pick of the week

Blaxploitation

Alternately celebrated, reviled and now revered again, the examples of Black American cinema which the early 1970s offered can be complicated by modern readings, but you'll still find a balance of insurrection and mindless fun in this exhaustive season, beginning with the likes of Blacula, Shaft and Mandingo, and climaxing with Melvin Van Peebles's rough-edged and revolutionary Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.

From Sat, NFT, London SE1 (0171-928 3232)

The Godfather

Coppola's sombre Mafia epic hits Southampton this week.

From tomorrow, Harbour Lights Cinema (01703 335533)

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

A date movie with a thimbleful of attitude, and Uma Thurman and Ben Chaplin trying to out-pretty each other.

On release