Shooting on Super-16 reversal, director and co-writer Scott Sanders (“Thick as Thieves,” 1998) recreates the vibe of 1970s blaxploitation in this inspired homage. Co-writer and martial artist Michael Jai White (“Why Did I Get Married?”, “Spawn”) stars as the sexy, versatile title hero. His brother dies in a drug-deal shootout. White covert operators are implicated. It goes to the top: President Richard Nixon. Politicians, pimps, orphans and licenses to kill come together in a numerological conspiracy linked to a secret enclave on a tropical island. Anaconda Malt Liquor is part of a plot against African-American manhood. Dick-shrinking, in short. Sanders, whose pro DJ persona in L.A. is Suckapunch, imparts loving detail by naming characters in “Black Dynamite” Afroditey, Cream Corn, Euphoria, Kotex, Sweetmeat and Tasty Freeze. This parody double-times as the real deal and near-perfect parody. With Arsenio Hall, Mykelti Williamson and Tommy Davidson. 94m. (Bill Stamets)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Reading Pictures: Movies In Black-And-White Almost nothing has been written about Walter Hill or his great work. A new book, which the director cooperated with, is "A Walter Hill Film" by critic Walter Chaw. There's much I learned even as a lifelong student of Hill's work: "The Warriors." "Streets of Fire." "48 HRS."
Talking Screens, July 9-15, 2021: The Bite of the Black Widow | The Ferocity of Lydia Lunch | The Rage of The Forever Purge Talking Screens, A Week In Chicago Film, July 9-15, 2021 Disney continues its experiment with simultaneous releases on screen and on premium-priced streaming video with quarter-billion-dollar investment “Black Widow”; “Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over” is a necessary portrait of a powerful artist; and “Platform” captures the fight of Wushu world champion Iranian sisters. “The Forever Purge” seeks hope…
Talking Screens, June 30-July 6, 2023: "Revoir Paris" Glistens | Black Women Heroes of Sci-Fi | Christopher Nolan Redux This week: "We Can Be Sheroes" at FACETS; "Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," "Inception" and “Dunkirk” at Alamo Drafthouse; "Matthias & Maxime" at Chicago Filmmakers; “Nashville" and "Car Wash" at Doc Films; "Ugetsu" at Chicago Film Society at NEIU; "Raging Bull" and "Revoir Paris" at Siskel; "Lost In America" and "Babe: Pig In The…
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