SpikeLee Tagged Articles at Cinematical

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.

TITLE: Miracle at St. Anna
DIRECTED BY: Spike Lee
STARS: Derek Luke, Laz Alonzo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: In 1944, a group of black American soldiers were trapped behind enemy lines in occupied Italy ... and their ordeal is the key to unraveling a mysterious murder in the present day. With James McBride adapting his own novel for the big screen, Miracle at St Anna would already be intriguing ...

WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: ... But the fact Spike Lee's in the director's chair seals the deal to make this one of the must-see films this year at Toronto. All controversy aside (and that's saying a lot, considering how firmly Lee challenged Clint Eastwood's judgment about race and representation in Eastwood's World War II films), Lee's great with actors, tackles tough material head-on and has even turned into a great action and suspense director in recent years. If any filmmaker's been able to turn their complicated, complex, challenging love for America into fascinating moviemaking, it's Lee -- and we can't wait to see this film.

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Nothing really happened when Spike Lee was set to remake Stalag 17 for the stage last year, but now he's reportedly heading to Broadway again. However, this time it's in a cinematic capacity.

Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider reported last week that Lee is grabbing his cameras and spending part of July filming the Tony-winning Passing Strange. Originally developed at the Sundance Institute's Theatre Lab, the musical focuses on "a young black musician who sets off on a journey to find 'the real' after being raised in a church-going middle-class Los Angeles neighborhood." I have a sneaking suspicion that the guy wouldn't have to go far. Anyway, Lee will film two performances with an audience, and a third without, and while no distribution agreements have been reached, there's talk that the recording will hit cable television. (Variety investigated the report and their sources say an announcement about the production will hit on Wednesday.)

While recorded theater is not the same as the in-person experience, I'm happy to see more of New York's theater making its way out to the country/world. Joseph Papp did a lot of it in the late seventies and early eighties, and you might have seen some of them, like A Midsummer Night's Dream with William Hurt and Christine Baranski, or the theatrical version of Pirates of Penzance, which came before the film and featured the same cast (Kevin Kline, Lindsa Ronstadt, etc).