in what universe is Heat a failure
― flappy bird, Thursday, 30 August 2018 00:14 (five years ago) link
The one where michael mann is actually a tiresome bore and not a genius auteur
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 30 August 2018 00:16 (five years ago) link
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--wKuV-I7Q--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/dbup0syj7iqohgak08eh.jpg
re: Bamboozled
xxpost
My main problem with Bamboozled is the Dogme-style camerawork, which is ugly enough to be genuinely distracting. The film only works for me when it sticks with the minstrel sequences.
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko)
I get this, but it's something I love about the movie. Though I understand how it could be distracting - not to mention the fact that it's out of print and pretty hard to find (the DVD I have looks like dog shit). It just needs a good restoration - I saw Asia Argento's Scarlet Diva last month at a revival and was completely blown away. Besides being a great movie, the restoration looks fantastic. Also released in 2000, also shot on miniDV, also dealing with inside showbiz/Hollywood stuff that no one in the industry wants to touch, which is why Bamboozled has been buried.
Besides that I mean come on... Pierre de la Croix? One of Spike Lee's best characters imo. Michael Rapaport is hilarious in it. JPS is great, too. and that ending montage! brilliant. but I get why it's divisive.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 30 August 2018 00:21 (five years ago) link
Thought Delroy Lindo should have gotten a nomination for Malcolm X. Sam Jackson not getting one for Jungle Fever was a sham of a mockery etc. (he won in New York).
― clemenza, Thursday, 30 August 2018 01:15 (five years ago) link
Lee was outspoken against the Academy in the early 90s and they punished his films in retaliation. Coming from any other director in 1992, Malcolm X would have been a multiple nominee/winner.
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Thursday, 30 August 2018 02:11 (five years ago) link
i chuckle w/ only the smallest bit of guilt at Armond White calling DtRT "Spike Lee's good movie."
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 August 2018 02:14 (five years ago) link
(xpost) You're right--Denzel and costume design (for the early Harlem scenes, presumably), and that's it. I just assumed it would have been up for picture, director, and adapted screenplay, too, but no.
― clemenza, Thursday, 30 August 2018 02:18 (five years ago) link
wd've preferred Larry Fishburne in the role tbqh
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 August 2018 02:20 (five years ago) link
It woulda worked too
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 August 2018 02:43 (five years ago) link
I can totally see that resulting in a better film
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 30 August 2018 02:58 (five years ago) link
How so with Lee as same director?
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 August 2018 03:10 (five years ago) link
Denzel is an oleaginous screen presence incapable of communicating inter-human empathy; Fishburne is very good at portraying listening.
(I haven't seen Malcolm X, Inside Man is the only Denzel film I've ever liked. (Also haven't seen He Got Game.))
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Thursday, 30 August 2018 07:41 (five years ago) link
I've seen way too little of his work, but I did catch Da Sweet Blood of Jesus at a film festival, and it's worth a look. It could very well be seen as a turning point some day, it's a b-movie, a remake, extremely cheap and partly funded by kickstarter, but the mood is beautifully melancholic. It showed he still had it. And then he made a couple of his biggest hits.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 30 August 2018 08:05 (five years ago) link
Inside Man as it's the one that I have seen multiple times. Clive Owen is cool, plus Ziggy!! , Kim Director is hot in it as is the blue eyed bank robber. Denzel the worst thing here and I really hate the scene where his partner is all "can I see your shoe?".
Oh, and Jodie Foster is good and surprisingly ( to me anyway) sexy in this.
― oscar bravo, Thursday, 30 August 2018 10:11 (five years ago) link
Bamboozled without a doubt. Amazing, crazy, haunting.
(She's Gotta Have It would be number 2 choice for sheer joie de vivre)
― Ludo, Thursday, 30 August 2018 10:54 (five years ago) link
Been said many times upthread, but the disrespect for his work in the film establishment is exasperating, even disgusting when compared to the attention given to Crash, Mississippi Burning, The Help, etc. The "joke" about him on The Simpsons is for me their shark jump moment, never felt positive about the show after that.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 30 August 2018 11:25 (five years ago) link
Or actually rereading hasn't been said that much. But anyway...
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 30 August 2018 11:27 (five years ago) link
If I think about Laurence Fishburne in Boyz n the Hood, I can see where he'd make a good Malcolm X. (And if I block out the Matrix films, where, by the third one, he'd descended to something approaching camp.)
I think Denzel is amazing. Besides his box-office pull (I think he already had that by '92--not sure), there was probably an element of stunt-casting involved because he looks and sounds so much like Malcolm X. But he went way past that. That scene where he's stumping in Harlem outside the African National Memorial Bookstore, and Lee slowly tracks in before cutting to a close-up on the words "a black man," that gives me a chill every time.
― clemenza, Thursday, 30 August 2018 13:33 (five years ago) link
rewatched 25th Hour for the first time in years tonight, didn't remember how bad & corny the score is. makes a really good film significantly worse. still some transcendent moments (parts of Monty talking to himself in the mirror montage and the NYC bits of the fantasy sequence at the end).
― flappy bird, Monday, 10 September 2018 04:51 (five years ago) link
From what I recall, those were the only two transcendent moments. I mean, they were enough in the moment, but.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Monday, 10 September 2018 12:52 (five years ago) link
yea
― flappy bird, Monday, 10 September 2018 16:25 (five years ago) link
Spike Lee went on Charlie Rose so many times, at least half a dozen appearances in as many years. They must've bonded court side, a lot of these interviews just end up with them talking/arguing about the Knicks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svj_je9oQbY
― flappy bird, Monday, 24 September 2018 04:45 (five years ago) link
I loved 25th Hour at the time, even with the stuff like the Twin Tower lights in the window of that one guy's apartment and Anna Paquin's terrible acting but I don't think I'd watch it again and ruin the memory.
― louise ck (milo z), Monday, 24 September 2018 07:05 (five years ago) link
he got game is the one
― Dmac TT (darraghmac), Monday, 24 September 2018 08:26 (five years ago) link
some amazing moments from He Got Game:
-Jake opening and closing the door in his hotel room as soon as the parole officers leave-Jake and Dakota "We have all night"-everything on the roller coaster-the final game-the ball flying in clear blue sky
― flappy bird, Monday, 24 September 2018 17:15 (five years ago) link
bofh of em, bofh of em
― Dmac TT (darraghmac), Monday, 24 September 2018 17:21 (five years ago) link
"I win, you're out of my life for good?""That's right."..."Bet."
― flappy bird, Monday, 24 September 2018 17:25 (five years ago) link
that game, oof
― Dmac TT (darraghmac), Monday, 24 September 2018 17:31 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 4 October 2018 00:01 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 5 October 2018 00:01 (five years ago) link
Bamboozled as the default "best Spike Lee that isn't Do the Right Thing."
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Friday, 5 October 2018 00:52 (five years ago) link
Not bad! Glad so many movies got at least a vote. And yes, these are basically the correct results.Bamboozled is due for a rerelease / reappraisal. More relevant than ever.
― flappy bird, Friday, 5 October 2018 01:00 (five years ago) link
School Daze... there's a decent 81 minute movie in there, but good lord, two hours? It doesn't feel like a movie, just raw material, some of which is great. I realize it's only his second movie, but's a) stunning that he made this only a year before Do the Right Thing, and b) his primary weaknesses thru his career - pacing & editing & discontinuity - are really exaggerated.
― flappy bird, Monday, 7 January 2019 05:02 (five years ago) link
watching CLOCKERS (1995) which i thought i'd seen (maybe cz i read the book) but i'm now thinking didn't
so far (only ten mins in) struck by how it layers languorous autumnal crooklynesque soul into broken projects ugliness (= the sequence of gun-murdered bodies in the opening credits)
― mark s, Monday, 20 January 2020 19:15 (four years ago) link
the book sent my perhaps unimaginative mind's eye to a much sparer concreted-up lanndscape tbh
― mark s, Monday, 20 January 2020 19:19 (four years ago) link
Underrated, I think, although Keitel and Turturro's casual banter at the crime scene seems a little forced. Delroy Lindo and Mekhi Phifer are excellent, and the rest of the time Keitel is too.
― clemenza, Monday, 20 January 2020 19:33 (four years ago) link
Thought Clockers suffered from a familiar problem for him, half an hour too long, too many unresolved plot strains that don't really gel. Some great elements (the performances), just felt incongruous, like Jungle Fever or School Daze or She Hate Me.
― flappy bird, Monday, 20 January 2020 19:40 (four years ago) link
Clockers was one of those films I remember coming out in the fall of '95 as part of what seemed to be a *lot* of interesting/ambitious movies being released around that time, --->>>or<<<--- ones that at the very least were interesting/amibitious failures (Kids, The Usual Suspects, Seven, To Die For, Strange Days, Get Shorty, Dead Presidents, Leaving Las Vegas, The Doom Generation, Casino, White Man's Burden, Heat, Nixon, Dead Man Walking, 12 Monkeys.) Clockers was one of the ones that was seriously overlooked and underrated, and still is to this day even though it's basically a proto-"Wire." Not sure I'd vote for it, but I might agree w/Alfred's 1-2 and also the high ranking for He Got Game (solid RICK FOX performance!)― omar little, Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglinkKids, The Usual Suspects, Seven, To Die For, Strange Days, Get Shorty, Dead Presidents, Leaving Las Vegas, The Doom Generation, Casino, White Man's Burden, Heat, Nixon, Dead Man Walking, 12 Monkeys.oy this is a lot of failures!― Οὖτις, Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:11 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglinkGet Shorty and 12 Monkeys were huge box office hits and sound entertainments fwiw― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:21 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglinkin what universe is Heat a failure― flappy bird, Wednesday, August 29, 2018 5:14 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
― omar little, Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
Kids, The Usual Suspects, Seven, To Die For, Strange Days, Get Shorty, Dead Presidents, Leaving Las Vegas, The Doom Generation, Casino, White Man's Burden, Heat, Nixon, Dead Man Walking, 12 Monkeys.
oy this is a lot of failures!
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:11 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
Get Shorty and 12 Monkeys were huge box office hits and sound entertainments fwiw
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:21 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
― flappy bird, Wednesday, August 29, 2018 5:14 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
sorry just to belatedly clarify there's an "or" in there
anyway Clockers is flawed but it's more overstuffed than it is inept. There's a palpable kind of anger at the criminals, even some fairly justified anger at our central character, while it retains a lot of empathy for him. more than another film might give him. most of the performances are very good or often completely exceptional (Keitel was still operating at his '90s peak level here, a time when he was able to even make City of Industry watchable whenever he was onscreen).
― omar little, Monday, 20 January 2020 19:56 (four years ago) link
so far (45 mins in) i think it's better than anything on that list that i've seen (not seen = dead pres, doom gen, white mb)!
and also that keitel feels more like he's doing keitel shtick than anyone else feels like they're doing shtick :\ which is not bad obv but doesn;t quite give the cops enough grip to push things on?
― mark s, Monday, 20 January 2020 20:03 (four years ago) link
Clockers, on my last viewing, generates a sense of dread almost as palpable as DTRT did.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 January 2020 20:07 (four years ago) link
not inept, definitely overstuffed, this is his main problem. overstuffing leaves seams showing. Lindo & Phifer are great but I thought Keitel was sort of phoning it in. then again it's hard to watch him as a detective in anything other than Bad Timing.
― flappy bird, Monday, 20 January 2020 20:30 (four years ago) link
as ever with spike i love the colour and in this case also the softly grainy texture
― mark s, Monday, 20 January 2020 20:50 (four years ago) link
he doesn't find a way to film the trainset stuff that works really
(are there any films with trainsets where the trainset bits are good not bad? track 29 is terrible iirc)
― mark s, Monday, 20 January 2020 21:02 (four years ago) link
does Sopranos count
― Οὖτις, Monday, 20 January 2020 21:04 (four years ago) link
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Crk89BHnN3Q/hqdefault.jpg
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 20 January 2020 21:05 (four years ago) link
The Fury (wish I could find the clip online).
― clemenza, Monday, 20 January 2020 21:08 (four years ago) link
Tom n Jerry suck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4WlJHBVw70
― Οὖτις, Monday, 20 January 2020 21:09 (four years ago) link
watched this within the past year but drawing a blank on what yr referring to
The scene where Amy Irving is powering the train mentally and it flies off the track...you can catch a glimpse around 40 seconds in this trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bphHHR2aVM0
― clemenza, Monday, 20 January 2020 21:14 (four years ago) link
http://www.midnightonly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-Fury-6.jpg
― temporarily embarrassed thousandaire (Eric H.), Monday, 20 January 2020 21:14 (four years ago) link
NEVER!
― Οὖτις, Monday, 20 January 2020 23:17 (four years ago) link
https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-20-2015/w7ounj.gif
― don't care didn't ask still clappin (sic), Monday, 20 January 2020 23:20 (four years ago) link
wow I completely forgot about his train thing. yeah, that along with the strawberry milk, just incongruous elements that really stick out
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 21 January 2020 05:25 (four years ago) link
the strawberry milk is the one big thing i remember from the book -- everyone around strike treats as a bit of a joke, his bit that he commits to, but it's actually how he's nursing the severe bleeding ulcer that hospitalises him (it's the only thing he can eat that makes it hurt less). i remember it well i suspect bcz i *hate* strawberry milkshakes, in fact any milkshakes, so this struck me as a double grim chore (horrible self-medication of horrible condition)
in retrospect i'm not sure how well all the above is conveyed in the film -- i knew it from the book so it didn't need conveying. in the book also part of the sadness is that there's no space in this set-up for someone like who strike "really" is: he has to be a junior gangster bcz what option is there? but he's actually more of a dreamy oddball who in a less pressured world wd be allowed to flourish in very difft directions (which i think the train stuff is kind of signalling, except i'm still unconvinced trainsets can be fitted into most directors' filmable aesthetics -- outside maybe cartoons that can play games with size and speed)
(not sure i ever saw that sopranos ep, the stills don't convince the idea being is pulled off)
― mark s, Tuesday, 21 January 2020 10:58 (four years ago) link
I haven’t seen the film but strawberry YooHoo(?) is the first thing I think of when I think of the book yeahI also think about it a lot wrt my own stomach pain issues
― Baby yoda laid an egg (wins), Tuesday, 21 January 2020 11:04 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Ako6ouR3Y
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 21 January 2020 23:01 (four years ago) link
there are some earlier scenes with it too including the one this is taken from lol
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fd3gqasl9vmjfd8.cloudfront.net%2Fbf74a509-c736-4383-8bd5-28c553a6e652.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 21 January 2020 23:02 (four years ago) link
A couple of Zoomcasts my friend and I did on the music in two Spike Lee films:
Jungle Fever: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUt4OfYeybMBlacKkKlansman: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZa2UW9_vVs
The second goes back a few months, but I'll post them both.
― clemenza, Friday, 29 January 2021 20:33 (three years ago) link
i feel like this might not hold uphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiYKdK46L5s
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 21 February 2021 01:37 (three years ago) link
the parts that don't hold up are what sunk it in 2004 (I'm assuming): the bizarre Enron style subplot? First of all, no sex comedy should be 140 minutes. he gets SO didactic here especially towards the end. he appears incapable of making a 90 minute movie, which is unfortunate, because his eyes are usually bigger than his stomach. the sex comedy parts are the "best" in this iirc. For sure some casual homophobia typical of the time, again, iirc
― flappy bird, Sunday, 21 February 2021 04:32 (three years ago) link
We talked about the music in a mix of films here: Malcolm X, The Social Network, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Our Nixon, and St. Vincent. Malcolm X is my favourite, so I'll post here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JPO5DH_ZGE
― clemenza, Friday, 22 September 2023 13:02 (seven months ago) link