MY PEOPLE, MY PEOPLE, WHAT CAN I SAY; SAY WHAT I CAN. I SAW IT BUT DIDN'T BELIEVE IT; I DIDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW. ARE WE GONNA LIVE TOGETHER? TOGETHER ARE WE GONNA LIVE? Honoring today's release of Red Hook Summer, starring Cool Lester Smooth, Grierson and Leitch rank Spike Lee's 22 movies, and with Jungle Fever and He Got Game falling below the median it reminds one just how amazing (if uneven) Lee's career has been. (I still want to see the James Brown movie he wants to make.) Meanwhile, Slate hypothesizes that the quality of a Spike Lee joint is directly proportional to the average temperature depicted in the movie.
If you have not read Leitch's recent interview with Lee, read Leitch's recent interview with Lee.
Wow, did they ever overrate Inside Man! I mean, it's an ok movie, but it's not better than, say, Bamboozled. Bamboozled would probably top my list, actually.
ReplyDeleteI think Bamboozled is provocative as hell, but it's a didactic mess. The montage at the end makes up for Damon Wayans' affect, but only barely. Find Marlon Riggs' documentary Color Adjustment if you can.
ReplyDeleteSummer of Sam at 20/22 is where I started laughing, and Crooklyn not even being in the top 10 is where I immediately gave up on this being a reasonable list. So I jump ahead and...Bamboozled? C'mon now, that movie (as Adam notes) is a complete mess. Their top 4 though...damn, you could shuffle around that four and I'd agree with any configuration.
ReplyDeleteI feel "Clockers" should be higher. And "Summer of Sam" wasn't as bad as they say. I guess having lived through it, I was more emptionally attasched to the material. I wish someone would do a similar take on the same effect the "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez had on LA.
ReplyDeleteMy friend, Kim is in Red Hook Summer, so I urge you all to see it. This weekend, if possible!
ReplyDeleteI agree with girard31, Clockers should have been much higher, as should Crooklyn. I would say top 5 should be: 5) Inside 4) S. Daze 3) Crooklyn 2) Clockers 1) Do the RT. While I did not hate Miracle, I thought that 25th Hour was ghastly.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't disagree more about 25th Hr. I personally think that its one of the great American films of the last 2+ decades. As people commented, the final scenes of that movie are about as moving as you'll find and Norton gives probably the best performance of his career.
ReplyDeleteYes. I don't see how Summer of Sam takes a beating like that.
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