Black Dynamite (2009)

 
Black Dynamite is at its best when played as a straight up blaxploitation film, the parody a hit and miss affair. A genre notable for accidental humor, one doesn’t need to overplay the parody to get plenty of laughs; and the good news is, Black Dynamite mostly plays it straight.

The film nails the look and feel of those 70’s grindhouse flicks, complete with cheesy stock footage, boom mics in frame, sloppy edits, porn-style music, etc…. The movie offers up its share of gratuitous nudity and kung fu action, and White as Black Dynamite is spot on, with Billy Dee Williams charm and Richard Roundtree’s badass-itude.

The downside to Black Dynamite is that by being faithful to its influences, it suffers from the flaws of those films. And by the hour mark, most people will have had their fill and will undoubtedly feel the movie is over long way before the credits roll.

With all that said, Black Dynamite is a flawed but funny and entertaining film, that (for good and bad) captures the essence of the blaxploitation films of the 70's. 

Black Dynamite
Score: 68%

Dark Days (2000)

A stylishly shot grainy black and white documentary, Dark Days tells the stories of some of the homeless living in the subway tunnels beneath Manhattan. 

The director actually spent two years living in the tunnels. The friendships he formed not only allowed him intimate access to their lives, but also gave him a much needed film crew, as most of the film’s subjects also assisted in the making of the film (one of them even built a dolly for tracking shots).

It is an unsentimental telling, each person sharing their humor and honesty, pain and pride. It is an eye-opening portrait of humanity, of a community formed in the unlikeliest of places, of survival, and of independence.

My only real complaint is the lack of a follow up as to the whereabouts of each person at the conclusion to the film. This information is available in the DVD supplements, but should have been used to end the film. Without the supplemental material, the ending feels inconclusive.


Dark Days
Score: 72%  

Quick Hits

Memories of Murder

Score: 82%

Good Hair

Score: 69%

Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass is pure mindless fun. Sure, it attempts to say something and mucks that all up, but who is looking for deep pools of meaning in such a movie? I don't have a problem enjoying a movie that totally lacks substance. After all, isn't superficial entertainment pretty much the Hollywood paradigm? Of course, most of those films are complete failures in terms of having any value. Kick-Ass at least entertains. And sometimes all we want as moviegoers is good, stupid fun.

Kick-Ass

Score: 66%

Greenberg

Greenberg, the character, is a narcissistic misanthrope; or to put it crassly, he's an asshole. And yet we come to empathize with this character, a tribute to Baumbach's script and Stiller's performance. The acting all around is very good, especially Gerwig and Ifans. The script and mis en scene are wonderfully detailed, drawing the viewer into a world that seems lived-in and not merely a set piece. Baumbach's films are not mainstream, Hollywood-friendly fare; they are cynical and dark, character-driven comedy of manners films with influences from some of the great directors of the 60's and 70's. And in Greenberg, Baumbach goes one step further with his influences by paying a direct homage to Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, gathering his vapid party-goers around the pool to gaze at a dead, unidentifiable animal floating in the water.

Greenberg
Score: 74%

Ramin Bahrani

Goodbye Solo

Score: 79%

 

Chop Shop 

Score: 81% 

  

Man Push Cart

Score: 70%