Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Junesploitation Day 4: Pam Grier!

She's the Godmother of them all...the baddest one-chick hit-squad that ever hit town!

Pam Motherfucking Grier is our Junesploitation Queen. Let us honor her!

Pam Grier, WE SPEAK YOUR NAME!

25 comments:

  1. JOHN CARPENTER'S GHOSTS OF MARS (2001) on BLU-RAY.

    WARNING: SPOILERS!


    There's a lot that's both good and bad about Carpenter's last "big" studio film about a Mars airborne virus turning a colony of miners into blood-thirsty metal-head zombies. One of the things the movie does get right though is setting how dangerous the bad guys are and how high the stakes of survival are for the "heroes," and this is where Pam Greer comes in. Like Sam Jackson in "Deep Blue Sea," by 2001 Pam had achieved enough icon status so that her unexpected early beheading both shocks us and lets us know nobody in the cast is safe (except for one, since the movie opens with his/her flashbacks to what we're watching).

    "Ghosts of Mars" has grown on me with repeat viewings (Henstridge-sploitation!) as a reminder of a time in movies when Ice Cube could get top billing, model trains were passable SFX money shots and both Jason Stathan & Pam Greer were considered expendable.

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    1. GRIER... Pam GRIER, not Greer! Oh, I'm getting too old for this shat! :-P

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    2. I watched this one last year for 30 Stars of Summer. You liked it a lot more than I did. I thought Ms. Grier was criminally underutilized, although I must say at that time I didn't think that they were pulling a Sam-Jackson-as-chum ploy. Is there a term for knocking off a star early on? The Janet Leigh rule?

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  2. The Big Doll House (1971)

    In her first main role, Pam Motherfucking Grier dominates the screen in every scene she is in. It is easy to see here why Pam Motherfucking Grier was Jack Hill's choice to star in his next three movies.
    Its a shame that she is mainly here to be a representative of the impact of life inside rather than having a main role in the actual plot, and as such she is taken out of the picture before the movies climax.
    Overall The Big Bird Cage probably works as a movie better than any of the other Junesploitation movies I've seen so far, with one of the top ten shots in 70s exploitation (scantly clad women in the jungle throws off her blanket, with a machine gun in each hand, and mows down all the soldiers/guards in the treeline.....classic).
    I dont know if anyone has any information on this but the very end seemed like a last minute over dub of the drivers voice, especially when contrasted with the soundtrack that was playing.

    It made me happy to start a movie that I haven't seen before with a sing a long to Long Time Woman sung by...Pam Motherfucking Grier. Is there anything this woman can't do? If there is, it obviously just isnt worth doing! Singalongsploitation!

    Junesploitation
    Roger Corman wishes he thought of it!

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    1. I love, love that iconic moment you reference. The movie has its problems, but when that scene arrives, you're positive that EVERYTHING WORKS.

      And "Long Time Woman" is the best.

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  3. Sheba, Baby (1975)
    Pam Motherfucking Grier finished out her AIP contract with this one. With no Jack Hill and a PG rating, it feels like a watered down version of Coffy and Foxy Brown. Pam Motherfucking Grier is great as always, and Christopher Joy's performance as Walker the pimp is a thing to behold, but the movie doesn't have much else going for it.

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  4. THE BIG DOLL HOUSE (1971)

    I'll just be echoing everything Brad just said. Ms.Grier is great, especially her interactions with Sid Haig(Haig-sploitation). This movie throws everything on the screen-cat fights, food fights, whipping, cobras, shower scenes, mud-sploitation, etc.

    If I'm correct, Jack Hill said in the director's commentary that the driver's last line was ADRed later for t.v. and I guess it stuck. Horrible last line that ends the movie with a thud.

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    1. Just terrible. Especially after such a kick ass finale.
      You gotta hand it to Jack Hill, dude knows how to end a movie, at least when it's not for tv.

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  5. Women in Cages (1971)

    Pam Grier stars as Alabama-psychotic head of a female prison. We get gratuitous cat fights, short skirted prisoners, shawshank redemption vibes, over 30 BOOBS, ridiculous torture devices, and prisoners with damn near perfect conditioned hair. This movie isn't just exploitation its deep fried exploitation 4 stars check it out.

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  6. Friday Foster (1975)

    The ONLY POSSIBLE WAY to make a Pam Grier movie even more entertaining is to add Carl Weathers. Friday Foster does just that. The movie is not great, but it definitely has it's moments. There's a rooftop chase between Carl Weathers and Yaphet Kotto, a milk truck hijacking, and a final battle between black guys and white guys in black face. I can't believe I just typed that.

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  7. Foxy Brown (1974)

    I knew I was in love the moment the opening credits began with Pam Motherfucking Grier winking at me. Loved it from beginning to end, even though not a single character speaks English, they only speak Exposition. Within the first 10 minutes, Grier refers to Antonio Fargas as her brother, then he helpfully refers to her as his sister, lest we get confused that they may be using slang. All the dialogue is clunky, but it's part of the charm. Lots of fun, and I'm sorry I hadn't seen it until now. I've never seen Coffy either, so I've got some catching up to do!

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  8. Foxy Brown (1974)

    It's about time I watched one of the main inspirations for Jackie Brown. What else can be said? As Link says, "She's a whole lotta woman!" I like that Foxy is a badass right from the get-go. And the scene with the judge had me howling: "Is THAT what you were going to use on me?" I must confess that when her boyfriend had his bandages removed, I gasped and said "Colonel Tigh!"

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  9. Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

    This is the sequel to 1972's Blacula, which I have never seen, probably because is doesn't have Pam Motherfucking Grier, so why should I?

    Perhaps one of the best parts of this movie, and perhaps most blaxploitation movies, is the animated title sequence. This one starts out by animating Blacula's face and then having the animation transform into a bat, which transforms into a standing man, which is then engulfed in animated flames. The movie's really worth watching just for that.

    Another scene I found amusing occurs at the beginning of the movie, right after Blacula bites his first victim, a black man with a flashy suit and an afro(because it's a blaxploitation movie). After the man turns into a vampire, his biggest concern is the fact that he can't see how good he looks in the mirror, which I thought was pretty clever and funny.

    Oh yeah, and Pam Motherfucking Grier plays a Voodoo queen.

    YA DIG!?

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    1. I've seen Blackula but not Scream. I found Blackula very slow and it took itself too seriously. I've been keen to check out Scream though because blaxploitation and vampires should be a no brainer for fun. Thoughts?

      Oh and if anyone is interested in how not to stage and edit a music sequence you must watch Blackula and the night club scene.

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    2. Scream Blacula Scream is very much the same, it's not really self aware enough to be fun and it has none of the social awareness that a good blaxploitation movie like Foxy Brown or horror movie like Dawn of the Dead has.

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    3. Yeah sounds about right.
      I still might check out Blackenstien one day. Such a cool poster/cover that seems to be headed in the right direction

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  10. BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA. It’s handcuff-sploitation! Pam totally rocks in this one, as does her cohort Margaret Markov. Sid Haig, meanwhile, has officially joined Shatner and Brando in the “Look how skinny he used to be” club. Overall, the movie has a messiness and sloppiness to it that I don’t think can be replicated by today’s filmmakers. But it’s a strange kind of alchemy – that sloppiness is somehow what makes the movie work.

    (If I watch the movie you posted the trailer for, does that make me the equivalent of the guy who wears a band’s t-shirt to their concert?)

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  11. The Arena (1974)

    Roger Corman executive produced and Joe Dante edited this female gladiator movie starring Pam Grier and Margaret Malkov. It's pretty great. Very fast-paced and a great revenge finale when the girls have had enough of the Roman's bullshit and fight their way to freedom. Warning: Movie contains crisis nudes.

    Emancipationsploitation.

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  12. Foxy Brown (1974)

    I have no words for an actual review at this time, just to say that this movie was full of moments that I absolutely LOVED!!! To name just a few: Destroying her brother's apartment, laughing at the judge's small penis, death by plane, and a gun in her hair. Overall, just a great time.

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  13. The Big Bird Cage (1972)

    Planned on watching this when I saw some clips from it in American Grindhouse. It actually was kinda good with some genuine funny parts though admittedly I was coming off a Furious 6 high so that may have helped! I didn't feel the overall gag of gay prison guards came off homophobic or anything. Pam Grier was hot with her casual nipple shots but felt like I didn't see her as much as I would have liked.

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  14. Coffy (1973)

    Everything I thought/hoped it would be, and more. So great. It's inspired me to put razor blades in my hair. You know, just in case.

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    1. Yes!
      Glad someone watched this one. Death of King George is superb and surprisingly effective.

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