― mark s (mark s), Friday, 30 May 2003 20:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
http://www.depauw.edu/news/story.asp?id=377147461458333
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 1 June 2003 05:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
25th Hour*Peter BradshawFriday April 25, 2003The Guardian Spike Lee's grotesquely macho-sentimental paean to post 9/11 New York City is tagged to the story of Monty - a goateed Edward Norton - spending his last 24 hours in the Big Apple before going to prison for drug-dealing. Why exactly Monty is allowed out when he's such an obvious flight-risk is never explained. (Did they give him bail? Who paid it?)He bids farewell to his dad James (Brian Cox), girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) and two old buddies from the posh school he was once kicked out of: Francis (Barry Pepper) is a Wall Street shark and Philip Seymour Hoffman faxes in his sweaty, nerdish performance as Jacob, a screwed-up teacher perving on his sexy 16-year-old student Mary (Anna Paquin).Lee's ostentatious setpiece is Norton's howl of non-PC rage lacerating all of NYC's uptight ethnic groups, including the self-righteous blacks: "Slavery was 137 years ago; get over it!". He goes easy, however, on the Irish-American heroes of the fire service. In any case, whatever impact this speech has is entirely cancelled by the final gooey sequence in which Monty imagines these same various representatives of the gorgeous mosaic supportively bidding him farewell, before the ambiguously fantasised cop-out ending.A turgid, bombastic and outrageously self-satisfied movie.
*
Peter BradshawFriday April 25, 2003The Guardian
Spike Lee's grotesquely macho-sentimental paean to post 9/11 New York City is tagged to the story of Monty - a goateed Edward Norton - spending his last 24 hours in the Big Apple before going to prison for drug-dealing. Why exactly Monty is allowed out when he's such an obvious flight-risk is never explained. (Did they give him bail? Who paid it?)
He bids farewell to his dad James (Brian Cox), girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) and two old buddies from the posh school he was once kicked out of: Francis (Barry Pepper) is a Wall Street shark and Philip Seymour Hoffman faxes in his sweaty, nerdish performance as Jacob, a screwed-up teacher perving on his sexy 16-year-old student Mary (Anna Paquin).
Lee's ostentatious setpiece is Norton's howl of non-PC rage lacerating all of NYC's uptight ethnic groups, including the self-righteous blacks: "Slavery was 137 years ago; get over it!". He goes easy, however, on the Irish-American heroes of the fire service. In any case, whatever impact this speech has is entirely cancelled by the final gooey sequence in which Monty imagines these same various representatives of the gorgeous mosaic supportively bidding him farewell, before the ambiguously fantasised cop-out ending.
A turgid, bombastic and outrageously self-satisfied movie.
Was this the critical consensus in Britain? The other Guardian reviewer didn't like it, either.
― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 June 2003 21:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 3 June 2003 22:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 4 June 2003 00:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
- - - - - - - - - - - -By Samuel Maull
June 4, 2003 | NEW YORK (AP) --
Filmmaker Spike Lee has sued Viacom Inc. over plans to rename its TNN cable channel Spike TV as part of its campaign to attract male viewers.
In court papers filed Tuesday, Lee asked for an injunction against Viacom's use of the name, saying he had never given his consent for it to be used.
"The media description of this change of name, as well as comments made to me and my wife, confirmed what was obvious -- that Spike TV referred to Spike Lee," Lee said in court papers.
The judge directed Viacom to explain why it shouldn't be barred from using the name.
TNN, which bills Spike TV as "the first network for men," said it was "confident that the court will reject any legal claims by Mr. Lee to the popular word and name Spike."
Viacom bought TNN in 2000, and said in April that it would change the channel's name to Spike TV on June 16 in an attempt to increase the number of men in an audience that is already about two-thirds male.
Viacom also owns CBS, Showtime movie channel, VH1, UPN, book publisher Simon & Schuster and other properties.
According to Lee, TNN's president, Albie Hecht, has said the public associates the name "Spike" with Lee.
Lee, whose given name is Shelton Jackson Lee, included in court papers affidavits from people including former Sen. Bill Bradley, and actors Ossie Davis and Ed Norton. The affidavits said the signers had thought of Lee when they heard about Spike TV and some said they believed he had become affiliated with the network.
Lee directed Nike sneaker commercials with Michael Jordan. His movies include "Malcolm X," "Jungle Fever" and "Do the Right Thing."
---
― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 4 June 2003 19:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 4 June 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
What a top film. I loved the fact that he didn't go over the top with the period stuff; it was just so well observed. Except perhaps for the overwrought punk scenes.
DV mentioned dogs in SL films. The talking dog scene in Summer was fab. Time Out's TV section last week had a go at Lee's 'flights into surrealism' using the talking dog as their clinching example. That's silly. It was a central motif, and I heard afterwards that the voiceover was by Turturro. Ace.
Unlike some on this thread I thought Mira Sorvino was excellent in Summer of Sam, really understated and convincing. Sex in general was so well handled, e.g. Leguizamo's philandering and Brody's Male World adventures and the way this made them relate to their female partners.
― Daniel (dancity), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 20:29 (twenty years ago) link
― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 20:31 (twenty years ago) link
― Daniel (dancity), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 20:47 (twenty years ago) link
― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 20:52 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 20:54 (twenty years ago) link
― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 20:57 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 21:00 (twenty years ago) link
― s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 21:01 (twenty years ago) link
Second question: why was that the message for the moment? what made ppl. ready to hear a sanitized, stark (for a city stereotypically "teeming with life" the thing that strikes most about DTRT is how EMPTY the sets feel, how clumsily and few the extras set to walk through scenes, even how TINY the "mob") highlighted vision of "racism will burn us ALL down"? Somehow even the way the film is posed says more about Spike and his situationing of himself, his view of the mechanisms for political change, than about "America" in any sense. He ends with the Malcom and King quotes but its clear he's in the tradtion of a minister of information.
Also, PE as a representation of rap fails on so many levels, the list the DJ gives of heroes and greats captures the absurdity of drawing this line of tradition up through PE perfectly (if unintentially). Also spike fails most fully when he tries to comprehend/convey generative forces for racial animosity from anybody not black. I mean... "my friends make fun of me"? (i suspect this is what mark was getting at with the jungle fever stuff) This also tends to gloss-over/forgive the more subtle and consistent sorts of racial prejudice. (perhaps which partially answers my second question).
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 23 October 2003 05:31 (twenty years ago) link
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 23 October 2003 16:58 (twenty years ago) link
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 23 October 2003 17:08 (twenty years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 23 October 2003 17:14 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 18:51 (twenty years ago) link
the girlfriend was also hot
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 23 October 2003 18:56 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 18:59 (twenty years ago) link
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:02 (twenty years ago) link
Ditto. Been years since I've seen DTRT, Crooklyn or Jungle Fever. The words "awesome" and "intense" immediately come to mind. It's sure that Spike's movies will end up in an international movie space capsule to show the future that we DID have passionate filmmakers now and then.
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:05 (twenty years ago) link
but sterling, what do you mean by "is it TRUE"? "is it an accurate (visual & otherwise) portrayal of life in bed-stuy in 89?" or something else?
― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 23 October 2003 19:11 (twenty years ago) link
besides, spike has always been about juxtaposing different aspects of black culture, the youth/populist culture versus the history/art aspect (i.e. Get on the Bus, all the discussions in Mo' Better Blues, etc.).
― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:06 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 23 October 2003 20:14 (twenty years ago) link
*This is for Mohammed Abba.
― Al Andalous, Friday, 24 October 2003 01:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Al Andalous, Friday, 24 October 2003 01:43 (twenty years ago) link
i watched do the right thing about six months ago because nancy had never seen it and i must say it holds up remarkably better than i expected it to from the last time i saw it as a freshman film student.
― mohammed abba (dubplatestyle), Friday, 24 October 2003 01:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 24 October 2003 03:32 (twenty years ago) link
Wow. Too right.
― Skottie, Friday, 24 October 2003 13:28 (twenty years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 22 February 2004 10:51 (twenty years ago) link
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 22 February 2004 19:41 (twenty years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 February 2004 00:42 (twenty years ago) link
The bathroom monologue was even more powerful this time, but the last five-ten minutes wasn't. It was still great, and I was about to cry - but it didn't match the awe I felt the first time I saw it.
(25th Hour really made me wish I could move to NYC again. And a Cool Hand Luke poster.)
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 23 February 2004 04:51 (twenty years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 23 June 2005 14:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 6 August 2005 23:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 21 July 2006 02:56 (seventeen years ago) link
― Eric H. (Eric H.), Friday, 21 July 2006 03:21 (seventeen years ago) link
― timmy tannin (pompous), Friday, 21 July 2006 03:36 (seventeen years ago) link
― tremendoid (tremendoid), Friday, 21 July 2006 03:45 (seventeen years ago) link
― gear (gear), Friday, 21 July 2006 03:49 (seventeen years ago) link
― Damn, Atreyu! (x Jeremy), Friday, 21 July 2006 03:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― tremendoid (tremendoid), Friday, 21 July 2006 04:09 (seventeen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 21 July 2006 04:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― kingfish cyclopean ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 21 July 2006 04:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Damn, Atreyu! (x Jeremy), Friday, 21 July 2006 04:27 (seventeen years ago) link
the most effective moment emotionally for me was simply the long look at what ebay sellers like to call "black americana" eg: dolls, advertisements, etc. and even that stuff (hugely popular collectables big with wealthy black collectors) would have made an extremely interesting documentary of some sort
some of that stuff made it into that Confederate States of America movie, and was pretty much the only good part of it. Lee had some kind of production role in C.S.A., and I assume he had some hand in including the real history of "black Americana" in the mockumentary. He should totally make an actual documentary about it.
― horseshoe (horseshoe), Friday, 21 July 2006 04:29 (seventeen years ago) link