Spike Lee's film on Katrina hailed as most essential work of his career

[Horse with no Name]

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1851743,00.html
>>>snip
Calling the movie "arguably the most essential work of 20-year career", Newsweek said audiences might be surprised that the director, who made his name with a series of feature films addressing racial politics, "views the tragedy as a national betrayal rooted in class, not skin colour. To him, what the victimised share most is that they had very little to begin with and were left with nothing."
>>>>snip
In interviews, and in the documentary, Lee refused to reject the belief, held by many black residents, that the government bombed the levees, flooding the poorest areas to spare the wealthiest ones, such as the French Quarter, which is the biggest draw for tourists. "We let people say what they think," he said, noting the government did destroy levees during the 1927 Great Flood of Mississippi. "We have people from the Lower Ninth Ward who swear on a stack of Bibles they heard explosions. We have scientists say that it wasn't explosions, that they heard water going through a levee."

He told CNN: "I don't put anything past the US government. I don't find it too far-fetched that they tried to displace all the black people out of New Orleans."

The main culprits to emerge from the documentary are the Army Corps of Engineers, for how they built the levees, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for how it mishandled the crisis.

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. This is the one movie I will go to see this summer

:kick:

[givemebackmycountry]

3. You won't have to...

It will premier on HBO on 8/21 at 9:00 pm est

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/synopsis.html

[Nikki Stone 1]

6. Dammit, I don't have cable.

:(

[Stardust]

28. dupe

[VOX]

35. Thanks for the heads-up re date/time. n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Spike Lee's career is undergoing a resurgence.

His Inside Man was a big hit (critically and financially) earlier this year.

His last documentary, Three Little Girls, is considered a classic of the genre.

I, for one, will be seeing this movie.

[annm4peace]

5. When will the DVD come out?

Many of us don't have HBO, when do you think it might come out on DVD?

[RamboLiberal]

33. DVD - Probably a few months from now

Baghdad ER is just coming out on DVD and I believe that premiered on HBO in the spring?

I just ordered that one. Curses that I don't have HBO on cable, but I'm not going to pay extra to get it for the rare film like Spike Lee's and Baghdad ER.

[KeepItReal]

8. No resurgence... Spike is continuing to better his craft

From "She's Gotta Have it" and "School Daze" early in his career to "X" and then on to "25th Hour" and "Inside Man" more recently - Spike has just gotten better and better.

[chimpymustgo]

36. "25th Hour" - a GREAT movie. Should have won an Oscar for Spike and

Edward Norton.

That scene in the desert, the dialogue - unforgettable - one of the best in American cinematography.

[YOY]

38. Amen

Great flick! Very underrated!

[peekaloo]

39. That film and 'Bamboozled' are my two favorites.

the ending to 25th Hour was heartbreaking.

[EFerrari]

4. Does anyone feel like it's just too soon? I mean, we love Lee

and I'm glad he made this film. I just don't know if I can bring myself to watch it yet.

[Horse with no Name]

7. I think we need to see it

so we can bring the plight of the many families that are still displaced to the foreground again.
It needs to be painful because our government has so much to be ashamed of, and by their proxy, we have so much to be ashamed of.

[Binka]

9. Agree! This Is A Much Needed Expose

The rivers gonna run. Start. NOW!

[KeepItReal]

10. Bush & Co. and other inept, apathetic government-types need this film

...more than you or I.

This particular government is shame-based, when it comes to doing the right thing. If they are accused of f*cking up in the media, *that's* when they start to do the right thing (no pun intended).

[Binka]

17. God-Damn Right A Narcissist Needs To Have His/Her Nose Rubbed In Shit

It is the ONLY way to make these bastards smell the stench. Having dealt with one where I tried reason, logic, and empathy I soon realized I had to kick him and kick him hard to get his fucking attention. It sounds harsh but a narcissist is an ugly bitch and it needs to be beat and beat hard.

[EFerrari]

12. I don't think I've ever stopped seeing it. We should poll DU to see what

it is that people remember. For me, it's all visual. We never watch teevee news and during Katrina, we never turned it off -- as if that would help somehow. What a terrible helpless feeling that was.

[Horse with no Name]

15. Me either

but there HAS been another season of American Idol in between then and now...

[Balderdash]

37. What a terrible helpless feeling that was...

Yup. It's visual for me too but do you remeber the smell? If we smell something similar now my grandson will say, "it smells like hurricane."

I'm going to watch Spike Lee's movie because I want to make sure that he gets it right. I want people to know that the "looting" that the media reported on in NOLA proper was not looting but desparate people looking for food and water and diapers and stuff to survive on. This nation needs to see how long people waited for help, stuck in "shelters" without electricity, no food or water. I want the nation to see and hear about the truly heroic people who had just been through the worse disaster and how the people of Louisiana pulled together for each other.

[EFerrari]

41. Welcome to DU, Balderdash.

:)

[pitohui]

14. yes, i'm at the same place -- just be patient. w yourself

i suspect he wouldn't want you to harm yourself, give yourself time, strongly suspect this one will be a classic and when we're ready, it will be there

[laundry_queen]

20. Normally I would agree.

However with many of the disaster areas still looking like they did almost a year ago, and so many hundreds of thousands still displaced, and with the gov't screw ups, I say anything that keeps this in the news is good.

[EFerrari]

23. Oh, I agree. But in all honestly, I don't think I can watch. The Gulf

Coast needs ALL the coverage it can get. Everything anyone can do. I think I just have Bush atrocity PTSD or something. I don't mean to discourage anyone from watching. I just don't think I can.

[Stardust]

29. If it had merely been a natural disaster, I think it would be too soon.

But since the disaster was compounded by Bushco's gross mismanagement and cruel disregard of its desperate citizens, I think it's imperative that we get the message out and hammer it home as much as possible before the Mid-term Elections.

[rubberducky]

11. I think that we should never forget....

how our government ignored the plight of the Katrina victims. The days that ticked by with people on our tv screens begging for clean water and food. How unbelievable that something like that could happen in America. People who`s lives were turned upside down while our gov. happily handed out lucritive contracts to more of thier cronies. :-(

[pitohui]

13. good for him

i'm not ready to see this movie for personal reasons of being too stressed, fuck, i suffer stress from "the day after tomorrow" at this time of century, but...i feel that class has quietly been an overlooked part of lee's work for a long time

"summer of sam" springs to mind, as does "the 25th hour"


when i'm a little more steady on my feet, i look forward to seeing this one, i'm confident it's in good hands

[Horse with no Name]

16. I hope you have been able to get your life together

since then. I can't imagine how devastating this was for you.:hug:

[pitohui]

22. thanks, horse

i'm okay, the only way forward is forward

a lot of people had it a lot worse

[Cameron27]

18. The continued suffering of the people

of New Orleans is a disgrace. An American city was destroyed because of the failures of this government. A hurricane is an unavoidable tragedy of nature, the failure of the levees was homocidal negligence. I can't even speak to the assertion that there was a deliberate sabotage involved....it's unspeakable butchery if true.

We know all this, and we all know of the criminal mishandling of resources in the aftermath of the hurricane, but I don't think any of us can fully understand the emotional, physical and economic struggle that the people of New Orleans and Mississippi continue to face day after day.

I sincerely hope this film sparks or renews revulsion towards this damned atrocity called the bush administration. Somehow we as democrats need to find a way to push to get funds to our neighbors to help rebuild their lives and to rebuild one of the most magnificent cities in the world.

Is there a democratic leader who is speaking about this? Am I missing something?

The world has gone mad.

[pitohui]

21. there has been a concerted attack on democratic leaders speaking out

it has been vicious

as an example, our governor, kathleen blanco was recently attacked in the media for a completely fabricated story where they claimed she was trying to place tolls on the interstates!

to any sane person, it was obviously planted

the story came from prostitute impregnator GOP senator david vitter

and yet some stupid people are still blaming blanco and utterly convinced she was trying to place toll booths on the interstate -- this of the lady who saved our butt in katrina because under her governorship is the first time ever in human history that "contra flow" worked!

the viciousness of media attacks on democrats trying to help us has been truly scary, the press is bought and sold is all i can say

gov. blanco saved thousands if not tens of thousands of lives because she got off her duff and worked on contraflow (which was not working smoothly as recently as dennis/july 2005) -- she saved my life and the life of many another who would not have otherwise gotten to safety because they evacuated at the last minute -- when "stuff" went wrong w. dennis in july she got on the horn w. parish presidents AND SHE FIXED IT so people with cars could get out safely

and so her reward is to have lies spread that she is going to block the interstates w. stupid toll booths

gop governor mike foster ruled for 8 years, he did dipshit except get the motorcycle helmet laws revoked so death in bike accidents immediately doubled -- how do these people live w. themselves? he did NOTHING about contra flow even though this atlantic hurricane cycle started in 1995! blanco, as a freshman governor did more in a short span of time than he will do in his entire life


this planet sucks, no intelligent life here, beam me up!

[Cameron27]

24. Thanks, I honestly didn't know all of that...

God it's worse than I thought.

[Vidar]

19. Good for Spike!

[earth mom]

25. Does anyone know if or when it will be on DVD? I don't have HBO

or cable. :banghead:

[Stardust]

30. dupe

[Klimmer]

26. About the levees . . .

I think there is some truth to the levees being bombed and it must be investigated . . .

Thursday, September 15, 2005
Explosive Residue Found on Failed Levee Debris:
http://cytations.blogspot.com/2005/09/explosive-residue-found-on-failed.html

Farrakhan visits Charlotte, criticizes federal response
07:13 PM EDT on Monday, September 12, 2005
By ANNA CROWLEY / 6NEWS:
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/091205-ad-wcnc-farrakhan.4fb21767.html

VIDEO: "They Blew it!" Steel & Concrete Twisted & Ripped:
http://www.halturnershow.com/leveeboom.rm.ram

[greyl]

27. "Artists define themselves by their body of work" - Spike Lee

Even though he leaves room for tinfoil with this one, I can't wait to see it, and give props to this joint.

[Stardust]

31. For those without cable, I can tape it for you.

[BlueIris]

32. Kickin' it. Viva la Spike!!!

Okay, I'm a rabid fan. So sue me.

[Stockholm]

34. New Orleans could very well lose GOP the election

This should be on every Billboard in America

[La Coliniere]

40. Yeah Spike!

I've always been a fan. Even his films that are "failures" are far more interesting than most of what Hollywood has to offer these days. I won't miss this one.

[gully]

42. "views the tragedy as a national betrayal rooted in class, not skin color"

Which is exactly what it was. I can't wait to see this film.

[texpatriot2004]

43. Kick it for Katrina Victims nm

[babylonsister]

44. Kick and nom! Cannot wait! nt

[Anita Garcia]

45. kick and rec'd

All information and attention on the aftermath of Katrina is needed and necessary.