Spike Lee

Spike lee has always been on my top list of movie directors. He always has very strong social commentaries and a lot of his movies deal with race. "Do the right thing" is his best movie on race i really enjoyed jungle fever to.

Best films are Crooklyn (brought back some of my own pop culture memories of the early 70s) and She's Gotta Have It. Jungle Fever and X were also good, as well as The Summer of Sam - his first focus on white people. Haven't seen his latest stuff.

He's biased. He projects stereotypes while railing against others. He's an easy target to hit, but there's no denying his talent as a director. (I wish I could bash him more.) Do the Right Thing isn't perfect but it's a damn good film. And the most underrated Lee film is the terrific Clockers. Lee is an artist that forces you to respect him but not like him. Give him his due.

He eats dogfood and hates white people.

As a director, Spike is overrated and hasnt done a good movie in years. His best movies were his early ones where he was taking on subjects that hadnt been addressed head-on in Hollywood for African-Americans in films. It's been downhill after that. Spike's larger contribution has been the movies that have been vehicles for dozens of actors and actresses that were not getting work before he came about: Think about who as been in his movies and it's remarkable: Denzel Washington, Samual L. Jackson, Halle Berry, Wesley Snipes,John Turturro, Danny Aeillo, Laurence Fishburne, Jasmine Guy, Rosario Dawson, Giancarlo Esposito, Tommy Davidson, Jada Pinkett Smith,and many many more we've seen and know. He's also been a pioneer in leading the way for many African-American directors to develop and direct movies and tell their stories. The spin off effect has been Hollywood recognizing African-Americans talents and the power a Black audience can have in the Box Office.

i liked she's gotta have it, but i hated do the right thing. malcolm x was a good film, but incredibly self-indulgent. mr. lee is no doubt a talented director, but when i watch one of his films i feel as if i am being preached to.

Way, Way, Way too biased!

How big is this guy's ego? I mean he sued spike tv because he felt that they stole his name. When it isn't even his real name. What's even more surprising is that he actually got some money for that.

I can't say that I've watched anything of his that I've really enjoyed. His ego gets in the way of making good films.

Spike Lee is arguably the greatest movie director ever. A genius when it comes to directing films. He personifies brilliance in every sense of the word. I read his 1997 autobiography this year. He's a kid that grew up in New York City and knows the ballplayers that came out of there. He is an avid Knicks fan along with basketball itself and incorporates that into several of his movies. In his book, he talks about each of his movies and what significance they had pertaining to his life specifically (by the way, I recommend this book. It's called The Best Seat in the House). Do the Right Thing is undoubtedly the greatest movie regarding racial tension ever made, having the all-out chaos erupt at the end. It served as the location for Public Enemy to premiere their politically vocal anthem "Fight the Power." Malcolm X is also probably the best movie ever made that is somewhat of a biography. It made a statement that Malcolm was just as influential in the civil rights battle as ... Read more

Spike Lee deserves to be within the top 10 or 25 directors. An exceptional talent. Every movie of his has exceptional writing, characters, and ususally has great actors.

I just watched "Crooklyn" last night and that reaffirmed my admiration and respect for Spike Lee as a film maker. He has an amazing ability to draw the audience in. I felt for the characters in the movie and found myself laughing and crying..This was a great story (semi-autobiographical) and his techniques make the movie. I like the distorted elongated images he used when Troy went to visit her relatives down South..His directing (and writing) along with an excellent cast of actors mixed in with another great soundtrack make this a movie worth seeing..along with his others "Do the Right Thing" "Son of Sam" being two of my other favorites. I don't always agree with Lee's personal statements.. but I do admire his convictions and his talent.

Spike Lee is creating movies these days, and just finished his work on the movie, Bamboozled, but I'm telling you that this guy isn't a good director at all. I mean all of his movies are low-budget, no-brainers with an all-black cast that no-one has ever heard of. I'm sorry but you're stuck in the spikes.

"Do The Right Thing" was so startlingly new in 1989 that I thought it was the best thing ever, but watching it now is positively painful. In retrospect it seems Lee benefited being the first figure that elites said was OK to treat like a major artist from a really dynamic injection of innovation from black America. Lee has run that into the ground over last ten years with film after film of decreasing humor and less attention to creating reasons for liking the characters in his films. It just seems he no longer connects with his audience -- even that audience (black and white) that was so much rooting for him to succeed.

"Do the Right Thing" remains the most powerful movie on race relations that I have ever seen, and I have enjoyed a number of his other films such as "Son of Sam" and "He Got Game" as well. Lee seems to do a really good job of capturing a mood - whether it be the sweltering, tension filled summer nights in "Do the Right Thing," or the terror sweeping NY in "Son of Sam." I also appreciate his ability to portray how confusing it can be to know who the bad guys are - in "Do the Right Thing" it would have been very easy for Lee to paint the Italian pizza shop owners as racist and deserving of anything that happened to them - Lee instead chose to portray everyone in this movie as painfully human - from the police, to Radio Raheem and Mookie, to the Italians.