Cut Throat City (2020) - Movie Review

The RZA earned his stripes as a cinematic storyteller long before he ever picked up the camera. That’s what made the first wave of Wu-Tang albums so fucking good: They all felt like mini-movies devoted to a single sense. The hard-body kung-fu of 36 Chambers, the stoner horror of Tical, the outsider comedy of ODB’s solo debut, the Godfather-tier Mafioso yarn of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, the thinking man’s chambara of Liquid Swords, the blaxploitation of Ironman, even the panoramic victory lap of Wu-Tang Forever; the RZA did what any director does and surrounded himself with capable writers and actors who wound up influencing the entire genre around them in one fell swoop.

Which is why the RZA’s first step into visual cinema with The Man With The Iron Fists, as fire as the soundtrack was, felt like a misstep. It was too raw (read: unrefined) and felt more like fan worship of the genre it sits in than him putting his own boot print on it. And when he followed that up with a directing spot on Iron Fist (AKA the worst of the Netflix Marvel series), him being in that chair just felt like a bad idea. Maybe his own ability to control the maestro stayed in the vocal booth. But I decided to relent and give his latest a try, and man, am I glad I did.

Dolemite Is My Name (2019) - Movie Review

In the annals of blaxploitation, there are a number of certified classics that basically make the genre what it is remembered for to this day. We’ve even covered a few on here like Super Fly and Shaft, but there’s also Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (and yes, it is the inspiration for the title of that Simpsons episode where Willie chases a dog through some ventilation shafts), Coffy, Foxy Brown, and even more recent efforts like Black Dynamite. But for my money, especially given my own understanding of the genre as a major cornerstone of hip-hop culture, you’d be hard-pressed to find a film more influential than Rudy Ray Moore’s ode to the bad motherfucker that fucks up motherfuckers: Dolemite.