Mario Van Peebles followed in the footsteps of his father Melvin (SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG) with his feature directorial debut, reviving the Blaxploitation spirit for the 1990s in a stylish Cops Vs Gangsters flick with a clear social conscience. (Screening as the back half of a May Is For Mobsters double feature with SUPER FLY; click the showtime below for standalone tickets or here for discounted two-film passes.)

Drug tycoon Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) and his minions, known collectively as the Cash Money Brothers, have rapidly risen to the top of the New York City narcotics trade. Under Nino’s heartless leadership, the drug operation has grown into a multimillion-dollar empire. Scotty (Ice-T) and Nick (Judd Nelson), two police officers who know their way around the streets of Harlem, aim to bring Nino and his cohorts down. To do so, though, they’ll have to play by Nino’s rules and go undercover.

“Mario Van Peebles’s drugland feature, a relentless, hold-on-to-your-hat experience, rarely lets up.” – Washington Post

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