the 10 COOLEST BLACK MALE CHARACTERS IN MOVIE HISTORY pt.2

Here's the continuation of my "10 Coolest..." list from last week. I'm sure there are a few surprises within, but hey, it's my list..SO THERE! lol I got interesting responses from the 1st part of the list so once again, whether you agree or disagree, let me know what you think.

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6. Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) – The Empire Strikes Back (1979)
Although he was pretty cool as Louis McKay in Lady Sings the Blues, he was kind of an a-hole in Mahogany. But in The Empire Strikes Back, Billy Dee was the first (visible) real black man in sci-fi. He wasn’t an idiot, a weird alien or a slave. Dude was in charge of Cloud City a full over a decade before L. Douglas Wilder became the 1st black governor in the U.S.A., and he beat out Han Solo for the Millennium Falcon. The part rouge, shrewd businessman, all-around pretty boy turned rebel fighter with the tightest mustache this side of the Denovrian Belt, Williams was the total package. Out universe felt safer as soon as he stepped on screen.


7. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) – In The Heat of the Night (1967)
You better call him Mister! While visiting his family in the South, he’s mistakenly arrested when a wealthy man is killed. But when he is then lent out by his bosses of the Philadelphia P.D. to track the killer, Mr. Tibbs uses his skills and instincts to get his man despite being blocked by the town’s racist bureaucracy. No pansy, this independent never wavered to anyone, physically or mentally. When Rod Steiger’s Chief Gillespie slapped our hero for being ‘insubordinate’, Tibbs slapped him right back…the South had never met a black man that was so bad!

Sidney has often played black men who kowtow to white folks’ idealisms or supporting their stances, and he even kind of does in this flick but less so, and at least this time he’s doing things his own way without outside influences whispering in his ear.


8. Kirikou Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)
Hands down one of the most entertaining animated movies ever produced, French made Kirikou and the Sorceress follows the story of a tiny little boy who aims to rid his village from the evil of Karaba, the Sorceress. Kirikou is so independent that the movie opens with him demanding to be delivered by his mother. Kirikou then cuts his own cord deciding to birth himself. Smarter than his peers and more resourceful than most of the people in the village, this tiny boy who hopes to get fully grown one day begins to investigate why the stunningly beautiful Karaba has been blackmailing his fellow villagers and kidnapping the men. I won’t go into too much more and ruin your movie experience, but trust that this will be one of the most innovative animation experiences of your life, especially if you’re African-American, and more so if you have some knowledge of folklore. For more info go to: http://www.kirikou.net/


9. Marcus Graham (Eddie Murphy) – Boomerang (1992)
“Marcus? Oh, Marcus?” was the cry that Lady Eloise belted to lure her paramour, corporate-world climber Marcus Graham, to her boudoir. Despite falling beneath her clutches, Eddie Murphy’s performance in the Hudlin Brother’s Boomerang was both his coolest and sexiest up to that point, and beyond. Eddie made us believe that he was the debonair man that every woman wanted, and whom he could control, until he met his match in two woman of totally opposite personalities: Robin Givens as his new boss, the corporate shark Jacqueline, and Halle Berry as the sweet, near perfect artist Angela. Yeah, he played his boy Gerard (David Alan Grier) dirty to get Halle, but she helped craft Marcus into a complete man.

I’m eternally grateful to the writers and the Hudlin brothers for making a movie where Eddie could be both sensitive and roguish, still funny but not a cornball hustler, and certainly, certainly not asexual (whew!).
In addition to Eddie’s performance, Boomerang had a great script and cast that also includes Martin Lawrence (“That’s racial!”), Geoffrey Holder (“Nasty” Nelson), Chris Rock, Leonard Roberts, John Witherspoon (do I even need to quote his life-changing line from the movie?) and Ms. Strange’ herself, the irreplaceable Grace Jones. On a sidenote: a lot of Caucasian critics and folks bashed Boomerang for being set in a virtually “all-Black” world. However, if we watch ANY AND EVERY Woody Allen movie one would be hard pressed to find any black character, much less one that has any significance.


10. Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) – New Jack City (1991)
Although in no specific order, my 10th selection for “Coolest Black Male Characters…” was the hardest to select. In the end I knew it would be Wesley Snipes, but would it be him as Shadow Henderson in Mo Betta Blues or as Nino Brown in New Jack City? After thinking about it for a couple of days, the decision was solid, as you can see above, but for more than one reason.

New Jack City is a harsh and heinously violent view of a crime family that takes over the drug game in New York City by storm. Although many of the lines and acting were cheesy, it was Wesley as the deliciously evil Nino Brown that makes NJC a classic. You can see the then young Snipes having serious fun with his lines which, combined with his imposing physique, made Nino Brown a depraved gangster. Sick as it was, seeing him pour champagne over his girlfriend then kicking her out while telling his minions to “Cancel that b!%^h!” makes me laugh every time. It’s not until a long overdue re-watching that you remember how cartoon-y NJC can be, but how well it portrays the lack of respect for human life and dignity.

To me, whether he’s playing a laborer or a sax player or a sniper, Wesley Snipes inhabits his roles and really makes you believe for that 90 to 120 minutes that HE IS that person, no faking the funk. That’s essentially what makes Nino just so damned cool.


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It was difficult to decide who can make my 10 Coolest Black Male Characters and Actors in Movie History,
so here is my list of those who didn’t make it, but whom shouldn’t be dismissed.

The Reverend Dr. Purify (OSSIE DAVIS) - Jungle Fever
Lyedecker (JIM BROWN) – 100 Rifles
Sgt. Waters (ADOLPH CAESAR) – A Soldier’s Story
Billy Foster (BILL COSBY) – Let’s Do It Again
Melvin Van Peebles (Mario Van Peebles) – BAADASSSSS!
Lt. Danny Roman - (SAMUEL L. JACKSON) – The Negotiator
Jules Winnfield - (SAMUEL L. JACKSON) – Pulp Fiction
Shadow Henderson (WESLEY SNIPES) – Mo’ Betta Blues