Dolemite

SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts


"Some folks say that Willie Green was the baddest motherfucker the world ever seen. But I want you to hold onto your seats, and hold onto them tight. Cause you now getting ready to see the story of me. Yes, me! The badass, Dolemite!"

Dolemite is a bit difficult to describe to people right now. His movies were dirty, crass, low budget, soft porn, blaxploitation flicks. Rudy Ray Moore couldn't sing, dance, or act. However, he was highly entertaining.

Eddie and Charlie Murphy were clearly inspired by him, and this year we get a Dolemite remake. Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and Rudy Ray Moore records are all pretty similar in a way that you could've gotten in trouble for listening to them. In our sensitive eared, politically correct, triggered society could a Dolemite even exist?


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  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts



  • I can't wait to see Dolemite Is My Name. The Blaxploitation era of film was so crazy and energetic, there really should be more movies set in that scene or paying tribute. I don't know if exploitation films aimed specifically at Black audiences would be quite the same if done now, I think it was a product of the boundary-pushing that happened across Hollywood in the 70s after the collapse of the studio system (post-Easy Rider, post "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood"). I'd love to see a Blaxploitation-set "Once Upon A Time..." like with the resources that that film had. I'd prefer one, in fact.

    Anyway Eddie should make a sequel called "Petey Wheatstraw, The Devil's Son In Law... Is My Name"

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    It goes without saying the influence of Rudy Ray Moore has even been hilarious.

    I feel like Clarence Carter had a very obvious Rudy Ray Moore influence. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqNlTN6WkUc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqNlTN6WkUc

    ODB was definitely inspired by Dolemite. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXTzm5GtqVo

    I feel like the last good true blaxploitation flick we got was Black Dynamite. The character Bullhorn is absolutely copying the speaking style of Rudy Ray Moore. 
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq6qBb8Vr1w

    - damo

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    These skits are still out of control!!

  • I would pay to watch a new Black Dynamite-style pastiche movie every year! And yeah I feel like Rudy Ray pretty much influenced every Black comedian of a certain age... I forgot how raw Blowfly is! God damn.

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    Oh, I thought this was going to be a RRM biopic - didn't realize it was new film in the series!  I'm ready.

    Read this bitd when I was discovering all those films - solid:



  • Yeah the Eddie Murphy movie is indeed a RRM biopic - I was just putting the thought out there that straight pastiches are good too.

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    Oh right - I'm fascinated that Eddie is doing this.  

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Do you guys think they'll even get into the fact that Rudy Ray Moore was gay?



  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    Is it Dolemite 2 where he runs off the cliff butt nekkid during the intro?

    Edit:  

  • wait, is this a series, not a one-off feature?

  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,885 Posts
    wait, is this a series, not a one-off feature?

    Dolemite Is My Name is a film and not a series.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8526872/


  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    wait, is this a series, not a one-off feature?

    If you're talking about the OG, then yeah, Human Tornado was "Dolemite 2".  I think there were other sequels laaaaaater, but those first two are 


  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,885 Posts
    Oh wait, I misread. I thought you meant a new TV series.

  • Nah Bill you were right, I was thinking I'd read somewhere that it was a netflix series rather than a one-off feature, but the trailer seemed one-off-ish.

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Nah Bill you were right, I was thinking I'd read somewhere that it was a netflix series rather than a one-off feature, but the trailer seemed one-off-ish.

    Do you think that a family friendly take on Dolemite would even work on Netflix? Regardless of Eddie Murphy leading the project. 

    Even Tarantino couldn't translate the appeal of Grindhouse movies to the mainstream. Dolemite was offensive, sexist, pornagraphic, cringe humor. It's sort of reminds me of that Disaster Artist take on Tommy Wiseau. 

    I'm sort of anticipating it to suck, but I think that Dolemite was a very interesting subject that we haven't really touched much on Soul Strut in the past. What kind of musical gems could we unearth?

    - Diego


  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    SPlDEY said:
    Nah Bill you were right, I was thinking I'd read somewhere that it was a netflix series rather than a one-off feature, but the trailer seemed one-off-ish.

    Do you think that a family friendly take on Dolemite would even work on Netflix? Regardless of Eddie Murphy leading the project. 

    Even Tarantino couldn't translate the appeal of Grindhouse movies to the mainstream. Dolemite was offensive, sexist, pornagraphic, cringe humor. It's sort of reminds me of that Disaster Artist take on Tommy Wiseau. 

    I'm sort of anticipating it to suck, but I think that Dolemite was a very interesting subject that we haven't really touched much on Soul Strut in the past. What kind of musical gems could we unearth?

    - Diego

    I agree.  I don't know his private life was like, but given the material he produced, it would seem impossible to sanitize the story for today's mainstream audience. I would be surprised if it's as raw as it ought to be.

    Did you all see Eddie on Comedians in Cars... recently?  



  • To me it's more about the era - the movement to make Black movies for Black audiences, the personalities etc. You wouldn't need to dwell on the same button-pushing that Rudy went for back then to get the taste of what his movies were about. Hell, Shaft has scenes where like, he greets a girl and then it smash cuts to him fully nude on the couch getting up off her, or whatever, and Shaft is getting remakes/sequels to this day.

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    To me it's more about the era - the movement to make Black movies for Black audiences, the personalities etc. You wouldn't need to dwell on the same button-pushing that Rudy went for back then to get the taste of what his movies were about. Hell, Shaft has scenes where like, he greets a girl and then it smash cuts to him fully nude on the couch getting up off her, or whatever, and Shaft is getting remakes/sequels to this day.

    I agree - there's a very interesting story behind the material, I'm sure. 

    b/w

    That first Sam Jackson Shaft sequel was kinda *yawn*.  Haven't watched any of the others.


  • Yeah I was so hyped for Sam Jackson as Shaft and was pretty disappointed. I guess the one from this year has Jackson, Roundtree and the "new" Shaft as a nephew or whatever. I mean, a "black private dick who's a sex machine with all the chicks" is always gonna be a recipe for a pretty good pulpy movie concept, but they seem to do as little as possible with it. 

    I agree, though, that "grindhouse" as a genre can't be dragged into this century in any recognizable state. There are definitely grindhouse films getting made now, but for streaming platforms and mid-grade TV channels, or independently, and not along the same lines.

    For example, I know a guy who has carved out a niche in NZ making very low budget Samoa/NZ-set Samoan-centered movies aimed at Samoan audiences, in the country itself but also in the US/Aus/NZ diaspora, and seems to be making really good returns on being the only person doing that. Indeed the only person doing any kind of regular Polynesian-oriented stories. But the movies aren't 70s-style gritty line-stepping, they're light-hearted, warm and generally pretty family friendly. I'd argue that's occupying a similar market segment to what Blaxploitation used to, but in different historical conditions with a different type of content as a result.

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    Gary Davis (The Professor) is still making bananas films, but he's the exception to every rule.

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    ^^ To prove the point, was just cleaning up and found this poster of a recent/current(?) project of Gary's:


    b/w A friend of mine recently made a film about Gary: https://vimeo.com/user954548

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I agree, though, that "grindhouse" as a genre can't be dragged into this century in any recognizable state. There are definitely grindhouse films getting made now, but for streaming platforms and mid-grade TV channels, or independently, and not along the same lines.
    Have you seen the work of Anna Biller? or Dario Russo? If any film maker could bring back Grindhouse my money would be one of these 2. - spidey

  • Good shout, I loved Danger 5! I only wish the Dinosaur guys were more productive. I hadn't seen the Love Witch but I'd heard of it, the trailer makes it look even harder-core authentic than I thought.

  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,080 Posts
    Got my tickets for the now sold out New Beverly screening next Tuesday featuring an appearance by the writing duo of Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander. Looking forward to it.


  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,095 Posts
    Won't be long before it drops on nefflix but pls do report back.  My cousin caught it at TIFF last month and he seemed to really like it.

  • saw it last saturday. #brilliant

  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,080 Posts

    I motherfucking enjoyed it! Everything works so well: the soundtrack which weaves in and out of every scene effectively (original music by Scott Bomar of the Bo-Keys too), the costumes (Ruth Carter returns to her seemingly favorite decade once again!), the use of Los Angeles landmarks (the Dunbar and Orpheum but no Total Experience?) and, of course, Eddie Murphy who did this with obvious enthusiasm and as a loving tribute. I don't think it could have been played by, or green lighted involving, any another actor.

    The aforementioned writing duo who appeared post screening; veterans of the outsider-legend biopic (Ed Wood, Larry Flynt, Andy Kaufman, the Keanes and, soon, John McAfee), had this one in the making for 16 years before enough interest was generated and Netflix jumped on board. They've come a long way from "Problem Child", that's for sure.

    Observations, some of which can be spoilers...












    Mike Epps is great as Jimmy Lynch and Wesley Snipes is real fun as a name-dropping, somewhat haughty D'urville Martin who is occasionally and humorously taken down a notch ("I worked with Roman Polanski!", "that's right, you were in 'Rosemary's Baby'!", "yeah, as the elevator guy!"). Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Lady Reed / Queen Bee was one of the best. I've never seen her in anything listed on IMDB as I am out of the loop with what's on TV these days. Hope she goes far. Snoop and Chris Rock play DJs. Ron Cephas Jones and Bob Odenkirk have uncredited appearances as the rhyming, story-telling drunk who inspires Moore's Dolemite persona and a shady record exec, respectively.

    So yeah, this is recommended. I thought this is more entertaining than, say, the equally detailed, nostalgic, similarly themed but ultimately purposeless "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood", despite Tarantino's film having more hype and star power behind it. This one made better use of film footage, posters, reenactments and other visual cues.

    It's worth mentioning this doesn't cover an entire lifetime as, for example, the James Brown or Ray Charles ones do. It opens with his day job working at Dolphins Of Hollywood (represented by the interior of Pasadena record shop Poo-Bah. I knew it looked familiar!), after he's had a few 45s and LPs under his belt but before he hit the big time with his raunchy material. In real life, this was 1970 (making the vinyl porny intro scene slightly anachronistic. You'll see.). It goes no further than the premier of the first Dolemite film. To answer Spidey, the film does not mention his supposed homosexuality (if the claims from his manager several years back are to be believed), although his reluctance to talk about his personal life is touched on. Putting his poor, abusive rural upbringing behind him plays a significant part in the character development, though.


  • Reynaldo82Reynaldo82 NorCal 73 Posts
    Glorifying murder, rape, poison pushing, bad diet, lies, and materialism is an abomination to all Black people and a curse on our race.

    SHAME ON YOUR ENTERTAINMENT
    ketanSPlDEYcove
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