Line #22 Creator/SpikeLee


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8	->''"I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets."''
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10	Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia). Very political. Very polarizing. Very popular.
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12	A renowned film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor famous for dealing with controversial issues such as racism, politics, and urban violence in his films, Lee has received five UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations with one win (Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019 for ''Film/BlacKkKlansman''), a Student Academy Award and an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and won numerous other awards, including an UsefulNotes/EmmyAward and the 2013 Gish Prize.
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14	A [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity Brooklyn]] native, Lee made his directorial debut with the 1983 independent film ''Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads'', with his first major feature film, ''Film/ShesGottaHaveIt'', being released in 1986. He has since directed such films as ''Film/DoTheRightThing'', ''Film/MalcolmX'', ''Film/SummerOfSam'', ''Film/TwentyFifthHour'', ''Film/InsideMan'' and ''Film/BlacKkKlansman''. Lee's films are typically referred to as "Spike Lee Joints", and the closing credits always end with the phrases "By Any Means Necessary", "Ya Dig" and "Sho Nuff".
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16	In 2006, Lee directed the acclaimed documentary ''When the Levees Broke'', which detailed life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city's anti-flooding safeguards in 2005. In 2013, he was chosen to direct an English-language remake of the South Korean thriller ''{{Film/Oldboy\|2003}}''.
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18	Lee has starred or acted in ten of his own films. He played the lead role of Mookie in ''Do the Right Thing'' and major supporting roles in ''Malcolm X'', ''Girl 6'', and ''Mo Better Blues''. He reprised the role of Mars Blackmon from ''She's Gotta Have It'' for a series of Nike commercials also starring UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan.
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20	Famously attributed with [[TropeNamer coining the name for]] the "MagicalNegro" trope.
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22	Is the SitcomArchNemesis of Creator/QuentinTarantino, whom Lee has clashed with over his films' use of [[NWordPrivileges a certain word]].
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24	Don't mix him up with Creator/SpikeJonze.
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26	!!Selected Joints:
27	[[index]]
28	* ''Film/ShesGottaHaveIt'' (1986)
29	* ''Film/{{School Daze\|1988}}'' (1988)
30	* ''Film/DoTheRightThing'' (1989)
31	* ''Film/MoBetterBlues'' (1990)
32	* ''Film/JungleFever'' (1991)
33	* ''Film/MalcolmX'' (1992)
34	* ''Film/{{Crooklyn}}'' (1994)
35	* ''Film/{{Clockers}}'' (1995)
36	* ''Film/{{Girl 6}}'' (1996)
37	* ''Film/GetOnTheBus'' (1996)
38	* ''Film/FourLittleGirls'' (1997) (documentary feature)
39	* ''Film/HeGotGame'' (1998)
40	* ''Film/SummerOfSam'' (1999)
41	* ''Film/{{Bamboozled}}'' (2000)
42	* ''Film/TheOriginalKingsOfComedy'' (2000) (documentary feature)
43	* ''Film/TwentyFifthHour'' (2002)
44	* ''Film/SheHateMe'' (2004)
45	* ''Film/InsideMan'' (2006)
46	* ''Series/WhenTheLeveesBroke'' (2006)
47	* ''Film/MiracleAtStAnna'' (2008)
48	* ''Film/RedHookSummer'' (2012)
49	* ''Film/{{Oldboy\|2013}}'' (2013) (remake of the 2003 [[Film/Oldboy2003 South Korean film]])
50	* ''Film/DaSweetBloodOfJesus'' (2014) (remake of the 1973 CultClassic ''Film/GanjaAndHess'')
51	* ''Film/ChiRaq'' (2015)
52	* ''VideoGame/NBA2K[=16=]'' (''Livin' Da Dream'' [=MyCareer=] Mode, 2015)
53	* ''Series/ShesGottaHaveIt'' (2017–19) (Netflix series based on his first feature film)
54	* ''Film/BlacKkKlansman'' (2018) (Produced by Creator/JordanPeele; premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival as part of the main competition, where it won the Grand Prix.[[note]]Second Place[[/note]] Lee also won his first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward with this joint, winning for Best Adapted Screenplay.)
55	* ''Film/Da5Bloods'' (2020) (his first [[Creator/{{Netflix}} Netflix Original]] joint)
56	* ''Film/AmericanUtopia'' (2020) (a ConcertFilm from the Broadway residency for Music/DavidByrne's 2018 album ''Music/AmericanUtopia'')
57	[[/index]]
58
59	!!Tropes:
60	* BigApplesauce: He's one of the most iconic New York film makers and his work is often held up as some of the best revolving around the city.
61	* BittersweetEnding: You'd be hard pressed to find any of his films that has an uplifting ending. This trope is as close to a happy ending any of his characters would get.
62	* CreatorProvincialism: Most of his films are set in his hometown of New York City and often in Brooklyn, where he grew up.
63	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: A few of his film such as Film/DoTheRightThing, Film/InsideMan and Film/TwentyFifthHour take place over a single day.
64	* GreyAndGrayMorality: A defining feature of most of his works. Pretty much no one is entirely good or bad and almost everyone is given some redeeming or sympathetic traits as well as serious character flaws.
65	* InsistentTerminology: His movies are usually marketed as "A Spike Lee Joint" rather than "A Spike Lee Film".
66	* MoodWhiplash: A frequent feature of his movies is that they play like comedies until interrupted by literal or figurative violence.
67	* NoFourthWall: One of Spike Lee's famous trademarks is that [[Film/InsideMan he often]] [[Film/TwentyFifthHour has characters]] [[Film/GirlSix directly address]] [[Film/{{Clockers}} the camera]] [[Film/DoTheRightThing and/or audience]], and frequently places actors on dollies to achieve a gliding or rotating effect against the background of the shot. It's not so much ''breaking'' the fourth wall, as much as completely demolishing it.
68	* ProductionPosse: He has a giant stable of actors he often hires that is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Lee_filmography#Collaborations too long to list here]].
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Context Creator / SpikeLee