Jump To Spike Lee Links: 1. Box Office 2. Rankings 3. Reviews 4. Trailers 5. UMR Table
Spike Lee (1957-) is an American Oscar®-nominated film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983. He received a Honorary Oscar in 2016. His IMDB page shows 83 directing and acting 18 credits since 1979. This page ranks 25 Spike Lee movies Best to Worst in 6 different categories. Television roles, shorts and movies not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings.
Spike Lee Joints Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- If movie title is a blue, then there is a Spike Lee trailer attached to the page link
- Sort Spike Lee Joints by co-stars or in some cases directors
- Sort Spike Lee Joints by adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Spike Lee Joints by box office rank in the year of release
- Sort Spike Lee Joints by how the movie was received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Spike Lee Joint received.
- Sort Spike Lee Joints by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the search and sort buttons to make this table very interactive.
Jump To Spike Lee Links: 1. Box Office 2. Rankings 3. Reviews 4. Trailers 5. UMR Table
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I love UMR commenters. my computer was down for 5 days but thanks to you my faith in mankind is restored. they still let me use the computer at work but no you-tube , sorry, Steve.
Hey bob cox…..glad you have computer access at work…….hopefully it will be back up and running soon. Steve’s YouTube channel is open 24/7…so when you get it back….they will be waiting for you….lol.
Not a huge Spike Lee fan, but I did see BlacKkKlansman last weekend. It was very very good. I recommend it highly. At times John David Washington sounded just like his famous father. Adam Driver delivers another fine performance. As for other Spike Lee movies I enjoyed? The list is short. Inside Man.
Hey SteinHoF16…..thanks for the visit and the mini-review of BlacKkKlansman…..it is on my list of movies to watch. As for John David Washington…I saw him on a talk show….and I heard Denzel’s voice many times in that interview. His career seems to be going in the right direction. Good stuff.
This new page was of particular interest to me as I am familiar with the titles of only a handful of Spike’s films and have actually seen only 3 – Inside Man, 25th Hour and Summer of Sam – but I immensely enjoyed each of them.
I have though been quite familiar with some of the controversies that Spike has publicly sparked. For example he criticised Charlton Heston for being President of The National Rifle Association and suggested that Chuck himself should be shot [keep calm Steve!].
To be fair Gun Control is a highly emotive and divisive issue in the US and I am sure many have made hyperbolic statements on the subject that were not meant literally.
Indeed Spike has since said that he had no wish to see Heston become another firearms victim and that he was taken up wrongly in that the offending comments were meant as a joke [albeit in bad taste] about how it would be poetic justice if Chuck were ever “hoisted on his own petard.”
Spike also had a very bitter public spat with Eastwood as he felt that in his movie Flags of our Fathers Clint had ignored the contribution of African-American servicemen. Clint angrily retorted that Spike should “shut his face”.
So is Spike a “verbal” Russell Crowe?Anyway I welcome this new page and have noticed how many films Spike has made with one of my own Top 20 fave actors, Denzel. So I join Steve in a “Vote Up” though I wonder if when he employed his signature assessment in this case was he aware of Spike’s spat with our mutual idol!
Hi Bob, I remember the fracas with Clint Eastwood but can’t recall Spike’s criticism of Heston, it must have been after one of those school shootings years ago, Columbine?
I do remember Michael Moore pestering Moses in one of his docu-films.
HI STEVE I am unfamiliar with the Michael Moore/Chuck story. Can you give me details as it sounds interesting?
Those [like Joel in his day maybe] who know about such things reckon that either overtly or covertly contemporary films can largely reflect the political and cultural philosophies of their times.
Thus in the McCarthy Red Scare era and its aftermath we had flicks like Red Planet Mars, It Conquered the World, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and It Came from Outer Space all supposedly representing the “Red menace”.
I have just come back from taking my grandchildren to see one of your action films, The Meg and, whilst in my view it was no Jaws I would probably have enjoyed it if I had worn earplugs and the film had had subtitles.
It opened with Statham shouting his head off and displaying his versatile dual thespian skills – not acting and over-acting. The Work Horse give is a 62% rating [identical to IMDB’s assessment] and I gather it has grossed around $150 million worldwide to date as per today’s estimates.
Apparently because of massive production costs and a huge advertising outlay – you poster boys don’t come chhep these days! – it needs to gross around $400 million overall to just break even.
One journalist at least has seen in it a parallel with Trump and the current “hard ball” period that some observers feel America is going through right now.
I’m not that interpretive myself but maybe one of the clues is in Jason uttering lines like “I’m not crazy. I just say what other people don’t!”
Anyway I am feeling Chery – sorry I mean cheery – because you have now given us your latest video to view. Catch you again soon
“HI STEVE I am unfamiliar with the Michael Moore/Chuck story. Can you give me details as it sounds interesting?”
Bob, the movie was Bowling for Columbine (2002). Moore wanted an interview with Heston because he was president of the NRA and refused to back down as defender of the Second Amendment, which was written over 200 years ago, when America was still wild and semi-civilised. The interview did not go well and Heston walked off angry, probably wishing he had a rifle on him, shoot the varmint. 😉
HI STEVE
Thanks for that item of information which will go into my archives.
Curious mix Chuck. Firearms freedom is often perceived as “right wing” whereas the civil rights marches he took part in are more associated with “liberal” politics.
Also he was very friendly with both my idols Peck and Mumbles who were regarded as liberals or “lefties”, the distinction depending how on far left or right the person opposing those ideologies is himself/herself.
Anyway as said earlier I will catch up with you tomorrow.
Hey Steve….I always found Moore’s ambush on Heston to be in “bad form”….Heston came across as a nice guy in doing the interview….but quickly realized Moore was trying to make a joke out of him. Even in Heston’s old age…he held his own. Unlike all these idiots Borat is getting people to do on his show on Showtime.
Hey Steve….that is how I remember that scene in the Moore documentary.
Hey Bob….good information on Spike Lee. One of the sports talk show hosts on ESPN was saying that Spike Lee had gotten “his fastball” back with BlacKkKlansman. Basically meaning, after a quality start…Lee had veered off making quality movies. Seems based on the items you mention with Heston and Eastwood…..he got sidetracked with his personal movements….which is fine….but I am glad he got that fastball back. I like the “verbal Russell Crowe”….nothing wrong with speaking your mind….and keeping your hands to yourself.
BRUCE
Thanks for the feedback – much appreciated.
I’ve explained Spike’s side of the Heston spat and have given Chuck credit for his civil rights activities so I should perhaps for the sake of complete balance remind viewers that whatever the situation with Flags of our Fathers Clint has publicly expressed admiration for the acting skills of black actor Morgan Freeman.
Clint has also put Morg in 3 Eastwood directed films, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and Invictus in which Morg played coloured statesmen Nelson Mandela and earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his role in a movie that was sympathetic to Mandela and his cause.
Accordingly in my mind at least I don’t see Clint as prejudiced towards the African American community on the screen where he feels the plot merits acknowledging their contributions.
Hey Bob…..I do think Clint worried too much about the Lee issue…..I agree with you about Clint. Speaking of Clint…I saw a rare Clint movie the other day….I did not enjoy The 15:17 To Paris….a rare misfire for Clint. Good stuff as always.
A big fuss has been made over Spike Lee and his films, he likes courting controversy.
I’ve only seen 4 of the 25 films on the chart – Malcolm X, Summer of Sam, Inside Man and Do the Right Thing. The only one I have on DVD is Inside Man.
Inside Man did well on the charts, it’s Lee’s biggest domestic grosser. His first film Do the Right Thing still his biggest critical success.
Of the black filmmakers I much prefer Antoine Fuqua, a director who specializes in action movies and not racial tensions. Antoine’s best film is Training Day starring Denzel, he also directed The Equalizer and it’s sequel.
Good work Bruce. Vote Up!
Hey Steve
1. Thanks for the feedback, comment, and tally.
2. Tally count….me 8, you 4 and bob cox 3.
3. Spike’s page is off to a sluggish start….it has been so busy….I have not shared or pushed the page at all…bad Cogerson
4. I also only own one Spike Lee movie….and it Inside Man as well. That is a very good bank heist movie….I thought for sure that Clive Owen was going to use that movie to become a bigger star….instead….it seems like his peak….did not see that coming.
5. I agree Spike’s movies seem to be surrounded by controversy….but that seems to not be the case with his latest movie….BlackKklansman. WoC and I might see it this weekend.
6. I just realized the star of BlackKklansman is Denzel’s son……I had no clue….but it is very cool trivia.
7. Antoine Fuqua has made some very good action movies….his Tears of the Sun…which starred Bruce…..is actually one of the few movies of his that I did not like.
Good feedback as always.
“6. I just realized the star of BlackKklansman is Denzel’s son……I had no clue….but it is very cool trivia.”
Denzel’s son? Whoa I was reading about the film earlier and must have skipped that part. Thanks for the info. I still remember when Denzel was the new kid on the block.
Hey Steve,,, looks like it is Discover Your Favorite Stars Kid Day at UMR . First info on Denzel’s son then news on Peck’s grandson.
Based on the reviews of BlackKklansman Denzel’s son might have a nice future in movies. We will see about Greg’s grandson.
HI STEVE The final paragraph of your Spike Lee post which in effect reflected how many of today’s audiences like [as I do] human interest dramas about subjects such as racial tensions got me thinking about how my own tastes had changed over the years.
I struck me that a lot of the Hollywood classic era movies that I used to live for hadn’t dated well for me at least and how today I would for example prefer to watch a good episode of the TV series Columbo rather than reruns of some of the old Errol Flynn films.
Indeed last week I switched off a couple of Flynn movie reruns on TV after a short while as they no longer interested me. For example one of the more irritating common themes seemed to be Flynn being followed around by a bunch of “stooges” such as Alan Hale Senior who appeared to exist just to serve Errol’s interests. {My wife commented that one stooge was understandable but a whole tribe of them!]
It reminded me a bit of the clique who literally ran about after Forrest Gump though I suppose that the Flynn movies served a purpose in providing a feelgood factor at a time of the 2nd world war by creating the delusion that as long as Flynn vanquished the bad guy and “got the girl” all was well with the world. [In those circumstances wouldn’t it be ironic if he really WAS a Nazi spy ! though I don’t believe that.]
Reruns of some of the Brit films that I would queue for yesteryear also can’t now hold my attention for long . For example this morning I started to watch a rerun of Morecambe and Wise’s That Riveria Touch which I vivdly recall enthusiastically trotting out to see in Bristol England in 1966.
Again though I switched off because straightaway the very first few scenes consisted of that stock British comedy theme of the BBC Radio days of the 1940s/1950s which revolved around excessive deference to, and terror of, authority figures such as the bank manger, the schoolmaster, priest/pastor and “the Boss”.
“Come into my office Ray!”
“Bumbling Mr Trumble. I mean trumbling Mr Bumble. I mean coming Mr Trumble”
[Ray’s a Laugh Radio programme 1949-61 starring Ted Ray and Peter Sellers.]
It’s probable that in todays world of computer –generated financial decisions most “ordinary” people rarely or never see a bank mangager and the rise of multi-national monopolies, many of which are foreign owned, ensures that the employee will seldom see the rea l”boss” so it’s easy to understand that the old Brit radio and movie standard boss/bank manager jokes will have little significance today
57 year old MR GRIMSDALE Boss of Roadsweepers [Actor Edward Chapman]
“Pitkin I have just been handed call-up papers for compulsory Army national service.”
Roadsweeper PITKIN [Actor comedian Norman Wisdom]
“That’s awful Mr Grimsdale.”
MR GRIMSDALE
“It’s awful for you too Pitkin because you’re coming with me. Go down immediately and enlist.”
Audience in stiches as scene swiftly cuts to Grimsdale and Pitking sitting on their Army bunk beds in uniform, both with the bottom rank of Private but Pitkin polishing Grimsdale’s Army boots. [Brit comedy film The Square Peg 1958].
You can maybe see now o Flare why I love the literture line “The past is a foreign country, They do things differently there.” Viva la Spike!
saw 3, the top 3 umr. no 10s, no favorites.
Hey bob cox… I have seen 8 of his movies or 32%. I enjoyed Clockers, Inside Man and Do The Right Thing. I have an interest in seeing his BlackKklansman. I suspect….based on it’t reviews….it might get some Oscar love…..which Oscar season is only a few months away. Thanks for the feedback….it is appreciated.