Directors MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #206: THE FILMS OF SPIKE LEE (1 Viewer)

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Volume #206 - Spike Lee

"Miracle's Boys" (2005) (mini) TV Series (episodes 1 and 6)
"Sucker Free City" (2005) TV Series
Sucker Free City (2004) (TV)
She Hate Me (2004)
25th Hour (2002)
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) (segment "We Wuz Robbed")
Jim Brown All American (2002)
Come Rain or Come Shine (2001)
The Concert for New York City (2001) (TV) (segment "Come Rain or Come Shine")
A Huey P. Newton Story (2001) (TV)
Bamboozled (2000)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Summer of Sam (1999)
Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo (1999) (TV)
Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia (1998) (TV)
Freak (1998) (TV)
He Got Game (1998)
4 Little Girls (1997)
Get on the Bus (1996)
Girl 6 (1996)
Lumière and Company (1996)
Clockers (1995)
Crooklyn (1994)
Malcolm X (1992)
Jungle Fever (1991)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
School Daze (1988)
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
Sarah (1981)
The Answer (1980)
Last Hustle in Brooklyn (1977)

Consistently underrated as an artist. I hope that history and distance will raise his stature to the level it should be at, equal to that of his more famous contemporaries.

*1. Do The Right Thing - A (top 30 all-time)
*2. 25th Hour - A (best film of 2002)
3. When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts - A-
4. She's Gotta Have It - A-
5. She Hate Me - A-
6. Get on the Bus - A-
7. Sucker Free City - A-

8. Crooklyn - B+
9. Inside Man - B+
10. Malcolm X - B+ (The film feels like it is missing something, but Denzel Washington's performance is electric.)
11. Clockers - B+
12. School Daze - B+ (This send up of black college life is all over the map, but a terrific musical sequence and a mesmerizing finale elevate it.)
13. 4 Little Girls - B+
14. Jungle Fever - B
15. Miracle at St. Anna - B
16. Kobe: Doin' Work - B
17. Mo' Better Blues - B
18. He Got Game - B (As a film about basketball and fatherhood - excellent, but hurt by the inclusion of a completely unnecessary subplot)
*19. Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) (segment "We Wuz Robbed") - B
20. Bamboozled - B- (About 2/3'ds of this film is the greatest statement that Spike has made on race in America other than DTRT, but the final 20m is an epic train wreck. Off hand I can't think of a film I liked this much that ends this badly)
21. Summer Of Sam - B- (A film with some extraordinary moments, but never comes together into what Lee was trying to achieve.)

Own: 3

Ratings out of :star: :star: :star: :star:


SPIKE LEE (1957 - )

Miracle at St. Anna (2008) :star: :star:
M.O.N.Y. (2008)
Lovers & Haters (2007)
Inside Man (2006) :star: :star: :star:
Sucker Free City (2004)
She Hate Me (2004)
25th Hour (2002) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) (segment "We Wuz Robbed")
Jim Brown All American (2002)
Come Rain or Come Shine (2001)
The Concert for New York City (2001) (segment "Come Rain or Come Shine")
A Huey P. Newton Story (2001)
Bamboozled (2000)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Summer of Sam (1999) :star: :star: 1/2
Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo (1999)
Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia (1998)
Freak (1998)
He Got Game (1998)
4 Little Girls (1997)
Get on the Bus (1996)
Girl 6 (1996)
Lumière and Company (1995) :star: :star: 1/2
Clockers (1995)
Crooklyn (1994)
Malcolm X (1992) :star: :star: :star:
Jungle Fever (1991) :star: :star:
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Do the Right Thing (1989) :star: :star: :star:
School Daze (1988)
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
Sarah (1981)
The Answer (1980)
Last Hustle in Brooklyn (1977)

SPIKE LEE

Seen: 7
Like: 0
Own: 0

Rank order:

She's Gotta Have It (1986)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Malcolm X (1992)
Girl 6 (1996)
Crooklyn (1994)
School Daze (1988)
Do the Right Thing (1989)


Spike Lee has the technical proficiency to direct a strong film that gets his message across. Unfortunately, most of the time he uses his powers for evil rather than good. She's Gotta Have It was a Woody Allenish film that, while not quite working for me, gave me high hopes for this director when I saw it in 1986. Unfortunately, in 1989, he put out one of the most racist pieces of trash ever committed to celluloid. It's very sad that a man who can get his message across in a film decides that the message needs to be that everyone in the world is a racist. Nothing he has made since has been a good enough film to warrant a purchase, and nothing he's done in film or real life has ever washed out the bad taste of having seen Do the Right Thing.

I have to agree with Jim and George here, difference is the only Spike Lee I saw in it's entirety was Do the Right Thing, which left a bad taste in my mouth too. And apart from seeing bits of Malcolm X and Summer of Sam on cable I've pretty much avoided his work.

Do the Right Thing (1989) :star:

Not very familiar with his earlier filmography, but I'm with Walter and Brook on him. It seems that even Lee's fans dislike Bamboozled (such as Roger Ebert), but to me it's easily one of the best films of 2000. I don't love She Hate Me or Summer of Sam, but I've never regretted watching any of Lee's movies. I hope he can get the Joe Louis movie done one day.

Ranking:

1. Do the Right Thing
2. Malcolm X
3. Bamboozled
4. The 25th Hour
5. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
6. Inside Man
7. He Got Game
8. She's Gotta Have It
9. 4 Little Girls
10. Summer of Sam
11. Miracle at St. Anna's
12. She Hate Me

Ratings from
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
Sarah (1981)
The Answer (1980)
Last Hustle in Brooklyn (1977)

Seen 23
Own 10

Spike Lee is the 11th director in this series that I've seen/met in person.

"Miracle's Boys" (2005) (mini) TV Series (episodes 1 and 6)
"Sucker Free City" (2005) TV Series
Sucker Free City (2004) (TV)
She Hate Me (2004)
25th Hour (2002)
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) (segment "We Wuz Robbed")
Jim Brown All American (2002)
Come Rain or Come Shine (2001)
The Concert for New York City (2001) (TV) (segment "Come Rain or Come Shine")
A Huey P. Newton Story (2001) (TV)
Bamboozled (2000)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Summer of Sam (1999)
Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo (1999) (TV)
Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia (1998) (TV)
Freak (1998) (TV)
He Got Game (1998)
4 Little Girls (1997)
Get on the Bus (1996)
Girl 6 (1996)
Lumière and Company (1996)
Clockers (1995)
Crooklyn (1994)
Malcolm X (1992)
Jungle Fever (1991)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
School Daze (1988)
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
Sarah (1981)
The Answer (1980)
Last Hustle in Brooklyn (1977)

Bolded films I've seen.

Out of 4 :star:s

25th Hour (2002):star: :star: :star:
Bamboozled (2000):star: :star:
Summer of Sam (1999):star: :star: :star:
He Got Game (1998):star: :star: :star:
Get on the Bus (1996):star: :star: :star:
Girl 6 (1996):star: :star:
Clockers (1995):star: :star: :star:
Malcolm X (1992)::star: :star: :star: :star:
Jungle Fever (1991):star: :star:1/2
Mo' Better Blues (1990):star: :star: :star:
Do the Right Thing (1989):star: :star: :star:1/2

Ratings on a scale of * to *****:

1: Summer of Sam (1999) ****½
2: 25th Hour (2002) ****
3: Malcolm X (1992) ***½
4: Do the Right Thing (1989) ***
5: Bamboozled (2000) **

Own 1

1. Girl 6-unfunny ***CRAP***

2. She's Gotta Have It-cheap, incompetant ***CRAP***

3. Do The Right Thing-Racist ***CRAP***

Surely a director to avoid...

25th Hour (2002)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Summer of Sam (1999)
Clockers (1995)
Jungle Fever (1991)
He Got Game (1998)


Seen the above, roughly in order of preference.

In order of merit:


1.MALCOLM X (1992) ***1/2
2.DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) ***


I'm not exactly a fan of Spike Lee's work, judging by the sheer amount of films which I've missed through the years...but, at least, I did get to see him at last year's Venice Film Festival!

UPDATED:

Sucker Free City (2004) :star: :star: :star:

How did you see that Bill? I think it played on Showtime here, which I don't have.

I watched it on TMN - The Movie Network, a Canadian pay-tv channel.
In addition to showing theatrical films, they also show select HBO and Showtime films and series.

She Hate Me :star: 1/2

25th Hour :star: :star: :star:

Bamboozled :star: 1/2

The Original Kings of Comedy :star: :star: :star:

Summer of Sam :star: :star: :star: 1/2

He Got Game :star: :star: :star: 1/2

4 Little Girls :star: :star: :star: :star:

Get on the Bus :star: :star: :star: 1/2

Girl 6 :star: 1/2

Clockers :star: :star: :star: 1/2

Crooklyn :star: :star: :star:

Malcolm X :star: :star: :star: :star:

Jungle Fever :star: :star: :star: 1/2

Mo' Better Blues :star: :star: :star:

Do the Right Thing :star: :star: :star: :star:

School Daze :star: :star: :star:

She's Gotta Have It :star: :star: :star:

Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads :star: :star: :star:

.

UPDATED:

Inside Man (2006) :star: :star: :star: :star:


Seen 21
Own 10