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Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras

A History of Blaxploitation Cinema
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Brief Description
In 1971, two films grabbed the movie business, shook it up, and launched a genre that would help define the decade. Melvin Van Peebles’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, an independently produced film about a male prostitute who beats up cops and gets away, and Gordon Parks’s... Read More
Format: Hardback
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A definitive account of Blaxploitation cinema—the freewheeling, often shameless, and wildly influential genre—from a distinctive voice in film history and criticism

A definitive account of Blaxploitation cinema—the freewheeling, often shameless, and wildly influential genre—from a distinctive voice in film history and criticism

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In 1971, two films grabbed the movie business, shook it up, and launched a genre that would help define the decade. Melvin Van Peebles’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, an independently produced film about a male prostitute who beats up cops and gets away, and Gordon Parks’s Shaft, a studio-financed film with a killer soundtrack, were huge hits, making millions of dollars.

Sweetback upended cultural expectations by having its Black rebel win in the end, and Shaft saved MGM from bankruptcy. Not for the last time did Hollywood discover that Black people went to movies too. The Blaxploitation era was born.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781419758416

Publisher: Abrams

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 28 March 2024

Country: United States

Imprint: Abrams Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 229.0mm

Height: 152.0mm

Weight: 225g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Odie “Odienator” Henderson is the chief film critic of the Boston Globe and runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. A lover of film noir, musicals, Blaxploitation, bad art, and good trash, Henderson was previously a contributing writer at RogerEbert.com from 2011 to 2022. He has written for Slant Magazine’s The House Next Door blog since 2006. His work has also appeared in The Village Voice, Vulture, Cineaste Magazine, MovieMezzanine, Movies Without Pity, Salon, and The Criterion Collection. He recently finished a long career in IT. He lives in northern New Jersey.

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