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Black America Web
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Grab Your Popcorn: 20 Must-Watch Summer Blockbuster Movies
Source: Bettmann / Getty The summer blockbuster is more than just a movie; it's an experience. Born in the mid-1970s, this cultural phenomenon transformed the way audiences engage with cinema, turning theaters into destinations for thrilling, larger-than-life entertainment. RELATED: Best Of The Baddest: Black Horror Movie Villains We Love To Hate RELATED: Top 20 Classic Black Movies Since 2000 The Birth of the Summer Blockbuster The concept of the summer blockbuster was revolutionized by Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' in 1975. Released in June, it became the first film to surpass $100 million at the box office, a groundbreaking achievement at the time. This success was attributed to its masterful suspense, John Williams' iconic score, and an innovative marketing campaign that included extensive TV spots and a wide-release strategy. As a result, 'Jaws' not only terrified beachgoers but also established summer as the prime season for big-budget, high-stakes films. Just two years later, George Lucas's 'Star Wars' (1977) cemented the formula for summer blockbusters. With its epic storytelling, groundbreaking special effects, and pioneering merchandising strategy, it captivated audiences and redefined cinematic escapism. From the dinosaur-filled jungles of 'Jurassic Park' to the superhero team-ups in 'The Avengers', summer blockbusters became synonymous with transporting audiences to fantastical worlds. Hallmarks of a Summer Blockbuster What defines a summer blockbuster? These films are characterized by adrenaline-pumping action, unforgettable characters, and universal appeal. Studios strategically release them between May and August to capitalize on school vacations and warm-weather outings. Marketing is a cornerstone of their success, with trailers, merchandise, and viral campaigns building anticipation months in advance. Over the decades, the genre has evolved significantly. The 1980s and 1990s saw the rise of action-packed franchises like 'Indiana Jones' and 'Independence Day', while the 2000s ushered in the superhero era, dominated by Marvel and DC Studios. Today, summer blockbusters are a global phenomenon, with international box office revenue often eclipsing domestic earnings. The Magic of the Summer Blockbuster Ultimately, summer blockbusters are about more than just ticket sales. They represent shared experiences, cheering, gasping, and laughing together in a darkened theater. These films celebrate storytelling on the grandest scale, where the magic of cinema truly comes alive. Must-Watch Summer Blockbuster Movies Below is a curated list of must-watch summer blockbusters to enjoy with the family. Grab Your Popcorn: 20 Must-Watch Summer Blockbuster Movies was originally published on Release Date: June 20, 1975 June 20, 1975 Summary: Steven Spielberg's thriller about a killer shark terrorizing a small beach town redefined the summer blockbuster. Steven Spielberg's thriller about a killer shark terrorizing a small beach town redefined the summer blockbuster. Release Date: May 25, 1977 May 25, 1977 Summary: George Lucas introduced audiences to a galaxy far, far away, launching one of the most beloved franchises in cinematic history. Release Date: June 11, 1982 June 11, 1982 Summary: Spielberg's heartwarming tale of a young boy befriending a stranded alien captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. Release Date: June 11, 1993 June 11, 1993 Summary: Dinosaurs roared back to life in this groundbreaking adventure that combined cutting-edge special effects with Spielberg's masterful storytelling. Release Date: July 18, 2008 July 18, 2008 Summary: Christopher Nolan's gritty and gripping Batman sequel featured Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance as the Joker. Release Date: July 3, 1996 July 3, 1996 Summary: Aliens invade Earth in this action-packed sci-fi epic, with Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum leading the charge to save humanity. Release Date: May 4, 2012 May 4, 2012 Summary: Marvel's superhero team-up extravaganza brought Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk together for an epic battle against Loki. Release Date: May 16, 1986 May 16, 1986 Summary: Tom Cruise soared to stardom as a hotshot fighter pilot in this high-octane mix of action, romance, and iconic 80s music. Release Date: July 9, 2003 July 9, 2003 Summary: Johnny Depp's unforgettable turn as Captain Jack Sparrow launched a swashbuckling franchise full of adventure and humor. Release Date: June 30, 2004 June 30, 2004 Summary: Sam Raimi's sequel elevated the superhero genre with emotional depth, thrilling action, and Alfred Molina's iconic portrayal of Doctor Octopus. Release Date: May 30, 2003 May 30, 2003 Summary: Pixar's underwater adventure about a clownfish searching for his son became an instant classic with its humor and heart. Release Date: May 15, 2015 May 15, 2015 Summary: George Miller's post-apocalyptic masterpiece delivered jaw-dropping action sequences and a powerful feminist narrative. Release Date: June 15, 1994 June 15, 1994 Summary: Disney's animated epic about a young lion prince's journey to reclaim his throne became a cultural phenomenon. Release Date: August 1, 2014 August 1, 2014 Summary: Marvel's quirky space adventure introduced a lovable band of misfits and a killer soundtrack. Release Date: May 19, 2004 May 19, 2004 Summary: The hilarious and heartwarming sequel to the original Shrek brought even more laughs and fairy tale fun. Release Date: July 3, 2007 July 3, 2007 Summary: Michael Bay's explosive adaptation of the beloved toy line brought Autobots and Decepticons to life in spectacular fashion. Release Date: July 16, 2010 July 16, 2010 Summary: Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller about dream manipulation captivated audiences with its stunning visuals and complex narrative. Release Date: May 2, 2008 May 2, 2008 Summary: Robert Downey Jr. launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his charismatic portrayal of Tony Stark in this action-packed origin story. Release Date: August 3, 2007 August 3, 2007 Summary: Matt Damon's Jason Bourne returns in this high-octane spy thriller, delivering intense action and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Release Date: August 6, 1999 August 6, 1999 Summary: M. Night Shyamalan's psychological thriller about a boy who sees dead people became a cultural phenomenon with its shocking twist. Release Date: June 12, 1981 June 12, 1981 Summary: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up to create this iconic adventure film, introducing audiences to Indiana Jones, the whip-wielding archaeologist racing to recover the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis. Packed with thrilling action sequences, humor, and unforgettable characters, it remains a quintessential summer blockbuster.
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Monetary Innovation May Make The Stock Market Irrelevant
Working at the New York Stock Exchange in 1852. Engraving. Bettmann Archive The major stock indexes are at new highs. And what has it gotten people? As much as if they had saved in some humble way, gaining bank or bond interest for example, before there were inflation and taxes. A constant theme in our new book, Free Money: Bitcoin and the American Monetary Tradition , is that prior to 1913—the golden era of the American industrial revolution—saving money meaningfully was a piece of cake. If you saved it and made three or four percent, that return compounded yearly, not touched at all by inflation or taxes. Consumer prices were absolutely stable on average from 1800 to 1913, dispensing with minor yearly variation, and there was no income tax. The S&P, now at a record, over the last twenty-five years (a peak-to-peak measurement) is up 4.25-fold, or 6 percent per year. Inflation has been 2.5 percent, knocking returns down to about 3.5 percent annually. And gains are taxable. In the most popular retirement-savings vehicle, the traditional 401k, gains on withdrawal face marginal income tax rates. These could be 20 percent—they could be 37 percent. The value of up-front deductions against taxes is no more than the fees our investment instruments charge. Real gains on average, taking taxation into account, have been less than 3 percent per year since 2000—as the stock market achieves a new record. Before 1913, banks and bonds regularly paid 4, 5, 6 percent interest. You could save your money in the most homely way and beat our fancy stock-market returns no problem. No 401k's, no picking stocks, no pretending to be part of the ownership society, no strategy, no shelters, no tax-advantaged accounts, no nothing—you saved and you got, more than today, despite all the hoopla over the last decades about people 'investing' in the stock market. Could your bank fail? It could. But failure rates knocked maybe a percentage point off total yearly returns, in aggregate, and insurance products were available and continually diversifying. It was a piece of cake to save in the old days, and people did better being humble savers than all those today who plow money into the market. This history is relevant because of the new world that private monetary innovation points to. If private money—Bitcoin, you name it—can achieve price stability, one huge rationale for investing in the market is gone, namely to stay ahead of inflation. If private money—again, Bitcoin or what have you—can result in investments that pay non-taxable forms of humble interest (which would be possible with a gentle deflation against consumer prices), boom you would have the conditions of the status quo ante of 1913. About the only policy change that would be required is the obvious one of not having private money transactions be taxable. If we had stable money and no taxes on investment income, the stock market would go poof. Who would want to be in it? Not the masses—you can do very well stashing your money away for interest. This is the way it was in the nineteenth century. Nobody bought stocks—certainly not the masses. Mass participation in stocks only came in the 1920s, after the introduction of the means of inflation (the Federal Reserve, born 1913), and the means of taxation (the income tax, born 1913). The dirty secret of the markets is that all the fascination, all the participation in them is strictly confined to the era of inflation and taxes. Before the era of inflation and taxes, stocks were a specialists' forte of no interest to the broad population getting fat and happy on the bounty of the industrial revolution. One of the futures we are invited to behold, as private monetary innovation—the theme of Free Money —gains ground in our own day is that we might become equipped to reclaim the far simpler financial arrangements that characterize outstanding growth environments. Saving money in high-growth, price-stable environments is an exceedingly simple matter—you save it, and you spend it whenever you want, having made a nice return, without any concern for inflation, taxes, penalties, missing out on tax-deferrals and tax deductions, and what have you. And those who really are interested in committing capital are those confined to the markets. Mass participation in the stock market did not—repeat did not—capitalize business during the economy's greatest period of expansion and innovation, the years before 1913. If companies needed money from the markets, the markets had their sources of capital appropriately drawn from those with ample surplus funds, including banks and bond issuers with the populace's money. Dividends were large and regular. You raised money in a stock float, you used it immediately to fund business success, and you paid out the profits nearly in full right away. Again, all this was compatible with constant 4-6 percent economic growth. The stock market is, for the masses, a glorified savings program, along the lines of the argument of Rich Dad, Poor Dad . You make a real, take-home 2.75 percent per annum? That's just saving. Yet savings need not be glorified. You make, you save, you get take-home return, no frills needed. Monetary innovation promises to shrink the stock market quite radically—while that very stock market becomes more efficient at its primary, really its only task, which is to direct investment capital to its best uses. Stocks at their best give a 3-percent per annum take-home return. We go crazy following the markets over a lifetime for that? Come on! The only reason so many of us are in stocks is that it is the only way to beat inflation and taxes and still eke out a couple of points in return. The proper way to achieve that outcome is to eliminate inflation and taxes so that people can save in humble instruments. This is a most wholesome promise of the monetary innovation that continues to gather strength in contemporary times. Mass participation in the stock market will justly go down as a confined era of history, a temporary age that came about because fiscal and monetary priorities got mixed up. As monetary innovation proceeds apace, records in the S&P etc. will not even happen to any notable degree (as was apparent in the early years of the Dow averages), because companies will feel the need to pay out all their cash at dividend time, as was regular in the growth-soaked nineteenth century. And when we return to the broad insignificance of the stock market, the public will be at ease to stop watching it and discover more fruitful—and more productive—uses of its time.
New York Post
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Roy Rogers' former Los Angeles home lists for $7.2 million
Hollywood legend Roy Rogers' former home is ready for a new owner. Rogers purchased the home in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1944 during World War II, according to Mansion Global. 'The property has 135 feet of 'sweeping frontage' on the avenue,' listing agent Donovan Healy, a Coldwell Banker Luxury Property Specialist, said in a news release. 'The property commands both presence and privacy, elevated above the street and set behind gates.' For the first time in 54 years, the house is on the market with an asking price of $7.2 million. Originally built in 1939, the 5,035-square-foot home retains much of its original charm, with the listing calling the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home 'the most significant offering to hit the market in years.' The long driveway leads to a four-car attached garage and a large lawn in the front. 4 Hollywood legend Roy Rogers' former home is ready for a new owner. Bettmann Archive 4 A set of brick stairs, with a black iron railing, leads to the front door of the two-story home. Michael P. H. Clifford A set of brick stairs, with a black iron railing, leads to the front door of the two-story home. Once inside, guests will find themselves in the foyer, which features dark hardwood floors and white crown molding. The room also includes a staircase leading to the upper levels and patterned wallpaper. From the foyer, visitors have access to the home's large formal living room, which has enough space for multiple seating areas. In addition to a wood-burning fireplace, the formal living room also includes light blue walls and big windows bringing in natural light, as well as access to the backyard. Also accessible from the foyer is the den or library. The library features wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling wood-paneling with built-in bookshelves and a second wood-burning fireplace encased in bricks. 4 The upper level of the backyard includes a sizable swimming pool with a diving board. Michael P. H. Clifford The kitchen features black tile floors with light blue and white striped wallpaper. The room also features a center island that provides extra storage space and a stovetop. Connected to the kitchen is an informal dining area with double glass doors that open to the backyard. A formal dining room can be found through a doorway in the kitchen. The room includes dark hardwood floors and light green walls with the lower third adorned with white wainscoting. 4 The house also includes a game room with a billiards table. Michael P. H. Clifford Double doors lead from the formal dining room to a sunroom with red carpeting and wood-paneled walls and multiple floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors leading to the backyard. A luxurious primary bedroom can be found on the upper level of the home, in addition to two additional guest suites. A fourth bedroom is located on the main level of the home. Just outside the kitchen is a circular cement courtyard lined with red benches, with a tree in the center encased with a circular red bench. The area also features an outdoor kitchen, including a barbecue. The upper level of the backyard includes a sizable swimming pool with a diving board.
Black America Web
06-06-2025
- Business
- Black America Web
Target Loses $12 Billion —Biggest Boycott Since Montgomery Bus Protest
Source: Bettmann / Getty In what's being widely recognized as the most impactful Black-led boycott since the Montgomery Bus Boycott of the 1950s, Target has suffered a staggering $12 billion loss in market value. The ripple effects were swift: stock prices tumbled, and the company's CEO saw his salary slashed by nearly half. And it all started with a unified community refusing to spend. At the heart of this movement is a renewed focus on economic justice and buying power, led by Black organizers and everyday consumers who decided enough was enough. The digital front lines were powered by platforms like @miiriya_, a Black-owned marketplace app that promotes shopping from Black businesses and creators. Their viral posts and grassroots messaging helped ignite a widespread movement calling for economic withdrawal from companies perceived to be failing the Black community—Target being a key focus. This boycott didn't just trend—it translated into billions of dollars in real economic consequence. While Target has yet to release a full statement addressing the financial fallout, the damage is already done. More importantly, the message has been delivered: Black consumers are not to be overlooked or taken for granted. The comparisons to the Montgomery Bus Boycott are more than symbolic. That historic protest lasted over a year and reshaped American civil rights. Today's version happened in a digital world, but the strategy is rooted in the same core principle: collective financial action leads to real accountability. The success of this boycott is a blueprint for future organizing. It shows that through tech, social platforms, and intentional spending, Black economic power can shift markets. It also highlights the importance of supporting Black-owned alternatives like Miiriya, which not only gives consumers a place to shop with purpose but also reinforces a vision for long-term community sustainability. RELATED: Target Messed Around And Found Out, Reports 1st Quarter Sales Slump SEE ALSO Target Loses $12 Billion —Biggest Boycott Since Montgomery Bus Protest was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Black America Web
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Malcolm X's Spiritual Shift: From The Nation Of Islam To Sunni Faith
Source: Bettmann / Getty Today marks 100 years since the birth of Malcolm X, one of the most significant figures in the history of Black America. A century later, his enduring legacy is remembered not just in the United States but across the globe. The impact of his radical activism continues to be honoured worldwide, especially in the face of ongoing injustice. The final two years of Malcolm's life, following his break from the Nation of Islam, marked a pivotal shift toward internationalist and anti-capitalist values deeply embedded in his activism. After returning from the Hajj in April 1964 and undertaking extensive travels across Africa and the Middle East, Malcolm concluded that 'our success in America will involve two circles: Black Nationalism and Islam.' Black Nationalism, he argued, was essential for connecting African Americans with Africa, while Islam served as the 'spiritual link to Africa, Arabia, and Asia.' His famed Letter from Mecca , written during the Hajj, can thus be viewed as a revelatory moment foreshadowing the rapid evolution of his worldview and politics in the two years leading up to his untimely death. The views expressed in the letter, which came as a surprise to his audience back home, not only confirmed the finality of his split from the Nation of Islam but also revealed his newfound commitment to a more universal vision of brotherhood, humanity, and international solidarity in the pursuit of Black liberation. Upon returning to the United States, Malcolm X founded the Organisation of Afro-American Unity (OOAU) as an extension of his earlier Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI). His eventual fusion of Black Nationalism and Islam successfully brought together secular activists and Black Muslims from across the country, within a framework that was increasingly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and internationalist. Malcolm drew inspiration from various African and Arab nationalist movements that combined socialism with ideals of global brotherhood and solidarity, such as the rise of Nasserism in Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah's anti-colonial efforts in Ghana. He also expressed support for revolutionary movements in China and Cuba, and even personally met with Fidel Castro before his departure from the Nation of Islam. While his travels through the Muslim world reinforced the insights he gained during the Hajj, particularly that Islam is 'the one religion that erases from society the race problem,' his journey across Africa also awakened him to classism and other systemic forms of oppression within Black communities on the continent. These experiences deepened his conviction that European colonialism and exploitation were inextricably linked to capitalist greed. He consistently voiced his anger at how European colonists had severely underdeveloped and continued to exploit African people, both on the continent and across the Atlantic. In the final months of his life, Malcolm also traveled to Europe. He visited the United Kingdom twice, scathingly describing it as the birthplace of imperialism. In February 1965, shortly before his assassination, he visited a town in England's West Midlands after learning that local Black residents were being denied the right to buy or rent property in the area. His first visit to the UK, only a few months earlier, was to debate at the Oxford Union, where he argued in favor of the motion: 'Extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.' Thus, while Malcolm's break from the Nation of Islam reflected a shift toward a more internationalist approach to Black self-determination, his commitment to justice remained as radical and as 'extreme' as ever. One hundred years since his birth, the profound legacy of Malcolm's 'extremism' continues to inspire and endure. If the liberation movements of today are successors to the radical sixties, when Malcolm X still walked among us, then his fearless fight for freedom remains an eternal symbol of justice, transcending time. SEE ALSO Malcolm X's Spiritual Shift: From The Nation Of Islam To Sunni Faith was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
