Back in Black! Retro-style blaxploitation film debuts at Sundance
Michael Jai White is Black Dynamite!
Back in the day, films like Shaft, Foxy Brown and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song styled funkalicious jazzy soundtracks, tough black heroes and heroines and corrupt white cops and politicians. A new genre was born, both celebrating and exploiting black culture, targeting urban African-American audiences with its style and subject matter. Some of the best of these films have become cult favorites, and have influenced new filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, whose Jackie Brown was an explicit homage to the genre he’d grown up on and loved.
Shaft was remade in slick Hollywood fashion by John Singleton (Boyz ‘n The Hood) in 2000, featuring Samuel Jackson in the title role. But for the original low budget style and campy flair you had to go to the bargain bin DVD versions, until now.
Scott Sanders’ blacksploitation spoof Black Dynamite premieres this year as one of the “Midnight” films at Sundance. If this trailer is anything to go by, the funky magic and excitement appears to be back. Black Dynamite looks hotter than TNT:
Here are a few more trailers for films playing Sundance this year:
Johnny Mad Dog, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Dead Snow, directed by Tommy Wirkola
Adventureland, directed by Greg Mottola
The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos
Stay tuned for our class reviews of these and many other exciting films at Sundance 2009! We’ll let you know if the actual films live up to the excitement of these trailers.
Tags: blaxploitation, dvd, eckerd college, film festival, funk, independent film, jazz, john singleton, movie trailers, quentin tarantino, samuel jackson, sundance