Happy Memorial Day/RIP Gil Scott Heron

While I'm waiting for my replacement copy of Hit Man (1972) with Bernie Casey, I thought I'd make a couple of mentions.

Last week, I went to the library in Baldwin Hills and though I will never try to do any work there again, they do have an interesting collection for the Black History buff looking for something else besides Malcolm and Martin. Another plus is avoiding the traffic that comes with going to the big library downtown.

Anyway, I ran across and borrowed That's Blaxploitation  (really long subtitle intentionally not used), a creative works by Darius James a.k.a. Dr. Snakeskin that takes a lighthearted and sometimes funny look at Black films of the 70s and the actors who survived as well as those who fell off the radar.

While comprehensive and with its own special candor, the comical illustration and personal flashbacks may be the only minus I would give it, only because it gets excessive.  And while I do have a few corrections, dude made some observations and really dug in the crates (Yep, there was really a movie called Honky as well as a 1976 movie(Pipe Dreams) with Gladys Knight and her real-life husband who is also the late singer Aaliyah's uncle/industry man Barry Hankerson -- and they're in Alaska of all places.)

*****


I forgot I wasn't real hard on Fred Williamson but am happy that he's one the few from that era who was actually smart about his money and took control of his characters' final destiny.  Mean Johnny Barrows is somewhat entertaining; I think what got me was 'Uncut Director's Edition' in the AMZ listing.  Decent story line but truthfully, I couldn't tell one villain after another or why he was so hard in love with the Beckster of the film since there wasn't even an attempt at chemistry.  Didn't show him a tit or anything, hmmmf!

Review: Truck Turner (1974)

Summary: Academy Award ® winner Isaac Hayes takes on a sadistic pimp only to find himself alone against every player in organized crime.  Annazette Chase is his reformed petty thief girlfriend whose cat has a special way of letting Hayes know how much he is appreciated.

This action flick was shot in mostly in Los Angeles and though the "N" word is a little gratuitous in the early part of the film, Nichelle Nichols' (yep... the original Uhura from Star Trek) madam role cannot be forgotten.

Intro

Hey,

Recently, I went to see the latest Tyler Perry movie and though I wasn't impressed, I realized that everyone has a place in the world of entertainment.  Then I thought about how the generation before me felt movies like Scream Blacula Scream were an atrocity (their words, not mine) compared to classics like Stormy Weather.

Now let me ask you this.  Is a person less than because they miss Homeboys in Outer Space?  Does reading August Wilson or James Baldwin automatically make you superior? 

My take is that there are many things that bring down the Black race and TV or movies ain't one of them.  Even the news doesn't give an accurate portrayal of those things positive in the Black community.

I don't have a studio (hell, I barely have a home office) and I can clown with the best of them but this is my small contribution to celebrating what is positive about being Black in America.  Reviews, little-known facts and updates will be posted every week and your comments -- good and indifferent -- will be posted!