Baadasssss!
by Mario Van Peebles
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DVD details
Actor: Joy Bryant, Mario Van Peebles, Nia Long, Ossie Davis, T.K. CarterDirector: Mario Van Peebles
Brand: Sony
Writer: Mario Van Peebles
Producer: Bruce Wayne Gillies
Producer: Dennis Haggerty
Writer: Dennis Haggerty
Producer: G. Marq Roswell
Producer: Jerry Offsay
Writer: Melvin Van Peebles
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
Published: 2004-09-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Baadasssss!
DVD Review: One of the Best Movies about Making Movies.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Baadasssss!" tells the story of making "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 independent film that created the "blaxploitation" genre and put independent cinema on the economic map. "Baadasssss!" is based on Melvin Van Peebles memoir and directed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who acted in "Sweet Sweetback" as a 13-year-old and was present for the duration of that film's making. Whether "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was a good film or a bad one is still a point of much contention. Melvin Van Peebles intended to make a movie that reflected the experiences and attitudes of real black Americans at a time when Hollywood was ignoring popular culture and counterculture altogether. Sweetback is no more an average Joe or realistic character than the later blaxploitation heroes would be. But the film's energy and message must have been true-to-life, as it became the biggest grossing independent film of 1971 and went on to make over $15,000,000.
"Baadasssss!" is an entertaining film with a terrific ensemble cast that not only tells the story of how the first blaxploitation film came to be, but also creates a terrific sense of the culture that spawned "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" and of the relationship between father and son that grew as "Sweet Sweetback" was made. This is one of the best films about filmmaking that I have seen and is sure to appeal to fans of movies about movies. Director Mario Van Peebles pays homage to his father and "Sweet Sweetback"s cast and crew by making a well-written, funny, interesting movie about them and by making "Baadasssss!" in much the same fashion that his subjects made history. "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was filmed in 19 days on a shoestring budget by a barely qualified crew. "Baadasssss!" was filmed by a highly skilled cast and crew, but remarkably in only 18 days. It follows Melvin Van Peebles from the time he -probably foolishly- walked out on a 3-picture deal at Columbia Studios when he was one of only three black directors making studio films in Hollywood, through the writing, financing, casting, filming and promoting of "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", until its surprising premiere in Detroit in 1971. Melvin Van Peebles isn't whitewashed. He was domineering and self-obsessed. But his single-mindedness got that film made.
The cast of "Baadasssss!" deserves a mention. Mario Van Peebles plays his father, Melvin, perfectly, and looks a good deal like him too. Khleo Thomas plays Mario as a teenager. The cast and crew of "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was quite a conglomeration of characters, and the cast of "Baadasssss!" portray them vividly. Rainn Wilson is terrific as Bill Harris, hippy producer and close friend of Melvin's. David Alan Grier is unforgettable as Clyde Houston, a porn producer who became "Sweet Sweetback"s production manager. Nia Long plays Melvin's girlfriend Sandra. Joy Bryant is Priscilla, Melvin's dramatic and somewhat naive secretary. Adam West, of Batman fame, has a fantastic small role as a lecherous financier. "Baadasssss!" owes much of its success to the tremendous number of spot-on character portrayals, which are too many to mention here. Overall, a terrific film about film making, and all the more interesting because it is true.
The DVD: Bonus features include 3 featurettes, a poster gallery, and an audio commentary by director Mario Van Peebles and his father Melvin Van Peebles. "The Birth of Black Cinema" (22 minutes) features interviews with Mario Van Peebles, producer Michael Mann, and Bill Cosby, among others, and discusses the political climate in Hollywood in 1970, when black characters in movies typically imitated middle-class white Americans. "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" departed from that as the first Black Power film. There is also discussion of the genesis of "Baadasssss!" including interviews with the cast. "The Premiere" (11 minutes) features interviews with cast and crew taken from the film's premiere and intercut with clips from the film. "American Cinematheque: Questions & Answers with Melvin Van Peebles" (31 minutes) is an interview with Melvin Van Peebles in which he his talks about his career and both the "Baadasssss!" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" films. "Poster Explorations" is a slideshow of 23 posters for the film. The audio commentary by Mario and Melvin Van Peebles is both interesting and entertaining. Melvin goes into more depth and offers anecdotes on the events depicted in "Baadasssss!". Mario talks about his inspirations and decisions in making the film. Subtitles are available in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Description of Baadasssss!
A father. A son. A revolution.ProductInformation BAADASSSSS! is Mario Van Peebles's half documentary/halfhomage to his father Melvin's 1971 film Sweet Sweetback's BaadasssssSong. Determined to make a film that matters Melvin (playedby son Mario) deals with two-faced backers a rag tag crew threateningcreditors and various shades of Hollywood hypocrisy. Obsessed and with everything on the line including hisfailing eyesight and family his only choice is to stick to his gunsand do whatever it takes to get his epic to the audience for which itwas envisioned. The real-life father and son dynamic bringsan intimacy to this inspiring and often hilarious tribute to the fatherof black cinema. The result is a seamless layering ofentertaining drama and poignant documentary that mirrors itself fromevery angel and never loses its edge.Product Features Commentary with Mario and Melvin Van Peebles Featurette: The Birth of Black Cinema Featurette: The Premiere American Cinematheque Q&A with Melvin Van Peebles Poster Explorations PreviewsSpecifications Stars: Mario Van Peebles NiaLong Joy Bryant Format: Color DVD Widescreen Language: English Subtitles: FrenchPortuguese Spanish Rating: R Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 108 minutes Directed By: Mario Van PeeblesBaadasssss! is actor-writer-director Mario Van Peebles's best film since 1991's New Jack City; more accurately, it is a mature and often dazzling work beyond previous expectations of Van Peebles' skills as a filmmaker. Certainly he was inspired by the autobiographical subject: The making of his father's 1971, independently produced Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, in which young Mario made his acting debut amidst a frantic, high-pressure operation that paid off when African American audiences embraced the film. Playing his ownhard-nosed dad, Melvin Van Peebles, the younger talent explores--honestly, but not ruthlessly--Melvin's rocky relationship with an ever-disappointed Mario (played by Holes' Khleo Thomas), but he also portrays the elder man as a stubborn idealist against a backdrop of Hollywood cynicism about black entertainment. The film is a whirlwind of action and innovative scenes recreating personal history but without the insistent discursiveness of memory. With Nia Long, Ossie Davis, and Saul Rubinek. --Tom Keogh
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