Race Relations

Black Mama, White Mama

Pam Grier in a women-in-prison movie? Why did no one think of this sooner? OK, they did. Several times. But this one is different. Black Mama, White Mama is a bizarre update of The Defiant Ones with a little Cool Hand Luke and Chained Heat thrown in for good measure. Grier stars as Lee Daniels, a pimp-and-drug-lord's moll who's looking for a way to escape both prison and her thug boyfriend. The dynamic Margaret Markov ably backs her as rich-girl-turned-revolutionary Karen Brent. The two meet in the friendliest Third World prison ever (Tickling games in the shower! What girlish fun!), and before you can say catfight they're chained together at the wrist. A quick prison break later, our feisty ladies are being chased all over the undefined tropical island by the police, revolutionaries, and dueling pimps. Director Jonathan Demme shares the story credit for this one, and his craftsmanship shows--Black Mama, White Mama hits every mandatory facet of the genre, including butt kicking, gunfire, an Evil Lesbian Prison Guard, gratuitously scanty clothing, and dressing up as nuns. Absolutely not to be missed. --Ali Davis

"A genre all by herself" (Voice), Pam Grier tacklesand shacklesher sleekest role yet as the feistier half of a pair of women in chains and on the run in this "colorful, outrageous and truly exciting" action flick (The Hollywood Reporter)! Grier is Lee Daniels, a prostitute doing hard time in an island prison camp for women where the guards have a new way to punish inmates who fight: by cuffing 'em together! Chained to her bitter rival, white revolutionary Karen (Margaret Markov), Lee finds herself literally linked to the revolutionary causeand on the flywhenKaren's guerrilla friends stage a coup! But this foxy inmate's got a cause of her own in the form of a secret stash of cold, hard cash and a getaway boat! Brawling with her white counterpart over which way to go, and tracked like a dog by guards, guerrillas and a gangster after the loot, she's gotta make her escapebefore both mamas' enemies bring them down for good!

Showdown in Little Tokyo

Showdown in Little Tokyo is a 1991 martial arts action-comedy that, in pitting Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee as L.A. cops against Japanese drug dealers, plays like a B-movie Tango and Cash or Lethal Weapon 2 (both released just two years before). Between career highs in Rocky IV (1985) and Universal Soldier (1992), Lundgren looked as if he might make it big at the box office, and clearly wanting to be the new Schwarzenegger he is here directed by Mark L Lester, who had earlier helmed Ah-nold's Commando (1985). In the event both actor and director headed for straight-to-video territory, while Lee (Bruce's son) went on to The Crow. The 75-minute running time suggests the studio lost confidence and seriously cut the movie though, as the space between the action is filled with nothing but cringe-inducing dialogue, thriller clichés, and Lundgren "romancing" Tia Carrere, it still makes sense. Basing its title on John Carpenter's 1986 fantasy-comedy Big Trouble in Little China and anticipating Rush Hour (1998), Showdown in Little Tokyo alternates between crude tongue-in-cheek moments and action so ludicrous it's unintentionally hilarious . A camp disaster that simply defies belief, this is so-bad-it's-good entertainment. --Gary S. Dalkin

BUCKTOWN (DVD MOVIE)

Fred Williamson (Black Caesar) proves once again he's the ultimate soul brother dark daring and ready for surprises. He and sexy co-star Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) heat up the sheets and the streets in this scintillating soul flick about a city ripped apart by prejudice greed and plenty of gangsta action. Bucktown explodes like sparks and gasoline setting small-town America on fire!Dean Johnson (Williamson) arrives in Bucktown to bury his murdered brother. He then takes over his brother's bar and everything that comes with it: the good which includes a foxy local gal (Grier) and the bad a sleazy police force that shakes him down for protection money. Proving he can't be pushed Johnson calls in his big-city brothers who move into town with the necessary firepower to set things straight. But when the smoke clears Johnson finds that his victorious cohorts are just as bad as the bigoted cops they've just destroyed and now he has to rid the city of his violent friends by any means necessary!System Requirements:Running Time: 94 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616867810 Manufacturer No: 1002580

This middling but entirely watchable blaxploitation thriller from 1975 stars football-legend-turned-actor Fred Williamson as the brother of a murdered bar owner in a racially divided town. After bringing in a gaggle of tough street buddies from the old neighborhood to help break up a corrupt police force, Williamson's character figures he can settle into domestic bliss with Pam Grier. But there's a snag: the hero's restless posse decides to take over the white cops' graft operation, forcing a bloody finale of retribution. In the '70s genre of reactionary revenge movies, Bucktown is a minor entry, and Grier's rather passive performance is certainly anomalous in the blaxploitation vein. But it is worth a visit, especially for cult film completists. --Tom Keogh

Detroit 9000

This snappy, cynical cop thriller was marketed as a "blaxploitation" film when released in 1973, but it's really a mixed-cast godson of The French Connection and The Seven Ups set in the racially volatile cauldron of 1970s Detroit. Alex Rocco (Moe Green from The Godfather) stars as a veteran detective on the Detroit police force, a sinus-infected loner who's bitter from constantly being passed over for promotion. Assigned to a political powder keg--the high-profile heist of a black gubernatorial candidate's big money fundraiser--he's paired up with an educated, smart-dressing black hotshot (Hari Rhodes), a fast-rising star in the department. These guys are no Lethal Weapon act; they may earn a grudging mutual respect but never really like or trust one another. The climactic 25-minute chase is edgy and lean and very violent, spiced with big bloody gunshot wounds and victims writhing in tortured death spasms, and the film concludes on an unusually satisfying note of ambiguity and cynicism. Marks went on to direct Friday Foster and J.D.'s Revenge. The title, by the way, refers to the police code for "officer in trouble." Virtually unseen since its premiere, it was rescued by Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder label for a brief theatrical revival and subsequent video release. --Sean Axmaker

Black Brigade

BLACK BRIGADE (DVD MOVIE)

The Last Warrior

Stranded on a deserted Pacific island during the Second World War an American and Japanese soldier battle it out in this exciting war-time drama.Gary Graham (TV's Alien Nation) Maria Holvoe (Willow) Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Planet of the Apes Pearl Harbor Mortal Kombat) Director: Martin WraggeRunning Time: 95 Min. Color.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 825307908190 Manufacturer No: PH90819

The Black Six

The Black 6

Black Brigade