The Birth of a Nation (2016)

Making his feature directing debut, Parker audaciously re-uses the name of D.W. Griffith's infamous, controversial 1915 movie -- and the result is just as significant, rousing, and imperfect. At times, The Birth of a Nation is positively brilliant, with a power like a punch to the gut. But at other times, it wallows in common cliches and routine choices. A populist movie positioned as a work of art, it's more Braveheart than 12 Years a Slave. It's an inflamed crowd-pleaser, more likely to inspire howls and cheers than thoughtful discussion. (It doesn't reach the greatness of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing.)

Yet the choice of title suggests that Parker -- previously an actor in The Great Debaters and Beyond the Lights -- had at least some idea of the buttons he was pushing. He populates his movie with white characters who disproportionately awful: bad teeth, stupid, evil, violent, dirty. But it's hard to argue that, after a century's worth of black stereotypes in movies, his choices are unwarranted. Whether this Birth of a Nation earns a place in cinematic history like Griffith's remains to be seen, but hopefully it will at least raise questions that Americans will take the time to answer.