Joey Magidson
Spike Lee is one of the more singular filmmakers out there. The look, the feel, and the sound of one of his films is uniquely distinctive. You know when a Spike Lee joint is in front of you, to be sure. While the movies have sometimes ebbed and flowed in quality, as well as cultural imprint, Lee has carried on, always being himself. Now an Academy Award winner, he’s enjoying one of his more interesting creative periods, which continues on this week with the release of Highest 2 Lowest. So, what better time is there to look at his resume and rank his flicks?
In my review of Highest 2 Lowest (here), I said the following about Lee, in part:
There’s an inherent pleasure in watching a New York filmmaker play in the sandbox that is New York City. We’ve seen Spike Lee make many a film in the Big Apple before, to be sure, but Highest 2 Lowest represents the first time I’ve seen such joy coming from him in doing so. A lot of the fun that the movie generates is due to his shots of various aspects of NYC, which is saying something considering this also represents his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington. They’re both firing on all cylinders, too, making for a very easy watch.
Below, you can see my Lee ranking. It’s hard to make a list like this and not have Do The Right Thing in the top two or three, and that’s no exception here. For my money, 25th Hour is Lee’s overall best, though other works like BlackKklansman and Inside Man are not fare behind, while He Got Game is his most underrated. Where does Highest 2 Lowest rank for me? Find out next, and be sure to share your own lists as well.
Here now is my ranking of the films of Spike Lee. Behold:
24. Oldboy
23. She Hate Me
22. Bamboozled
21. Miracle at St. Anna
20. Girl 6
19. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
18. Summer of Sam
17. Red Hook Summer
16. Chi-Raq
15. She’s Gotta Have It
14. Jungle Fever
13. Mo’ Better Blues
12. Get on the Bus
11. School Daze
10. Crooklyn
8. Clockers
7. Da 5 Bloods
6. Malcolm X
5. He Got Game
4. Inside Man
3. BlacKkKlansman
2. Do the Right Thing
1. 25th Hour
What is your favorite film from Spike Lee? Let us know!
I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I strongly protest how relatively low you placed Summer of Sam, but I think I’m going to make a bit of a controversial claim on top of that and say… I think BlacKkKlansman is ranked too high.
Not surprised at all, and honestly it was fairly hard to figure out where to put that one. Every title here aside from Oldboy, She Hate Me, and Bamboozled I could have flipped up or down several spots, right up until the top two.