Christina Ricci turns all sexy and slutty and this little temptress is the devil for embittered bluesman, yep he woke up this morning, Lazarus, who needs to pray ter god as he chains her near naked body to the radiator in order to save her soul. This is a strange mix of steam, religion and human values as individuals work together to help heal each other's damaged psyches. An up-lifting tribute to human values, with a great blues soundtrack, in this 'Southern Gothic' adaptation of George Eliot's find out more...

Tre Styles is a bright, decent kid trying to stay that way in a violent, drug-ridden neighbourhood. As he and his friends struggle with life, love and career decisions, the heat on the street is rising. A gripping, intelligent and highly moving account of urban survival. Brilliant soundtrack too.

find out more...

Spike Lee injects a hefty dose of his inimitable style into this hard-hitting ghetto drug-fest. Strike is the hottest dealer on the block and the main suspect when a rival is shot dead but there are two cops on the case, and they're both looking for very different answers. Powerful and intelligent. find out more...

A young woman smuggling marijuana crash-lands her plane in Jamaica, but a local named Countryman rescues her and leads her away from the pursuing authorities. Features a fantastic soundtrack with the likes of Bob Marley 'Natural Mystic', Wally Badarou 'Obeah Man Dub' and Human Cargo with 'Carry Us Beyond'. find out more...

Halle Berry won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge in this engrossing biopic. As the first black performer to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar back in 1954, Dandridge should have had the world at her feet, but a combination of racism, treachery, drugs and her own weakness saw her career and life ruined. Not exactly a barrel of laughs, painting as it does a shocking portrait of the racism rife in '50s Hollywood, but fascinating stuff. find out more...

12 year old Fresh has resigned himself to a life of crime in the seedy ghetto he calls home. Poor, black, and kept away from his down-at-heel dad, he makes a living as a "runner" for the big-time drug dealers. But Fresh's wits may just get him out of the corner he's in. Intelligent street drama. find out more...

A generic, but nevertheless, reasonably good warts and all biopic of Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, aka The Notorious B.I.G., from a drug dealing chilhood in a Brooklyn ghetto, through arrest, prison, his relationship problems, basic criminality and on to his success as a rap artist before his 1997 murder. find out more...

A mesmerising dramatisation of one of the kings, Ray Charles. Unsurprisingly the soundtrack is pure bliss, but it is Jamie Foxx in the title role that pulls everything together, an hypnotic performance of a music legend, through all his highs and lows, and one of those increasingly rare examples of a leading actor Oscar that actually makes sense. find out more...