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 ENDED   (2005, JOE ANGIO) “He didn’t open doors; he blew them off the hinges.” 1971: Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song crashed the box office charts despite being an all-Black indie production before there was such a thing, became mandatory viewing for the Black Panthers, roiled nationwide controversy, and practically jump-started the whole Blaxploitation genre (even though the film itself was anything but). But its maker, Chicagoan Melvin Van Peebles, had already been an Air Force officer, San Francisco cable car conductor, novelist (in French!), painter, sculptor, pioneer rapper (as “Brer Soul”), etc. etc. — and would go on to become a twice-Tonynominated Broadway playwright (Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death and Don’t Play Us Cheap), Wall Street trader, local news commentator and — “like a bee going from flower to flower taking a little from everywhere” — a globe-trotting Don Juan. Director Angio combines clips from the films and plays,
vintage footage (including several 1960s French TV appearances), and often-pungent
interviews with producers, offspring (son Mario says his singing voice
is “like a frog on crack”), colleagues (a fellow staffer on
a Parisian magazine marvels that he got the job before he could actually
write French), and Melvin himself, creating a chronological collage of
this beyond-Renaissance man. |
MELVIN VAN PEEBLES, DIRECTOR JOE ANGIO
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“An energetic and admiring biography! Chronicles an astonishing career.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times. Read full review here “Riveting and uproarious!” “A loving tribute to one of the strangest and most enjoyable figures
to emerge from American pop culture in its entire history. Angio’s film
is a genuinely inspiring portrait of a man who has steadfastly refused to acknowledge
or respect boundaries, whether of race, nationality, language, talent, age
or anything else.”
“Served up by helmer Joe Angio with a verve mirroring the restless creativity of the film’s subject.”
JANUARY 20/21/22 FRI/SAT/SUN (2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
HOW TO EAT YOUR WATERMELON... SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG (1971) “Dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who have had enough of The Man.” Renegade pimp Sweetback hits the road after hacking up two corrupt white cops, but “a badass nigger’s comin’ back to collect some dues.” Writer/producer/director/editor/composer/star Van Peebles’ uncompromising, totally independent groundbreaker heralded a new kind of Black Cinema, made its auteur a folk hero, and inspired a later generation of African-American moviemakers. Originally rated X, but, as the ads pointed out, “by an all-white jury.” 1:30, 5:20, 9:30 |
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JANUARY 23 MON (2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
BAADASSSSS! (2003, MARIO VAN PEEBLES) ...or How to Get the Man’s Foot Outta Your Ass. Van Peebles fils directs and plays Van Peebles père, recreating Dad’s struggles to get Sweetback in the can and up on the screen. “The son bears witness to his father’s struggle and turns it into heroic legend.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice. 1:20, 5:20, 9:20 |
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JANUARY 24 TUE (2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
HOW TO EAT YOUR WATERMELON... WATERMELON MAN (1970) Godfrey Cambridge, in white face (the studio wanted a white actor who’d switch to black face), as your typical bigoted Caucasian insurance agent, wakes up beside wife Estelle Parsons one morning to find that — oh horror of horrors! — he’s turned Black. “Ranks as the classic tragic mulatto movie of the early separatist 1970s.” – Donald Bogle. 1:30, 5:20, 9:20 JANUARY 25 WED (2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
HOW TO EAT YOUR WATERMELON... THE STORY OF A THREE-DAY PASS (1967) Whirlwind romance for Black GI Harry Baird and white Frenchwoman Nicole Berger (Aznavour’s wife in Shoot the Piano Player) — but you know it won’t end well. As a now-published author in French, Melvin financed the film from a fund to enable writers to make movies. Touted in the U.S. as the first film by a Black director (it wasn’t). 1:40, 5:20, 9:20 JANUARY 26 THU (2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
BELLYFUL |
Official Website Video Interview: Melvin Van Peebles and Joe Angio on NY1 with Neil Rosen [RealPlayer] Audio Interview: Melvin
Van Peebles and Michael Solomon on Air America Radio Available at concession & online: |
![“*** [THREE STARS]](../stars/3stars.gif){kind=small}
