News

Michael Jai White, the writer, star, and director of Outlaw Johnny Black, reveals that the film is part of a trilogy set in a specific time period, with one film being the comedic Western and the others being a Western homage and a horror movie. White co-wrote the film with Byron Minns, who also stars in the movie, and the two drew inspiration from Blaxploitation films like Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream. Michael Jai White, known for his acting roles, discusses how directing and producing come naturally to him and he enjoys multitasking and problem-solving, making it normal and enjoyable for him to juggle multiple roles in the production of Outlaw Johnny Black.

Who doesn’t like Tasty Freeze? It might be an obscure reference, and it’s definitely not a question about the Tastee-Freez fast food restaurant. No, it’s a nod to Arsenio Hall’s character in the 2009 film Black Dynamite.

Michael Jai White wanted to create a trilogy of movies set in different time periods, with Outlaw Johnny Black as a Western homage. The cast of Outlaw Johnny Black is exceptional, and their performances brought the characters to life. The movie combines comedy with social commentary, and the messages have resonated with audiences in test screenings.

In Outlaw Johnny Black, the titular character has vowed to avenge his father's death by killing Brett Clayton. However, in the process, he becomes a wanted man. Posing as Reverend Fairman to stay below the radar, he ends up in a small mining town that has been taken over by the notorious Land Baron.

Michael Jai White is the star and director of Outlaw Johnny Black. He also co-wrote the movie with co-star Byron Minns. Outlaw Johnny Black also stars Anika Noni Rose, Erica Ash, Kym Whitley, Kevin Chapman, Glynn Turman, and Barry Bostwick.

Stars: Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jeffrey Donovan, Kevin Wiggins, Brett Gelman | Written by Andrew Pagana, Justin Thomas | Directed by Anthony Mandler

Surrounded is the latest in a long line of black-themed Westerns that stretches from early efforts like The Bull-Dogger and Harlem on the Prairie through John Ford’s Sergeant Rutledge and Blazing Saddles. Blacksploitation star Fred Williamson had a string of horse operas, such as Take a Hard Ride and the provocatively titled Boss N*gger, one of three films he made to use that word in the title. More recently we’ve had Django Unchained and Murder at Yellowstone City, neither of which impressed me. Can this unhyped and unheralded entry in the genre deliver the goods?

Five years after the end of the Civil War former slave and Buffalo Soldier Moses “Mo” Washington is travelling west. Mo has a secret, two of them in fact,...

Some sad news has come in to end the week, as it has been announced that legendary NFL player-turned-actor Jim Brown has passed at the age of 87. His passing was announced by his wife on Instagram, with no cause of death being provided.

Born on February 17, 1936, in St. Simons Islang, Georgia, Brown is considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time. He was drafted out of Syracuse University by the Cleveland Browns in 1957, and spent all nine years of his NFL career with the team. Deadline notes that “his bruising running style redefined the running back position”. He was the first NFL player to make over 100 career rushing touchdowns and set single season and career rushing records. He was a three time Mvp, Rookie of the Year, eight time All-Pro, and eight time rushing leader. With him on the team, the Browns won the NFL championship...

Jim Brown, the NFL titan who appeared in “The Dirty Dozen,” many Blaxploitation films plus Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” “The Running Man,” Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks” and Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” to name a few, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 87.

His wife Monique posted the news of his death on Instagram, saying, “He passed peacefully last night at our L.A. home.”

In nine extraordinary seasons as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns, Brown set an array of NFL records. In 2002, The Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. That phenomenal athleticism and a charismatic personality made him bankable as the first African American action star.

“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Monique and their family,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Jim Brown was a gifted athlete — one of the most dominant players to...

Plenty of media stories about Jeymes Samuel’s “The Harder They Fall” have played up the Western’s all-Black cast, with many describing the Netflix film as a “corrective” to the popular Hollywood image of an all-white Old West. But a cursory Google search will offer that this credit has been attributed to a number of other titles that came long before Samuel and even the oldest members of his all-star cast were even born.

The Western film genre is unique to a specific period and place and is, as such, instantly recognizable. The cinema helped immortalize the cowboy, rendering him, in many ways, inseparable from its cultural tradition. The cinema has also immortalized the cowboy as a white man, erasing the Black Americans who made up one-fourth of the wranglers and riders of the American frontier.

While some are quick to groan at every instance of colorblind casting, those...

Director Ron Underwood discusses a few of his favorite westerns with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Speechless (1994)

Heart and Souls (1993)

Stealing Sinatra (2003)

City Slickers (1991)

Tremors (1990) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Tourist Trap (1979) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary

The Seduction (1982)

Puppet Master (1989)

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)

Capricorn One (1977) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Back When We Were Grownups (2004)

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Red River (1948) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Johnny Guitar (1954) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Searchers (1956)

Seven Samurai (1954) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Westworld...

From Don’t Breathe 2, actor Brendan Sexton III discusses some of his favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante as viewed through that wondrous video home system format known as… VHS.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Dark (2015)

Gremlins (1984)

Infested (2002)

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Don’t Breathe 2 (2021)

Unforgiven (1992)

The Beguiled (1971)

The Beguiled (2017)

Welcome To The Dollhouse (1995)

Pecker (1998)

Hairspray (1988)

Pink Flamingos (1972)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

Session 9 (2001)

Black Hawk Down (2001)

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke (1978)

Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie (1980)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

48 Hrs. (1982)

Dumbo (1941)

Eddie Murphy Raw (1987)

Mickey And The Beanstalk (1947)

Grindhouse (2007)

Planet Terror (2007)

Death Proof (2007)

The Howling (1981)

Enter The Dragon (1973)

Game Of Death (1978)

Take A Hard Ride (1975)

Three The Hard Way (1974)

Death Promise (1977)

Piranha (1978)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

Yojimbo (1961)

Seven Samurai (1954)

Goodfellas (1990)

Hell In The Pacific (1968)

Grand Prix (1966)

The Red Balloon (1956)

Stowaway In The Sky (1960)

La Haine...

The writer/director returns to talk about his favorite Blaxploitation movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Man Bites Dog (1992)

Trick Baby (1972)

The Exorcist (1973) – Oren Pelli’s trailer commentary

The Untouchables (1987)

Predator (1987)

Purple Rain (1984) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Loved One (1965) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Live And Let Die (1973)

Enter The Dragon (1973) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Green Hornet (1974)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary

The Last Dragon (1985) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Dead Presidents (1995)

Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Shaft (1971) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)

Coffy (1973) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary

Midnight Cowboy (1969) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Boxcar Bertha (1972) – Julie Corman...

With so many folks out there looking for ways to keep themselves entertained at home right now, perhaps this new batch of home media releases might have something to offer you this week. If you missed it in theaters last year, the controversial Black Christmas remake hits both Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, and Scream Factory has put together a fourth volume in their Universal Horror Collection series, which looks like a must-own for all classic genre fans out there.

Also headed to Blu this week is The Nines, which is one of my favorite underseen films from Ryan Reynolds, as well as Cannibal Apocalypse, featuring John Saxon. We also have Glenn Danzig’s Verotika coming out on Tuesday and if you need something to keep the kiddos busy, Jumanji: The Next Level should do the trick.

Other releases for March 17th include Uncaged, By Day’s End, Witch Hunters,...

Hollywood stuntman and film director who scored huge successes with Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run

Upset by the critical response to his work, the stuntman turned film director Hal Needham, who has died aged 82, took out advertisements in Variety and other trade papers. They featured quotes from negative reviews for his movies including Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Cannonball Run (1981), alongside a wheelbarrow overflowing with dollar bills.

Needham made a point. His rumbustious 1977 directorial debut had grossed over $100m – an enormous return on its modest budget. He was still milking that particular creation some 20 years later, producing and directing a series of television movies, including Bandit Goes Country and Beauty and the Bandit.

These and other films, many of which starred Burt Reynolds, were seen by an audience of hundreds of millions worldwide, yet few reference books acknowledged his 45-year-long career — an unjustified omission, if only...

Actor and martial arts master Jim Kelly passed away at the age of 67. A cause of death was not released, but his passing was confirmed by his actor's ex-wife on her Facebook page.

The actor was an international karate champion who ran his own martial arts school in Los Angeles when he was cast in Enter the Dragon, alongside Bruce Lee and John Saxon. The next year he starred as the title character in Black Belt Jones, and also starred in Three the Hard Way, Golden Needles, Take a Hard Ride, Black Samurai, and many more.

He became a professional tennis player on the Usta Senior Men's circuit in 1975, becoming the second-ranked men's doubles player in California, and later became a tennis instructor. He also starred in a 2004 Nike ad with LeBron James.

Sun City - What are you going to when it comes time to retire? Do you really have enough money saved up to last you for the rest of your life? Can you hold out till Willard Scott puts you on the Smuckers jar and wishes you a happy 100th? Will you really be enjoying the good life with round the clock sponge baths from young orderlies? Have you done the math to figure out how much it’ll cost for a day at a retirement community in 20 years? Can your 401K hold out?

Odds are the answer is a resounding, “Maybe?”

The golden years require platinum reserves. With talk that Medicare is about to be destroyed, your budget for health insurance is about to go completely out of control. When is the last time Blue Cross hyped individual policies for people hitting 90? Even the most frugal of senior citizens...

The Outlaws is Coming!

Turner Classic Movies (North America) will have a rare showing of The Three Stooges' last feature film, The Outlaws is Coming! tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 7:30 Am (Est). The 1965 film co-stars Adam West, who would soon become a major star due to his role as Batman. If that isn't enough to keep you indoors, at 6:00 tomorrow morning, Fox Movie Channel launches a back-to-back lineup of top-notch westerns beginning with John Wayne's North to Alaska and continuing with Rio Conchos starring Richard Boone, The Undefeated starring Wayne and Rock Hudson, Bandolero! with James Stewart, Dean Martin and Raquel Welch and, finally, Take a Hard Ride starring Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef.