Free Republic

The forecast keeps getting better and better for Disney and Marvel Studios' Black Panther, which opens in North America on Friday. Hollywood's leading tracking service, NRG, on Monday revised its opening weekend estimate to $165 million or more, according to sources with access to tracking. That's for the four-day Presidents Day weekend.

The first movie I remember seeing in a theater had a black hero. Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams, didn’t have any superpowers, but he ran his own city. That movie, the 1980 Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back, introduced Calrissian as a complicated human being who still did the right thing. That’s one reason I grew up knowing I could be the same. If you are reading this and you are white, seeing people who look like you in mass media probably isn’t something you think about often. Every day, the culture reflects not only you but...

Organizers of Baltimore’s third Ceasefire weekend spent much of Saturday looking back at recent violence, and forward to the potential for better days.Specifically, they hoped Sunday would arrive without anyone being killed on the city’s streets. The goal for Ceasefire, a movement advocating for a break in the pace of Baltimore homicides, remained the same as in two previous campaigns last year: A 72-hour stretch without death.This weekend’s Ceasefire has included music, rallies, discussions and memorials to the dead. Organizers listed nearly 20 events for Saturday alone and say their message is penetrating deeper into the community.Last year, there were...

The first reviews for Black Panther are in and they are very, very good. The Marvel Studios blockbuster, starring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o and Michael B. Jordan, premiered in front of a star-studded audience in Hollywood Monday night. Director Ryan Coogler’s addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe was praised for being original, highly diverse, and incredibly moving.