Spike Lee

Haven't seen that many yet for some reason, so I'll get back to ya.

Summer of Sam (1999) -- I really liked this movie when I first saw it, but it has since faded in my mind to be not as great as I once thought it was. Maybe I should see it again to make sure, but thinking about it makes me tired. As it is, I still remember it as a worth-watching movie about people in a pressured situation.

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) -- The best thing about this documentary on Hurricane Katrina is that it pretty much covers everything: how our failure to stop global warming created lots of the weather trouble to begin with, how the shoddy engineering and procrastination of the levees flooded New Orleans, how the government was slow to respond, how they were incompetent and sucky when they eventually did, and much more, told primarily from the point of view of the people it affected. The movie also demonstrates why New Orleans was a great place to begin with, beyond Bourbon Street and into a culture that survived hundreds of years and had a positive impact on the rest of America. Only occasional touches of empty sentimentality and unneeded artiness that usually surrounds Katrina coverage. Hurricane Katrina exposed many of the worst elements of the United States and one hopes a movie like this could stir up some change, but if things go the way they usually do, it will only make people feel more angry and hopeless.