list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Do the Right Thing on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Do_the_Right_Thing/9344/default.aspx Title: Do the Right Thing
Year: 1989
Director: Spike Lee
Plot: Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY. Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin' deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal (Danny Aiello) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (Richard Edson) and angry, racist Pino (John Turturro). Sal has one black employee, Mookie (Spike Lee), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister), who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez). Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), a monolith of a man who rarely speaks, preferring to blast Public Enemy's rap song Fight The Power on his massive boom box; and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of color, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 31
Number of Lists: 50
Number of blog posts: 10
Number of discussion threads: 10
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:39:43 GMTDo the Right Thing1989Spike LeeDirector <a href="/players/P____99175/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Spike Lee</a> dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY. Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin' deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal (<a href="/players/P______421/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Danny Aiello</a>) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (<a href="/players/P____21209/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Richard Edson</a>) and angry, racist Pino (<a href="/players/P___114771/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>John Turturro</a>). Sal has one black employee, Mookie (<a href="/players/P____99175/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Spike Lee</a>), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade (<a href="/players/P____41425/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Joie Lee</a>, Spike's sister), who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina (<a href="/players/P___106101/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Rosie Perez</a>). Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem (<a href="/players/P____53201/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bill Nunn</a>), a monolith of a man who rarely speaks, preferring to blast Public Enemy's rap song Fight The Power on his massive boom box; and Buggin' Out (<a href="/players/P____22133/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Giancarlo Esposito</a>), nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of color, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide31Tag Target (>10)5010103http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t10094swcvd.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Do_the_Right_Thing/9344/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_June_29_Summertime/625/42880/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 6/30/2009 6:39:43 PM
Body: [quote user="mercurial"] The Wackness was an interesting coming of age during the summer flick about a lackluster teenage drug dealer coping with the heat in New York after graduating high school.[/quote] I've never heard of this one, but when I think of a movie that conveys extreme New York summer heat the best, I think of Do the Right Thing. You can feel the heat. Now if you want to feel the heat both literally and figuratively of being stuck inside and and just wanting to get out, check out 12 Angry Men.
]]>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:39:43 GMTRisseladaWeekly Theme6/30/2009 6:39:43 PM[quote user="mercurial"] The Wackness was an interesting coming of age during the summer flick about a lackluster teenage drug dealer coping with the heat in New York after graduating high school.[/quote] I've never heard of this one, but when I think of a movie that conveys extreme New York summer heat the best, I think of Do the Right Thing. You can feel the heat. Now if you want to feel the heat both literally and figuratively of being stuck inside and and just wanting to get out, check out 12 Angry Men. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/18/38568.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/18/2008 5:00:50 PM
Body: Don’t you just hate when the movies make you care about a bigot? Sure, racists are technically humans, but that doesn’t mean we need to sympathize with them, right? No matter how great the film, it should be very difficult to accept the softening of intolerant people. Yet the lovable racist is not uncommon in cinema. In fact, out in theaters right now are two films dealing with this type of character. The Reader presents a cold Concentration Camp guard (Kate Winslet) for whom we’re meant to shed a tear, and Gran Torino focuses on a War Veteran stereotype (Clint Eastwood) who may evoke from the audience as much amusement as disgust. Maybe it’s like picking a scab, watching these kinds of movies. Some great films, such as Downfall, may only welcome an understanding of someone so heinous as Adolph Hitler, but other films have allowed us to totally enjoy racist protagonists of lesser offense. Check out the following examples to see some of the many intolerant heroes we’ve easily tolerated. Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers (1956) Compared to many classic westerns, John Ford’s The Searchers is not necessarily racist towards Native Americans. Yet it does feature one of the most unapologetically racist characters in film history, one who influenced many subsequent intolerants like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. Ethan is such a badass bigot that he’d even kill his own niece for mating with a Commanche. Despite all his racism, though, audiences can’t help but like Ethan throughout much of The Searchers, because although Ford clearly looks down upon his hatred, the film also treats the character as a heroic man of his time. It’s a love him and hate him at the same time sort of thing. Pino (John Turturro) in Do the Right Thing (1989) In a way, almost everyone in Spike Lee’s classic is at least a little bit racist, evident in the famous slur montage. But it’s Pino who is the most ignorant, calling black people “the N word” on a regular basis. Yet we may forgive him, just as Mookie (Lee) does, because his bigotry is brought about through a combo of stupidity and culture. After all, if he’s a fan of Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, he can’t be a true racist. Right? Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in As Good as It Gets (1997) He’s portrayed as mostly hateful towards gays and women, but Melvin is also plenty racist. He tells Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to “think white” and earlier, when yelling for police, he shouts, “Assault and battery! And you’re black!” But who can resist Jack? He may be a total bigot, but it’s okay, because he’s got OCD and he’s ultimately good to a sick little boy and his mother (Helen Hunt). He even reluctantly bonds with the gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). What’s not to love about this Oscar-winning character? Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) Whether you’re Rob Corddry in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay or Billy Bob Thornton in any number of films, it’s okay to be a bigot if you’re hilariously extreme in your intolerance. Sacha Baron Cohen takes the cake with his Borat character, though, when it comes to loveable racists. Hey, it’s satire! He holds up a mirror to explore our own racism, displayed best in a pre-film scene from Da Ali G Show, in which an audience of rednecks joins him in singing, “Throw the Jew Down the Well.” In the movie, he similarly gets applause at a rodeo for suggesting America kills all Iraqi men, women and children. Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) in This Is England (2006) He’s the most adorable little skinhead ever, so how can we stop loving Shaun when he ignorantly joins up with the Nationalist ex-con Combo (Stephen Graham)? Isn’t it cute when Shaun is being racist towards the Pakistani shopkeeper? It’s not like he’s the real bigot; that’s Combo. Shaun is just too young to understand at age 12 that losing his father to the Falkland War is not an excuse for racism. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:00:50 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/18/2008 5:00:50 PMDon’t you just hate when the movies make you care about a bigot? Sure, racists are technically humans, but that doesn’t mean we need to sympathize with them, right? No matter how great the film, it should be very difficult to accept the softening of intolerant people. Yet the lovable racist is not uncommon in cinema. In fact, out in theaters right now are two films dealing with this type of character. The Reader presents a cold Concentration Camp guard (Kate Winslet) for whom we’re meant to shed a tear, and Gran Torino focuses on a War Veteran stereotype (Clint Eastwood) who may evoke from the audience as much amusement as disgust. Maybe it’s like picking a scab, watching these kinds of movies. Some great films, such as Downfall, may only welcome an understanding of someone so heinous as Adolph Hitler, but other films have allowed us to totally enjoy racist protagonists of lesser offense. Check out the following examples to see some of the many intolerant heroes we’ve easily tolerated. Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers (1956) Compared to many classic westerns, John Ford’s The Searchers is not necessarily racist towards Native Americans. Yet it does feature one of the most unapologetically racist characters in film history, one who influenced many subsequent intolerants like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. Ethan is such a badass bigot that he’d even kill his own niece for mating with a Commanche. Despite all his racism, though, audiences can’t help but like Ethan throughout much of The Searchers, because although Ford clearly looks down upon his hatred, the film also treats the character as a heroic man of his time. It’s a love him and hate him at the same time sort of thing. Pino (John Turturro) in Do the Right Thing (1989) In a way, almost everyone in Spike Lee’s classic is at least a little bit racist, evident in the famous slur montage. But it’s Pino who is the most ignorant, calling black people “the N word” on a regular basis. Yet we may forgive him, just as Mookie (Lee) does, because his bigotry is brought about through a combo of stupidity and culture. After all, if he’s a fan of Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, he can’t be a true racist. Right? Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in As Good as It Gets (1997) He’s portrayed as mostly hateful towards gays and women, but Melvin is also plenty racist. He tells Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to “think white” and earlier, when yelling for police, he shouts, “Assault and battery! And you’re black!” But who can resist Jack? He may be a total bigot, but it’s okay, because he’s got OCD and he’s ultimately good to a sick little boy and his mother (Helen Hunt). He even reluctantly bonds with the gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). What’s not to love about this Oscar-winning character? Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) Whether you’re Rob Corddry in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay or Billy Bob Thornton in any number of films, it’s okay to be a bigot if you’re hilariously extreme in your intolerance. Sacha Baron Cohen takes the cake with his Borat character, though, when it comes to loveable racists. Hey, it’s satire! He holds up a mirror to explore our own racism, displayed best in a pre-film scene from Da Ali G Show, in which an audience of rednecks joins him in singing, “Throw the Jew Down the Well.” In the movie, he similarly gets applause at a rodeo for suggesting America kills all Iraqi men, women and children. Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) in This Is England (2006) He’s the most adorable little skinhead ever, so how can we stop loving Shaun when he ignorantly joins up with the Nationalist ex-con Combo (Stephen Graham)? Isn’t it cute when Shaun is being racist towards the Pakistani shopkeeper? It’s not like he’s the real bigot; that’s Combo. Shaun is just too young to understand at age 12 that losing his father to the Falkland War is not an excuse for racism. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_October_13_Just_One_Day/625/36274/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Smooth_J
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 10/13/2008 9:53:56 PM
Body: Do the Right Thing instantly comes to mind, although the ending shows a bit of the aftermath of the previous days' events. The tension and immediacy of keeping the film within one day really helped to convey Spike Lee's sense of urgency and anger about modern racism, which made for a super-duper movie. I recently saw Dazed and Confused and was enlightened...and to think so much of the 70s was crammed into one day... La Haine, a powerful French movie by the guy that made the apparent abomination Babylon A.D. (Mathieu Kassovitz), takes place over the course of one day, chronicling the drug addled and frustratingly bleak lives of three teenagers in the Parisian suburbs. This one even has a ticking clock, helping you keep track of the day as it slides along. I know there's so many that I'm missing...
]]>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:53:56 GMTSmooth_JWeekly Theme10/13/2008 9:53:56 PMDo the Right Thing instantly comes to mind, although the ending shows a bit of the aftermath of the previous days' events. The tension and immediacy of keeping the film within one day really helped to convey Spike Lee's sense of urgency and anger about modern racism, which made for a super-duper movie. I recently saw Dazed and Confused and was enlightened...and to think so much of the 70s was crammed into one day... La Haine, a powerful French movie by the guy that made the apparent abomination Babylon A.D. (Mathieu Kassovitz), takes place over the course of one day, chronicling the drug addled and frustratingly bleak lives of three teenagers in the Parisian suburbs. This one even has a ticking clock, helping you keep track of the day as it slides along. I know there's so many that I'm missing... http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/15/35151.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/15/2008 1:01:19 PM
Body: It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Barry Jenkins’ film Medicine for Melancholy, and we’re lucky enough to have Barry be big fans of Spout as well. His little film has had a long journey since it premiered in Austin at SXSW earlier this year, and it’s continuing to take him around the world. We spoke with Barry in Toronto about the genesis of the movie, what has happened since that first screening in Austin, how he found the actors, and if this film represents a love letter from him to the city of San Francisco. Read on for the full interview. Well, the first thing I was going to say was thank you for all the shout outs you always give Spout and Karina whenever you discuss the movie. That question about the de-saturation in the film always comes up. So your check’s in the mail for that. [laughs] No, I always mention Karina, man. You guys were like one of the first people to publish about the film at South By, when nobody knew about it. So I was thankful and I pay it forward. That’s good. The last time Karina spoke to you, you’d never been to Austin. You hadn’t been to SXSW before. Exactly. Then your film sort of became one of the most buzzed about and talked about breakout films at the festival. How did that change things for you and for the movie? It was, making it with just me and my friends, this really small crew and not very expensive equipment. So we felt that once we did get in SXSW, we knew it was a good thing. But even still, we thought the movie would play there, and then maybe it would play another film festival. And then we’d sell DVDs off the website. But I think having that buzz coming out of South By, I think it really made us all kind of take the project more seriously. We saw the potential that maybe it could catch on, and we could actually get it to audiences. Having now been to Austin, what did you think of the city? Everyone’s always saying, oh Austin’s such a cool place, but no one can really say why that is. The great thing about going to Austin is everybody who worked on the film, we all were students together at Florida State University, which is in Tallahassee, Florida, which is a college town with a great film school. I think we all dispersed and moved to all these different places. Every now and then we’d all get together and have this nostalgia for this almost incubator kind of feeling that we all felt in Tallahassee. And I think premiering the film in Austin, we were all like, man this is just like Tallahassee, but much bigger. There’s something that feels very possible in the air in that city. And I think that’s the reason why they can host a festival that large, despite the fact that the city feels so small. It was a really good experience. So talking directly about the film, how did you find Wyatt and Tracey for this? Well we tried to cast in San Francisco, but I guess it’s just the irony of ironies, when you’re dealing with a city that has a devolving or diminishing African American population, we just couldn’t find black actors just to come out and read for the parts. So we went down to L.A. We used basically the actor’s equivalent of Craigslist, which is to post things on these things like NowCasting.com. And we didn’t have any money, so we got people who really didn’t have any credits. Tracey Heggins was the first woman that we saw, and of course, we then saw 50 other women. Because I’m an idiot, I couldn’t pull the trigger. And then we actually saw about 50 guys, and we really weren’t satisfied or happy with any of the people we had seen. And a friend of ours just happened to know, she was like, “Oh, I know this guy Wyatt Cenac. You should audition him.” I was like yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll see anybody. And so we called Wyatt up. He was doing a lot of stand up at that point in L.A., and so he wasn’t really committed to too many things. So he came out, read cold, and was just perfect. In a way it was really great because I felt like Tracey and Wyatt themselves, they weren’t really the characters that I saw when I wrote the script. But they were so specific and unique in their auditions, that I realized these two people can make the movie go. And so yeah, we went with the both of them. Yeah and I think using actors that audiences haven’t really seen a lot of, I know Tracey’s done a fair amount of television, but, it kind of helps feel like they’re more real. They didn’t feel like this was a polished performance. It felt like these were real people. Thanks, I appreciate that. You know, it’s funny, because now that Wyatt’s on “The Daily Show,” it’s like I was just screening the film for the staff of the Telluride Film Festival. Because I work at that festival, so we just had a little staff screening before the festival. And the minute the first image comes up, they’re like hey that kind of looks like that guy on Comedy Central. I was like yeah, it is. But we made this movie before he was on Comedy Central, but I guess you can put it that way. It’s just fine. [laughter] Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Is he being on “The Daily Show” sort of a result of what is happening with Medicine? Or did that happen separate of the movie? You know, I think it definitely happened separate. Wyatt is a great standup. And I think he travels in a completely different circle that this film doesn’t travel in, which is the standup scene in L.A. with UCB, “Upright Citizen’s Brigade.” And I think, really, he had kind of been building momentum there, and was almost just like, I think, really I kind of believe in Karma. I think there was some really good positive energy with the film. Because after SXSW, he kind of got the audition for Comedy Central and “The Daily Show,” and we flew him out there. And he did it. And they had never seen the movie, or even heard of it. But it was like all these things, the timing was right. He just nailed it. And now he’s on the show. The movie has some strong words about the current state of race in San Francisco and the housing situation, too. Would you consider it to be sort of your love letter to San Francisco? You clearly love the city, watching this. Would you consider that to be true? Or would you just say it happens to be set in San Francisco? No, no, no. I think it’s definitely, without a doubt, a love letter to San Francisco. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I’ll say it’s a love hate letter to San Francisco. But when I originally got the idea for the film years ago, after watching Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, I kind of wrote a brief little paragraph about it. And the last line of the paragraph says could be set in Chicago or New York City. And it was just about two characters after a one night stand spending the day together. But looking back on it, there was no way in hell this movie could have been set in New York or Chicago, because it’s just such a San Francisco movie. I really felt like what made the movie worth making, because I sat on the idea for about five years, was the fact that I felt like there was a real importance to the city as almost a third character in the film. It really kind of drives, particularly the paranoia that the character of Micah is feeling. It’s like the environment is what makes the movie plausible to me. Then the housing rights discussion, or the meeting that they stumble across, I found that personally to be a little bit jarring. It shook me out of the moment for a second. Was that on purpose? And how did you come to put that in the film? You know, it is jarring, because it’s a definite narrative break from the rest of the film. It was something that I felt was important to really round out the A) the depiction of the city that we were giving. And then B) that we were all these things that Micah was consumed with. Originally, when I first wrote the script, I wrote it as a conversation between the two leads. It just felt completely false. In thinking about it, I was like, this is just really important to me. It’s really important to capture this aspect of the City of San Francisco. So I thought, you know what, it’s worth it to allow a moment for the actual city to speak for itself. We literally, we knew we were going to have the characters walk by and look in. We felt like the fact that these two people could be walking down the street and they could have passed this meeting and stopped and listened. We thought that was enough of an entryway for the audience. Even though it was jarring, they would get into that perspective, the point of view of Joe and Micah listening to that meeting that they would just go with it and really hear the city speak for itself. We didn’t write any of that. That’s was a real meeting. We just set the camera in the corner and we just let it roll. We had our actors walk by. It’s one of my favorite moments in the film. I think of all the sequences that are somewhat jarring because there are a few other places where we take a few liberties, maybe too many liberties. But we’re young so [laughter] felt people would give us leeway. But that was the one that stands out to me. I thought it was important to have in the film. Well, since you mentioned other moments that stand out or that kind of shake the viewer a little bit, because you said, at least when you talked to Karina earlier in the year, you said this film is like Do the Right Thing meets Before Sunrise with a little bit of French new wave thrown into it. Yes. Does that still stand up for you, that analogy? I think it definitely still holds up for me. Although I feel like the more I watch the film, the more I see those new wave influences from when I first went to film school. I kind of binged on Godard and Breathless and those movies when I first started learning about cinema. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a filmmaker. I happened to stumble into film school and new wave was the first thing I was introduced to. I do think that analogy still holds up. It’s something that I wouldn’t make, unless asked me to make it. So it’s not something that I openly push upon the film. But I definitely think, in a way, the spirit that we made the movie in. We shot it in 15 days with a five man crew. We shot it in November and it debuted at South By on March 6, which is a small gestation window. I think that energy, that new wave energy, is definitely there. Before Sunrise, Sunset it’s obvious. The whole two characters walking. I really would have mentioned Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, which was the actual inspiration for the film, but I am nowhere near the filmmaker that Clare Denis is. I like to leave her name out of my mouth as much as possible. [laughter] Well, we spoke to Spike Lee a couple of times, speaking about Do the Right Thing. We talked to him a couple of times in Toronto and he was there promoting his film Miracle at St. Anna. St. Anna, yeah. And then he at both of the times that I was scheduled to talk to him, he ended up speaking about Sarah Palin and Obama. Sarah had just given that inflammatory speech, like last week. He clearly had some strong thoughts about that. He said, “Obama needs to go on the offensive.” With Obama, this is an incredible year for politics. We have Obama, the first African American nominee, which is pretty amazing. Although oddly enough, a lot of people are saying, well, he’s black but is he black enough? Right. Which is a weird statement in itself but that applies to Medicine for Melancholy as well. When you get into the issues of race then who Tracey’s character may or may not be dating, I like the fact that we don’t ever see him, so we don’t really know who he is. Thank you very much, sir. That was a great choice because I think that would have grounded it too much to be like, oh, well, now he legitimately has a reason to be so upset. I agree with you. It would have made it more of a mission statement for me, which I don’t think the film is, one way or the other. Right. Well, what are your thoughts about the whole… you may not even want to talk about this, but Obama, the possibility that he may be our next president and the whole issues that are surrounding… No, no, no. Actually I would love to talk about it, because it is something we talked about. We didn’t really speak about it until after the film was in post. When I wrote the film it wasn’t this whole Obama mania. That stuff didn’t exist. It was a foregone conclusion that Hillary was going to get the nomination. After we shot the film and we were cutting the film and we were doing South by Southwest and the primaries were going on, I think it was when Obama gave that whole speech on race and how we need to find a common ground and have those discussions and relearn how to articulate this issues that we are all so consumed with as Americans. I feel like for the character of Micah, I feel like that’s truly the arc and I think why all the issues of housing rights and gentrification…. I think that’s why it’s important for him to have those discussions and go through this journey with Joe. I feel like when he wakes up on that couch the next morning, he’s going to learn to better articulate the things that he was experiencing, which is for him everything is black and white. It’s like the white people are moving into San Francisco and the black people are being forced out. But really, San Francisco is a small space and everything is driven by economics. What’s happening is the people who make six figures are moving in and the people who make five figures are moving out, whether they be black, white, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic, whatever. I really feel like that’s what Obama stood for when the primary was going on and he was completely to the left. Not completely to the left but when the change was actual real change… I think in that way the film and this year in the primary election and the race for the presidential nomination, I really feel like that’s where the two come together. Relearning to articulate this kind of black and white issue that has always consumed Americans since the “dawn of time” or whatever date you want to affix to that. The title, I know you said at the Q&A at the film that the title was you saw the Ray Bradbury short story collection and you thought that was applicable. Now, would you say, in the film that the characters both serve as a medicine for each other’s melancholy? I definitely think so. I think that’s why it felt OK to take Bradbury’s title. Even though the film wasn’t an adaptation of that actual short story, there are some similarities. I definitely think so. I don’t think it’s a cure for melancholy. I think it’s a medicine. I think they both feel a little bit better about what ails them. Or, at the very least, they’ll have a better understanding of what it is that’s causing the melancholy and they can learn to work on it. And that’s why the ending isn’t a happy ending. It’s kind of an open ending. I like to use the term productive. I think it’s a productive ending, and it’s been a productive journey for the both of them. American audiences are used to having a moment, particularly in independent films, where you don’t really know what’s going to happen   a moment where it seems like it’s going to turn sinister. That moment in this movie, for me, was when they’re at the taco truck and those two guys come up. You’re like are these guys going to roll them? Are they trying to sell them drugs? But, then it turns out they’re extremely the opposite end of the spectrum. They’re hydration guys. Do those guys really exist in San Francisco? When I first wrote the screenplay, it actually was going to be a kid who comes up and tries to sell them some pot, because that would actually happen in San Francisco. You’re right. After I wrote it and I read it, I said to myself exactly what you just said. I thought, you know what, I’m not going to do that. Let’s go completely in the opposite direction, and let’s just make this so ridiculous. In looking back on it, I think it’s a great moment, because the film needs a little bit of levity, and I think those guys really provide it. And there are no actors in the film aside from Tracey and Wyatt. Those two guys don’t go around selling vitamin water, but they’re friends of mine. They hang together all the time. They’re just a couple of really fun guys. When I thought about how to reconceive the scene, I was like it’s got to be a cheating yard. These guys will do this, and they’ll be really funny. They showed up, and it was just perfect. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie. And you know what, those guys always get the biggest laughs on the screen. Here’s this guy on the “Daily Show.” who has all these great jokes in the movie, and these two guys, my buddies, get the biggest laugh in the movie. I love it. I know you had a notice in the credits that you had a music supervisor or coordinator on the film. Did that mostly come from you? Did it come from the music person? I can say about 80% of the music came from me. And then the other 20% was between the editor, Nat Sanders, and the actual music supervisor. What the music supervisor did   my buddy Greg   was just make it all legal. He had produced another independent film, and he knew that I had a list of songs that I wanted. And he was said, you just can’t put those songs in. You have to figure a way to legally get them, and that was really what he did. I like to write to music. In most of the scenes, I think the reason why they cut so well to music is because I wrote them with those cues in mind. And we made the movie so fast that I couldn’t really be there with Nat while he was editing the movie. At least, not at first, because he was editing while we were shooting it. And so, it was great to have those definite songs for those definite set pieces that had a definite energy. I could just orally communicate to him, and then come in to do the editing. They just totally worked out. Yeah, it had a great soundtrack. Thanks, I appreciate it. Well that’s all I have. Actually I have one thing I’d like to say. Sure. Go ahead. Because you touched on the housing rights meeting and that being jarring, I made the comment that there are a few other places where I think it’s drawing to. I felt that because we knew that it was going to be extremely jarring in that scene, we tried to work our way up to that. I think there are two other places where we jar the audience, almost in preparation for that meeting. We tried to earn the right to do that. I think when they’re riding the bikes and the song is clipping, it’s a very weird audio cue. I think that’s the first place where we sort of break the rules a little bit. I think with the carousel, especially with the way it ends, with the diaject sound coming back in, after the store fades out, we took another step further towards breaking that wall. And then with the documentary scene, dropped into the narrative, that’s when we completely go beyond. But hopefully, when audiences watch the movie, I hope it prepares them for that moment. What’s next with the film? Are you going to another festival? Yeah. We’re going to IFP Week in New York next week. And then we’re going to go to London, Vienna and Stockholm before we are finally released by IFC with the day and date model, in February. Wow. Well that sure beats selling DVDs on a website somewhere. You know what, it’s funny. It’s been a hell of a journey from South by Southwest. I am sitting on the 19th floor of a hotel in Toronto talking to you right now. The last time I spoke Sprout, I was sitting in my buddy’s studio apartment in L.A. in my underwear trying to work. And that wasn’t even that long ago. That’s pretty amazing. No, it wasn’t that long ago. It’s a charmed little film. Thank you guys for plugging us initially. No problem. I hope at least you have pants on now. I do. I’m not alone. Charlie’s here too. So he made sure I put the pants on. Nice. It was a requirement. Well cool, Barry. I wish you much continued success. And hopefully, we’ll be talking to you down the line with your next movie. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. And if and when I do make another movie, damn right, I will definitely come to Sprout. You guys have been very good to me. Great. That’s so nice of you to say. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thanks, man. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:01:19 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/15/2008 1:01:19 PM It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Barry Jenkins’ film Medicine for Melancholy, and we’re lucky enough to have Barry be big fans of Spout as well. His little film has had a long journey since it premiered in Austin at SXSW earlier this year, and it’s continuing to take him around the world. We spoke with Barry in Toronto about the genesis of the movie, what has happened since that first screening in Austin, how he found the actors, and if this film represents a love letter from him to the city of San Francisco. Read on for the full interview. Well, the first thing I was going to say was thank you for all the shout outs you always give Spout and Karina whenever you discuss the movie. That question about the de-saturation in the film always comes up. So your check’s in the mail for that. [laughs] No, I always mention Karina, man. You guys were like one of the first people to publish about the film at South By, when nobody knew about it. So I was thankful and I pay it forward. That’s good. The last time Karina spoke to you, you’d never been to Austin. You hadn’t been to SXSW before. Exactly. Then your film sort of became one of the most buzzed about and talked about breakout films at the festival. How did that change things for you and for the movie? It was, making it with just me and my friends, this really small crew and not very expensive equipment. So we felt that once we did get in SXSW, we knew it was a good thing. But even still, we thought the movie would play there, and then maybe it would play another film festival. And then we’d sell DVDs off the website. But I think having that buzz coming out of South By, I think it really made us all kind of take the project more seriously. We saw the potential that maybe it could catch on, and we could actually get it to audiences. Having now been to Austin, what did you think of the city? Everyone’s always saying, oh Austin’s such a cool place, but no one can really say why that is. The great thing about going to Austin is everybody who worked on the film, we all were students together at Florida State University, which is in Tallahassee, Florida, which is a college town with a great film school. I think we all dispersed and moved to all these different places. Every now and then we’d all get together and have this nostalgia for this almost incubator kind of feeling that we all felt in Tallahassee. And I think premiering the film in Austin, we were all like, man this is just like Tallahassee, but much bigger. There’s something that feels very possible in the air in that city. And I think that’s the reason why they can host a festival that large, despite the fact that the city feels so small. It was a really good experience. So talking directly about the film, how did you find Wyatt and Tracey for this? Well we tried to cast in San Francisco, but I guess it’s just the irony of ironies, when you’re dealing with a city that has a devolving or diminishing African American population, we just couldn’t find black actors just to come out and read for the parts. So we went down to L.A. We used basically the actor’s equivalent of Craigslist, which is to post things on these things like NowCasting.com. And we didn’t have any money, so we got people who really didn’t have any credits. Tracey Heggins was the first woman that we saw, and of course, we then saw 50 other women. Because I’m an idiot, I couldn’t pull the trigger. And then we actually saw about 50 guys, and we really weren’t satisfied or happy with any of the people we had seen. And a friend of ours just happened to know, she was like, “Oh, I know this guy Wyatt Cenac. You should audition him.” I was like yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll see anybody. And so we called Wyatt up. He was doing a lot of stand up at that point in L.A., and so he wasn’t really committed to too many things. So he came out, read cold, and was just perfect. In a way it was really great because I felt like Tracey and Wyatt themselves, they weren’t really the characters that I saw when I wrote the script. But they were so specific and unique in their auditions, that I realized these two people can make the movie go. And so yeah, we went with the both of them. Yeah and I think using actors that audiences haven’t really seen a lot of, I know Tracey’s done a fair amount of television, but, it kind of helps feel like they’re more real. They didn’t feel like this was a polished performance. It felt like these were real people. Thanks, I appreciate that. You know, it’s funny, because now that Wyatt’s on “The Daily Show,” it’s like I was just screening the film for the staff of the Telluride Film Festival. Because I work at that festival, so we just had a little staff screening before the festival. And the minute the first image comes up, they’re like hey that kind of looks like that guy on Comedy Central. I was like yeah, it is. But we made this movie before he was on Comedy Central, but I guess you can put it that way. It’s just fine. [laughter] Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Is he being on “The Daily Show” sort of a result of what is happening with Medicine? Or did that happen separate of the movie? You know, I think it definitely happened separate. Wyatt is a great standup. And I think he travels in a completely different circle that this film doesn’t travel in, which is the standup scene in L.A. with UCB, “Upright Citizen’s Brigade.” And I think, really, he had kind of been building momentum there, and was almost just like, I think, really I kind of believe in Karma. I think there was some really good positive energy with the film. Because after SXSW, he kind of got the audition for Comedy Central and “The Daily Show,” and we flew him out there. And he did it. And they had never seen the movie, or even heard of it. But it was like all these things, the timing was right. He just nailed it. And now he’s on the show. The movie has some strong words about the current state of race in San Francisco and the housing situation, too. Would you consider it to be sort of your love letter to San Francisco? You clearly love the city, watching this. Would you consider that to be true? Or would you just say it happens to be set in San Francisco? No, no, no. I think it’s definitely, without a doubt, a love letter to San Francisco. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I’ll say it’s a love hate letter to San Francisco. But when I originally got the idea for the film years ago, after watching Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, I kind of wrote a brief little paragraph about it. And the last line of the paragraph says could be set in Chicago or New York City. And it was just about two characters after a one night stand spending the day together. But looking back on it, there was no way in hell this movie could have been set in New York or Chicago, because it’s just such a San Francisco movie. I really felt like what made the movie worth making, because I sat on the idea for about five years, was the fact that I felt like there was a real importance to the city as almost a third character in the film. It really kind of drives, particularly the paranoia that the character of Micah is feeling. It’s like the environment is what makes the movie plausible to me. Then the housing rights discussion, or the meeting that they stumble across, I found that personally to be a little bit jarring. It shook me out of the moment for a second. Was that on purpose? And how did you come to put that in the film? You know, it is jarring, because it’s a definite narrative break from the rest of the film. It was something that I felt was important to really round out the A) the depiction of the city that we were giving. And then B) that we were all these things that Micah was consumed with. Originally, when I first wrote the script, I wrote it as a conversation between the two leads. It just felt completely false. In thinking about it, I was like, this is just really important to me. It’s really important to capture this aspect of the City of San Francisco. So I thought, you know what, it’s worth it to allow a moment for the actual city to speak for itself. We literally, we knew we were going to have the characters walk by and look in. We felt like the fact that these two people could be walking down the street and they could have passed this meeting and stopped and listened. We thought that was enough of an entryway for the audience. Even though it was jarring, they would get into that perspective, the point of view of Joe and Micah listening to that meeting that they would just go with it and really hear the city speak for itself. We didn’t write any of that. That’s was a real meeting. We just set the camera in the corner and we just let it roll. We had our actors walk by. It’s one of my favorite moments in the film. I think of all the sequences that are somewhat jarring because there are a few other places where we take a few liberties, maybe too many liberties. But we’re young so [laughter] felt people would give us leeway. But that was the one that stands out to me. I thought it was important to have in the film. Well, since you mentioned other moments that stand out or that kind of shake the viewer a little bit, because you said, at least when you talked to Karina earlier in the year, you said this film is like Do the Right Thing meets Before Sunrise with a little bit of French new wave thrown into it. Yes. Does that still stand up for you, that analogy? I think it definitely still holds up for me. Although I feel like the more I watch the film, the more I see those new wave influences from when I first went to film school. I kind of binged on Godard and Breathless and those movies when I first started learning about cinema. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a filmmaker. I happened to stumble into film school and new wave was the first thing I was introduced to. I do think that analogy still holds up. It’s something that I wouldn’t make, unless asked me to make it. So it’s not something that I openly push upon the film. But I definitely think, in a way, the spirit that we made the movie in. We shot it in 15 days with a five man crew. We shot it in November and it debuted at South By on March 6, which is a small gestation window. I think that energy, that new wave energy, is definitely there. Before Sunrise, Sunset it’s obvious. The whole two characters walking. I really would have mentioned Claire Denis’ Vendredi Soir, which was the actual inspiration for the film, but I am nowhere near the filmmaker that Clare Denis is. I like to leave her name out of my mouth as much as possible. [laughter] Well, we spoke to Spike Lee a couple of times, speaking about Do the Right Thing. We talked to him a couple of times in Toronto and he was there promoting his film Miracle at St. Anna. St. Anna, yeah. And then he at both of the times that I was scheduled to talk to him, he ended up speaking about Sarah Palin and Obama. Sarah had just given that inflammatory speech, like last week. He clearly had some strong thoughts about that. He said, “Obama needs to go on the offensive.” With Obama, this is an incredible year for politics. We have Obama, the first African American nominee, which is pretty amazing. Although oddly enough, a lot of people are saying, well, he’s black but is he black enough? Right. Which is a weird statement in itself but that applies to Medicine for Melancholy as well. When you get into the issues of race then who Tracey’s character may or may not be dating, I like the fact that we don’t ever see him, so we don’t really know who he is. Thank you very much, sir. That was a great choice because I think that would have grounded it too much to be like, oh, well, now he legitimately has a reason to be so upset. I agree with you. It would have made it more of a mission statement for me, which I don’t think the film is, one way or the other. Right. Well, what are your thoughts about the whole… you may not even want to talk about this, but Obama, the possibility that he may be our next president and the whole issues that are surrounding… No, no, no. Actually I would love to talk about it, because it is something we talked about. We didn’t really speak about it until after the film was in post. When I wrote the film it wasn’t this whole Obama mania. That stuff didn’t exist. It was a foregone conclusion that Hillary was going to get the nomination. After we shot the film and we were cutting the film and we were doing South by Southwest and the primaries were going on, I think it was when Obama gave that whole speech on race and how we need to find a common ground and have those discussions and relearn how to articulate this issues that we are all so consumed with as Americans. I feel like for the character of Micah, I feel like that’s truly the arc and I think why all the issues of housing rights and gentrification…. I think that’s why it’s important for him to have those discussions and go through this journey with Joe. I feel like when he wakes up on that couch the next morning, he’s going to learn to better articulate the things that he was experiencing, which is for him everything is black and white. It’s like the white people are moving into San Francisco and the black people are being forced out. But really, San Francisco is a small space and everything is driven by economics. What’s happening is the people who make six figures are moving in and the people who make five figures are moving out, whether they be black, white, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic, whatever. I really feel like that’s what Obama stood for when the primary was going on and he was completely to the left. Not completely to the left but when the change was actual real change… I think in that way the film and this year in the primary election and the race for the presidential nomination, I really feel like that’s where the two come together. Relearning to articulate this kind of black and white issue that has always consumed Americans since the “dawn of time” or whatever date you want to affix to that. The title, I know you said at the Q&A at the film that the title was you saw the Ray Bradbury short story collection and you thought that was applicable. Now, would you say, in the film that the characters both serve as a medicine for each other’s melancholy? I definitely think so. I think that’s why it felt OK to take Bradbury’s title. Even though the film wasn’t an adaptation of that actual short story, there are some similarities. I definitely think so. I don’t think it’s a cure for melancholy. I think it’s a medicine. I think they both feel a little bit better about what ails them. Or, at the very least, they’ll have a better understanding of what it is that’s causing the melancholy and they can learn to work on it. And that’s why the ending isn’t a happy ending. It’s kind of an open ending. I like to use the term productive. I think it’s a productive ending, and it’s been a productive journey for the both of them. American audiences are used to having a moment, particularly in independent films, where you don’t really know what’s going to happen   a moment where it seems like it’s going to turn sinister. That moment in this movie, for me, was when they’re at the taco truck and those two guys come up. You’re like are these guys going to roll them? Are they trying to sell them drugs? But, then it turns out they’re extremely the opposite end of the spectrum. They’re hydration guys. Do those guys really exist in San Francisco? When I first wrote the screenplay, it actually was going to be a kid who comes up and tries to sell them some pot, because that would actually happen in San Francisco. You’re right. After I wrote it and I read it, I said to myself exactly what you just said. I thought, you know what, I’m not going to do that. Let’s go completely in the opposite direction, and let’s just make this so ridiculous. In looking back on it, I think it’s a great moment, because the film needs a little bit of levity, and I think those guys really provide it. And there are no actors in the film aside from Tracey and Wyatt. Those two guys don’t go around selling vitamin water, but they’re friends of mine. They hang together all the time. They’re just a couple of really fun guys. When I thought about how to reconceive the scene, I was like it’s got to be a cheating yard. These guys will do this, and they’ll be really funny. They showed up, and it was just perfect. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie. And you know what, those guys always get the biggest laughs on the screen. Here’s this guy on the “Daily Show.” who has all these great jokes in the movie, and these two guys, my buddies, get the biggest laugh in the movie. I love it. I know you had a notice in the credits that you had a music supervisor or coordinator on the film. Did that mostly come from you? Did it come from the music person? I can say about 80% of the music came from me. And then the other 20% was between the editor, Nat Sanders, and the actual music supervisor. What the music supervisor did   my buddy Greg   was just make it all legal. He had produced another independent film, and he knew that I had a list of songs that I wanted. And he was said, you just can’t put those songs in. You have to figure a way to legally get them, and that was really what he did. I like to write to music. In most of the scenes, I think the reason why they cut so well to music is because I wrote them with those cues in mind. And we made the movie so fast that I couldn’t really be there with Nat while he was editing the movie. At least, not at first, because he was editing while we were shooting it. And so, it was great to have those definite songs for those definite set pieces that had a definite energy. I could just orally communicate to him, and then come in to do the editing. They just totally worked out. Yeah, it had a great soundtrack. Thanks, I appreciate it. Well that’s all I have. Actually I have one thing I’d like to say. Sure. Go ahead. Because you touched on the housing rights meeting and that being jarring, I made the comment that there are a few other places where I think it’s drawing to. I felt that because we knew that it was going to be extremely jarring in that scene, we tried to work our way up to that. I think there are two other places where we jar the audience, almost in preparation for that meeting. We tried to earn the right to do that. I think when they’re riding the bikes and the song is clipping, it’s a very weird audio cue. I think that’s the first place where we sort of break the rules a little bit. I think with the carousel, especially with the way it ends, with the diaject sound coming back in, after the store fades out, we took another step further towards breaking that wall. And then with the documentary scene, dropped into the narrative, that’s when we completely go beyond. But hopefully, when audiences watch the movie, I hope it prepares them for that moment. What’s next with the film? Are you going to another festival? Yeah. We’re going to IFP Week in New York next week. And then we’re going to go to London, Vienna and Stockholm before we are finally released by IFC with the day and date model, in February. Wow. Well that sure beats selling DVDs on a website somewhere. You know what, it’s funny. It’s been a hell of a journey from South by Southwest. I am sitting on the 19th floor of a hotel in Toronto talking to you right now. The last time I spoke Sprout, I was sitting in my buddy’s studio apartment in L.A. in my underwear trying to work. And that wasn’t even that long ago. That’s pretty amazing. No, it wasn’t that long ago. It’s a charmed little film. Thank you guys for plugging us initially. No problem. I hope at least you have pants on now. I do. I’m not alone. Charlie’s here too. So he made sure I put the pants on. Nice. It was a requirement. Well cool, Barry. I wish you much continued success. And hopefully, we’ll be talking to you down the line with your next movie. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. And if and when I do make another movie, damn right, I will definitely come to Sprout. You guys have been very good to me. Great. That’s so nice of you to say. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thanks, man. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/chrismorrell/archive/2008/8/2/33458.aspx Post By: chrismorrell
Post To: chrismorrell Blog
Post Date: 8/2/2008 5:42:34 PM
Body: I remember ,back then (i nearly said,"back in the day") Spike Lee seemed to do no wrong for me..He was like a black, politically active Woody Allen.The directing style was immediate,broke the "forth wall" continually,and the polemic came with a heavy dose of cynical humour...how could i disagree with any of it? Remember this is when HipHop was the cutting edge political music. Public Enemy may have been the band featured,but it's equally a visual manifestation of the music of Gil-Scott Heron.. i enjoyed "Inside Man" ,but it was only with "When the Levees Broke" that Spike went back to the top of my list again...
]]>Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:42:34 GMTchrismorrellchrismorrell Blog8/2/2008 5:42:34 PMI remember ,back then (i nearly said,"back in the day") Spike Lee seemed to do no wrong for me..He was like a black, politically active Woody Allen.The directing style was immediate,broke the "forth wall" continually,and the polemic came with a heavy dose of cynical humour...how could i disagree with any of it? Remember this is when HipHop was the cutting edge political music. Public Enemy may have been the band featured,but it's equally a visual manifestation of the music of Gil-Scott Heron.. i enjoyed "Inside Man" ,but it was only with "When the Levees Broke" that Spike went back to the top of my list again... http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Re_Movies_for_Animals/598/33190/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Smooth_J
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 7/28/2008 5:00:18 PM
Body: I had a ferret who loved the movie Salo. I think he's living with his mom now--we've lost touch as of late. My dogs love Puppy Love, only because they love to make snarky comments about how tacky Karen Pryor is. They're such smart-asses. I know for a fact that all opposums dig Falling Down and Do the Right Thing.
]]>Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:00:18 GMTSmooth_JMovie Games7/28/2008 5:00:18 PMI had a ferret who loved the movie Salo. I think he's living with his mom now--we've lost touch as of late. My dogs love Puppy Love, only because they love to make snarky comments about how tacky Karen Pryor is. They're such smart-asses. I know for a fact that all opposums dig Falling Down and Do the Right Thing. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Re_Sci_Fi_Movies_A_Z/598/32887/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: lopezdash
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 7/22/2008 9:33:44 AM
Body: Do the Right Thing
]]>Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:33:44 GMTlopezdashMovie Games7/22/2008 9:33:44 AMDo the Right Thing http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_July_14_The_Angry_Mob/625/32536/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Smooth_J
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/14/2008 2:58:51 PM
Body: Do the Right Thing has a very prominent angry mob scene--it's pretty much an all-out, breaking windows, burning buildings, police brutality riot. Full Metal Jacket has a smaller-scale angry mob, set on destroying just one single person. That's probably the most disturbing mob-mentality scene I can think of.
]]>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:58:51 GMTSmooth_JWeekly Theme7/14/2008 2:58:51 PMDo the Right Thing has a very prominent angry mob scene--it's pretty much an all-out, breaking windows, burning buildings, police brutality riot. Full Metal Jacket has a smaller-scale angry mob, set on destroying just one single person. That's probably the most disturbing mob-mentality scene I can think of. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/4/24/27770.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 4/24/2008 5:00:57 PM
Body: Sorry for the double-shot of Spike Lee news today — Karina gave us word earlier on his being honored by SilverDocs — but at least I’ve managed to squeeze an obligatory Uwe Boll mention into the post, too. Now you’re probably wondering: what could the director of Do the Right Thing possibly have in common with the director of BloodRayne? Well, here’s your answer: they’re both encouraging the democratization of movies. Lee is doing so more intentionally, though, by teaming up with Nokia in order to “direct” a film entirely shot by everyday people on their cell phones. According to Reuters, the film will consist of three acts, each made by a separate cameraphonographer (my lame term for the competing cell-phone filmmakers). And according to Lee, there’s no need for you to be trained in the craft to enter: “Aspiring filmmakers no longer have to go to film school to make great work. With a simple mobile phone, almost anyone can now become a filmmaker.” Nokia will narrow down the contestants’ submissions to 25 videos, which will then be narrowed down to 10 by people voting online for their favorites. Then Lee will choose the three winners from those 10. Isn’t this kind of like a democracy where we vote for our top five Presidential candidates and then some politician gets to pick the actual commander-in-chief? For more info, check out Nokia Productions. Meanwhile, someone has set up a whole blog devoted to something called “The Uwe Boll Movie Challenge,” which is inspired by the latest YouTube rant from the much hated filmmaker. The criteria is as follows: To compete in the Uwe Boll Movie Challenge, you must create a short film that meets the following guidelines: * It must be made at home. * You must use ketchup. * You must use a little brother. * You must not use some bullshit nickname out of the internet. * You have until May 16th. Apparently there is no prize for this one “unless Uwe Boll decides to provide one.” (via Defamer) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:00:57 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com4/24/2008 5:00:57 PMSorry for the double-shot of Spike Lee news today — Karina gave us word earlier on his being honored by SilverDocs — but at least I’ve managed to squeeze an obligatory Uwe Boll mention into the post, too. Now you’re probably wondering: what could the director of Do the Right Thing possibly have in common with the director of BloodRayne? Well, here’s your answer: they’re both encouraging the democratization of movies. Lee is doing so more intentionally, though, by teaming up with Nokia in order to “direct” a film entirely shot by everyday people on their cell phones. According to Reuters, the film will consist of three acts, each made by a separate cameraphonographer (my lame term for the competing cell-phone filmmakers). And according to Lee, there’s no need for you to be trained in the craft to enter: “Aspiring filmmakers no longer have to go to film school to make great work. With a simple mobile phone, almost anyone can now become a filmmaker.” Nokia will narrow down the contestants’ submissions to 25 videos, which will then be narrowed down to 10 by people voting online for their favorites. Then Lee will choose the three winners from those 10. Isn’t this kind of like a democracy where we vote for our top five Presidential candidates and then some politician gets to pick the actual commander-in-chief? For more info, check out Nokia Productions. Meanwhile, someone has set up a whole blog devoted to something called “The Uwe Boll Movie Challenge,” which is inspired by the latest YouTube rant from the much hated filmmaker. The criteria is as follows: To compete in the Uwe Boll Movie Challenge, you must create a short film that meets the following guidelines: * It must be made at home. * You must use ketchup. * You must use a little brother. * You must not use some bullshit nickname out of the internet. * You have until May 16th. Apparently there is no prize for this one “unless Uwe Boll decides to provide one.” (via Defamer) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/nevermoresraven/archive/2008/4/16/27351.aspx Post By: NevermoresRaven
Post To: NevermoresRaven Blog
Post Date: 4/16/2008 11:38:32 AM
Body: Oh Spike lee, you're movies, err....joints, sorry, are always worth a good watch. "Mo' Better Blues"(1990) being a personal favorite of mine. But lets go to a year before that, to 1989 and "Do the Right Thing".The movie follows a sorted group of characters, including pizza boy Mookie(Lee), his boss Sal(Danny Aiello), his two sons(John Turturro and Richard Edson), and the best DJ ever(played by one mister Samuel L. Jackson). It takes place on the hottest day of the year in New York City(Brooklyn to be exact). It's no surprise that a Spike Lee joint takes place in NYC, god forbid he make a movie someplace else. Of course this joint, like all his others, deals mostly with racial tensions. Because of this somewhat standard idea for him, the plot's a little thin. The acting isn't great, but it's better than good. It's sort of "Quasi-Great", if you will. The actors are able to portray the characters they were supposed to be, and interacted well with each other on screen, but because of the thin premise of the plot it only gets so far before it becomes another "White Devil!" movie. The only character I can say was done in a manner that made me smile profoundly was Sam Jackson's character. Playing sort of the middle man and also some what of a narrator, he just comes into his role so well.So, as with every Spike Lee joint, there's bound to be the big racial blow up at the end right? You bet there is. The only problem is, the movie still gives off that "White Devil!" vibe. I'll leave you to read the plot synopsis to understand everything in between, but needless to say a black charcter gets killed by white cops after getting into a fight with Sal and then the other black characters destroy Sal's shop, including his own employee Mookie. Problem is, I don't see how Sal did anything wrong by having rules for his store. Look, i'm not going to get into a debate about racism and ethnic devides here, just giving my two cents. Overall, it's a good movie and well worth at least one viewing. Check it out sometime, just don't expect anything spectacular.
]]>Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:38:32 GMTNevermoresRavenNevermoresRaven Blog4/16/2008 11:38:32 AMOh Spike lee, you&#39;re movies, err....joints, sorry, are always worth a good watch. &quot;Mo&#39; Better Blues&quot;(1990) being a personal favorite of mine. But lets go to a year before that, to 1989 and &quot;Do the Right Thing&quot;.The movie follows a sorted group of characters, including pizza boy Mookie(Lee), his boss Sal(Danny Aiello), his two sons(John Turturro and Richard Edson), and the best DJ ever(played by one mister Samuel L. Jackson). It takes place on the hottest day of the year in New York City(Brooklyn to be exact). It&#39;s no surprise that a Spike Lee joint takes place in NYC, god forbid he make a movie someplace else. Of course this joint, like all his others, deals mostly with racial tensions. Because of this somewhat standard idea for him, the plot&#39;s a little thin. The acting isn&#39;t great, but it&#39;s better than good. It&#39;s sort of &quot;Quasi-Great&quot;, if you will. The actors are able to portray the characters they were supposed to be, and interacted well with each other on screen, but because of the thin premise of the plot it only gets so far before it becomes another &quot;White Devil!&quot; movie. The only character I can say was done in a manner that made me smile profoundly was Sam Jackson&#39;s character. Playing sort of the middle man and also some what of a narrator, he just comes into his role so well.So, as with every Spike Lee joint, there&#39;s bound to be the big racial blow up at the end right? You bet there is. The only problem is, the movie still gives off that &quot;White Devil!&quot; vibe. I&#39;ll leave you to read the plot synopsis to understand everything in between, but needless to say a black charcter gets killed by white cops after getting into a fight with Sal and then the other black characters destroy Sal&#39;s shop, including his own employee Mookie. Problem is, I don&#39;t see how Sal did anything wrong by having rules for his store. Look, i&#39;m not going to get into a debate about racism and ethnic devides here, just giving my two cents. Overall, it&#39;s a good movie and well worth at least one viewing. Check it out sometime, just don&#39;t expect anything spectacular. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspxlove
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