Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

... this giddy and gorgeous teaser for the upcoming "Black Dynamite":

Wow, is that well-done: It hits all its marks (and then some) while adding loads of fresh sweeteners, twists, and sparklies.

Here's what the trailer has me hoping-against-hope: that "Black Dynamite" will manage a rare trick -- to be spoof, homage, and thing-in-it-own-right. Fond though I am of goofs, when it comes to entertainments that last longer than ten minutes it never hurts if a project has a little identity and excitement of its own to share.

I enjoyed the blaxploitation spoof "Undercover Brother," though (like too many spoofs) it ran out of gas after a half hour. I majorly didn't enjoy the Tarantino / Rodriguez '70s-trash homage double-bill "Grindhouse." But Tarantino's "Jackie Brown" -- which had a '70s side as well as a blaxploitation side to it -- was my favorite of Tarantino's movies. I'm hoping that Tarantino will abandon the stylistic grandstanding of "Kill Bill" and "Grindhouse" and return to working in the the more straightforward mode of "Jackie Brown." But maybe I'm being a sap.

Back here I panned Rodriguez' "Grindhouse" contribution and praised a Japanese genre gem: "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs," which I loved. It's both a campy hoot and an exciting and beautiful piece of popular entertainment in its own right. I rolled my eyes at "Kill Bill" here. Hey, that's a pretty good opening line I came up with in that blog posting.

Have I ever mentioned that one thing I'd love to do before I die is to play one of "the bad white guys" in a blaxploitation movie? I think that my beady, mean eyes and thin, snide voice would work perfectly.

I wrote an intro to blaxploitation here. If you've never watched a blaxploitation movie, I suggest starting off with "Coffy" and "Cleopatra Jones."

Best,

Michael

Anyone out there in 2 Blowhards land get a kick out of Fear of a Black Hat besides me?

Come on!
"So, what's the deal with the hats?
Ice Cold: Shit, the hats're what NWH is all about. See, back in the day when there were slaves and stuff, we was forced to work in the hot sun all day, hatless. I mean, not even a babushka.
Tone Def: Word. Heads totally exposed to the sun.
Ice Cold: So when the slaves got back from the fields, they was too tired to revolt against they masters. So what we're sayin' now is: Yo, we got some hats now, muh-fuckas.
Tasty Taste: And we ain't too tired to bust a cap in yo' ass."

Posted by: DarkoV on June 9, 2008 12:07 PM

I seem to remember you playing a bad white guy in a exploitation classic back in the late 1970s! And another back in the mid 1970s!

Jeeze, you should pay me a percentage of your bad white guy career earnings!

Posted by: Friedrich von Blowhard on June 9, 2008 12:19 PM

He did, really? That is so cool. John Derbyshire rose enormously in my estimation (I liked him already) when I saw that clip of him as the distinctly rodentine thug in some Bruce Lee flick. Now Michael's been a white villain in an explo classic?

Wow, you guys had a way more interesting 70s than I did.

Posted by: PatrickH on June 9, 2008 1:36 PM

DarkoV -- I gotta catch up with "Fear of a Black Hat," clearly! Tks.

FvB, PatrickH -- It's true, FvB himself saw the potential in me for projecting a unique and charismatic combo of sleazy and prissy years ago.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on June 9, 2008 2:15 PM

Blacula. See it.

Posted by: slasher flick on June 9, 2008 4:40 PM

Oh baby, Jackie Brown is one of the best movies ever. The dialogue, the soundtrack, Samuel Jackson. I never get tired of Jackie Brown.

"CB4" is another spoof documentary about rappers that you might like.

Posted by: Sister Wolf on June 9, 2008 6:03 PM

"...a rare trick -- to be spoof, homage, and thing-in-it-own-right."

"Shaun of the Dead" pulls this off brilliantly.

Posted by: Chip Smith on June 11, 2008 2:36 PM

You might be interested in the trailer for "Black Sheep", aka "The Violence of the Lambs".

Posted by: Alex J. on June 11, 2008 3:49 PM






Post a comment

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember your info?