Soderbergh. I will always regret the tim i wasted watching the Limey. I would have been better off watching reruns of the Closer on TV. Also the Ocean’s movies are like chinese food you’re hungry 10 minutes later.
I have to second the David Bowie scene from FWWM. The way the one scene takes over the other and the whole thing with Cooper staring at the camera are incredible. Also from the same film the way he explains the dwarfs relationship to the one armed man towards the end gave me goosebumps.
I just recently saw Crimes of Passion at the Florida Film Festivals 25th anniversary presentation of it and it made me rewatch many of Russell’s films. The man is one of the greatest visual directors in the history of cinema and almost no one acknowledges this. Critics who gush over Baz Lurman’s sentimental appropriations of Russell’s style in Moulin Rouge still pretend like he the British Master doesn’t exist. The Devils, Music Lovers, Mahler, Tommy and yes Lisztomania are among the greatest achievements in film and his other prominent 70s work (the Boyfriend and Savage Messiah) are pretty close. I truly believe that years of bad reviews from critics who weren’t ready to watch these outrageous films carefully ( the one exception being the great critic Ken Hanke) has made many people accept that Russell is a hack without ever seeing his work. One look at almost any image from one of his films on You Tube should make everyone as incensed as I am not so much about the lack of love but about the fact that of all the films I mentioned above, only Tommy is available in a proper DVD release! Warner Bros has restored both the Devils and Lisztomania but who knows when they will be released for the public ( at least Lisztomania is coming out in he UK in May no such plans for the Devils). That a filmmaker of this stature should be so ignored is one of the great tragedies in film.
On second thought the greatest moment in a lynch film has to be the scene in Blue Velvet where Jeffrey hits Dorothy because the complete disregard for the audiences need to comfortably identify with a protagonist is the most unsettling film moment of the last 30 years.
The boxset is marvelous and I hope it’s a sign of things to come. As an earlier poster stated this does come down to personal taste and i understand some of the criticisms of Russells work. I just think that some folks would appreciate his excesses more on a second viewing where his intentions which are never to shock, would be more clear. Hanke’s book is also a huge help.
@Harry:
No I didn’t know that Ken Hanke was there! I would have had him sign the book if I had known. Too bad.
@Bob:
The thing I like most about the Music Lovers is that it most definitely is more about Russell than about Tchaikovsky. Too many biopics attempt a dry desciption of facts about there subject and they still don’t capture the essence. It’s important to note that Russell wasn’t being sloppy in his biopics, he knew al the facts rather he chose to tell the subjects story in the way he felt would best represent his take on them, thereby eschewing the phony idea of “objectivity” which frankly bores and offends me and others. The only other filmmakers I can think of offhand who have created biopics as exciting are Peter Watkins with Edvard Munch and the recent Dylan piece by Todd Haynes.
Also, I don’t really care if Russell gets an honorary oscar or whatever, i just want the films to be released.
The Godfather. Sorry, but at this point Copppla has proven to be mediocre, at best. As for Depalma i’m slowly beginning to believe The Phantom of the Paradise is, at the very least, his masterpiece.
Also, has anyone seen David Mamet’s Homicide? One of the most underrated masterpieces of all time.
I think most people see Tommy as a long music video because it inspired so many of them but if you watch it repeatedly i think you’ll find it’s visually quite rich. Try looking at it with the sound off for a bit just to drink in the power of Russell’s vision.
I haven’t seen SCHIZOPOLIS but ever since I saw the Limey and was totally underwhelmed I have thought he was one of he most overrated directors out there. The Oceans films are breezy fun but nothing substantial. I have only seen the first part of CHE and loved it but it did not in any way make me think he belonged in the first tier of filmmaking.
See the following:
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Manhattan
Husbands and Wives
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Hannah and her Sisters
These five, and Crimes alone, make what you’re saying seem a bit overstated. Granted he has also put out a lot of crap. He is, or was a bit overrated during the eighties but he certainly has talent to spare.
New Yorker got a bad rap from some fans for the quality of there transfers but
i recently watched their release of THE WEEPING MEADOW by Angelopoulos and it is exquisite. I didn’t know they folded. They will be missed.
Yeah Dan, that one is probably his most underrated of his early 70s period. Most people just describe it as a Busby Berkely parody but i’m glad you noticed the bizarre aspects of the film. I’m curious, did you see it on VHS?
I must confess to not having seen The Rainbow as it is hard to track down but Salome’s Last Dance is one of my favorites and i like Lair. I recently watched Prisoner of Honor, a TV movie he did for HBO in the 90’s and while it is restrained Russell it is definitely worthy of his reputation. I haven’t seen Dogboys, Mindbender or the Fall of the Louse of Usher but I don’t think i want to as even his most ardent admirers have suggested that they are unfortunate embarrasments. He has been trying to mount a production of Moll Flanders for years now and it would be great if he could somehow create one more Masterpiece so that these more recent works don’t become his lasting legacy.
From what i’ve seen of Lady Chatterly it seems like it is clearly Russell, just in the restrained mode he seems to favor with all his D.H. Lawrence adaptations. I know most people believe Women in Love to be restrained because it is an early work but it is actually more serene than much of his BBC output or Billion Dollar brain for that matter so I think the lack of outrageous touches in Chatterly may have more to do with the way he approaches Lawrence than with a loss of passion.
I saw the Bodica film at UCF and it was…interesting. He made it in 4 days so you can’t expect much. I may have to look into LOUSE once I get ahold of proper versions of the masterpieces, but what I’ve seen on Youtube makes me wary.
I’m fairly new to his work and most recently watched Eternity and a Day, Weeping Meadow and Travelling Players (on crappy VHS). I am now obsessed with tracking down everything this man has done. I’m sorry but the Weeping Meadow is one of the most beautiful films ever, both in presentation and theme. I found it haunting and there are images in it I will never forget. Even if it uses the same camera set up relentlessly, it’s one awesome camera set up! The fact that his films are mostly unavailable is a tragedy and with New Yorker Films now defunct it doesn’t look like it will get any better.
I wasn’t that impressed with either of his films but based on Samuryan’s analysis i will rewatch Brown Bunny. Buffalo 66 may have been marred slightly, for me, by being too similar to other indie flicks of it’s time. He is definetely someone to watch but with only 2 films i think it’s a bit early to start putting him in the pantheon of greats or anything.
I saw this when I was young and regularly cited it as one of the worst films ever made. I saw it again last year and now regularly cite it as one of the best films ever made. Louis Malle is a genius in the truest sense of the word. I am now trying to hunt down Vanya on 42nd Street.
The Malle boxset from Criterion is my pick for the best they’ve ever done, by the way. I love it because Malle was often underrated because of his eclecticism and the set manages to feel like three completely separate films ultimately add up to a trilogy.
I just finished watching La Commune and it is a stunning achievement. Punishment Park is excellent and I would put Edvard Munch in the top 3 biopics ever made list. I will be picking up the Freethinker soon. He is an essential filmmaker.
Underrated. The movie can sail by on it’s premise alone. For once we have a film that doesn’t try to get inside a serial killer’s head but simply accepts that he’s nuts and focuses on the community around him. Spike had me on hello with that one and beat Zodiac by like 7 years. Aside form a wonderful premise the films depiction on italian americans in that area of NY rivals Scorcese. With better timing and marketing this film would be much more highly rated than it is.
The Rules of the Game is the best movie on Criterion because it’s…The freakin’ Rules of the Game.
The best packaging has to be the Louis Malle. Malle was known to be underrated because of his eclecticism and seeming lack of an singular vision.By packaging the 3 films in their set which were made in different decades and not intended to be a trilogy as a kind of unwritten thematic trilogy, CC seems to be taking a stand about Malle’s rightful place in the auteurs canon and they are to be commended for it.
The Rules of the Game is the best movie on Criterion because it’s…The freakin’ Rules of the Game.
The best packaging has to be the Louis Malle. Malle was known to be underrated because of his eclecticism and seeming lack of an singular vision.By packaging the 3 films in their set which were made in different decades and not intended to be a trilogy as a kind of unwritten thematic trilogy, CC seems to be taking a stand about Malle’s rightful place in the auteurs canon and they are to be commended for it.
The dog talking is clearly intentionally funny that’s the great thing about it. Spike Lee is too good a filmmaker to worry about making the killer’s delusions “dark and disturbing” the way so many cliched hollywood films portray them. The guy says the dog talked to him so lee shows his crazy perspective for that one brilliantly funny moment but then it’s back to what’s really important, the way isolated acts of mayhem can bring normal folks inherent insecurities about there own lives to the surface.
Spike Lee doesn’t make “Black movies” or “White Movies,” just movies. Spike, like many black people or anyone from an urban area grew up observing all kinds of cultures and explores them intelligently in all the films i’ve seen. I know there are some towns in America where people say "I’ve never met a ______ person, but Spike grew up in Bensonhurst so your Gregg Araki comparison has no basis in reality. Spike is more like Almodavar, who has explored homosexuality but really makes films about love of all stripes. If Gregg Araki makes “Homosexual Films” he must be a very poor filmmaker. The 25th Hour and Inside Man notwithstanding, Spike tends to make “Community Films.”
Hold up, now you guys have all agreed that Do the Right Thing is a “Hip Hop Film,”? Notorious (The Biggie Smalls Biopic not the Hitchcock gem:)) may be a part of this dubiously named genre but Do The Right Thing is certainly not. While the Public Enemy song is a constant refrain in the film Spike’s masterpiece is also steeped in Jazz(Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee) and R&B (various scenes).
The only buffoonish characters who stand out for their whiteness in a Lee picture are the club owners in Mo Better Blues. In Do the Right Thing the only thing that seems to prevent some viewers from seeing that everyone, the blacks,the italians, the Korean store owner, the Hispanics, and even the white cops are complex characters is the fact that Spike happens to be black. Many assume that when Radio Raheem yells at the Koreans we are meant to be on his side. Many miss the fact that the cop who kills him is in such a state of frenzy that he is unaware that his feet aren’t touching the floor. Practically everyone thinks that Spike is saying that Mookie is right to throw the can through the window. People miss the small touches like the care to show that Pino’s brother is not only not racist, but is closer to Mookie than Pino. Spike is asking people to look at racial motivations for actions in a different way. Perhaps the best scene in the film is the moment when Sal tells his workers that they can always work there while Mookie and his 2 sons all look horrified at the prospect. For that moment they share a bond over hating their prospects.
When i say community I am speaking in an almost Altmanesque sense. Sal is much more fully rounded that Buggin Out. The scene with him and Pino talking is quite moving and not at all “Buffoonish.” The Koreans aren’t given much screen time but we respect their standing up to Radio in that short confrontation. Spike uses the heat not to show how black people get crazy when it’s hot, but rather to show how community issues that broil under the surface can burn when exposed.
Seriously, is Any Given Sunday one of Oliver Stone’s black movies or one of his white movies? Do you watch that Black show the Wire, or that White show, Law and Order. And who did Quentin Tarantino this he was making that Black Movie Jackie Brown Spike Lee? The notion that anyone makes Black movies because they and their cast happen to be Black is not offensive, just dumb.
I just watched Goodbye Dragon Inn and it blew my mind. I watched it after watching Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Three Times and Michael Haneke’s Cache, 2 massively impressive films but GDI is the one that most confounded me. The next day i watched The Soloist and while it was okay it reminded me that very few current Hollywood films ever match the intensely personal power of the best in current world cinema. I really want to see his other films now especially the River and the Hole, but they aren’t easily available.
Justin, sorry dude, but I think you’re allowing your own fears (and maybe some of the dumb stuff Spike says in interviews) to interfere with your evaluations of what’s on screen. I could argue forever about your broad definition of buffoonery but instead let’s first look at some of the Black characters in the films you cited:
Do The Right Thing – The most buffoonish characters in the picture are Buggin Out and Radio Raheem.
Mo Better Blues – Spike Lee’s character is as much responsible for Bleek’s downfall as the light skinned devil and he looks pretty african to me
Get on the Bus – Most of the black characters act pretty “buffoonish” (dictionary definition) because they are carrying on and occasionally having a good time.
I can’t take your mention of SOS or the 25th Hour seriously as you simply detail character flaws or traits as some kind of proof that Spike would only have white characters do these things and if another, less racially motivated director made them the characters would be less “buffoonish.” It seems like if Spike had directed a version of Hamlet you’d say “see, he made the white guy, Hamlet, seem all wishy-washy.” Oh and I’d love to see your review of Spike Lee’s Othello. You realize some of these scripts were written before he got involved, right?
I don’t get your definition of buffoonish. Do the italian american characters in SOS or jungle fever (featuring a very sympathetic John Turturro) act more buffoonsih than those in Goodfellas? And when you watch Martin Scorcese’s non-Itallian American pictures do you think they suffer because he isn’t as good at portraying characters that are non-italian-american? Spike Lee is obviously angry but if you take the time to re-watch his films, even Bamboozled, perhaps his angriest picture you might notice that what makes him angry is dumb behavior of any color.
Who do you think the most overrated director is? about 3 years ago
Soderbergh. I will always regret the tim i wasted watching the Limey. I would have been better off watching reruns of the Closer on TV. Also the Ocean’s movies are like chinese food you’re hungry 10 minutes later.
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Favorite Moment In A David Lynch Movie about 3 years ago
I have to second the David Bowie scene from FWWM. The way the one scene takes over the other and the whole thing with Cooper staring at the camera are incredible. Also from the same film the way he explains the dwarfs relationship to the one armed man towards the end gave me goosebumps.
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
I just recently saw Crimes of Passion at the Florida Film Festivals 25th anniversary presentation of it and it made me rewatch many of Russell’s films. The man is one of the greatest visual directors in the history of cinema and almost no one acknowledges this. Critics who gush over Baz Lurman’s sentimental appropriations of Russell’s style in Moulin Rouge still pretend like he the British Master doesn’t exist. The Devils, Music Lovers, Mahler, Tommy and yes Lisztomania are among the greatest achievements in film and his other prominent 70s work (the Boyfriend and Savage Messiah) are pretty close. I truly believe that years of bad reviews from critics who weren’t ready to watch these outrageous films carefully ( the one exception being the great critic Ken Hanke) has made many people accept that Russell is a hack without ever seeing his work. One look at almost any image from one of his films on You Tube should make everyone as incensed as I am not so much about the lack of love but about the fact that of all the films I mentioned above, only Tommy is available in a proper DVD release! Warner Bros has restored both the Devils and Lisztomania but who knows when they will be released for the public ( at least Lisztomania is coming out in he UK in May no such plans for the Devils). That a filmmaker of this stature should be so ignored is one of the great tragedies in film.
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Favorite Moment In A David Lynch Movie about 3 years ago
On second thought the greatest moment in a lynch film has to be the scene in Blue Velvet where Jeffrey hits Dorothy because the complete disregard for the audiences need to comfortably identify with a protagonist is the most unsettling film moment of the last 30 years.
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
The boxset is marvelous and I hope it’s a sign of things to come. As an earlier poster stated this does come down to personal taste and i understand some of the criticisms of Russells work. I just think that some folks would appreciate his excesses more on a second viewing where his intentions which are never to shock, would be more clear. Hanke’s book is also a huge help.
@Harry:
No I didn’t know that Ken Hanke was there! I would have had him sign the book if I had known. Too bad.
@Bob:
The thing I like most about the Music Lovers is that it most definitely is more about Russell than about Tchaikovsky. Too many biopics attempt a dry desciption of facts about there subject and they still don’t capture the essence. It’s important to note that Russell wasn’t being sloppy in his biopics, he knew al the facts rather he chose to tell the subjects story in the way he felt would best represent his take on them, thereby eschewing the phony idea of “objectivity” which frankly bores and offends me and others. The only other filmmakers I can think of offhand who have created biopics as exciting are Peter Watkins with Edvard Munch and the recent Dylan piece by Todd Haynes.
Also, I don’t really care if Russell gets an honorary oscar or whatever, i just want the films to be released.
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If you owned only 1 film - regardless of the format - what would you pick? Why? about 3 years ago
Nashville. Complexity and great music. If there were a Nashville channel I could watch it all day.
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IF WE IGNORE 81/2 AND DOLCE VITA, WHAT'D BE THE BEST FELLINI MOVIE? about 3 years ago
La Strada
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Masterpieces By Mediocre Directors about 3 years ago
The Godfather. Sorry, but at this point Copppla has proven to be mediocre, at best. As for Depalma i’m slowly beginning to believe The Phantom of the Paradise is, at the very least, his masterpiece.
Also, has anyone seen David Mamet’s Homicide? One of the most underrated masterpieces of all time.
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
I think most people see Tommy as a long music video because it inspired so many of them but if you watch it repeatedly i think you’ll find it’s visually quite rich. Try looking at it with the sound off for a bit just to drink in the power of Russell’s vision.
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What are your thoughts on Steven Soderbergh? about 3 years ago
I haven’t seen SCHIZOPOLIS but ever since I saw the Limey and was totally underwhelmed I have thought he was one of he most overrated directors out there. The Oceans films are breezy fun but nothing substantial. I have only seen the first part of CHE and loved it but it did not in any way make me think he belonged in the first tier of filmmaking.Go to Comment
Top 5 Hitchcock about 3 years ago
Vertigo
Psycho
Shadow of a Doubt
Rear Window
The Birds
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Woody Allen about 3 years ago
See the following:
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Manhattan
Husbands and Wives
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Hannah and her Sisters
These five, and Crimes alone, make what you’re saying seem a bit overstated. Granted he has also put out a lot of crap. He is, or was a bit overrated during the eighties but he certainly has talent to spare.
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
Does anyone know if all Cyberhome DVD players play PAL DVDs? I really want to order the Lisztomania DVD coming out May 4.
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OTHER LABELS about 3 years ago
New Yorker got a bad rap from some fans for the quality of there transfers but
i recently watched their release of THE WEEPING MEADOW by Angelopoulos and it is exquisite. I didn’t know they folded. They will be missed.
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
Yeah Dan, that one is probably his most underrated of his early 70s period. Most people just describe it as a Busby Berkely parody but i’m glad you noticed the bizarre aspects of the film. I’m curious, did you see it on VHS?
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
I must confess to not having seen The Rainbow as it is hard to track down but Salome’s Last Dance is one of my favorites and i like Lair. I recently watched Prisoner of Honor, a TV movie he did for HBO in the 90’s and while it is restrained Russell it is definitely worthy of his reputation. I haven’t seen Dogboys, Mindbender or the Fall of the Louse of Usher but I don’t think i want to as even his most ardent admirers have suggested that they are unfortunate embarrasments. He has been trying to mount a production of Moll Flanders for years now and it would be great if he could somehow create one more Masterpiece so that these more recent works don’t become his lasting legacy.
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When will Ken Russell get recognized? about 3 years ago
From what i’ve seen of Lady Chatterly it seems like it is clearly Russell, just in the restrained mode he seems to favor with all his D.H. Lawrence adaptations. I know most people believe Women in Love to be restrained because it is an early work but it is actually more serene than much of his BBC output or Billion Dollar brain for that matter so I think the lack of outrageous touches in Chatterly may have more to do with the way he approaches Lawrence than with a loss of passion.
I saw the Bodica film at UCF and it was…interesting. He made it in 4 days so you can’t expect much. I may have to look into LOUSE once I get ahold of proper versions of the masterpieces, but what I’ve seen on Youtube makes me wary.
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Angelopoulos condensed about 3 years ago
I’m fairly new to his work and most recently watched Eternity and a Day, Weeping Meadow and Travelling Players (on crappy VHS). I am now obsessed with tracking down everything this man has done. I’m sorry but the Weeping Meadow is one of the most beautiful films ever, both in presentation and theme. I found it haunting and there are images in it I will never forget. Even if it uses the same camera set up relentlessly, it’s one awesome camera set up! The fact that his films are mostly unavailable is a tragedy and with New Yorker Films now defunct it doesn’t look like it will get any better.
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Favorite Movie Soundtracks? about 3 years ago
Phantom of the Paradise
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
FWWM
Crimes of Passion
Saturday Night Fever
Suspiria
Opera
The Graduate
Nashville
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Vincent Gallo... Auteur? about 3 years ago
I wasn’t that impressed with either of his films but based on Samuryan’s analysis i will rewatch Brown Bunny. Buffalo 66 may have been marred slightly, for me, by being too similar to other indie flicks of it’s time. He is definetely someone to watch but with only 2 films i think it’s a bit early to start putting him in the pantheon of greats or anything.
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My Dinner with Andre Criterion, June 23rd? Hip, Hip, Hooray! about 3 years ago
I saw this when I was young and regularly cited it as one of the worst films ever made. I saw it again last year and now regularly cite it as one of the best films ever made. Louis Malle is a genius in the truest sense of the word. I am now trying to hunt down Vanya on 42nd Street.
The Malle boxset from Criterion is my pick for the best they’ve ever done, by the way. I love it because Malle was often underrated because of his eclecticism and the set manages to feel like three completely separate films ultimately add up to a trilogy.
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Peter Watkins about 3 years ago
I just finished watching La Commune and it is a stunning achievement. Punishment Park is excellent and I would put Edvard Munch in the top 3 biopics ever made list. I will be picking up the Freethinker soon. He is an essential filmmaker.
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SUMMER OF SAM (Overrated or Underrated?) about 3 years ago
Underrated. The movie can sail by on it’s premise alone. For once we have a film that doesn’t try to get inside a serial killer’s head but simply accepts that he’s nuts and focuses on the community around him. Spike had me on hello with that one and beat Zodiac by like 7 years. Aside form a wonderful premise the films depiction on italian americans in that area of NY rivals Scorcese. With better timing and marketing this film would be much more highly rated than it is.
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Best Criterion? about 3 years ago
The Rules of the Game is the best movie on Criterion because it’s…The freakin’ Rules of the Game.
The best packaging has to be the Louis Malle. Malle was known to be underrated because of his eclecticism and seeming lack of an singular vision.By packaging the 3 films in their set which were made in different decades and not intended to be a trilogy as a kind of unwritten thematic trilogy, CC seems to be taking a stand about Malle’s rightful place in the auteurs canon and they are to be commended for it.
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Best Criterion? about 3 years ago
The Rules of the Game is the best movie on Criterion because it’s…The freakin’ Rules of the Game.
The best packaging has to be the Louis Malle. Malle was known to be underrated because of his eclecticism and seeming lack of an singular vision.By packaging the 3 films in their set which were made in different decades and not intended to be a trilogy as a kind of unwritten thematic trilogy, CC seems to be taking a stand about Malle’s rightful place in the auteurs canon and they are to be commended for it.
And Berlin Alexanderplatz and all the rest…
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SUMMER OF SAM (Overrated or Underrated?) about 3 years ago
The dog talking is clearly intentionally funny that’s the great thing about it. Spike Lee is too good a filmmaker to worry about making the killer’s delusions “dark and disturbing” the way so many cliched hollywood films portray them. The guy says the dog talked to him so lee shows his crazy perspective for that one brilliantly funny moment but then it’s back to what’s really important, the way isolated acts of mayhem can bring normal folks inherent insecurities about there own lives to the surface.
Spike Lee doesn’t make “Black movies” or “White Movies,” just movies. Spike, like many black people or anyone from an urban area grew up observing all kinds of cultures and explores them intelligently in all the films i’ve seen. I know there are some towns in America where people say "I’ve never met a ______ person, but Spike grew up in Bensonhurst so your Gregg Araki comparison has no basis in reality. Spike is more like Almodavar, who has explored homosexuality but really makes films about love of all stripes. If Gregg Araki makes “Homosexual Films” he must be a very poor filmmaker. The 25th Hour and Inside Man notwithstanding, Spike tends to make “Community Films.”
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SUMMER OF SAM (Overrated or Underrated?) about 3 years ago
Hold up, now you guys have all agreed that Do the Right Thing is a “Hip Hop Film,”? Notorious (The Biggie Smalls Biopic not the Hitchcock gem:)) may be a part of this dubiously named genre but Do The Right Thing is certainly not. While the Public Enemy song is a constant refrain in the film Spike’s masterpiece is also steeped in Jazz(Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee) and R&B (various scenes).
The only buffoonish characters who stand out for their whiteness in a Lee picture are the club owners in Mo Better Blues. In Do the Right Thing the only thing that seems to prevent some viewers from seeing that everyone, the blacks,the italians, the Korean store owner, the Hispanics, and even the white cops are complex characters is the fact that Spike happens to be black. Many assume that when Radio Raheem yells at the Koreans we are meant to be on his side. Many miss the fact that the cop who kills him is in such a state of frenzy that he is unaware that his feet aren’t touching the floor. Practically everyone thinks that Spike is saying that Mookie is right to throw the can through the window. People miss the small touches like the care to show that Pino’s brother is not only not racist, but is closer to Mookie than Pino. Spike is asking people to look at racial motivations for actions in a different way. Perhaps the best scene in the film is the moment when Sal tells his workers that they can always work there while Mookie and his 2 sons all look horrified at the prospect. For that moment they share a bond over hating their prospects.
When i say community I am speaking in an almost Altmanesque sense. Sal is much more fully rounded that Buggin Out. The scene with him and Pino talking is quite moving and not at all “Buffoonish.” The Koreans aren’t given much screen time but we respect their standing up to Radio in that short confrontation. Spike uses the heat not to show how black people get crazy when it’s hot, but rather to show how community issues that broil under the surface can burn when exposed.
Seriously, is Any Given Sunday one of Oliver Stone’s black movies or one of his white movies? Do you watch that Black show the Wire, or that White show, Law and Order. And who did Quentin Tarantino this he was making that Black Movie Jackie Brown Spike Lee? The notion that anyone makes Black movies because they and their cast happen to be Black is not offensive, just dumb.
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tsai ming-liang about 3 years ago
I just watched Goodbye Dragon Inn and it blew my mind. I watched it after watching Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Three Times and Michael Haneke’s Cache, 2 massively impressive films but GDI is the one that most confounded me. The next day i watched The Soloist and while it was okay it reminded me that very few current Hollywood films ever match the intensely personal power of the best in current world cinema. I really want to see his other films now especially the River and the Hole, but they aren’t easily available.
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What Do You Know About Portuguese Cinema? about 3 years ago
An earlier post indicated that Pedro Costa’s work would be coming to DVD soon. Does anyone know if this is true?
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SUMMER OF SAM (Overrated or Underrated?) about 3 years ago
Justin, sorry dude, but I think you’re allowing your own fears (and maybe some of the dumb stuff Spike says in interviews) to interfere with your evaluations of what’s on screen. I could argue forever about your broad definition of buffoonery but instead let’s first look at some of the Black characters in the films you cited:
I can’t take your mention of SOS or the 25th Hour seriously as you simply detail character flaws or traits as some kind of proof that Spike would only have white characters do these things and if another, less racially motivated director made them the characters would be less “buffoonish.” It seems like if Spike had directed a version of Hamlet you’d say “see, he made the white guy, Hamlet, seem all wishy-washy.” Oh and I’d love to see your review of Spike Lee’s Othello. You realize some of these scripts were written before he got involved, right?
I don’t get your definition of buffoonish. Do the italian american characters in SOS or jungle fever (featuring a very sympathetic John Turturro) act more buffoonsih than those in Goodfellas? And when you watch Martin Scorcese’s non-Itallian American pictures do you think they suffer because he isn’t as good at portraying characters that are non-italian-american? Spike Lee is obviously angry but if you take the time to re-watch his films, even Bamboozled, perhaps his angriest picture you might notice that what makes him angry is dumb behavior of any color.
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