Spike Lee's HBO doc "When the Levees Broke"

[villager]

Just saw all four hours of Spike Lee's HBO doc "When the Levees Broke," about Katrina and the attendant damage -- still unfolding -- in New Orleans. It airs in ten days or so, around the time a lot of "Katrina anniversary" shows will be hitting the air.

The first hour recaps what you already know about the "given" facts of Katrina; the second hour reminds you of all the failings of the various government responses; the last two hours shocks you with the ongoing negligence and malfeasance of insurance companies and the Federal government.

A lot of extra footage of heartbroken victims, floating victims, clueless "leaders" (including our own "dear leader"), as well as interviews with that guy in Mississippi who told Cheney to "go fuck yourself!"

Recommended to all DUers...

[npincus]

1. does it show the Idiot-in-Chief playing guitar and eating

b-day cake at fundraisers while NO drowned?

[villager]

3. NO residents "tesitfy" about the moment... but Il Dunce is shown

telling Brownie he did a "heckuva job..."

[im10ashus]

2. One of our best directors in history.

And one of my top 5 favorites. I can't wait to see him humanize this tragedy in a way that the media was never able to capture. Maybe then people will see how this administration has failed us on a monumental scale. God bless the arts.

[sgxnk]

4. imo, wasted talent

do the right thing was great.

but since then, he has only done one great movie, and that was "X"

compare to moore.

moore started out strong,and got stronger

lee ex-post do the right thing reminds me of paul mccartney ex-post the beatles

not terrible, but just kinda blah

[villager]

5. this is his first doc, I believe...

perhaps it's more of his forte...

[sgxnk]

6. i'll stand by to stand by on my assessment

katrina response was also a triumvirate of suckiness

bush, blanco and nagin

i'll be curious to see if he treats the local incompetency with adequate derision

[im10ashus]

8. He did 4 Little Girls about 10 years ago.

It was a documentary. Broke my heart, it did.

[sgxnk]

9. didn't see it

[bettyellen]

28. inside job was just brillliant...

and yeah, four little girls too. no worries, spike still has it.

[villager]

11. forgot about that!

This will break your heart, too... And get you pissed.

[fishwax]

22. that was a great movie

nominated for an academy award for best documentary.

[im10ashus]

7. you again

:crazy:

Anyhoo. I guess our opinions just differ, is all.

Inside Man
She Hate Me
25th Hour
Summer of Sam
He Got Game
4 Little Girls
Get on the Bus
Girl 6
Clockers
Crooklyn
Malcolm X
Jungle Fever
Mo' Better Blues
Do the Right Thing
School Daze
She's Gotta Have It
Sarah
Last Hustle in Brooklyn

We can discuss any of these films of his, as I have at least seen them. Gotta run out to dinner now. You get your google on and try to find some sort of respone other than "not terrible, but just kinda blah" and then we'll tawk.

[sgxnk]

10. the last thing

i have time for is a long movie debate (i hate the term film btw)

suffice it to say that, of those movies i have seen, the only one i see as representative of his talent was malcolm X

i haven;t seen all of them

clockers was pretty entertaining, but very uneven

it also wasn't a very inventive role for keitel

keitel did it much better in the bad lieutenant.

i actually get tired of seeing keitel in the same darn role

[qanda]

25. How can you make a determination about his work

If you haven't even seen it? That just makes no sense whatsoever. Why even weigh in if you're just making stuff up?

[sgxnk]

29. one can have an opinion

which is what one has regarding ART about a director without having seen EVERY single one of his movies

can u say an actor sucks without seeing EVERY single movie he/she has made?

i can say keanu reeves is a pretty mediocre actor. i have not seen every movie he has made

i can say roman polanski is a great director, but i have not seen every movie he has made (i can also say he is a complete piece of human garbage but i digress)

your metric is absurd. i cannot have an opinion about spike lee ex-post do the right thing because i have not seen EVERY single movie he produced? by that metric very very few people can have an opinion about any experienced actor or director, since few people have seen every piece of acting/directing of an actor/directo that's been around 20 years or so.

i also did not see keanu reeves acting in his high school play, so i guess my opinion is not justified there either

(rolls eyes)

god, the degree of absurd sophistry some people will go to, just to argue for the sake of argument is really amazing

i've seen about a dozen or so spike lee movies. and imo, apart from malcolm X, his work ex-post do the right thing has been pretty subpar, especially considering his talent

[qanda]

32. I never said you couldn't have an opinion, BUT

when you state, "do the right thing was great. but since then, he has only done one great movie, and that was "X" then people are left to assume that you have seen all of his movies since "X". Perhaps it would have been better to qualify your statement by saying that "of the movies I've seen". You weighed in like you were an expert and excuse me for assuming that someone with such a strong opinion actually knows what they're talking about.

[sgxnk]

33. i don't think they are left to assume

that i have seen EVERY one of his movies. for pete's sake, i am not roger ebert

...

...

i am much prettier :)

but yes, it would have been more precise to say "of the movies i've seen"

and i DO know what i am talking about. i don't need to see all of them to draw my conclusion./ i've seen more than 1/2 of his movies since do the right thing, and apart from X, i thought they were mediocre at best

sure, maybe EVERY other one of that other 1/2 by some amazing coincidence were citizen cane, the godfather, and the deer hunter all rolled into one

but i think it entirely reasonable (and exceptionally typical) to draw OPINIONS about art without having a 100% complete knowledge of every work of that author

i also think shakespeare rools

no, i have not read everything he ever wrote

i also find it annoying the way EVERYTHING to spike is a frigging conspiracy. classic example was he got game. his 1960's "fear the man" schtick gets a little old

[wicket]

12. Don't forget Bamboozled!

I love me some Spike Lee :)

[fishwax]

23. i was going to mention bamboozled too

that's a great movie.

I teach at a university with a horrendously offensive native mascot, whom most of the (predominantly middle-class white) students consider A-OK. But Bamboozled, more than anything else, seems to get them thinking about the issue in productive ways.

[im10ashus]

27. YES!

Another great achievement. Thanks for the reminder! :-)

[misanthrope]

13. I beg to differ...

..."Bamboozled" was incredibly underrated and brilliant. "25th Hour" was one of the best things he's ever done.

I also like "Summer of Sam" which, while not as good as the aforementioned pair, was full of great performances from the likes of Mira Sorvino, John Leguizamo and Adrien Brody.

And after reading a post above that went even further into his resume, it's apparent Mr. Lee has an impressive body of work.

I will go one further by stating that I think Lee is one of the truest artists in the movie business today because of the degree to which he seems dedicated to make people think and feel.

But that's just my perspective...

[SeveneightyWhoa]

19. No. "25th Hour"..

..is one of my favorite movies, ever.

[pitohui]

38. hey i just posted that one and then saw your post

two thumbs up! :-)

[fishwax]

24. other than "she hate me," i've liked pretty much all of his films

yeah, do the right thing is hard to top, but he's had a number of great films since then.

[pitohui]

37. go see the 25th hour

great movie, better than the book -- and wonderful cinematography

[Jamastiene]

14. I wish I could afford HBO.

I still say that what happened in New Orleans was selective genocide. I will always believe the Bushites were laughing when the cameras weren't rolling. I will always remember what happened in NOLA.

[frustrated_lefty]

15. Ignore this, it's just a rant.

Several DU-ers got caught in Katrina and the aftermath. My family and I were among those, and, in retrospect, we were lucky. Merh and funkybutt and Swamprat and others have taken harder hits than my family. Eventually, I did what I had to do, took a job elsewhere, and did what I could to make a stable environment for the kids. We left New Orleans. I don't say that as an apology or anything, just a statement of fact. In the meantime, we lost everything we owned. The Red Cross helped, although the mismanagement there would make you cry. Not due to ill intent. Just, if one child tried on a donated pair of clothing, that clothing could not then be offered to another if it didn't fit the first child. Stupid shit. If the clothing didn't work for the first person to try it, it went to a waste pile. It makes sense, I guess, in a larger picture. The things people climbed through before they escaped were unarguably contaminated with chemicals and, most likely, pathogens. In a shelter, you want to minimize the possibility of an epidemic...and, that becomes difficult with so many people in such a tiny space.

The single thing that ate at my mind during the week after Katrina hit was "I have to get my kids out." There was a moment when I realized they were finally to safety, and collapsed. Next thing I knew, I was just falling down and trying to keep them together.

Since then, I haven't slept for more than 2 hours straight unless I knock myself out. Ambien puts me to sleep for almost 3 hours, I twitch, I wake in nightmares which I don't remember, I kicked a table across the room in my sleep and have no idea why?

And...it's all irrelevant. This is a rant. I honestly don't think I'm ready to see a movie about all of that crap when it still isn't over. But, again, it's a rant, so, if you bothered to read, please forgive my venting.

[AliceWonderland]

16. I did not ignore it

Nor would I. I honour your experience by hoping you are sleeping reasonably well tonight.

[Kurovski]

17. It wasn't a rant at all.

You touched my heart, and thank you for that.

Have you been able to find a survivors group or a counselor? May peaceful nights of rest come soon.

[Hekate]

18. I'm so glad you and the kids are safe, wherever you are

:grouphug: from DU and me

Hekate

[Missy Vixen]

20. Thinking of you and your family

I can't even imagine what you've all been through.

I send peace and healing and every blessing to all of you.

Julie

[sandnsea]

26. All very "normal"

I lost my home in a house fire about 13 years ago now. It isn't easy getting over the emotional part at all. You can even have the job and money and basic life in place, but the emotional stuff just goes on. It took me years to not smell imaginary smoke, I still can't sleep with a fire going in a house. I never leave the house without thinking at some point "hope the house didn't burn down". For a long time, I couldn't even buy new stuff for my house because I couldn't face the trauma of losing it all again. But one step at a time, I got through it and you will too. It's all mostly random occasional thoughts in passing now, just a part of my life and who I am, and quite manageable. Hang in there. :hug:

[villager]

31. I think the movie is for the rest of us who might too quickly forget...

Best to you and your family...

[minkyboodle]

36. rant away

I have several friends from New Orleans for
whom the effects of Katrina is still a daily
affair. About the film, I do remember seeing
in one of the HBO promos that one of the main
messages Spike was going to try to convey was
that most people weren't back and that Katrina
was still going on for most of those in the
Gulf States who were affected. However, I
don't blame you for not wanting to watch it
at this point, I don't think I would either.

[pitohui]

39. i don't know if i'm ready to see it either

you are right, for me it's too soon, as you say it still isn't over

but if it brings awareness and keeps people's attention on this issue, i'm all for it & i hope people who are ready give it wide audience

i trust spike lee to do it right in a non-exploitative way, the way he handled the aftermath of 911 in "the 25th hour" was tasteful and not focused on yanking emotional chains

[fishwax]

21. i'm looking forward to that

keeping hbo for an extra month just so i can see it. Thanks for the early review.

[Kurovski]

30. Kick.(nt)

[tinfoil tiaras]

34. K&R

My family was very lucky (insurance money covered ALL of their expenses and more...) but I still feel for the ones that weren't so lucky.

K&R for them. :patriot:

[Kurovski]

35. Kick.