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Bamboozled [videorecording] /

Contributor(s): Material type: Film

FilmPublisher number: N5197 | New Line Home EntertainmentSeries: New Line platinum seriesPublication details: [California?] : New Line Home Entertainment, c2001.Edition: Widescreen versionDescription: 1 videodisc (approximately 136 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 inContent type:

two-dimensional moving image

Media type:

video

Carrier type:

videodisc

ISBN:

0780634063

Subject(s):

Production credits:

Director of photography, Ellen Kuras ; editor, Sam Pollard ; original music, Terence Blanchard ; choreographer, Savion Glover.

Cast: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport.Summary: Pierre Delacroix is a confident, self-assured black executive at a television network who hates the way the network produces programming for blacks, programming he believes is blatantly stereotypical. His CEO is a hip-hop talking schmoozer named Dunwitty who thinks he has an ear for what the black public wants. Delacroix concocts a plan, against the advise of his assistant Sloan Hopkins, to produce the most offensive show he can, one he was certain that everyone one would never approve of airing - a variety show done in blackface starring a brilliant, if somewhat naïve tap dancer, and the dancer's manager/best friend. Delacroix's sambo show 'joke' to his shock and dismay, actually does get aired. It proves controversial but popular regardless of its demeaning nature and content. Television has almost always been a target for intellectuals, pundits, and filmmakers - a vast wasteland dominated by minds who pander to the lowest common denominator in American taste. Regardless of how salient the points Lee makes, Bamboozled is ultimately preachment to a very narrow audience, the intellectuals, pundits and elites that will always presume to know what will best serve as entertainment or culture to the masses. Has there ever been a culture that did not subscribe, in the main, to the base level of entertainment for the average 'Joe' ? Are the 'ethnic notions' Lee attacks any less demeaning or prevalent for others whether Hispanics, Native Americans, South Asians, or Europeans not of WASP descent than they are to African-Americans? As a film Bamboozled is hard-edged satire that often beats the viewer over the head with its points no matter how well taken. There is a smugness about the film that would likely only turn off the predominantly black audiences who have made many of the situation comedies directed at black audiences on Fox, UPN and the WB so popular or the audiences who contributed to the success of Lee's on funky, low-brow performance comedy, The Kings of Comedy. Damon Wayans plays the tight-assed, self-absorbed Pierre Delacroix perfectly, having perfected a remarkable sort of preening and supercilious quality to portray this kind of character. Savion Glover portrays the dancer Manray/Mantan as gifted but guileless man with ease, a performance in strict contrast to Tommy Davidson's Womack/Sleep 'N Eat. Davidson gives a very good performance as a man who appears marginal but who actually has more stuff to him than one would expect. With: Jada Pinkett as Sloan Hopkins, Michael Rapaport as Dunwitty, Thomas Jefferson Byrd as Honeycutt, Paul Mooney as Junebug, Sarah Stacker Jones as Dot, Gillian Iliana Waters as Verna, Susan Batson as Orchid Dothan, Mos Def as Big Black and Kim director as the Starlet. Notes: Cinematography by Ellen Kuras. Musical direction by Alex Steyermark. Produced and written by Spike Lee. Box-office gross: $2,200,000.Summary: "In a searing parody of American television, Bamboozled takes a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a network executive's stunning rise and tragic downfall."--Container.Summary: Pierre Delacroix is a confident, self-assured black executive at a television network who hates the way the network produces programming for blacks, programming he believes is blatantly stereotypical. His CEO is a hip-hop talking schmoozer named Dunwitty who thinks he has an ear for what the black public wants. Delacroix concocts a plan, against the advise of his assistant Sloan Hopkins, to produce the most offensive show he can, one he was certain that everyone one would never approve of airing - a variety show done in blackface starring a brilliant, if somewhat naïve tap dancer, and the dancer's manager/best friend. Delacroix's sambo show 'joke' to his shock and dismay, actually does get aired. It proves controversial but popular regardless of its demeaning nature and content. Television has almost always been a target for intellectuals, pundits, and filmmakers - a vast wasteland dominated by minds who pander to the lowest common denominator in American taste. Regardless of how salient the points Lee makes, Bamboozled is ultimately preachment to a very narrow audience, the intellectuals, pundits and elites that will always presume to know what will best serve as entertainment or culture to the masses. Has there ever been a culture that did not subscribe, in the main, to the base level of entertainment for the average 'Joe' ? Are the 'ethnic notions' Lee attacks any less demeaning or prevalent for others whether Hispanics, Native Americans, South Asians, or Europeans not of WASP descent than they are to African-Americans? As a film Bamboozled is hard-edged satire that often beats the viewer over the head with its points no matter how well taken. There is a smugness about the film that would likely only turn off the predominantly black audiences who have made many of the situation comedies directed at black audiences on Fox, UPN and the WB so popular or the audiences who contributed to the success of Lee's on funky, low-brow performance comedy, The Kings of Comedy. Damon Wayans plays the tight-assed, self-absorbed Pierre Delacroix perfectly, having perfected a remarkable sort of preening and supercilious quality to portray this kind of character. Savion Glover portrays the dancer Manray/Mantan as gifted but guileless man with ease, a performance in strict contrast to Tommy Davidson's Womack/Sleep 'N Eat. Davidson gives a very good performance as a man who appears marginal but who actually has more stuff to him than one would expect. With: Jada Pinkett as Sloan Hopkins, Michael Rapaport as Dunwitty, Thomas Jefferson Byrd as Honeycutt, Paul Mooney as Junebug, Sarah Stacker Jones as Dot, Gillian Iliana Waters as Verna, Susan Batson as Orchid Dothan, Mos Def as Big Black and Kim director as the Starlet. Notes: Cinematography by Ellen Kuras. Musical direction by Alex Steyermark. Produced and written by Spike Lee. Box-office gross: $2,200,000.

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Shelving location	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Video Recording	Carleton University, AVRC	SP456 - Collections Room	DVD 0700 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		16050096082

Originally released as a motion picture in 2000.

Widescreen format (aspect ratio 1.78:1).

Special features: theatrical trailers ; audio commentary by Spike Lee ; deleted scenes ; music videos ; original documentary on the making of "Bamboozled" ; animated art gallery ; DVD-ROM "script-to-screen" access from screenplay (requires PC, Windows 95 or higher, DVD-ROM drive).

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Bamboozled [videorecording] /