BLACK CAESARS & FOXY CLEOPATRAS HISTORY OF BLAXPLOITATION (C (31 Jan Release)

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. The Blaxploitation era was born. Written by film critic Odie Henderson¸ Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras is a spirited history of a genre and the movies that he grew up watching¸ which he loves without irony (but with plenty of self-awareness and humor). The time is right for a reappraisal¸ understanding these films in the context of the time¸ and exploring their lasting influence.