Reply With QuoteI like Shaft, Three The Hard Way, Mandingo and there's that one where Belafonte plays like a godfather character. That one cracks me up everytime. Oh hell, I guess I like a whole bunch of 'em including Foxy Brown.
Platinum Record [Level 8]
Does anyone have a favorite blaxploitation film of the 70's? I recently saw "Foxy Brown" and thought it was pretty good for that genre.
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
I like Shaft, Three The Hard Way, Mandingo and there's that one where Belafonte plays like a godfather character. That one cracks me up everytime. Oh hell, I guess I like a whole bunch of 'em including Foxy Brown.
Find them and destroy them!
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Some of the better efforts:
1) Across 110th Street - arguably the best Blaxploitation film
2) Detroit Line 9000 - an obscure gem, with an excellent performance by Alex Rocco
3) The Spook Who Sat By The Door - REALLY OBSCURE! This is one of the better efforts cinematically, but the themes are borderline "reverse racist".
4) Melinda - This is best-remembered for the martial arts choreography by Jim Kelly (Enter the Dragon).
5) Black Jesus - Woody Strode....nuff said!
6) Thomasine and Bushrod
7) The Legend of N***** Charley
Superfly - For Mayfield's score alone!
9) Trouble Man - Great performance by Robert Hooks
10) Cleopatra Jones/Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold - Tamara Dobson is stylish as hell, but the films are a bit homophobic ( come on, lesbian crime queens as villains in BOTH films? )
11) Three The Hard Way - Jay Robinson, who once played a jaw-dropping Gaius Caligula in TWO films ( The Robe/Demetrius and the Gladiators ), is the villain here: reason enough to see this one!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]"I can see Prussia from my house!". :icon_mrgreen:
Chart Hit [Level 6]
My favorites are:
1.Across 110th Street( I agree with Boodikka
it has to be probaly the best of all
"blaxploitation" flicks).
2.Foxy Brown, Sheba Baby and most of Pam Grier flicks! Back in the 70's,she was our heroine kicking ass and handling her business
3.Cleopatra Jones - She was indeed very stylish and another ass kicker!
4.Superfly - Ron O'Neal ooooohhh and the soundtrack was superb!
5.The Mack - Max Julian (A story portraying the rise and fall of a pimp).
6.Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again
(Bill Cosby & Sidney Poitier a hilarious team).
7.Cotton Comes to Harlem - Paul, this might be the movie you're referring to with Harry
Belafonte playing a mobster.
8.Black Belt Jones - Jim Kelly oooohhhhhh!!
9.Black Ceasar/Hell Up in Harlem - Fred Williamson's best!
10.Three the Hard Way & One Down, Two to Go -
Jim Kelly, Fred Williamson and Jim Brown
(The Black Three Musketeers)!
Does anyone here enjoy "Dolemite" movies? I'm
not to crazy about them. And don't see the big deal, other than his "colorful" language
used throughout the entire movie. But it does have its funny points.
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Hustlebaby, you touched upon the best and worst of Blaxploitation in your post. THE MACK was one of the better BP films, starring a fine actor, Max Julien.
Then there are the DOLEMITE films.......
If you are a fan of awful "acting", dumb "dialogue', misbegotten "martial arts",
sucky "sets" and just plain buffoonery, hurry up and see Rudy Ray Moore in the DOLEMITE series. The man is cinematic Sominex, even more boring and uncharismatic than Cheri Caffaro (GINGER). Just make sure you drink plenty of wood alcohol first, or better yet, inject plenty of Black Tar Heroin into your veins (get the real good Robert Downey Jr. stuff). It's the only way to survive viewing these films.
Back to good (or at least interesting BP films)
1)WILLIE DYNAMITE - another rise and fall of a pimp, almost on par with THE MACK.
2)THE BLACK GESTAPO - A vigilante group becomes a worse threat than the criminals they vanquish. This was concept was ripped off and made into a "white" actioner entitled VIGILANTE FORCE starring Kris Kristofferson.
3)THE BLACK SIX - Six Black NFL players portray a motorcycle gang who take on 150 white bikers.....no, I am not making this up.
4)THE BLACK CPA - A righteous accountant fights fraudulent lunch expenditures in a drug-infested 'hood.....OK, THAT one I am making up... :grin:
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]"I can see Prussia from my house!". :icon_mrgreen:
Acetate [Level 1]
I really liked Cooly High and Cornbread Earl and I.
Not to get off on a racial tangent, I sit here listening to a Christmas CD of Nat King Cole and I cant believe companies didnt sponser his show back then. So much talent. I know that the Nat King Cole show was pre seventies but I liked it on reruns.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
On 2001-12-15 16:48, Boodikka wrote:
Then there are the DOLEMITE films.......
If you are a fan of awful "acting", dumb "dialogue', misbegotten "martial arts",
sucky "sets" and just plain buffoonery, hurry up and see Rudy Ray Moore in the DOLEMITE series. The man is cinematic Sominex, even more boring and uncharismatic than Cheri Caffaro (GINGER). Just make sure you drink plenty of wood alcohol first, or better yet, inject plenty of Black Tar Heroin into your veins (get the real good Robert Downey Jr. stuff). It's the only way to survive viewing these films.
You've hit the "nail on the head" Boodikka!
When I'm watching a DOLEMITE movie, I usually
have a cup of "joy juice" in my system to get a good laugh. Everything from the dialogue, clothing, cast members and those
CORNY KARATE moves is so stupid that I have to laugh. It's hard to believe but DOLEMITE
has a huge following!
Here are some other movies:
1. Claudine - Diahnn Carroll (I watch this movie every chance I get!)
2. J.D's Revenge - Glynn Turman
3. BLACULA - One of my all time favorites!
4. Shaft - I prefer part 1 & 2
5. Sweet Badass??Melvin Van Peebles-Hated it!
6. CarWash - I remember seeing this back in 76/77? and I still like it. It had a great all-star cast along with a barrel of laughs!
7. Sparkle - Lonette McGee (I hate sad movies but it was good.)
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Triple Platinum Record [Level 10]
Hey, does "Mahogany" count?I am such a queen--I haven't seen any of the movies you guys and gals are talking about , except "Sparkle" ("Giving Him Something He Can Feel"--loved Aretha's album of Curtis Mayfield "Sparkle" songs).
I recently caught my fave Miss Ross in the Berry Gordy-fired-the-director-Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones")and took over the directing job himself pic on AMC, and it was as irresistibly wonderful & awful as I remembered. "I'm a widow from the South side...my ole man left me with six kids...the heats been off for a week and all the kids got a flu...whattya gonna do for me...I want my ole man back." says the resplendent Miss Ross moving through the poverty stricken crowd in her blindingly snow white fur coat and jewels. How can ya not love this one?
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
Hey Delight and everyone else for that matter. Dolemite, Rudy Rae Moore, was known for his "party records" back in the seventies. He would often perform with LaWanda Page(sp) aka Aunt Esther from Sanford and Son. I used to listen to 'em back in da day. Their humor was very x-rated. This might explain his following.
Yea, I think his movies poor. They are so bad that they belong in that cult class like "Plan 9 From Planet X."
Find them and destroy them!
Platinum Record [Level 8]
Each summer we celebrate Blaxploitation - or, should we not actually call them Black Action Films? - here with screenings of 35mm classics. There are club nights afterwards, with djs and kids strutting and doing the Funky Chicken ( or something we Finns think is the Funky Chicken...). The biggest hit has been ACROSS THE 110TH STREET no doubt because the tone is gritty and serious. ACROSS is indeed the cream of the crop. Next up: COFFY and ABAR - THE FIRST BLACK SUPERMAN.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Hey!You forgot that classic horror flick "Blacula"
Chart Hit [Level 6]
[quote]
On 2001-12-18 00:13, paul wrote:
Hey Delight and everyone else for that matter. Dolemite, Rudy Rae Moore, was known for his "party records" back in the seventies. He would often perform with LaWanda Page(sp) aka Aunt Esther from Sanford and Son. I used to listen to 'em back in da day. Their humor was very x-rated. This might explain his following.
Yea, I think his movies poor. They are so bad that they belong in that cult class like "Plan 9 From Planet X."
Hey Paul,
I didn't know that Rudy made "X-Rated" party
records back in the day. Well it does seem like his forte. I guess he fit right in with Redd Foxx, Millie Jackson and Richard Pryor.
My mother still has her Richard Pryor albums,
unfortunately my father lent some other albums out and never got them back.
Hi Marky,
I LOVE MAHOGANY! It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I know some others think that it is low budget but I think she was very natural as well as superb! Especially the scene you described and when she goes to Rome. It's not exactly "blaxploitation" but it is indeed one of those great 70's movies!
*DELIGHTFUL*
Platinum Record [Level 8]
How do Afroamericans today feel about blaxploitation films - what if there were stuff like The Mack being made today, with people portrayed in what could be called stereotypical ways? I'm not talking about films like "Training Day" but the real thing.
Various personalities defended the genre in the brilliant Chavez&Chavez book WHAT IT WAS WHAT IT IS, out on Miramax/Rolling Thunder books, claiming it provided much needed work opportunities. But really, what if suddenly we'd start getting relatively low budget, very violent and politically not very correct films with gangsta rap soundtracks? Big guns, big women and big action? How would you all feel? I'd feel pretty excited for sure!
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
On 2001-12-19 18:38, HustleBaby wrote:
Hi Marky,
I LOVE MAHOGANY! It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I know some others think that it is low budget but I think she was very natural as well as superb!
But Mahogany wasn't low budget. They spent a fortune making the film -- but it looks like a made-for-TV movie! I was shocked when I saw how simulataneously laughable and boring it was. Actually, the stories that came off the set were much more dramatic and exciting than the film itself...
Personally, the thing I found most interesting about the film (aside from the gorgeous soundtrack, which is barely audible in the actual movie) is the ironic parallel between Anthony Perkins on-screen character and his closeted real life.
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
Well, as an African-American, I am generally disappointed at the state of Black films today. I hoped that by now we would have had more better movies. With the exception of Spike Lee movies, most of these movies seem to be buddy movies with someone of another race or hood related buffoonery. I was extremely disappointed with the Shaft remake. First off I think Shaft should have been Wesley Snipes. I like Sam Jackson but not for that role. Then Shaft, like a lot of the buddy pictures had absolutely no sex life.
I guess if some our wealthier Hollywood types got together, there'd be room for movies like those I mentioned as well as a Titanic type black movie.
Find them and destroy them!
Chart Hit [Level 6]
[quote]
On 2001-12-20 09:31, Graham Start wrote:
On 2001-12-19 18:38, HustleBaby wrote:
Hi Marky,
I LOVE MAHOGANY! It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I know some others think that it is low budget but I think she was very natural as well as superb!
But Mahogany wasn't low budget. They spent a fortune making the film -- but it looks like a made-for-TV movie! I was shocked when I saw how simulataneously laughable and boring it was. Actually, the stories that came off the set were much more dramatic and exciting than the film itself...
Graham,
I didn't mean LOW BUDGET as far as cost, what I should've said was some people think that it was LOW BUDGET/B-MOVIE quality. And I STRONGLY disagree!!! Coming from a black perspective, Mahogany was one of the best 70s movies! Most people that I know like the fact that it shows a woman from the ghetto of Chicago, achieving her dream and getting a chance to see the world outside of the urban areas. Why she went back, I don't have a clue .... then again it was Billy Dee Williams. So I don't see what is SO LAUGHABLE and BORING about Mahogany! I've seen worse.
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Chart Hit [Level 6]
[quote]
On 2001-12-20 09:31, Graham Start wrote:
On 2001-12-19 18:38, HustleBaby wrote:
Hi Marky,
I LOVE MAHOGANY! It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I know some others think that it is low budget but I think she was very natural as well as superb!
But Mahogany wasn't low budget. They spent a fortune making the film -- but it looks like a made-for-TV movie! I was shocked when I saw how simulataneously laughable and boring it was. Actually, the stories that came off the set were much more dramatic and exciting than the film itself...
Graham,
I didn't mean LOW BUDGET as far as cost, what I should've said was some people think that it was LOW BUDGET/B-MOVIE quality. And I STRONGLY disagree!!! Coming from a black perspective, Mahogany was one of the best 70s movies! Most people that I know like the fact that it shows a woman from the ghetto of Chicago, achieving her dream and getting a chance to see the world outside of the urban areas. Why she went back, I don't have a clue .... then again it was Billy Dee Williams. So I don't see what is SO LAUGHABLE and BORING about Mahogany! I've seen worse.
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
On 2001-12-22 13:16, HustleBaby wrote:
I didn't mean LOW BUDGET as far as cost, what I should've said was some people think that it was LOW BUDGET/B-MOVIE quality. And I STRONGLY disagree!!! Coming from a black perspective, Mahogany was one of the best 70s movies! Most people that I know like the fact that it shows a woman from the ghetto of Chicago, achieving her dream and getting a chance to see the world outside of the urban areas. Why she went back, I don't have a clue .... then again it was Billy Dee Williams. So I don't see what is SO LAUGHABLE and BORING about Mahogany! I've seen worse.
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Well, we've all seen worse!
But you've partially answered your own question -- given what Miss Ross' character is like, why the hell would she have given it all up to go back to Chicago? The ending is completely absurd. Yes, there's something to be said about success being hollow and empty, but you can say it a lot better than that.
Other points worthy of ridicule:
- The endless photo sessions: we see Miss Ross wearing every high-end designer outfit conceived that year. These go on waaaay too long... they don't serve the story at all, and they really smack of self-indulgence.
- Lack of character development: you don't really get a feeling for what motivates the characters, particularly those that aren't Miss Ross. This makes it rather hard to empathize with them, so as a result, I really didn't care what happened to any of them. I feel more time spent on the characters would've done a lot more for the film than a 20-minute montage of Miss Ross in a bunch of $70,000 outfits.
- The tag line and premise: "Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with". Sorry, but I really have to disagree with that...
- Her whole "I'm difficult" attitude. I found this impossible to swallow. In the real world, that attitude gets you nowhere fast when you're starting out. You can't be a supreme bitch until you've made it to the top.
- "TAKE THE PICTURE, SEAN!! TAKE THE PICTURE!!!" I mean, come on. I laughed at that part. I think almost everyone did.
I'll give Mahogany credit for being one of the very few films (perhaps the only film?) made at the time to aim to be a serious story, and not just another blaxploitation formula flick. But it should've -- and could've -- been much better.
Oh well, the soundtrack is still brilliant...
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
On 2001-12-20 14:20, paul wrote:
Then Shaft, like a lot of the buddy pictures had absolutely no sex life.
One thing that has really had an impact on American movies is the introduction of the X rating. Having a film get rated "X" is the kiss of death for any movie with mainstream ambition. Regardless of how good a film it is, no major distributor will touch it, no cinema chains will show it, and if released on video, Wal-Mart and Blockbuster et al will not stock it (for those outside of North America, these two chains each account for about half of all video sales and rental markets respectively). So, an X-rated film is a film that your average American is unlikely to see. A good example is Orgazmo, a fairly amusing send-up of the porno industry, which was virtually shut out of theatres and video stores despite the fact that there's no real sex, and very little nudity in it. A lot of recent films have had to be edited at the last minute to get around this (South Park and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back to name just two). And of course, sex is considered far more objectionable than graphic violence... at least to the people who rate these films. This is (one of the reasons) why we're seeing less and less sexual innuendo, and more brain-dead action flicks coming from Hollywood. Self-censorship in the interest of self-preservation.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
[quote]
On 2001-12-14 21:03, Boodikka wrote:
Some of the better efforts:
2) Detroit Line 9000 - an obscure gem, with an excellent performance by Alex Rocco
3) The Spook Who Sat By The Door - REALLY OBSCURE! This is one of the better efforts cinematically, but the themes are borderline "reverse racist".
4) Melinda - This is best-remembered for the martial arts choreography by Jim Kelly (Enter the Dragon).
5) Black Jesus - Woody Strode....nuff said!
6) Thomasine and Bushrod
7) The Legend of N***** Charley
9) Trouble Man - Great performance by Robert Hooks
BOODIKKA,
All of the movies above, are unknown to me.
Except for "The Spook Who Sat By The Door"
(the title alone was a conversation piece).
I've heard so much about it and would like to see what is all the hoopla. Record Explosion on 34st, have a large selection of "Blaxploitation" movies and other classics from back in the days BUT they do not have any of the movies that you've listed. I'll hunt around.
Does anyone remember "THE WARRIORS"? It's not a "blaxploitation" flick, but it's definitely a late 70s classic! I bought the videotape along with "THE WIZ" (Diana Ross).
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Does anyone remember "THE WARRIORS"?
Wasn't that movie about a couple of gangs that were at war with each other? I think I saw it once, though that was a long time ago.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Hi Hustlebaby, DETROIT LINE 9000/DETROIT 9000 also is known in the video market as DETROIT HEAT. Make sure that it stars Alex Rocco and Hari Rhodes. They may have it at the Suncoast store in the Manhattan Mall.
THE WARRIORS is indeed a near-gem of B films, influenced by such lofty tomes as "Anabis" by Xenophon and Homer's "Odyssey"! I like it for the early appearances of James Remar, Mercedes Ruehl (the undercover cop in Central Park) and Steve James (as one of the Baseball Furies). One of my friends from college was an extra on THE WARRIORS. He always said that some of the behind-the-scene fights were far more impressive than the ones on the screen! :grin:
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]"I can see Prussia from my house!". :icon_mrgreen:
Chart Hit [Level 6]
OUTSIDER,
"THE WARRIORS" was a movie about all the gangs from every borough of NYC that plans to take over the city. The meeting of this takeover went haywire and ugly when a punk from another gang shot the leader of the biggest gang of the city. The "Warriors" were blamed ;therefore,they had to "Hawl Ass"
back to Coney Island which is a LOOOONNNGGG
WAY from Van Courtlandt Park (North Bronx).
This movie will leave you at the edge of your seat! It's GRITTY, ACTION-PACKED, and GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHY OF NYC! CHECK IT OUT!!!
BOODIKKA,
I enjoyed seeing Mercedes Ruehl, Michael .. (forgot his name but he was the leader of the Warriors - SWAN) and of course JAMES REMAR! James ALWAYS brings excitement and energy in his performances!!!! Rumor has it that this movie caused fights in just about every theatre where it was shown.
*DISCO DELIGHT*
Acetate [Level 1]
Yeah, I remember "The Warriors." The basic plot - gang gets framed by rival gang for the murder of a third gang's leader during a meeting of the city's gangs and has to run the gauntlet to get back to their home turf in Coney Island - unfolds with an almost surreal atmosphere (at times it seems like the only people in New York are the Warriors and the various other gangs), and the acting is really good, particularly Michael Beck and Deborah Van Valkenburg.
Acetate [Level 1]
Favorite blaxploitation films of the 70s:
"Cotton Comes to Harlem" and "Come Back, Charleston Blue": Raymond St. Jacques and Godfrey Cambridge rule! Apart from the stars' excellent performances, the underlying seriousness of the pictures elevates them above schlockily-produced films like, say, "Avenging Disco Godfather." There's a chilling scene in "Charleston Blue" where a little girl is shown carrying a doll with drugs hidden in it delivering the toy to a bar used by the film's drug ring as a pickup point. The understated evil in this sequence - kid and toy used as mule -
is light-years from the cartoon angel dust visions in "ADG".
"Friday Foster": A less histrionic vehicle for Pam Grier, but a lot of fun. Eartha Kitt's turn as "Madame Rena", an imperious and bitchy fashion designer, is a hoot.
"Bucktown": Fred Williamson as the hero who learns that the cure for a problem is sometimes worse than the disease does a pretty good job of making this film work, though it spirals into absurdity by the end (the stolen tank and the endless knock-down, drag-em-out fistfight with Thalmus Rasulala pretty much deep-six the film's credibility, but Williamson does manage to hold things together pretty well despite these problems).
"Cooley High": I saw this a long time ago on local tv, so my memories of it are kind of sketchy, but I do recall that it started out on a humorous note and got more and more serious by the end (a la "Boyz 'n the Hood").
It had a quality that the best of 1970s films had: depicting realistic people with realistic problems in a realistic way.
"Jackie Brown": I know it's chronologically not a 1970s film, but it's sooo 1970s in spirit, to say nothing of soundtrack, title letter font, overall feel and of course lead actress, that I think it deserves an honorable mention. A perfect double-bill: this and "Boogie Nights". Some of my coworkers and I frequently quote huge chunks of dialogue from the film at appropriate moments. And Pam Grier and Robert Forster's farewell at the end is one of the more gently bittersweet conclusions to a film in recent years.
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