WHY HAVE YOU PUT THIS RAGE IN ME?

 For a richly-textured look at racism in early twentieth century American, check out Milos Forman's RAGTIME - a film I remember hearing about as a kid, but which for some reason I'd never gotten around to seeing.  It's long, and it starts peculiarly, but the rewards are pretty great if you hang in there, thanks in large part to the majestic, late great Howard E. Rollins Jr.  Watch those tears glisten during his final, brief and brilliant monologue addressed to the Almighty.  I only learned about Rollins' untimely death after putting the Video Hound on him - turns out that he died at the sinfully young age of 46, ten years ago, from AIDS-related complications.  What a waste; he's quite brilliant as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., the piano man with fire in his belly.

If you are preoccupied with the history of race in this country (as I am), you will undoubtedly appreciate this film.  And keep your eyes peeled for Jeff Daniels (one of my personal favorites) and the now-ubiquitous Samuel L. Jackson in teeny-weeny roles.  And oh yeah, RAGTIME also contains the final screen performance from some guy named James Cagney.

Slight disclaimer:  I have a giant-sized soft spot for Milos, as he directed my all-time favorite film, Amadeus.  Here, he shows a similarly remarkable eye for period detail, creating frame after frame of lush, packed images that I just wanted to climb right into.