Black Dynamite - 2009 - Dir. Sanders

This film was repeatedly recommended to me by a friend. It seemed like a good idea but I just repeatedly put it off. MAN! I can't tell you how surprised I was by this flick. It reinvigorated my faith in the Parody genre. After years and years of duds, this is one that actually got me laughing out loud. In fact, I could say I laughed more at this than I have at anything in a long while. The tone and attitude of the film is perhaps what helps it the most. Rather than getting overly silly, it sticks to it's Badass image. It saves all of the over-the-top wackiness until the very end, successfully topping itself. It felt like it was dragging a little at first, because it very distinctly shifts gears around the third act. So perhaps it's not the smoothest transition to the wackiness that it could be. But to be honest the third act works so well that the transition to it is a minor complaint. Naturally, it has all the classic Blaxploitation stereotypes of boom mikes in frame and shitty acting but the movie also maintains the style of a classic Blaxploitation. It's just a parody that really knows it subject and knows how to pace a story. Michael Jai White plays a terrifically badass protagonist, all the while being able to make sure there's a vein of inept acting running throughout. Excellent choice if you're in a goofy mood!

Yeah!

Superfly - 1972 - Dir. Parks Jr.

I suppose the only reason this movie is still in the cultural memory is because of Curtis Mayfield's awesome soundtrack. And it is an awesome soundtrack. Superfly didn't deserve to have such sweet tunes. That's not to say it's a bad movie. As far as exploitation movies go, it's probably above par. Or maybe just par. It is certainly capably made, doesn't plod along endlessly like a myriad of other low budget 70's flicks, characters behave in a reasonable manner in the world, and a story gets told. So yeah, my bar is pretty low for these kinds of movies. It's kind of a fun movie in the sense that it's ineffective in several ways. First of all, we're supposed to be impressed with the wealth of Youngblood Priest. In fact, I've heard critics of the film say it glorifies drug dealing... but Priest seems to live in my Aunt's house. And he looks like... well, he looks silly as hell. Moreso that most other blaxploitation characters. The acting is closer to over dramatic rather than the usual mumbling, stilted stuff we see so the movie is often just fun to watch. The movie is actually a really good starter Blaxploitation, I suppose. It carries the pros and cons of the genre but is easier to watch than many others and you get the Mayfield bonus.

Look out! It's Ron: The FLYEST DEALER IN NYC!

Foxy Brown - 1974 - Dir. Hill

Foxy Brown was supposed to be a sequel of sorts to Coffy. This is easy to see because it's basically the exact same plot. Just again. I'm not sure I really find that an issue. There's some minor differences of course. I think, perhaps, Coffy was a little more entertaining... but I really don't know why. Perhaps just because I saw it first. ALTHOUGH, Foxy Brown does star Katherine Loder, who is excellent as a female type villain. It also has a little bit more ridiculousness with the castration of the male villain. I think Coffy's superhero type leanings won me over a little more than Foxy Brown's more revenge type plot. Although her battle against her brother totally was more striking than the BS politician boyfriend. So maybe I didn't like one more than the other. Pam Grier is still totally foxy though. I'm not going to act like she isn't. Watch me not act like that. I still got a kick out of Sid Haig. Who really is quite ridiculous as a pimp in the third act. Loder is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film, giving us a fairly crazed performance as someone who is clearly turned on with all the hatred and violence.

Oh no! Foxy Brown and Chick from Caged Heat are bothering Joe Biden!

Coffy - 1973 - Dir. Hill

MAN! I was trying to watch this movie and Netflix kept screwing with me so I had to call it quits! So I had to watch it in two parts. Coffy is known for having a tough lady protagonist (PAM GRIER!) and how it didn't glorify the Pimp/Pusher lifestyle. It was an all right movie. Fairly capably made considering the low the bar can be for exploitation films. It's very satisfying as far as a vengeance movie goes. I was constantly digging it whenever Coffy was busting some ass. Pam Grier is an awfully foxy lady. I wasn't expecting her to be nearly as foxy as she turned out to be. And, yes, I'm going to continue to call her FOXY. You're just going to have to deal with that. And there's a MASSIVE cat fight that is totally awesome. It might have been the high point of the movie. I mean, it's just terribly shameless and Grier kicks some real lady ass. Also the film highlighted the skills of Sid Haig, who was great being a henchmen. Easy to see why this was such a "well-respected" blaxploitation!

Damn Pam Grier... You foxy!

Black Caesar - 1973 - Dir. Cohen

I was a big Larry Cohen fan in college. Then I ran out of movies of his to watch. I never really LOVED Larry Cohen. But I always liked the man and the movies he did. I could get behind his style. Cheap, silly, and usually with enough bite that I had to give it a pat on the back. Normally, he made horror movies or horror type movies. Black Caesar was his dip into blaxploitation which also resulted in Hell Up In Harlem the same year (which I will most certainly be watching). I had a ton of fun watching Black Caesar and Cohen certainly seemed on his game while he made it. I have to say, as soon the the first montage of Williamson taking charge happened, I was behind the movie. I feel like even for a Cohen flick, this one felt pretty polished and coherent. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is also a ton of fun to watch, I will watch a Fred Williamson movie now. Perhaps a bit of the fun was because of JAMES BROWN'S score, which is totally awesome. Apparently Fred Wesley had a lot of do with it as well. The movie lags after the third act, about when THE HAMMER escapes an attempted assassination, which was basically the climax for me. The rest of the movie was waiting to see if/how he dies. I mean, after he gets up and starts kicking ass in that scene I was all "DAMN!" He brought the HAMMER DOWN! Although, in the third acts defense, the final fight/beating of the Crooked Cop was awesome to watch.

OH SHIT! BLACK CAESAR IS GETTING IT ON! In the only way he knows how... BLACKLY!

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song - 1971 - Dir. Van Peebles

I was pretty throw by Sweet Sweetback, to be completely honest, I didn't know tons about the movie to start with. I expected something a little more straightforward, but MAN! There was some pretty manic editing here. I think there were a few times where I got pretty confused as to what had been going on. I can't really tell if that's a huge problem. The movie has got a pretty neat style within it, and I was able to follow it mostly. Pacing, like most low-budget movies it seems, was definitely lacking. This movie DRAGGED. There are a fuck-ton of montages. Some of Melvin's songs are awesome. A few I recognized through Quasimoto's the Unseen. But I wished the movie was a bit easier to watch because I enjoyed watching it for the most part. When figuring in the context of how Van Peebles made this crazy mess, it is actually pretty incredible. A minimal budget, casting amateurs. It was a bit like a crazy Cassavetes flick. At one point on the special features, Van Peebles claims its the first independent film. I DUNNO 'BOUT THAT! But watching Van Peebles talk about the film was great. It's pretty impressive how much of the film he made on his own and a testament to the man. As an actor, well, he seems to do the job of looking pretty stoic and cool. And having a bitchin' moustache. Apparently, he only has six or so lines in the whole movie. That is probably true, despite that, the number is still pretty shocking to me. That also means one sixth of his lines were "FUCKING." But Van Peebles definitely had a focused vision in the film and even if it comes out a little bit muddied, it's definitely one of a kind.

This guy was my favorite. I hope it's obvious why.