Between Sundance starting and MLK weekend, it feels like the right time to take an Oscar break and talk about Spike’s last film.  Red Hook Summer falls in line with most of Spike’s later work: there’s two interesting stories here, the main one is about a kid from Atlanta sent up to Red Hook (Brooklyn) for the summer to spend time with his grandfather (Clarke Peters) for the first time.  The other story is about the grandfather himself; his life as a preacher and what brought him to this point in his life.

I brought up Spike’s later work because like some of those films, the two stories don’t always mesh together seamlessly.  The more noteworthy, interesting story revolves around the grandfather (that’s also a Spike trademark in a way; the story he really wants to tell hiding in the B story). I won’t ruin the twist for those of you who haven’t seen the film yet, but it definitely falls into the WHOA! category.

The film is streaming on Instant Netflix so a good number of you can take a couple hours out and judge for yourself.  It’s a ‘classic’ Spike Lee film in style (feels like an indie film, Brooklyn is represented all over the place) so if you’re a Spike completist (like I am), you have to see it.

Have a good weekend!