African/American

A thoroughly enjoyable movie. If you don't know much about Ray Charles' life, you will by the end of this - enlightening and very entertaining. It traverses the range and styles of his music over a lifetime in the industry, mixed with flashbacks to his childhood. Beautifully set in it's time, the music is the original stuff and before you know it you are watching the story of Ray Charles starring Ray himself.

It's basically a 'ghost' story set in the last years of slavery in the US. The actual story is a little shocking, but it also shows the desperation of the slaves at the time and what desperation can drive a person to do. The acting was quite good and it gave a very accurate insight into what it must have been like for those on the heels of the abolition of slavery. Be prepared to question yourself, your social status and your beliefs.

A simple but great tale of overcoming against the odds, this film charts 11 year old Akeelah's journey to the US national spelling bee - and the impact her success has on her wider (ghetto) community. A surprisingly well-crafted and amiable family movie - with a good plot development and characterisation but few real surprises.

A film reuniting Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne deserves far more fanfare than this film has been given. Given that it's also excellent, I'm surprised it's so far under the radar. A feel-good film technically (you'd need a heart of stone not to be moved), but if a film about a kid's spelling test can have me on the edge of my seat and cheering like it's the Olympics, and has legendary actors sharing the screen, it must contain more than a little magic. Insightful, exciting and entertaining and Keke Palmer is definitely one to watch - one for the family archives.

Its a good and clever film, and ok, some daft and funny one liners but its not one of his best - ok if you're an Eddie Murphy fan!

Rough and ready it may be, but it's a unique snap shot of early 70's Jamaica. The music is great and worth seeing where the music came from before Bob Marley became international.

Rockers is a documentary turned full-length feature starring just about every International Reggae Star who was around in the 1970's; It's sad to think just how many of the people featured have suffered premature deaths. A pearl beyond price for the real reggae fan, 'Rockers' covers an astonishing amount of all that remains so vital about the 70s roots and culture scene.

Don't expect much in the way of plot. Do expect the film to stop every 15 minutes or so for a musical number - that's its most appealing factor: the incessant, and downright catchy, continuous backbeat of some top class reggae, and a fascinating insight into Jamaican life too. Violence is confined to moments of righteous defiance, swearing sparingly employed only for comedy or emphasis, all convincingly acted by the close family of musical geniuses that peppered the island.

With a magnificent soundtrack it provides a snapshot of where Jamaican music was heading before the plague of cocaine hit. A little rough around the edges, but anyone with a love of Reggae should watch this, so turn up the bass and enjoy. Utterly charming.