#The Sweetback Sisters

[mrbopst]

Good News: A thrilling new edition of The Bopst Show, your musical life boat in a syphilitic sea infected with trite rehash, soulless reenactment and creative lethargy, is now available for free audio consumption on Podomatic or wherever you get your podcasts.

Music variety show hosted, mixed and recorded by Chris Bopst featuring words and music by Kimi Djabaté, Dean Elliott & His Big, Big Band!, Four Tet, Tappa Zukie, Harold Ousley, The Nightingales, Marijata, The Jam, The Sweetback Sisters, Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave, Kirsty MacColl, Mahna Mackay, The Fatima Mansions, and La Yegros.

This show originally aired January 26, 2024 on WRWK 93.9 LP FM in Midlothian, Virginia, USA.

[romanceyourdemons]

i really enjoyed coffy (1973), pam grier’s rightfully renowned revenge extraordinaire. relative to shaft (1971), which shows black people triumphing by earning respect and solidarity from white people, and sweet sweetback’s baadasssss song (1971), which shows its black protagonist becoming utterly disillusioned by the violent white-controlled system and leaving it at all costs to fight against it, this film is thematically much more in the vein of the latter, although its political statements are nowhere near as radical and its visual and narrative sensibilities are closer to those of the former. the film depicts a respectable black nurse who assists a respectable black doctor, is in a committed relationship with a respectable black politician, and has a close friendship with a respectable black cop. and yet their respectability and success cannot keep them far separated from the crime and addiction ridden world they left. as the eponymous coffy descends into a spree of vengeance in retaliation for her child sister being pushed into drug addiction, she finds that the exploitative system of the drug and sex trade—and the corrupt police and politicians who choose profit over reform—is full of people who choose to turn against those they should experience solidarity with and punch down to ingratiate themselves with the ones punching down on them. abused sex workers abuse each other for a chance at the relatively protected of unstable position of the pimp’s personal sex toy; the black pimp sacrifices and sells out in the hopes that the italian mafia boss taking over operations will tolerate him, only to find himself lynched at the first opportunity. coffy’s old flame, the good cop, refuses to take part in this system and gets beaten most of the way to death as punishment. her current boyfriend, by contrast, both literally and metaphorically gets into bed with whiteness to boost his political career, using the black people he speaks of as his brothers and sisters while acting directly against their interests in favor of his own. as in sweet sweetback (1971), coffy finds that in light of this knowledge she cannot remain in her safe and respectable life, and is compelled to abandon it in order to take direct action against the system, from street-corner drug seller to congressman. as an exploitation film, of course, the film also glamorizes that which it nominally criticizes, especially the suave pimp and his nubile, homoerotic whores (a setup iconic to the genre, despite the narrative’s insistence that the arrangement is cruel and unsustainable). but pam grier’s intense performance and the layered, driving narrative make coffy (1973) a truly engaging and compelling film, one that i would highly recommend

[dustedmagazine]

See Jazz — Is This Anything (Flower Sounds)

Photo by Colin Marchon 

See Jazz’s “1982” reminds me of a song that rarely comes up in comparisons, one so singular and, in its way, perfect, that it seems not to have left much of a trail on the world, even as lesser songs get copied repeatedly. I’m talking here about Felt’s “Primitive Painters,” with its crystalline oscillating riff, its blooming surges of guitar and organ sound, its rocketing drums and, finally, its vocal duet between Verlaine-channeling Martin and dream-drenched Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. Though home recorded and not nearly as epic, “1982” has that same vertiginous balance between tremulous, astral ideality and wounded, grounded vulnerability, the same contrast between ragged doubt and heavenly solace. If See Jazz’s Aaron Pfannebecker were asking me the question in his title, I’d point to this track first. Yes, indeed, this right here. This is something.

Pfannebecker comes from Western Mass but lives now in New York City, and though he hasn’t accumulated much of a musical catalogue as yet, he is well connected in both places. That’s Langellotti of Kurt Vile and the Violators playing bass on all but one tracks. Fellow Pioneer Valley native Jed Smith, of the Jeanines and My Teenage Strides turns up for the outlier, the new-wave-into-sad-boy disco “Dance With Me,” which evokes both Fine Young Cannibals and the Pet Shop Boys. The woman with the floaty, airy, too-perfect-to-be-real voice is Zara Bode from Sweetback Sisters.

However well-backed he may be, Pfannebecker sticks mostly to instruments he can man himself—programmed drums, unearthly organs and electronic keyboards, guitar and voice. Is This Anything? is obviously influenced by some big, well-financed, professionally recorded sounds—early 1980s new wave, particularly—but it, in itself, feels home-made. You can catch a whiff of the Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, even Wham! in the suave keyboards and bass of “American Possibilities,” but there’s something naked and yearning in the vocals.

Nothing else here is quite as good as “1982,” though “Dance with Me,” comes closest. Yet that one track is arresting enough to make you wonder what’s next and whether See Jazz’s giant ambitions and low-key execution will find as ideal a balance again.

Jennifer Kelly

[stereopticons]

tagged by @hippolotamus, thanks, friend!

relationship status: married

favourite colour: red, but the majority of my wardrobe is black

favourite food: mac and cheese. pizza. potatoes in all forms. bread. look I can't pick

song stuck in my head: currently listening to the sweetback sisters' cover of if drinkin' don't kill me (her memory will)

last thing i googled: it was a specific document I needed to reference for work. But since that isn't fun, the last thing I googled for a fic was how many tracks do EPs usually have because even though I was pretty sure I knew, I still wanted to check

current time: 12:42 pm

dream trip: so many places. But really I think going to the seaside would cure me.

tagging @mostlyinthemorning @rosedavid @roseapothecary @alienajackson @jettestar @likerealpeopledo-on-ao3 @this-is-bwr @reasonandfaithinharmony

[rockabilly-bebop]

Santa Claus is Coming to Town-- The Sweetback Sisters

[soulmusicsongs]

The best blaxploitation soundtracks

The Blaxploitation Movies of the 1970’s were the first films made by black crews for black audiences. Filmmakers turned to black musicians to score their films and add an extra touch of soul and featured artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Willie Hutch, Isaac Hayes and Marvin Gaye. Here’s our essential selection of 1970′ blaxploitation soundtracks.

Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack (Across 110th Street, 1972). From the movie Across 110th Street (1972)

B.J.’s Step - Ed Bogas (Black Girl, 1972). From the film Black Girl (1972)

Blind Man Can See It - James Brown (Black Caesar, 1973). From the film Black Caesar (1973)

Come On Feet - Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (An Opera), 1971)

Forgotten Man - We The People (Forgotten Man / Left In The Lost and Found, 1973) From the movie Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (1973)

Hammer - Solomon Burke and Jerry Styner (Hammer, 1972). From the movie Hammer (1972)

Hit Man (What You Gonna Do) - H.B. Barnum (Hit Man, He Aims To Please, 1972) From Hit Man (1972)

Keep On Movin’ On - J.J. Johnson featuring Martha Reeves ‎(Willie Dynamite (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), 1974). From the movie Willie Dynamite (1973)

Lay It On Your Head - Don Julian ‎(Savage - Super Soul Soundtrack, 1973) From Savage! (1973)

Mack Man - Willie Hutch (Got to Get Over) (The Mack) (1972). From The Mack (1972)

Power Of Your Love - Rudy Ray Moore ‎featuring Mary Love (Rudy Ray Moore Is “Dolemite” (From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), 1975) From Dolemite (1975)

Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile - Isaac Hayes (Truck Turner, 1974). From Truck Turner (1974)

Sheba, Baby - Monk Higgins and Alex Brown featuring Barbara Mason ‎(Sheba, Baby, 1975) from Sheba Baby (1975)

Supernatural Voodoo Woman (part 1) - The Originals (Supernatural Voodoo Woman (part 1) / Supernatural Voodoo Woman (part 2), 1974). From Sugar Hill (1974)

Super Shine #9 - Sister Goose And The Ducklings (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Gordon’s War, 1973). From the action film Gordon's War (1973)

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[musiconspotify]

The Sweetback Sisters

The Sweetback Sisters King Of Killing Time (2017) … classics and originals that will please …

#sweetbacksisters

[96thdayofrage]

Melvin Van Peebles, Champion of New Black Cinema, Dies at 89

A fertile creative force, he wrote fiction and musicals but is best known for a breakthrough movie that heralded the genre known as blaxploitation.

Melvin Van Peebles, the filmmaker praised as the godfather of modern Black cinema and a trailblazer in American independent movies, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 89.

His death was announced by his son Mario Van Peebles, the actor and director.

A Renaissance man whose work spanned books, theater and music, Mr. Van Peebles is best known for his third feature film, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” which drew mixed reviews when it was released in 1971, ignited intense debate and became a national hit. The hero, Sweetback, starred in a sex show at a brothel, and the movie sizzled with explosive violence, explicit sex and righteous antagonism toward the white power structure. It was dedicated to “all the Black brothers and sisters who have had enough of The Man.”

Mr. Van Peebles’s fiercely independent legacy can be seen in some of the most notable Black films of the past half-century, from Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986) to Barry Jenkins’s “Moonlight” (2016). His death arrives at a moment when Black storytelling has belatedly become ascendant in Hollywood.

“I didn’t even know I had a legacy,” he told The New York Times in 2010, when asked about his reputation and influence. “I do what I want to do.”

Not only did Mr. Van Peebles write, direct and score “Sweet Sweetback’s” and play the lead role; he also raised the money to produce it. The film demonstrated that a Black director could convey a highly personal vision to a broad audience. “For the first time in cinematic history in America, a movie speaks out of an undeniable Black consciousness,” Sam Washington wrote in The Chicago Sun-Times.

In addition to making movies, Mr. Van Peebles published novels, in French as well as in English; wrote two Broadway musicals and produced them simultaneously; and wrote and performed spoken-word albums that many have called forebears of rap.

Over the course of his life he was also a cable-car driver in San Francisco, a portrait painter in Mexico City, a street performer in Paris, a stock options trader in New York, the navigator of an Air Force bomber, a postal worker, a visual artist and, by his own account, a very successful gigolo.

Mr. Van Peebles grandly called himself “the Rosa Parks of Black cinema.” Along with Gordon Parks, whose 1971 film “Shaft” lionized a streetwise Black detective, he was among the first Black filmmakers to reach a wide general audience.

“Sweetback,” “Shaft” and numerous knockoffs released throughout the 1970s were a response to a new militancy among young urban Black people. The movies’ casts were mainly Black, and the music was mainly funk and soul. Racial put-downs of whites were common, as were sex, violence and critiques of capitalism and police brutality. Many displayed a slick coolness. Some romanticized outlaws.

[leupagus]

If anybody’s looking for a good cover of “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me,” btw, let me recommend this truly amazing one from the Sweetback Sisters album I was listening to on repeat last summer. IT’S A GREAT ALBUM Y’ALL SHOULD GO LISTEN TO IT

[bluesmagazine]

Recensie: The Sweetback Sisters – King Of Killing Time

Recensie: The Sweetback Sisters – King Of Killing Time

The Sweetback Sisters – King Of Killing Time Format: CD / Label: Signature Sounds Recordings – V2 Records Releasedatum: 25 augustus 2017

Tekst: Jeroen Bakker

Een EP met de treffende titel ‘Bang!’ bleek tien jaar geleden genoeg om allerlei superlatieven los te maken bij NBC New York. Het toonaangevende medium zorgde er hoogstpersoonlijk voor dat de uit Brooklyn afkomstige Sweetback Sistersin één…

[bothkindsofmusic]

Friends, it’s Ameripolitan Award nomination time and yours truly is throwing his hat in for the DJ category. If you don’t know what the Ameripolitans are, they acknowledge the work of artists who make Honky Tonk, Rockabilly and Western Swing music. 

In their own words: The Ameripolitan Music Awards were created to benefit and acknowledge artists whose work does not readily conform to the tastes of today’s country or other music genres and organizations. It also provides fans with a means of finding these artists and their music. Submit your ballot at the Ameripolitan site. If you need help filling in the ballot, I’ve made a list of artists I think bust their ass and would make great nominees:

Ameripolitan DJ: DON STICKSEL, The Country Bunker & Both Kinds of Music Shows Honky Tonk Male: JP Harris Orville Peck Jeremy Pinnell Charley Crockett Gethen Jenkins Zephaniah OHora Tyler Childers James Steinle

Honky Tonk Female: Kelsey Waldon Kristina Murray Kathryn Legendre Emily Nenni Charlie Marie Eilen Jewell

Honky Tonk Group: Mike and the Moonpies  Mayeux & Broussard Andrea and Mud Casey James Prestwood & The Burning Angels The Sweetback Sisters The Country Side of Harmonica Sam Jenny Don’t and The Spurs

Rockabilly Male: Marcel Bontempi Colton Turner Pat Capocci Eugene Chrysler Jittery Jack Bloodshot Bill

Rockabilly Female: Tami Neilson Linda Gail Lewis Tammi Savoy

Rockabilly Group: The Shadowmen Wildcat Rose Tammi Savoy & Chris Casello

Western Swing Male: ??

Western Swing Female: Megg Farrell

Western Swing Group: The Hot Club of Cowtown Big Cedar Fever Kyle Eldridge and the Rhythm Rounders

Ameripolitan Venue: Grand Ole Echo, LA American Legion Post 82, Nashville Tractor Tavern, Seattle Pappy and Harriet’s, Joshua Tree

Ameripolitan Festival: Western Swingout

Ameripolitan Musician: Joel Paterson Dave Stuckey

Ineligible:

Honky Tonk Female: Whitney Rose, Brennen Leigh

Honky Tonk Male: Jesse Daniel, Luke Bell

Honky Tonk Group: Two Tons of Steel, The Reeves Brothers

Outlaw Female: Summer Dean, Nikki Lane

Outlaw Male: Ray Wylie Hubbard, Cody Jinks

Outlaw Group: Mike and the Moonpies, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s

Western Swing Female: Grace Adele (of Farmer and Adele), Sophia Johnson

Western Swing Male: Justin Trevino, Billy Mata

Western Swing Group: Big Cedar Fever, The Carolyn Sills Combo

Rockabilly Female: Tammi Savoy, Bailey Dee

Rockabilly Male: Jimmy Dale (Richardson), Al Dual

Rockabilly Group – The Delta Bombers, The Go Getters

Keeper of the Key Awards- Larry Collins

Ralph Mooney Musician of the Year – Deke Dickerson, Chris Scruggs

Venue of the Year – Robert’s Western World, Sportsmen’s Tavern

Festival of the Year – Rockin’ Race, New England Shake Up

DJ of the Year – Woody Adkins KOPN, WB Walker, Old Soul Radio Show

[aion-rsa]

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song Was Revolutionary on Every Level

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, which turns 50 this month, is the opposite of the definition imposed on it. The 1971 film inspired the Blaxploitation genre, but Melvin Van Peebles exploited no one but himself. He got the money together, wrote the script and the music, selected the shots, aimed the camera, and starred in the film. He even did the stunts and post-production editing. Everything that came after was a reaction to his revolution. The father of Black cinema is one of the godfathers of independent filmmaking, and he turned everything upside down doing it.

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song defies all expectations. Unapologetically Black, it flips every stereotype back on itself. It reconstructs the constrictions of sexual identification. It wasn’t made for the institution. It was made for the people. “This film is dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who had enough of the Man,” reads the opening titles. That included the ones in suits at Hollywood studios. Even after the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Fred Hampton, the only African Americans people saw on the big screen were subservient to whites, or played by Sidney Poitier.

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was released a few months before Shaft. According to Howard Hughes’ 2006 book Crime Wave: The Filmgoers’ Guide to Great Crime Movies, Ernest Tidyman originally wrote the character of John Shaft as white, but director Gordon Parks cast Richard Roundtree in the role. According to legend, it was because of Sweet Sweetback. Because the two films were released the same year, they share categories, but not aesthetics.

“What does a dead man need bread for?”

Shaft was co-produced and distributed by MGM, a major studio. Van Peebles shot Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song in 19 days on a budget of $500,000, and had to personally ask Bill Cosby for a $50,000 loan to finish it. He worked on a sporadic shooting schedule, and had to rethink the film as it progressed because of the shrinking funds. After the success of his racially charged comedy The Watermelon Man (1970), Columbia Pictures offered Van Peebles a three-picture deal. The studio wanted more comedies, but the director had something far more hysterical in mind.

The story of the production is lovingly, and unflinchingly, told in Mario Van Peebles’ 2003 film Baadasssss!, which was originally titled “How to Get the Man’s Foot Outta Your Ass.” In the biofilm Melvin Van Peebles pitches a story about a live sex show performer working out of a Los Angeles whorehouse who becomes radicalized. The studio withdraws its offer, and Melvin hits the streets looking for independent backing, nonunion crews, and nonprofessional actors. He ultimately finds his delivery system in a porn producer, played by David Alan Grier.

We can trust Baadasssss! in its accuracy, Mario Van Peebles is Melvin’s son, and plays his father in the film, just like he did in Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. The pornographic connection also resonates because Mario was 13 years old when he played the young Sweetback in the flashback segment which opens the film. The scene was censored in reissues because of the Protection of Children Act. Nonetheless, the production got around unions by disguising itself as a porn film, and was initially rated X by the MPAA when it first came out. Some theaters trimmed up to 9 minutes of sex before projecting the film. Ever an enterprising showman, Melvin Van Peebles used that to his advantage, hyping the movie as “Rated X by an all-white jury!” in promotions.

“No charge if you don’t like it!”

Melvin Van Peebles has been criticized for pushing the racist stereotype of the Black stud, but Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is as much an incursion in the sexual revolution as it is in civil disobedience. The counterculture guerilla war isn’t only about burning cop cars to cheering crowds, it includes the erotic socialism of the era’s radical cinema. The film opens with sexual suspense: Close-ups of women hungrily eyeing a young African American boy as he eats. They don’t want what’s on his plate, though. The very next scene shows him come of age as a sexual prodigy. Sweetback grew up in a cathouse, where he was on the menu for the female clientele. This also establishes Sweetback as submissive sexually, even though he is the character who holds the most power in the film.

The next scene further subverts the sexuality. The establishing shot shows two women putting on an erotic live performance for an appreciative audience. One of the women is wearing men’s clothes, as well as a fake beard and a hat, before she strips down to just a bra. During the on-stage sex act, they are visited by “the good dyke fairy godmother,” an effeminate man who waves his magic wand and turns the bearded lady into Sweetback. Van Peebles blurs the lines of magic, reality and sexual identity. This is reversed later in the film when the biker gang remove their helmets and are revealed to be women. The director subverts the myths of black masculinity further by having Sweetback sexually submit into power after being forced to service them all before they let him go. 

Van Peebles maintains he played the title role himself because no established Black actor would work for what he could pay, and because the character only has six lines of dialogue. He also couldn’t afford a stunt man, so Melvin performed all of the stunts himself, which also included appearing in several unsimulated sex scenes. The cinematic social commentator contracted a social disease during filming, and successfully applied to the Directors Guild for workers’ compensation because he was “hurt on the job,” according to Darius James’s 1995 book That’s Blaxploitation!: Roots of the Baadasssss ‘Tude (Rated X by an All-Whyte Jury). The director used the money to buy more film stock.

When Van Peebles started out in film, he figured he “could make a feature for five hundred dollars” because “that was the cost of 90 minutes of film,” according to James’ book. When the director was young and couldn’t break into a segregated Hollywood with his early short films, Van Peebles was invited to Paris by Henri Langlois, founder of the Cinémathèque Française. He released the short film Les Cinq Cent Balles (500 Francs) in 1961. Van Peebles taught himself the language and wrote a number of books in French. One of which he adapted into his 1968 feature debut The Story of a Three-Day Pass, which starred Harry Baird as Turner, an African American soldier stationed in France. He is granted a promotion and a three-day leave by his racist commanding officer. The film explores the psychology of an interracial relationship, while critiquing racial attitudes in France.

Inspired by the French New Wave cinematic movement, Van Peebles approaches the narrative with the invention which comes with necessity. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was photographed in a variety of formats, half the film was shot on 35mm negative, less than half shot on 16mm which was blown up to 35mm. The camera is mostly handheld and goes in and out of focus. The cinematography is distorted by split-screen effects, negative images, double images, stills and dissolves. The psychedelic desert montage superimposes the psychology of the perpetual outlaw over the radicalized street hustler. Sweetback breaks all the taboos and presents a breakthrough in its picture of social discord.

“You been stirring up the natives, kid?”

The biggest name on the credits is the film’s real star: “The Black Community.” The villain of the film is the occupying army. Van Peebles presents an uncompromising dramatization of a threatening, abusive police force which are an adversary to the citizens of the streets they patrol. The only thing the cops know about their beat is who to beat, and that can be anyone. Late in the film, the police kill a Black man they mistake for Sweetback, when the cops learn an innocent man was shot, one says “so what?”

Sweetback’s initial relationship with the police is cordial, the body of a Black man is discovered in his neighborhood, Sweetback agrees to accompany two white cops to the station as a suspect to make them look good. The trouble starts when the cops mercilessly brutalize the young Black Panther Mu-Mu (Hubert Scales). Sweetback fights back. The hustler-stud assaults the white plainclothes cops with their own handcuffs. The Black Panthers saw this as revolutionary solidarity, declared the film required viewing for all members, who filled theaters, and ensured the film’s box office victory.

Those Baadasssss Songs

One of Blaxploitation’s greatest contributions to the arts is the art of the soundtrack. Among its many precedents, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was the first film to capitalize on the marketing appeal of its music. And what a soundtrack. Founded in Chicago by Maurice White in 1969, Earth, Wind & Fire were a rising funk ensemble. Peebles’ secretary, who was dating one of the members, convinced the director to contact the group. Peebles collaborated on the music, and also performed under his alter ego, Brer Soul, which was also the name of his 1968 debut studio album. The director projected scenes from the film as the band performed. The soundtrack album came out on the legendary Stax label in anticipation of the film’s release to raise cash and get the publicity of radio airplay.

Without the soundtrack, the film may never have made it into theaters. But the strategy worked so well, artists like Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack, Donny Hathaway, and James Brown were brought in to compose music for movies. Up until this time, Quincy Jones was the only Black composer with major motion picture scores to his credit.

Music is crucial to the film’s design. The songs on the soundtrack album incorporate the film’s dialog as an instrument. Side One begins with “Sweetback Losing His Cherry,” which alternates between a gospel choir and urban funk while a vocalist lets loose with the happy moans of sex. “Sweetback Getting it Uptight and Preaching it so Hard the Bourgeois Reggin Angels in Heaven Turn Around” is pure psychedelic cacophony.

“Everybody profits.”

Van Peebles’ direction is not rudderless. It is fearless. Like the helmsman himself, who jumped off a bridge nine times before a stunt was declared perfect. He even stood off against the Hells Angels, when bikers brought a knife to an almost-gunfight on the set, demanding to be let off even though they’d been paid for the day. The film boldly features the casual systemic racism of law enforcement, from a police commissioner using epithets on live TV to the deafening of Sweetback’s boss Beetle (Simon Chuckster) who is deafened during interrogation when a cop fires a revolver next to his ear. The film still all-too accurately portrays how the Black community is persecuted by police.

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Because of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, and even Billie Holiday and Sam Cooke are now examined through a harsher cinematic lens. Their stories are being told without the whitewashing of polite censorship. Films about them include indictments which Hollywood would never have dared to portray had Van Peebles not opened the door. But the realities of George Floyd, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and countless others continue to assault everyday senses. Fifty years later, the film retains its shock value, which has paid off in vast dividends.

The ending promises a sequel which never materialized, but came to life through the movement it began. Though tagged forever as the first Blaxploitation film, Van Peebles called it “the first Black Power movie.” The filmmaker had complete control, artistically and commercially, the very opposite of exploitation. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is a significant artistic, political and sexual statement, which is still revolutionary in the era of social justice warriors.

The post Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song Was Revolutionary on Every Level appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3e1PZQl

[scifigeneration]

The 2018 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Returns to New York City This Week

by Daryle Lockhart

This week marks the return of The 2018 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, which will present a full lineup of critically acclaimed films, exclusive premieres, panel discussions, virtual reality installations and international animation. The electrifying sixth annual event will also feature appearances by special guests Armand Assante, Charles Baker, Jonny Beauchamp, Nicki Clyne, Nana Gouvea, Michael Ironside, Vincent Pastore, Tom Sizemore, Chuck Zito and more special guests. Screening in the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, the festival will run from February 23-25, 2018.

Passes to screenings at Village East Cinema (181-189 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003) can be purchased at www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com. Passes to screenings at Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106) can be purchased by contacting the venue at members@movingimage.us . 

Here’s the full schedule:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2018: Village East Cinema (181-189 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003) Block 1: International Sci-Fi Shorts + Special Guest Panel Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm Program (2017) Director: Gabriel de Urioste Run Time/Country: 8 min, USA Synopsis: A young woman goes back to fix a broken relationship with a lost love. Metta Via (2017) Director: Warren Flanagan Run Time/Country: 10 min, Canada Synopsis: Set in the future, a young woman wakes up in a mysterious temple-like room and must figure out what her purpose is there. This in turn leads to her memories being unlocked and the true purpose of the temple, the strange sentient machines that surround her and ultimately her final destination. The Super Recogniser (2017) Director: Jennifer Sheridan Run Time/Country: 11 min, UK Synopsis: A normal guy has the very special talent of 90% facial recollection. He never forgets a face and you better hope he doesn't knows yours. Starring Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) and Ritu Arya (Humans). December 17 (2016) Director: Yuji Hariu Run Time/Country: 15 min, Japan Synopsis: In the not-so-distant future of Tokyo, a six-year-old boy has been confined by his parents and all his activities are done at home. His old brother, on the other hand, is free to go outside and study in school. On the night of the boy's birthday, his brother persuades him to escape from their home. In Between (2016) Director: Scarlett Thiele Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: A young couple finds themselves on a plane in between life and death where they strive to save their lives. The story is a description of a near death experience, and a comment on the fragility of life and the unbiased touch of death. Smashed (2017) Director: Sean Lahiff Run Time/Country: 13 min, Australia Synopsis: A man has a thing for a woman, whose heart belongs to someone else. Egged on by his friends, he maneuvers everyone into making a hot-tempered and brainless move. This unreal drama of one night's events tells a tale of hubris, jealousy, complete loss of control and the desire to undo the past. Methane Momma (2016) Director: Alain Rimbert Run Time/Country: 40 min, France/USA Synopsis: Global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and wars. Life on Earth has disappeared and survivors wander in space aboard a spacecraft. In one of them, MEL, a scientist biologist is sent to retrieve a space module becoming crazy while seeking traces of water on an unknown planet. While MEL seeks the prospecting module, he has an accident, the ground breaks under his feet and he is driven to the bottom of a cave. His spacesuit tears up and he loses consciousness. MEL merges into the ether and then his conscience takes the form of a cloud of methane. As he regains consciousness in a cave that seems empty of all life, he sees a female cloud of methane with whom he falls in love. This happiness then plunges him into a reverie. Starring Daytime Emmy Award winner Melvin Van Peebles, prominently known for his legendary film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and Paula Henderson in the titular role. Block 2: Feature Film + Special Guest Panel Time: 9:00pm - 11:00pm Alterscape (2018) — World Premiere Director: Serge Levin Run Time/Country: 88 min, USA Synopsis: After a failed suicide attempt, a young man coping with loss and depression submits to a series of trials that fine-tune human emotions but his unique reaction to the tests send him on a journey that transcends both physical and perceived reality. Starring Michael Ironside (Total Recall) , Charles Baker (Breaking Bad), Alex Veadov (Act of Valor), Serge Levin (Welcome to Willits), Debbie Rochon (Model Hunger), Mack Kuhr (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Olan Montgomery (The Blacklist) and Sara K. Edwards (Mad Women). Produced by Jon Keeyes (American Nightmare) and cinematography by Richard Clabaugh (Eyeborgs). Special Guest Panel: Actors Michael Ironside, Charles Baker, Mack Kuhr, Olan Montgomery, Sara K. Edwards and other principal cast members with director Serge Levin will be in attendance for a post-film discussion of Alterscape. Block 3: Extreme Cinema Shorts Time: 11:00pm - 12:00am Rabbid Jacob (2017) Director: Donovan Alonso-Garcia Run Time/Country: 22 min, France/Belgium Synopsis: Two meteorites have hit Brussels. There is little time left for Jacob to restore order and moral in the depths of a city in complete loss. MayDay (2016) Director: Sébastien Vaniček Run Time/Country: 13 min, France Synopsis: A man subject to violent hallucinations must overcome the imminence of death during his extradition flight towards United States. He will face head-front his delusions, other passengers' judgment, firmness of US law enforcement and the stress of an imminent crash. It Began Without Warning (2017) Director: Santiago C. Tapia, Jessica Curtright Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: "The time has come," the Walrus said. And all the little Oysters stood and waited in a row. Produced by Couper Samuelson, the executive producer of the Golden Globe Award nominated film Get Out (2017) and Efren Ramirez (actor, Napoleon Dynamite). Mental (2017) Director: Jax Smith Run Time/Country: 11 min, Canada Synopsis: A woman sees reality through a dream­like lens of externalized psychotic episodes. Caught in a loop of depression and anxiety she uses prescription drugs to numb herself. Unable to discern what is real and what is imaginary, she finally gives into her inner voice’s advice and embraces her biggest fear. Sometimes the only way out is through. Devil Town (2016) Director: Nick Barrett Run Time/Country: 15 min, UK Synopsis: An obnoxious letting agent in London is a man who is used to getting exactly what he wants but on this particular day, his world is about to crumble as he crosses paths with a most unusual nemesis – a man that may just save him from the end of the world. LOCATION B: Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106) Block 4: Feature Film Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm AYLA (2017) — East Coast Premiere Director: Elias Run Time/Country: 120 min, USA Synopsis: A man haunted by the mysterious death of his four-year-old sister brings her back to life thirty years later as an adult woman, with dire consequences. Starring Nicholas Wilder (Gut), Tristan Risk (American Mary), Saturn Award nominee Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and Sarah Schoofs (Gut). SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2018: Village East Cinema (181-189 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003) Block 5: Virtual Reality Installations with 3D Sound Time: 10:30am - 2:00pm The Making of Marine Butterfly (2017) Director: Alex Bartuli Run Time/Country: 23 min, USA/Canada Synopsis: Exploring the invention of the 3-Dimensional Audio System and where will it take mankind. The Last Chair (2017) Director: Jessie van Vreden, Anke Teunissen Run Time/Country: 15 min, Netherlands Synopsis: a documentary series about the last stage of life. With a mix of audio, 360º video and animation you step into the daily lives of two different people. Narrated by Blade Runner alum and Golden Globe Award nominee Rutger Hauer (Escape from Sobibor). Presented by WIDE VR. The 7th Night of Thelema (2017) Director: Gianluigi Perrone Run Time/Country: 8 min, China Synopsis: The story of a witches corps de ballets that haunts the body of a woman for kidnapping her souls. Presented by WIDE VR. Dreams of Blue (2017) Director: Valentina Paggiarin Run Time/Country: 12 min, Italy Synopsis: Human creativity has always pushed people to exceed their limits. Creating new life, in a God-like way, has long been a dream/nightmare of both scientists and artists. In a not-so-distant future where technological advancement has surpassed the need for ethical behavior, two scientists decide to activate an Artificial Intelligence (AI) bound to become a Singularity and explore what might happen inside the "mind" of an AI that becomes both self-aware and self-conscious. Block 6: International Sci-Fi Shorts Time: 11:00am - 1:00pm Personal Space (2018) Director: Tom R. Pike, Zack Wallnau Run Time/Country: 30 min, USA Synopsis: Unbeknownst to the crew of a generation ship, their therapy sessions are being broadcast on Earth as a reality show. Starring Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica) and the late Golden Globe Award nominee Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica). Special Guest Appearance: Actress Nicki Clyne will be in attendance for the screening of Personal Space. Resonance (2017) Director: William Minsky Run Time/Country: 21 min, Canada Synopsis: A reality where no one sleeps becomes a nightmare. Nano (2017) Director: Mike Manning Run Time/Country: 16 min, USA Synopsis: In the near future, nanotechnology administered into the bloodstream can sync with computer apps to augment the human genome. A new law mandating and regulating this once elective procedure meets resistance from hacktivists who are conspiring to thwart the impending roll-out of "Nano version 2.0." The Last Protester (2017) Director: Nicole Castillo Run Time/Country: 17 min, USA Synopsis: A father must come to terms with the oppressive government he works for upon finding out his daughter is rebelling against it. Sound From the Deep (2017) Director: Antti Laakso, Joonas Allonen Run Time/Country: 29 min, Finland Synopsis: An international research group is searching natural resources from the Arctic Ocean. They pick up a strange underwater sound from far north, and start to follow it to the uncharted waters. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Block 7: Philip K. Dick Adaptations and Inspirations Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm The Pipers (2013) Director: Ammar Quteineh Run Time/Country: 15 min, France Synopsis: An army psychiatrist is puzzled by a case of a French soldier who returns from the war in Afghanistan and claims that he's a plant. Based on Philip K. Dick's short story Piper in the Woods. Angles (2016) Director: David Stone Run Time/Country: 8 min, Ireland Synopsis: Over several years a psychologist adopts the delusions of a patient that the world is ending. The doctor fears losing his own mind, while the patient becomes oddly serene and the power dynamic shifts. Back and Forward INC. (2014) Director: Martin Demmer Run Time/Country: 13 min, Germany Synopsis: Switching between visual metaphors and a near future possible way of living created by the company Back and Forward INC., a program is launched for the modern society that nobody has to fear the effect of the burnout syndrome any longer. It's a Clear Day (2017) Director: María Vázquez Run Time/Country: 14 min, Spain Synopsis: A woman is planning on giving a lecture on the famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Everything seems like her everyday routine, except for a little excitement because of the event. But as time passes she will discover nothing is what it seems. Dystopian: Lovesong (2017) Director: Stefano Moro Run Time/Country: 25 min, Italy Synopsis: The future lies inside a pressurized suit where nobody can touch you: your personal mobile home 24/7. A young worker who scavenges his quadrant for antiques for his high city clientele is haunted by a vision he sees in his virtual sex encounters and during his dreams: a music box concealing a beautiful ballerina doll. Paleonaut (2017) Director: Eric McEver Run Time/Country: 16 min, Japan/China Synopsis: A scientist studying the first human time traveller falls in love with her subject. But if her research succeeds they will become separated by eons of history. She must find a way to connect with him across the ages or lose him forever. The Very Near Future (2017) Director: Sebastian Egert Run Time/Country: 5 min, Germany Synopsis: In the very near future, a man tries to order a pizza online. Times Of Zoe (2017) Director: Tim Carlier Run Time/Country: 10 min, Australia Synopsis: A scientist develops an artificial intelligence to prove whether or not there is a god. It takes a while. Block 8: Documentary + Special Guest Panel Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm The Shaman and The Scientist (2017) Director: Sarah Hutt Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA Synopsis: This short documentary explores the topic of traditional plant medicine from two perspectives – that of Don Juan Tangoa Paima, a curandero who works with Ayahuasca medicine in the Peruvian Amazon, and through the research of Dr. Dennis McKenna, who taught ethnopharmacology for over 30 years and is the brother of ethnobotanist Terence McKenna, looking for new medicines to treat schizophrenia and dementia. The story takes viewers from jungle to lab asking what is the value of undiscovered knowledge in the world's most biodiverse biomes, and what is at stake if we allow those precious resources to be lost. Special Guest Panel: The screening will lead into an in-depth discussion about the making of the film, psychedelic medicine and more with Dr. Dennis McKenna, a founding board member and Director of Ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute and a key investigator in the first biomedical investigation of ayahuascaon known as the Hoasca Project, and the film's accomplished director Sarah Hutt, whose Emmy nominated documentary work has appeared on Animal Planet, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel and MSNBC. Block 9: Feature Film Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm Yesterday Last Year (2017) — NYC Premiere Director: Jeff Hanley Run Time/Country: 90 min, Canada Synopsis: A love triangle gets even more complicated once a time machine enters the picture. Block 10: Feature Film + Special Guest Appearance Time: 7:00pm - 9:30pm The Wanderers: The Quest of The Demon Hunter (2017) — USA Premiere Director: Dragos Buliga Run Time/Country: 90 min, Romania Synopsis: A vampire hunter and a reporter investigate mysterious circumstances at a castle in Transylvania. Starring Primetime Emmy Award winner Armand Assante (Gotti). Special Guest Appearance: Actor Armand Assante will be in attendance for the screening of The Wanderers: The Quest of The Demon Hunter. Block 11: Feature Film + Special Guest Panel Time: 9:30pm - 12:00am Black Wake (2018) — World Premiere Director: Jeremiah Kipp Run Time/Country: 120 min, USA Synopsis: Specialists gather in a top-secret facility to investigate a series of strange deaths on beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and examine video evidence to uncover a possible parasitic explanation for the fatalities. When a determined detective sends one of the scientists the crazed writings of a mysterious homeless man, she slowly learns that the actual threat may be more dangerous – and far older – than anyone ever imagined. Starring Nana Gouvea (The Fever), Golden Globe Award nominee Tom Sizemore (Witness Protection), Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts (Runaway Train), Screen Actors Guild Award winner Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos), Jonny Beauchamp (Penny Dreadful) and Chuck Zito (Oz). Inspired by the cosmic horror of genre writer H.P. Lovecraft. Special Guest Panel: Actors Nana Gouvea, Tom Sizemore, Vincent Pastore, Jonny Beauchamp and Chuck Zito will be in attendance for a post-film discussion of Black Wake.

LOCATION B: Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106) Block 12: Feature Film Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm The Child Remains (2017) — NYC Premiere Director: Michael Melski Run Time/Country: 120 min, Canada Synopsis: An expectant couple's intimate weekend turns to terror as they discover their secluded country inn is a haunted maternity home where infants and mothers were murdered. Starring Suzanne Clément (Mommy), Allan Hawco (Frontier), Shelley Thompson (Labyrinth) and Géza Kovács (Scanners). SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2018: Village East Cinema (181-189 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003) Block 13: International Animation and Fantasy Time: 11:00am - 1:00pm Retimer (2017) Director: Robin Tremblay Run Time/Country: 8 min, Canada Synopsis: In the year 3020, war, poverty and diseases are no longer a part of daily life. A world order whose roots go back to antiquity have learned to control time use its power to create a perfect society. They do this by sending agents in the past, the Retimer, who are tasked to modify specific events and through ripple in times, create the perfect future they live in. One member of this elite team begins to question the ethics of his action through the canvas of time. The Time Traveller (2018) Director: Jonathan Nolan Run Time/Country: 15 min, Australia Synopsis: Based on and expanding the "The Time Machine" novella by H.G. Wells and incorporating work by H.P. Lovecraft and Nikolai Tesla, the story follows the ongoing adventures of a traveller in time and occasionally space. Siren (2015) Director: George Fleming Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA Synopsis: An astronaut on patrol crosses paths with a visitor who leads him on a game of cat and mouse. Niggun (2017) Director: Yoni Salmon Run Time/Country: 12 min, Israel Synopsis: After a long journey through space the last two believers are about to reach their destination. Ananda, the space archaeologist, hopes to prove that Earth is not a myth and that all mankind did originate from the same tiny blue planet - but mostly he wants to prove his colleagues and his father wrong and to make the biggest discovery in history. Astronaut of Featherweight (2017) Director: Dalibor Baric Run Time/Country: 27 min, Croatia Synopsis: From space spa colonies to alien plantations, everybody is forced to take care of their bodies in this dark vision of a hyper-capitalist trans-human society in which body is a commodity and money is immortality. The Intelligence: The Counterattack of Robots (2017) Director: Suisei Hoshii Run Time/Country: 20 min, Japan Synopsis: In a near future where earth is polluted by nuclear waste and cities have fallen, robots depict further crisis facing the planet. Fraktaal (2017) Director: Julius Horsthuis Run Time/Country: 4 min, Netherlands Synopsis: A fantasy science fiction short – without a story. Block 14: International Sci-Fi Shorts Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm Re/Collection (2017) Director: Eva Konstantopoulos, Deborah Correa Run Time/Country: 18 min, USA Synopsis: In a world where technology has made memory a commodity, a desperate husband seeks out a risky procedure to save the love of his life. Trouble Creek (2017) Director: Stacey K. Black Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA Synopsis: There's something in the water in the small town of Trouble Creek – human bones. As the local sheriff delves into the mystery of the bones the townspeople must face themselves, new temptations, old family secrets, and the sinister and the town's mysterious past. Starring Jason Gedrick (Iron Eagle), Dean Cameron (Summer School) and Debrah Farentino (Eureka). They're Made Out Of Meat (2017) Director: Jason Housecroft Run Time/Country: 12 min, UK Synopsis: Alien visitors are appalled to find that the inhabitants of planet earth are made out of meat. The Tolls (2017) Director: Liz Anderson Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA Synopsis: In the final days of WWII while mourning the loss of his wife at sea, a corporal confronts a mysterious stranger who has infiltrated his base. The intruder possesses a top secret S.S. technology which transports them to a Nazi-occupied San Francisco. Here, he will put the lives of millions at risk in order to reunite with his lost love. Ghostcode (2017) Director: Patrick Defasten Run Time/Country: 9 min, Germany Synopsis: Advancements in sonic warfare lead to a net-born artificial intelligence. The Hard Sell (2016) Director: Tim Hunt, Adrian Pinsent Run Time/Country: 6 min, UK Synopsis: Exploring the question about what would one do with a 10-second rewind wrapped around their wrist. In Passing (2017) Director: Bittnarie Shin Run Time/Country: 16 min, USA Synopsis: Elderly ex-lovers are brought back together when their mutual friend passes away. Mimesis (2017) Director: Patrick Lee Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA Synopsis: Nothing is what it seems in the cycling of the natural world. Block 15: Feature Documentary + Post-Film Panel Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm Cyborgs Among Us (2017) — East Coast Premiere Director: Rafel Duran Torrent Run Time/Country: 76 min, Spain/Denmark/France/Germany/Switzerland/UK/USA Synopsis: Cyborgs are human beings with electronic devices implanted in their bodies to extend their senses and/or enhance their physical and cognitive capabilities. Technology with the potential for human enhancement is already available, but its use is strictly restricted to remedial (medical) applications. However, the first cyborgs are already crossing the boundaries of their human limits just for the sake of it – at home, in basement workshops and tattoo parlors, using low-tech equipment and with a do-it-yourself attitude. They are a tiny minority, seen by many as weird or crazy experimenters, but in the near future we may be calling them pioneers. This film explores life as a cyborg through the stories of a few current ones and how close scientists are to taking the leap. The film will consider the philosophical, ethical and legal implications of going beyond human by letting machines become part of us. Post-Film Panel: The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with modern day cyborgs from Grindhouse Wetware, a biotech startup in Pittsburgh that enhances human capabilities through augmentation and develops initiatives for biohackers. Block 16: Horror, Supernatural and Surreal Shorts Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm The Walking Dead: March to War - Trailer (2017) Director: Hugo Guerra Run Time/Country: 1 min, UK Synopsis: The trailer for Disrupter Beam’s The Walking Dead game was created in a very stylized way. Each and every shot carefully crafted, zombies motion captured, 3D animation mixed with 2D – all layered with a comic book painting effect. Dead House (2017) Director: Travis Laidlaw Run Time/Country: 13 min, Canada Synopsis: Two men renovating a mysterious old house attempt to leave before the building enters lockdown and seals them inside. Unfortunately, the house has different plans for them. Eve (2017) Director: Marcello Mottola Run Time/Country: 13 min, USA Synopsis: Eve, a young teenage girl is abducted and hidden away in a new city. She becomes captivated with an ominous house across the street and a mysterious young girl that astonishingly appears to be her identical twin. Eve becomes seduced by the cryptic house acquiring its incarnate power and finds redemption against evil with the help of her own begotten design. A Forest (2017) Director: Thomas Geffrier Run Time/Country: 15 min, France Synopsis: A young woman meets a couple in a private party. Leaving with them, she finds herself trapped in some sort of twilight zone from which she cannot escape. Occam's Razor (2016) Director: Alex Parslow Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA Synopsis: Set in 1851, a postmortem photographer is called into a small community where dozens of children have mysteriously died. He soon realizes the spirits of the deceased are trying to communicate to him, leading him to uncover the town’s dark and twisted secret. Impuratus (2017) Director: Michael Yurinko Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: A police detective in circa 1917 is called to a remote mental hospital to witness the death-bed confession of a mysterious Civil War Vet that forces him to believe in the supernatural. Starring Holt Boggs (The Leftovers), John Savage (The Deer Hunter) and Saturn Award nominee Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial). Sounds of Freedom (2017) Director: Holly Chadwick Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA Synopsis: Two veterans, one of the Iraq War and one of the Vietnam War, both suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. From their jobs at the local newspaper and through a series of flashbacks and sessions with a common therapist, they are challenged to the max when a serial killer strikes at home. Ovum (2017) Director: Luciano Blotta Run Time/Country: 17 min, Argentina Synopsis: When a reclusive fisherman finds a giant egg on his desolate beach and takes it home, his life takes a big turn for better or worse. Block 17: Oats Studios Presents Sci-Fi Shorts by Neill Blomkamp Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm Adam: Episode 2 (2017) Director: Neill Blomkamp Run Time/Country: 7 min, Canada Synopsis: In the second chapter of the Adam film series previously screened at the festival, the titular amnesiac hero discovers a clue about what and who he is. Adam: Episode 3 (2017) Director: Neill Blomkamp Run Time/Country: 9 min, Canada Synopsis: In the third chapter of the Adam film series previously screened at the festival, a new tribe of human survivors face a post-apocalyptic world. Zygote (2017) Director: Neill Blomkamp Run Time/Country: 22 min, Canada Synopsis: Stranded in an arctic mine, two lone survivors are forced to fight for their lives, evading and hiding from a new kind of terror. Starring Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam). Firebase (2017) Director: Neill Blomkamp Run Time/Country: 27 min, Canada Synopsis: Set during the Vietnam war, an American soldier enters into an ever-deepening web of science fiction madness. Rakka (2017) Director: Neill Blomkamp Run Time/Country: 22 min, Canada Synopsis: The story of broken humanity following the invasion of a technologically superior alien species. Bleak harrowing and unrelenting, the humans we meet must find enough courage to go on fighting. Starring Academy Award nominee Sigourney Weaver (Aliens). Block 18: Awards Ceremony Time: 8:30pm - 9:00pm Guests and filmmakers will be in attendance when awards are presented to the category winners as The 2018 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival concludes.

[fivestarjamz]

“Automatic” by The Pointer Sisters (1983)

“Cutting-edge” isn’t a term that one would normally associate with The Pointer Sisters. They entered the scene in thrift-store dresses, balancing funk workouts like “Yes We Can Can” opposite tunes that cast them as a modern-day Andrews Sisters. After one sister departed (Bonnie), they made a stylistic change and became well-known for straight down the middle (well-crafted) pop with a hint of soul. Songs like “He’s So Shy” and “Slow Hand” are great, but they’re not innovative. 

1983′s “Automatic” stands out like a (very, very funky) sore thumb in the Pointers’ catalog. It stands comfortably along with some of the most forward-pushing dance music of the early ‘80s (”White Lines”/”Cavern”, “I.O.U.”, “White Horse”) and boasts a helping of pop smarts that those aforementioned songs don’t have. The vocal arrangement is crazy (and won the Pointers a Grammy), and then there’s Ruth’s vocal. I’m hesitant to even call it androgynous. I feel like most people being introduced to “Automatic” for the first time would assume that a guy was singing (the comments under the clip below bear this theory out.) The only woman in pop who had that much bass in her voice was Grace Jones. What a daring choice for a single by a pop group, but when you consider that the Pointers were coming off of several singles in a row that didn’t do too hot on the charts (”American Music”, the first release of “I’m So Excited” and “I Need You”), desperate times call for desperate measures.

Four-star songs between “Atomic Dog” & Automatic”: “Attack Me With Your Love” (Cameo, 1985...and I’m pretty sure the only song in my iTunes library containing the word “bushwhack”...and shit, I just remembered R.E.M.’s “Drive”) | “Attack Of The Name Game” (Stacy Lattisaw, 1982) | “Attitude” (Bad Brains, 1982) (”we got that PMA!”) | “Au Cinema” (Lianne La Havas, 2010) | “Au Natural” (Sweetback feat. Bahamadia, 1996) | “Authenticity” (The Foreign Exchange, 2010) | “Authority Song” (John Cougar Mellencamp, 1983)

[hodgman]

Fans of JEAN AND JOHN already know and love Zara Bode. This is her main gig. Check it OUT.