DieselDaisy Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Yes. Apparently they deliberately opted for exploitation with the source material so that they could include all of the sex, miscegenation etc. The film at one stage could have been theoretically picked up by the studios. They divide opinion, black opinion that is, then and today. Of course they are a form of black empowerment, aggrandising black actors, filmmakers and musicians, proliferating black culture, but also some regard them as sustaining - even creating - a negative connotation of black people with crime (e.g. pimps and drug dealers). This still exists today of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) Muhammad Ali thought like that, i remember this speech he was doing where it's something like 'and all these boys walking around with fur coats with the nails done talkin' about I'm a hustler, I'm pimpin', maaan you a sissy! You kids wannabe like someone? Be like Muhammad Ali!'I like the way Kung Fu movies and Blaxploitation kinda blended together, i find that fascinating, i mean the cultural divide between 36 chambers of shaolin and a bunch of black New York hoodlums couldn't be more broader...yet they sort of meet somewhere. I suppose upon close analysis you see similarities, Kung Fu flicks have a strong sense of nationalism in them and Blaxploitation, to a point was like, obviously very pro black stuff. And then the sort of emphasis on style. EVERY rappers from the 90s who grew up in the 70s and 80s, even the ones who didn't wear in on their sleeve like Wu Tang was into Kung Fu movies in a big way, a big big way, they reference them so much in their raps, i remember Tupac even giving an analogy about how he was a step above the old school rappers before him and in giving this analogy he starts going on about The Five Deadly Venoms Edited December 10, 2015 by Len B'stard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) It is cheap and trashy cinema with one or two exceptions (e.g. Shaft, King Hu's Taiwanese epics). Also both genres arrive with certain cultural tropes intact, there being an assembly line quality in production values for both. You know where you are with a good Kung Fu or Blaxploitation film, although Blaxploitation is a much wider more embryonic (so called) genre. I'm taking Blaxploitation to mean its most identifiable sub-genre, the New York/Californian centered urban crime thriller or drama, involving black characters in numerous situations involving pimps, drugs and murder. You look at an actor like Fargas and you know exactly what his character is about, his purpose/intent. It is similar with even a leading star like Pam Grier. It is similar in Kung Fu films also. You understand the manner of dressing. You understand the locations - especially if you have some working knowledge of New York and Hong Kong. You understand the cultural norms, ethics and manners of speaking even. I love cinema like that. You sit down and know exactly where you are. It is not art house but it can be extremely good. Edited December 10, 2015 by DieselDaisy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Dolomite and Dolomite II: The Return of the Human Tornado Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLegend Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Blade.That's like saying "Force Awakens" is too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Sweet Sweetback's Baaaadaaaaassss Song Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 If you want one that is animated then I'd recommend "Coonskin"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcqu5wmi8OU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Sweet Sweetback's Baaaadaaaaassss SongFor some reason i could never get on with that film. Weird cuz it was the one that started it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Sweet Sweetback's Baaaadaaaaassss SongFor some reason i could never get on with that film. Weird cuz it was the one that started it all.That's it in a nutshell.It may not bevthe best or even near the best, but it is essential Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Dog Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Edited December 12, 2015 by J Dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) What's the Shaft sequels like? Decent? Shite (like most sequels)?It is curious as at the exact same time Scorsese was making Mean Streets, films like Black Caesar and The Mack began to pop up. Just as Scorsese was depicting the underbelly of the Italian-American experience, so were films looking at the Afro-American underworld. I see a great affinity between a film like The Mack and what Scorsese was doing, and would do in the future on films like Goodfellas. Thus far I'd go,The MackAcross 110th StreetBlack CaesarCoffyShaftFoxy Brown and Super Fly would bring up the rear.Granted I do not really consider Across 110th Street to be thorough Blaxploitation - it certainly isn't exploitation cinema!PSI have some vague memory of a hippy hoppy film from the 1980s or '90s where somebody says something like, ''I've got to go home. The Mack is on tv and I want to tape it''. Edited December 12, 2015 by DieselDaisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) Superfly deserve much more credit i reckon, top by even the most uncharitable of assessments. And you're right about Across 110th, thats the Anthony Quinn movie, it was not until the internet that i even had the notion that was a blaxploitation film cuz i saw that as a very little kid on BBC2 first time, it was just an Anthony Quinn movie to me at the time, not blaxploitation. I never liked Shaft much in general to be honest.The film you are referring to might be FridayCan i borrow your VCR right quick I need to dub a tape?Hell nah!It's the Mack! Gary Oldmans watching it in True Romance just before he dies too. I tell ya what i been trying to find but couldn't for years, Superfly TNT the sequel. It's a piece of shit but I'd like to see it back just for the sake of it. Edited December 13, 2015 by Len B'stard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Literally the best intro to a filmYou get the money?I ain't got nothin', she wouldn't give it to meTOLD YOU SHE WOULDN'T DO IT RIGHT?...i made the connection...y'hear me n!gga? C'mon! Wastin' all this goddamn tiiiime...now we gon' do it my way!And the song kicks in, it's almost Hitchcockian, that arial shot. I could watch this film once a day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Notting Hill (1999)Notting Hill in real life:They displaced a lot of black people during the filming of that movie...Also; http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/208458-black-cinema/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) Superfly deserve much more credit i reckon, top by even the most uncharitable of assessments. And you're right about Across 110th, thats the Anthony Quinn movie, it was not until the internet that i even had the notion that was a blaxploitation film cuz i saw that as a very little kid on BBC2 first time, it was just an Anthony Quinn movie to me at the time, not blaxploitation. I never liked Shaft much in general to be honest.The film you are referring to might be FridayCan i borrow your VCR right quick I need to dub a tape?Hell nah!It's the Mack! Gary Oldmans watching it in True Romance just before he dies too. I tell ya what i been trying to find but couldn't for years, Superfly TNT the sequel. It's a piece of shit but I'd like to see it back just for the sake of it.My main problem with Super Fly is that fat black guy sitting there with a grin on his face; his acting is so bad it would make Byker Grove blush with embarrassment on his behalf. What's there not to like about Shaft, a superior thriller? That intro with Isaac Hayes' score is unsurpassed. Sequels are a bit ropey as they turned Shaft into a Bond figure and it all got a little unrealistic and silly, but the original is a masterpiece. PSA wanker who has seen the mack too many times, Edited December 13, 2015 by DieselDaisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) ... If only this was real... Edited December 13, 2015 by Snake-Pit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val22 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 ShaftSuperflyCoffeeI'm gonna get you sucker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) Good Burger (1997)Making black people look stupid. Edited December 13, 2015 by Snake-Pit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 You've never seen any Blaxploitation films, have you Snakes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I've seen Exploited Black Teens a bunch of times, just look at my browsing history. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Cnut Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Snakes thinks The Cosby Show is blaxploitation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I'm not sure if it is such a good thing, introducing Blaxploitation to Snakepit. It would probably send him blind! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I'm not sure if it is such a good thing, introducing Blaxploitation to Snakepit. It would probably send him blind!When I got Nickelodeon for the first time and saw Sister, Sister, then Moesha... I'm lucky I have any eyesight left! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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