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Spike Lee’s latest cinematic salvo, She Hate Me, is a sprawling, exhausting, ambitious mess of a movie that tries to be thematically dense but is ultimately substantively spare. A director often accused of adopting a strident tone when it comes to hot-button topics, his follow-up to 2002’s critically acclaimed and criminally overlooked 25th Hour deals with nothing less than the very identity of the modern African-American male, lipstick lesbians becoming parents, the sham that is American medicine, corporate greed and whistle blowing, some not-so-subtle Bush bashing (indeed, the opening credits’ final image is that of President George W. Bush on a three dollar bill) and tangentially, the aftereffects of Watergate. Lee narratively whipsaws between all of the aforementioned and at 130 minutes, She Hate Me belabors its points - despite occasional bursts of humor - and wears out its welcome long before the final credits roll.

The film, co-written by Lee with Michael Genet, centers on John Henry Armstrong (Anthony Mackie), a young, powerful executive with the fictional Progeia corporation, a company on the verge of introducing an AIDS vaccine that would rock the pharmaceutical world and change lives. A sudden, catastrophic tragedy rocks Progeia just as the FDA rejects the firm’s application for approval. John comes into possession of volatile information that, following a desperate act of sabotage by his employers, he’s forced to act upon.

Soon, strapped for cash and backed against the figurative wall, John’s ex-girlfriend (she dumped him for another woman), Fatima (Kerry Washington) proposes that he impregnate her and lesbian friends for 10 grand a pop. Initially reluctant, John goes ahead with her plan; soon, he’s morally conflicted yet rolling in those all-American greenbacks. Despite protests from his family and friends, John continues his breeding odyssey with what appears to be most of Manhattan’s gay female community.

Mixed into these dueling storylines are those of Simona Bonasera (Monica Bellucci), a gay Mafia daughter who visits John; the tale of Frank Wells (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the African-American security guard who busted the Watergate burglars and John’s parents’ marriage showing signs of strain as his father’s (Jim Brown) diabetes worsens. It’s enough to make your head spin and at times, She Hate Me threatens to derail but thanks to Anthony Mackie’s surprisingly strong and fearless performance as the modern-day martyr John Henry Armstrong (as well as strong turns from Washington, Woody Harrelson, Ellen Barkin, John Turturro and Bellucci), Lee’s diatribe about nearly everything from the last two years doesn’t stray (too often) into the area reserved for the likes of hyper-paranoiacs like Oliver Stone.

Hyperbolic cinematic exercises notwithstanding, She Hate Me is bracing stuff; Lee, never one to shy away from depicting human sexuality and violence with equal vigor, gets a chance to showcase both. A graphic suicide scene as well as numerous scenes of John working his magic in bed may send more squeamish viewers scrambling for the remote. It’s to Lee’s credit that when he goes for the end zone, he goes full-throttle and expects viewers to tag along for the ride. An American filmmaker whose passion and enthusiasm are enough to warrant watching even his more egregious missteps, Lee has crafted a rambling, provocative and occasionally incoherent joint this time out but it’s rarely anything less than completely engaging.

The DVD

The Video:

Matthew Libatique’s gritty, verite cinematography is given a fine 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic transfer that occasionally shows a little grain or edge enhancement. Overall, it’s a nice presentation of somewhat difficult material; Lee changes filters, film stock and lighting with such frequency that a more subpar transfer might have made the film much less watchable than it is.

The Audio:

Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 stereo are onboard She Hate Me; your speakers won’t get too much of a workout (except for one nifty moment where, during a Harrelson motivation speech, the word “you” is spread to four different speakers in rapid succession). Just be sure your volume’s turned down during the raunchy sex scenes

Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Duel) is the sole credit as screenwriter, although other uncredited screenwriters have been said to have helped.  Regardless of who gets the credit for the words, this is Spielberg’s film all of the way, and even if there weren’t one word of dialogue in the film, it would still be a cinematic spectacle worth every penny of the price of admission.  The special effects are gorgeous, the music beautiful, the acting is passionate, and the direction absolutely inspired.  Despite the presence of some trademark cutesy Spielberg-isms, this remains thoughtful and captivating fare for young and old alike.

Richard Dreyfuss (American Graffiti, Stakeout) stars as Muncie, Indiana repairman Roy Neary, one of many people in the world to have experienced a close encounter with a UFO.  The others that have experienced the phenomenon are also exhibiting the same odd behavior — burnt skin and an obsession with a certain mountainous shape that they see in nearly everything.  What does it all mean?  They all have an insatiable desire to find out, as these people find an overwhelming need to converge to one particular area, where the US military also plans to set up for what they feel may be a close encounter of the third kind — contact with extraterrestrial life.

Although most of the accolade have gone to the technical brilliance of the film, ultimately the film works because of the strength of the characters and their desire to solve mysteries in their own behavior.  Dreyfuss performance as a man plagued with newfound quirks provides the necessary backbone to make this very fanciful premise soar, and equally up to task is Teri Garr (Young Frankenstein, Tootsie) as Neary’s long-suffering wife that is hoping for her husband’s normalcy to return.  Even the child actors are very believable, exhibiting a natural curiosity to the events that make perfect sense within the context of the story.  This would be the first of many films for Spielberg that utilized child actors as main performers, but future efforts just never seem to capture the spirit of how children truly behave as well as this effort.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a classic science fiction epic that proved to the world that Jaws was no fluke.  if anything, it was an ambitious effort that could have easily backfired if it were in anyone else’s hands, but as crafted by one of the great populist directors in the history of cinema, it remains a thought-provoking, challenging, and vastly entertaining film for sci-fi junkies, and even for those that normally eschew UFO films.  The humanity of the story might take a backseat to the technical aspects, but this is as fine a lyrical take on the beauty of space and its endless possibilities as there has been since Kubrick’s 2001. 

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This is a movie I’ll need to see a few more times. I understood everything that was happening in I Love Huckabees, but I have no idea what writer-director David O. Russell meant by it.

The movie plays with the meaning of it all and existentialism, which is no easy thing to explain, and I’m not going to. All the characters talk about it, and it sounded great, but after the movie ended, I don’t know what they finally found or realised.

Excellent performances from a very impressive cast that includes Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Isabelle Huppert, Naomi Watts, Jude Law, and the two better ones, Mark Wahlberg and Jason Schwartzman who are brilliant.

The score is worth talking about cause it’s great, composed by Jon Brion who also worked on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind score. Both are very similar but different, and great.

I Love Huckabees is a great movie right now (one of the best of the year, not top 5, but up there), with beautiful performances, an excellent score, and lots to think about, and when I get to that, I’ll understand its meaning, which I’m sure It’ll be after a few more viewings. I’ll take a little work, this isn’t for everybody, but for me, after I get it, I know I’ll love it even more.

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Features: Full Screen, Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Stereo), Subtitles: English. Producer and writer commentary track, Model test video, Production and publicity photo gallery, Studio plans, Who’s Who.



The Robots of Death:



The Robots of Death may not be the greatest Dr. Who adventure but it certainly is one of the most tightly scripted and classically formulaic of the Tom Baker era. Coming between Faces of Evil and (one of the best Baker episodes) The Talons of Wen-Chiang, The Robots of Death originally aired in four parts from January 29^th through February 19^th 1977.

The story is straight Science Fiction. When the Doctor and his newly acquired companion Leela arrive on a gargantuan mining ship they find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery. One by one the crew of the Sandminer is being killed off, but by whom? The ship’s officers, confounded in their investigation detain the Doctor and Leela thinking that these strangers must be the prime suspects. After a bit of the usual Tom Baker magic the time/space travelers win their freedom and join the hunt for the killer.

The Sandminer is a commercial vessel manned by highly decadent humans doing little more than administrative duties and staffed by a large number of finely crafted automatons. These metal skinned robots are soft spoken, single minded and strikingly Deco in design. They’re also (at least theoretically) incapable of murder and mainly ignored by the humans. Even the Doctor himself has doubts about the robot’s ability to commit homicide. His investigation quickly reveals a mastermind behind the machines, one Taren Capel. But what is Capel’s motivation and where is he hiding?

The Robots of Death has a lot to offer Tom Baker fans. The dialogue, particularly between Baker and Louise Jameson (Leela) is crisp and witty. The story, borrowing heavily from Asimov, is interesting enough to keep you watching and the design of the sets and costumes is top notch. Of particular note are the similarities to 1977’s big screen space adventure Star Wars. The Robots of Death features various design elements that mirror Star Wars’ counterparts including simple green screen displays, banks of unlabeled control switches and lights and of course the robots themselves which look like shoestring budget versions of C3-P0.

The Picture:

As with the other installments of the Dr. Who series on DVD the BBC presents us with a lovingly created transfer. The episode was taken from 1991 era D3 copies of the original Quadraplex video masters. The resulting files were then treated to digital noise reduction, dirt and scratch removal and each scene was adjusted for color balance. The result is a beautiful image on screen that matches and in some cases surpasses the original broadcast clarity.

The Sound:

As with the visual elements the sound for this episode is very crisp and clear. The original stereo soundtrack has been cleaned up and sounds as good as it did when originally aired. You won’t find any fancy panning across the sound stage or artificially enhanced thundering lows, just a clean, serviceable audio track that does the episode justice.



The Extras:

One of the great things about the BBC’s handling of these releases is that they’re adding some great special features to each disc. In this case you get a commentary track with producer Philip Hinchcliffe and writer Chris Boucher who fondly recall their involvement with Dr. Who in general and the mechanics of this episode in particular. Next is a set of unused shots of the exterior of the mining vehicle. These clips, once the property of the Dr. Who Production Office and now part of a private collection, were loaned out for inclusion here. Additional extras include a production and publicity photo gallery, a floor plan of the sets that were used and the same Who’s Who section that’s included on all of the US Dr. Who discs.



Conclusion:

I’m not a big fan of The Robots of Death but for many it’s a Baker favorite. As usual the BBC offers a fantastic disc with great images, good sound and a surprisingly eclectic collection of extras. If you’re a Doctor Who fan you’ll want each and every one of these discs in your collection. If you’re new to these shows and interested in sampling Dr. Who this would be a great place to start. Highly Recommended.

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He Got Game ***1/2 (out of 5) (1998)

Cast: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson, Hill Harper

Directed by Spike Lee

  A man is released for a week from a penitentiary in order to try to coax his estranged basketball phenom son to go to Big State University, which is the givernor’s alma mater, in exchange for a shortened sentence. Unfortunately, his son is also getting everyone else in his life to play tug-of-war on his decision of what university to go to, showering him with special deals and lucrative offers. What makes it even harder is that the father was in jail for killing his mother.

Spike Lee does a masterful job creating a beautiful looking and at times powerfully moving look at the state of today’s basketball recruitment process and also painting a lovely story between a father and son struggling to deal with hate and past sins. Lee ties in much religious themes, which at first seemed gimmicky, but makes sense after a while since the film deals with temptation, redemption and salvation. It became bogged down a bit by one too many awkward scenes and a strange choice for a score by Aaron Copland which doesn’t jibe well given the type of film it is. Washington is terrific as usual, but NBA hoopster Ray Allen gives the most impressive performance as the talented ballplayer. A much overlooked gem by Lee and one of his best.

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