News

by Yann Benarrous

Is it really worthwhile for me to comment further? Just imagine throwing into a defective Thermomix in no particular order Bruce Lee's early classics, (not-the-best) Blaxploitation undercover stories, few OSS177 and other cheap cold war spy fictions with just a drop of Nunsploitation to spice it up. Tempting, isn't it? No surprise to see the B-movies undisputed ruler Quentin Tarantino resurrecting this underground piece for an interview to the Straight Times while promoting “Kill Bill”.

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Obviously, the name Cleopatra Wong is directly inspired form Jack Starrett's “Cleopatra Jones” (1973), just like the introductive “They call her… “ is a common pattern of the Exploitation scene, the most famous probably being the Spaghetti Western “They Call Me Trinity” (1970). Moreover seeing the coming-from-nowhere-soon-returning-to-nowhere leading actress Doris Young getting renamed Marrie Lee is certainly making her a sibling of King Bruce,...

As Pam Grier waxes over her groundbreaking career — touching on everything from Foxy Brown and Coffy to Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 love letter to Grier and the genre she built, Jackie Brown — she takes a moment to take stock of what it all represents.

“I hope I’ve given you a slice of what it’s like to be a woman in film,” says the gilded icon of Blaxploitation films during a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter. “From age 19 to me today, I’m in such gratitude and honor of all the people who taught me so much.”

While a library could be built around what’s been written about the Blaxploitation era and her role in it — the recent Netflix documentary Is that Black Enough for You?!? in part chronicles how the genre made her one of the highest-grossing film stars in the 1970s — these days, Grier is focused on...

A number of great movies are leaving HBO Max at the end of March, so it’s time to prioritize these titles in your queue. Filmmaker James Gunn’s sequel/soft reboot “The Suicide Squad” will depart the streaming service on March 22 after first hitting HBO Max the same day it was released in theaters back in 2021. Similarly, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was whisked away on March 1 after also getting a day-and-date release in 2021 (sorry/not sorry if you missed it).

You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”

Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

Warner Bros. Discovery has been in and out of the news a lot lately. From its ruthless new attitude toward its films and shows to its perpetual (yet worrisome) money games, there's reason to be concerned — that is, if you're one to keep tabs on that sort of thing. Recent drama aside though, Warner's streaming platform, HBO Max, still boasts one of the strongest catalogs in the game. Even with the merciless culling and routine roster rotations, there's still a ton of good to discover each month.

March will signal another shake-up for the streaming library: HBO Max will be removing quite a few movies and shows this month. Fortunately, there's still plenty of time to check out some of the best projects before they're gone. Let's take a look at the best movies and shows leaving HBO Max in March.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward...

Antonio Fargas (“Starsky and Hutch”) and Stephanie Sigman (“Miss Bala”) have joined star Mike Colter in Tubi’s ‘Murder City,’ the second movie filmed under Village Roadshow Pictures’ Black Noir Cinema franchise, co-founded by NBA great Kevin Garnett.

Last December, Variety exclusively announced “Murder City” as one of the first films slated for Black Noir Cinema, a lineup of genre movies developed and produced by Village Roadshow and Tubi, which will exclusively debut on the Fox-owned free streaming platform.

Described as a “thrilling contemporary crime story,” the film follows Neil (Colter), a disgraced former cop, who after losing his job on the police force is forced to work with the city’s most notorious — and ruthless — kingpin, Ash (Sigman), to settle the debts of his estranged, deadbeat father, Graham (Fargas), and protect his wife and son.

Rounding out the film’s cast are Medina Senghore, Rhys Coiro, James Udom, Steven Prescod,...

Gene Lebell, who had an acting and stunt career that stretched from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet to 24 and who the WWE called today “a towering figure in the world of martial arts,” has died. He was 89.

Lebell reportedly had more than 1,000 TV and movie credits, mostly as a stuntman, but also as a heavy, often a fight referee and sometimes a colorful background character. Dubbed “The Godfather of Grappling,” he faced off onscreen against Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Lee. He refereed Muhammad Ali’s infamous fight against Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki. Holding a 10th degree red belt in Judo and a 9th degree black belt in Ju-jitsu, helped train everyone from Lee to Norris to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Ronda Rousey.

“Gene was the guy who taught Bruce Lee about grappling,” according to comedian, podcaster and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.

The duo...

Max Julien, an actor best known for his lead performance in the 1973 blaxploitation classic “The Mack,” died on Saturday. He was 88 years old.

An official cause of death was not immediately available.

News of Julien’s death was confirmed by his friend, comic book writer and filmmaker David F. Walker. Walker posted a tribute to the late actor on his Instagram.

“I met Max in 1996,” Walker wrote. “He was a great human being and we had so many amazing conversations. He was brilliant and hilarious and charismatic. R.I.P.”

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Released in 1973, “The Mack” co-starred Julien and Richard Pryor. Julien plays John “Goldie” Mickens, an ex-convict on a mission to make a name for himself by becoming the biggest pimp in Oakland, Calif, teaming up with Pryor’s Slim to build a criminal enterprise. The two find...

Max Julien, best known for his starring role in the 1973 blaxploitation film The Mack, died Saturday on his birthday at his home in Los Angeles, according to his friends. He was 88 and no cause of death has been revealed.

“A statement from his public relations team praised his character. “During Julien’s decades-long career, he was known for being bold, honest and straightforward. He would live and speak his own truth both professionally and privately. He was thought of as a rare ‘man among men.”

Julien’s role in The Mack became a classic, snips of it oft-quoted in hip-hop by such stars as Too Short, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy and LL Cool J, among others.The film saw Julien play the part of “Goldie,” an ambitious young pimp from Oakland who faces off with corrupt cops and drug dealers after his release from prison. Richard Pryor plays his sidekick,...

When Village Roadshow CEO Steve Mosko first met with Kevin Garnett to discuss the basketball star’s pivot to the world of entertainment, the longtime film executive says it was immediately clear that the NBA champion’s Content Cartel production company wasn’t merely a vanity label.

“He just laid out how passionate he was about the business and building his company, and was beyond impressive,” Mosko tells Variety in a phone interview, recounting the lunch meeting. “I knew he just wasn’t another athlete who wanted a production shingle so he could tell his friends he has a production shingle.”

Beyond passion, Garnett came to the table with ideas. As the duo, who were introduced by Garnett’s “Uncut Gems” co-star Adam Sandler, discussed what they loved about cinema, the topic of Blaxploitation films came up.

“[Kevin] looked at me and — it was very heartfelt — he said, ‘Growing up as a kid,...

The comedian and former The Daily Show correspondent talks about his favorite Blaxploitation movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Castle (1997)

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary

Pressure (1976)

Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary

Boss (1975)

Django Unchained (2012) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Thing With Two Heads (1972) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary

The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)

The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)

Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)

Black Samurai (1977)

Truck Turner (1974)

Schindler’s List (1993)

Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Judas And The Black Messiah (2021)

Friday Foster (1975)

That Man Bolt (1973)

Blacula (1972)

Foxy Brown (1974) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary

Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)

Willie Dynamite (1973) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Billy Jack (1971)

John Wick (2014)

The Matrix (1999)

Cleopatra Jones...

Chuck Bail, the Hollywood man of action who portrayed the stunt coordinator in the Peter O’Toole-starring The Stunt Man and directed frenetic films including The Gumball Rally and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, has died. He was 85.

Bail died Wednesday in a hospital in Tyler, Texas, his friend and fellow former stuntman Gary Kent told The Hollywood Reporter. Bail had heart and gall bladder issues and then contracted Covid-19, he said.

A strapping 6-foot-4, Bail served as the stunt double for Max Baer Jr. on The Beverly Hillbillies and for Peter Breck on The Big Valley, and he threw punches as henchmen ...

Chuck Bail, the Hollywood man of action who portrayed the stunt coordinator in the Peter O’Toole-starring The Stunt Man and directed frenetic films including The Gumball Rally and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, has died. He was 85.

Bail died Wednesday in a hospital in Tyler, Texas, his friend and fellow former stuntman Gary Kent told The Hollywood Reporter. Bail had heart and gall bladder issues and then contracted Covid-19, he said.

A strapping 6-foot-4, Bail served as the stunt double for Max Baer Jr. on The Beverly Hillbillies and for Peter Breck on The Big Valley, and he threw punches as henchmen ...

Great news for fans of classic Blaxploitation! Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives! Ordering information can be found Here

A Turkish poppy field is torched -and a U.S. drug trafficker known as “Mommy” (Shelley Winters) is feeling pretty burned. She phones the local cops she owns and orders a retaliatory strike on an inner-city antidrug headquarters. Mommy’s next call should be to 911. Because now she’ll have to mess with Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson).

Mommy is relentless in her vendetta – but Cleo responds with catlike karate stealth. Doodlebug, Pickle, Snake and more of Mommy’s offbeat stooges add glide to the story’s stride. Their antics, Mommy’s chortling sleaziness and Cleo’s class shape the power and pizzazz of Cleopatra Jones.

Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson) is a special agent in the international war against dope, but she has her own...

Paul Koslo, a character actor who played the heavy in such films as The Omega Man, Rooster Cogburn and The Stone Killer, has died. He was 74.

Koslo died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Lake Hughes, Calif., his wife, actress Allaire Paterson Koslo, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Koslo also portrayed a Nevada patrolman in Vanishing Point (1971), a bounty hunter in Joe Kidd (1972) and a gang member in Cleopatra Jones (1973) and the True Grit sequel Rooster Cogburn (1975). He appeared in other notable films like Voyage of the Damned (1976) and Heaven's Gate (1980) as ...

Paul Koslo, a character actor who played the heavy in such films as The Omega Man, Rooster Cogburn and The Stone Killer, has died. He was 74.

Koslo died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Lake Hughes, Calif., his wife, actress Allaire Paterson Koslo, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Koslo also portrayed a Nevada patrolman in Vanishing Point (1971), a bounty hunter in Joe Kidd (1972) and a gang member in Cleopatra Jones (1973) and the True Grit sequel Rooster Cogburn (1975). He appeared in other notable films like Voyage of the Damned (1976) and Heaven's Gate (1980) as ...

Top Chef always challenges its contestants to take some diner comfort food like mac 'n' cheese and create an elevated version that pays homage to the original. That’s what’s happening today with the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Originally, these films — such as Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Shaft, Super Fly, Trouble Man and Cleopatra Jones — were cheaply made action genre movies featuring well-dressed black protagonists with a badass attitude and kickass fighting skills. Both attitude and fists were aimed at the villainous rich white "honkies" and smarmy black "jive turkeys" who made their fortunes off the backs of ...

Top Chef always challenges its contestants to take some diner comfort food like mac 'n' cheese and create an elevated version that pays homage to the original. That’s what’s happening today with the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Originally, these films — such as Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Shaft, Super Fly, Trouble Man and Cleopatra Jones — were cheaply made action genre movies featuring well-dressed black protagonists with a badass attitude and kickass fighting skills. Both attitude and fists were aimed at the villainous rich white "honkies" and smarmy black "jive turkeys" who made their fortunes off the backs of ...

Heads up: Spike Lee is coming at you with his greatest and most galvanizing movie in years. BlacKkKlansman is right up there with Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X in the Spike’s Joint pantheon of game-changers. For starters, it gets your blood up about the toxic and enduring power of racism. Based on the true story of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the first African-American cop on the Colorado Springs police force, the film shows how Ron managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and righteously screw with it from the inside.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

The Best of Blaxploitation

Funk. Soul. Ultra-hip. This month, FilmStruck is highlighting Blaxploitation cinema, a group of films made specifically for African American audiences in the 1970s just as black filmmakers were finally allowed to make Hollywood features. This collection features pivotal Black icons from unforgettable films such as Shaft, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Cleopatra Jones and Super Fly, presented alongside a discussion of the history of the genre with Malcolm Mays,...

It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you’re constantly surrounded by armed stupidity. That’s the wise revelation that launches “SuperFly,” the new remake of the 1972 blaxploitation classic starring Ron O’Neal.

In both versions, a successful coke dealer named Priest decides to pull off one last job before retiring from the drug business, only to find himself in a Chinese finger trap: The harder he tries to get out, the more he’s pulled back in.

Helmed by music video visionary Director X (making his feature debut) and written by Alex Tse (“Watchmen”), “SuperFly” is a delightful surprise: funny, brutal, stylish, and thoughtful. It updates the blaxploitation genre with wit and resonance: Police brutality is an inescapable scourge in Priest’s Atlanta, and our hero dispatches one of his enemies while toppling over a Confederate statue.

Watch Video: Watch 'Superfly' Trailer for 'the Hair,...

Former Underground star Jurnee Smollett-Bell is set as the female lead in HBO’s high-profile straight-to-series drama Lovecraft Country, from Oscar winner Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Warner Bros Television.

The project reunites Smollett-Bell with Underground co-creator Misha Green, writer and executive producer of Lovecraft Country. The casting also brings the actress back to HBO, where she was a series regular on the last two seasons of hit vampire drama True Blood. Smollett-Bell signed on for the HBO show after fielding multiple broadcast pilot offers.

Penned by Green based on the 2016 novel by Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Black as he joins up with his friend Letitia (Smollett-Bell) and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. Thus begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white...

Exclusive: Warner Bros is reviving Cleopatra Jones, the 1973 blaxploitation female empowerment film that starred Tamara Dobson as the undercover government agent who used the day job of supermodel as her cover and an excuse to travel to exotic places. The studio has set Misha Green to write the script and produce a film that will present the heroine very much as the fairer gender’s answer to James Bond. Those comparisons were made when the original hit film was released…...

Chicago – The coolest cat on 1970s TV was Huggy Bear, informant to the cop team of “Starsky and Hutch.” The man who portrayed that fly guy was Antonio Fargas, who also could lay claim as the Godfather of Blaxploitation Films (the run of African American cinema in the late 1960s through the ‘70s). Fargas was honored for his contributions with the Career Achievement Award at the Cinepocalypse Film Festival, Music Box Theatre in Chicago.

Career Achievement Honoree Antonio Fargas, Cinepocalypse Film Festival

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Starting with his participation in the breakthrough film “Putney Swope” (1969), Antonio Fargas was in some of the best Blaxploitation films, including “Across 110th Street” (1972), “Cleopatra Jones” (1973), “Foxy Brown” (1974), “Car Wash” (1976) and even the spoof “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” (1988) as “Flyguy.” He portrayed Huggy Bear on “Starsky and Hutch” from 1975 to ’79.

Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com...

Standing in the bay of a speeding Wakandan jet, a member of the African nation's special forces unit – the Dora Milaje – advises their king, T'Challa: "Don't freeze." Calmly, the leader replies "I never freeze." He's assured, regal, radiating a near subzero-temperature sense of cool. And then, donning the mask of the legendary superhero known as the Black Panther, he torpedo drops from the sky. A car explodes beneath him. He effortlessly somersaults through the air, lands sideways on a building in a neon-lit metropolis, races along the building's wall and...

“White Boy Rick,” about a teenager who became an undercover informant for the police in the 1980s, is casting talent for background roles—and it’s a paying gig! We’ve also got two more on-camera opportunities, a union production of “Grease,” and more! “White Boy Rick”“White Boy Rick,” an upcoming feature starring Matthew McConaughey, is casting talent for several background roles including prisoners, Chevron workers, and more. The flick is shooting March 21–June 6 in Cleveland, Ohio and will provide some pay. “The 420 Force”Five leading roles are sought for “The 420 Force,” a web series billed as “James Bond meets ‘Charlie's Angels’ meets Cleopatra Jones.” The project will shoot at to-be-determined dates in California, and will pay $250/day. “Quantico” Background is sought for an upcoming episode of ABC’s hit series, “Quantico.” Seeking male and female talent ages 21–68 to depict “elite Washington, D.C. party-goers,” shooting is slated for Feb.

Brown Sugar, a streaming service featuring classic blaxploitation movies, launched on Thursday. The service is now available for mobile phones and tablets in the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store and for computers at BrownSugar.com. There is a free initial trial period for subscribers with a retail price of $3.99 per month thereafter. Brown Sugar features an extensive library of iconic black movies, all un-edited and commercial-free. Classics available now include: “Foxy Brown,” “Shaft,” “Super Fly,” “Dolemite,” “Cotton Comes to Harlem,” “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Cooley High,” “Black Caesar,” “Cleopatra Jones,” “Mandingo,” “Car Wash” and many more. Also Read: Could 'Fences' and 'Hidden Figures'.

Actor Bernie Casey, who appeared in such films as Boxcar Bertha, Never Say Never Again and Revenge of the Nerds after a career as a standout NFL wide receiver, has died. He was 78. 

Casey, who also starred in Cleopatra Jones and several other blaxploitation movies of the 1970s, died Tuesday after a brief illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his representative told The Hollywood Reporter.

In the Warner Bros. drama Brothers (1977), Casey distinguished himself by portraying a thinly veiled version of George Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party who was killed in what officials described as...

If you’re going to race with the Devil, you’ve got to be fast as hell!

Pull on up to the ’70s, when Satanic Panic fueled the nightmares of a horror-fed generation. Started by Rosemary’s Baby (1968), exploding with The Exorcist (1973), and culminating with The Omen (1976), hoofin’ with the Horned One was a popular dance at the box office. Race with the Devil (1975) is a much less grandiose ride than its esteemed colleagues, but remains a fun and interesting mesh of hot rods and Hell.

Released in June, Rwtd came off the assembly line for $1.7 million Us and returned $12 million, a sizable success for a modest B-flick. Car chase movies always turned a tidy profit on the circuit, exploitation filled with wheels and women perfectly suited for drive-ins across North America. By the time Rwtd was released, satanic horror had saturated the market. But by crossbreeding it with a...

Urban action and fatal attraction give rise to a groove from beyond the grave in this funkadelic, fangadelic blaxploitation double-bill from Eureka Entertainment, which sees the eternally cool William Marshall put a fresh spin on the age-old legend of the vampire, condemned to wander the earth with an insatiable lust for blood as Blacula.

Produced at the height of the blaxploitation era, the Blacula movies are the perfect blend of genre and social film making, the types of which hadn’t been seen before… or since!

Blacula (1972)

Stars: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas, Thalmus Rasulala, Gordon Pinsent, Charles Macaulay, Emily Yancy, Ted Harris, Rick Metzler | Written by Joan Torres, Raymond Koenig | Directed by William Crain

In 1780, African Prince Mamuwalde (Marshall) pays a visit to Count Dracula in Transylvania, seeking his support in ending the slave trade. Instead, the evil count curses his noble guest and transforms him into a vampire!

When mixing black and white movie characters as either friends or foes on the big screen should not produce any gray areas at all. Whether amiable or adversarial the pairing of interracial tandems makes for an interesting sociological study in cinema where tension, togetherness, stereotypical profiling and mutual or reluctant acceptance makes for some captivating film fodder.

Sure, in many ways it is an overused cliched in the movies to produce racial tandems for the sake of the entertainment to allow the creative juices to overflow. In Salt and Pepper: Top 10 Black and White Movie Tandems we will take a look at various “salt and pepper” teams as they come together in the name of law and justice, hostile necessity, friendly frivolity or professional attachment to bring movie audiences a sense of adventure and curiosity in the name of comedic or dramatic license. Maybe you have your favorite cultural...

Race with the Devil

Directed by Jack Starrett

Written by Lee Frost and Wes Bishop

1975, USA

A follow up to the 20th Century Fox surprise success of Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (released a year earlier), this Peter Fonda-Warren Oates cult classic is a strange hybrid of genres. One might assume the film offers a car chase with Satan himself. This isn’ t that movie; that would instead be the Nicolas Cage 2011 vehicle, Drive Angry. The result here rests somewhere between Rosemary’s Baby and Vanishing Point, featuring requisite road chases and a Satanic cult. With the mash-up of what was then, two popular fads, it is no surprise Race with the Devil was a box office hit in 1975. Action filmmaker Jack Starrett (Nowhere to Hide, The Gravy Train, Cleopatra Jones) hits his career high directing this slickly executed genre-hopping cult favourite. Race with the Devil is an entertaining,...

I re-watched this movie the other day, and was reminded of how cool the below car chase sequence is. It happens about halfway through the film, and I'd say rivals any movie car chase of its time, and maybe even today. Ok, so it doesn't quite touch the well-known sequence from The French Connection, but it's still cool.  No CGI, no explosions, just real people, real cars, and real stunts... and for 5 continuous minutes!  Oh, and by the way, a black woman controls the wheels of victory. How often have you seen that happen at the movies? I love how she gives off a laugh at the end of it all... And just in case it's not obvious, it's a scene from Cleopatra Jones (1973),...

If you're going to be near the Chinese Theaters in Hollywood this week, be sure to pop in on Wednesday to enjoy Mad Monster's screening of Blacula featuring a Q&A with cast members Denise Nicholas and Bob Minor. Sounds like a blast!

You can purchase tickets for Blacula at the Chinese Theaters here, and once you do, RSVP at the official Blacula event Facebook page for a free gift. Read on for all the details.

From the Press Release

Celebrate Black History Month with Mad Monster and Blacula, Dracula's 70’s Soul Brotha’, at the Chinese Theatres in Hollywood, Wednesday, February 13th at 9:00pm! The event will include a special Q&A with cast members Denise Nicholas who played "Michelle" and Blacula's stuntman, Bob Minor, moderated by author and film historian, Pat Jankiewicz, the last person to interview Blacula himself, William Marshall!

As always, there will be prize giveaways,...

(This article contains some minor spoilers for Django Unchained and be warned that most of the clips included are Nsfw)

Like many of Tarantino’s previous films Django Unchained is filled to the brim with film references. Below I’ve attempted to guide you through some of these references and links to other films.

I’ve only seen the film once at a screening and am sure that given the opportunity to sit down with the film on Blu-ray I will undoubtedly find even more, so the following is in no way definitive but hopefully provides some answers to for those wondering what Tarantino was referencing in Django Unchained. Also, most importantly, hopefully it will lead you to check out some of the films in question.

The most obvious film reference in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is right there in the title. Django was a 1966 ‘spaghetti western’ directed by...

After all the debates, controversies, and stereotype accusations have cleared, looking back on Blaxploitation cinema today it’s easy to see healthy portions of the crime and action genres. Using these genres and the struggles of the black community, these films were created for those that wanted to see African American characters on the big screen not taking shit from the man, “getting over”, and–above all else—being the heroes in movies. In the documentary Baad Asssss Cinema, Samuel L. Jackson gives his take on the heroes of Blaxploitation: “We were tired of seeing the righteous black man. And all of a sudden we had guys who were…us. Or guys who did the things we wanted those guys to do.”

The unsung supporting players in these films that backed Fred Williamson and Pam Grier and many other stars were people acting and making a living off of it.

Never Fear, Pam Grier Is Here! Pam Grier started her career in a number of women-in-prison films which lead to a fruitful stint of starring roles in Blaxploitation cinema. Grier created an intelligent, sensual, and tough on-screen persona with her starring roles, the likes to which few actresses are comparable. She has since gone from Blaxploitation to a forty-year career spanning film and television. She has worked with such great filmmakers as John Carpenter, Tim Burton, Jack Hill, and Quentin Tarantino – whose own film Jackie Brown is a love letter to both Grier and Blaxploitation cinema. Here is a look at the top five films of Grier’s early seventies work:

# 5 Black Mama, White Mama 1973

Written by H.R. Christian, Joe Viola, and Jonathan Demme

Directed by Eddie Romero

“A terrorist and a hooker…you two should have a lot to talk about.”

This is a women-in-prison film (Wip) aimed at a racially diverse audience.

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 pairs of special-event movie passes up for grabs to the Music Box Theatre’s release of “Chained Heat” – called the best women-in-prison movie in the history of the world! – with “Hercules” star Sybil Danning in person at this special event!

Sybil Danning

The Razzie Award-winning “Chained Heat” stars Sybil Danning, “The Exorcist” star Linda Blair, John Vernon, Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, Henry Silva, Sharon Hughes, Kendal Kaldwell, Robert Miano, Dee Biederbeck, Greta Blackburn, Nita Talbot, Louisa Moritz, Jennifer Ashley and Jody Medford from writer and director Paul Nicholas and writer Aaron Butler.

To win your special-event “Chained Heat” passes courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology below. Presented by Mr. Skin, this special event is on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 at 9:30 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre at 3733 N.

Remakes, sequels, reboots: these are common parlance in the film industry today and have been since its birth, really. There is no film property immune to this, especially a successful one. And though the blaxploitation genre, which reached its height of popularity in the 1970s, still enjoys a rabid cult following, few of the attempts to re-energize this vital branch of American film have been very successful.

Until now.

Black Dynamite, the 2009 film starring Michael Jai White, is now also an animated series now airing Sundays on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. And while the character and his world may still effectively be a cult happening, it is clear that Black Dynamite is the most successful blaxploitation property to hit the streets since platform shoes went out of fashion. Loaded with sex, violence, and sex and violence, Black Dynamite is the true sequel to Shaft that fans have been waiting for.

How many versions of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have been released on film? It’s an astounding number at 123 film versions. It may not be quite as many as Dracula or Frankenstein, but it’s in the running if not right on their cape tails. Each age of in horror history attempts to lay its own claim to this tale of chemistry meets the modern scientific man meets the Monster. Who of us can forget Frederic March with his near pompadour hairstyle slightly hunched over with eyebrows all-a-caterpillar? How about Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde; that was Hammer getting cheeky with all of us who had decided that simply redoing Universal horror stories wasn’t good enough in 1971. So what happened between 1886 when Stevenson first unleashed his epic literary tale and the 1970’s when Dr. Jekyll became Dr. Black and...

If you enjoyed Linda Blair in Savage Streets, the Late Night Grindhouse Midnight offering the past November, I have great news! Linda Blair and her naked sneer are back at the Hi-Pointe this weekend, January 6th and 7th, for more 80.s exploitation madness. Chained Heat, a wonderfully sleazy trash epic from 1983 has everything you could possibly hope for in a Women-In-Prison movie: nudity, shower catfights, rampant lesbian action, nudity, race wars, rape, murder, Sybil Danning, chain-swinging, switch-blade slashing, and more nudity!

Chained Heat stars Linda Blair as Carol, a naïve teenager who enters the .D-Cup. wing of a tough women’s prison after being sentenced to 18 months after accidentally killing a man. There she encounters the cruel reality of life behind bars. There.s a massive drug ring running the prison, and most of the girls are picking off traitors threatening to reveal the conspiracy and when Carol finds herself...

New York -- Veteran film and television actor Dan Frazer, best known for his role as Captain Frank McNeil on the 1970s television series Kojak, has died in New York. He was 90. Frazer's daughter, Susanna Frazer, said Sunday her father died of cardiac arrest Dec. 16 at his home in Manhattan. She described him as a "very truthful, naturalistic actor." Photos: Hollywood's Notable Deaths Frazer started playing character roles in various television series and films in the 1950s. His films include Cleopatra Jones, Take the Money and Run, Gideon's Trumpet and Deconstructing Harry. Besides Kojak, Frazer's television appearances include

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New York — Veteran film and television actor Dan Frazer, best known for his role as Captain Frank McNeil on the 1970s television series "Kojak," has died in New York. He was 90.

Frazer's daughter, Susanna Frazer, said Sunday her father died of cardiac arrest Dec. 16 at his home in Manhattan. She described him as a "very truthful, naturalistic actor."

Frazer started playing character roles in various television series and films in the 1950s. His films include "Cleopatra Jones," "Take the Money and Run" "Gideon's Trumpet" and "Deconstructing Harry." Besides "Kojak," Frazer's television appearances include "Car 54, Where Are You," "Route 66," "Barney Miller" and "Law & Order."

He was a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and an adviser to The Workshop Theatre Co.

New York — Veteran film and television actor Dan Frazer, best known for his role as Captain Frank McNeil on the 1970s television series "Kojak," has died in New York. He was 90.

Frazer's daughter, Susanna Frazer, said Sunday her father died of cardiac arrest Dec. 16 at his home in Manhattan. She described him as a "very truthful, naturalistic actor."

Frazer started playing character roles in various television series and films in the 1950s. His films include "Cleopatra Jones," "Take the Money and Run" "Gideon's Trumpet" and "Deconstructing Harry." Besides "Kojak," Frazer's television appearances include "Car 54, Where Are You," "Route 66," "Barney Miller" and "Law & Order."

He was a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and an adviser to The Workshop Theatre Co.

Kojak star Dan Frazer has died at the age of 90.

The actor passed away on Friday after suffering a cardiac arrest in New York.

He started his career in the 1950s and made his big screen debut with Sir Sidney Poitier in 1963 movie Lilies of the Field.

Frazer's other film roles include Cleopatra Jones, Take the Money and Run, and Deconstructing Harry, but he is best known for playing Captain Frank McNeil in hit 1970s cop show Kojak opposite Telly Savalas.

Frazer also appeared as a judge in the Law & Order franchise, starring in the original show and spin-off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and he was last seen onscreen in 2010 movie The Pack, with Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss.

Veteran film and television actor Dan Frazer, best known for his role as Captain Frank McNeil on the 1970s television series Kojak, has died in New York. He was 90.

Frazer’s daughter, Susanna Frazer, said Sunday her father died of cardiac arrest Dec. 16 at his home in Manhattan. She described him as a “very truthful, naturalistic actor.”

Frazer started playing character roles in various television series and films in the 1950s. His films include Cleopatra Jones, Take the Money and Run, Gideon’s Trumpet, and Deconstructing Harry. Besides Kojak, Frazer’s television appearances include Car 54, Where Are You, Route 66,...

Character actor Bill McKinney, who featured in one of the most iconic and disturbing scenes in movie history, has died, aged 80.

Billed as Mountain Man, the actor starred in Deliverance's "Squeal like a pig" scene, where his character and a backwoods friend rape Ned Beatty's adventurer Bobby.

McKinney, who also appeared in seven Clint Eastwood movies, died at the Valley Presbyterian Hospice in California after a long battle with lung cancer, according to TMZ.com.

A statement on his Facebook.com page reads, "An avid smoker for 25 years of his younger life, he died of cancer of the esophagus. He was 80 and still strong enough to have filmed a Doritos commercial 2 weeks prior to his passing, and he continued to work on his biography with his writing partner."

McKinney also appeared in Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner, The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, blaxploitation classic Cleopatra Jones, First Blood and The Green Mile as well as a string of popular TV series like The A-Team, Baywatch and The Fall Guy.

Coffy

Directed by Jack Hill

Screenplay by Jack Hill

1973, USA

Jack Hill’s anti drug/vigilante movie film stands among one of the three best of the blaxploitation genre. The project originated when American International Pictures lost the rights to the film Cleopatra Jones and approached Hill to quickly produce a movie starring a black female lead in hopes of beating Jones to the box office. The film was a huge success, both financially and critically, earning far more than its competition and established Pam Grier as an icon of the genre and an idol for African American woman everywhere.

Writer-director Jack Hill was a low-budget B-film auteur following in the footsteps of Roger Corman. He had already directed two “women in prison” films with Grier cast in small parts (The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage), but Coffy was Grier’s breakthrough role. Hill wrote Coffy with the actress specifically in mind.

Here is your list of DVD and Blu-Ray Releases for April 12, 2011. This week, we have a great high-octane double pack of Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and Race With The Devil and some other flicks that may tickle your fancy, so click beyond the break to see the full list.

All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here. Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!

2033: Future Apocalypse

Format: DVD

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2033 Mexico City. In a corporation-controlled society where the population is controlled by a synthetic food called Pecti.

In honor of The Comedy Awards, airing April 10 on Comedy Central, NextMovie will be unveiling a host of features on Hollywood's funniest films and folks. Here's the first...

Everyone has their own personal favorite genre, but comedy is arguably the most universal. Have you ever met someone who's said, "I don't like to laugh"? Neither have we.

The past decade has seen filmmakers like Adam McKay and Judd Apatow rise from obscurity onto the A-list, while actors like Seth Rogen and Zach Galifianakis have gone from esoteric television shows to big-budget movies.

But enough talk. Read. Argue. Yell at us. You can debate the order of these films all you want, but you can't deny the humor of any of them.

25. 'Meet the Parents' (2000)

If one of the benchmarks of good comedy is making the personal universal and the universal personal, it's easy to see why Jay Roach...

Since the earliest days of American cinema there has been a shadowy counterpart to the commercial mainstream: exploitation movies — pictures whose appeal lies in their sensational treatment and leering promotion of often lurid and prurient material. Pre-1960, when mainstream Hollywood worked within severe restrictions on content, exploitation movies offered audiences titillating glimpses of the deliciously taboo, usually under the guise of being some sort of instructional cautionary against the very subject matter being exploited i.e. sex in “hygiene” movies like The Road to Ruin (1934), drugs in anti-drug movies like Tell Your Children (1936, re-released in the 1960s/70s as camp classic Reefer Madness), and gambling in the anti-vice Gambling with Souls (1936).

By the 1950s, as the studios entered their long post-war decline, downscale producers launched a new vein of exploitation moviemaking, churning out low-budget thrillers (mostly sci fi and horror) aimed squarely at the burgeoning youth audience. Again, the movies were cheap,...