An American drama directed and produced by Spike Lee, starring John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody and Anthony LaPaglia.
During the summer that the "son of Sam" killer was at large in New York City, a fictional drama plays out between friends and family members of Italian mob drug dealers.
This really needed a different name. It was NOT about the murderer. It was about a punk rock male stripper and his mobster friend who cheats on his wife. I don't see how they couldn't have gotten along better. They both have secrets. The video style was very Spike Lee. We had the gliding/floating character, close-ups, fast edits and even a camera spin. The audio was terrible. The dynamic range of the characters' voices included inaudible whispers and loud shouting. I had been thinking recently "what if Spike Lee did a film with an all-white cast?" and then here it is. I thought the casting was really bad though. Adrien Brody as a punk rocker? That would be like Samuel L. Jackson as a kindergarten teacher. Overall, not really what I like and it had some technical issues. I rate this poor.
An American romance written, directed and produced by Spike Lee.
A slut has three boyfriends.
Not cool. There was barely any plot and the characters were annoying and shallow. The video style was decent, but not as good as Spike's later works. It was mostly in black and white, with a few color scenes thrown in, seemingly at random. The audio was good quality. I could hear all of the dialogue and liked the jazz soundtrack. Overall, it's just not my thing. I rate this poor.
An American musical written, directed and produced by Spike Lee, starring Laurence Fishburne and Giancarlo Esposito.
A racist activist's brother is pledging to a college fraternity that he disapproves of. The activist and fraternity leader have a long-standing grudge.
Pointless. The plot went nowhere and the characters were stereotypical. The video style was good, but I don't like musicals and the soundtrack was annoying. Overall, a well-filmed and edited piece of crap. I rate this bad. Racist cowboy says it's a pickaninny picture.
An American drama written, directed and produced by Spike Lee.
A young man goes to stay with his grandfather in New York City for the summer. The grandfather is a preacher and forces the boy into the church. There he meets a girl his own age who he eventually befriends and the drunken deacon. Although initially unhappy in the situation, he gets used to things and comes to enjoy it more. There is conflict with a local gang of drug dealers and the preacher grandfather is accused of raping a boy at his previous church.
This was actually alright. It took a while to become so though. The beginning was a reinforcement of racial stereotypes, but then it got interesting. The plot twist was worthwhile and made it a better film. The main characters were actually all dynamic. They changed. Whether it was from scene to scene or over the course of the film, they changed. The video was really cool. There was a variety of styles and techniques employed to rival anything out there. The audio was mostly black music, as with most Spike Lee joints. It's a shame that he doesn't use black metal. What? It has the word "black" in it! I met a deacon at a local church who had a cannabis bong in the non-functional clock tower. Overall, this is almost as good as Do the Right Thing. I rate it good because it is, but not marvelous or wonderful. Just good. I would recommend watching it.
An American musical drama written, directed and produced by Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito and John Turturro.
A young man in New York City grows up to be a famous trumpet player. He has problems with his manager, women and band members until someone smacks him in the face with his own trumpet. With his musical career ended, he settles down with one woman and starts a family.
I'll call this a melanzana movie. The plot was typical of Spike Lee's films. Same with characters. The video was good, but a little on the dark side. The soundtrack featured mostly jazz and I even identified "Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat". The part that I really liked were the bookend intro and outro scenes being similar. I didn't understand the scene where the main character was laying on the floor (picture). Although previously absolved of all crimes of cinema, that doesn't stop me from giving an honest review. You seriously need dark skin to fully appreciate this film. I rate this tolerable.
An American romance drama written, directed and produced by Spike Lee, starring Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson, John Turturro, Frank Vincent and Anthony Quinn.
Everyone has problems when black people get into romantic relationships with Italians.
Spike Lee is one of the most discriminatory racists that ever lived. In many films, you could substitute a black character for a white one (or the other way around) without disrupting the plot very much. Not in Spike's movies. The premise was simple, but the plot became very complex. There were too many characters that were not part of the main story. The video was all very good, but the audio had some issues. Music and dialogue sometimes clashed into a cacophony of noise. He used the same "gliding down the street" type of scene as in Malcolm X and I think that it was done with a green screen composite. Overall, not good and not bad. I rate it o.k.
An American drama written and directed by Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington and Mila Jovovich.
The father of a famous high school basketball player is in jail. He is let out for a week to convince his son to go to a certain college. If he succeeds, he will be set free.
This was not really my style, but generally well-made. The premise was implausible, but it made an interesting plot. The characters were stereotypical, but well-acted. The dialogue was believable and written in character. The video featured extremes of light and dark scenes that I found unsettling. There was a small amount of compositing and creative editing. I liked the scene where the rich guy in the car is telling the basketball player about temptations that come with fame. The visual representations of these amused me, as did the verbal description. The audio was good. The soundtrack featured a wide range of music that was appropriate for the scenes and I could hear all of the actors when they spoke. Overall, good production value, but not my style. I rate it o.k.
An American drama directed by Spike Lee, starring Danny Aiello, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, John Turturro and John Savage.
A young black man delivers pizzas for an Italian restaurant. Racial tension rises in the neighborhood on a hot day.
This is amazing. Such style, such grace. It flows so smooth. The plot is simple and worth paying attention to. There are lots of characters and they are stereotypical, but that's what makes them great. The video is seamless. It looks like you're there with these people and know them. The audio featured a repeating song, but I think that adds to the atmosphere of the film. The plot calls for hot and it looks and sounds hot. Setting is in an urban neighborhood and we feel like we're there. The variety of characters with dialogue written so well. I could sing the praises of this film forever. I know I've turned on "Racist Cowboy Mode" and said that Spike Lee makes "Nigger Movies", but this absolves him of any and all crimes of cinema. Overall, WONDERFUL! I rate this best! WATCH IT!!!!!
An American horror drama directed by Spike Lee.
An African art collector witnesses his friend committing suicide and drinks his blood. Later, the friend's wife shows up and expresses her displeasure with her deceased husband. They then fall in love.
Crazy. Black christian vampires? The plot was interesting, but the pacing was so slow that it failed to hold my attention. The characters were unique, but stereotypical at the same time. The black christian vampires acted like normal actors of color. You follow? The video style was great. They definitely knew how to use a camera to tell a story. The audio was not so much to my liking. It featured mostly new black music and mostly R&B and rap. There were some definite Female Anatomy Points earned! I was wondering how far they would go with the lesbian scene. Overall, it was definitely something to behold. I rate it adequate because it was unique, but not exactly what I wanted. Let your curiosity draw you into watching this.
An American drama directed by Spike Lee, starring Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo.
A black family with many children lives in New York City. The first daughter goes to stay with relatives in the south and comes back to find her mother sick.
Niggers are niggers. The plot was pointless and the characters strived to enforce racist stereotypes. Basically, it was a nigger movie about niggers being niggers. There was some very good compositing though. One scene showed glue sniffing teens walking upside down through a street. Another showed the main character cleaning the kitchen with copies of herself fading out as she began new tasks. The soundtrack was entirely black music of the 1970s. Overall, BLACK! African-American, pickaninny, negro, colored darkies showing the flaws of their race. I rate this bad for lack of plot.
An American crime film directed by Spike Lee, starring Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo and Keith David.
A drug dealer murders another man on his boss' orders and the dealer's brother is framed for the murder.
This was alright. The plot was complex and held my attention. The characters were mostly stereotypical. I think the main character was a little unbelievable. A real drug dealer would have been very different from this role. The technical aspects were fine. I noticed some high viewpoint shots of "The Benches" that showed when the cops arrived. There was also a good moving close-up of the dealer's chocolate milk as he walked across the scene. I know that the Gangsta video game the boy plays is fiction and a video made just for this film, but the portable system that he uses eludes my research. Was there a Sega Genesis that was worn on the body and had glasses as a display? Overall, a decent flick. I rate it o.k.
An American drama directed by Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett and Delroy Lindo.
The life of the idealist leader, Malcolm X is shown. It includes his criminal career, jail time, conversion to Islam, career as a public speaker and his death.
This was one of the longest and most serious films I have ever seen. I think that the director and leading actor were the absolute best choice in this case. Their familiarity with the subject matter and similarities with the man the story was based on make them the correct men for the job. The plot was long. I had to take many breaks to get through 3 hours and 12 minutes. The characters were identifiable and the main character was extremely dynamic and well-developed. I think that they tried to be as historically accurate as possible while showing possibly unknown personal aspects of Malcolm's life that fill out the story. There were beautiful camera shots included, but also some "forgetting to remove the lens cap" scenes. The picture was a moving shot of Malcolm going down the street very smoothly, like he was floating. Another shot to mention was the KKK members riding into the moonlight in the beginning. The audio was good, with clear dialogue, orchestral cinematic music and pop music of the time period being depicted. I think they did an awesome job making this film. So much so that the racial issues will not be discussed here. My only real complaint is the lengthy duration. Overall, this exemplifies what I'm looking for as far as technical aspects and production value are concerned. I rate it good, but will not be watching it again.
An American comedy directed by Spike Lee, starring Damon Wayans and Michael Rapaport.
An educated and intelligent black screenwriter is asked to make a "nigger show" by his wigger boss.
This was pretty cool for like the first 3/4. I didn't like the ending. The characters were type-cast and the plot held my attention with frequent and overt racial stereotypes. The TV show that they made was hilarious! The racist cowboy within me enjoyed this a great deal. The tap-dancing star of the show was my favorite character because he performed best when the show began and his character was developed more than others. If you are interested in racist stereotypes about people with dark skin, this is for you. It blew Coonskin (1975) out of the water in that department. I rate this awesome for being extreme.
An American drama directed by Spike Lee, starring Anthony Mackie, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling and John Turturro.
A man who works at a company that is developing a cure for AIDS has his assets frozen because he called in an ethics violation of his co-workers. Faced with no work, he falls into a business of impregnating lesbians for large sums of money.
This was very well-made. I tried to watch it with as open a mind as I could. The plot did hold my attention and the few main characters had some development. There was an absolute army of extras. I liked that there was some humor mixed in at various points of dialogue. The video impressed me with creative use of compositing. The soundtrack was minimal, but appropriate. There were a few short sections of foreign languages with no subtitles, but they did not effect the plot. Alright, racist cowboy time. There were some sections of this film that were geared toward an audience with darker skin than mine. The title is a dead give-away of this fact. The way that certain conversations were heart-to-heart talks and also heated arguments was one of these. Honkies ain't be lying down for that shit. The lighting on certain scenes was also "not how white people do it". When us white folks cook dinner, we tend to turn the kitchen light on. I'm not saying that people with lighter skin are better than those with darker skin, just different. Overall, pretty decent, but definitely for a certain type of audience. I rate this adequate, mostly for the compositing.
A crime film directed by Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington and Willem Dafoe.A team of bank robbers enter a bank dressed as painters and execute a most skillful heist.The plot of this film was very good. It had sufficient twists to hold my attention. The characters left much to be desired though. For being new Hollywood bullshit with a decent plot, I'm rating it o.k.
A drama directed by Spike Lee.A man is caught with drugs and lots of money and sentenced to prison. He has one last revealing night out with his friends before he is going to be locked up.Character development was minimal and the plot was almost unbelievable. The "ending" was a little strange too, even though it was the best part. There was a dog present in most of the movie, but this animal had no effect on the plot. I'm rating it poor for being inconclusive.
