Spike Lee and Judd Apatow have entered the race
No Content for Old Men
with Matt Craig
In this week's newsletter: We're focusing on two big ticket 2020 releases this week, the most significant drops of the year, in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and Judd Apatow's The King of Staten Island. We'll talk briefly about the Bill Burr-aissance and then hit some Spike Lee streaming suggestions. In this week's Trailer Watch, I get back on my usual soap box about what a trailer should and shouldn't be.
Da 5 Bloods
In the history of this newsletter, 2018's BlacKkKlansman is the only movie in which I felt totally incapable of providing a review. The week it came out, I basically just issued a . It felt more like activism than art, intentionally designed to make moviegoers like myself (read: white) as uncomfortable as possible. A worthy goal, for the record.
I don't feel the same way about Da 5 Bloods, another of Spike Lee's direct attempts to confront the racial injustices in our country's history (and present). The movie is far more complicated and nuanced than its predecessor, hitting on themes of PTSD, fatherhood, brotherhood, friendship, war and death. It is anchored by an incredible Oscar-worthy performance by Delroy Lindo, and cut together in Lee's flashiest style. I have it as my fourth best movie of 2020 so far.
The movie follows a squad of ex-Vietnam G.I.s back to the country in present day, to reclaim the body of a fallen squad mate...as well as a massive stash of gold they buried decades earlier.
The central spine of the movie is still race, and specifically the diverging Live and Let Die or Live and Let Live philosophies of racial inequality. Think Malcolm X vs. Martin Luther King Jr., or more recently Chadwick Boseman vs. Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther.
It's the same fine line that has defined Spike Lee's career. Filmwatchers have long speculated which camp he might be in, which for white folks, on a movie by movie basis, comes down to whether or not he's willing to let us enjoy the experience. Throughout his career, Lee should be applauded for being unafraid to wield his work as a wake-up call, even if it means sacrificing commercial success in the process. And it's even more interesting to see how his more confrontational stances of the past have become more accepted in the mainstream over time. Parts of this movie black out like an African-American studies course, with flashes to footage and photographs that break up the fictionalized narrative.
This movie doesn't cut with the same righteous anger, instead yielding time and perspective to Vietnamese characters and French characters to paint a more wholistic version of his selective history.
I made the offhand comment when this movie came out that it looked like Spike Lee's black version of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." It's a comparison that actually holds some weight. It's a movie about the same point in history told from the collective imaginations of celebrity directors, one recalling the white experience of joy to the tunes of Paul Revere and the Raiders, and the other the black experience of pain and adversity backed by Marvin Gaye.
But I stop short of making any kinds of connections to the headlines-ready title of "the movie we need in this moment." The issues at stake here have been going on long before George Floyd and hopefully the discussions of them will be going on long after.
That line of thinking also gives an air of importance to a movie that's not always asking for it. The tone swings wildly from old-guys-having-fun comedy to all-out action to social commentary to pretty heavy emotional struggle, which might throw some people off the scent in trying to draw straight lines toward Lee's thesis statement. Given all of this, it's still a fun movie to watch with a couple of unbelievably thrilling sequences.
Netflix was smart to move up the release date to this movie, both with the current news cycle and when there's less competition out there than there would be in the traditional awards window. With the announcement this week that the Oscars were being pushed back two months, and with it the deadline for entry, it will be a long hard road to nominations for this movie. That doesn't mean it doesn't deserve them. And I hope you'll take advantage of perhaps some extra free time by making sure you check this movie out.
The King of Staten Island
Judd Apatow is truly the godfather of comedy in the 21st Century. When you think about his work as a producer, writer, and director, not to mention star-maker, he's second to none. His IMDB is basically just a list of all the funniest movies of the 21st Century, and he's a short list of people who owe their careers to him (to one degree or another): Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Charlie Hunnam, Inda Cardellini, Jason Segal, Martin Starr, Jay Baruchel, Busy Phillips, Adam McKay, John C. Reilly, and on and on and on.
So forgive me for thinking he's a little overrated as a filmmaker? For starters, he's only ever directed six movies. And they're all pretty much the same. An immature underachiever struggles to succeed in the "real" world, then solves his problems by somewhat growing up and somewhat pulling the world down to his level of immaturity, in time for plenty of soft smiles and hugs at the end. They're all comedies, but really more like soft tragedies, and run 30-45 minutes too long. Seriously, how this movie is almost two and a half hours?
All of which is not meant to crap on The King of Staten Island, which might be Apatow's most sophisticated movie from a technical and storytelling perspective (credit to highly accomplished cinematographer Robert Elswit). It's essentially a thinly fictionalized autobiography of its lead, Pete Davidson, who you'll know from playing himself in Big Time Adolescence and every single sketch he's in on "Saturday Night Live."
Addicted to drugs, riddled with anxiety and depression after losing his firefighter father at a young age, Davidson's protagonist struggles to mature while clashing with a new father-in-law figure played by Bill Burr. Burr is the true revelation of the movie, expanding on his popular stand-up comedy career and memorable bit part in "Breaking Bad" to turn in a performance that is legitimately great. Like, 'does this dude merit some Oscar consideration?' level of acting. Every moment he's on screen is interesting.
The world of outer boroughs New York is rendered admirably, filled in by strong supporting performances from mother Marisa Tomei, firefighter Steve Buscemi (a real life firefighter before he began acting), girlfriend Bel Powley and Apatow's own daughter, Maude (the sister).
As one could reasonably expect, Apatow turns in a totally watchable slice-of-life movie, even if it feels like he's high on his own supply. Whether it's worth the $20 VOD price tag depends on your affinity for his particular slice of life.
Streaming Suggestions!
Something New
F is for Family (Netflix): The Bill Burr empire continues to expand. On the same day his big movie hit VOD, the new season of his Netflix show dropped. He cowrote and stars in this super raunchy cartoon comedy, which has become increasingly heartfelt as the seasons pile up. His brand of comedy might not be for everyone, but his performances and sensibilities in the first few episodes of this new season only prove to me that Burr is becoming a film force to be reckoned with.
Something Old
Spike Lee library: It's crazy to think Spike Lee has been making movies for 35 years. And I'll be the first to admit how many of his movies I still haven't seen as a self-proclaimed cinephile. Here's your foundational syllabus: She's Gotta Have It, Malcolm X, and Inside Man are on Netlfix, He Got Game and BlacKkKlansman are on HBO Max. And drop a few bucks to watch Do The Right Thing, 25th Hour, Crooklyn, or Clockers. The very best, if you want my opinion, are Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X and the movie we're about to talk more about below!
Something to Stream
Inside Man (Netflix): I've mentioned before how it feels dirty to say that your favorite Spike Lee movie is one of his few that doesn't deal centrally with the racial strife in this country. I'll shoulder that guilt, because this movie is just that good. It's what happens when a true cinematic artist takes a directing job for hire (he did not write the script) and works within a defined genre. We saw what Rian Johnson did with Knives Out. That's what Spike Lee does for the bank heist movie here, starring Clive Owen and Denzel Washington as cat and mouse. Check it out!
Trailer Watch: The Nest
One of my most enduring arguments is about movie trailers. They should give us the vibe, the cast, the setting, and as little plot as possible. So bravo to "The Nest," because I still have almost no idea what it's about after watching this, but I am very intrigued. Jude Law's best performances have all come mixing handsome with sinister, and Carrie Coon might be the best actress yet to become a movie star. Something tells me the movie is going to escalate juuust a little above marital disputes.