Well the good news is that it is much better than his prior dire remake of the classic “Oldboy” but overall this film for me is not top flight Spike Lee, despite all the rave reviews it seems to be currently getting. Based on a true story of a black undercover cop who in the 1970s gets accepted into the Klu Klux Klan based on phone calls made as an undercover cop, the lead role is played impassively by John David Washington, son of Denzel Washington, who has long been one of Lee’s favourite actors. With a Jewish colleague (played deadpan by Adam Driver) impersonating him when he has to physically attend meetings with the KKK, the story itself might have made for an interesting police buddy drama given the KKK’s hatred of Jews and Blacks. However this film is primarily a vehicle for Lee seeking to make statements about the history of racism and the KKK in the USA plus the growth of Black Power in the 1970s up to the current US president and recent tragic events in Charlottesville. For about the first half you are not sure whether you are watching a black comedy (no pun intended) with a police procedural story underpinning it with lots of historical references (scenes intercut from “Intolerance”,  Gone with the Wind” plus numerous over flagged links to 1970s blaxploitation movies). Then for the second half, more parallel running of a terrorist type plot developing alongside spoofing of the KKK members and attitudes leads to the original story climax. That then morphs into an ending around more recent events as Lee tries to ensure you leave the cinema having got his point. Sadly I left feeling I had seen a poor propaganda film patched onto a true police story that on its own, as written in this film script, was probably not that great. Spike Lee may have a lot of anger in him about US history and recent events but this film does not provide much understanding of how and why such hatred persists.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Film Reviews 2018	28/01/18 15:25:00	Susan Kelly
Brad's Status	28/01/18 15:29:00	Susan Kelly
Journey's End	03/02/18 16:07:00	Susan Kelly
Re: Phantom Thread	03/02/18 20:47:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Re: Phantom Thread	04/02/18 15:54:00	Susan Kelly
Re: Phantom Thread	03/02/18 20:52:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Re: Phantom Thread	03/02/18 22:15:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:Re: Phantom Thread	03/02/18 23:10:00	Sara Nathan
Scaffolding (Hebrew with subtitles)	15/02/18 23:24:00	Sara Nathan
Loveless	20/02/18 16:30:00	Susan Kelly
The Shape of Water	24/02/18 22:31:00	Susan Kelly
Re:The Shape of Water	24/02/18 23:02:00	Chris Hurley
Lady Bird	05/03/18 15:33:00	Susan Kelly
Re: You were never really here	09/03/18 18:11:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Re: You were never really here	10/03/18 10:40:00	Norman Redfern
Re:Re: You were never really here	10/03/18 11:57:00	Joe Conneely
Dark River	15/03/18 16:35:00	Susan Kelly
Finding Your Feet	20/03/18 16:22:00	Susan Kelly
I, Tonya	23/03/18 17:10:00	Susan Kelly
A Fantastic Woman	27/03/18 16:46:00	Susan Kelly
Peter Rabbit	02/04/18 00:39:00	Sara Nathan
Finding Your Feet	09/04/18 23:40:00	Sara Nathan
A Quiet Place	11/04/18 16:29:00	Susan Kelly
Re:A Quiet Place	29/04/18 10:46:00	Alastair Banton
The Square	12/04/18 23:25:00	Susan Kelly
Aurore I got Life (French with subtitles)	17/04/18 00:10:00	Sara Nathan
Unsane	18/04/18 21:18:00	Susan Kelly
Ghost Stories	19/04/18 11:36:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Ghost Stories	19/04/18 11:42:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Re:Ghost Stories	19/04/18 11:55:00	Alastair Banton
A Quiet Place	21/04/18 10:32:00	Alastair Banton
Re:A Quiet Place	21/04/18 12:04:00	Janice Evans
Re:Re:A Quiet Place	21/04/18 12:21:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Re:Re:Ghost Stories	22/04/18 12:48:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Ghost Stories	21/04/18 13:00:00	Janice Evans
Re:Re:Ghost Stories	21/04/18 16:08:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Re:Re:Ghost Stories	21/04/18 17:57:00	Janice Evans
Re:Re:Re:Re:Ghost Stories	21/04/18 22:47:00	Alastair Banton
Isle of Dogs	22/04/18 15:45:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Isle of Dogs	22/04/18 19:33:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Re:Isle of Dogs	22/04/18 21:54:00	Susan Kelly
FUnny Cow	01/05/18 08:00:00	Susan Kelly
Re:FUnny Cow	01/05/18 15:07:00	Alastair Banton
Beast	04/05/18 16:21:00	Susan Kelly
Custody	07/05/18 20:32:00	Susan Kelly
Let the sunshine In (french w subtitles)	07/05/18 21:34:00	Sara Nathan
The Guernsey literary and potato peeling pie society	07/05/18 21:40:00	Sara Nathan
Re:The Guernsey literary and potato peeling pie society	23/05/18 18:02:00	Chris Hurley
Tully	14/05/18 15:35:00	Susan Kelly
Lean on Pete	15/05/18 17:34:00	Susan Kelly
On Chesil Beach	23/05/18 17:07:00	Susan Kelly
Re:On Chesil Beach	20/06/18 16:57:00	Alastair Banton
Jeune Femme/Montparnasse Bienvenue	26/05/18 15:46:00	Susan Kelly
Re : McQueen	08/06/18 16:42:00	Joe Conneely
Breadwinner	11/06/18 23:08:00	Susan Kelly
L'Amant Double	18/06/18 23:02:00	Susan Kelly
Re:L'Amant Double	20/06/18 17:16:00	Alastair Banton
Hereditary	20/06/18 17:18:00	Alastair Banton
The Happy Prince	20/06/18 17:03:00	Susan Kelly
In The Fade	27/06/18 19:21:00	Susan Kelly
The Bookshop	13/07/18 16:34:00	Susan Kelly
Leave No Trace	15/07/18 23:09:00	Sara Nathan
Re: First Reformed	16/07/18 20:37:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Leave No Trace	29/07/18 18:04:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Re:Leave No Trace	30/07/18 10:53:00	Norman Redfern
Re:Re:Re:Leave No Trace	01/08/18 17:09:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:Re:Re:Leave No Trace	01/08/18 21:49:00	Alastair Banton
Mary Shelley	17/07/18 16:13:00	Susan Kelly
Re: A Prayer before Dawn	20/07/18 20:59:00	Joe Conneely
Summer 1993	21/07/18 18:21:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Apostasy	27/07/18 14:56:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Re:Apostasy	29/07/18 17:54:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Re:Apostasy	08/08/18 17:14:00	Susan Kelly
Mama Mia - Here we go again!	30/07/18 13:10:00	Chris Hurley
Re:Mama Mia - Here we go again!	09/08/18 11:24:00	Alastair Banton
Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema	09/08/18 11:28:00	Alastair Banton
Re:Re:Mama Mia - Here we go again!	09/08/18 22:28:00	Sara Nathan
Re:The Heiresses (Las herederas)	10/08/18 20:11:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Re:The Heiresses (Las herederas)	03/09/18 18:13:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:Re:The Heiresses (Las herederas)	04/09/18 11:14:00	Joe Conneely
Re:Re:Re:Re:The Heiresses (Las herederas)	04/09/18 17:07:00	Susan Kelly
The Escape	19/08/18 18:05:00	Susan Kelly
Re:BlacKkKlansman	27/08/18 15:08:00	Joe Conneely
Re: Cold War	02/09/18 13:41:00	Joe Conneely
The Children Act	05/09/18 11:09:00	Alastair Banton
Re:The Children Act	05/09/18 11:16:00	Alastair Banton
Re:The Children Act	11/09/18 08:35:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:The Children Act	07/10/18 21:22:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Re: Cold War	18/09/18 08:38:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:Re: Cold War	07/10/18 21:15:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Re:BlacKkKlansman	25/09/18 23:08:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:Re:BlacKkKlansman	26/09/18 09:08:00	Chris Hurley
Re:Re:Re:BlacKkKlansman	07/10/18 21:18:00	Sara Nathan
The Seagull	13/09/18 17:43:00	Susan Kelly
C'est La Vie	18/09/18 15:19:00	Susan Kelly
Crazy Rich Asians	19/09/18 17:06:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Crazy Rich Asians	07/10/18 21:11:00	Sara Nathan
The Little Stranger	21/09/18 17:46:00	Susan Kelly
The Miseducation of Cameron Post	27/09/18 17:04:00	Susan Kelly
Re:The Miseducation of Cameron Post	07/10/18 21:09:00	Sara Nathan
The Wife	06/10/18 18:20:00	Susan Kelly
Re:The Wife	07/10/18 21:07:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Re:The Wife	08/10/18 12:02:00	Alastair Banton
22 July	11/10/18 17:01:00	Susan Kelly
First Man	18/10/18 09:30:00	Alastair Banton
A Star is Born	24/10/18 16:07:00	Alastair Banton
Re:A Star is Born	03/11/18 09:05:00	Sara Nathan
Re:First Man	31/10/18 17:59:00	Susan Kelly
The Hate U Give	03/11/18 09:09:00	Sara Nathan
Can you ever forgive me?	04/11/18 19:29:00	Sara Nathan
The Favourite	04/11/18 20:26:00	Sara Nathan
Re:The Favourite	05/11/18 09:24:00	Susan Kelly
Dogman	05/11/18 21:27:00	Susan Kelly
Nancy	09/11/18 14:17:00	Susan Kelly
The Breadwinner	11/11/18 00:31:00	Sara Nathan
Early Man	11/11/18 00:35:00	Sara Nathan
Bohemian Rhapsody	13/11/18 08:59:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Bohemian Rhapsody	24/11/18 18:11:00	Sara Nathan
The Workshop (L'Atelier)	16/11/18 17:04:00	Susan Kelly
Juliet Naked	20/11/18 08:19:00	Susan Kelly
Widows	23/11/18 15:25:00	Susan Kelly
Stan & Ollie	24/11/18 18:13:00	Sara Nathan
Grace & Goliath	24/11/18 18:17:00	Sara Nathan
On the Basis of Sex	02/12/18 19:28:00	Susan Kelly
Re:On the Basis of Sex	07/12/18 14:35:00	Sara Nathan
Disobedience	03/12/18 21:36:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Disobedience	07/12/18 14:42:00	Sara Nathan
Wildlife	04/12/18 23:02:00	Susan Kelly
Green Book	07/12/18 14:39:00	Sara Nathan
Boy erased	07/12/18 14:46:00	Sara Nathan
The Old Man & the Gun	07/12/18 16:45:00	Susan Kelly
Re:The Old Man & the Gun	15/12/18 22:20:00	Sara Nathan
Dead in a Week or your Money Back	11/12/18 08:43:00	Susan Kelly
A fantastic Woman (Spanish with sub-titles)	15/12/18 22:24:00	Sara Nathan
Leave No trace	15/12/18 22:26:00	Sara Nathan
A Private Life	15/12/18 22:29:00	Sara Nathan
Shoplifters	17/12/18 21:22:00	Susan Kelly
Capernaum (Arabic and Amharic with subtitles)	22/12/18 16:57:00	Sara Nathan
All Is True	23/12/18 00:19:00	Sara Nathan
Mary Poppins returns	23/12/18 00:25:00	Sara Nathan
Roma (spanish and Mexito wth subtitles)	23/12/18 00:28:00	Sara Nathan
Vice	29/12/18 22:22:00	Sara Nathan
The Front-Runner	29/12/18 22:25:00	Sara Nathan
The Rider	29/12/18 22:37:00	Sara Nathan
Dogman (Italian with subtitles)	29/12/18 22:40:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Roma (spanish and Mexito wth subtitles)	30/12/18 17:12:00	Susan Kelly
Won't you be may neighbor?	30/12/18 22:40:00	Sara Nathan
Shoplifters (Japanese with sub-titles)	30/12/18 22:46:00	Sara Nathan
The Ballad of Buster Scraggs	01/01/19 00:51:00	Sara Nathan
Beautiful Boy	01/01/19 00:54:00	Sara Nathan
The receptionist (mostly Chinese with subtitles)	01/01/19 13:51:00	Sara Nathan
Lizzie	01/01/19 21:25:00	Sara Nathan
Re:Re:Roma (spanish and Mexito wth subtitles)	03/01/19 09:58:00	Chris Hurley
Re:Mary Poppins returns	07/01/19 20:56:00	Susan Kelly
Re:Re:Mary Poppins returns	15/01/19 12:49:00	Joe Conneely

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