BAADASSSSS! (a.k.a. Gettin’ The Man’s Foot Outta Your Baadasssss!) (Mario Van Peebles, 2004)
Why does it seem like every movie about making movies serves only to show how hard it is to make movies?
Mario Van Peebles directs and stars in Baadasss!, a film about his father, Melvin Van Peebles, making his breakthrough movie, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song,” which he directed and starred in. Khleo Thomas plays the young Mario during the making of the film. Postmodern enough for you?
This isn’t a documentary, it’s a movie. It’s got a plot, a hero, a story arc, and a message. Mario plays his father Melvin as a motorcycle-riding. single-minded cowboy of a filmmaker, determined to make a movie that “black folks could stand up and be proud of.” Sweet Sweetback was going to stand up to the Man, and get away with it. Melvin wanted a fifty-percent minority crew (who got arrested because cops couldn’t believe that they had come by film equipment honestly), and refused to submit to the all-white ratings board, sticking his film with an X rating. Nevertheless, it outgrossed “Love Story” (thank god–that movie is such drivel it’s disgusting how many people like it) and became the top independent of ’71.
Mario doesn’t just make his father a hero. He shows the conflict between father and son, between Melvin and crew members, and he shows us Melvin, at his breaking point, wearing an eyepatch because editing had strained his eyes to the point of losing vision in one of them. Though the struggle is painful to watch at times, this movie is heartening for those of us (like me) who want to make movies, because it shows that your hard work can have an effect, and that working outside of the system sometimes pays off.
The film opens June 11th at Landmark’s Mayan Theatre – go to www.landmarktheaters.com for showtimes
Bad Taste Cinema (BlueBird, 7pm, free for 21+)
May 22 – Dogtown, Z Boys and Future Primitive – Suburban Home Records co-produce the movies with their friends at Conspiracy Skateboards
Boulder Theater
April 29 – Splitter – An Alpine Rockumentary, 7:30pm, $10ADV / $12DOS
May 19 – Outside Magazine Presents – Timmy Oneill’s “Suspended Animation”
Hi-Dive (10pm every Monday night, FREE)
May 5 – Velvet Goldmine
May 10 – Spirit of ’76
May 17 – Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
May 24 – Stop Making Sense
May 31 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch
June 7 – Glitter/Crossroads – Double Feature
June 14 – Let It Be
June 21 – Head
June 28 – Boogie Nights
Midnights at the Mayan
May 1 – New 35mm print! Clash of the Titans
May 8 – Written by Quentin Tarantino, True Romance
May 15 – Kevin Smith’s debut comedy, Clerks
May 22 – New 35mm print, Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
May 29 – Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge
June 5 – New 35mm print, Dazed and Confused
June 12 – New 35mm print, Gelfling vs. Skeksis in The Dark Crystal
June 19 – New 35mm print of the 1980 cult musical Forbidden Zone
June 26 – New 35mm print, Emilio Estevez in Repo Man
Oriental Theater
April 28 – May 04 SEVEN YEAR ITCH
May 05 – May 11 ONLY THE LONELY
May 12 – May 18 EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
May 19 – May 25 FIGHT CLUB
May 26 – June 01 NAKED LUNCH
June 02 – June 8 THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT
June 9 – June 15 NIAGARA
June 16 – June 22 YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
June 23 – June 29 SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS
June 30 – July 06 THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
July 7 – July 13 TO BE ANNOUNCED
July 14 – July 20 WEEKEND IN HAVANA
July 21 – July 27 VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
July 28 – Aug 3 WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?
Aug 4 – Aug 10 RAISING ARIZONA
Aug 11 – Aug 17 GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES
Aug 18 – Aug 24 SUSPIRIA
Aug 25 – Aug 31 THE OMEN
Sept 1 – Sept 7 THE NANNY
Sept 8 – Sept 14 LES MISERABLES
Sept 15 – Sept 21 TO BE ANNOUNCED
Sept 22 – Sept 29 ALL ABOUT EVE
The Historic Oriental Theatre
4335 W. 44th Avenue
Denver, CO 80212
Box Office: 303-433-3786
Denver Film Society Special Programs – StarzFilm Center, Denver
May 01 – LA MARSEILLAISE (1938) – Tattered Cover Book Store Free Classic Film hosted by Colorado Public Radio film critic and Starz FilmCenter Director of Education Howie Movshovitz, 7:00pm
May 3 – SEVERAL THINGS NOT INTENDED TO HURT YOU – Colorado Filmmaker Showcase, 7:00pm
May 04 – VERTIGO (1958) – Language of Film Series w/ stop-start deconstruction led by Denver filmmaker Alexandre Philippe, 7:00pm
May 07 – THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL – Colorado premiere of Mongolia’s first Academy Awards submission; benefit screening for Itgel Foundation’s Long Song preservation school in Gobi Desert – Friday May 7, 7:00pm
May 20 – AMERICAN GRAFFITI – Americana Film Series, 7:00pm
May 20-21-22-23 – DENVER BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL
May 27 – TUPPERWARE! – FilmReal DocNight with filmmaker in person, 7:00pm
June 05 – TOP HAT (1935) – Tattered Cover Book Store Free Classic Film, hosted by Colorado Public Radio film critic and Starz FilmCenter Director of Education Howie Movshovitz, 7:00pm
June 08 – LOST HIGHWAY (1997) – Language of Film Series w/ stop-start deconstruction led by Denver filmmaker Alexandre Philippe, 7:00pm
July 13 – THE BIG SLEEP (1946) – Language of Film Series w/ stop-start deconstruction led by Denver filmmaker Alexandre Philippe, 7:00pm
