Of all the blaxploitation films that were made in the ’70s, Shaft was the most influential and probably the coolest too. It’s even had longevity, as evidenced by all the sequels and remakes. People (including the AFI) haven’t forgotten about Gordon Parks’ private dick flick, which had a fresh take on just what a black hero could be. Richard Roundtree wasn’t righteous and measured like Sidney Poitier always had to be. John Shaft was a bad…uh, mamma jamma. This, however, wasn’t a film we enjoyed as much as others of its type, partly because it’s a little amateurish technically and the man’s sex life is a bit dicey. Still, you can’t overlook how important this movie was and is to people who look like Roundtree and not like us. Anyway, be the only one to understand our final episode of 2021 (well, you and his wuh-huh-man) as we get political, but also laugh a bunch in our 422nd Ellises’ Analysis.
Well, Actually: The Godfather was actually NOT one of the 25 movies inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989 (the inaugural year), but instead went in the following year. Also, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was inducted too, but it wasn’t the 2nd film directed by a black person to make that cut because it only went in in 2020.
Being a sex machine and killing bad guys is so much easier when you’ve got some java juice keeping you going. Sparkplug Coffee remains our delightful sponsor and they continue to offer a 20% discount if you just use our promo code (“top100project”) when you’re ready to pay the tab.
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