Spike Lee: Dud or DUD?!?

Spike infamously switched off the Mets after the mid-late '80s crest. Though he still denies it, despite having a Yankee flag flying above his property on Martha's Fucking Vineyard.

what seemed like an endless and overwrought climactic scene set to "Won't Get Fooled Again"

it was "baba o'riley." i like that scene a lot but it is otherwise exactly as you remember it

There you go--can't trust memory.

despite having a Yankee flag flying above his property on Martha's Fucking Vineyard

Have been there, was going to get married there, will be sure to give that flag a fucking salute next time I'm there.

this is the Spike Fucking Lee thread

lol aspiring elitist bitch xp

hopefully it will be overrun with zombies for your next visit

switching off the TWINS to the Stankees is mo' better pathetic tho, ya got me there

Pulpy but smart, dipping toes into every genre, a few brilliant shots every time out and a generally strong visual language, a wildly overwrought screenwriter who tends to scream in your face when addressing Our Contemporary Society...is Spike Lee the black Sam Fuller?

Jesus Christ what is happening

the part in summer of sam where they’re in the woods arguing and “dancing queen” is playing on the car stereo... Lotta moods

OOOOOH MULTIPLE FORMATS

your aesthetic criteria are a wonder, sic

Those criteria are quantitative, not aesthetic. It's not prima facie ridiculous to imagine that a narrative feature with many years of work put into it might be a better film than a three-minute montage of a phone being pointed out the window of a car, but it might be ridiculous to assume that one of them implies anything about the other, sight unseen.

Three minutes, with a loving shot of New Stankee Stadium (aka goombah central).

Spike infamously switched off the Mets after the mid-late '80s crest. Though he still denies it, despite having a Yankee flag flying

switching off the TWINS to the Stankees is mo' better pathetic tho, ya got me there

these aesthetic criteria of film-making are completely comprehensible, of course.

25th Hour has aged terribly, right?

No

It already had fraught elements in 2002 (PSH and Anna Paquin?); it'd still make my best of the year, mess and all.

Genuinely glad to hear that. I loved it at the time but I've put off re-screening because I didn't to ruin the way I remember it. (And the PSH/Paquin stuff was bad then, yeah)

I couldn't rewatch it. I do remember how unusual and edifying for a film of this length to sustain its jangly energy.

sic, dealing with the antics of Spike Lee the oft-irritating local personality is a separate NYC thing.

otoh he supported Bernie in 2016 so I have to give him that.

Da 5 Bloods is another mess, a worthwhile mess. The allusions to Treasure of the Sierra Madre burden the film, though. The male cast excellent, with Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Norm Lewis as intense as Delroy Lindo. Spike still has no idea how to write and direct a part for a woman, though.

Probably broadly true, but I think Annabella Sciorra is great in Jungle Fever. Lee's sister is good in Do the Right Thing and elsewhere, my recollection is that Theresa Randle is good in Girl 6, and I'm sure there are other good supporting performances here and there. But the most prominent exception is Sciorra, I'd say.

I agree, yeah. And She's All That too.

(... She Hate Me?)

is the criticism I've read re D5B fair, that it mainly works as a band-of-brothers/male bonding story but falls flat as a movie about the war?

It's not about the war.

(It's about people and countries who've been involved in a war, though.)

re: Spike and women, this is a huge thorn in the side of Bamboozled too

alfred's almost certainly referring to she's gotta have it

lol yeah -- brainlock

She’s Gotta Hate All That

She’s Gotta Hate the Stankees

Disagree with Morbs all you want but Yankees/Knicks fan is a perfectly legitimate reason to disdain someone.

Obviously very much want to see this but I also don't have a Netflix account and I don't want one

Saw this tonight

It goes in a bunch of directions but the Treasure of the Sierra Madre gives the movie a fulcrum to leverage all the Vietnam ghosts that needed exorcising. when he goes in he goes IN & it moved me to tears in a number of scenes

Delroy Lindo mvp

and yeah - it’s not really ~about~ the war but about how the country’s inhabitants, the soldiers, the families, the actual land itself hold the scars and or open wounds and become the living manifestations of the war

would have loved more Chadwick Boseman, he was magnetic in ever scene

*every

Delroy Lindo should have one, maybe two Academy Awards already for Malcolm X and Clockers. (Ludicrously not nominated for either.)

Do The Right Thing pretty much the most important American film ever made at this point? and sadly too relevant still

I have no problem with any part of that statement.

as Armond called it, "Spike Lee's good movie"

(true at the time, given his nascent filmography)

can't wait for him to praise Delroy Lindo's "extraordinary distillation of MAGA-era rage" or some shit

lol

well that train is always on time

as Armond called it, "Spike Lee's good movie"

(true at the time, given his nascent filmography)

She's Gotta Have It is great tho

hmmmm no

cept Spike got enriching sneaker ads out of it

Haven’t seen the new movie yet but will be watching this.

Spike Lee will join the American Cinematheque next Sat. June 20th | 5:00 PM PST for a retrospective discussion on his career & his new film DA 5 BLOODS. Moderated by @BarryJenkins. Visit our website to learn more and register for the Free Online Event @SpikeLeeJoint @NetflixFilm pic.twitter.com/L2RBgPK1rT

— American Cinematheque (@am_cinematheque) June 13, 2020

cept Spike got enriching sneaker ads out of it

seems a weird takeaway from such a great film but when has debating you ever been worth the effort

oh and the use of Marvin Gaye throughout Da 5 Bloods was A+

the choice to go with just the isolated vocal “Whats Going On” when Delroy Lindo goes into the jungle alone, killed me

yes

[morbs actually that was a shitty reponse of mine during a tough day, apologies]

Kinda wish I hadn't dumped my Netflix subscription right before this premiered.

stevie, the Mars Blackmon character appeared regularly in a saturation NIKE campaign (with Michael Jordan) before America even knew who Spike was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Blackmon