Man.

Revisiting Spike Lee’s filmography and his middle (He Got Game, Summer of Sam, 25th Hour, Inside Man) is truly, truly, truly elite.

I re-watched Clockers (1995, also in that middle) last night and Spike was on a different level, man.

In ways, it feels like film noir.

It has an crime that a morally ambiguous cop is attempting to get to the bottom of, extensive flashbacks, Terence Blanchard almost is a film noir composer, Malik Hassan Sayeed’s cinematography has stark lightning.

There’s just no damsel. No love.

Which almost is the point.

Spike has his signature double dolly, of course.

But, in this middle, he uses these repeat cuts. I like calling them hiccups.

But, Spike uses them so damn well.

He uses it in He Got Game as well.

They’re just so effective.

It’s an instant replay in the instance.

This is just too good of a sequence.

Spike explained exactly how cops are in 1995, to anyone who’d listen, and showed how they abuse their discretion.

He revisits this sort of lightning in the Inside Man interrogations.

But, it just feels like this film should be considered film noir.

This sequence, man.

I really do honor and respect Do The Right Thing, and Malcolm X.

But, man.

Considering that Bamboozled is part of the middle as well?

Team ARC.

Always Read the Credits.

Which is interesting because Scorsese and Thelma use editing so, so good in Cape Fear.

Also.

I just genuinely loved when he put himself in his films.

A bad faith reading is that it’s just narcissism.

But, I just love that he owns that this is his story and he wants to be part of that world that he’s telling.

It was always fun when Stan Lee made his cameo in Marvel films, acknowledging that he created the universe.

I just think it’s also fun for the other S. Lee to appear as well.

Here’s a take.

Clockers wrestles with the repressed, libidinal sexual energy white cops feel towards black men, and their need to dominate and degrade stems from an attempt to deflect from their sense of sexual inferiority.

Alright, last tweet on this.

1. Spike and Terence Blanchard pair truly odd songs with their visuals. But, it always works and I can’t figure out how.

2. Strike calls out for his mom while being choked by a cop.