The movie stars Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Teyonah Parris, D.B. Sweeney, Harry Lennix, Steve Harris, Angela Bassett, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.
CHI-RAQ is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago’s Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.
Rated R for strong sexual content including dialogue, nudity, language, some violence and drug use.
Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions will release CHI-RAQ in theaters December 4, 2015.
“Let me tell you the story of Right Hand, Left Hand. It’s a tale of good and evil. Hate: it was with this hand that Cane iced his brother. Love: these five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. The story of life is this: static. One hand is always fighting the other hand, and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that’s right. Ooh, it’s a devastating right and Hate is hurt, he’s down. Left-Hand Hate KOed by Love!”
The next two Sundays, two of my favorite movies about the black experience will be showing at The Missouri History Museum (5700 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63112). Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING screens this Sunday, October 4th at 6pm and Jack Hill’s FOXY BROWN, featuring my favorite actress Pam Grier at her foxy best, screens Sunday October 11th at 5pm.
I remember seeing DO THE RIGHT THING at the now-shuttered Northwest Square Cinema in North St. Louis County the weekend it opened. I recall being the only Caucasian in the audience. I also remember when Samuel L. Jackson, as local DJ Mr. Senor Love Daddy remarked it was so hot there was a “Jheri curl alert. If you have a Jheri curl, stay in the house or you’ll end up with a permanent black helmet on your head fuh-eva!” The audience roared with laughter but I sat there not getting the joke….…and that’s the truth, Ruth!
“Always do the right thing?” says Da Mayor, played by Ossie Davis in DO THE RIGHT THING. “That’s it?” retorts Mookie (played by Lee), “That’s it!” Da Mayor, is the local old-timer spending the day drinking, meditating, giving advice and occasionally flirting with Mother-Sister, a woman of the same generation played by Ruby Dee, Davis’ real-life wife, observing the neighborhood’s life through the window. But the most emblematic scene of DO THE RIGHT THING consists of characters of different races facing a camera and delivering a series of racist rants until Mister Senor Love Daddy tells them to chill out. Some remarkable writing there by Mr. Lee (who is in St. Louis Monday night for a sold-out presentation at Webster University)
25 years later Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING has endured as one of the very best movies of the ‘90s. (okay, technically it is a 1989 film, but that’s ‘90s enough for me). It was fittingly voted #96 in AFI’s Top 100 Greatest Movies and features a sprawling cast including Danny Aiello (Oscar-nominated for his terrific work here), Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Robin Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Nunn, Rosie Perez, and John Turturro. Lee’s film is a harrowing 24-hour journey into Brooklyn’s multi-ethnic Bedford/Stuy neighborhood and takes place during the summer’s hottest day. It’s not a coincidence that the suffocating atmosphere fits the overall mood of the film as it foreshadows the tragic inevitability of a coming storm. Apparently some in St. Louis thinks it foreshadows, or at least is pertinent in regards to, Ferguson and the recent race riots here.
Cinema St. Louis presents a free screening of DO THE RIGHT THING as part of the Greater St. Louis Humanities Festival, whose theme in 2015 is “Community Vitality and Viability.” at The Missouri History Museum (5700 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63112). The event begins at 6pm.
A post-screening panel discusses DO THE RIGHT THING status as a film and explores its continuing relevance in light of recent events, both in Ferguson and throughout the country. Kenya Vaughn from the St. Louis American moderates; participants include Sowande’ Mustakeem, Washington University assistant professor in the Department of History and in African and African American Studies; St. Louis native Tiffany Shawn, an educator, social-justice activist, and writer for several publications, including the St. Louis American; and Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic, who writes on film, jazz, and dance.
Check back here at We Are Movie Geeks for details about the FOXY BROWN screening!
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Tuesday night (August 25) to present Honorary Awards to Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Debbie Reynolds.
All three awards will be presented at the Academy’s 7th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 14, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.
“The Board is proud to recognize our honorees’ remarkable contributions at this year’s Governors Awards,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “We’ll be celebrating their achievements with the knowledge that the work they have accomplished – with passion, dedication and a desire to make a positive difference – will also enrich future generations.”
Lee, a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers, made an auspicious debut with his NYU thesis film, “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads,” which won a Student Academy Award in 1983. He proceeded to blaze a distinctive trail with such features as “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze” and “Do the Right Thing,” which earned him a 1989 Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay. His work as a director ranges from the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “4 Little Girls” to such mainstream successes as “Malcolm X” and “Inside Man.” Lee’s other feature credits include “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Crooklyn,” “He Got Game,” “25th Hour,” “Miracle at St. Anna” and “Red Hook Summer.” He currently serves as the artistic director of the graduate film program at NYU.
Rowlands, an original talent whose devotion to her craft has earned her worldwide recognition as an independent film icon, received Academy Award nominations for her lead performances in “A Woman under the Influence” (1974) and “Gloria” (1980), both directed by her husband and frequent collaborator, John Cassavetes. She got her start on the New York stage and in live television in the 1950s and has appeared in 40 feature films to date, from “The High Cost of Loving” in 1958 to “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” which she starred in earlier this year. Her other notable films include “Lonely Are the Brave,” “Faces,” “Minnie and Moskowitz,” “Opening Night,” “Another Woman,” “Unhook the Stars,” “Hope Floats,” “Playing by Heart,” “The Notebook” and “Broken English.”
Reynolds, a Hollywood icon since she won hearts with her buoyant performance in “Singin’ in the Rain,” embarked on the role of a lifetime as a founding member of the Thalians, a charitable organization conceived and sustained by entertainers to promote awareness and treatment of mental health issues. She served as the group’s president almost continuously from 1957 to 2011, adding numerous terms as board chair and frequently presiding over its annual fundraising gala. Her tireless efforts have enabled the Thalians to contribute millions to the Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai and to UCLA’s Operation Mend, which helps military veterans recover from the physical and psychological wounds of war. Reynolds has appeared in more than 40 feature films, including “The Tender Trap,” “A Catered Affair” and “Mother,” and received a 1964 Oscar nomination for her lead performance in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”
Mickey Rooney and Debbie Reynolds.
The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs introduces the 2014 Governors Awards
A Kickstarter-financed Spike Lee Joint, DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is a new kind of love story, one that centers on an addiction to blood that once doomed a long forgotten ancient African tribe. When Dr. Hess Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams) is introduced to, and then murdered with, a mysteriously cursed artifact by art curator Lafayette Hightower (Elvis Nolasco), he is uncontrollably drawn into a newfound thirst for blood that overwhelms his soul. Lafayette quickly succumbs to the ravenous nature of the infliction, killing himself, but leaves Hess a transformed man. Soon Lafayette’s wife, Ganja (Zaraah Abrahams), comes looking for her husband and becomes involved in a dangerous romance with Hess that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status in our seemingly sophisticated society. The couple marry, and Hess seems genuinely in love, while Ganja is genuinely in love with her new position, and not in the least bothered by her belief that Hess killed Lafayette for some reason which to her doesn’t need explaining. Together the couple claims more victims to feed their mutual, unnatural thirst.
Shot in only 16 days on a budget of $1.4 million, DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is a fairly faithful remake of Bill Gunn’s horror cult 1973 film GANJA AND HESS, a low-budget oddity from the Blaxploitation era that I once saw at the drive-in under the title BLOOD COUPLE (it’s also known as BLACK VAMPIRE, BLACK EVIL, DOUBLE POSSESSION, and probably a couple of more titles). GANJA AND HESS had a ragged, meandering and unprofessional quality that had many viewers, especially horror fans, initially scratching their heads but now it’s considered an ahead-of-its-time masterpiece. Lee keeps his film in line with Gunn’s visionary, flamboyant style. All of the cars are vintage Rolls-Royces, while Hess’ home is the essence of taste, right down to the wine cellar Ganja may not enter without him in tow. But there’s also rich humor, from Rami Malek’s turn as Hess’ confused butler to a lawn party where Martha’s Vineyard socialites (including Donna Dixon!) who want to talk race in America and think Dr. Hess’ red, thick afternoon drink is just a particularly nasty Bloody Mary.
Lee succeeds in taking the time to carefully build these characters and allow the viewer to appreciate what is happening with them. DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is a slow burn, over two hours, with long stretches where little happens on screen, but he gives the narrative the same nightmarishly surreal quality of Gunn’s 1973 film. This is Spike Lee’s most experimental work, with overlapping images, voice-overs and music that makes you feel as if you’re suffering from a crazed fever dream. His direction and dialogue are often self-consciously artsy but you have to respect Lee for going in unusual and ambitious directions, and there is one subtle scene involving a dead baby that is the stuff of nightmares. Pop artist Bruce Hornsby provides Lee with an almost overbearing soundtrack that varies from hip-hop and modern Gospel arrangements to Brazilian jazz-pop. Lee has always done interesting things with music and this is no exception. The opening credits call to mind those of Lee’s masterpiece DO THE RIGHT THING with dancer “Lil Buck” Riley performing in a variety of locales in Spike’s beloved Brooklyn.
On the downside, DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is as heavy-handed and preachy as it sounds – literally with a long gospel performance near the end that stops the film dead in its tracks just as you’re waiting for it to wind up. I would have also liked more background on the African curse that sets the plot in motion. Who cursed them? What are the rules for this particular strain of Vampirism? Also, the two leads, Stephen Tyrone Williams and British actress Zaraah Abrahams (who performs half of her scenes nude) both seem stiff and amateurish – some of their dialog reading is a chore to sit through. And it bugged me that Spike Lee gives Bill Gunn a specious co-writing credit here. Gunn died in 1989 so no one knows whether he would have wanted his name attached to this project or not. A “based on characters created by” credit would have sufficed. DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is uneven, bloody, bold, and weird – certainly not for everyone – but for fans of Spike Lee there is much to recommend.
DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS will be released on Blu-ray May 26th from Anchor Bay and We Are Movie Geeks has had a sneak peek.
DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS looks terrific on Blu-ray. Anchor Bay’s 1080p, widescreen 2.35:1-framed image sourced from a high end HD video shoot yields spectacular results all around. Image clarity excels, revealing the clean but nearly film-like picture in all its textural and colorful glory. Facial lines and intimate skin details pass for lifelike in every close-up shot with particular praise for the dark red blood that is often licked up off the floor. This 1.4 million dollar movie looks like it cost at least ten times that much.
DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS features a straightforward, no-frills sort of Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Despite the relative lack of activity, what’s here is presented very nicely, cleanly and robust when necessary, especially the music which purposely dominates.
Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to Spike Lee’s DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS starring Zaraah Abrahams and Stephen Tyrone Williams.
The film, which is a reinterpretation of Bill Gunn’s 1973 cult horror classic “Ganja & Hess,” previously made its debut earlier this year at the American Black Film Festival after a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the production.
Gravitas will release the film theatrically and on video on demand on February 13, 2015.
“Making DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is one of my most gratifying experiences in my body of work,” said Spike Lee. “The support and love we got raising the money through Kickstarter is a true blessing. I thank everyone who brought this New Spike Lee Joint to life.”
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Spike Lee to release DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS in theatres and on demand across North America,” said Nolan Gallagher, Gravitas Ventures’ Founder and CEO. “The performances from emerging talents Zaraah Abrahams and Stephen Tyrone infuse what will be one of the most talked about films from Spike’s storied career.”
A Spike Lee Joint, DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is a new kind of love story, one that centers on an addiction to blood that once doomed a long forgotten ancient African tribe. When Dr. Hess Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams) is introduced to a mysteriously cursed artifact by an art curator, Lafayette Hightower (Elvis Nolasco), he is uncontrollably drawn into a newfound thirst for blood that overwhelms his soul. He however is not a vampire. Lafayette quickly succumbs to the ravenous nature of the infliction but leaves Hess a transformed man. Soon Lafayette’s wife, Ganja Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams), comes looking for her husband and becomes involved in a dangerous romance with Hess that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status in our seemingly sophisticated society.
A reinterpretation of Bill Gunn’s horror cult film “Ganja & Hess”, which played as a Critics Choice at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, Spike Lee’s stylized thriller features an Original Score by Bruce Hornsby.
The deal was brokered by Nolan Gallagher at Gravitas with ICM Partners on behalf of 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks.
A Spike Lee Joint, DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is directed by Spike Lee, written by Bill Gunn and Spike Lee, produced by Chiz Schultz (who also produced “Ganja & Hess”) and Spike Lee, co-produced by Jason Sokoloff with music by Bruce Hornsby, cinematography by Daniel Patterson, costume design by Ruth E. Carter, production design by Kay Lee, and editing by Randy Wilkins. The film stars Zaraah Abrahams, Stephen Tyrone Williams, Rami Malek, and Elvis Nolasco. The production company is 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks. The original songs soundtrack is from Epic Records.
EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL screens as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival Tuesday, Nov 18 at 7:10pm at the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Boulevard) with director/subject Darius Clark Monroe in attendance and to answer questions. Tickets can be purchasedHERE
Provocatively returning to the scene of the crime, filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe explores what led him to pull a bank heist as a teenager in Texas in 1997. By interviewing family members, close friends, and mentors, EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL, executive produced by Spike Lee, explores Monroe’s transformation as a joyous childhood gives way to a sobering recognition of his family’s severe financial problems. Their struggles changed Monroe’s outlook on his own life, eventually leading to his ill-considered criminal actions. Years after the crime and his imprisonment, Darius visited his neighborhood for his documentary which creates an intimate and personal journey of reflection and forgiveness. EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL perceptively examines lower-class struggles, the desperation of a teen under pressure, and the emotional impact of that fateful day on Monroe, his family, and his victims.
The Austin Chronicle wrote of EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL:
“How Monroe’s life took a hard right turn, and what he’s done to atone for that sin, is the subject of this moving film — a remarkably honest autobiography of a bad choice and its aftermath, an insightful study in cause and effect.”
Darius Clark Monroe took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about his crime, his film, and his future.
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 5th, 2014
We Are Movie Geeks: Have you been to St. Louis before?
Darius Clark Monroe: Yes, I just left St. Louis yesterday.
WAMG: What were you doing here?
DCM: We had a community screening of EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL after the Missouri history Museum.
WAMG: How did that go?
DCM: It went well.
WAMG: Where did you grow up?
DCM: I grew up in Houston Texas.
WAMG: How old were you when you committed this crime?
DCM: I was 16.
WAMG: How old are you now?
DCM: I’m 33.
WAMG: Tell me about the crime that you committed at age 16.
DCM: I was working part time. I was a full-time high school student and both of my parents have full-time jobs and my stepfather had a part-time job. This was 1996, and after our home was burglarized it began to feel like our financial situation was on a downward spiral. I was the oldest kid, the only son, and I felt like I needed to help. One day my friend Trey and I were watching America’s Most Wanted and there was a story about a small-town bank being robbed not too far from my neighborhood. That’s how I got the idea of robbing a bank for some quick money for a quick fix to help this situation. That was just the state of my mind. So my best friend from next-door and another guy and I all planned this robbery of a bank just outside of Houston in Stafford Texas. We planned it for a couple of months and then we committed this robbery in January of 1997.
WAMG: Were you caught right away?
DCM: I was caught about 3 1/2 weeks later.
WAMG: Was anyone injured in this crime or were any shots fired?
DCM: No.
WAMG: You were convicted. How much time did you end up serving?
DCM: I did three years of a five-year sent sentence in a maximum security prison in Texas.
WAMG: What was life in prison what?
PDCM: Prison was interesting. It’s not like the movies. It’s a place where men, who are not all monsters, are trying to figure out a way to maintain their sanity. It’s a place of crushing, crushing isolation. In the prison I was in at the time they had us picking cotton. This was 1998 and 1999. Prison is what you expect or more.
WAMG: How did your crime affect your relationship with your parents and the rest of your family?
DCM: It put everybody into a tailspin. Even though we were hurting for money, no one expects their child to rob a bank. There is no preparation for how someone can respond to that. It’s something you really can’t prepare for until that happens to you, and then when it happens there are so many emotions and feelings running through your mind. And my family, they were nervous about turning me in. They were conflicted. We all make mistakes and sometimes we’re put in really tough situations where we have to make hard choices. And those choices can have a ripple effect and impact more people than you might expect.
WAMG: Did your mother find some of this bank money in your room, is that what happened?
DCM: No, I gave her the money.
WAMG: What is your relationship like with your mother now?
DCM: We’ve always have a close relationship.
WAMG: Where are your accomplices now?
DCM: Trey is in Houston. He’s married with two sons. He works full-time in an assisted living facility and he also does stand-up comedy. The other accomplice, Pierre, I haven’t talked to since we did an interview in 2007. He chose not to participate in the film because of his religious beliefs. I have no idea what his status is right now.
WAMG: Did they each serve some time in prison as well?
DCM: Trey did but Pierre was never convicted.
WAMG: These people that you apologize to in your film, were they in the bank when you robbed it?
DCM: Correct.
WAMG: And what were some of their reactions to your seeking them out and apologizing to them?
DCM: Their reactions for the most part were extremely positive. I was blown away by the level of compassion that most of them had. But then there were some who are not too thrilled to see me.
WAMG: So some were more forgiving than others.
DCM: Absolutely.
WAMG: Were there any that just refused to talk to you at all?
DCM: Yes, there was one man who politely asked me to get off of his property.
WAMG: Were you surprised at the willingness to forgive that some of these people extended toward you?
DCM: Yes I was. I wasn’t really expecting the response, I just wanted to get this off of my chest and let them know that I was sorry. Their reactions were really inspiring, that people have a place in their hearts to forgive. One of the victims even chose to sit down and give an interview.
WAMG: You’ve recreated the robbery for the film with actors. What was it like filming those scenes? Was it weird?
DCM: Yes, it was very strange, and very emotional. The reenactment almost felt more real than sitting down for the interviews because here I was reenacting scenes from my life. That was challenging but a beautiful experience from a production standpoint.
WAMG: How did you get the idea to turn your story into a film?
DCM: This idea came to me in 10 years after I was released from prison and. At that time I was a graduate student at NYU. I was standing inside of a bank in New York City and I started freaking out because I thought the bank was going to get robbed. I had a panic attack and I was trying to figure out what was going on. I realized that it was all in my head but I really thought that I was going to be a part of another robbery but this time as a victim. I left the bank that day thinking about all the time that had passed. I was moving forward with my life but I had never come to terms with the fact that the people that I had robbed deserved an apology. That’s when I decided I should go back and find these people and say I was sorry. That’s how it started. I talked to my mother, and since my family had never really talked about this, I wanted to know how and why this had happened. That was seven years ago.
WAMG: Have you always been interested in film and film making?
DCM: No, I wouldn’t say I had an interest in film but I always had an interest in storytelling, even before I got in trouble. While I was in prison I thought about how to take the written word and use it in visual form. It was a random day in prison, and I went to the prison library and saw an article about the top film schools in the country and that was when I realized for the first time that you could go to school for film.
WAMG: How did Spike Lee get involved and what was he like?
DCM: Spike was great. Spike has been a film professor at NYU for 16 years. He got involved because I was in his class. It was my third year and I decided to do this documentary as my thesis film. We had a one-on-one meeting and I told him about my ideas for the film, and after a couple of more meetings he offered to executive produce it. He found the idea for my film intriguing and refreshing. He felt it was a story that needed to be told and he came onboard before anyone else Spike challenged me and pushed me to get it done.
WAMG: Did you watch Spike Lee’s films when you were growing up?
DCM: Oh yes, but I just watched his films like everyone else did. I never thought that I could be a filmmaker
WAMG: How has EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL been received so far?
DCM: It’s doing well I’m excited that it’s playing at the St. Louis International Film Festival.
WAMG: What are your future plans? Do you have some other films in the works?
DCM: Yes, I’m shooting a short film in a couple of weeks in Texas and hopefully I’ll be shooting a feature film this time next year.
WAMG: Good luck with your film and all of your future projects.
With his 2002 film 25th HOUR, Spike Lee proved, as he did in SUMMER OF SAM three years earlier, that he wasn’t limited to making films about the black experience. Lee could do provocative very well and he could do “issues” very well, but with 25th HOUR, he had a hard time making a film that sustained its 2 hours and 10 minutes. That was a real shame since I started out liking this film when I saw it when it was new, but it ran out of steam about the halfway point. I have a lot of respect for Edward Norton who played Monty Brogan, a convicted New York drug dealer who spends the film reevaluating his life in the before facing a seven-year jail term on drug charges, but felt the actor was miscast. Norton comes off too bookish and safe to play a convincing dealer. I thought the “F— You” monologue, where Monty snarls into a washroom mirror, ranting against every ethnic and social group in New York was fascinating, if a little politically correct. I didn’t really detect enough sustained racial angst from any of the characters to warrant the scene, though it’s the moment that’s most like one you’d find in a typical Spike Lee film, and the scene from 25th HOUR that everyone most remembers.
I watched 25th HOUR again on the new Blu-ray release and did not like it any better than I did 12 years ago. It is slowly paced for no apparent reason other than self-indulgence and is confusingly shot and edited. For example, fractions of a second of “action” are sometimes repeated immediately after they happen – don’t ask me why – it’s not clever or cool – it just calls attention to itself. And there are some glaring (intentional) continuity errors involving quickly-changing camera angle. It also has a sometimes distracting soundtrack, like in the club where the scratching keeps swapping from left side to right but has little bearing to the rest of the music. There are also too many scenes of Irish bonding with Monty’s dad (Brian Cox), who remains loyal and true, despite his lad’s line of work. Seymour-Hoffman is excellent as always in a supporting role and Anna Paquin dialed up her substantial sexuality for the first time here.
25th HOUR makes its Blu-ray debut on a double feature package called The Spike Lee Joint Collection Volume 1, where it is paired with his 1998 drama HE GOT GAME (Volume 2 contains SUMMER OF SAM and THE MIRACLE OF ST. ANNA and was reviewed recently HERE).
25th HOUR is presented on Blu-ray with an 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s 35mm lensing really shines in in this release that abounds with exceptional detail. Considering how dark (as in dimly lit) a lot of this film is (it mostly takes place at night), shadow detail is well above average even when contrast fluctuates from sequence to sequence. Some of Prieto’s naturalistic lighting creates incredible plays of shadow and light, and those help to make 25th HOUR incredibly moody and ominous a lot of the time.25th HOUR features a rich and cinematic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack where Terence Blanchard’s lush score enjoys a smooth, natural presence. Extras include a new audio commentary with Spike Lee and Edward Norton, a commentary with writer David Benioff, deleted scenes, a featurette on Lee called “The Evolution of an American Filmmaker”, and a “Ground Zero” tribute (the film takes place just after September 11th)
The film’s co-feature is 1998’s HE GOT GAME, a more conventional – and much better, film from Spike Lee – the one time he’s tackled the subject of sports. When Lee decided to score his basketball drama with the music of 20th century American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990), it was an unusually bold move, even for an unusually bold director like Lee. But it paid off big – it’s a great mix. The opening basketball montage is amazing, showing the diversity of those who play and love the game. Rather than using an all-rap soundtrack like most other basketball films, Copland’s symphonic sounds make the film a lot less aggressive and a lot more heartwarming (Not to take anything away from rap group Public Enemy’s He Got Game which is used well at the end of the film). If Spike Lee has the vision to make this film what it is, then Denzel Washington must be credited for making it believable. His performance as Jake Shuttlesworth is superb – an imperfect man who has a chance to redeem himself from prison by convincing his alienated son to play for a certain college basketball team. The story of redemption between the father and son is at times lacking, but still holds true. Ray Allen as his son Jesus isn’t an actor; he is a real NBA basketball player and must be credited for his performance. Rosario Dawson must also be praised for a great performance as Lala, Jesus’ girlfriend. She steals all of her scenes, even those with Washington, as the girlfriend who realizes that once Jesus leaves, she will be left with nothing (Dawson is also great in 25th HOUR).
HE GOT GAME is presented on Blu-ray with an 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer. It’s a beautiful high definition transfer that looks great. Images hold exquisite detail and at times a great sense of depth. Skin tones are vibrant, rich and chock full of texture. Grain is present and maintains a filmic textural essence that presides over the presentation without intrusion. I found this to be an impressive and pristine quality presentation. The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack yields crisp, well textured dialogue that renders vocal inflections clearly, and the aforementioned Aaron Copeland score is heavenly. The only extra on the HE GOT GAME Blu is a new commentary by Spike Lee and Ray Allen.
The Spike Lee Joint Collection Volume 1 is worth a purchase. Like Volume 2, it well-illustrates the diversity and range of Spike Lee as a director and a writer.
In the summer of 1977, I was 15 years old and seeing STAR WARS over and over in my comfy St. Louis suburb, but I do vividly recall the newscasts announcing that serial killer David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz had finally been collared by the NYPD, ending a year-long reign of terror that left six victims dead and seven others wounded. Spike Lee has always been one of the best directors at evoking a time and place, and he captured that summer so well in his 1999 film SUMMER OF SAM. It was the first time Lee had tackled a subject outside the black experience (it boasts an almost all-white cast), and it’s been one of my favorite of his films. I hadn’t seen it since it was new so was excited when the Blu-ray popped up in my mailbox the other day and I’m pleased to say the film holds up well and the new hi-def transfer looks fantastic.
SUMMER OF SAM was not an in-depth analysis into the psychological workings of a serial killer. The Son of Sam killings were but a sub-plot and Michael Balducci’s role as David Berkowitz was small one. Lee’s film was more a slice of life in New York that looked at the small-minded bigotries and mob-mentality that descend on people when there is somebody a little different in their midst. Mira Sorvino, John Leguizamo, Adrian Brody and Jennifer Esposito played the main characters in SUMMER OF SAM that also took a look at disco, the rise of the punk scene (a key scene takes place at the seminal CBGB club), the Italian Mafia, gay clubs, drug dealers, and swinger’s clubs (specifically Plato’s Retreat). Lee introduced many characters, but really the freaky punk rockers (led by Adrian Brody) were the most sympathetic and moral. Everyone else was crude, prejudiced, and stupid. Lee also created a realistic sense of panic and fear, showing how a city of millions could be literally brought to its knees by one madman with a gun.
SUMMER OF SAM makes its Blu debut on a double feature package called The Spike Lee Joint Collection Volume 2, where it is paired with his 2008 WW2 epic THE MIRACLE OF ST. ANNA (Volume 1 contains THE 25th HOUR and HE GOT GAME and will be reviewed here soon). The SUMMER OF SAM MPEG-4 AVC Blu-ray transfer really delivers. While its palette is bleak – most of the film takes place at night and is full of grimy close-ups, the Blu features vibrant colors, stable contrast, even flesh tones, and deep blacks. On a technical front, the presentation also doesn’t suffer from any considerable artifacting, crush, source noise, or print damage. It looks great. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1-channel soundtrack is clean and often aggressive, boosting Terrence Blanchard’s moving score and Lee’s well-chosen use of period tunes (The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again is used to amazing effect). The one extra on SUMMER OF SAM is a newly recorded audio commentary featuring director Lee and his star John Leguizamo.
I saw Spike Lee’s WWII opus MIRACLE OF ST. ANNA when it was new and was disappointed. I found it uneven, overlong and unimaginatively directed. Though it well-showcased the underrepresented role of black servicemen, it still seemed like a job for hire for Spike Lee (OLDBOY seemed like an odd choice for Lee as well, but it was one of my favorite movies of last year). MIRACLE OF ST. ANNA lacked Lee’s ear for dialog and it seemed like he was trying for a mystery and war epic rolled into one with tonal shifts that were all over the map. Was it Spike’s war movie? A film with a message? A love story? A mystical tale of faith? …or all of the above? I watched it again on this Blu and it still did not work for me. MIRACLE OF ST. ANNA does feature some quality acting, cinematography and a fairly good soundtrack but lacked momentum and badly needed some editing. MIRACLE OF ST. ANNA made its Blu debut in 2009 and this is the same transfer, although Spike Lee did sit down for a new commentary along with James McBride who wrote the source novel and screenplay.
The image is so much different than the set’s co-feature but the presentation is just as impressive. The intentional de-saturation of the color gave the film a raw quality, but color levels are still solid and the detail on firearms and soldiers’ faces is first rate. The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, especially during the battle scenes, provides every bit of the surround experience you would hope for in a war film. Bullets whiz by, and you can hear the grunts and feel the breath of the soldiers as they crawl through the mud. The Blu also includes the extras that were part of the 2009 release: 20 minutes of deleted and extended scenes; “Deeds Not Words,” a roundtable discussion with Lee, McBride, and a number of black veterans or WWII; and “The Buffalo Soldier Experience”, a short feature about the history of black soldiers.
The Spike Lee Joint Collection Volume 2 is worth a purchase as it well-illustrates the diversity and range of Spike Lee as a filmmaker.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the seminal film DO THE RIGHT THING with writer-director Spike Lee and members of the film’s cast and crew at two special screening events:
June 27 in Los Angeles at the Bing Theater
June 29 in Brooklyn at the BAM Harvey Theater.
Lee’s groundbreaking third feature, set on a single block in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on summer’s hottest day, features a large ensemble cast including Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and then-newcomers John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson and Rosie Perez. It earned Oscar nominations for Original Screenplay (Lee) and Best Supporting Actor (Aiello).
LOS ANGELES (FRIDAY, JUNE 27)
“Do the Right Thing” 25th Anniversary Screening and Conversation 8:30 p.m. at the Bing Theater on LACMA campus
Moderated by John Singleton
Panel discussion includes Spike Lee, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, casting director Robi Reed, production supervisor Preston Holmes and former Universal executive Tom Pollock.
NEW YORK (SUNDAY, JUNE 29)
“Do the Right Thing” 25th Anniversary Screening and Conversation for Closing Night of BAMcinemaFest
Co-presentation with BAMcinématek 5 p.m. on the Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater
Moderated by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Panel discussion includes Spike Lee; actors Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn and Rick Aiello; film editor Barry Brown; and production designer Wynn Thomas.
The Academy will also host the screening series “By Any Means Necessary: A Spike Lee Joints Retrospective,” beginning with a screening of “25th Hour” (2002) on Thursday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The evening also marks the opening of the photography exhibit “WAKE UP! David C. Lee Photographs the Films of Spike Lee,” in the theater foyer through September.
“By Any Means Necessary: A Spike Lee Joints Retrospective” continues July 11–27 at the Linwood Dunn Theater and the Bing Theater in Los Angeles, and June 29–July 10 at BAMcinématek in New York. Visit oscars.org and BAM.org for more information.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold” or when you’re getting into shape to “exact some” as Josh Brolin does with the character of Joe Doucett in Spike Lee’s OLDBOY.
So how did Brolin get ready for the role? Watch in this featurette about his transformation.
OLDBOY is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of Joe Doucette, a man who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement, for no apparent reason. When he is suddenly released without explanation, he begins an obsessive mission to find out who imprisoned him, only to discover that the real mystery is why he was set free.
Starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Michael Imperioli and Pom Klementieff, OLDBOY was directed by Spike Lee, from a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, The Cell, Thor). The film was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane.
From FilmDistrict, OLDBOY hits theaters November 27th.
