Miracle at St. Anna (Spike Lee, 2008)

[Watashi]

Trailer (http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/8290153/standardformat/)

[Qrazy]

Looks competent, not excellent.

[Ezee E]

I say it looks excellent.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Interesting.

[Sycophant]

I'm all for this.

[Ezee E]

I wonder if Spike Lee is going to get into a series of cops interrogating the main character. Whether it be flashback to the interrogation or a flashback to the scene, he's done it in three of his last four. Unless She Hate Me did have it?

Only complaint is Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks too young to be that type of cop.

[Sven]

Only complaint is Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks too young to be that type of cop.

Yeah, he looks like someone interviewing someone for a high school project.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Only complaint is Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks too young to be that type of cop.

I got the impression he was a journalist.

[Ezee E]

I got the impression he was a journalist.
Ah, yep. Watched the trailer again. That's exactly what he is.

[transmogrifier]

Has the real, edgy, interesting Spike Lee gone forever? The Inside Man was his most faceless movie ever (and kinda dull throughout), and I would never have guessed just from this trailer (minus the names and title, of course) that it was in any way, shape or form a Spike film. It looks as if it could have been directed by the guy who did Hart's War, or something. I hope there's more to it than the trailer suggests.

[Qrazy]

I say it looks excellent.

That depends, did you find Inside Man excellent? It looks of that calibur to me.

[megladon8]

I saw the new trailer for the first time when I saw Pineapple Express, and I think it looks like it has good and bad elements, but is (typical of Spike Lee) way too racially charged.

I got the feeling the whole time watching the trailer that Lee's entire mission with this movie was to show Clint Eastwood that blacks were pivotal in WWII - since Lee was publicly pissed off at Eastwood for not including a black presence in Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima.

Seems a little petty to me.

Also, main character is named Hector Negron? Couldn't be much more un-subtle than that.

[Sycophant]

but is (typical of Spike Lee) way too racially charged. Most of Lee's films explicitly feature race as a dominant theme, if not the focal point. I've seen more than half his filmography now, I believe, and can't think of one where I would've said "Gee, this would've been better if Spike Lee could shut up about race."

[megladon8]

Most of Lee's films explicitly feature race as a dominant theme, if not the focal point. I've seen more than half his filmography now, I believe, and can't think of one where I would've said "Gee, this would've been better if Spike Lee could shut up about race."


Yes I realize this - I just find it's getting to be tired, because a lot of the world wants to move on from these issues that he keeps bringing up and bringing up again.

I think he has more racial tie-ups than most of the people he tries to critcize with his films.

[Qrazy]

Yes I realize this - I just find it's getting to be tired, because a lot of the world wants to move on from these issues that he keeps bringing up and bringing up again.

I think he has more racial tie-ups than most of the people he tries to critcize with his films.

Ehh you'd be surprised, racial concerns and racism is still a very big issue. I read some studies in a psychology class and there's a lot of evidence that racism has just gone 'underground' so to speak. That is to say that in stressful situations many people who deny racist tendencies will end up demonstrating a racial bias.

[megladon8]

Ehh you'd be surprised, racial concerns and racism is still a very big issue. I read some studies in a psychology class and there's a lot of evidence that racism has just gone 'underground' so to speak. That is to say that in stressful situations many people who deny racist tendencies will end up demonstrating a racial bias.


That's fine, and I believe that - but I think Lee is really a hate-mongerer.

He just adds fuel to the fire, instead of providing real insight into racial issues, or trying to provide solutions.

Too many of the movies I've seen by him have a "whitie keeps the black man down" message throughout them (whether it be overt or under the surface), and it is, like I said, a little tiring.

It's like he's a very one-note filmmaker.

[Sycophant]

Maybe the half of Spike Lee's films I've seen is the wrong half, but I can't think of a single one of his films I'd read that way.

[megladon8]

Maybe the half of Spike Lee's films I've seen is the wrong half, but I can't think of a single one of his films I'd read that way.


What way?

Admittedly 25th Hour does have as much of a negative feeling towards whites as some of his other films, and coincidentally, I think it may be his best film.

[Sycophant]

What way?
"whitie keeps the black man down"

[MadMan]

I believed I viewed the trailer for this film when I went to see either The Incredible Hulk or Get Smart. I think it looks pretty darn good, and I also liked The Insider. I've only seen that film and Do The Right Thing though. The former is pretty good, the latter is great and one of the best films of the 80s.

[megladon8]

"whitie keeps the black man down"


Really?

You don't get the feeling watching his films that he still incredibly bitter about issues such as slavery?

Anyways, my biggest problem is that, when he "gets racial" in his films, he really doesn't offer any insight into the issue, or ways that we can make things better. Everyone is just so damn angry at each other, with seemingly no way of repairing these rifts in society.

But to change the subject slightly...

In Do The Right Thing, the scene where he's icin' up Rosie Perez' boobies, was that shot done with fake breasts? It was on TV last night, and I saw that part, and couldn't help thinking "those look like wax boobs".

[Ezee E]

25th Hour has nothing about keeping the Black Man down.

Inside Man touches on racism, but it's certainly no focal point.

Then there's Jungle Fever and Bamboozled which even tackle black-black racism.

As a person, he is very annoying, but his filmography is anything but one-note.

[Robby P]

I think you're confusing Spike Lee the person with Spike Lee the filmmaker. His movies are far more complex and nuanced than his own frequently brash, stupid opinions.

[number8]

I think you're confusing Spike Lee the person with Spike Lee the filmmaker. His movies are far more complex and nuanced than his own frequently brash, stupid opinions.

I find this baffling.

[megladon8]

I find this baffling.


What about it is baffling?

That he frequently has stupid opinions?

[transmogrifier]

Really?

You don't get the feeling watching his films that he still incredibly bitter about issues such as slavery?

Anyways, my biggest problem is that, when he "gets racial" in his films, he really doesn't offer any insight into the issue, or ways that we can make things better. Everyone is just so damn angry at each other, with seemingly no way of repairing these rifts in society.

But to change the subject slightly...

In Do The Right Thing, the scene where he's icin' up Rosie Perez' boobies, was that shot done with fake breasts? It was on TV last night, and I saw that part, and couldn't help thinking "those look like wax boobs".


They're real.

[Sycophant]

I'm not about to say there's no angry side to Spike Lee. But his anger is nowhere near as simple-minded as is frequently suggested.

Lee recognizes that racism is still and may very well always be a real and powerful force in American society. Is he a bit bitter? Maybe. The Civil Rights era was about forty years ago, when Lee was still growing up. It didn't solve everything like most people wish/try to believe it did. If he's bitter, it's in reaction to veyr real things, and I'd rather Lee comment on it than propogating the white guilt-alleviating utopian depictions of race most entertainment media defaults to these days.

[Sycophant]

So, I'm watching the trailer for this again in front of some movie, and it occurs to me in these terms: Spike Lee is making a World War II movie.

My most anticipated film of 2008? Maybe.

[Sven]

I have to see this movie for my final in my Spike Lee class. Neato.

[Grouchy]

So, I'm watching the trailer for this again in front of some movie, and it occurs to me in these terms: Spike Lee is making a World War II movie.

My most anticipated film of 2008? Maybe.
I actually hadn't thought of it that way either.

It doesn't look like it's gonna feature a lot of combat, though.

[Ezee E]

Disappointed that others haven't seen this as I'm sure it'll get a good amount of debate.

It is too long for its own good. As with many of Spike Lee's movies, it tries to stuff in too much. Most of it's good, but was the flashback to how the soldiers were treated in Alabama necessary? No. It's still good though. Hell, the beginning and end scenes aren't even very necessary, and that final scene is over-the-top. But, I'm thinking with each rewatch, it'll get significantly better and better each time. Hell, the widely talked about "Chocolate Giant/Little Boy" relationship is something that I could see in an animated movie. The relationships between the soldiers in the city is fascinating, and we actually see a Nazi commander stress out as he takes out a good amount of citizens. Still a mean bastard, but we see a slight hesitation, and I found that fantastic.

To be honest, this almost feels like a Scorsese film with the religious tones throughout it all. He's always had the camera movements of Scorsese.

A flawed film, but well worth watching.

[balmakboor]

Disappointed that others haven't seen this as I'm sure it'll get a good amount of debate.

It is too long for its own good. As with many of Spike Lee's movies, it tries to stuff in too much. Most of it's good, but was the flashback to how the soldiers were treated in Alabama necessary? No. It's still good though. Hell, the beginning and end scenes aren't even very necessary, and that final scene is over-the-top. But, I'm thinking with each rewatch, it'll get significantly better and better each time. Hell, the widely talked about "Chocolate Giant/Little Boy" relationship is something that I could see in an animated movie. The relationships between the soldiers in the city is fascinating, and we actually see a Nazi commander stress out as he takes out a good amount of citizens. Still a mean bastard, but we see a slight hesitation, and I found that fantastic.

To be honest, this almost feels like a Scorsese film with the religious tones throughout it all. He's always had the camera movements of Scorsese.

A flawed film, but well worth watching.

I agree with much of what you've said here, although I didn't like it as much as you. It is worthwhile. I may not be worth 2 hours and 40 minutes though.

[Watashi]

This film deserves its low, low tomatometer. What an elementary by-the-numbers film this was. Spike, no matter what genre you tackle next, you keep blowing the same horn. This film was astonishly bad. I miss rant-mode Spike.