Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.
Today we discuss Spike Lee! One of our absolute favorite filmmakers! Our B-Sides today are: Girl 6, Get on the Bus, Summer of Sam, Passing Strange, and Chi-Raq.
We discuss what makes Lee a singular artist, his early films and early success, his celebrity as a commercial star, and his unbridled, unwavering optimism as a stylist.
Spike Lee has mentioned that Crooklyn is the movie most fans mention to him, I’ve written about Lee’s incredible movie openings, and Conor and I celebrate his maximalist aesthetic. There’s also his ambitious alchemy of tone. Consider the minefield scene from Da 5 Bloods, which we talk about. It’s funny for a moment, then awfully tragic.
There’s discussion about our dream Patreon mini-podcast series Macht Speed (a deep dive on the career of Gabriel Macht), the Spike Lee–Quentin Tarantino feud, and the audacity of ambition it takes to make a movie like She Hate Me.
Listen below and subscribe here. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!
Watch, listen, or read below and subscribe here. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!