A CASE OF THE MONDAYS

This February, the Drexel Theatre presents “Blue Collar Blues: Black Labor in American Cinema,” a program highlighting three American masterpieces that explore the hopes and struggles of the Black working class.

On February 3, we present Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar, starring Richard Pryor, Yaphet Kotto, and Harvey Keitel. The trio star as Detroit auto workers who, after feeling cheated by their union, break into the union’s headquarters to ransack a safe. What they find inside is even more valuable: the union’s financial ledger, which details numerous financial payments made to the mob. The three men decide to blackmail the union reps, resulting in a disaster they never expected.

Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You screens February 10. The 2018 satire stars LaKeith Stanfield as a depressed telemarketer who must adopt a “white voice” in order to make any sales. His girlfriend and co-workers go on strike just as Stanfield begins to ascend the corporate ladder. Finally earning enough money to live comfortably, Stanfield uncovers a heinous conspiracy within the company that forces him to question his ethics. This acidic sendup of office culture co-stars Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Steven Yeun, Terry Crews, and Danny Glover.

Then, on February 17, we present the 1976 dramedy, Car Wash. Directed by Michael Schultz and nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the picture follows the misfit crew at the Dee-Luxe Car Wash over the course of one long, hot summer day. The gang encounters a wide array of wild customers: Beverly Hills housewives, a huckster preacher played by Richard Pryor, a criminal known as the “pop bottle bomber,” and George Carlin as an irritated cab driver. In between the weirdness, the employees joke, dance, fight, get high, fall in lust, and deal with the uncomfortable truths they can no longer avoid. Along with Pryor and Carlin, Car Wash also features Antonio Fargas, Bill Duke, Garrett Morris, Clarence Mus, Franklyn Ajaye, Otis Day, Sully Boyar, Irwin Corey, and a special appearance by the Pointer Sisters.