Jim Brown, the NFL titan who appeared in “The Dirty Dozen,” many Blaxploitation films plus Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” “The Running Man,” Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks” and Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” to name a few, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 87.
His wife Monique posted the news of his death on Instagram, saying, “He passed peacefully last night at our L.A. home.”
In nine extraordinary seasons as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns, Brown set an array of NFL records. In 2002, The Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. That phenomenal athleticism and a charismatic personality made him bankable as the first African American action star.
“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Monique and their family,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Jim Brown was a gifted athlete — one of the most dominant players to...
His wife Monique posted the news of his death on Instagram, saying, “He passed peacefully last night at our L.A. home.”
In nine extraordinary seasons as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns, Brown set an array of NFL records. In 2002, The Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. That phenomenal athleticism and a charismatic personality made him bankable as the first African American action star.
“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Monique and their family,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Jim Brown was a gifted athlete — one of the most dominant players to...
- 5/19/2023
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Since 1988, the Library of Congress has selected 25 films each year as new additions to the National Film Registry in order to be preserved for their historical, cultural, and aesthetic contributions to American culture. The United States National Film Preservation Board has included a wide selection of movies since its inception that range from classic films to newsreels to music videos to documentaries. There are even student films and home movies included among the collection.
This year, the selections highlight the diversity of filmmakers in America by including at least 15 projects directed or co-directed by filmmakers of color, women, or LGBTQ+ people. For example, home movies from jazz, blues, and swing pioneer Cab Calloway are included in the latest wave of inductees, along with an 1898 documentary about the Mardi Gras Carnival and the 1950 adaptation of "Cyrano de Bergerac," which propelled José Ferrer to become the first Latinx actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.
This year, the selections highlight the diversity of filmmakers in America by including at least 15 projects directed or co-directed by filmmakers of color, women, or LGBTQ+ people. For example, home movies from jazz, blues, and swing pioneer Cab Calloway are included in the latest wave of inductees, along with an 1898 documentary about the Mardi Gras Carnival and the 1950 adaptation of "Cyrano de Bergerac," which propelled José Ferrer to become the first Latinx actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.
- 12/14/2022
- by Ben F. Silverio
- Slash Film
Iron Man, Super Fly, When Harry Met Sally, and more have been added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry.
The Film Registry inducts 25 movies each year, selecting them for their “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.” The public also has the opportunity to weigh in with nomination suggestions throughout the year, and among the newly-inducted films that saw significant support are Iron Man, The Little Mermaid, Carrie, When Harry Met Sally, and Betty Tells Her Story.
The inclusion of Iron Man — which...
The Film Registry inducts 25 movies each year, selecting them for their “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.” The public also has the opportunity to weigh in with nomination suggestions throughout the year, and among the newly-inducted films that saw significant support are Iron Man, The Little Mermaid, Carrie, When Harry Met Sally, and Betty Tells Her Story.
The inclusion of Iron Man — which...
- 12/14/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Click here to read the full article.
As a critic and scholar, Elvis Mitchell has spent his career writing about film. With the doc Is That Black Enough for You?!?, he tried his hand at making one himself.
The documentary, which will screen at AFI Fest before heading to Netflix on Nov. 11, is part visual essay and part academic deep dive into the Black cinema of the 1970s and the contribution of Black filmmakers and creatives to that decade of moviemaking. An achievement in archival work, the doc, which counts David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh as producers, deftly moves through works by Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks Jr. and Sidney Poitier and films including Blacula, Shaft and Coffy, among a dizzying amount of others. “For audiences quick to dismiss or asleep to the contributions of Black filmmakers,” THR‘s Lovia Gyarkye wrote in her review, “this is required viewing.”
Ahead of its AFI Fest bow,...
As a critic and scholar, Elvis Mitchell has spent his career writing about film. With the doc Is That Black Enough for You?!?, he tried his hand at making one himself.
The documentary, which will screen at AFI Fest before heading to Netflix on Nov. 11, is part visual essay and part academic deep dive into the Black cinema of the 1970s and the contribution of Black filmmakers and creatives to that decade of moviemaking. An achievement in archival work, the doc, which counts David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh as producers, deftly moves through works by Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks Jr. and Sidney Poitier and films including Blacula, Shaft and Coffy, among a dizzying amount of others. “For audiences quick to dismiss or asleep to the contributions of Black filmmakers,” THR‘s Lovia Gyarkye wrote in her review, “this is required viewing.”
Ahead of its AFI Fest bow,...
- 11/2/2022
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
It happens every few decades, each time more reverentially than the last: declarations of Black art’s existence. There are whispers of a renaissance, talk of watershed moments. Certain demographics rush to celebrate its arrival, and those allergic to trends (or with a memory longer than a decade) dutifully remind that it’s always been here. Chatter about representation, necessity, meaning and craft is run through until it fizzles. And then we do it again.
Elvis Mitchell’s Is That Black Enough for You?!?, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and lands on Netflix Nov. 11, is the kind of work that tries to free us from this purgatory of intellectual relitigation. The documentary — dense and considered — examines the impact and legacy of Black films released during the late 1960s to late 1970s, a decade remembered for the proliferation of Blaxploitation flicks.
It happens every few decades, each time more reverentially than the last: declarations of Black art’s existence. There are whispers of a renaissance, talk of watershed moments. Certain demographics rush to celebrate its arrival, and those allergic to trends (or with a memory longer than a decade) dutifully remind that it’s always been here. Chatter about representation, necessity, meaning and craft is run through until it fizzles. And then we do it again.
Elvis Mitchell’s Is That Black Enough for You?!?, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and lands on Netflix Nov. 11, is the kind of work that tries to free us from this purgatory of intellectual relitigation. The documentary — dense and considered — examines the impact and legacy of Black films released during the late 1960s to late 1970s, a decade remembered for the proliferation of Blaxploitation flicks.
- 10/12/2022
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In late 1971, when Curtis Mayfield began writing Super Fly — the 1972 film soundtrack that would turn out to be his magnum opus — he should have been burned out. He had spent a decade with the Impressions, becoming one of pop music’s de facto voices of the civil rights movement with songs like “Keep on Pushing” and “People Get Ready.” He had written hundreds of songs for dozens of other artists (Major Lance, Gene Chandler, and the entire roster of OKeh Records, to name a few). He had also dealt with...
- 7/11/2022
- by Travis Atria
- Rollingstone.com
No two ways about it: April’s a great month for the Criterion Channel, which (among other things; more in a second) adds two recent favorites. We’re thrilled at the SVOD premiere of Hamaguchi’s entrancing Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, our #3 of 2021, and Bruno Dumont’s lacerating France, featuring Léa Seydoux’s finest performance yet.
Ethan Hawke’s Adventures in Moviegoing runs the gamut from Eagle Pennell’s Last Night at the Alamo to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, while a 14-film John Ford retro (mostly) skips westerns altogether. And no notes on the Delphine Seyrig retro—multiple by Akerman, Ulrike Ottinger, Duras, a smattering of Buñuel, and Seyrig’s own film Be Pretty and Shut Up! That of all things might be the crown jewl.
See the full list of April titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
—
3 Bad Men, John Ford, 1926
Aar paar, Guru Dutt,...
Ethan Hawke’s Adventures in Moviegoing runs the gamut from Eagle Pennell’s Last Night at the Alamo to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, while a 14-film John Ford retro (mostly) skips westerns altogether. And no notes on the Delphine Seyrig retro—multiple by Akerman, Ulrike Ottinger, Duras, a smattering of Buñuel, and Seyrig’s own film Be Pretty and Shut Up! That of all things might be the crown jewl.
See the full list of April titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
—
3 Bad Men, John Ford, 1926
Aar paar, Guru Dutt,...
- 3/25/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Melvin Van Peebles, the influential filmmaker behind “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song,” and father of director and actor Mario Van Peebles, has died. He was 89.
“Dad knew that Black images matter,” Mario Van Peebles said in a statement from the Criterion Collection. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
“Sweet Sweetback” will be screened at the New York Film Festival this week for a 50th anniversary tribute. “In an unparalleled career distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape through his films, novels, plays and music,” the Criterion Collection said.
Melvin and Mario Van...
“Dad knew that Black images matter,” Mario Van Peebles said in a statement from the Criterion Collection. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
“Sweet Sweetback” will be screened at the New York Film Festival this week for a 50th anniversary tribute. “In an unparalleled career distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape through his films, novels, plays and music,” the Criterion Collection said.
Melvin and Mario Van...
- 9/22/2021
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Next month’s Criterion Channel selection is here, and as 2021 winds down further cements their status as our single greatest streaming service. Off the top I took note of their eight-film Jia Zhangke retro as well as the streaming premieres of Center Stage and Malni. And, yes, Margaret has been on HBO Max for a while, but we can hope Criterion Channel’s addition—as part of the 63(!)-film “New York Stories”—opens doors to a more deserving home-video treatment.
Aki Kaurismäki’s Finland Trilogy, Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc duology, and Criterion’s editions of Irma Vep and Flowers of Shanghai also mark major inclusions—just a few years ago the thought of Hou’s masterpiece streaming in HD was absurd.
I could implore you not to sleep on The Hottest August and Point Blank and Variety and In the Cut or, look, so many Ernst Lubitsch movies,...
Aki Kaurismäki’s Finland Trilogy, Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc duology, and Criterion’s editions of Irma Vep and Flowers of Shanghai also mark major inclusions—just a few years ago the thought of Hou’s masterpiece streaming in HD was absurd.
I could implore you not to sleep on The Hottest August and Point Blank and Variety and In the Cut or, look, so many Ernst Lubitsch movies,...
- 8/25/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
This weekend marks the 49th anniversary of the release of “Shaft.” Released in 1971, it grossed about $90 million in adjusted prices — a huge success, more than 25 times its cost. More importantly, it forced studios to acknowledge the Black audience segment that was long taken for granted.
Hollywood studio filmmaking is 105 years old. But it took more than half of those years for major studios to release a film from a Black director. There were Black directors, but they were too few and far between. And The first Black director was silent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, whose parents were former slaves. In the sound era, the first Black director was Spencer Williams, an actor best known as Andy of Amos n’ Andy. And while films in the 1960s began to tell Black stories such as “Lilies of the Field” and “A Raisin In the Sun,” they inevitably reflected white perspectives and denied Black...
Hollywood studio filmmaking is 105 years old. But it took more than half of those years for major studios to release a film from a Black director. There were Black directors, but they were too few and far between. And The first Black director was silent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, whose parents were former slaves. In the sound era, the first Black director was Spencer Williams, an actor best known as Andy of Amos n’ Andy. And while films in the 1960s began to tell Black stories such as “Lilies of the Field” and “A Raisin In the Sun,” they inevitably reflected white perspectives and denied Black...
- 7/5/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
It was inevitable that Director X's overwrought flashy, stylish and glossy remake of the late great Gordon Parks Jr.-directed 1972 blaxploitation classic Superfly would prove to be a super-charged vehicle for today's urbanized audiences desensitized by the glamour and graphic gumption of today's rap/hip-hop hedonistic scene. In fact, Parks's ground-breaking, vintage crime caper throwback would be dismissed as a passe Disney movie compared to Director X's unapologetic, fatally frivolous drug-dealing drama laced with high-octane hedonism and killer tunes to match on the hardcore soundtrack. Back in the day, Parks's shifty showcase was not what one would label subtle or gently suggestive. Nevertheless, the dynamic action-packed ditties of raw black cinema such as Sweet Sweetbadaassss Song and Shaft cleverly set the stage for the aforementioned Superfly and other imitators that followed the path to...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 8/13/2018
- Screen Anarchy
Remaking “Super Fly” was never going to be without its perils. The 1972 film, directed by Gordon Parks Jr., was one of the essential building blocks of the decade’s Blaxploitation movement, and first-time feature helmer Director X surely had his hands full balancing nods to the original while also updating his film for 2018 Atlanta. But however much the film had to live up to, the music was a whole other matter. Featuring songs by Curtis Mayfield – the title track, “Freddie’s Dead” and “Pusherman” chief among them – the original soundtrack to “Super Fly” is among the most canonical works of film music ever released.
While the new “SuperFly” does feature a few key reprises of Mayfield’s tunes, a more modern touch was provided by the prolific rapper Future, who executive produced the remake’s soundtrack. Serving as a new Future release in everything but name, 10 of the album’s...
While the new “SuperFly” does feature a few key reprises of Mayfield’s tunes, a more modern touch was provided by the prolific rapper Future, who executive produced the remake’s soundtrack. Serving as a new Future release in everything but name, 10 of the album’s...
- 6/15/2018
- by Andrew Barker
- Variety Film + TV
With a soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield that permeated pop culture, “Super Fly,” a crime drama directed by Gordon Parks Jr. about a black cocaine dealer, epitomizes the blaxploitation genre that lit up screens in the ’70s.
The remake, set for a June 13 release by Sony Pictures, aims to refresh the vibe. The new “SuperFly” once again follows a dealer who wants one final score before he gets out of the game. In the new version, helmed by Director X, the story takes place in Atlanta instead of Harlem.
Steeped in music videos, Director X was well-positioned to re-create a stylized and updated version of the original tale. To clothe the cast, he brought on costume designer Antoinette Messam.
When Messam and the helmer first spoke about the project late last year, the word “fantasy” was used a lot, says the designer, but she also felt she needed to stay grounded in reality.
The remake, set for a June 13 release by Sony Pictures, aims to refresh the vibe. The new “SuperFly” once again follows a dealer who wants one final score before he gets out of the game. In the new version, helmed by Director X, the story takes place in Atlanta instead of Harlem.
Steeped in music videos, Director X was well-positioned to re-create a stylized and updated version of the original tale. To clothe the cast, he brought on costume designer Antoinette Messam.
When Messam and the helmer first spoke about the project late last year, the word “fantasy” was used a lot, says the designer, but she also felt she needed to stay grounded in reality.
- 6/15/2018
- by Valentina I. Valentini
- Variety Film + TV
At least it looks super fly. It's too bad that Director X (born Julien Christian Lutz), the Canadian short-form film master for the likes of Rihanna, Drake and Nicki Minaj, stumbles when he has to stretch a scene past video length. He sets his blaxploitation remake in present-day Atlanta to separate it from the 1972 Harlem-based original, directed in a more straightforward-but-effective style by Gordon Parks Jr. (whose father, incidentally, took the reins of the equally influential Shaft the year before). It's still basically the same plot, but instead of Ron O'Neal...
- 6/12/2018
- Rollingstone.com
Hollywood's obsession with remakes of recognizable properties makes complete sense, from a business standpoint. Why not start with a title that people might know, at least by reputation? In the case of Superfly, the original was released in 1972 as part of the first wave of what came to known as "blaxploitation," featuring Ron O'Neal as a cocaine dealer who wants to get out of the business with 'one more deal.' Under the direction of Gordon Parks Jr., it was flashy, it was snazzy, it was entertaining, and it made money. The new version, helmed by Director X (known for his extravagant music videos), again looks flashy and snazzy, updating the setting and the details; now our hero, Youngblood Priest (Trevor Jackson), is into cryptocurrency!...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 5/7/2018
- Screen Anarchy
Gordon Parks Jr.’s 1972 blaxploitation film gets a slick modern update with 2018’s Superfly, a new movie from a filmmaker Director X. Watch the Superfly trailer below. In 1972, the blaxploitation film Superfly hit theaters and unleashed a killer soundtrack featuring songs like “Pusherman” by Curtis Mayfield Now here comes Superfly, which brings the story into the 21s century and throws in […]
The post ‘Superfly’ Trailer: The 1970s Film Gets A Modern-Day Update appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Superfly’ Trailer: The 1970s Film Gets A Modern-Day Update appeared first on /Film.
- 5/6/2018
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Best known for the music videos he has made for Drake, Jay-z, and Rihanna, Canada’s Director X — real name Julien Christian Lutz — will debut his first feature this summer, a remake of 1972 blaxploitation classic “Super Fly.” Sony Pictures released the first full-length trailer of his version, “Superfly,” on Friday. “Grown-ish” actor Trevor Jackson assumes the role originated by Ron O’Neal: Youngblood Priest, a cocaine dealer with a knack for martial arts.
Director X shifted the film’s backdrop from Harlem to Atlanta, where shooting commenced this January. The trailer opens with Youngblood, a hustler since age 11, prosperous and taking advantage of the city’s glittering nightlife. A wise mentor named Scatter, supportive best friend, and alluring girlfriend keep him grounded.
Yet those comforts are disrupted when Youngblood finds himself at the center of a shootout plotted by a menacing new crew, clad head-to-toe in white and sent by a Mexican drug lord.
Director X shifted the film’s backdrop from Harlem to Atlanta, where shooting commenced this January. The trailer opens with Youngblood, a hustler since age 11, prosperous and taking advantage of the city’s glittering nightlife. A wise mentor named Scatter, supportive best friend, and alluring girlfriend keep him grounded.
Yet those comforts are disrupted when Youngblood finds himself at the center of a shootout plotted by a menacing new crew, clad head-to-toe in white and sent by a Mexican drug lord.
- 5/4/2018
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
Michael K. Williams has joined the cast of the “Superfly” remake from Sony, an individual with knowledge of the project tells TheWrap. Williams will play Scatter. Director X is directing based off a script by Alex Tse. Additionally, Esai Morales is joining the cast in the role of Adalberto. The original blaxploitation crime drama, which was directed by Gordon Parks Jr. and starred Ron O’Neal as Priest, followed an African American cocaine dealer who tries to secure one more deal before getting out of the business for good. Also Read: Sony Pushes 'Barbie' Release Date to May 2020 Williams and Morales join a...
- 1/29/2018
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Allen Maldonado, who recurs on ABC’s Black-ish, has landed the part of Litty in Sony’s Superfly remake, which has Director X at the helm. Trevor Jackson has been tapped for the starring role of Youngblood Priest, with Jason Mitchell on board as Eddie. Alex Tse will pen the screenplay based on the original Gordon Parks Jr.-directed blaxploitation crime drama, which follows an African American cocaine dealer who tries to secure one more deal before getting out of…...
- 1/24/2018
- Deadline
Exclusive: Director X (aka Julien Christian Lutz) is in talks to direct the remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly, which is set up at Sony Pictures. Watchmen scribe Alex Tse is drafting the screenplay, while Joel Silver is producing. We hear Grown-ish star Trevor Jackson is in the mix for the lead role of Youngblood Priest. The studio declined comment. The original film was directed by Gordon Parks Jr. and starred Ron O'Neal as Priest, an African American…...
- 12/20/2017
- Deadline
Sony continues to look for the next big hit and has now closed a development deal for the rights to the classic blaxploitation pic Superfly. Variety reports, that Sony has pegged Watchmen writer Alex Tse to write the script for the film that will be inspired by the 1972 classic that starred Ron O’Neal as Priest, a cocaine dealer looking to score one more super deal and retire.
The original film was directed by Gordon Parks Jr. who also happened to be the son of Gordon Parks, the man who directed one of the most iconic blaxploitation films of all time, the classic Shaft.
Fun fact about Superfly, even though the film was a cult hit, it's soundtrack is considered to be one of the best of all time. Composed by R&B legend Curtis Mayfield, it is the Only soundtrack to make more money than its film earned at the box office.
The original film was directed by Gordon Parks Jr. who also happened to be the son of Gordon Parks, the man who directed one of the most iconic blaxploitation films of all time, the classic Shaft.
Fun fact about Superfly, even though the film was a cult hit, it's soundtrack is considered to be one of the best of all time. Composed by R&B legend Curtis Mayfield, it is the Only soundtrack to make more money than its film earned at the box office.
- 11/30/2017
- by Kristian Odland
- GeekTyrant
Initially planning to make a list of just 10 films, it was easy at first, but then I quickly realized that the 70's were a great time for black films and there was such a wide diversity of films, that I couldn't just list 10 blaxploitation flicks, but instead, expanded the list to include other films from that period that would not easily fit into the blaxploitation genre. Keep in mind that this is my list and not the last, definite word on the subject. Feel free to add, subtract or argue with my choices. We still have freedom of speech. 1) "Three The Hard Way" - (1974 dir. Gordon Parks Jr.) The great Gordon Parks' son had quite a ride in the 70's cranking out...
- 5/8/2015
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
I hate to admit that but we’ve been lax at S & A. I was at the post office this afternoon and saw This, a new stamp in the Usps Black Heritage series honoring filmmaking pioneer Oscar Micheaux. I had no idea about this. Did you?
The stamp was introduced and issued on June 22 in a ceremony in New York. Of course, I don’t expect the mainstream media be on top of this, but the black media should have been. This is important, if I do say so myself. Without Micheaux there wouldn’t have been a black cinema in America or in the world. No Gordon Parks. No Gordon Parks Jr. No Spencer Williams. No Allan and Albert Hughes. No Julie Dash. No Michael Schulz or Spike Lee. No George Tillman. No Gina Prince-Bythewood. No Charles Burnett And yes even no Tyler Perry either. No, not even those...
The stamp was introduced and issued on June 22 in a ceremony in New York. Of course, I don’t expect the mainstream media be on top of this, but the black media should have been. This is important, if I do say so myself. Without Micheaux there wouldn’t have been a black cinema in America or in the world. No Gordon Parks. No Gordon Parks Jr. No Spencer Williams. No Allan and Albert Hughes. No Julie Dash. No Michael Schulz or Spike Lee. No George Tillman. No Gina Prince-Bythewood. No Charles Burnett And yes even no Tyler Perry either. No, not even those...
- 7/2/2010
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
Here's a sideshow gallery of poster artwork from director Scott Sanders movie Black Dynamite. The film stars African American martial artist Michael Jai White who woud have been a huge star if the Spawn movie had not been so lame. The movie is a loving ode to the classic blaxploitation movies of the 1970's.
While the movie itself and the artwork pull on many of the films of the genre, you can clearly see the influence of some of the best known ones in the posters. Namely the Gordon Parks Jr. directed, Curtis Mayfield scored Super Fly which starred Ron O'Neal. Gordon Parks snr (yes the father) 1971 classic and probably the genres best known film Shaft. Haft of course was scored by the legendary Isaac Hayes and starred probably the genres biggest star Richard Roundtree. And then of course there's the influence of Black Belt Jones, which starred Afro sporting martial arts legend Jim Kelly,...
While the movie itself and the artwork pull on many of the films of the genre, you can clearly see the influence of some of the best known ones in the posters. Namely the Gordon Parks Jr. directed, Curtis Mayfield scored Super Fly which starred Ron O'Neal. Gordon Parks snr (yes the father) 1971 classic and probably the genres best known film Shaft. Haft of course was scored by the legendary Isaac Hayes and starred probably the genres biggest star Richard Roundtree. And then of course there's the influence of Black Belt Jones, which starred Afro sporting martial arts legend Jim Kelly,...
- 1/28/2009
- by Leigh
- Latemag.com/film
Gordon Parks, who became a pioneering and influential force in African-American cinema with the films The Learning Tree and Shaft, died on Tuesday in New York; he was 93. Born in Kansas, Parks was orphaned at 15 and grew up homeless, taking jobs wherever he could before becoming interested in photography in the 1930s, working several government jobs during World War II. He ultimately joined Life magazine in the late 40s as the publication's first African-American photographer, and his worked ranged from celebrity shoots to photo essays chronicling the effects of poverty, segregation, and crime. In the 60s, his work covering the Black Power movement and a poverty-stricken family in Rio de Janiero became some of his most notable, with a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel, The Learning Tree, also published early in the decade. With encouragement from John Cassavettes, Parks became the first African-American filmmaker to helm a major studio film with his 1969 adaptation of The Learning Tree, which was among the first 25 films to be preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. His second film, the groundbreaking cult classic Shaft (1971), was a resounding commercial success, and despite Parks' protestations that the movie was not meant to be exploitative, helped launch the "blaxploitation" movement of the 70s. Parks went on to direct Shaft's Big Score, The Super Cops, and Leadbelly in the 70s; his son, Gordon Parks Jr. (who died in a plane crash in 1979), directed another cult classic, Superfly. Photography and filmmaking were just two of Parks' accomplishments, as he also wrote novels, memoirs, poetry and music, receiving a National Medal of Arts, and was the co-founder of Essence magazine. Married and divorced three times, Parks is survived by a son, two daughters, and several grandchildren. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 3/8/2006
- WENN
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