Black Dynamite (2008)

Black Dynamite is, at its core, a send-up of the blaxploitation film genre, but unlike the previous entries into the spoof (Undercover Brother, and, to some extent, Hebrew Hammer) its comedy comes from a sharp attention to detail of those old low-budget films from the 70s.

Michael Jai White stars as the title character, and has credit for writing the film. You probably don't know White by name, although you may remember him (minus the afro and wearing more clothes) from The Dark Knight as Gambol, the gangster to whom Heath Ledger first delivers the Glasgow smile scar speech (one of his guys also falls for the pencil trick). Or maybe you remember him from Spawn (1997)? No? That's okay, I don't either. White, who is also a martial artist (something he employs to great affect here), plays Black Dynamite perfectly to the letter.

The plot revolves around Black Dynamite's brother Jimmy being killed off in the first scene and "BD's" search for revenge. It's not really important, as in most spoofs. Black Dynamite is not exactly a film you can honestly be accused of "ruining" the plot of. There are some clever gags, including a boom mic in the shot after Black Dynamite stands up too quickly (this is an old joke, but it's done to effect here as the only indication anyone notices are White's eyes, which swing towards it briefly), the first cut of a fight scene where a choreographed move goes wrong, some great kung-fu sequences, and the film culminates in a nun-chuck showdown between Black Dynamite and Richard Nixon in the Oval Office.

Honestly, I don't know why I'm thinking so strongly about Undercover Brother when seeing this, but this movie is really the antithesis to that piece of crap. In Undercover Brother, there was often a sense that the actors were in on the joke with the audience, so that they could easily grin when the situation became totally absurd. Moreover, it meant that they didn't have to work that hard at it. Black Dynamite, in contrast, has its acting crew play it almost perfectly straight, as in those old films, so that no one acknowledges the absurdity of the situations they're in, just rolls with it. So you laugh at them and the situation, not just the situation. A lot of this is thanks to White, who really drives the whole movie with just how dead on he is in his impression and how he never cracks a smile, except for one small scene (and that's more maniacal laughter).

Add it to your queue? Heck yes.

Directed by Scott Sanders, Written by Michael Jai White and Byron Minns, Starring White, Salli Richardson, Tommy Davidson, and Kevin Chapman.

Hunger (2008)

Hunger (2008)

This is arguably the most intense viewing experience I've had all year. The film is generally about IRA leader Bobby Sands' 1981 hunger strike while being held at Maze Prison, an attempt to coerce the British Government into recognizing arrested IRA members as political prisoners (the film ends with a notification that the British Government never gave them back the "political" designation, but did grant them most of the privileges that that status conferred).

Michael Fassbender (you saw him most recently as Archie the British Film Critic/Commando in Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds) plays Bobby Sands. For the first third of the film though, you'll only see him once, and you won't be able to recognize him thanks to a hefty amount of facial hair (in fact, because of the 'no shave' policy enacted by the prisoners, they all grow incredible beards). Instead, the first third focuses on Davey and Gerry, two other inmates, which depict the nature of the Irish prisoners' existence in the prison. And it's a pretty rough time. The first time you see the interior of a cell, you assume that they've done a very bad brown paint job (I've been an interior painter, I can comment). And then you realize that it's textured, and then you realize that that ain't paint. If that wasn't enough, the film is pretty explicit, and even shows Gerry smearing his feces on the wall.

Luckily, after a third of the movie has passed, the guards shear the prisoners so we get to see Fassbender's face (he remains a lot less hairy for the rest of the movie) and the focus shifts to him. Then the movie switches into the IRA political message, including a 17-minute unbroken shot (the longest ever for mainstream cinema) between Fassbender and Liam Cunningham's (The Wind that Shakes the Barley) cynical Priest character. Everything they're saying is interesting, and you have to watch the 17-minute conversation to truly understand what it means that this is all one shot, but the movie is never at it's best when it's talking about things. In fact, had the whole scene with the priest (who is a fantastic character) not existed, the film wouldn't have any open reasoning for "Why the IRA do what the IRA do." I'm not sure it would've been missed. There are enough films out there (Bloody Sunday, In the Name of the Father, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Michael Collins to name a few) and others to know what the IRA goal was.

Where the film really excells is in the depictions of the events that occur. Nearly every interaction between guards and prisoners is a rough, emotional affair. At one point, they call in the riot cops while they do anal and oral exams (same gloves, oral comes second), which is incredibly difficult to watch. So too is Fassbender as the hunger strike starts and his body begins to digest itself (which occupies the final third of the film).

Hunger passed almost unnoticed here in the States, although I'm told from my friend Shane that it did not do anything close to that in Ireland proper (both the Republic of and Northern). However, it's now out on DVD, so I suggest you add it to your Netflix.

Directed by Steve McQueen (no, not the Steve McQueen), Written by Enda Walsh and McQueen, Starring Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham.