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This article originally ran in August 2012 and has been updated to include the directors most recent films.
It is hard to fathom that Spike Lee is 63 years old.
How can an artist of such vitality now be a senior citizen?
Remarkably, his passion and bravura havent diminished an iota with age.
How many 31-year-old films are still so ahead of their time?
Hes made biopics (Malcolm X) and 9/11 elegies (25th Hour).
WithDa 5 Bloodsarriving on Netflix, we offer this ranking of his formidable oeuvre.
The nations pain, joy, and aspirations are writ large across these movies.
At 63, he remains committed to shaping that history.
But this low-budget 2004 curio is nothing but half-formulated, provocative notions that refuse to congeal.
Sadly, thats the best part of the film.
Its an intriguing curiosity, which isnt the same as saying its all that good.
Still, Lees archetypes are far more enjoyable to listen to talk than those of most other directors.
I just wanted to tell the story of this young girl who was coming of age during that time.
And also to show an African-American family that was not dysfunctional; that was headed by two parents.
Its sad how radical that still seems.
Hughley, and Cedric the Entertainer right before they all blew up and careened into all different directions.
(Delroy Lindos Paul is instantly one of the most riveting, fascinating characters of Lees career.)
The film is in some ways Lee taking advantage of this moment to make asmuchmovie as he can.
No filmmaker has earned that right more.
And the less said about Snipess postJungle Fevercareer the better.
(Lee wrote the script himself.)
As is Lees wont, the film meanders through some vivid, if unnecessary subplots.
(Even the movies most passionate admirers may have forgotten Milla Jovovichs hooker story line.)
But Allen, who had just started his NBA career, more than holds his own against Washington.
And you know what?
We still loved it.
The movie is a cauldron of huge emotions constantly boiling over, and Lee just lets them run wild.
So, yeah, its a mess.
But what a glorious mess it is.
Its also funny and funky in the way his best films are.
Lees filled with anger, but hes having a blast getting you, and himself, riled up.
7.Bamboozled(2000)
Incisive social critique or tone-deaf, hyperbolic satire?
Its amazing Lee ever got to make another Hollywood movie after this.
Its roughshod charm is infectious.
5.Inside Man(2006)
Turns out, Lee can make a perfectly straightforward, compelling thriller.
And that closing scene is a knockout.
The film has to look hot, too.
The audience should feel like its suffocating, likeIn the Heat of the Night.
