With cuffing season upon us as the temperature drops, there is no better way to pass the time than watching movies. Whether watching alone, with your boo, or with a group of friends, movie night is guaranteed to be entertaining. Listed by decade, here are 40 classic black films that are certain to bring back memories, make you laugh, or inspire you:
The ’50s – ’60s
Carmen Jones (1954)
The ’70s – ’80s
Shaft (1971)
Black Caesar (1973)
Cleopatra Jones (1973)
Foxy Brown (1974)
Cooley High (1975)
Dolomite (1975)
Roots (1977)
Purple Rain (1984)
The Last Dragon (1985)
Coming To America (1988)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Harlem Nights (1989)
The ’90s – ’00s
House Party (1990)
New Jack City (1991)
Boyz in the Hood (1991)
The Five Heartbeats (1991)
Bebe’s Kids (1992)
Juice (1992)
Malcolm X (1992)
Boomerang (1992)
Poetic Justice (1993)
Crooklyn (1994)
Friday (1995)
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Losing Isaiah (1995)
Set it Off (1996)
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Baps (1997)
Love Jones (1997)
How Stella Got her Groove Back (1998)
Love & Basketball (2000)
Two Can Play That Game (2001)
Paid in Full (2002)
The Great Debaters (2007)
Good Hair (2009)
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011)
