MasterChugs Theater: ‘Harold and Maude’

Love is in the air here at SG. Well, not really, as we tend to be more broke than flush with money, but we at least try to make an effort. Bryan McBournie loves a nice walk on a moonlit beach, and truthfully, we do enjoy the chocolates.

Okay, so it’s more of I definitely do, but if they’re connected to mint flavoring, then we’re through, you hear me? Anyways, all this month, we’ll be taking a look at some movies that have love as a theme, as we’ve done in previous years past, and along the way, we’ll be bringing back a much requested side feature. The first one up is Harold and Maude, a black comedy hailing from the long ago and far away year of 1971. Hit the jump to find out why you should watch it, especially during this month of looooove. Continue reading MasterChugs Theater: ‘Harold and Maude’

MasterChugs Theater: ‘Shaft’

As July continues on, we too continue to explore blaxploitation films as our theme. Blaxploitation is an interesting thing. To me, it’s one of the only two film genres that most embodies the American spirit. That is not hyperbole-I truly and honestly believe so. Blaxploitation is a concept that arose from a period of both social and civil unrest and change into product with its own unique culture and identity. In doing so, it created a precedent for all future items similar to itself in idea. Sound anything like the origin of a country that you or I may know?

Shaft (the original 1971 version, not that Samuel L. Jackson remake dreck) is, was, and will forever remain the definitive blaxploitation film, utterly and without question. Not only that, but it’s also considered by many to be the very first blaxploitation movie. Shaft and other blaxploitation films represented black action heroes fighting white crime in a cynical urban environment. The films symbolized black-power politics in an era when portrayals of blacks regularly consisted of servants and sidekicks. Shaft broke the mold, laying the groundwork for modern actors and filmmakers like Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee. But is it any good? Not everything ages well, after all. Pop on in and find out.

Continue reading MasterChugs Theater: ‘Shaft’