Exhibit 5a | Creative Disobedience

Quentin Tarantino has spent his entire career trying to recreate those dime a dozen soul and kung fu movies that dominated his childhood. He has such a strong love for these movies that he’s tried time and time again to capture the raw spirit of these movies, and has failed miserably. In fact, I would say thats part of the reason that so many of Tarantino’s movies suck. Perhaps it’s his talent – he insists on hiring actors who can act, and special effects people who know what they’re doing, and has good writers to work with. This is all wrong if you want to make a movie that resembles Foxy Brown.

Foxy Brown is an awful movie. It’s so incredibly awful that it defies that “Soul Classic” label on the DVD case. The acting is horrific, the plot is laughable and the special effects are just pitiful. And I loved every minute of it. True, getting to see a young Pam Grier’s breasts every few minutes is a definite plus. But Foxy Brown is one of those movies that embraces it’s badness and succeeds where the stuttering campiness of Tarantino’s work fails. Each moment of horrible dialog is hilarious, each fight scene (including a brawl in a lesbian bar) is better than the last, and the twisted last few minutes of the film had me alternately squirming and laughing my ass off.

After seeing Pam Grier in Jackie Brown and more recently on the L Word it’s clear that she’s improved her acting talent. But I have to admit that I like the transparent, badly timed soul sister of the 70s better. Regardless, if you’ve seen her recent work, Foxy Brown is something your definitely need to add to your Netflix list.