Category: Lee, Spike

Films written and/or directed by Spike Lee

Reel 84: Denzel On the Case, Part 1

This is the first of two episodes we’ll be doing, featuring Denzel Washington as a law enforcement officer of some kind.

We open up with The Mighty Quinn, a 1989 film that Washington made right on the heels of his stint in the television show St. Elsewhere. (Don’t mistake it for his film debut, though.) Denzel is a police officer on a Caribbean island and there are some strange doings happening, which point to a good friend of his as the culprit. It’s a story of comedy, corruption, government interference, voodoo, cool drinks and hot music as he works to crack the case.

From there we return to the mainland and see our man in New York City, for Inside Man (2006), directed by Spike Lee. This is a crime thriller that has Denzel’s character matching wits with a bank robber. There are lots of twists and turns and you’re never sure who the titular “inside man” is until you’re very close to the end—although there are lots of breadcrumbs to help you figure it out. If, that is, you know how to read them.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

From the modern-day pieces of today’s episode, we’re going to jump to a period piece. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) is set in post-war California. There’s a mystery to be solved, and Denzel’s the man to solve it. Finally, we wrap this package up with Out of Time (2003), which returns Denzel to the present day, but he’s back in a tropical (well, subtropical, anyway) location to solve a murder before it can be pinned on him. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 2: Malcolm X, Selma

In today’s episode, Sean and Claude take a look at two films about civil rights leaders of the 1960s: Malcolm X (1992), directed by Spike Lee, and Selma (2014), directed by Ava DuVernay.

In general, people have very different images of these two icons in their heads: Martin Luther King as the nonviolent, peaceful “passive resistance” guy and Malcolm X as a radical out to get what he wants “By Any Means Necessary”. And for many, that painted him as a violent person.

But Malcolm X’s tactics were steeped in defense, not offense. And unfortunately his break from the Nation of Islam crowd came just a little too late. However, in reviewing these films we discover that there were many more things these men had in common than not.

Your podcatcher may or may not have this show available (the show as a whole is still worming its way into directories), but you can always download or listen to it here: