9 Blaxploitation Films You Need To See
Putting a dip in your hip and some jive in your life with the movies to groove up your day.
In 1971 Melvin Van Peebles released Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, setting in motion a whole new genre known as Blaxploitation, which spawned hundreds of films and brought a style to Hollywood that it seriously lacked.
Slick suits and fast talking became the name of the game and arguments were sorted by the blast from a gun, a judo chop or two and, occasionally, a swift bite to the neck.
It was a breath of fresh air whose influence can still be felt now, nearly five decades later.
What follows are nine movies that may not always be the best, but they are cool as ice and essential viewing if you want to put a little jive in your life.
9. Across 110th Street
Across 110th Street had all the usual trinkets and tricks of the genre: the pimp suits, the jive talk, the powerhouse soundtrack from Bobby Womack and J. J. Johnson.
Yet underneath it all is a brilliantly written crime story that shines a light on the racial tension in 1970's New York . This is played out in the relationship between Lieutenant William Pope (Yaphet Kotto) and Captain Frank Mattelli (Anthony Quinn).
Where Pope is a straight-laced, by the book kind of guy, with ambitions to rise through the ranks, Mattelli is of the old school mentality. Basically, he's never averse to using violence to get what he wants, a dyed in the wool racist and a cop on the take.
These two are thrown together after a heist on a local Mafia run numbers game goes wrong, leaving bodies in its wake with The Mob baying for blood.
Across 110th Street is a gritty movie that tackles a serious subject without a heavy hand. It's just a shame that it's never received the recognition it deserved.