Currently browsing the "Spike Lee" tag.

Arty Chick’s Seven Flicks: Week 11

Most of this week’s films come from the 80s. There’s a jewel heist, a race riot, a dystopian bounty hunter, an academia story, three murderers, a couple of divorces, and a lot of intrigue.

They received 10 Oscar nominations between them, and a lot of other accolades.

This week’s films are:  A Fish Called Wanda, , Do the Right Thing, Blade Runner, Educating Rita, Dance With a Stranger, Brother’s Keeper, His Girl Friday.

Review: Da Five Bloods

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to watch this one, but since awards season is sneaking up and screeners are flying into my mailbox, I finally bit the bullet. And I am glad I did. Spike Lee has created another powerful film with a foreground story about four Vietnam vet buddies returning to Nam to retrieve some gold they left behind and also to repatriate the remains of the fifth Blood buried in a remote jungle. The film is underpinned with a history of the US government’s racist treatment of Black soldiers and it’s not a stretch to see how much of that has not changed. Lee has never been one to sugar coat anything. It’s an entertaining movie with some great performances, though it could have been cut down a bit without losing its way.

Review: David Byrne’s American Utopia

As a Talking Heads fan from way back, I was anxious to see this documentary of a live Broadway show based on Byrne’s latest album. And it’s fabulous! It all takes place in front of a theater audience on a minimalist stage, but it’s mesmerizing. Byrne, barefoot and dressed in a gray suit, is center stage, surrounded by his band, an uber-talented group of performers who are choreographed to dance and sing all while playing incredible music. They’re also barefoot and dressed in gray suits. But as minimal as the sets and costumes may be, the film is full of whimsy and inventive stagecraft all perfectly captured by director Spike Lee. And you don’t have to be a Talking Heads fan to enjoy it.

Review: BlackkKlansman

Spike Lee’s latest joint is about as far fetched as you could imagine. Set in the early 70s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) becomes Colorado Springs, Colorado’s first African-American cop. While still a rookie, he infiltrates the KKK and fools Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace) into welcoming him into the fold. But it’s a true story and one that resonates all the more loudly in our current political world with David Duke and his minions then as now proclaiming “America First.” It’s a deadly serious, yet at times hilarious story, and it’s scary how much has not changed in the intervening years.