Head to Heart
Podcast
HEAD TO HEART is for those brave enough to explore the content of their own hearts, longing to live...
Red Before Black by Cannibal Corpse
8.0
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Album Watch
Many words come to mind when you hear the name Cannibal Corpse, but one truly defines the soon-to-be...
Metal death metal
Orphan Black - Season 1
9.0
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TV Season Watch
Sarah Manning witnesses the death of a woman who looks exactly like her. She decides to escape her...
Bjork recommended track Full Moon by Death Grips in Death Grips by Death Grips in Music (curated)
Bjork recommended track Guillotine by Death Grips in Black Google by Death Grips in Music (curated)
J.A. Bayona recommended The Executioner (1970) in Movies (curated)
Jenna (87 KP) rated The Book Thief in Books
Jul 29, 2017
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
8.0
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Book
Named a Book of the Year by the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Esquire, and Time The...
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Black Dynamite (2009) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Black Dynamite has quite a reputation as just about every article or review that mentioned the film gave it high praise. Is it possible for a film to be incredible while paying homage to the films that inspired it? Sure it is. Directors like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez make a living doing just that. With Black Dynamite, however, you may not know what to expect. Expect it to parody the blaxploitation films from the 70s, pay homage to classic kung fu films, have ridiculous dialogue, a storyline that hilariously doesn't make sense, and have a funky soundtrack with lyrics that are just as awesome as the rest of the film.
Michael Jai White is really the selling point of the film since he is Black Dynamite and you're with him the entire film. I hadn't seen much of White's work before this, but I'm definitely wanting to see more now. His fight scenes are top notch and from what I could tell, it looked like he did the majority of his own stunts. The word I've been hearing is that he's a fairly impressive actor overall, but has just never really picked the right roles and never really broke into the mainstream. Maybe after playing Gambol in The Dark Knight helped him out a bit because he definitely has a bright future as not only an action star, but an actor as well. Other than his superb martial arts work, White's comedic timing is also really important in a film like this and it really pays off. There's a scene where a boom mic is noticeably in the shot while Black Dynamite is giving a big speech. He draws attention to it by repeatedly glaring at the mic throughout the scene, but doesn't miss a beat of the dialogue. Ridiculous scenes like that were crucial in the overall enjoyment factor of the film.
The dialogue is laugh out loud funny at times. There's a scene where the CIA show up at Black Dynamite's house and Agent O'Leary says to Black Dynamite, "We heard about your brother's death and we don't want you running around turning the streets into rivers of blood." Black Dynamite responds with, "Then tell me who did it and I'll just leave a puddle." The storyline is just as absurd, as well. Other than the film missing scenes that were shown in the trailer and things not fully being resolved with Vincent "The Don" Rafelli, the scene where Black Dynamite and his crew figure out what Anaconda malt liquor's true purpose is is both hilariously long-winded and confusing.
Black Dynamite may not be for everyone, but it will be hilariously awesome for most who actually get to see it. The film somehow manages to blend comedy as absurd and ridiculous as films like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy or Zoolander and have hard hitting action scenes that are noticeably a tribute to classic Bruce Lee films. This blaxploitation parody comes highly recommended, can you dig it?