I think it’s long past due we start talking about Spike Lee in the same reverence and awe we talk about other distinctly American filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and John Huston. Here sits a director in his 60’s, prolifically making movies just as vibrant, vital, and varied (I hate that most of his career has been spent writing his movies off as just black movies; they unapologetically are, but that unfairly diminishes them in a backhanded way) as the day he got a budget to make his first feature-length movie over three decades ago, and with the exception of a couple of head-scratchers — I’m still not positive Da Sweet Blood of Jesus and his Oldboy remake actually exist and I saw them both in a movie theater — he has never stopped swinging for fences. Even when he misses, it’s always interesting and guaranteed to generate some conversation. Yet beyond how full-throated, tragically relevant and thought-provoking his films are, we often neglect that Spike never stopped growing. He never stopped working with interesting young talent and getting blustery yet nuanced performances out of them. He never stopped challenging his own preconceived notions about sex, gender and race (he still stumbles in a couple of those categories, but he tries) and most interestingly, he never stopped experimenting with the form. (more…)