Spike Lee – The Reel World

Ranking the Spike Lee Films

Films Still to Watch: Mo’ Better Blues, Miracle at St. Anna, Old Boy

Films Still to Rewatch: Jungle Fever, 25th Hour, Inside Man, Red Hook Summer

With Spike Lee, there is the style and there is the politics. That is not to say these things should (or even can) be not discussed together because they are interwoven. You need to discuss the what of Lee films along with the how. The what of Spike’s films are often what draw me to him. The politics cannot be separated, ignored, or coddled because in many ways Spike Lee films feel like essay films. They have a very specific point they are making – regardless of whether or not that this is the point Lee is trying to make.

Continue reading Ranking the Spike Lee Films

There Will Be Movies – Episode 99: Do the Right Thing

Ben Phillips & Matt Waters present 25 of their favourite movies from a given decade, and for what could be the last time they’ll be focusing on 1980 – 1989.

Naturally one of the most important movies about racism in America requires deep discussion of how IMDb works, sneaker culture and villains of the Far Cry games…

Pantheon Plus: Da 5 Bloods

Jerome and Brian continue their discussion of specific movies from Chadwick Boseman’s filmography.

This week, they examine one of the best (and criminally underrated from an award’s standpoint) films of 2020, Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. They discuss why Delroy Lindo is great and how eerie aspects of the movie are in hindsight.

Jerome’s 100 Favorite Movies Ever: 25th Hour

(Check out the list so far)

The Movie: 25^th Hour (2002)

One Sentence Plot Summary: Monty Brogan celebrates his one last night of freedom before heading to jail and learns who his real friends are.

Jerome’s 100 Favorite Movies Ever: Malcolm X

(Check out the list so far)

The Movie: Malcolm X (1992)

One Sentence Plot Summary: In one of the greatest biopics ever produced, Spike Lee presents the entire adult life of Malcolm X in an opus that still has a disturbing amount of relevance today.

Jerome’s 100 Favorite Movies Ever: Do the Right Thing

(Check out the list so far)

The Movie: Do the Right Thing (1989)

One Sentence Plot Summary: It’s a hot summer day in a Brooklyn neighborhood, and the rising temperatures serve as a metaphor for the rising racial tensions gripping the area.