Cinema News: Movies Update: Remembering Sidney Poitier

January 7, 2022

By Mekado Murphy

Movies Editor

Hey, movie fans.

The trailblazing actor Sidney Poitier has died at the age of 94, and there's been an outpouring of tributes from Hollywood, and the world. Our critic A.O. Scott wrote that "Poitier was more than a pioneer; he was a revolutionary. He didn't just make it in Hollywood. He remade Hollywood." Our critic Manohla Dargis wrote that while Poitier "will be rightly remembered as a towering figure in the civil rights movement," she added that "we should also honor and be grateful for his beauty, what it meant and what it did."

Former President Barack Obama reminded us that Poitier "opened doors for a generation of actors." The actress Kerry Washington wrote that "we lost an elegant king today" and the actress Lee Grant, who appeared with Poitier in "In the Heat of the Night," remembered that he was a "force of nature." And Harry Belafonte, Poitier's longtime friend and frequent collaborator, said in a statement, "He was truly my brother and partner in trying to make this world a little better. He certainly made mine a whole lot better."

New to theaters this week is the women-led espionage thriller "The 355" and the latest drama from the two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, "A Hero."

Enjoy the movies.

Sam Falk/The New York Times

Sidney Poitier, Who Paved the Way for Black Actors in Film, Dies at 94

The first Black performer to win the Academy Award for best actor, for "Lilies of the Field," he once said he felt "as if I were representing 15, 18 million people with every move I made."

By William Grimes

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CRITICS' PICKS

Amirhossein Shojaei/Amazon Studios

critic's pick

'A Hero' Review: Debts No Honest Man Can Pay

In the latest film from the two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, a good Samaritan comes under suspicion.

By A.O. Scott

The Cinema Guild

Critic's Pick

'Expedition Content' Review: Anthropological Maneuvers in the Dark

An engrossing documentary looks back at a 1961 expedition to New Guinea and the creation of the landmark ethnographic film that resulted.

By Manohla Dargis

MOVIE REVIEWS

Robert Viglasky/Universal Pictures

'The 355' Review: Exile in Bondville

Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger and Fan Bingbing star in an espionage thriller that's slick but banal.

By Amy Nicholson

Sunpunks Productions

'American Gadfly' Review: A Candid Candidacy

This documentary goes behind the scenes of Mike Gravel's oddball run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

By Ben Kenigsberg

IFC Midnight

'See for Me' Review: Steal Away

A young blind woman is menaced by a crew of robbers in this forgettable thriller.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS

Mirish Company/Alamy

Stream These 11 Great Performances by Sidney Poitier

As an actor and filmmaker, he strove to bring layered Black individuals to the screen at a time when that was rare.

By Noel Murray

Dark Sky Films

Five Horror Movies to Stream Now

This month's picks include a family blood pact, a mother under attack, twins with a deadly secret, a father with demons and a couple that's way too attached.

By Erik Piepenburg

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NEWS & FEATURES

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Peter Bogdanovich, 82, Director Whose Career Was a Hollywood Drama, Dies

Within one decade, the '70s, he was transformed from one of the most celebrated of filmmakers, notably for "The Last Picture Show," into one of the most ostracized.

By Margalit Fox