Spike Lee 5ive

1. Do The Right Thing - A classic that still feels true, raw and to the heart. Bonuses: Robin Harris's ad-libs; Ernest Dickerson's shimmering cinematography; and (in the Criterion Collection edition) St. Clair Bourne's, The Making of Do The Right Thing.

2. Get on the Bus - Watching this sometimes makes me regret missing the Million Man March.

3. Summer of Sam - Forgot that Berkowitz' last shooting occured on my 10th birthday. Uneven, but great for all the repressed memories it brought back.



4. Malcolm X - Only for Spike's audacity. There's no way a single movie could do justice to Malcolm's life.



5. 25th Hour - finally saw this about two months ago and I really, really enjoyed the last 25 minutes or so, not to mention the opening montage that paid homage to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. While the pacing would bore a snail, it was a nice surprise from Spike.



Bonus: She's Gotta Have It - I loved this movie when it first came out. It highlighted my beloved Brooklyn, esp. Fort Greene Park which I visited often one summer when I was a summer camp worker. It was also refreshing to see Blacks in a movie that I could relate to and not cringe about in the company of white folk.



Bonus, Part Deux: We Are Family - Nile Rogers, the legendary music producer reached out and got a group of celebs together to remake the Sister Sledge hit. Directed by Danny Schecter, but the included music video was directed by Spike.

Posted by ronn at April 21, 2004 08:46 PM