Black Dynamite
| Black Dynamite | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Scott Sanders |
| Written by | Story Michael Jai White Byron Minns Screenplay Scott Sanders Michael Jai White Byron Minns |
| Produced by | Jon Steingart Jenny Wiener Steingart |
| Starring | Michael Jai White Salli Richardson Arsenio Hall Kevin Chapman Tommy Davidson |
| Cinematography | Shawn Maurer |
| Edited by | Adrian Younge |
| Music by | Adrian Younge |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Apparition |
Release date | October 16, 2009 |
Running time | 90 min. |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.9 million |
Black Dynamite, starring Michael Jai White, is a spoof of blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Its premiere was at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where Sony Worldwide Acquisitions picked it up for distribution.[1][2] A release date of October 16, 2009 has been announced on the film's official Twitter feed.[3] On August 25, 2009, it was announced that Apparition, a new distributor headed by Bill Pohlad and Bob Berney, would handle the film's domestic release.
Black Dynamite is directed by Scott Sanders and co-written by White, Sanders, and Byron Minns, who also co-star. The look of the film is a retro homage to all of the blaxploitation movies of the seventies, but unlike Grindhouse (Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's exploitation homage) Black Dynamite does not employ "fake scratches or digitally generated retro deterioration", according to director Scott Sanders. [4] The cinematographer Shawn Maurer tested a Super 16 Color Reversal Kodak film stock to get the high contrast and saturated look for the movie.[5] The film has been discussed with approval on numerous movie-related websites.[6][7][8][9]
Plot
In 1972, Black Dynamite, a former CIA agent, is called back into the business when the mafia kills his brother, fills black orphanages with heroin, and floods the street with bad malt liquor. He soon discovers a vast conspiracy.[10]
Cast
- Michael Jai White - Black Dynamite [11]
- Arsenio Hall - Tasty Freeze[11]
- Tommy Davidson - Cream Corn [11]
- Obba Babatunde - Osiris[11]
- Kevin Chapman - O'Leary[11]
- Richard Edson - Dino[11]
- Darrel Heath - Militant 2[11]
- Buddy Lewis - Gunsmoke[11]
- Brian McKnight - Sweetmeat[11]
- James McManus - Richard Nixon[11]
- Byron Minns - Bullhorn [11]
- Phil Morris - Saheed[11]
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr. - Mo Bitches[11]
- Salli Richardson - Gloria[11]
- Tucker Smallwood - Congressman James[11]
- John Salley - Kotex[11]
- Chris Spencer - Militant 1[11]
- Mike Starr - Rafelli[11]
- Nicole Sullivan - Patricia Nixon[11]
- Kym Whitley - Honeybee[11]
- Mykelti Williamson - Chicago Wind[11]
- Bokeem Woodbine - Black Hand Jack[11]
- Cedric Yarbrough - Chocolate Giddy-Up[11]
- Roger Yuan - Fiendish Dr. Wu[11]
- Justine Joli, Charlotte Stokely, Charmane Star, Erika Vuitton, and Stacey Adams as Ladies of Leisure[12]
Reception
The film currently holds an 83% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews.[13]
Black Dynamite was generally well received, with Odeisel of Planet Ill giving the film a 4/5 thumb rating, citing the film's outlandish lampooning and relation to source material as the main factors in the film's enjoyability.[14]
References
- ^ Can you dig it? Black Dynamite to premiere at Sundance + Red band trailer! (imdb.com)
- ^ Black Dynamite (Variety.com)
- ^ Black Dynamite will be released October 16- can you dig it?! (twitter.com)
- ^ Interviews With Cast and Crew at Fancore Pirate Radio.
- ^ Interviews With Cast and Crew at Fancore Pirate Radio.
- ^ BLACK DYNAMITE Headed To Sundance! (twitchfilm.net)
- ^ UPDATED: BLACK DYNAMITE IS A BAD MOTHER-SHUT YO' MOUTH (NSFW) (chud.com)
- ^ Black Dynamite rocks (joblo.com)
- ^ If you haven't seen this, you must, must, must watch the red band trailer for BLACK DYNAMITE! (aintitcool.com)
- ^ Synopsis (blackdynamite.com)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Cast (blackdynamite.com)
- ^ Black Dynamite - Ladies of Leisure
- ^ "Black Dynamite". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- ^ "Movie Review: Black Dynamite". Odeisel. 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2009-10-13.