I think that's fair. I've always said that as much as I like Lee, almost every one of his bad films or what I consider missteps are based on his decisions as a director. Good or bad, you almost always know what you're going to get, and even said missteps have a lot of merit.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 February 2019 15:56 (five years ago) link
even his best films don't really have what you'd call 3-D characters... do the right thing is a great movie, but its virtue and limitation is the elaborate system of relationships between characters that, aside from the protagonist (who's less a rounded character than a cipher, really), have one or two very obvious functions and that's it. i find that it's a film that gets a little grating after you've seen it many times, because while there's a lot to admire and stuff to discover in terms of its form, there's not a lot there in terms of character or emotion beyond what strikes you the first time.
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 15:59 (five years ago) link
I think Do the Right Thing sort of circumvents the issue by taking place over one long day.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 February 2019 16:01 (five years ago) link
yes, DTRT has very Brechtian qualities, it's not "naturalistic" for sure.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 16:01 (five years ago) link
right, it's diagrammatic, but successfully and cleverly so, while some of his other films kind of shade toward just being simpleminded.
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Wednesday, 27 February 2019 23:12 (five years ago) link
I misread that as darraghamac.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 February 2019 23:33 (five years ago) link
on that note
this was very meh on most levels, you'd have to think detaching spike lee's name from it would see it reviewed at 5/10 and certainly nowhere near oscar noms
― deems of internment (darraghmac), Sunday, 20 October 2019 09:51 (four years ago) link
I agree with your rating. It's not like Spike is a regular at the Oscars though, so not really sure why this one broke through in the way it did
― Number None, Sunday, 20 October 2019 10:19 (four years ago) link
accumulation of years of being shamefully overlooked is my guess, i guess its always been a feature of the awards
― deems of internment (darraghmac), Sunday, 20 October 2019 10:22 (four years ago) link
detaching spike lee's name do you think it’s his best since Inside Man though
― now let's play big lunch take little lunch (sic), Sunday, 20 October 2019 11:50 (four years ago) link
.....yes?
― deems of internment (darraghmac), Sunday, 20 October 2019 13:19 (four years ago) link
no followup questions
― now let's play big lunch take little lunch (sic), Sunday, 20 October 2019 13:50 (four years ago) link
yeah but why did that new Margaret Atwood book win Man Booker?
― brimstead, Sunday, 20 October 2019 21:54 (four years ago) link