Spike Lee

Cited on the shows, as a critic is, not present.

Wikidata Q51566: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Do the Right Thing (1989); Mo' Better Blues (1990); Jungle Fever (1991); Clockers (1995); 4 Little Girls (1997); 25th Hour (2002); Inside Man (2006); Red Hook Summer (2012); She's Gotta Have It (2017); BlacKkKlansman (2018); Da 5 Bloods (2020); Malcolm X; She's Gotta Have It; unnamed Spike Lee Netflix film. Count them as writer (2 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Do the Right Thing (1989): 4 lines, within their own work

lineage (callback) · through Inside Man (2006), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Inside Man (the host's read). In Inside Man the police provide Sal's Pizza to the hostages.
“In Lee's 2006 film Inside Man, the police provide Sal's Pizza to the hostages.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:15:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (thematic follow-up) · through Jungle Fever (1991), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Jungle Fever (the host's read). Jungle Fever explored the Bensonhurst setting a couple of years later, rehearsing part of that story.
“which I think is explored in jungle fever a couple years later”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:14:34 · Wesley Morris (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (pseudo-sequel) · through Red Hook Summer (2012), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Red Hook Summer (the host's read). Mookie reappears delivering for a Sal's that has relocated to Red Hook, though Spike insisted it was not a sequel.
“he made a movie called Red Hook Summer.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:19:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (callback) · through 25th Hour (2002), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ 25th Hour (the host's read). 25th Hour repeats the racial slur montage as Ed Norton's mirror monologue; Wesley says the repeats made the original less effective for him but 25th Hour has greatness.
“There's a 25th hour version of that too.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:45:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Shopping for Death: 1 line

lineage (inspiration) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Shopping for Death ⇒ Do the Right Thing (the host's read). Spike got the idea after seeing the Hitchcock Presents episode where characters theorize hot weather increases violence.
“Spike Lee 1st got the idea for this film after watching the Alfred Hitchcock presents episode shopping for death”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:06:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

Eleanor Bumpurs: 1 line

lineage (real-events inspiration) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Eleanor Bumpurs ⇒ Do the Right Thing (the host's read). The film was inspired by Howard Beach and Eleanor Bumpers, plus a list of other deaths in 1980s New York.
“It was also inspired, as you mentioned, by the Howard Beach racial incident in Eleanor Bumpers.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:06:19 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Quentin Tarantino: 2 lines

people (feud) · them, directly: Spike Lee ⇒ Quentin Tarantino (the host's read). Sean thinks Spike's long clash with Tarantino is partly because Tarantino took things directly from this movie.
“So there's this longtime clash between Spike and Tarantino.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:50:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)
unmapped (borrowed line) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Quentin Tarantino (the host's read). Sean says Tarantino lifted the 'shoot me in a dream, wake up and apologize' line from Do the Right Thing into Reservoir Dogs.
“you shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize, which is something that I think Robin Harris says in the movie, which later appears in Reservoir Dogs”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:50:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

25th Hour (2002): 1 line, within their own work

lineage (callback) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ 25th Hour (the host's read). 25th Hour repeats the racial slur montage as Ed Norton's mirror monologue; Wesley says the repeats made the original less effective for him but 25th Hour has greatness.
“There's a 25th hour version of that too.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:45:38 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

Brian Koppelman: 1 line

lineage (lineage) · through She's Gotta Have It, which they directed: She's Gotta Have It ⇒ Brian Koppelman (the maker said so: Brian speaking about himself on the show). No first film from this era influenced Brian more than She's Gotta Have It, but Spike Lee is just too old for the list.
“there's no 1st film of someone around this generation that influenced me more than she's got to have it”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:34:40 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)

Inside Man (2006): 1 line, within their own work

lineage (callback) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Inside Man (the host's read). In Inside Man the police provide Sal's Pizza to the hostages.
“In Lee's 2006 film Inside Man, the police provide Sal's Pizza to the hostages.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:15:17 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Jungle Fever (1991): 1 line, within their own work

theme (thematic follow-up) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Jungle Fever (the host's read). Jungle Fever explored the Bensonhurst setting a couple of years later, rehearsing part of that story.
“which I think is explored in jungle fever a couple years later”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:14:34 · Wesley Morris (0.70 sure it was them)

Red Hook Summer (2012): 1 line, within their own work

lineage (pseudo-sequel) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Red Hook Summer (the host's read). Mookie reappears delivering for a Sal's that has relocated to Red Hook, though Spike insisted it was not a sequel.
“he made a movie called Red Hook Summer.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:19:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

True Romance (1993): 1 line

unmapped (borrowed speech) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ True Romance (the host's read). The Sicilians-and-Moors speech in True Romance echoes what Mookie says to Pino in Sal's.
“Well, Sicilians and and Africans and the Moors in that whole speech that appears in true romance, which is also something that Mookie essentially says to Pino”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:51:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Wes Anderson: 1 line

lineage (influence) · through Do the Right Thing (1989), which they directed: Do the Right Thing ⇒ Wes Anderson (the host's read). Direct address to camera (Mr. Senor Love Daddy and the like) was taken up by the whole indie revolution, Wes Anderson most of all.
“Using direct address into the camera as a style, which has been now jacked by basically the whole indie revolution that came after him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:50:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

What was said about them, by kind

career (5)

career (career): Ruth Carter → Spike Lee. Ruth Carter was the costume designer on this movie and on many of Spike's movies.
“the costume designer of this movie and the costume designer on many of Spike's movies”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:05:07 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Quentin Tarantino → Spike Lee. Spike (via Jordan) is named as a rare comparable in sought-after notoriety.
“Maybe Spike. It's like, because of Jordan.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Reservoir Dogs’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:27:39 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Joel and Ethan Coen → Spike Lee. The Coens are too old too: Ethan was born the same year as Spike.
“even Ethan, who's younger, was born, I think, the same year as Spike, 57”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:34:40 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Samuel L. Jackson → Spike Lee. Sam Jackson got his biggest break from Spike Lee, adding resonance to him presenting.
“Sam Jackson got his biggest break from Spike Lee.”
The Big Picture · Oscars 2019: Instant Reactions to ‘Green Book’ and the Two Warring Academies | The Oscars Show (Ep. 131) · 0:21:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Ruth E. Carter → Spike Lee. Carter thanked Spike Lee, who gave her a big break and who she has worked with many times.
“She gave an immediate shout out to Spike Lee, who, of course, was gave her a big break in the industry and she's worked with them many times.”
The Big Picture · Oscars 2019: Instant Reactions to ‘Green Book’ and the Two Warring Academies | The Oscars Show (Ep. 131) · 0:51:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

people (2)

people (collaborator): Spike Lee → Ernest Dickerson. Dickerson, Spike's DP here, went on to be a filmmaker without a huge public profile; the two storyboarded the final sequence together.
“him and Dickerson, storyboard, exactly what happens”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:44:59 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
people (feud): Spike Lee → Quentin Tarantino. Sean thinks Spike's long clash with Tarantino is partly because Tarantino took things directly from this movie.
“So there's this longtime clash between Spike and Tarantino.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:50:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.85 sure it was them)

unmapped (4)

unmapped (commercial work): Spike Lee → Michael Jordan. Spike was famous partly via Mars Blackmon and the Michael Jordan commercials, which colored critical reception.
“he was a famous person in part because of Mars Blackman in part because of Michael Jordan and the commercial work that he did.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:25:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (discovery): Spike Lee → Rosie Perez. Spike met Rosie Perez in a Brooklyn club and cast her though she said she was not an actress.
“he says you want to be in my movie, and she says, I'm not an actress, and he says, yes, you are.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:35:27 · Wesley Morris (0.65 sure it was them)
unmapped (sneaker culture): Spike Lee → Michael Jordan. Spike is credited with inventing sneakerhead cult and the rockstarification of NBA players.
“In many ways responsible for inventing that cult of sneakerhead.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:23:16 · Wesley Morris (0.55 sure it was them)
unmapped (moral clarity): Spike Lee → Katrina documentary (When the Levees Broke). When Spike can see things morally clearly, as in the Katrina documentary and 4 Little Girls, he is at his best.
“That's why the Katrina documentary is so effective and the 4 little girls are so effective”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:38:35 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

verdict (4)

verdict (verdict): BlacKkKlansman → Spike Lee. Says Black Klansman is not top ten Spike Lee, but his win was exciting.
“I wouldn't say that Black Lansman is in the top 10 of Spike Lee, original screen or adapted screenplays”
The Big Picture · Oscars 2019: Instant Reactions to ‘Green Book’ and the Two Warring Academies | The Oscars Show (Ep. 131) · 0:21:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): BlacKkKlansman → Spike Lee. Predicts Black Klansman will rank as roughly sixth best Spike Lee movie, though it got him his Oscar.
“Black Clansman, I think, will rightly take its place as like the 6th best Spike Lee movie.”
The Big Picture · Oscars 2019: Instant Reactions to ‘Green Book’ and the Two Warring Academies | The Oscars Show (Ep. 131) · 1:12:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Michael Bay → Spike Lee. Bay lost his March Madness matchup to Spike Lee two days before.
“He had just gotten turfed by Spike Lee.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:16:55 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Spike Lee → Denis Villeneuve. Spike has early passionate support and is expected to beat Villeneuve.
“I think Spike's going to beat Denise soundly.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:32:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

fun, about Spike Lee: Spike says only white viewers ask whether Mookie did the right thing; in 2016 Air Jordan released a Radio Raheem sneaker.
“Spike remarked that he has only ever been asked by white viewers whether Mookie did the right thing.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:14:55 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Spike Lee: His acceptance speech was bleeped in the first minute; rumored to have said not to turn the clock on.
“I don't know what Spike said for the 1st minute or so of his acceptance because it was bleeped out”
The Big Picture · Oscars 2019: Instant Reactions to ‘Green Book’ and the Two Warring Academies | The Oscars Show (Ep. 131) · 0:20:33 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)