See, Spike is often compared to Tyler Perry, but I've never understood that. Tyler Perry is more of populist filmmaker who never really branches past morality tales that aim to inspire nods from the more conservative, predominately Christian crowd who makes up his target audience.
Spike strikes me as a contemporary of Woody Allen, minus the daughter-fucking. He holds the audience in morality tales, but ones with risks that are both visceral and real. He's spanned almost 4 decades and multiple genres and has pushed the film-watching audience on its heels. One of my favorite questions to ask people, if they've seen Do The Right Thing (honestly, his most noted film) is what struck them as the most important part. Some people note Mookie throwing the trashcan into Sal's Pizzeria, and some note the death of Radio Raheim by the police. The thing is, that's the question: is a man's life worth more than another man's life work? The obvious answer is yes, but the American answer is... ehhhh, maybe?
Aesthetically, he has a style that's really his own. Notable scenes include:
- The swing-dancing in Malcolm X - The bright, yet dark, colors that populate a supposedly joyous scene
- The opening intro to He Got Game - The use of "home made" film and the use of William Tell (?)
- The gauzy, surreal, dream-like scape he interjects to make a point in School Daze - I think he couldn't figure out a way to finish it with dialogue, but did a better job with this
He also helped careers for a lot of young actors, primarily Black, Latino/a, and Italian American. He definitely has an eye for great talent. I'll tell you how you might know them after the break.
(#) indicates how many movies they've done with him.
Look at this roster:
- Halle Berry (2) - pretty obvious
- Rosario Dawson (2) - Harmony Korine's KIDS, Clerks 2
- Giancarlo Esposito (4) - Gus from Breaking Bad
- Michael Imperioli (6) - Christopher Moltisanti from The Sopranos
- Samuel L. Jackson (5) - pretty obvious
- John Leguizamo (2) - The Pest, Executive Decision, all of his one man shows
- Delroy Lindo (3) - I wish this were obvious... He was on The Chicago Code, in Gone in 60 Seconds as the cop
- Wendell Pierce (2) - Bunk from The Wire
- Roger Guenver Smith (6) - I doubt you"d "know" him, but he's really good. Check out his one man show, "A Huey P. Newton Story."
- Wesley Snipes (2) - pretty obvious
- Mira Sorvino (2) - pretty obvious, but Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, and she got an Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite
- John Turturro (9) - pretty obvious, but Barton Fink, the Transformers movies, Jesus in The Big Lebowski, and about 5 other Coen Brothers films
- Nicholas Turturro (4) - NYPD Blue, several Adam Sandler comedies (I guess you have to work?)
- Denzel Washington (4) - pretty obvious
- Isaiah Washington (4) - notorious for the Greys Anatomy firing after calling a coworker a gay slur. He had a lot of promise, but asshole-d himself out of being a household name
- Kerry Washington (2) - pretty obvious, but Save The Last Dance, Scandal, Django Unchained
- Isaiah Whitlock Jr. (2) - State Senator Clay Davis from The Wire... "Sheeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiit"
I saw a lot of his movies as a kid. I always tell people how my mom was too cheap to hire a babysitter, which was kind of true, but she wanted to take me to experience things that had an impact. I knew that movies were mostly fictionalized, but they were the modern day equivalent of allegories. Sometimes they can be great (Do the Right Thing), sometimes they can be meh (Jungle Fever), and sometimes they're just awful (Girl 6). I'm just glad someone was able to tell these stories even if they're a little too academic.
My personal list of Spike Lee movies (that he directed) from most to least favorite:
- When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
- Do the Right Thing
- 4 Little Girls
- He Got Game
- She Hate Me
- She's Gotta Have It
- School Daze
- 25th Hour
- Malcolm X
- Mo' Better Blues
- If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise
- Inside Man
- Bamboozled
- A Huey P. Newton Story
- Jungle Fever
- Jim Brown: All-American
- Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads
- Clockers
- Summer of Sam
- The Original Kings of Comedy
- Crooklyn
- Red Hook Summer
- Kobe Doin' Work
- Bad 25
- Get on the Bus
- Miracle at St. Anna
- Girl 6
The reason I chose Girl 6 is because, well, it's a rip off of She's Gotta Have it. And while I really liked the cast,
I thought he told the original story way better the first time. She's Gotta Have it took risks with people you'd never
recognize (outside of himself) and he had a great eye for an interesting story told at a poignant time (early AIDS).
Girl 6 rings as his attempt to be satirical about sex... comedies (?) I don't get it. Maybe I never will. What I know is
that he's brave for swinging for the fences. Some of us never do. He never stopped trying
I chose When the Levees broke because much like the best things, you have to wait. It pays off in so many ways.
The anger and frustration and rawness is so real. He interviews actual people who were New Orleans residents
after Hurricane Katrina. To call it heartbreaking wouldn't do it justice. He gives this event faces (of all races and
occupations) and you feel for these people who all went through so much and came away with anger and
frustration and disappointment. One of the people who really shines in it, and this isn't taking away from anyone
else,
So, while I wish a fictional film was the number one, it isn't.
The man has an eye for the world. Maybe it's a cynical eye, but maybe it's an eyes that reflects what exists in
the world. While he's not my favorite filmmaker, he's definitely one who has made a huge impact on the world I
live in and how I look at it. Sorry Knicks fans
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