Bad Boys for Life is the third installment of the extremely popular Bad Boys franchise featuring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.  They play Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, who always manage to toss in a few good one-liners as they narrowly make it out of shoot-outs with bad guys in cool cars. The previous Bad Boys film came out in 2003, so fans were eagerly anticipating this movie and they did not disappoint. Word is that a fourth one is in the works. (US Box Office: $419 million)

Eddie Murphy returned to the small screen for Dolemite Is My Name, a Netlfix biopic of the late actor/producer Rudy Ray Moore who was primarily known for his 1970s blaxploitation films full of sex, “martial arts,” loud fashion, and comedy. The biopic showed what happened behind the camera and the work Moore did to get his vision out to the world. Murphy was the star of the film, but certainly not the only notable person. Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Craig Robinson, and Keegan Michael Key all made significant contributions to the texture of the film.

Harriet Tubman is an American icon and one of the few Black historical figures who are regularly taught during even the most basic of Black History Month lessons. Taking on telling the story of this tireless leader who freed countless enslaved people in her lifetime is a large task and it is no surprise that Black people are protective of the story. When Cynthia Erivo was cast as the lead, there was controversy because Erivo is not American, she was born and raised in London. Some people even went so far as to protest, but the film did well with critics and it brought in $43 million at the box office, making it one of Focus Feature’s top-grossing biographical dramas. 

When Beyoncé headlined Coachella in 2018, fans instantly renamed it Bey-Chella. The Houston native truly took over the show and had fans all over the world captivated. Mere hours after the first show, there were videos of people doing their version of the choreography they memorized. The hair, the clothes, the HBCU band! It was a cultural moment and Beyoncé decided to keep the party going by releasing Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé on Netflix to show everyone how it all came together.

Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx and Creed/Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan teamed up to tell the real-life story of Walter McMillian (Foxx), a man wrongfully convicted of murdering a white woman and subsequently put on death row in Alabama. His young attorney, Bryan Stevenson (Jordan), spends years trying to get the innocent McMillian out of prison. Just Mercy chronicles those efforts and the bond between the two men. Fans were upset that neither Foxx nor Jordan were nominated for Oscars (They are both 2020 BET Awards Best Actor Nominees) and both audiences and critics gave it a hearty thumbs up. (US Box Office: $50 million)

What would happen if there was a modern-day, Black Bonnie and Clyde? That’s essentially the premise of Lena Waithe’s Queen & Slim film starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya. A first date somehow turned into a cross-country adventure, complete with dodging cops and tapped phone lines. There was some controversy about the ending, but everyone agreed that it was a beautifully shot film that greatly contributed to a national conversation about important issues. (US Box Office: $47 million)