The mission of The Department of Afro-American Research Arts and Culture to identify the global significance of the creative contributions pioneered by an international diaspora of Blackness
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Showing posts with label Superhero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Superhero. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Space Jam (1996)




















Starring:
  • Michael Jordan
  • Wayne Knight
  • Theresa Randle
IMDB.com
Swackhammer, owner of the amusement park planet Moron Mountain is desperate get new attractions and he decides that the Looney Tune characters would be perfect. He sends his diminutive underlings to get them to him, whether Bugs Bunny & Co. want to go or not. Well armed for their size, Bugs Bunny is forced to trick them into agreeing to a competition to determine their freedom. Taking advantage of their puny and stubby legged foes, the gang selects basketball for the surest chance of winning. However, the Nerdlucks turn the tables and steal the talents of leading professional basketball stars to become massive basketball bruisers known as the Monstars. In desperation, Bugs Bunny calls on the aid of Micheal Jordan, the Babe Ruth of Basketball, to help them have a chance at winning their freedom.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Dolemite Explosion [a.k.a. The Return of Dolemite] (2002)











Starring:
  • Rudy Ray Moore
  • Jerry Jones
  • James Evans
Shockingimages.com
After a call from his sister, Jaz, Dolemite returns home from Africa with his two young sons, to once again, help clean up the neighborhood. But Dolemite has learned a few tricks since he has been away. He can shoot lightening from his fingertips, build forcefields, stop time and even teleport.

Dolemite's rival is nonother than Willie Green's Brother, Elmo (played by Jimmy Lynch). Along with his son, Charlie Blue, Green runs the crime in the local area based out of his nightclub. Learning of the return of Dolemite, Green intends to exact revenge. Once again, Lt. Pete Blakely (Jerry Jones) joins with Dolemite to help stop Green.

Notes: Moore began work on this self-financed film back around 2000. The film has been played on a couple of occasions as the RETURN OF DOLEMITE. Moore discovered that many people had believed it was just a title to re-release the original DOLEMITE. To avoid any confusion and let it be known that this is in fact a new feature film, he recently changed the title to THE DOLEMITE EXPLOSION and shot new opening/closing footage. A home video release is eventual but no dates have yet been determined.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Super Spook (1974)


















Starring;
 
Leonard Jackson (Five on the Blackhand Side, The Color Purple) is Super Spook! He doesn't fit the mold of your typical handsome black action hero. He's short, old, and out of rhythm from the cats up in Harlem. After a Harlem numbers lady (Virginia Fields) is robbed in Central Park, her daughter  hires Super Spook to solve her case before the mob and a crooked undercover cop (Tony King, Report to the Commissioner, Hell Up In Harlem) come down on her mom. Can Super Spook find the robber named Hi-Yo (Bill Jay) before the crooked cops do? Or will Super Spook be caught in the non-stop lunacy with strange and odd people as he tries to unravel the mystery.

Super Spook was created by a group of independent Black filmmakers. Eight of them went out and made history by ad-libbing a movie with no money, no script, no crew, and no equipment, and filmed it in 9 days in 1972. It became one of the first real independent Black motion pictures, with music videos, in the history of Black Cinema.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Pootie Tang (2001)





























"Pootie Tang" (2001) is a baddy daddy lamatai tebby chai. Originally titled "Pootie Tang in Sine Your Pitty on the Runny Kine," Paramount Pictures wanted to tipy ta on the panny sty and increase production. Pootie's main damies included Chris Rock, J.B. Smoove, Mario Joyner, and Wanda Sykes. Together, they got their dillies on a peppatain. Sa da tay.

Now for the people that don't know what just happened in the previous paragraph, "Pootie Tang" (2001) is a cult action comedy written and directed by Louis C.K. and stars Lance Crouther, Chris Rock, J.B. Smoove, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Coolidge, Robert Vaughn, Mario Joyner, and Reg E. Cathey. Paramount Pictures was responsible for distribution. The soundtrack to the movie is a mixture of popular hip-hop and RnB songs, with the theme song "Pootie Tangin'" performed by 702. 

Pootie Tang first appeared on HBO's "The Chris Rock Show" in the late-90s. He was known to appear on the show speaking in an unknown language that the audience didn't know, but everyone around him understood. For example, he would say, "Sa da tay" or "Sine your pity on the runny kine. This dialect was popular in pop culture during the movie's release. "Pootie Tang" is a parody of blaxploitation films from the 1970s, which the genre saw some renewed interest in the early 2000s.

Lance Crouther first appeared in "Talking Dirty After Dark" in 1991. However, Crouther isn't known as an actor as much as he is a writer and producer. Before he appeared in "Pootie Tang," he was a regular writer and producer for "The Chris Rock Show," and wrote for the "Wayne Brady Show." He worked closely with Rock early in his career, continuing through the mid-2000s. In addition, Wanda Sykes was part of the same crew of individuals in the 1990s. She was also a writer and producer for "The Chris Rock Show." Before that, she was a writer for "The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show."

 "Pootie Tang" is a silly movie. You can not take it seriously, or you will not be able to enjoy all its glory. Instead, you will find yourself trying to talk like Pootie and getting great laughs because you'll somehow make sense of it all. Nevertheless, it's a fun film, and I recommend it to those wanting some mindless comedy to watch.

Director: Louis C.K.
Writer: Louis C.K.

Starring Lance Crouther, Chris Rock, J.B. Smoove, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Coolidge, Robert Vaughn, Mario Joyner, Reg E. Cathey, Cathy Trien, Dave Attell, Christopher Wynkoop, J.D. Williams, Chuck Jeffreys, David Cross, Bob Costas

Adapted from a comedy sketch on HBO's "The Chris Rock Show," Pootie Tang (Lance Crouther) is the ultimate superhero. A cool-walking, smooth-talking lady's man, Pootie is a hero and a role model to all the neighborhood kids. Everybody looks up to Pootie except evil Dick Lecter (Robert Vaughn), CEO of Lecter Corp., a company that makes cigarettes, alcohol, and fast food. Pootie shows extraordinary determination and strength to prevail over Lecter and his minions.