Spike Lee Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Watch enough movies and you learn pretty fast that they aren't about reality, they're about entertaining us. Which sometimes makes the world of the biopic a little tricky, because not only do you have to work in the truth, but you still have to keep those butts in the seats -- and the results are not always good. Over at Moviefone they've compiled some of the worst movie biopics, and no one was safe -- with films earning a spot for mixing up their facts, ridiculous casting, or just downright lazy filmmaking.

So who made the list? Well, you've got your usual suspects like Oliver Stone's Alexander, a film that has so much wrong with it I don't know where to put the blame (oh, that's right, on everyone). Other films that made the cut for the less than flattering title of 'Real Life Catastrophes' were Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin flick, Beyond The Sea, Luc Besson's The Messenger, and Alan Parker's Evita. But don't think the classics made it out unscathed either, because both Captain Eddie and The Babe Ruth Story also earned a mention.

As a genre, I love biopics -- especially the bad ones. I've watched everything from made-for-TV movies on The Beach Boys to high art flicks like I'm Not There. So no matter what kind of biopic it might be, I will usually give it a chance. Over the years, I've seen movies that bend the truth and those that just mess it up entirely, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Besides, if you're looking for unadulterated facts, you should probably head to the library and not the multiplex.

After the jump: five of my favorite movie biopics...

One of my pet peeves about the movies is that they can never seem to get nightclubs right. Usually, it's too bright, the music isn't loud enough, and you just never feel like you are in a honest to goodness night-spot -- except for Spike Lee's 25th Hour. In today's installment of Scenes We Love, I decided to avoid the obvious choice, and went with one of the many fantastic scenes that take place in the oh-so-hip night club on Monty's (Edward Norton) last night of freedom, and Jacob (as played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) lets his flirtation with his student (Anna Paquin) go a little too far -- and we even get not one, but two of Lee's trademark dolly shots.

25th Hour is easily one of my favorite Spike Lee films, but I chose today's scene for three reasons: first off is the club (as I've already explained), the second is the song from Cymande, Bra (and if this song doesn't make you want to dance, you might want to check for a pulse), and the final reason is what Lee called on the DVD commentary, (I'm paraphrasing, here) the "Oh F**k face". Usually, when you see these sexed-up Lolita scenarios, it's all very erotic and taboo. But in Lee's version the whole thing is just ill-advised, and Hoffman brings that all home in one facial expression. Lee uses Paquin's ability to play a little girl messing with adult behaviors to every advantage, and what might have just been an inappropriate kiss with an 'E'd up teenager becomes something so much worse, and Hoffman makes you feel the panic as reality comes crushing in on him.

After the jump; "But it's all right, we can still go on"...

Wednesday was a transition day at SXSW. To quote Eric D. Snider: "You can tell the SXSW music fest is starting and the film fest is ending because everyone's skinny and bearded instead of fat and bearded."

SXSW Scene. With so many things happening, I forgot to mention my Spike Lee sighting. While riding a shuttle bus late Tuesday afternoon, my eagle-eyed colleague Jette Kernion spied Lee walking with John Pierson, an original investor in Lee's She's Gotta Have It, now arguably best known as the husband of SXSW Producer Janet Pierson. Our shuttle bus instantly transformed into a Hollywood Stars Tour Bus, as we all stood up and gawked. Lee was in town for a special screening of Passing Strange, about the Broadway rock musical.

Cinematical Coverage. The last title in the SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight section to premiere, The Haunting in Connecticut, struck William Goss as "a run-of-the-mill spooker." Virginia Madsen, Martin Donovan, and Elias Koteas star. Lionsgate will release the film on March 27. The Snake, a comedy about "an entirely unlikable character," is "hilarious from the outset," says Kevin Kelly. Adam Goldstein stars as a man who is willing to do anything to bed a bulimic woman (Nina Braddock); Golden co-wrote and directed with Eric Kutner. The film is seeking distribution.

Ben Steinbauer's Winnebago Man "touches on issues of privacy, frustration, friendship, and loneliness ... but what I found most interesting was the theme of simple respect," wrote Scott Weinberg. The filmmaker tracks down a man whose profane tirade was caught on tape.

Spike Lee has a pretty good cinematic track record. He makes, we watch, he usually conquers. But then he decided to shine a light on the African American contributions to World War II with Miracle at St. Anna. Gone was the box office he gained from Inside Man, and the critical acclaim he earned with both that film and When the Levees Broke. However, while his first try sits at a paltry 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, not even reaching $8 mil at the box office, Lee is ready for more.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's getting ready to raise some more hell by grabbing the rights to Brendan Koerner's Now the Hell Will Start. This book takes the trials and tribulations of black soldiers in WWII a step further, entrenched in the social commentary and injustice that Lee's career is based on. Hell tells the true story of a soldier sent off to do backbreaking work in India, where conditions were terrible and treatment of the troops was well under par. The man struggled in this life, and ended up shooting a white officer and fleeing to the jungle where he joined a tribe. From there, well, it wasn't roses, and not a happy ending.

The theme is definitely on-target, but can Lee gain more ground with this war story and handle filmmaking in the Indo-Burmese jungle?

In Miracle at St. Anna, four African-American soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines in Italy near the end of World War II; caught between indifferent leadership and hostile troops, the four fight to survive -- and protect the Italian villagers they've come to know during their exile. Director Spike Lee spoke with Cinematical from New York about the challenges of film financing in modern Hollywood ("it's hard to get stuff made today that's not superhero, comic-book, TV show, sequel stuff. ..."), shooting in an 800-year-old Italian town (" ... all we had to do was take down the satellite dishes ...") and the challenges his new film faces (" ... historically, women do not run to see, or even walk to see, or even crawl to see World War II films ..."), The Wire ("'Omar's Coming!'"), sequel possibilities for Inside Man and more.

Lee even touched on politics and race in the here-and-now: "I'm optimistic. We're going to have a Black president. The 44th President of the United States is going to be a Black man ... I think this is a definite indication of how far America has moved in how it views race. ..."

Cinematical: I was very curious if you could talk a little bit about the genesis of what brought you specifically to Miracle at St. Anna as a film?

Spike Lee: I needed something to read; I went into my wife's office; looked up on her shelf upon shelf of books (laughs) and the spirit told me to go to this one book -- all the time my head is twisted to the side, trying to read the titles -- read this title, Miracle at St. Anna; that sounds interesting; take the book off the shelf, see the cover of a Black soldier with a young Italian kid, World War II, said "Let me read this. ..." After the first chapter, I said "I want to make this into a film, called up James McBride, we met ... and here we are. That's the abbreviated version. ...

(With Miracle at St. Anna opening this week, we at Cinematical are re-running our review from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.)

By James Rocchi

Spike Lee's films have always been fraught with the potential for greatness and disaster, shuddering with a nervy wire-walking energy that makes them superb when they stay on the narrow space between ambition and execution and gives you a long time to watch the fall when they don't. But that, of course, is what makes them worth watching; for but one example, the only thing more shocking than the realization that there was a musical number in Malcolm X was the realization of how superbly it worked; Lee's films are rarely undeniably perfect, but they are always undeniably his.

So it is with Miracle at St. Anna, a bold, sprawling, messy epic of war and faith set behind enemy lines in 1944, as a group of four African-American soldiers are trapped far from their fellow troops in German-occupied Italy. There are moments here where the film does not work, where you can feel the sharp needle of disbelief or dislocation puncture the film mercilessly, and there are other moments that are not only willing but indeed eager to look at big, challenging, relevant issues of race and power, war and justice, faith and failure. These moments -- and there are many of them -- not only speak to Lee's unwavering skill and commitment as a filmmaker, but also to the singular nature of his talent and will. When Miracle at St. Anna falters, it's in the moments that seem like they could have been crafted by any other film maker; when Miracle at St. Anna succeeds, it's in the moments that could only have been crafted by Lee.

Spike Lee's films have always been fraught with the potential for greatness and disaster, shuddering with a nervy wire-walking energy that makes them superb when they stay on the narrow space between ambition and execution and gives you a long time to watch the fall when they don't. But that, of course, is what makes them worth watching; for but one example, the only thing more shocking than the realization that there was a musical number in Malcolm X was the realization of how superbly it worked; Lee's films are rarely undeniably perfect, but they are always undeniably his.

So it is with Miracle at St. Anna, a bold, sprawling, messy epic of war and faith set behind enemy lines in 1944, as a group of four African-American soldiers are trapped far from their fellow troops in German-occupied Italy. There are moments here where the film does not work, where you can feel the sharp needle of disbelief or dislocation puncture the film mercilessly, and there are other moments that are not only willing but indeed eager to look at big, challenging, relevant issues of race and power, war and justice, faith and failure. These moments -- and there are many of them -- not only speak to Lee's unwavering skill and commitment as a filmmaker, but also to the singular nature of his talent and will. When Miracle at St. Anna falters, it's in the moments that seem like they could have been crafted by any other film maker; when Miracle at St. Anna succeeds, it's in the moments that could only have been crafted by Lee.

Funny, too, because my friends and I were just discussing Inside Man last night. My good pal has a thing for when Denzel yells, "This ain't no robbery!" -- and for some odd reason, he's always saying it (in Denzel's voice). Everyone has THAT quote-crazy friend, ya know? But anyway, The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Spike Lee is moving forward with a sequel to Inside Man over at Universal -- a project that's been in the works for awhile now, but took a backseat when Lee decided to make Miracle at St. Anna. The director would return to the film in the same role, with Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, Reservation Road) currently in negotiations to write the screenplay.

Universal and Lee made a killing on the first Inside Man, which, in my opinion, was one of the more enjoyable heist flicks of the past few years, and so it's no surprise they're looking to dive in for more. Though they're not signed on yet, both Denzel Washington and Clive Owen are interested in reprising their roles -- and THR says the sequel will "continue the relationship between the two man characters but in a new high-tension situation." Not a big fan of the "it made $175 million so we have to do the sequel" thought process, but if there's a duo I'd like to see reunited on screen, it would be Clive and Denzel. Both were excellent in the first film.

What do you think? Down for more Inside Man? And where could you see them taking these characters?

Spike Lee and Disney might sound like a pretty odd combination, but I don't really see it that way. (Lest we forget that the excellent 25th Hour was a Disney production.) Love the guy or not, Spike Lee has turned into quite the eclectic filmmaker over the last few decades -- and so when I heard that the guy was helming a $50 million WWII drama for Disney, I was intrigued but not surprised. Based on the book by James McBride -- and adapted for the screen by same -- Miracle at St. Anna tells the tale of four black soldiers who find themselves stuck behind enemy lines in Italy.

Opening September 26, St. Anna stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, and Omar Benson Miller. Also on board are John Turturro, D.B. Sweeney, Kerry Washington, John Leguizamo, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Riding high after his last feature film (the solid and profitable Inside Man), Mr. Lee looks to be moving into "Oscar-friendly" territory again with St. Anna -- and I know I'm not the only movie fan who's curious to Lee's first big war movie.