Spike Lee's Chi-raq

at this point i almost wonder if spike was deliberately trolling chicago's weird inferiority complex w/ new york

― balls, Tuesday, December 8, 2015 11:01 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fucking lol

its weird how ppl want to separate the film from the politics in a film explicitly about its politics

it's certainly not weird that a white chicagoan who has made a career policing and criticising what is and isn't real black culture might not be interested in seeing a movie that places some of the blame for the violence in chicago on white gentrifiers

you aim for the personal gut shots but you've always got a blindfold on

yes, i think this movie probably sucks because i'm feeling defensive about being a white gentrifier, you nailed it, very smart

you should throw in a dated jab about listicles while you're at it

http://i0.wp.com/www.theworldwetravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Do-The-Right-Thing-Spike-Lee-Stuyvesant-Brooklyn-Untapped-Cities-NYC-Film-Locations.avi-VLC-media-player-6252014-31110-PM.jpg

lol

you're right it never occurred to me that white people could be responsible, i guess we're lucky this incredibly groundbreaking movie opened your eyes

Denzel's never been sexier than in Mo' Better, with Devil second.

the Spike joint I can rewatch is Clockers, still my favorite Richard Price adaptation.

its mystifying to me balls is still taken seriously on this website, is it just his constant tone of jaded knowingness that makes ppl think he's got insightful things to say

and She's Gotta Have It survives the poor scripting. The thing's got life.

you guys are making me want to put on a brightly colored oversized trenchcoat and watch Mo' Betta Blues again

life is overrated xp

that's why a B+ is my go-to grade.

even when i loved it i thought the acting was a problem, not sure what i'd think of it now. then again i enjoyed master of none so i can get past bad acting.

this film doesnt really have someone saying 'wake up' does it?

this film doesnt really have someone saying 'wake up' does it?

I hope it does. In fact, I hope it's Lawrence Fishburne, dressed exactly like he was in School Daze, only now he's old and grubby, running down the street pounding on car hoods and screaming at the drivers, like Kevin McCarthy in the 1970s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

lol. just asking as i read a review and i couldnt tell if it really did have that, or if the theme was basically a reprise of 'wake up!' (without anyone actually saying that).

"it's certainly not weird that a white chicagoan who has made a career policing and criticising what is and isn't real black culture might not be interested in seeing a movie that places some of the blame for the violence in chicago on white gentrifiers"

i would pay for a spike lee movie about white gentrifiers. i cant think of a subject that would be better catnip both for spike/his fans/his detractors.

I thought this review was interesting and well written. It comes from a guy who's a longtime Lee fan, but who usually writes about direct-to-video Universal Soldier sequels and other movies where people get kicked in the face a lot.

Richard Brody loves it http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/spike-lees-necessary-overwhelming-chi-raq

The conclusion is not very convincing IMO (still have not seen it)

and She's Gotta Have It survives the poor scripting. The thing's got life.

this

http://i0.wp.com/www.theworldwetravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Do-The-Right-Thing-Spike-Lee-Stuyvesant-Brooklyn-Untapped-Cities-NYC-Film-Locations.avi-VLC-media-player-6252014-31110-PM.jpg

i love this moment btw

street theater!

http://pitchfork.com/news/62492-spike-lee-slams-chance-the-rappers-chi-raq-criticism/

spike - 1
chance the rapper - 0

Lol. The mayor is in much bigger trouble rn, I doubt he actually gives a fuck about the movie at this point

Seriously the idea that chance doesn't like the movie bc he's beholden to the mayor only makes sense until you actually think about it

I doubt that Chance's dad, no matter his job position, has had much influence on stubborn Rahm

Seriously the idea that chance doesn't like the movie bc he's beholden to the mayor only makes sense until you actually think about it

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, December 11, 2015 2:05 PM (1 hour ago)

it's a very fair clap back, let's be honest

xpost Yeah, I bet Rahm doesn't even know this movie came out. Probably neither do the hundreds of protestors calling for his head.. Though I know Rahm knows about them.

it's a very fair clap back, let's be honest

― k3vin k., Friday, 11 December 2015 20:39 (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nah, it's diversionary bs. What exactly does his dad's day job have to do with his criticism of the movie?

xp Rahm met with spike lee about the movie

well if we are to accept that the purpose of the movie -- whether it did this well or not -- was to address the problem of violence in chicago and the problems that underlie it, one might ask what chance, who seems to have opinions about the subject, has been doing to combat the problem, or what kind of politicians he supports to bring about change. if it's true that he hasn't spoken out against rahm, or doesn't support the protest against him, i'd say his family ties to the regime are pretty fair game

afaict the extent of chance's criticism of the movie was a couple of tweets containing some social justice buzzwords. i may have missed a follow-up, though -- please link if he's fleshed his ideas out a little more

xp

otm

It's not even so much about whether the movie does it well as whether it was ever really trying in the first place.

Don't know why Spike Lee gets the botd here wrt his intentions and Chance doesn't.

He's been vocal and active against violence in Chicago and even if his silence regarding the mayor is a valid barb it isn't a relevant one.

His tweets are embedded here.
http://pitchfork.com/news/62395-chance-the-rapper-says-spike-lees-chi-raq-is-exploitive-and-problematic/
If you think, "well your daddy works for the mayor!" is a fair rebuttal to that then idk

Loooooool notm

Xp

so maybe if spike said chance's tweets were problematic and then stopped talking about it

Sorry for glibness, pulling the "well what are YOU doing about the violence" on chance, who's one of the most socially active celebrities to come out of Chicago maybe ever, is just funny to me

so you would agree that his connections to rahm are off-limits, got it

They're completely irrelevant

Like the scene he's from in Chicago was built on the idea of combining Saul alinsky's organizing principles w/ Afrika bambaataa's, it's an extremely socially active and radical scene, chances bff is Malcolm London, the activist whose arrest made national news during the laquan McDonald protests

so maybe if spike said chance's tweets were problematic and then stopped talking about it

― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 11 December 2015 21:39 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He's not obliged to defend the movie, but either way what he said was irrelevant.

http://allhiphop.com/2015/12/11/rhymefest-to-spike-lee-support-chicago-filmmakers-or-dont-come-back-to-the-city-video/

“Spike needs to sit down and have a conversation with some people that are really doing work in Chicago instead of just talking sh*t he don’t know about,” stated Rhymefest. “Spike needs to give $100,000 to a program for film development for shorties in Chicago to tell their own story. That’s a challenge that’s issued to him, or just don’t come back to Chicago.”

not sure that those movies would be seen by as many people

Or that they'd even be better.

also not seeing where Jennifer Hudson is saying that she was "tricked to be in the picture"

wasn't aware that rhymefest gets to decide who does and doesn't "come back to Chicago"

so much posturing on all sides in this 'debate'

Rhymefest is a hypocrit but I thought Bonny's response was very thoughtful and insightful

https://www.thefader.com/2015/12/10/lil-bibby-spike-lee-chiraq-real

Lol autocorrect. Bibby's

Bonny "Prince" Bibby