Luke Cage

Sweet Christmas!

Marvel Studios are a pretentious bunch. Their goal of building a cinematic universe has paid them and so has the TV universe set up with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Daredevil & Jessica Jones. Comic Book fans know that Daredevil & Jessica Jones are members of The Defenders, a group that is completed with the addition of the recently premiered Luke Cage and soon to be released Iron Fist series.While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. & Agent Carter haven't been everybody's cup of tea, Netflix has delivered a couple of great superhero series (Daredevil & Jessica Jones) so, is Luke Cage another certified hit? or does it sink into oblivion as Agent Carter and the dudes from SHIELD?

Before we answered that question, let's remember how Luke Cage came to be the hero for hire everyone knows as Power Man. Luke Cage was created by Archie Goodwin & John Romita Sr. in 1972 during the heyday of the Blaxploitation film genre. The original series was called Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, while on issue #17 was renamed Luke Cage, Power Man. His adventures were far darker than most of the other superheroes living in N.Y. Since the blaxploitation genre lost popularity by 1978, Cage joined forces with Iron Fist and the comic book series, known as Luke Cage & Iron Fist lasted until 1986 where it was cancelled due to low sales. In 1992 there was a brief update on the character but then again, it didn't do that good in the sales department so he was forever turned into a character making special appearances in other comic book magazines such as New Avengers, Daredevil, Thunderbolts and Secret War (I recommend reading this one for many reasons, and no, it's not the same Secret Wars from the 80's)

The now legendary Luke Cage #1.

Bulletproof brother of Harlem.

Now, Netflix nailed it with Daredevil. Two spectacular seasons (we reviewed its first season here) And by adding Jessica Jones (Luke Cage's wife by the way) fans were thrilled to know The Defenders were just around the corner.

Marvel's Luke Cage, or simply Luke Cage, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Cheo Hodari Coker. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the third in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Coker serving as showrunner.

Bad dudes get haircuts too!

There's always a woman behind a man's back.

Mike Colter stars as Carl Lucas / Luke Cage, a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime. Mahershala Ali, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Erik LaRay Harvey, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard also star. Development of the series began in late 2013. In December 2014, Colter was cast as Cage, to appear first in Marvel's Jessica Jones, with Coker hired as the showrunner in March 2015. Filming began in New York City in September 2015 and concluded in March 2016.

The series premiered on September 28, 2016 in Harlem, with the full series of 13 episode releasing on Netflix on September 30. The series received generally positive reviews, with praise going to Colter, Missick, Ali and Woodard for their performances, the 1970s style, and music, with its structure and some of the writing viewed as some of the series' shortcomings.

Pops, a larger than life character.

Get the fuck out of my lawn!

I got to say I was very excited when the series was announced, because just like the Supergirl series, Luke Cage would introduce a character that doesn't follow the overly used "White male American superhero" cliche. Supergirl was the first take on an all female cast since the Wonder Woman series from the late 70's! and Luke Cage on the other hand, is the first take on a black superhero. You know, I really don't like saying "a black superhero" we're all human beings regardless the color of our skin BUT, for philosophical reasons, Luke Cage shows the world there can be a superhero that doesn't look like Captain America and is not afraid of wearing a hoodie in front of the abusive American police  that shoot black people just because. So yeah, I definitely support the miscalled "minorities" because of my own Latino roots, and no, I'm neither Mexican nor a dishwasher or narco, stop using stereotypes to refer to other human beings!

As I said before, I started Luke Cage with high expectations, as I am sure many people did, because I thought I already knew what to expect. After all, this is not the first time we have seen this character (he also appeared in Jessica Jones). In terms of the main character, Mike Colter brings the same good performance to the character this time around, but where this show falls flat is everyone else. I want to say that the supporting cast kill this show, but that isn't fair to the actors and actresses who play them, because the acting is solid all around in Luke Cage. The problem is the writing. The writing makes this by far the worst of all the Marvel TV shows. This was not immediately clear, and so for the first few episodes I really enjoyed Luke Cage. The music was fantastic, the villain, Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, was very charismatic and initially intimidating, and the banter between characters (usually involving "Pop") was enjoyable. Then it started to fall apart when it came time for Luke to step up to be a hero. 

Shades.

Friendship between a man & a woman is possible.

The biggest misstep is one that Marvel consistently has problems with: the villain. "Cottonmouth" is quite possibly the dumbest, least powerful (or in any way successful) villain in the entire MCU. In order to raise the stakes, the villain has to pose a threat of some kind to the hero. The best villains match, or even exceed the power of the heroes they face off against. "Cottonmouth" is not very powerful and intimidating to begin with, and does nothing as the series goes on but lose more power and control. Wilson Fisk in Daredevil was a fantastic villain because he was not only physically intimidating (even to the point of being able to go toe to toe with Daredevil himself) but he was a master manipulator and strategist. It took everything Daredevil and company had to put him away, and Daredevil only barely pulled it off at that (and not till the last episode of the season). "Cottonmouth" on the other hand, is not physically intimidating, and is not only not an intelligent strategist, but he cannot even control his own crew to the point that they kill people that he does not want dead. He repeatedly tries to kill Luke, with absolutely no success, and yet refuses to try anything else. There is even a scene where his cousin (a corrupt city councilwoman who is also completely ineffectual) advises him to try to kill Luke in a different manner, such as drowning or burning. To this "Cottonmouth" simply responds nah, I'll just shoot him some more, because that seems to work really well. 

To make everything worse, midway through the season after building a rivalry between Luke and "Cottonmouth" the entire time, "Cottonmouth" is abruptly killed in a stupid spat between him and his cousin. This apparently was a way to frame Luke for the murder, I guess to bring Misty Knight (the female detective that is constantly on Luke's case for no good reason) back into the plot since she was no longer relevant. This makes no sense, because Luke has an alibi for the murder, having been with Claire (nurse from Daredevil) being shot in the park at the time of the killing. So instead of a showdown with "Cottonmouth", Luke now battles for his life against a villain who we haven't even seen on screen the ENTIRE season until he abruptly shows up and starts shooting Luke with super bullets for reasons? There is no tension at all for this fight because we don't know anything about this person (except he's the one called Diamondback, who has been name dropped a couple of times) or what his motivations are for wanting to kill Luke. 

The real villain, Willys Stryker AKA Diamondback.

They tell me you're bulletproof, dodge this!

Overall, out of the bunch of Marvel Comics TV live action series, Luke Cage is saved from being the worst only because that place is already taken by Agent Carter & Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While it features fantastic photography and an astonishing carefully crafted original Soundtrack, the series main plot is too weak, and it falls short after episode six which is clearly a big issue, since it's a superhero series that doesn't feel anything super. The whole Harlem black gangster urban vibe ends up eating up the whole series and you forget you're watching a Marvel Comics live action series. In addition, there's too much talking and too little action.

Here's the series teaser trailer:

 a Mike Colter interview:

Three The Hard Way

Action gets bigger by the trio.

The blaxploitation has a wide list of blockbusters which I've watched already but haven't got the time of reviewing most of them. Hell! I even own Pam Grier several reviews of hers! Today's entry, Three The Hard Way, a 1974 non stop action flicker directed by Gordon Parks Jr, written by Eric Bercovici & Jerry Ludwig, and starred by Jim Brown (as Jimmy Lait), Fred Williamson (as Jagger Daniels) and martial arts superstar Jim Kelly (as Mister Keyes) Although this film may not be everyone's cup of tea, one thing is guaranteed: you won't want to miss a single minute of the film. Three The Hard Way is pure action from start to finish, bloody shootings, ass kicking a la martial arts style, dangeroues Neo-Nazies and even more dangerous female threesomes (no pun intended)

When diabolical racist/fascist/evil white cracker Monroe Feather (Jay Robinson), with the help of fellow evil whitey, scientist Dr. Fortrero (Richard Angarola) invent a red serum that is harmless to whites and lethal to blacks and plan to dump it in the water supplies of Washington D.C., Detroit and L.A., they didn't count on one thing - the awesome power of Jimmy Lait (Brown), Jagger Daniels (Williamson) and Mister Keyes (Kelly)! Can this team of righteous soul brothers take down Feather's budding, red-beret wearing neo-Nazi organization, or will millions of African-Americans perish? They really, truly do not make them like this anymore. Films like this should be treasured. Just look at the tagline on the poster above. Can you imagine a movie coming out today that proudly, in big red letters, proclaims that they are going to save their race? 

We kick your ass in style.

Did someone say white cracker?

Three the Hard Way, besides being a clever title (three dudes, three cities that must be saved, and three dominatrixes, but more on that later), is a golden age of blaxploitation gem. It is filled to the brim with jive talk, fly threads and funky tunes. It also has plenty of action, and who better to dispense it than the three coolest men in cinema at the time - all in one place! Jim Brown as Lait is a successful record producer. He's so good at what he does, his collars are bigger than pizza slices, he drives a Rolls Royce with "LAIT" as the license plate, and tells the Impressions what to do in the studio. He even produces his own theme song, sung by the Impressions! The action kicks off when Feather's goons kidnap his old lady, Wendy (Frazier), and Lt. Di Nisco (Rocco) is more interested in Lait than in the bad guys. So Lait calls in his buddies Daniels and Keyes to dispense some justice with a blue van filled with automatic weapons. Mister Keyes even predates Mr. T as being a legal name, and they even have the same reasons ("so people will have to call me Mister" - although T might have the edge because his legal middle name is a dot).

Kelly gets to make more of his trademark, pre-Billy Blanks funny faces and noises, and there's even a scene which must have fulfilled the fantasies of the urban, inner-city audiences this played to at the time, where a bunch of cops harass him and try to arrest him and he beats them all up with style and aplomb and rides away. Fred Williamson is as cool and charming as ever as the cigar-chomping Daniels. A standout scene occurs when three women, Countess (Pamela Serpe), Princess (Marie O'Henry) and Empress (Tsu) ride in on red white and blue motorcycles, with outfits to match. It seems they are a team of dominatrixes and this is how our Three the Hard Way boys get the information they need. Perhaps this was such an appealing concept it inspired the movie Ebony, Ivory and Jade (1976).

The coolest female biker team.

Not afraid of using their weapons.

Three the Hard Way is a much better version of the team-up concept than the much later Williamson/Brown outing On the Edge (2002), and provides a lot of the obvious inspiration behind the parodies I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and Black Dynamite (2008). Additionally, besides the impressive on-screen talent (we didn't even mention an appearance by TNT Jackson herself, Jeannie Bell), there are some big names behind the camera as well - director Gordon Parks Jr, cinematographer Lucien Ballard, and a stunt department that includes Hal Needham, Bob Minor and Buddy Joe Hooker, among others...you can really learn a lot if you read the credits! All of this came together in the end to produce an above-average blaxploitation film.

While it does start to drag a bit right before the climax, travel back in time to when cars were gigantic and boatlike, and when Williamson, Brown and Kelly were the undisputed kings of soulful action. 

Racist pigs.

The Impressions!

The film has its flaws though, and they're mostly edition issues. The following list explains the most notable goofs in Three The Hard Way:

-In the Chicago sequence, Jimmy and Jagger are chasing one of the white supremacists through town and they pass the same man twice.

-When Mister Keyes fights the corrupt police officers, his shoes go from brown boots to brown basketball shoes and back between shots.

-The blue van alternates from shot to shot between two very different models.

-When Jimmy is talking to Wendy from the phone booth he is clearly inside the booth while the gravel truck is charging the booth (0:54:04).Yet,seconds after the gravel truck hits the booth Jimmy isn't inside the booth and he is hanging from the back of the truck instead(0:54:09).

-In the lengthy shootout at the end of the movie, there is snow everywhere on the mountainous terrain, then no snow at all. Also, the action shifts back and forth from day to night and back again. 

 

Martial arts never looked cooler.

Watcha lookin' at?

 

Overall, Three The Hard Way is an action roller coaster from start to finish, and that makes a likable film for all audiences (who doesn't like guns, fights and boobs?) If you're a fan of the blaxploitation genre you've probably watched the movie already, but if you're not a fan of blaxploitation this movie can be an excellent starter.

Here's the movie trailer:

 

Star Trek, The Original Series

An old VHS Star Trek ad.

Star Wars and Star Trek, two space operas that changed the world of Science Fiction forever. One would do it in the late 60's via TV, and the other,  in the late 70's via the big screen. Millions of fans rejoice today for each, or both and it's been a fifty some years journey that doesn't seem to have a final mission. To be fair, Star Trek came first but, before it there were many serials attempting to captivate audiences with adventures in worlds far away. 

My family is mostly the Star Wars kind, but I have a profound nostalgia bond with Star Trek also. Having watched the original series on re runs, made my childhood a lot happier. To this day I remember asking my dad to build me a wooden U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. I also remember making my own battles with homemade cardboard spaceships. When the movies came out I wasn't old enough for the theater but my dad would rent them for me as soon as they became available in the unforgettable VHS format. With all these fond memories I couldn't possibly  forget to mention the magnificent Star Trek The 25th Anniversary Edition Nintendo (NES) game! hours of playing it! magnificent action and astonishing graphics for an 8 bit console! The game was so well developed that you actually felt you were inside an episode of the series instead of playing a video game. Luckily for me, and for many, I can still play that sweet game through a fantastic NES emulator, oh boy, just typing these words have me craving for the game again.
 

The magnificent crew.

The legendary bridge.

Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner in perhaps his larger than life role) is the audacious, impulsive, and womanizing Enterprise commander. In almost every episode he has some gorgeous new love interest, seldom exhibiting much restraint! Kirk frequently engages in physical hand to hand combat with his opponents, torn shirt & sweat being common. Yet he does manage to come up with some bold and brilliant moves such as his legendary ruse, the Corbomite Manouever. Perhaps his primary task is serving as referee between the constantly sparring First Officer Spock and ship's doctor, Bones McCoy.

The heart of the series is Mr. Spock(Leonard Nimoy), the half Vulcan First Officer and ship's Science Officer. Actually however, Spock would maintain that he is the HEAD of the series, since he prides himself on his unfailing logic and lack of emotion. The inner conflict between his logic driven paternal Vulcan half and his emotional maternal human half form an ongoing theme. Spock possesses two useful Vulcan abilities, the neck pinch and the mind meld. The most engaging character interaction is between the logic motivated Spock versus the highly emotional ship's physician, Dr. Leonard (Bones) McCoy, who is basically a country doctor in space, a humanitarian leery of all this newfangled gadgetry. McCoy is famous in the Trek world for his expression, 'I'm a doctor, not a ----' (many phrases have been used here).

Black beauty and girl power all in one stunning character.

Live long and prosper.

Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott is a hot tempered Scotsman with a fondness for his native country's whiskey. Scotty constantly bemoans that he 'cannae change the laws of physics' all the while working assorted engineering miracles with the warp core and anti matter this or that. As for Communications Officer Uhura, she is most notable for her regular phrase, 'Hailing frequencies open, Sir.'

To be sure, some of the episodes have less than brilliant plots, notably Spock's Brain, though the character interactions always compensate for any inadequacies. However, some ideas were masterful, including The Enterprise Incident, The Menagerie, and City on the Edge of Forever. The series took on issues of overpopulation (The Mark of Gideon), social class disparity (The Cloud Minders, with its clever cloud city, Stratos), and racism (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield), which involves laughable hatred between two races, one black on the left side & white on the right, the other race vice versa. I personally enjoyed The Naked Time (Nurse Chappel admits her love for Spock), A Taste of Armageddon (computer war), This Side of Paradise (Spock frolics), and Is There in Truth No Beauty? (the Medusan ambassador's incredible ugliness causes madness in the hapless onlooker). However, my absolute favorite is unquestionably the absurd Amok Time, with Spock's ridiculous pon farr mating strife.

The unforgettable original Enterprise!

Laser Beam!

The Enterprise crew consists of a racially diverse group, with its black Communications Officer Uhura and Oriental helmsman Sulu. The ship's navigator, Chekov, is Russian...quite a revolutionary idea for that Cold War era. The cast are perfect in their roles, including William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), and all the others. Special tribute to the late Deforest Kelly (McCoy) and James Doohan (Scotty), who are sadly missed.

This is the series that gave us such technologies as the transporter, tricorder, and cloaking device...high tech weaponry including phasers and photon torpedoes...futuristic games like three dimensional chess...miracle drugs such as cordrazine...and gourmet delicacies like Saurian brandy & Romulan ale. Some of the gadgetry gave a sneak preview of such later real life technology as computer floppy discs. 

Hands up Star Wars fan!

Dressed for the occasion.

In addition to the highly logical Vulcans, Star Trek gave us glimpses of such alien species as the honour driven Klingons and the sneaky Romulans (the Federation's two primary enemies), also the xenophobic Tholians, the reptilian Gorn, and many others. It treated us to the endearing rock like, silicon based Horta and the cute & fuzzy but all too prolific Tribbles (which caused no end of Trouble). And it acquainted us with such planets as Sarpeidon, Eminiar & Vendikar.

In the episode Metamorphosis, we were all introduced to the heroic Zephram Cochrane who invented the warp drive way back in 2063. In constant demand is the dilithium vital to the warp engine's functioning. Star Trek also acquainted us with the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet & Starfleet Academy, and the Federation's much vaunted strict rule called the Prime Directive, which is frequently mentioned but universally ignored! 

Wish I had this Entreprise in my collection.

Star Trek is simply an incredibly fun and entertaining science fiction series, though it was hardly appreciated back in the 1960's when it originally aired. Fortunately, it lives on today in re runs (DVDs, Blu Ray and on demand also), giving Trekkies the ongoing excitement of regularly 'boldly going where no man has gone before'. Live long and prosper, everyone! 

Here's the Season 1 intro:

Here's season 2 intro:

And the ending:

Plus the Pilot episode (The Cage) with very different actors in key roles:

The Classic Nintendo (NES) Star Trek: The 25th Anniversary Edition game:

Foxy Brown

The meanest chick in town!

As promised in last year's entry, The SPAM Alternative team of reviewers has decided to pay homage to the Blaxploitation genre by checking the films that represent the genre at its best. Jim Kelly, Pam Grier, Tamara Dobson and Richard Roundtree are perhaps the names that come to mind when we think of the many faces the genre had in its heyday but, there were also some less popular blaxploitation stars that gave their best to a genre that showed the world how tough being black in the 70's was.

Pam Grier is perhaps the number one bombshell of the genre but, don't let her perfect anatomy distract you from her acting skills (unlike many other actresses who got the job only because of their stunning beauty)

In 1973, the film "Coffy"(our previous blog entry) made Pam Grier a star, a permanent icon of the blaxploitation films of the era, and a symbol of female empowerment in the face of racial tension. She also kicked a whole lot of tail. Writer and director of "Coffy", Jack Hill, had finished a script for a sequel when the studio decided at the last minute that it didn't want to film a sequel to "Coffy." Re-working his script, Hill gave birth to what could arguably the seminal female blaxploitation film: "Foxy Brown."

Foxy Brown won't stop at nothing for her revenge!

Boobs that kill.

Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) is a strong woman striving for a better world. While she attempts to help her drug-dealing brother Link (Antonio Fargas) change his ways, she waits for her federal cop boyfriend Dalton (Terry Carter) to recover from plastic surgery designed to hide him from the drug lords he informed on. Renaming himself Michael, he plans to run away with Foxy to a new life. All of his plans crumble, however, when Link discovers Michael's true identity, and informs on him for a hefty sum to the devious Miss Katherine (Katheryn Loder) and the suave Stve Elias (Peter Brown). When Katherine's goons kill Michael in Foxy's house, Foxy swears revenge. She infiltrates a call girl ring run by Katherine in an attempt to bring the crime lord down in the name of vengeance.

Hill has created an iconic character in Foxy Brown, a character who has been copied and referenced to varying degrees of success since her inception (most shamefully in Beyonce Knowles' character of Foxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers in Goldmember"). It's not difficult to see why. As embodied by Grier, Foxy is the ultimate female: beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and undeniably fierce. Grier is such a pleasure to watch on screen that you sometimes forget about the lack of support she has around her or the simplistic morals of the story.

Loder's Miss Katherine Wall is a villainess of operatic proportions, filled with delightful malice and sadistic impulse. Brown's Steve is just as good, every inch the handsome mid-70s man. Fargas is also memorable as the weasely and cowardly Link, but outside of these three, the supporting players are only adequate. While Junita Brown's doomed call girl has her moments, the rest of the supporting cast is fairly flat, with line readings not having the right amount of emotion (either too much or too little) and often hitting just off-key of the psychological and emotional core that they need to strike. 

Drugs & family do not get along.

Watcha lookin' at?

While Hill's script taps deep into the racial biases of the 70s, and is filled with the appropriate amount of slang and tension, his characters are often moral absolutes with little in shades of grey or complex motivations. Often, this exists on a similar plane to race: with the exception of Dalton/Michael's fellow agents, every white person in the film is shown as uncaring at best, evil of the highest order at worst. By the same token, with the exception of Link and a fellow dope dealer, the black characters are heroic and upright. In the context of the film, the conceit is appropriate, but it can lead to some viewers being upset or failing to take into account the politics of the time that would lead to such a depiction and dismissing the film out of hand.

Despite these flaws, "Foxy Brown" is definitely a film to watch not just for historical value, but for the remarkable performance of Pam Grier, an actress just as strong and beautiful today as she was in 1974. Whenever she's on the screen, you immediately forget about any imperfections in the movie. As the theme song says, she is "superbad."  

Give that man a hand!

This movie is not only about violent revenge.

Overall, Foxy Brown is one of Pam Grier's best blaxploitation movies (topped only by Coffy). From the James Bondish opening sequence of Pam dancing to the "Foxy Brown" theme song, to Antonio Fargas ("That's my sister...and she's a whole lotta woman!") to the spectacular ending which I will not spoil, this is a must see for any a) Pam Grier fan b)blaxploitation fan c)anybody who wants to see a strong female character beat the crap out of her opponents. That being said, it does feature the standard "Grier sleeps her way to the top of crime syndicate", a plot ripped off of Coffy. With scenes like the famous "Afro as holster" sequence and the inclusion of a Black Panther-esque anti-drug group this movie is fun from start to finish. See Foxy Brown tonite and you'll find ouy why Quentin Tarantino filmed his own blaxploitation film with Grier herself.

Here's the movie trailer:

Coffy

From nurse to bad ass avenger.

Pam Grier made many movies in the 1970s, but 1973's Coffy as much as anything, is the one role on which her reputation as the Queen of blaxploitation rests. After a bit part in a Russ Meyer movie (his classic 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls'), Jack Hill, former Roger Corman protege and director of the creepy cult favourite 'Spider Baby', "discovered" her and gave her two strong roles in his popular chicks-in-chains movies 'The Big Doll House' and 'The Big Bird Cage'. Then Hill wrote and directed 'Coffy', a hugely entertaining revenge thriller that really showcases Pam Grier's talent and charisma to the max. The movie was hugely successful and made Grier an exploitation superstar. Instead of a female James Bond character like Cleopatra Jones(our next review), Hill made Coffy a regular working class black woman (a nurse as a matter of fact), who must use her brains and looks to achieve her goal - revenge for the drug addiction of her kid sister. 

The movie crosses elements seen in the male blaxploitation classics of the period like 'Superfly' and 'Shaft'(I'm sorry fellow readers, we still haven't upload our reviews for each film, but soon we'll update our blaxploitation catalog massively) with the vigilante genre which would really kick off with the success of 'Death Wish' the following year (yup, 'Coffy' PREDATES 'Death Wish', so let's get that straight). Grier is sensational in this movie. She can act, she's tough, she pulls off the action scenes with credibility, and of course she looks great, and there is a fair bit of nudity. Grier went on to movies like 'The Arena', 'Sheba, Baby' and 'Drum' before the blaxploitation boom burst, but it's a pity that she only made one more movie with Jack Hill ('Foxy Brown' another brilliant piece that will be reviewed properly very soon) because they were a dynamite team bringing out the best in each other. 'Coffy' has some interesting supporting cast members including Allan Arbus (best know to fans of TV's 'M.A.S.H.') as Mob boss Vitroni, future 'Robocop' actor Robert DoQui as flamboyant pimp King George, and the brilliant Sid Haig as the sleazy Omar. Haig was a regular Grier co-star throughout the 1970s and Jack Hill's favourite actor ever since his breakthrough role in 'Spider Baby'. 

Say hello to my little friend!

She had a shotgun before shotguns were cool.

"Coffy" has got to be one of the slickest pieces of entertainment ever created, not to mention the penultimate "Blaxploitation" cinema experience. It's a credit to everyone involved in the film that the story could be so gratuitously nonsensical and contrived and still seem completely logical while it's happening. It's like a comic book come to life.

Pam Grier plays Coffy, a nurse who goes on a murderous rampage after her sister overdoses on drugs supplied by a "pusher" who knows that Coffy is sending her money. From the opening scene, where Coffy pulls a severely-sawed-off shotgun out of her macramé purse to blast a big-time drug dealer to hell, the frantic pace never lets up until the bitter, seething end.

After making her first "hit", Coffy's vengeance is further stoked when her do-good cop friend is taken out by the dirty dealers for not accepting a payoff. Coffy blows her top and takes some time off work to really go for the jugular, working her way through the city's drug cartel by posing as a Jamaican hooker named "Mystique". It's not hard--she gets the vital information in a hilarious scene involving a woman named Priscilla, whose "old man," Harriet, turns out to be more than Coffy bargained for.

Her body is her ultimate weapon.

White sluts do their part in Coffy too.

The genius in the film is in the way that Coffy manages to manipulate her way through all of these scenarios. Even the hardest criminals are putty in her hands, and she never looks more beautiful than when she is covered in scratches, grime, and wielding a shotgun. She has a seemingly endless bag of tricks, several of which involve weapons hidden in her astonishing afro. She's comfortable around a gun, but she'll use any old thing lying around to wreak her vengeance: a broken wine bottle, a hypodermic needle full of dope, a makeshift shiv, even a convenient rock lying on the side of the road.

By the time the climax rolls around, the film has become deliriously exciting, building continuously upwards until you think it might collapse in on itself. But it doesn't. "Coffy" stands tall, even over the strains of a closing song that tells us "Revenge is a virtue." This film is nearly perfect in every way.  

Stay tuned for we will continue checking Pam Grier's amazing films and other blaxploitation classics that DO deserve room in a self-proclaimed "connoisseur" blog like yours truly. 

Classy pimps.

Oh, by the way! Happy holidays!

Here's the movie trailer:

Hot Potato

This movie title spoils the plot.

Professional martial artist/instructor-turned-actor Jim Kelly stars in "Hot Potato". This film, released in 1975. The film is a nominal sequel to 1974's "Black Belt Jones": Here, Kelly again plays a US government agent/contractor, 'black belt' Jones, but no mention is made at all of his adventure battling Pinky & the Los Angeles Mob, so this could alternately be thought of as a prequel as well. Presumably the film was mainly meant for overseas/international audiences, as it is light on dialogue (despite the principals being American), and mostly dependent on extended fight sequences (replete with slapstick sound effects) to move the plodding plot along.

The plot-- such as it is-- involves the kidnapped adult daughter (Judith Brown) of a southern U.S. senator, who is held a fictional southeast Asian island country by a crime lord, Rangoon, (Sam Hiona). Jones is partnered with two Americans who are also martial artists, the slick-talking Chicago (Geoffrey Binney) and the potbellied Rhino (George Memmoli). A tough-talking fourth party, Thai detective (Irene Tsu), leads the rescue expedition (and guess who she falls for?) "Black Belt Jones" screenwriter Oscar Williams does double duty as writer/director here, but the film seemingly suffers. Attempts at comedy just come across as lame, as when a toy car seems to genuinely terrify a crew of indigenous henchmen, or when Rhino gets into a pick-up Sumo match with a local; A "romantic interlude" is shoehorned in just before a climactic battle, involving random fireworks, a crucified woman and a pit with two tigers.

Da hood can be safe again.

Movie postcards.

Kelly, inexplicably paired with two bickering sidekicks, has even less dialogue here than in its predecessor. Chicago's smart-aleck front supposedly masks his pain over losing a wife and child 5 years ago; Rhino (the most obnoxious presence in the film) apparently spends his free time in eating contests with locals and trying to bed multiple women; As a "fish out of water" escapade, this film doesn't have the same impact as "Black Belt Jones" and its hip-urban-America setting. The film, shot on location in Thailand, takes advantage of the interesting visuals of the landscape, including ancient buddhist temples.

While Black Belt Jones (1974) is basically beloved by everyone that's seen it, and deservedly so because it has a certain verve, Hot Potato is just self-conscious. Yes, Kelly makes some funny faces, and there are some beautiful locations, shot very well in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and it is a professional, Warner Brothers production, but it is watered-down mainstream Kung Fu for the masses. No characters are even remotely developed and it becomes a slog at a certain point. It's a childish adventure picture, and while it is somewhat amusing to see people getting kicked, punched, maimed, and in some cases presumably killed in the name of high-spirits comedy and fun, somehow it never really gels or works.

1975 double feature.

Sup' cracker!

If you ever get a hold of Hot Potato, simply fast forward to the end credits, as there is a montage of the "best" scenes in the movie. Seeing these highlights, you will get the same, if not a better effect as watching the movie and you will save about 90 minutes. Although you might miss the legendary Yuen Biao if you do. But then again, it's easy to miss him if you watch the movie straight through.

Anyone who wants their fond memories of Black Belt Jones unsullied should steer clear of Hot Potato.

One last thing: It's a mystery just what the title 'Hot Potato' refers to, if anything: Likely just something 'clever' thought up by the filmmakers and/or the studio.

Here's Jim Kelly showing his smooth karate movies in Hot Potato: