But you kill me, and you and your whole f***in' family die. The blaxploitation films were often criticized by African-Americans for glorifying criminals, yet theres no denying that the idea of the pusher as underground American capitalist emerged from a world of narrow choices. I am Director X. Im the director of Superfly 2018. Priest and Eddie are joined by Freddie, who turns over the money he stole. Both movies tell the story of Youngblood Priest, a coke dealer looking to make one last big score and then get out. Kaalan "KR" Walker as Juju, a member of the Snow Patrol, a rival drug outfit, who takes an immediate dislike to Priest and plots to kill him. If you go back and watch a vintage blaxploitation film like Super Fly (1972), it has a time-capsule quality that only enhances the low-rent documentary scuzziness of its atmosphere. . Super Fly stopped airing in 1970. . Scatter gives Priest a packet of information on Reardon and his family, then arranges to meet him later, when Priest will give him money with which to flee New York. "Super Fly Quotes." The movie generated roughly $4 million in profits. Rapper Future produced alongside Joel Silver, as well as writing the film's original songs. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. And that robs Superfly of the dramatic flavor a good underworld drama needs. Inspiring true story of African American women at NASA. The Snow Patrol members leave while Priest gives the victim money and directs them to the trauma center. This film, directed by Director X from a script by Alex Tse, is a remake of the 1972 picture directed by Gordon Parks Jr. (whose father had made Shaft a year before). But until you can do that, you go sing your marching songs some place else. "Pusherman," "Little Child Runnin' Wild," "No Thing on Me," "Give Me Your Love" and "Superfly," music and lyrics by Curtis Mayfield. Superfly (2018 film), a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Superfly (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the 2018 film "Super Fly" (Giant Panda song), a 2005 single by Giant Panda "Superfly", a song by 4 Non Blondes on their only album Bigger, Better, Faster, More! Once Priest decides to pursue his last score, he seeks help from his mentor in crime, Scatter, played by an avuncular but cautiously sinister Michael Kenneth Williams. 2023. On 23 Feb 1973, DV related that Mayfield had filed a letter of complaint with the Academy over its method of selecting nominees. Superfly is a 2018 American action crime thriller film and a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. The lieutenant reveals that he is Scatter's supplier and that they can have as much "weight," as they want, and will be extended both credit and protection. "Scatter" Stephens Was A Cleveland Street Legend & The Real Superfly 2 years ago Scott Burnstein You are unauthorized to view this page. [4] Filming wrapped in March 2018, a process that Deadline Hollywood called an "unprecedented turnaround". | Eddie: You're gunna give all this up? Filming & Production Remember, blacks just got into films. The article supported his viewpoint, asserting: Since mid-1970, at least 51 films about blacks have been released. Yet all the threats and double-crosses are, in a word, standard. Altogether, such an independently financed film ultimately had unusually large financial backing. He can wear a slick duster overcoat and fedora one day, and a stylized track suit the next., Messam acquired Scatters track suit from UK athletic wear company Boxraw. All Rights Reserved. .st0{fill:#FFFFFF;} The film was acquired and distributed by Warner Bros. and had a white producer (Shore). [1], Variety's Owen Gleiberman wrote: "Shot in a functional, slammed-together manner that's less sensually stylish than you'd expect from a music-video auteur, the film is a competent yet glossy and hermetic street-hustle drug thriller, less a new urban myth than a lavishly concocted episode. Parks, Jr. would make only three more films before his death in 1979 in an airplane crash. But we cant do these things right away. Manthiahas Diawara suggested that the film's glorification of drug dealers served to subtly critique the civil rights movement's failure to provide better economic opportunities for black America and that the portrayal of a black community controlled by drug dealers serves to highlight that the initiatives of the civil rights movement were far from fully accomplished. I'll tell you what you do, you go get you a gun and all those black folks you keep doin' so much talkin' about get guns, and come back ready to go down, then I'll be right down front killin' whitey. Its initial success transcended the African American audience it was made for at a time when African American actors were hardly ever given lead roles in movies. The new films twists and turns are strongly, if fleetingly, absorbingeven if Director X delivers them in a mainly decorative mode that merely conveys them without expanding them. He confides to a lieutenant, Eddie (Jason Mitchell), that he wants out. According to modern sources, K. C., who played a pimp in the film, was a pimp in real life and owned the car driven by Priest. One of the groups formed specifically to fight the film and other similar exploitations films, according to a Sep 1972 Var article, called itself Blacks Against Narcotics. After "The End" is displayed, the film fades to black, but Mayfield's "Superfly" continues to play for a few minutes until the track ends. The gaudy fashions might be as obsolete as the old crumbling '70s New York City that serves as the background to the scenes, but the substance of the movie has ensured that Super Fly remains something more than a relic. Born November 22, 1926 Died April 17, 1986 (59) Showcase yourself on IMDbPro But Priest wants out of dealing and comes up with a plan to make it happen. Priest lives with two women, Georgia (Lex Scott Davis), a black woman, who also plays a significant role in his operation, as the head of an art gallery thats one of his fronts, and Cynthia (Andrea Londo), whos Hispanic, and who doesnt play a major role in his business. Theyre led by the roly-poly, hard-as-rusty-nails Q (Big Bank Black), the closest thing this movie has to an authentic hoodlum, but its when Priest is attacked by Qs hothead-sociopath protg, Juju (Kaalan KR Walker), that he realizes the time has come for him to take the money and run. Priest manages to get to terms with him just before some henchmen are going to throw him from a private jet. As reported by Filmfacts, as well as other contemporary news items and reviews, Super Fly was the first black-oriented film to be financed entirely by blacks (in this case, a group of businessmen from the Harlem community) as well as the first to use an all-black and/or Puerto Rican technical crew. In mid-Apr 1972, Var noted that, because of the black-oriented nature of the screenplay, Fenty and Parks, Jr. directly approached the Harlem community for financial backing, which they obtained from a consortium of businessmen, lawyers, dentists et al. The films pressbook adds that the consortium of eighteen investors included pimps, madams and drug dealers. In a Sep 1972 Var article, Parks, Jr. specifically thanked his father, director Gordon Parks, Sr., and two black dentists, Ed Allen and Connie [Cornelius] Jenkins, for financing the production. Georgia: Look maybe you should get out now now before something really bad happens. What are some other movies with unforgettable soundtracks? And then when you get closer, obviously its them. 58 views, 1 likes, 0 loves, 1 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Superfly: See Michael Kenneth Williams as Scatter when #SUPERFLY arrives At Cinemas September 14 Superfly is a 2018 American action crime thriller film and a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. The Student National Coordinating Committee also protested the film as a tool of white oppression.[8]. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free. Trevors only 21 playing a 27 year old, and he worked so hard, she says. The film was directed by Director X, written by Alex Tse and stars Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael K. Williams, Lex Scott Davis, and Jennifer Morrison. Additionally, according to the Jan 1973 DV report, Curtis Mayfield, the composer of the films score and hit songs, was estimated to be receiving about $5,000,000 from performance and royalties from the more than 2,000,000 albums and singles sold to that point. But his supplier and mentor, Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams), refuses to increase Priests supply, so Priest takes matters into his own hands and attempts to deal directly with Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales), the head of a Mexican drug carteland, in so doing, he enters a labyrinth of menace. The women in Priests group play subordinate yet crucial roles in the tradeyet there are other parts of the conspiratorial net in which women are crucially active (suffice it to say that their activities are far from heroic). One day, Priest confronts Fat Freddie, one of his dealers, about money that Freddie owes and threatens to force Freddie's wife into prostitution unless he robs a competitor. Well if that's all I'm supposed to do then they gonna have to kill me 'cause that ain't enough. The lead character contends with an attempted mugging; he chases one of his attackers all the way back to the attacker's apartment, catches him, and kicks him in the chest, after which the attacker vomits. Three weeks prior, it was moved up two days to June 13, 2018, in order to avoid direct competition with Incredibles 2. Youngblood Priest: [while Reardon's pointing a gun at him] Kill me, Reardon! What does it mean, and how is Super Fly an example of the genre? I don't know nothing else but dope, baby. Eddie threatens Scatter, demanding that he reveal his source if he will not supply them, but Scatter holds him at gunpoint. Super Fly (1972) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Gordon Parks Jr. Yam pepper scatter scatter . [The soundtrack album did feature the lyrics written for the song by Mayfield.] Fat Freddie: Listen, Priest, that's my wife you're talking about, man. A 1972 Blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks Jr. Ron O'Neal stars as Priest, an up-and-coming successful cocaine dealer in New York City. Eddie: I went along with that thing of yours about getting out cause I had nothing else. She then scoured stores in New York, explored off-the-grid spots in Atlanta and scoured the web for online purchases. But in this films 21st-century Atlanta, The Man never really manifests. When a scene takes place in the budget furniture store he uses as a legit front, its news to us, because the setting drops in out of nowhere. Prior to the opening credits, the following written statement appears onscreen: "This >>, In the onscreen credits, actor S. Z. Sakall's name is incorrectly spelled "S. K. The roomier scenario of this remake has the potential to yield a decent thriller, but Superfly too often prioritizes showy sequences for dubious reasons. Although the timid Freddie abhors violence, he agrees and accompanies a member of Priests family of lower-level dealers to commit the robbery. Superfly saves its most righteous physical violence for its finale, and its a sequence that will probably enrage anyone whos ever uttered the phrase Blue Lives Matter. The entire denouement has a nice satirical sting, pushed along by the rapper and songwriter Big Bois droll turn as an incumbent mayor hungry for re-election. Its a death-steeped drama, but no major character falls victim to gun violence. The powerless Reardon then watches as Priest stalks off, giving the policemen one final glare before driving off to join Georgia. Priest, as presented in Superfly, is a master plotter who distills his hard-forged wisdom into terse yet gaudy aphorisms, which adorn the soundtrack in dialogue and voice-over. The article also reported that the distribution arm of Shores company, Plaza Pictures, would distribute Super Fly, but in mid-Apr 1972, Var reported that neither Plaza company would be involved with the film. The picture reportedly cost less than $500,000 to make and was acquired for distribution by Warner Bros. after its completion. See our. His Priest is controlled and invincible, a leonine street king with two girlfriends, one African-American (Lex Scott Davis) and one Latina (Andrea Londo); when he takes a shower with both of them, its a misty porny daydream that ends as an erotic Piet. Scatter, who now runs a popular restaurant, initially refuses to help Priest, but Priest plays on his emotions, claiming that he wants to get out while he is young and before he has to endure the extreme hardships faced by Scatter. The original Priest, played by Ron O'Neal, famously sported leisure suits and floor-length overcoats, but Trevor Jackson's version of the drug dealer favors a less flamboyant style drawn from AllSaints, Burberry and German designer Phillip Plein. Superfly - Necessary Violence: Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales) kills Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams) after he realizes that he's been stealing from him. All rights reserved. Theres a learning process. The original red and black Warner logo is replaced by the updated AOL/Warner logo used at the time of DVD release. director of photography Film Editing by Bob Brady If I quit now, then I took all this chance for nothing and I go back to being nothing. Youngblood Priest: You don't own me, pig, and no motherf***er tells me when I can split. Although the timid Freddie abhors violence, he agrees and accompanies another member of Priest's "family" of lower-level dealers to commit the robbery. These days, it seems, the phrase is often used ironically. Lex Scott Davis and Trevor Jackson in Superfly, a remake of a 1972 classic about power and corruption. Snow Patrol members led by Juju shoot up Priest's mansion. A title card then appears, reading "November 25, 1975, Philadelphia." Scatter Color: The color of the light that gets scattered in the material. The article noted that Mayfield was not qualified for a nomination for Best Dramatic Score because five songs needed to be submitted, and Warners only submitted three. Although the article stated that Mayfields manager was contemplating filing suit against the Academy, the action was not taken. Unsurprisingly, cocaine use is frequent. Brought in by his mentor Scatter at a young age, he has been dealing drugs ever since and lives like a king with his two girlfriends, Georgia and Cynthia. No car can outrun fate. He voices his sense of vulnerability from the heights of his terrace overlooking the city: This can all be taken away for stupid shit. He hammers the movie home in a one-liner reserved for the end, but to quote it is to make the whole plot unravel. Theres a bit of old school dandy to Scatter but at the same time hes into martial arts, so I wanted to combine those two worlds, Messam explains. The songs "Freddie's Dead" and the title song both shot up the Pop Top Ten chart in late 1972, with each single selling over a million copies. There's also marijuana and cigarette smoking and drinking. As the soundtrack's composer, Mayfield was the only other person in the production who earned revenue approaching Shore's. Now man I ain't puttin you down. In the opening sequence, set at a throbbing nightclub, he establishes his dominion by publicly humiliating a street-cred rapper who owes him money. Charles McGregor, who plays Fat Freddie, was released from prison before the film's production. On Freddies Dead, a song on the 1972 soundtrack album (its not sung in the film itself), Mayfield calls out Another junkie plan/Pushing dope for the Man, vocalizing in a tone that the critic Greil Marcus (in his great book Mystery Train) called incredulous and disgusted.. Now, if you don't get me my money *tonight*, I'm gonna put that young girl of your's out on whore's row. For all its tossed-off flash, Superfly goes beyond the mere intricacy of its audacious plotting to suggest the cruelty, the horror, and the deceit at the heart of the American body politic. He has two live-in girlfriends, the quietly sophisticated Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and the younger, flintier Cynthia (Andrea Londo). Messam put together the wardrobe guided by Director X, who previously shot music videos for Rihanna, Drake and Kendrick Lamar before rebooting the 1972 blaxpoitation classic. Hugh Hart has covered movies, television and design for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wired and Fast Company. | That peace starts fragmenting early in the picture, outside a nightclub, where an indolently truculent Snow Patrol member, Juju (Kaalan Rashad Walker), takes a shot at Priest and instead hits a bystander. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. In addition, the picture marked the first screenplay written by Philip Fenty. Soon after, Priest and Eddie are joined by one of their low-level dealers and Freddie, who turns over the money he stole and agrees that the beef between the men is settled. It was released on August 4, 1972. Eddie: Look, I know it's a rotten game, but it's the only one The Man left us to play. [5] The film made $1.2 million on its first day,[9] $938,583 on its second and $1.8 million on its third. Review: Superfly Adds Bling to an Old Tale, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/movies/superfly-review.html. By the time filming began in Atlanta, Messam had assembled a jaw-dropping set of outfits sourced from such as labels as Balenciaga, Tom Ford, Gucci, Valentino, Versace, Fear of God, Zara, H&M and Topshop. In the middle of the film, a sequence of still photographs, taken by director Gordon Parks, Jr., illustrates how the thirty kilos of cocaine purchased by Youngblood Priest and Eddie is prepared, distributed and used. Youngblood Priest: You don't own me pig. But getting out isn't as easy as Priest hopes when it's revealed that the actual supplier from the police is higher up the chain of command, and this supplier wants Priest dead if he quits.
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