Spike Lee Archives » Page 2 of 2

Summer of Sam

Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American South Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.

R

6.5

1999 Crime 142 min Play

6

John Leguizamo: Freak

John Leguizamo's semi-falsified, one-man stand-up performance as...himself. This is his autobiographical story, about his life growing up, and his journey to try to be accepted by his father. We see this story through a bizarre myriad of characters and situations, which include the eccentric Uncle Sanny, the Fat Boy Called Bitch (John's little brother, Poochie), his mom, his evil grandmothers, and Lee Stratsberg, not to mention a brief appearance by Cantinflas as God.

NR

6

1998 Comedy 90 min Play

6.8

He Got Game

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.

NR

6.8

1998 Drama 136 min Play

7.1

4 Little Girls

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

NR

7.1

1997 Documentary 102 min Play

7

Get on the Bus

Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995. On the bus are an eclectic set of characters including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop who is of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the march, including manhood, religion, politics, and race.

R

7

1996 Drama 120 min Play

5.1

Girl 6

A struggling actress in New York City takes a job as a phone sex operator.

R

5.1

1996 Comedy 108 min Play

6.7

Lumière and Company

40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière Brothers, working under conditions similar to those of 1895. There were three rules: (1) The film could be no longer than 52 seconds, (2) no synchronized sound was permitted, and (3) no more than three takes. The results run the gamut from Zhang Yimou's convention-thwarting joke to David Lynch's bizarre miniature epic.

NR

6.7

1995 Action 88 min Play

6.9

Clockers

Strike is a young city drug pusher under the tutelage of drug lord Rodney Little. When a night manager at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in his body, Strike’s older brother turns himself in as the killer. Det. Rocco Klein doesn’t buy the story, however, setting out to find the truth, and it seems that all the fingers point toward Strike & Rodney.

R

6.9

1995 Crime 128 min Play

6.8

Crooklyn

From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher, her stubborn jazz-musician husband and their five kids living in '70s Brooklyn.

PG-13

6.8

1994 Comedy 115 min Play

7.5

Malcolm X

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

PG-13

7.5

1992 Drama 202 min Play

6.4

Jungle Fever

A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

R

6.4

1991 Drama 132 min Play

6.5

Mo’ Better Blues

Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet.

R

6.5

1990 Comedy 129 min Play

7.8

Do the Right Thing

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

R

7.8

1989 Drama 120 min Play

6.1

School Daze

Fraternity and sorority members clash with other students at a historically black college during homecoming weekend.

R

6.1

1988 Comedy 121 min Play

6.8

She’s Gotta Have It

The story of Nola Darling's simultaneous sexual relationships with three different men is told by her and by her partners and other friends. All three men wanted her to commit solely to them; Nola resists being "owned" by a single partner.

R

6.8

1986 Comedy 84 min Play