporting Actress (Taraji P. Henson), 2006 Black Movie AwardsDJay, who dreams of becoming the next big rap superstar, works all the angles to get his first record made. He even has the help from assorted people in his Memphis 'hood. When he hears that rap superstar Skinny Black is heading to his area, DJay decides to throw together a supreme hustle to grab Skinny's attention.
2/15 - Akeelah and the BeeWinners, Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Actress (Keke Palmer), Best Supporting Actor (Laurence Fishburne), Best Supporting Actress (Angela Bassett), 2006 Black Movie AwardsEleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences, and much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of, if she can overcome her insecurities, her distracting home life, and the knowledge that there is a field of more experienced and privileged fellow spellers.
2/22 - Inside ManWinner, Best Director (Spike Lee), Nominated, Best Actor (Denzel Washington), 2006 Black Movie AwardsNYPD Detective Keith Frazier struggles to outsmart Dalton, a high-stakes bank robber who, along with a well-trained crew of accomplices, has seized control of a Wall Street bank. The robbers turn what initially looks like a hostage crisis into a personal crusade to expose some mysterious evil secrets.
Discussion on December 13th 
