I got this from the Calgary Herald, its an interesting read cause I remember seeing some of these films when I was a kid, some of them were cool, while others were crap. Tell me what ya think.

Thursday, May 30, 2002

Bring in da noise! Bring in da funk! Bring in Bootsy and Superfly,
too. Blaxploitation characters, themes and fashions are alive again
in American pop culture.

Images and sounds of the '70s urban scene are now flashing across big
and small screens: velour caps shaped like toadstools; long-forgotten
fashion colours such as burnt orange and neon green; sexy female
characters named Foxy in clingy, hip-hugging bell-bottoms; and kung
fu street-fighting guys who karate-kick in platform shoes.

These low-budget films sold sex, violence, and a "black power by any
means necessary" attitude.

They starred characters derided by prominent members of the black
community as the lowest of the low: pimps, hookers, drug dealers --
even vampires (Blacula, 1972).

But a new generation of filmmakers finds inspiration in these
stylized flicks.

Undercover Brother, which opens Friday in theatres, is John Ridley's
action-comedy featuring a hero who's a spoof of blaxploitation
characters.

Austin Powers in Goldmember, which opens in July, pays homage to
blaxploitation with a character called Foxxy Cleopatra, played by
Beyonce Knowles of Destiny's Child.

Ridley admires the original blaxploitation films because "even in the
B- or C-level campy movies like Three the Hard Way and Black Belt
Jones, you get to see virile black heroes and regular guys," he said.

Kevin Burns, executive producer of the upcoming documentary, Hell Up
in Hollywood: Soul Cinema and the 1970s, treasures them.

"These movies were the forbidden fruit of my childhood," Burns
said. "If you were a black kid or a white kid in the '70s and wanted
to be hip, these were the movies you wanted to see."

Austin Powers star and co-writer Mike Myers saw the films in the many
revival houses in Toronto.

The Foxxy Cleopatra character is meant as a loving tribute to the
genre, he says. "It's such a yummy flavour -- the language, the
music, the cinematography -- and the clothes are so cool."

The admiration society also includes Keenen Ivory Wayans, (I'm Gonna
Git You Sucka, 1988), Quentin Tarantino, (Jackie Brown, 1997) and
John Singleton, (Shaft, 2000). And the trend extends beyond movies.

Besides Undercover Brother, which stars Eddie Griffin, and Foxxy
Cleopatra, who wears a puffy afro 'do in Austin Powers in Goldmember,
you can dig other recent flashbacks to the era of Soul Cinema:

- A Nike ad showcasing Bootsy Collins mixes vintage footage of ABA
players and new clips of NBA players such as Vince Carter (Dr. Funk).

- A Burger King commercial starring Shaquille O'Neal features Isaac
Hayes' theme from Shaft in the background, with the chorus
shouting "Shaq!" in all the right places.

- Two documentaries slated for cable include Baad Asss Cinema,
scheduled for August on the Independent Film Channel. No date is set
yet for Hell Up in Hollywood: Soul Cinema and the 1970s, which will
be broadcast on American Movie Classics.

- A remake of Foxy Brown will star its executive producer, Halle
Berry, in the title role.

Not even fans agree on the definition of blaxploitation. But for
most, the term refers to films marketed to black audiences and
released between 1970 and 1979. Most were shot on budgets of less
than $1 million US -- usually about $200,000 to $750,000. About 200
to 250 were made during that period, depending on who is doing the
counting.

The core of the genre consists of fast-paced movies packed with
action, comedy and sex, and bearing shout-'em-out titles: Cotton
Comes to Harlem (1970), Superfly (1972), Black Mama White Mama
(1972), The Mack (1973). The films made B-movie stars of Pam Grier
(Coffy, 1973), Fred Williamson (Black Caesar, 1973), Jim Brown
(Slaughter, 1972) and even Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas (Foxy Brown,
1974).

Blaxploitation characters and films ranged wildly from Richard
Roundtree as the slick private eye in the original Shaft (1971), to
Rudy Ray Moore in the Dolemite series. Moore's character was
described by one fan as a "spy/cop/private eye with the slowest kung
fu ever."

Ridley turns the term "blaxploitation" on its head. The days of
segregated Hollywood, in which blacks played subservient roles unless
they were starring in so-called "race movies," definitely ended
with '70s black cinema. "It's called exploitation because all these
white execs were making money off of it, but the fact of the matter
is a lot of black actors and writers were getting a lot of work,"
Ridley said.

For Ridley and others, these edgy films hark back to an era when
blacks were beginning to find a foothold in mainstream media; they
gave black talent a voice in Hollywood. Black power and "black is
beautiful" themes provide a backbeat to many of them.

"The one word that nails it is 'empowerment,' " Ridley said. "My
parents had been through the civil rights movement, and they felt we
are a tough strong people and we do have a voice. Some of these films
started out with revenge themes but they evolved into themes of
inclusiveness."

The new blaxploitation wave presents some interesting challenges to
writers and directors: Should the setting and characters be updated
or should they remain in the '70s?

Rather than remaking Foxy Brown or Cleopatra Jones (1973), Tarantino
brought to life a contemporary character from Elmore Leonard's novel,
Jackie Brown. In the film, a tip of the hat to the roles played by
Pam Grier, the title character plots an intricate scam to outwit the
bad guys and the cops, and a few men develop crushes on her along the
way. In the end she remains independent, making off with the money,
but not a man.

John Singleton updated Shaft, with Richard Roundtree reprising the
original character in a cameo while Samuel L. Jackson played the new
hero as Shaft's nephew. The remake was less successful, said David
Walker, the Portland, Ore.-based editor-publisher of the
blaxploitation magazine BadAzz MoFo, who will appear in the
documentary Hell Up in Hollywood.

"When Singleton made Shaft, he never got the character right. Maybe
it was the producer or somebody else -- but in Jackie Brown, it
wasn't a question of 'what was the character?' She was beautiful, she
had brains, she was tough and it came through," Walker said.

Ridley said there is no need to update the character of Undercover
Brother, a retro guy living in contemporary times. Tricked out in a
purple vinyl jacket and, snakeskin bell-bottoms, and wearing his hair
in a sky-high afro with pork-chop sideburns, he is fed black power
ideals as a child. He grows up and joins a do-gooder organization
called "the Brotherhood" to fight a network of evil-doers known
as "the Man."

"He's stuck in the '70s," Ridley said. "It's like Lenny Kravitz. He's
got this funky kind of style and it's infectious to everyone around
him."

Ridley's film has a silly set-up. But it's still a commentary on race
relations. Keeping the tone light is key to dealing with issues that
the original blaxploitation films faced head-on, he said. "When you
make people laugh, they listen better. White people don't want to
have a finger pointed at them, and that's why you have to find new
ways to tell a story."

I love those so-called "blaxploitation" films from the 70s.The best one is 'The Mack',a 1973 movie that y'all must see! In this film,they actually have a "Pimp picnic"...lol...and a Player's Ball that is covered on the evening news! Incredible movie:)

actually my favorite blaxploitation flick is "space is the place" by sun ra (1973). its the deepest and funniest one and the music is outstanding. prince got a lot from it, he even sampled the landing of the spaceship.

The Pam Grier movies from the 70s are also worth hunting down.My favorite is 'Coffy'(1973).

Anyone ever seen "Black Belt Jones?" I think it was supposed to be a serious flick in it's time, but looking at it now is straight comedy.

If you guys wanna know more about black movies from the 70s,you gotta check out the book "What It Is,What It Was: The Black Film Explosion of the 70s in Words and Pictures" by Gerald Martinez,Diana Martinez,and Andres Chavez.It's a big,208-book with photos,interviews,and all the info you could ever want on these movies.

DavidEye said:

Thanks, I've seen that book in Barnes and Noble. Looks like it may be worth buying.

Ya'll need to check out UB while you're at it...it's a funny ass movie.