Black Dynamite (2009)
July 30, 2016 1:29 PM - Subscribe

Michael Jai White is All-Star Baltimore Colts running back Ferrante Jones who is Black Dynamite, a former CIA agent who investigates the death of his brother at the hands of the mob.

A pet project from White and director Scott Sanders, it started as a cheaply produced trailer that gave them funding even before the script was written. The end result is an affectionate parody of the blaxploitation genre, spoofing everything from the clothes and film used to the acting, poor editing, continuity errors, and of course "The Man", all with incredible attention to detail.

Later, it was featured on AVClub's New Cult Canon, and spawned (HA!) an animated series (two seasons) on Comedy Central where Black Dynamite defends the community from T.F. Kurtis (a puppet frog, and also America's greatest educator), former USC team-mate OJ Simpson or Bill Cosby, and also two comic books. By the release of Slave Island, the first comic, Chris Hardwick called it one of his favourite comedies, and interviewed White, Sanders, Byron Minns (Bullhorn) and Slave Island writer Brian Ash for Nerdist, where they go deep into the production.
posted by lmfsilva (11 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Metafilter: Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrifications is only outmatched by your zest for Kung Fu treachery!
posted by Aznable at 2:10 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


But Black Dynamite, I sell drugs to the community!
posted by Eddie Mars at 6:31 PM on July 30, 2016 [8 favorites]


So, I finally posted about it, after watching both Airplane! movies yesterday, thought this was the perfect time to re watch it. There's a reason the first and BD might be my favourite comedies of all time. They are mostly products of love and deconstruction of their source material, and played straight for the most part. Modern spoof films are... Dunno, picking scenes from trailers and do a sex / pot / scatologic joke on top of them. For things to work, it takes more than easy jokes and "lol so random" moments.

Look pensative My favourite running joke is the guy that keeps voicing his stage instructions (and Ferrante waiting for the director to cut). But this one has so many quotable or memorable moments, it's hard to choose.
posted by lmfsilva at 7:31 PM on July 30, 2016 [3 favorites]


So many quotable lines. Me and a few friends of mine routinely throw them around at each other. One of our favourite ways to answer the phone with one another is to pick and say:

“Who the hell’s interrupting my Kung Fu?!”
posted by Fizz at 6:07 AM on July 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Of the many moments that deconstruct 70s blaxploitation, the one that always stands out to me is when he suddenly goes off on a woman at a brothel, threatening her with something that sounds drawn from Iceberg Slim. It's shocking, but it's also, like, oh yeah, a lot of those blaxploitation heroes were pimps, and they're actually violent misogysnists. I've never seen a film critique it's hero, and it's genre, in quite so blunt terms.

That being said, my favorite thing about the film is its explanation as to how Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles came about. Smush fry it.
posted by maxsparber at 9:15 AM on July 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


Oh, I also like the black panther type who reads his stage directions aloud.
posted by maxsparber at 9:16 AM on July 31, 2016


Nice observation about the "send you back to Crenshaw Pete" line, maxsparber. I could never figure out why that bit is so funny. At first I thought the humor derived from how random it seemed but you're right, it's that one moment where he suddenly becomes very real and it's terrifying to those around him.
posted by cazoo at 9:34 AM on July 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Heck, even Ferrante Jones looks upset for what came out his mouth.
posted by lmfsilva at 9:54 AM on July 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Its been a while since I've watched this, but I liked how many little homages are in there. I remember a big ass fence-jump ala Ron O'Neal in the intro of superfly. As a fan of kung-fu/blaxploitation 70s movies, its nice seeing people do that rather than just making fun of the genre.
posted by lkc at 6:24 PM on July 31, 2016


The public library in my neck of the woods had this in their movie catalogue, which I think really highlights their commitment to fighting censorship.
posted by LegallyBread at 7:46 AM on August 2, 2016


My favorite sequence is where they all work out what Anaconda Malt Liquor really gives you. "785 BC!"
posted by infinitewindow at 3:37 AM on August 3, 2016


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