Saturday, September 18, 2010

Wendy's Films of 2010 #94: Shaft (1971)

So I was in Cannes the other day, thinking, "Hmm, I haven't written a post for GenX in over a month, perhaps I should get on that." Then I strolled casually down the beach whilst pondering my thoughts on Shaft and admiring the yachts simultaneously, as I often do in France. Shaft had long been on my list of films to see; I'd caught the beginning credits before and admired their fantasticity, so seeing the rest was clearly inevitable. In this film, private detective Shaft must fight evil for the bettering of mankind, or does he? Is retrieving the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss a good thing? I suppose it is, since Bumpy's innocent daughter didn't do anything wrong. But what message does it send to other mobsters? That their actions can continue because Shaft, the defeater of evils, will rescue them from potential harm? These are questions that you might want to ponder while watching this film, which happens to be filled with awesome quotes. Like when Willy says, "That's some cold shit, throwing my man Leroy out the window. Just picked my man up and threw him out the Goddamn window." Or when Sergeant Tom Hannon asks, "Hey, where the hell are you going, Shaft?" and Shaft replies, "To get laid, where the hell are you going?" Moments like these pollute the film with their delicious stench, adding to its putrid awesomeness. Perhaps you should watch it.

Who's the black private dick...
that's a sex machine to all the chicks?

SHAFT!

Ya damn right.

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