My Movie Journal is Better Than Yours

Other Movies Seen By This Director (1)
- The Spook Who Sat by the Door

Notes History

Date Viewed	Venue	Note
02.28.07	Internet	Another pretty great one, although this does kind of sag for a while, maybe an extra ten minutes spread around the second and third acts but whatever... this movie gets severe levels of extra points because of the soundtrack. Specifically the track T Plays it Cool. This has been a favorite song of mine for many years now but I never tracked down the album that it's on (I first heard it in connection with hiphop DJs like Shadow and Cut Chemist who include it in their mixes as fundamental grooves (along with Marlena Shaw's California Soul, Billy Garner's I Got Some, and Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band's cover of Apache). So When Mr. T starts shooting pool with this guy and I catch the beat to T Plays it Cool, all the pieces fall into place and I realize this soundtrack is now my favorite Marvin Gaye album. So after that, it's pretty much all icing. But T is one baaaad dude. I love all the beginning stuff where we learn why he gets his name and how he handles his business. He's easily a soul version of Dashiell Hammett and the movie plays as such. He's just a cool guy to follow around for a movie, if a little macho fantasy is your deal. I liked this one a lot but do have to admit to it dragging in parts. It's interesting though... looks like this director only did two movies in an otherwise TV career: this and The Spook Who Sat By The Door, two really solid blaxploitation movies.