Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, we have the latest Spike Lee joint leading the charge in Highest 2 Lowest, which did not quite get the attention it deserved last year. This week also features several 4K and Blu-ray re-releases, as well as a really interesting John Singleton box set coming on the Criterion Collection. What else is hitting shelves? Read on to find out…
Joey’s Top Pick
Highest 2 Lowest
Spike Lee’s latest collaboration with Denzel Washington returns both to New York City for a remix of the Akira Kurosawa film High and Low. This movie feels very much like a vintage Lee/Washington pairing, with the former clearly relishing shooting in NYC, while the latter just vibes with this filmmaker better than almost anyone. The flick is far from perfect, to be sure, but the good very much outweighs the bad with this very well made effort. Plus, Spike back in the Big Apple is just a cinematic pleasure. My review of the film here began like so:
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.
Highest 2 Lowest is probably mid-level Lee, but there’s a playfulness on display that we don’t always get to see. His Academy Award, as well as elder statesman status in the industry, has allowed him to enter a new phase in his career. Mellow is never what you’d use to define Lee or one of his joints, but this flick has an occasional calmness that comes close to it. Even if it wasn’t quality cinema, it would be a curiosity. Luckily, it’s much more than that.
Also Available This Week
Boxcar Bertha (4K)
Cold Storage
Dracula
Innerspace (4K)
Nashville (Blu-ray)
The Novice
Private Benjamin (Blu-ray)
Soldier (4K)
Something’s Gotta Give (Blu-ray)
Throw Momma From the Train (4K)
Criterion Corner
John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy
From The Criterion Collection: “With his electrifying debut feature, Boyz n the Hood, John Singleton brought his South Central Los Angeles community to the screen with a bracing immediacy that rocked 1990s American cinema and popular culture. Poetic Justice and Baby Boy completed what the director considered his Hood Trilogy, a series of richly nuanced films that constitute a dramatic universe all their own. Featuring remarkable performances from supernova talents like Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Bassett, Regina King, Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, and Taraji P. Henson, these indelible tales of urban life explore the experience of growing up Black and searching for one’s place in the world.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
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