Spike Jonze Vs Spike Lee

[Steve McQueen's ghost]

The winnah and champeen.......Spike Jonze! I find Lee's films whiney and preachy. I also thought he was very bitchy about how many times Sam Jackson used the word "nigger" in Jackie Brown. He implied that QT was a racist. Hmmm, that would make SL not only preachy, whiney and bitchy, but stupid as well! QT is not a racist.  Spike Jonze gave us Being John Malkovich!!!!! I love that flick!!!! John Cusack rules!!!

[ShanghaiOrange]

nigger

[Steve McQueen's ghost]

I only quoted the word. It is NOT a part of my vocabulary.

[godardian]

Spike Jonze has directed two very good movies. Spike Lee has directed at least two very good movies: Crooklyn and Summer of Sam. 25th Hour and Do the Right Thing certainly count as "good," too, so... I'd say Spike Lee is "ahead," at least.

He also probably looks at the world outside his window more often than Jonze (or Tarantino) does, which I think is a valuable trait despite his occasional self-righteousness.

[aclockworkjj]

I saw Lee speak once....I thought it was gonna be about film, instead I left hating the fact that I was a white man.  I like his films, but he needs to shut the fuck up at times...

Jonze....I have nothing but good thoughts of, and love his films.

[Steve McQueen's ghost]

As I said, Spike is very preachy. Oh yeah, aclockworkjj, I believe you owe Spike Lee an apology......for being white.

[godardian]

I have found Spike Lee preachy at times, but never has anything he's said made me feel bad about being white. Some people are just silly about race, and there are a whole lot of people of other races a whole lot sillier than Spike Lee about it. I would never say he's "very" preachy; I'd say he's "somewhat" "occasionally" preachy. Let's not paint with too broad a brush.

[aclockworkjj]

there are a whole lot of people of other races a whole lot sillier than Spike Lee about it.

totally....I agree completely.

But the hour and a half I heard him...I felt like I had been born with a silver spoon...and that's not the case.  

He basically went off about how inner city kids don't have opprotunities to learn film.  Sorry, but the school I went to was not hard to get into (only need a 19 on yer ACT or decent grades) as well as it was a cheap school, the loan anyone is eligible for covered almost most of the tution..so I have very little simpathy in those respects...

I guess I just wish he woulda talked more about his films or maybe his time at Morehouse.

[ElPandaRoyal]

Well, I don't think we can compare these two... Spike directed many more films, and I love many of them. Yes, he may talk waaaay to much, but I can separate the two things quite easily. Jonze did two truly amazing films, but we need to see more to be able to compare. Personally, I don't think I'll ever say that one is better than the other... My first impression is: they're different

John Cusack rules!!!

Yeeeeees he does.

[aclockworkjj]

I even liked the Levis commercial Jonze did....not to mention the Ikea one.

[Gold Trumpet]

I'll take Spike Lee simply on the fact he has made good movies. I still have yet to believe Jonze has even made a good movie: both movies are half baked in a sense they only seem like they stand on cute ideas for a plot and the actors walk around bragging about the cuteness. Adaptation faultered in that it thought of a good ending, an ending ala 8 1/2 but more for cleverness. To build up to the "fantastic" ending, they had the general conflict of art/hollywood. It was just all general talk without delving into anything beyond that general notion. Being John Malkovich just rested on the comedic idea of going into John Malkovich's head and exploring weird things that could come from it. It spent half the movie explaining the thing and the rest just building up a pretty airy human drama out of it. Short film extended, really.

I do have many problems with Lee films. I didn't like The 25th Hour nor did think many of his other greats were all that great. I need to revisit some, though. But he made Do the Right Thing and alone that movie brings him ahead of Jonze.

~rougerum

[Steve McQueen's ghost]

Hey RoyalTenenbaum,

Have ever seen Cusack give a bad performance? No. He's been in films that may not have beed that good, but he never gives a bad performance.

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I think that Chris Rock's character in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back was based on Spike Lee.  LOL!!!!

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I don't think that there is a problem with race in films. The same is true for whites and blacks. Some are over-rated and some are ignored.
Denzel Wasington farts and the critics swoon. Sam Jackson gives a great performance and is ignored.
Tom Hanks farts and the critics swoon. Michael Caine or Harrison Ford give a great performance and get ignored.

Incidentally, I find it INCREDIBLE that Washington gives a weird Sam Jackson impression in Training Day and gets a freaking Oscar for it!

[MrBurgerKing]

nigger

I'll take this opportunity to brag for my friend, who was cast as an extra in Spike Lee's upcoming film and got to have lunch with Spike and crew. Her words that they took forever to set up, but when they were done she was allowed to stay as long as she liked to watch the remaining scenes/set-ups.

Spike Jonze seems like a cool man. He gave a great interview on that Being John Malkovich DVD. Most interviews are just pricks talking about their love for working with another, but Jonze said it like it is on that DVD, holding nothing back.

[Weak2ndAct]

WTF is the point of this thread?  The only thing similar between these two filmmakers is their chosen moniker.  We should be having more productive debates... like which Paul Anderson is better  

[pookiethecat]

i cannot think of two working filmmakers more dissimilar than them...
one focuses on ironic yet, as goldtrumpet put it, "cutesy" movies, the other is a social commentator and inarguably one of the most controversial public figures on the topic of race in America.  both make films for different reasons about different things in different ways.