August 22, 2025 • 51 mins
Jason and Rosie dive deep into Spike Lee's latest film 'Highest 2 Lowest', exploring its themes, character dynamics, and cinematic techniques. They reflect on their experience at the premiere, analyze the adaptation from Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low', and delve into the cultural significance of New York City as portrayed in the film.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Warning. Today's episode contained spoilers for Spike Lee's newest feature film,
Highest Lowest. Hello, my name is Jas Cacio and I'm
(00:27):
Rosie Night and welcome back to x ray vision of
the podcast Will We Dive Be to your favorite shows, movies,
comics of pop culture Company Roma our podcast where we're
bringing you three episodes a week.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
In today's final episode of The Popcorn pop Out, we
are reviewing the latest from legendary director Spike Lee and
his ode to the iconic director and his friend Charactersaur.
We attended the premiere. We will be updating you on that.
Me and Jason were bemused and baffled and delighted because
(00:59):
we were definitely we were like, how did we get
invited here? It was great, We had a great time.
Then we're going to review the movie, which spoilerlat if
you follow us on that box, do you know we
both enjoyed haughtily. And then you had Rosie explains it
all UK edition. Well, now Jason's going to explain it
well New York edition and talk about what these movies
mean as a New Yorker.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
But first the airlock. Okay, so we went to last week,
we went to the was it a premier or was
it LA premiere? Okay, So we went to the LA
premiere of Spike Lee's latest film, Highest lowist and adaptation
(01:39):
of the Akira Kurosawa masterpiece High and Low, his fifth
collaboration with Denzel Washington. We saw it at the Academy Museum,
and we just wanted to bring you into that because
it was definitely one of those situations where you're like,
why not only why are we here? Which is fine,
(02:02):
we've been just.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
You know, we love to Yeah, we love to be.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Why am I? Why are we three rows from the front?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yes, that was the funniest thing is vigate Fox. I know,
we were truly living life. We saw one of the
new lanisters from House to the Dragon. Was lovely to
see him as always.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I mean, let's yeah, let's name drop for a little bit.
Henson was was there?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
One of my favorite things Jaden Smith. Jaden Smith was there.
He wearing an impressive kind of hat. Accoutremond also scarf hat.
It was a scarf hat. I was very very impressed
he it was. It was wrapping maybe made of leather, but.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, and like a priest from a different planet.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Oh yeah, Alien three priests. Look, maybe I feel like
it was vibing on. Also, we saw some incredible creators
and innovators in this space. There were all kinds of
cool people there. I'm trying to think of some of
the most one of the ones that and he was
(03:09):
wearing his beautiful high and low Cus Hour shirt that
he's been rocking on this press tour. Also as well,
just casually, like when we were leaving, because we're we're
not big partiers. Were we're homebodies. But when we were leaving,
as we were walking out, somebody was like, oh my god,
it there a ravo and just like screaming. So yeah,
(03:29):
there was, and there was autograph hunters outside. It was
definitely it was a real It was one of those
type of things. Yeah, And I think it was something
where people were just really excited to be at the
screening of such a legendary directors movie. Yes, like so
many people showed up and were just ready.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It opened with This is in collaboration with A twenty
four and Apple Studios, So I think it's a Apple
TV Apple production with dishoub and production handled by H
four and one of the executives from A twenty four
came up and made a speech, and immediately you and
(04:12):
I are.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Like, why is this guy is the hunkiest?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Why who is this Why? Why is the hottest guy
in the room the exec from eight twenty five?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Is he not in this movie? Like he had such
great presence. We were just both like, Wow, I love
this guy, and I think came up.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
He gave a little a shpiel about like what an
honor it is to, you know, be working with Spike
Lee and for a twenty four to be collaborating with Spike,
the fifth collaboration of Spike and Densel Cell and the
history of that, and then he had and then he
introduces Spike Spike Lee. Spike comes in from the side door,
(04:53):
takes the mic strides like a couple of steps like
he's he's going to go to the front of the
theater to make speech, and he just goes, you're ready, okay,
and then he just turns around and watchs out you
start the movie.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, Because also you could tell there was a lot
of celebrities there because the movie started like half an
hour late, like they were really trying to see people
and we were in the ted Man Theater, which I
do love which is the smaller of the two Academy
Museum theaters, but not a theater made for like premieres.
There's not a lot of walking up and down that
you can do. Everyone was getting up every time somebody
(05:26):
needed to sit down, so we were all kind of
bonding over the close quarters. But yeah, what a what
a surreal event. We were definitely right at the front.
But you know what, Jason, as I said to you
on the night, you are the second most famous Knicks
fan after Spike Lee. So I think that they were like,
I think is up there. I think.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I think you're gonna have to go down the rungs
because I think currently it's obviously Spike Yeah, and then
a Chalo May He's Chalo May, Slash and Stiller. I
think it depends on what your kind of interests in
age group are. But I think those two were battling
for two. Then I think you would go Eadie Falco.
(06:09):
I think John McEnroe is.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, I think you're above Mcam. I think you I
think that's the safe top five. But they were like,
we got to have him near the front. They didn't
put us right on the front row.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
It was pretty crazy. I mean Fox was.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
One row and to the right of us, So that
was you You love to see it, and you know
that was crazy Paula Patton looking.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
In front, and I hopefully she hasn't heard us smirch
her French accents from possible.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Oh no, she knows physical.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
This was all actually like a set up for how
to revenge on us because friend Jackson. But yeah, it
was a It was a truly unique and cool experience
and and and we were really stoked to be in
by it, especially as such big.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
In a non spoiler way, let's give our top line thoughts.
We'll go to break and then we'll come back and
we'll talk about maybe in a spoiler fashion. I love
this film with the caveat that as a New York guy,
as a Knicks fan, there's so much red meat in here,
just on the Knicks front, that I'm already gonna be
(07:43):
heavily inclined to like this movie. I'm a Spike listen,
I'm a Spike guy. But I loved it, and I
thought there are a few scenes, namely the kind of
the showdown between the tagonist and the antagonist, that I
(08:04):
think are are amazing, like incredible that some of his best. Absolutely,
it's the moment when David King, the kind of beleaguered
UH music executive, comes face to face with young Felon
played by Aesop Rocky, the man who is kidnapped, who
(08:27):
thought he kidnapped his son and has been holding him
for ransom, and they have this incredible like duel of
words that goes for like five minutes, and it's I've
just been thinking about it because it's like, it's amazing
and it's not it's very theater, like, you know, it's
not like something you would see in a movie these days,
and there's moments like that that that may stand out
(08:48):
for me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I think for me that's why I came away just
really loving it because I think, while you'll write that
five minute segment is like it's like having Shakespeare on
the screen, but in a way that you know, if
you said, oh, it's like rap Shakespeare, people would be like,
that's terrible, But it's not like that. It's like this
Shakespearean battle of words in the universe of this work
(09:13):
that works so well. But yeah, for me, this is
like weird big swing Spike where there are like multiple
different movies within this movie. There are different tone. There's
a kind of like lifetimey family drama. There's this Empire influence,
like I'm sorry Taraji being there. I'm like they knew
(09:33):
that Empire was an influence on this, like it was
and Anna, And there's this kind of soapy element to it.
But there are these moments right where Denzel and Jeffrey
Wright are just vibing with each other, and there's this
kind of like jazzy French new wave freeness and fun
(09:56):
to this movie that just feels like nothing we get anymore.
You're it is like watching a student of cinema show
off all the stuff he's learned about cinema in a
really lovely way. And I think that makes sense because
Kurisauer and Spike Lee they actually crossed paths early on
in Spike's career later on in Curisawa's quer and became friends.
(10:17):
And when I went to the Academy Museum when it
first opened, they had a Spike Lee room where he
was basically showing off all his cool collection of stuff.
He had a guitar from Prince that was in the
shape of the symbol, and he had Kurisauer posters that
were signed personally to him by Kurisauer, and I just
think that there is something really special here about a
guy who has managed to have such a unique and
(10:38):
incredible kind of trailblazing career, who decides, you know, at
an older age, to do essentially like an homage to
an old friend who has now passed away. That's also
seen as like one of that director's most surprising films.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And then they I think is one surprised me and
it's one of Spikes.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I think this is one of Spike's most surprising films
because the tone and vibe and feeling of this is
very different and the way music is used, and it's
very much a story about America in this much broader
way than necessarily Like I think a lot of Spike's
best films are really intimate and they're and really small scale,
(11:16):
but this has this really broad scale. And yeah, I
just thought it was so fun, Like I'm I'm really
excited to see it again. And that's always my biggest
kind of test of like did I really enjoy a movie,
and it's like, yeah, I really want to see this again.
I do think this is a all time a Denzel
performance as well. I just I loved the nuances that
he brought to this as like the tired old man
(11:38):
who has to imagine the future.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
They played with his age in an interesting kind of
subtextual and mettextual mm hmm and flat out textual way
in this where he's he's slipped, but also he recognizes
that he's slipped and he wants to get back to
the top, and people are writing him off and asking
(12:01):
him to just hang it up, and it builds to
a moment there's a moment of physical exertion that it's
a credit to Denzel that you buy it like, yeah,
oh yeah, towards the end of this film, towards the
climax of this film. Yeah, it's a powerhouse performance.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, just so good. And he sat Rookie amazing as well.
All absolutely understand why you cost him.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Absolutely. Jeffrey Wright, who has never been bad in a
movie in my opinion, is wonderful here and brings a
a kind of drama and comic relief also that are
I think so important to the film. It's really really fun.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
He's also like I think the haw of if Spike
is trying to say anything with this movie, I think
that is really interesting. Stuff, just like with High and
Low originally about like claws and how it is to
be like a or person in the circle of rich
people and stuff, and I just I think that Jeffrey
Wright's character is such an interesting commentary on that, and
(13:08):
I really loved the kind of way that the film
played with that and then still allowed these two guys
to have this really intimate and interesting friendship that they
kind of had to go on that journey themselves you
knock out where they both stand.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
We'll talk about this more in the put in the
post spoiler section, but one of the things I appreciate
about Spike as a and have always appreciated him about
him as a filmmaker, and I love it about this
movie is that he's able to put his finger on problems, problems,
problems of race, problems of power and balance, and put
(13:48):
his finger on the complexity of those things. But it's
not like he's like and here's the answer.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
No, No, he's never like, here is a solution, because
here's a solution, and he has.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
A really feel right and preachy. It's just like there's
a moment, there are a few moments in here with
a white cop where you feel the animosity of this
cop and the kind of distrust that he has towards
Jeffrey Wright's character and the situation the kidnapping as a whole.
And you feel this antagonism in this animosity. But at
(14:20):
the same time, like Spike also doesn't do the easy thing,
which is just let you hate this guy and demonize
this guy. He's like, this is a person that exists
in your in life, and you're gonna have to grapple
with this guy. And he lets that guy also, I
wouldn't say redeem himself, but show the role that he
does play in this kind of you know, Greek chorus
(14:47):
of New York that story, you know, And I think
that is that's just what I really appreciate about it. Spike,
you you're so right. He touches on all of these
various issues use wealthy and quality, race, the carceral stitch, and.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
What happened, like the way that people islamophobia, like.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Gender politics within hip hop, you know, and he he
touches on all the There's this moment this is not
a spoiler, but you know when uh King David comes
into you know, confronts Young Felon, Young Felon calls his
partner like refers to as a bitch. And then there's
this moment where King David almost in this kind of
(15:33):
like surreal cutting pattern where he keeps coming back to it,
like why she got to be a bitch? Why she
got to be It's like Spike definitely wanted to ask
the question, but he also doesn't provide any answers. This
isn't immoralizing, like why are these young guys speaking about
women this way? This was here is the rich tapestry
and look, and it's something to puzzle over. But I
(15:55):
have no answers, And I think that's part of the
the maturity, the laxity, the thing that I really love
about this movie. At about swap, shall we take a
quick break and dive into the spoiler version? Okay, and
(16:23):
we're back. Before we talk about Hyas and Lois, let's
talk about the movie that it is adapted from, High
and Low. Akira Kurosawa is nineteen sixty three. I think
Masterpiece for.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Me, absolutely just such a fantastic movie.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Is it my favorite film of his? Maybe it might
be I rewatched because I think it's my most rewatched
for sure, Like I'm going to rewatch this before seven
Samurai Even or Ran or any of the other ones.
And I don't know about you, but for me, it's
the one. Obviously when you think Karasa, you're going to
(17:01):
be familiar first with his Samurai action movies. But it
was High and Low that blew me away because it is,
you know, filmed in nineteen sixty three, and it is
set in early sixties Japan, a Japan that is just
beginning to flex its economic and industrial muscles after the
devastation of World War Two, And it is just like
(17:25):
jaw dropping and exciting and like and and there's a
train hand off the ransom money sequence that is as
good as anything you'll ever see. It's an amazing film.
Your your thoughts on High and Low.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, I love High and Low. And it's basically we
don't need to dive too much into the plotline because
it is highest to Lowest is a very very very
very very like accurate adaptation beat the beat just in
a you know, set in a different time. But yeah,
I love High Low. I think it's one of the
(18:01):
most influential like police procedurals, like it definitely shaped the
way that other people would tell stories like that I
think it has so many interesting things to say about,
like class in Japan and the kind of notion of
like wealth and poverty and the wealth divide. I also
think something really interesting is that there is kind of
(18:26):
these huge influences that just we keep seeing from this movie.
Like there is a Indian remake of this from nineteen
seventy seven, there was Scorsese was going to remake this
with David Mammett on script work, Like there was also
a Japanese jay drama version of this, So it's really
(18:49):
interesting to see how it's kind of been reinterpreted. But
I really think that like even a movie, you know,
like even even American directors like David Fincher as well
as like then Korean directors like Bong June Hoe, like
this is such an influential film on them, and I
think it's very fun to see Spike continue that legacy,
(19:13):
but by reinterpreting the film in a completely different way.
You know, this original High and Low sixty three, so
you're talking about like decades and decades past, And I
think that the two of them together are really great.
And I'm hoping because this is a cinema release for
a few weeks. You can see it in the cinema
right now. It's out in cinemas this weekend, but on
(19:37):
September fifth, it will be on Apple TV Plus. And
I'm hoping that somewhere somewhere in the world, somewhere in
La somewhere in New York, somewhere in a rural theater
where somebody just loves these two movies. I'm just hoping
that somebody does a double bill because I think for
like young film lovers who maybe haven't gone to see
High and Low, I think seeing them both together would
(19:58):
be just such an interesting thing. And yeah, I mean,
I think I love Chris Howers. He's a moss. And
I think High and Low is like a a really
human film, and I think that in a way that
I think really worked.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Okay, so Highest to Lowest. The aging music impresario David
King has sold his record company, but now he wants
it back because it's on the verge of being seld
to sold to a like private equity funded media conglomerate
(20:37):
that's going to break it up and sell it off
piece by piece. David is he came up through the culture,
He came up through the music. He can't for all
the trappings of wealth. He is still very passionate about music,
about black music, and about its role in American society
and life. And so he wants his he wants his
(20:58):
baby back. But in the midst of all this, there's
a kidnapping. It seems as if for a moment that
it's his son that's been kidnapped. Actually it's the son
of his show his friend friend, Yeah, his friend and compatriot.
And like colleague, I guess you would say, who is
(21:21):
Paul who comes from the street and has done at
least one lengthy bid in prison and is now living
with David as basically part of his extended family. And
so David really struggles with whether to pay this ransom
(21:43):
for a person who is not his son, especially since
he has just leveraged all the liquid cash that he
has to buy back the company. This would mean risking
his ability to buy back the company. But he, after
much thinking about it, he decides that he's gonna pay
the ransom's.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Side seventeen million dollars.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
It's seventeen Swiss.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
In Swiss Franks because it will way less around the city.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
So the money handoff, however, goes sideways and the kidnappers
get away with it, but Paul and Denzel manage to
track this guy down. They find him a Young Felon.
They find him in his studio where he's recording, and
then you get this incredible confrontation through the studio window
(22:35):
as David and Young Felon kind of much like the
climax of High and Low, debate the merits of this
crime scheme. And there's this other level too, where it's
like David is also critiquing Young Felon's music and saying like, okay,
(22:56):
this is there's something, but like I don't know who
you are through your music. Tell me what you tell
me your pain, tell me your dream, like all this stuff,
and they keep and this turns into this like larger
argument about like you know, why why should I you
had your chance? And then eventually Denzel chases in the
(23:17):
in the in the one part of the movie that
maybe you have to suspend your disbelief a little harder
than everything else. Sixty something year old Denzel Washington runs
and pieces down thirty something year old He's up, Rocky
catches him and then beats.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
His ass suit Denzel's seventy so he really they make
you believe this, They make you believe that that this
could happen next to you.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
But yeah, with the woman next to me when when
Denzel was running.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Was like okay, good no, yeah, she was like good, good, good,
You're doing a great job.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And then you end up with this great kind of
reflection of that argument in the studio where he goes
to visit him in prison and Young Fella makes him
this offer of like, if you sign least my music,
we're going to be so huge, Like together, we're going
to be so good, we're gonna it will be the
(24:12):
biggest signing in music history because of what I did
and because my songs are going crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Because of the notoriety, the attention. This end. If there
is a thesis behind this movie, this is part of it.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
It's that, as they say, it's.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Young Felon says that all that matters in the modern
world of twenty twenty five is attention? Can you get it?
And David King thinks, there it should be more to
it than that. Of course attention is important, but what's
your message exactly? David essentially just declients, and.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
There's this great line which is also that I would
say it's kind of funny because I think it is
the main theme of the movie to take away, which
I think is really powerful. But it's also the tagline,
which I think is really funny, which is just not
all money is good money. And that's basically what he
says to him, is like, I can't take that money
after what you did, you know, and you kind of
(25:05):
get this. He's like kind of screaming and being dragged away,
which is, you know, the same, very similar ending to
the original high end low you.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Mentioned in the preamble, like Spikes, this being a kind
of film nerd film history and just like letting loose.
And I thought that from the from the very first
seconds of this film.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
This film, let's talk about the opening.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, these incredible scenic like landscape shots of Brooklyn and
New York City, the most set two four K like
h incredible set two the opening number of Oklahoma nineteen
fifty five's Oklahoma beautiful to me, it's part of a
(25:57):
thing that is a signature of Spikes. He doesn't lot
he got game, which is where he sets this kind
of uh, you know, story about a black basketball player
and his dad in Brooklyn to Aaron Cohen, and it's
(26:17):
that it's it's Spike saying to me, in my interpretation
cities urban America, that is America. It's part of America.
As much as the wheat feels of the Midwest and
the grand vistas of the Grand Canyon are part of
(26:39):
like American lore. This is these parts of America are
part of America. And it was just like from that moment,
I was like, I'm in this is tremendous fun.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I think it's such a good way to establish just
how good David King and his family have had it
in that moment too as well. You're letting every day
that they wake up is like it's the best site.
He can make any move, he can do anything, he
can convince board members to back him. And I find
(27:12):
it really interesting and I think this is, you know,
the universality of like cinema. But you know, if you
look at High and Low, it's about a guy trying
to take over a shoemaking company, right and hear it's
a giant record label that he wants to stop being
bought from from Stray Dog Records. But I just think
(27:32):
that shows you how incredibly relatable this idea is. Where
at the center of the story. All it really is
about is about somebody looking up at a house then
ever going to afford to live in, and wondering why
that person gets that, and kind of then exploring what
can come from that. And I think something that's really
(27:53):
exciting and vibrant about this movie is the choices that
Spike makes to keep it in his own vibe and tone,
because the original is seen as like a pretty downbeat,
like no noir police procedural, but Spike was like, no,
I'm going I'm going big, I'm going soapy, I'm going important,
(28:14):
I'm going oscars, but I'm also for me. I think
I was really enjoying the whole movie. But when Denzel's
when David King and Paul kind of reunite post Denzel
paying the money for his son, I found a lot
of that early stuff and this is complimentary where he's
(28:34):
this sort of deciding whether or not he should pay.
They're really brave, like they don't make him look like
a good person. He says these incredibly brash, cruel things
about this not being his own son, which you understand
from the face of it the money that it costs.
But at the same time, They have this great counterpart
(28:56):
in his son, who was this meant to be kidnapped, Trey,
who almost has like a childlike innocence about it because
he's a teenager, where he's just like, well, of course
you would pay for it. It's you would pay it
for me, you'd pay it for my god brother, you know.
So they get you in this really emotional state watching
this kind of grappling, and if you've seen Hei and Low,
you know what's gonna happen. But I felt like they
(29:17):
did such a good job where I was really just
like I was like physically like, oh, come on, man,
Like he was saying stuff where I was just like,
this is so hard to hear. But when him and
Paul come together and they kind of go into the
night on this quest to find young Felon, there's this
kind of free jazz, a pro like kind of association.
(29:41):
Like there's this kind of music that feels like you're
watching a French New Aid movie. There's this lighting that
looks so jazzy, and Spike just brings me go to
a film stock.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
At different points in the movie, there's the yes when
people are watching him, it's very clearly on like or
made to seem as if it's on like thirty five
millimeter like films, the cinema film stock. And to your point, yes,
this when they go after young Felon, there's a change
there too. It's like he's moving through these different eras
(30:15):
of film with this, with this movie, and it's just
go on.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I was just gonna say, it feels like it would
have been an easy movie to play safe if he'd
have played it serious, were in a prestige TV era,
you could have really gone for that like totally different tone.
But instead, this is like the most Spike Lee movie
I feel like I've seen for a long time, even
like I love old Spike, that was like such a
huge part of my film lover's career was just like
(30:44):
watching you know, his classic movies and films that have
just completely changed the way that cinema is made, and
that kind of like raw energy that Mars energy that
he had. But this took me back to that, but
on this like really grand scale, which is such a
(31:06):
fun thing to get to see from a filmmaker who
is aging and who you have kind of aged with.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Well, I think that's part of what makes it feel
really personal to me. Like there's this Obviously a huge
element of this story is this kind of like aging
creative type who all through the picture is having people
whose only dream is to like have a sliver of
(31:36):
what he has pitching him themselves all the time. Can
I just play you a minute of my song? Can
I just send you this? You have to listen to
this person?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Have you heard of this?
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Like how I get to like trying everyone.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
And they're trying to almost like and they're trying to
almost like they jump scare him. They're always like waiting
for him at the record label, waiting for him outside.
And you know what, David King always because he feels
like he's got that that that super ear, you know,
he can't find the right person.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
And I just feels as if, Yeah, it feels as
if with both Spike and Andzel who you know, their
roles and their positions in the industry and and culture. Uh,
it's very easy for me to imagine that same kind
of dynamic happening all the time. And you really feel
the there's never h You always feel that David is
(32:31):
feels the weight and responsibility of like I'm he's a
super busy guy. He's like trying to close these business
deals that are extremely important to him. But he has
to stop because like the lifeblood of his business is
I got to stop and listen to this person for
a minute, because it really might be them that revitals.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, it really could be that. And I also I
think something that is so incredible about Spike is if
you if you look at the last movie he made,
which was the absolutely snubbed in my opinion, like should
have won a million. I think the Five Bloods about
you know, which was kind of again, what is his
(33:14):
take on an American war film?
Speaker 3 (33:16):
You know?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
That is an unbelievable movie. And I wonder, and you know,
Delroy Lindo, he got such an unbelievable performance out of him,
And I do wonder if this is like a you know,
I mean, we shouldn't be surprised at Spike Lee, but
I feel like that followed by this, I feel like
I'm just so excited to see what the rest of
(33:37):
this era looks like, because it feels like just completely
he's completely free and excited and has people believing in
him and his vision as he should. Because this looks
like an expensive movie as well. That's another thing that
I think is and it looks to see spend that
(33:57):
apple money baby like you deserve it.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
You don't feel like again as a New Yorker. Well,
first of all, there is a two minute Boston.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Wait, wait, wait, let me let's let's go for a
quick and break and then let's come back. And I'm
gonna ask you New.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
York Jason, Yeah, yeah, and we're back, Jason.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
In this special Spike Lee themed segment of Jason explains
it or tell us about Spike is in New Yorker
and how this movie absolutely just plays into that on
the highest level.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Well, I mean, first of all, there is a two
minute fuck Boston, Boston sucks like in this camera direct
to camera that is happening at during that straddles the
kind of set piece action sequence of this film, the
(35:10):
handoff between the handoff of the money. And does it
feel gratuitous, Yes, I think so, but it also hilario.
Was it hilarious?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yes? Did everyone in the cinema get amped up to
be part of that you know moment? And what I
really loved is this little it's a little snippet of
community that you feel in like a sports moment or
like a kind of some kind of community event like
(35:42):
that when you get caught on the train and someone
starts yelling that and then everyone starts yelling it. But
the bit that made me laugh out loud was after
the train kind of halts to a stop and we
know that David has dropped the money, then the train
chant changes to Boston broke the train, or like Austin
stop the train or something, and then everyone's blaming them
(36:03):
for that too, and I just thought it was like
really real and really funny.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
It is really real and and Spike has an ability,
you know, in that way that where we talked about
his ability to kind of depict the complexity without trying
to like shove an answer into the mix. It's that
ability that allows Spike to really capture something essential about
New York almost every single to the different people and
(36:29):
characters and the different ways that they all relate to
each other in ways that are often like in confrontation,
but are also in surprising ways like in harmony at
different points. And maybe my favorite, well maybe my most
rewatched Spike film is The twenty fifth Hour, which came
(36:50):
out like two thousand and two or two thousand.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, let's talk about times that's that's a lesson talked
about one.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
It came out in two thousand and two. It you
can feel the nine to eleven attacks, like the impact
of it in the all throughout the movie. And there's
this incredible, like five minute monologue that Ed Norton's character
is going to jail and he's kind of like settling
all his personal accounts in this twenty five hours before
(37:24):
he has to appear at the jail upstate, and he's
gone to this club and you know, and his girlfriend.
He's unsure if his girlfriend is going to stick with
him throughout this thing. And he goes to the bathroom
to kind of like just have a moment, and he
looks on the mirror. In the mirror, on the mirror,
there's some graffiti that says fuck you, and this causes
(37:47):
him into the mirror to launch into this like racist screed.
But it's where he criticizes, like course, terms every kind
of archetypical New York character, the squeegey guys who come
out and wash your windows, which hasn't really been a
(38:08):
thing since the eighties, but still, you know what, I
grew up in London. Yeah, every like the Puerto Ricans
and the Porto Rican Day Parade, Dominicans, the black community,
the white stockbrokers, the cops. He goes it like everybody,
and he does it in this way that I mean,
(38:29):
is it Is it a racist creed? Yes, But also
it's it's the kind of thing where, if you're from
New York, you've heard every single person in that montage
say something about every other person in that montage in
a very similar way, where it's this coarseness that's born
(38:50):
out of I'm living with these people. They're in my
face all the time. It's not this like I hate
that person in a kind of remote theoretical way where
you don't see them, or this person annoys me in
this kind of remote theoretical way, you know, I hate
as of people you've never met. It's like every day
I'm mashed up against all these different types of people
(39:14):
and here's my issues with all of them. And that
encapsulates New York and anything maybe that I've ever seen
in a film. It's that kind of antagonism that comes
from not necessarily a place of warmth or love, but
(39:35):
as like a kind of it's almost like bragging, like
I survive this, I live in this I live surrounded
by these groups who are constantly jostling for position, for attention,
for money, who are trying to rob me or trying
(39:55):
to like rip me off or trying to get over
on me, And I would never live anywhere else that
is like, that's basically what it's saying, and it's incredible.
And Spike has that ability like he's not trying to
solve the societal problems in New York City with this monola.
He's just trying to show you the complexity of it.
(40:18):
And that's why this movie is just one of my favorite, favorite,
favorite favorite Spike films. And I think maybe the the
one film that deals with the terrorist attacks of nine
to eleven in a way that feels like legitimate and real.
And Spike has this power, that ability to just like
pull these threads together.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
What does it feel like to have a directa that
is like so local to you? Because I feel like
that's just to have like a groundbreaking director but who
is essentially from where you're from and who makes films
about where you're from. Not everyone kind of experiences that.
What's that been like as a cinema love.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
And it's pretty it's pretty crazy. You know, like when
I was living in New York the last time in Brooklyn.
I mean, like his offices in Fort Green were like
everybody knew where they were, you could walk by them.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
It is.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
It's a really cool thing to know that there's a
guy who could just kind of gets it and can
put that on the screen. It's an amazing feeling who
really understands like the different groups and the way the
city is. There's no one story to a city of
(41:36):
ten million people. And then like the shameless you know, listen,
the shameless Knicks fandom. It's fantastic, you know, and it's
probably more in your face and ridiculous of this in
high's the lowest than it's ever been because let's you know,
the Knicks haven't been good for a long time. This
is the first this is the first New York Spike
(41:58):
film since the Knicks have been good. Again. True, he's
really enjoying it. He's really enjoying He's he's and he's
really happy about it.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Oh yeah, could you talk a little bit about just
about some of the stuff that we do get to
see here, because there is that the chase we get
through the parade is some of the most beautiful kind
of visuals that we've had from him in a long
time too. So could you talk a little bit about
about that parade and what it means.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
I mean, well, Supporter you Can Day Parade, and that's
one of the biggest events in then calendar of New
York City. And it's funny because in twenty fifth Hour
in that monologue, like Edward Norton's character calls out the
Porter you Can Day parade calls it the worst parade
of the city, and you're you know, which is a
take that I think you you will hear in certain
areas of New York for sure, But it's also like huge,
(42:53):
I mean here, it's like the feeling.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
You get that feeling like in England we have Annoying
Hill Carnival, which is like our version of Carnival, but
it and captured that like true community party. It is.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
It's an amazing event that takes over huge swaths of
the city. And then even if you if you're not there,
if you don't go to the parade route, you feel
it throughout the city because you'll be on the train
and you'll see people with the flags and you know,
with flags on their shirts and carrying uh, you know,
(43:28):
different emblems of Puerto Rico, and I thought he captured it,
the vibrancy of it, yeah, really well in this as
you know, a kind of integral though people complain about it,
that integral part of the culture of it.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
He shows like how it can literally get in your way,
like that's part of the whole why the why it
is set that but you get you know, we see
Rosy Perez, who obviously had her breakout in Do the
Right Thing, and I love Rosie Press so much, and
you know, having her, they're kind of at the parade
and then you know, all these beautiful shots of people
(44:09):
dancing and the sky and the Puerta Rican flag in
front of the blue skies was just really beautiful. But
at the same time it is letting you know, like
this takes over a city like the I think that
that while the movies train Handover obviously is hard to
compare to the original High and Low one, which is
so incredible. I thought the way that they envisioned how
(44:34):
young people understand the city in a way old people
can't was really really great because they absolutely just they
take that money, no problem, like that motorcycle chase where
they're switching between the different guys. I was like, yes,
he understands that while David King has money and power,
(44:54):
he doesn't have people on the street anymore. He needs
poor for that, you know. And I just I thought
that sequence was was just so so brilliant. Well you
are that you mentioned twenty fifth out, Well you are
the underseen Spike Lee movies that people should check out.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Off to this one, my underseen Spikes. I like it.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah, I I go for it.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
I mean, I like his genre stuff. This isn't different,
this isn't underscene. It's hard for me to just like.
I think he's Spike Clockers, which is a adaptation of
an incredible Richard Price novel Richard Price, I think one
of the greatest writers of dialogue that I've ever read, ever, ever, ever, Clockers.
It doesn't get talked about a ton I think that.
(45:40):
I mean, uh, Summer of Sam is another montage heavy
one that isn't I think it's it falls it falls
short of like a even like an above average Spike film,
But there is like something about the vibrancy and the
(46:03):
way he captures the the kind of Mailstrom that late
seventies New York was not only a city kind of
breaking down economically under a wave of crime and in
this film, like facing a wave of serial murder attacks
by the son of Sam, but it was also a
place where the stirring you know you add punk rock, Yeah,
(46:27):
like running into the what would become like hip hop,
and so it was a really culturally vibrant time and
he captured that.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, I think, well, I think that's a great picks
also because like again there's not one story about New York,
and that's one of those many stories about New York
and about how that impacted, like the Bronx and everything.
I will shout out one, which is my h This
was essentially his kind of like post old Boy. He
remade Old Boy. Might not remember that it was he
(46:57):
was taken away, don't worry, taken away from him in
the editing room. You know. He he didn't put Spike
Lee joint on it. It ends up just being called
a Spike Lee film. But after that, he essentially crowdfunded
a remake of Gandrin has called The Sweet Blood of Jesus,
which I just find such an interesting thing. I love
the original movie, so I'm always interested to see somebody
(47:22):
take it on. Obviously hard to do a remake that's better,
but I think it's a really interesting counterpiece and I
think it brought the original Gandarin has to a lot
more people who had maybe not seen it. And I
feel like, really that was just before his kind of
like career resurgence that came back post Old Boy and
he started doing you know you, then had his musical
(47:46):
with Shirak, you had a bunch of different then you
obviously had Black Klansman, which I think a lot of
people love big you know, Awards film. But he's He's
had an unbelievable career. I mean, what other direct are
there who are still looked upon like this, who have
directed you know, thirty plus movies in I think in
(48:08):
twenty twenty five, I mean, not really many of them.
And I I'm glad that even though it's a short
theatrical release. I think that Spike Lee adapting in Akira
Curus hour movie should be based on an Ed muc
Bain novel, by the Way, King's Ransom, which is like
from the late fifties, which is again the same idea,
would you if you are the most rich person like
(48:29):
and you have the money should you pay for somebody
else's kid who's been kidnapped in your kid's place, Like,
this is such a huge film, and I think it
should be in theaters, and I'm glad people are gonna
get see in theaters and hopefully you know, like a
Sinners or as we've seen, you know, strangely with K
Pop Demon Hunters, which is in theaters this weekend for
sing Along, they've already had to add more screenings to that.
(48:53):
We know that singers stayed in the movie theaters for months,
especially in the thirty five millimeter in seventy million meter
screenings at places like the New Beverly. So I'm really
hoping that this kind of catches fire in a similar
way and that you're gonna be able to see theaters
continuing to show this and maybe even like theeas who
(49:14):
you wouldn't normally see, Like I would love for this
to be more available to a wider audience, say in
AMCs and regals and cinemas, rather than your arrow and
your Lamel and your smaller theater chains. So I hope
it does break out because I do think that one
of the things that's really interesting about this movie, and
I think something that shows that Spike knows a shows
(49:39):
that Spike knows how young people watch stuff. Now, the
way that this movie flips between kind of genre and
tone and moments almost feels like vignettes that you could
be watching on you know, TikTok or something like that.
And I'm sure Spike is not trying to make a
movie that feels like TikTok, and this doesn't feel like
(49:59):
tik But I do think that there is a version
where if you're a teenager or a twenty something who
doesn't love watching movies, and I've met many of them
and I get it it's not your thing, this feels
like the kind of movie that could enrapture you and
inspire you and make you want to watch movies again,
especially in a twenty twenty five landscape of massive blockbusters
and comic book films being the major thing. So I
(50:21):
hope it does stay in theaters for a little bit longer,
and if not, at least everyone will be able to
watch it on Apple Plus TV, which honestly Apple continuing
its twenty twenty five quality rain over pretty much every
other streaming service at this point.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
Well, I hope people will watch it on the next
episode of Extra Vision, We're diving into some news through
this episode. Thanks for listening. Bye x ray Vision is
hosted by Jason Concepcion and Rosie Knight and is a
production of iHeart Podcast.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
Our executive producers are Joelmini and Aaron Kaufman.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
Our supervising producer is Abuza part.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
Our producers are Common, Laurent Dean Jonathan and Bay Wag.
Speaker 1 (51:08):
A theme song is by Brian Vasquez, with alternate theme
songs by Aaron Kaufman.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Special thanks to Soul Rubin, Chris Lord, Kenny Goodman and
Heidi our discord moderator.
Warning. Today's episode contained spoilers for Spike Lee's newest feature film,
Highest Lowest. Hello, my name is Jas Cacio and I'm
(00:27):
Rosie Night and welcome back to x ray vision of
the podcast Will We Dive Be to your favorite shows, movies,
comics of pop culture Company Roma our podcast where we're
bringing you three episodes a week.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
In today's final episode of The Popcorn pop Out, we
are reviewing the latest from legendary director Spike Lee and
his ode to the iconic director and his friend Charactersaur.
We attended the premiere. We will be updating you on that.
Me and Jason were bemused and baffled and delighted because
(00:59):
we were definitely we were like, how did we get
invited here? It was great, We had a great time.
Then we're going to review the movie, which spoilerlat if
you follow us on that box, do you know we
both enjoyed haughtily. And then you had Rosie explains it
all UK edition. Well, now Jason's going to explain it
well New York edition and talk about what these movies
mean as a New Yorker.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
But first the airlock. Okay, so we went to last week,
we went to the was it a premier or was
it LA premiere? Okay, So we went to the LA
premiere of Spike Lee's latest film, Highest lowist and adaptation
(01:39):
of the Akira Kurosawa masterpiece High and Low, his fifth
collaboration with Denzel Washington. We saw it at the Academy Museum,
and we just wanted to bring you into that because
it was definitely one of those situations where you're like,
why not only why are we here? Which is fine,
(02:02):
we've been just.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
You know, we love to Yeah, we love to be.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Why am I? Why are we three rows from the front?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yes, that was the funniest thing is vigate Fox. I know,
we were truly living life. We saw one of the
new lanisters from House to the Dragon. Was lovely to
see him as always.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I mean, let's yeah, let's name drop for a little bit.
Henson was was there?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
One of my favorite things Jaden Smith. Jaden Smith was there.
He wearing an impressive kind of hat. Accoutremond also scarf hat.
It was a scarf hat. I was very very impressed
he it was. It was wrapping maybe made of leather, but.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, and like a priest from a different planet.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Oh yeah, Alien three priests. Look, maybe I feel like
it was vibing on. Also, we saw some incredible creators
and innovators in this space. There were all kinds of
cool people there. I'm trying to think of some of
the most one of the ones that and he was
(03:09):
wearing his beautiful high and low Cus Hour shirt that
he's been rocking on this press tour. Also as well,
just casually, like when we were leaving, because we're we're
not big partiers. Were we're homebodies. But when we were leaving,
as we were walking out, somebody was like, oh my god,
it there a ravo and just like screaming. So yeah,
(03:29):
there was, and there was autograph hunters outside. It was
definitely it was a real It was one of those
type of things. Yeah, And I think it was something
where people were just really excited to be at the
screening of such a legendary directors movie. Yes, like so
many people showed up and were just ready.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It opened with This is in collaboration with A twenty
four and Apple Studios, So I think it's a Apple
TV Apple production with dishoub and production handled by H
four and one of the executives from A twenty four
came up and made a speech, and immediately you and
(04:12):
I are.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Like, why is this guy is the hunkiest?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Why who is this Why? Why is the hottest guy
in the room the exec from eight twenty five?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Is he not in this movie? Like he had such
great presence. We were just both like, Wow, I love
this guy, and I think came up.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
He gave a little a shpiel about like what an
honor it is to, you know, be working with Spike
Lee and for a twenty four to be collaborating with Spike,
the fifth collaboration of Spike and Densel Cell and the
history of that, and then he had and then he
introduces Spike Spike Lee. Spike comes in from the side door,
(04:53):
takes the mic strides like a couple of steps like
he's he's going to go to the front of the
theater to make speech, and he just goes, you're ready, okay,
and then he just turns around and watchs out you
start the movie.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, Because also you could tell there was a lot
of celebrities there because the movie started like half an
hour late, like they were really trying to see people
and we were in the ted Man Theater, which I
do love which is the smaller of the two Academy
Museum theaters, but not a theater made for like premieres.
There's not a lot of walking up and down that
you can do. Everyone was getting up every time somebody
(05:26):
needed to sit down, so we were all kind of
bonding over the close quarters. But yeah, what a what
a surreal event. We were definitely right at the front.
But you know what, Jason, as I said to you
on the night, you are the second most famous Knicks
fan after Spike Lee. So I think that they were like,
I think is up there. I think.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I think you're gonna have to go down the rungs
because I think currently it's obviously Spike Yeah, and then
a Chalo May He's Chalo May, Slash and Stiller. I
think it depends on what your kind of interests in
age group are. But I think those two were battling
for two. Then I think you would go Eadie Falco.
(06:09):
I think John McEnroe is.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, I think you're above Mcam. I think you I
think that's the safe top five. But they were like,
we got to have him near the front. They didn't
put us right on the front row.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
It was pretty crazy. I mean Fox was.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
One row and to the right of us, So that
was you You love to see it, and you know
that was crazy Paula Patton looking.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
In front, and I hopefully she hasn't heard us smirch
her French accents from possible.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Oh no, she knows physical.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
This was all actually like a set up for how
to revenge on us because friend Jackson. But yeah, it
was a It was a truly unique and cool experience
and and and we were really stoked to be in
by it, especially as such big.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
In a non spoiler way, let's give our top line thoughts.
We'll go to break and then we'll come back and
we'll talk about maybe in a spoiler fashion. I love
this film with the caveat that as a New York guy,
as a Knicks fan, there's so much red meat in here,
just on the Knicks front, that I'm already gonna be
(07:43):
heavily inclined to like this movie. I'm a Spike listen,
I'm a Spike guy. But I loved it, and I
thought there are a few scenes, namely the kind of
the showdown between the tagonist and the antagonist, that I
(08:04):
think are are amazing, like incredible that some of his best. Absolutely,
it's the moment when David King, the kind of beleaguered
UH music executive, comes face to face with young Felon
played by Aesop Rocky, the man who is kidnapped, who
(08:27):
thought he kidnapped his son and has been holding him
for ransom, and they have this incredible like duel of
words that goes for like five minutes, and it's I've
just been thinking about it because it's like, it's amazing
and it's not it's very theater, like, you know, it's
not like something you would see in a movie these days,
and there's moments like that that that may stand out
(08:48):
for me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I think for me that's why I came away just
really loving it because I think, while you'll write that
five minute segment is like it's like having Shakespeare on
the screen, but in a way that you know, if
you said, oh, it's like rap Shakespeare, people would be like,
that's terrible, But it's not like that. It's like this
Shakespearean battle of words in the universe of this work
(09:13):
that works so well. But yeah, for me, this is
like weird big swing Spike where there are like multiple
different movies within this movie. There are different tone. There's
a kind of like lifetimey family drama. There's this Empire influence,
like I'm sorry Taraji being there. I'm like they knew
(09:33):
that Empire was an influence on this, like it was
and Anna, And there's this kind of soapy element to it.
But there are these moments right where Denzel and Jeffrey
Wright are just vibing with each other, and there's this
kind of like jazzy French new wave freeness and fun
(09:56):
to this movie that just feels like nothing we get anymore.
You're it is like watching a student of cinema show
off all the stuff he's learned about cinema in a
really lovely way. And I think that makes sense because
Kurisauer and Spike Lee they actually crossed paths early on
in Spike's career later on in Curisawa's quer and became friends.
(10:17):
And when I went to the Academy Museum when it
first opened, they had a Spike Lee room where he
was basically showing off all his cool collection of stuff.
He had a guitar from Prince that was in the
shape of the symbol, and he had Kurisauer posters that
were signed personally to him by Kurisauer, and I just
think that there is something really special here about a
guy who has managed to have such a unique and
(10:38):
incredible kind of trailblazing career, who decides, you know, at
an older age, to do essentially like an homage to
an old friend who has now passed away. That's also
seen as like one of that director's most surprising films.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And then they I think is one surprised me and
it's one of Spikes.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I think this is one of Spike's most surprising films
because the tone and vibe and feeling of this is
very different and the way music is used, and it's
very much a story about America in this much broader
way than necessarily Like I think a lot of Spike's
best films are really intimate and they're and really small scale,
(11:16):
but this has this really broad scale. And yeah, I
just thought it was so fun, Like I'm I'm really
excited to see it again. And that's always my biggest
kind of test of like did I really enjoy a movie,
and it's like, yeah, I really want to see this again.
I do think this is a all time a Denzel
performance as well. I just I loved the nuances that
he brought to this as like the tired old man
(11:38):
who has to imagine the future.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
They played with his age in an interesting kind of
subtextual and mettextual mm hmm and flat out textual way
in this where he's he's slipped, but also he recognizes
that he's slipped and he wants to get back to
the top, and people are writing him off and asking
(12:01):
him to just hang it up, and it builds to
a moment there's a moment of physical exertion that it's
a credit to Denzel that you buy it like, yeah,
oh yeah, towards the end of this film, towards the
climax of this film. Yeah, it's a powerhouse performance.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, just so good. And he sat Rookie amazing as well.
All absolutely understand why you cost him.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Absolutely. Jeffrey Wright, who has never been bad in a
movie in my opinion, is wonderful here and brings a
a kind of drama and comic relief also that are
I think so important to the film. It's really really fun.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
He's also like I think the haw of if Spike
is trying to say anything with this movie, I think
that is really interesting. Stuff, just like with High and
Low originally about like claws and how it is to
be like a or person in the circle of rich
people and stuff, and I just I think that Jeffrey
Wright's character is such an interesting commentary on that, and
(13:08):
I really loved the kind of way that the film
played with that and then still allowed these two guys
to have this really intimate and interesting friendship that they
kind of had to go on that journey themselves you
knock out where they both stand.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
We'll talk about this more in the put in the
post spoiler section, but one of the things I appreciate
about Spike as a and have always appreciated him about
him as a filmmaker, and I love it about this
movie is that he's able to put his finger on problems, problems,
problems of race, problems of power and balance, and put
(13:48):
his finger on the complexity of those things. But it's
not like he's like and here's the answer.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
No, No, he's never like, here is a solution, because
here's a solution, and he has.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
A really feel right and preachy. It's just like there's
a moment, there are a few moments in here with
a white cop where you feel the animosity of this
cop and the kind of distrust that he has towards
Jeffrey Wright's character and the situation the kidnapping as a whole.
And you feel this antagonism in this animosity. But at
(14:20):
the same time, like Spike also doesn't do the easy thing,
which is just let you hate this guy and demonize
this guy. He's like, this is a person that exists
in your in life, and you're gonna have to grapple
with this guy. And he lets that guy also, I
wouldn't say redeem himself, but show the role that he
does play in this kind of you know, Greek chorus
(14:47):
of New York that story, you know, And I think
that is that's just what I really appreciate about it. Spike,
you you're so right. He touches on all of these
various issues use wealthy and quality, race, the carceral stitch, and.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
What happened, like the way that people islamophobia, like.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Gender politics within hip hop, you know, and he he
touches on all the There's this moment this is not
a spoiler, but you know when uh King David comes
into you know, confronts Young Felon, Young Felon calls his
partner like refers to as a bitch. And then there's
this moment where King David almost in this kind of
(15:33):
like surreal cutting pattern where he keeps coming back to it,
like why she got to be a bitch? Why she
got to be It's like Spike definitely wanted to ask
the question, but he also doesn't provide any answers. This
isn't immoralizing, like why are these young guys speaking about
women this way? This was here is the rich tapestry
and look, and it's something to puzzle over. But I
(15:55):
have no answers, And I think that's part of the
the maturity, the laxity, the thing that I really love
about this movie. At about swap, shall we take a
quick break and dive into the spoiler version? Okay, and
(16:23):
we're back. Before we talk about Hyas and Lois, let's
talk about the movie that it is adapted from, High
and Low. Akira Kurosawa is nineteen sixty three. I think
Masterpiece for.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Me, absolutely just such a fantastic movie.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Is it my favorite film of his? Maybe it might
be I rewatched because I think it's my most rewatched
for sure, Like I'm going to rewatch this before seven
Samurai Even or Ran or any of the other ones.
And I don't know about you, but for me, it's
the one. Obviously when you think Karasa, you're going to
(17:01):
be familiar first with his Samurai action movies. But it
was High and Low that blew me away because it is,
you know, filmed in nineteen sixty three, and it is
set in early sixties Japan, a Japan that is just
beginning to flex its economic and industrial muscles after the
devastation of World War Two, And it is just like
(17:25):
jaw dropping and exciting and like and and there's a
train hand off the ransom money sequence that is as
good as anything you'll ever see. It's an amazing film.
Your your thoughts on High and Low.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, I love High and Low. And it's basically we
don't need to dive too much into the plotline because
it is highest to Lowest is a very very very
very very like accurate adaptation beat the beat just in
a you know, set in a different time. But yeah,
I love High Low. I think it's one of the
(18:01):
most influential like police procedurals, like it definitely shaped the
way that other people would tell stories like that I
think it has so many interesting things to say about,
like class in Japan and the kind of notion of
like wealth and poverty and the wealth divide. I also
think something really interesting is that there is kind of
(18:26):
these huge influences that just we keep seeing from this movie.
Like there is a Indian remake of this from nineteen
seventy seven, there was Scorsese was going to remake this
with David Mammett on script work, Like there was also
a Japanese jay drama version of this, So it's really
(18:49):
interesting to see how it's kind of been reinterpreted. But
I really think that like even a movie, you know,
like even even American directors like David Fincher as well
as like then Korean directors like Bong June Hoe, like
this is such an influential film on them, and I
think it's very fun to see Spike continue that legacy,
(19:13):
but by reinterpreting the film in a completely different way.
You know, this original High and Low sixty three, so
you're talking about like decades and decades past, And I
think that the two of them together are really great.
And I'm hoping because this is a cinema release for
a few weeks. You can see it in the cinema
right now. It's out in cinemas this weekend, but on
(19:37):
September fifth, it will be on Apple TV Plus. And
I'm hoping that somewhere somewhere in the world, somewhere in
La somewhere in New York, somewhere in a rural theater
where somebody just loves these two movies. I'm just hoping
that somebody does a double bill because I think for
like young film lovers who maybe haven't gone to see
High and Low, I think seeing them both together would
(19:58):
be just such an interesting thing. And yeah, I mean,
I think I love Chris Howers. He's a moss. And
I think High and Low is like a a really
human film, and I think that in a way that
I think really worked.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Okay, so Highest to Lowest. The aging music impresario David
King has sold his record company, but now he wants
it back because it's on the verge of being seld
to sold to a like private equity funded media conglomerate
(20:37):
that's going to break it up and sell it off
piece by piece. David is he came up through the culture,
He came up through the music. He can't for all
the trappings of wealth. He is still very passionate about music,
about black music, and about its role in American society
and life. And so he wants his he wants his
(20:58):
baby back. But in the midst of all this, there's
a kidnapping. It seems as if for a moment that
it's his son that's been kidnapped. Actually it's the son
of his show his friend friend, Yeah, his friend and compatriot.
And like colleague, I guess you would say, who is
(21:21):
Paul who comes from the street and has done at
least one lengthy bid in prison and is now living
with David as basically part of his extended family. And
so David really struggles with whether to pay this ransom
(21:43):
for a person who is not his son, especially since
he has just leveraged all the liquid cash that he
has to buy back the company. This would mean risking
his ability to buy back the company. But he, after
much thinking about it, he decides that he's gonna pay
the ransom's.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Side seventeen million dollars.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
It's seventeen Swiss.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
In Swiss Franks because it will way less around the city.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
So the money handoff, however, goes sideways and the kidnappers
get away with it, but Paul and Denzel manage to
track this guy down. They find him a Young Felon.
They find him in his studio where he's recording, and
then you get this incredible confrontation through the studio window
(22:35):
as David and Young Felon kind of much like the
climax of High and Low, debate the merits of this
crime scheme. And there's this other level too, where it's
like David is also critiquing Young Felon's music and saying like, okay,
(22:56):
this is there's something, but like I don't know who
you are through your music. Tell me what you tell
me your pain, tell me your dream, like all this stuff,
and they keep and this turns into this like larger
argument about like you know, why why should I you
had your chance? And then eventually Denzel chases in the
(23:17):
in the in the one part of the movie that
maybe you have to suspend your disbelief a little harder
than everything else. Sixty something year old Denzel Washington runs
and pieces down thirty something year old He's up, Rocky
catches him and then beats.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
His ass suit Denzel's seventy so he really they make
you believe this, They make you believe that that this
could happen next to you.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
But yeah, with the woman next to me when when
Denzel was running.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Was like okay, good no, yeah, she was like good, good, good,
You're doing a great job.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And then you end up with this great kind of
reflection of that argument in the studio where he goes
to visit him in prison and Young Fella makes him
this offer of like, if you sign least my music,
we're going to be so huge, Like together, we're going
to be so good, we're gonna it will be the
(24:12):
biggest signing in music history because of what I did
and because my songs are going crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Because of the notoriety, the attention. This end. If there
is a thesis behind this movie, this is part of it.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
It's that, as they say, it's.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Young Felon says that all that matters in the modern
world of twenty twenty five is attention? Can you get it?
And David King thinks, there it should be more to
it than that. Of course attention is important, but what's
your message exactly? David essentially just declients, and.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
There's this great line which is also that I would
say it's kind of funny because I think it is
the main theme of the movie to take away, which
I think is really powerful. But it's also the tagline,
which I think is really funny, which is just not
all money is good money. And that's basically what he
says to him, is like, I can't take that money
after what you did, you know, and you kind of
(25:05):
get this. He's like kind of screaming and being dragged away,
which is, you know, the same, very similar ending to
the original high end low you.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Mentioned in the preamble, like Spikes, this being a kind
of film nerd film history and just like letting loose.
And I thought that from the from the very first
seconds of this film.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
This film, let's talk about the opening.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah, these incredible scenic like landscape shots of Brooklyn and
New York City, the most set two four K like
h incredible set two the opening number of Oklahoma nineteen
fifty five's Oklahoma beautiful to me, it's part of a
(25:57):
thing that is a signature of Spikes. He doesn't lot
he got game, which is where he sets this kind
of uh, you know, story about a black basketball player
and his dad in Brooklyn to Aaron Cohen, and it's
(26:17):
that it's it's Spike saying to me, in my interpretation
cities urban America, that is America. It's part of America.
As much as the wheat feels of the Midwest and
the grand vistas of the Grand Canyon are part of
(26:39):
like American lore. This is these parts of America are
part of America. And it was just like from that moment,
I was like, I'm in this is tremendous fun.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I think it's such a good way to establish just
how good David King and his family have had it
in that moment too as well. You're letting every day
that they wake up is like it's the best site.
He can make any move, he can do anything, he
can convince board members to back him. And I find
(27:12):
it really interesting and I think this is, you know,
the universality of like cinema. But you know, if you
look at High and Low, it's about a guy trying
to take over a shoemaking company, right and hear it's
a giant record label that he wants to stop being
bought from from Stray Dog Records. But I just think
(27:32):
that shows you how incredibly relatable this idea is. Where
at the center of the story. All it really is
about is about somebody looking up at a house then
ever going to afford to live in, and wondering why
that person gets that, and kind of then exploring what
can come from that. And I think something that's really
(27:53):
exciting and vibrant about this movie is the choices that
Spike makes to keep it in his own vibe and tone,
because the original is seen as like a pretty downbeat,
like no noir police procedural, but Spike was like, no,
I'm going I'm going big, I'm going soapy, I'm going important,
(28:14):
I'm going oscars, but I'm also for me. I think
I was really enjoying the whole movie. But when Denzel's
when David King and Paul kind of reunite post Denzel
paying the money for his son, I found a lot
of that early stuff and this is complimentary where he's
(28:34):
this sort of deciding whether or not he should pay.
They're really brave, like they don't make him look like
a good person. He says these incredibly brash, cruel things
about this not being his own son, which you understand
from the face of it the money that it costs.
But at the same time, They have this great counterpart
(28:56):
in his son, who was this meant to be kidnapped, Trey,
who almost has like a childlike innocence about it because
he's a teenager, where he's just like, well, of course
you would pay for it. It's you would pay it
for me, you'd pay it for my god brother, you know.
So they get you in this really emotional state watching
this kind of grappling, and if you've seen Hei and Low,
you know what's gonna happen. But I felt like they
(29:17):
did such a good job where I was really just
like I was like physically like, oh, come on, man,
Like he was saying stuff where I was just like,
this is so hard to hear. But when him and
Paul come together and they kind of go into the
night on this quest to find young Felon, there's this
kind of free jazz, a pro like kind of association.
(29:41):
Like there's this kind of music that feels like you're
watching a French New Aid movie. There's this lighting that
looks so jazzy, and Spike just brings me go to
a film stock.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
At different points in the movie, there's the yes when
people are watching him, it's very clearly on like or
made to seem as if it's on like thirty five
millimeter like films, the cinema film stock. And to your point, yes,
this when they go after young Felon, there's a change
there too. It's like he's moving through these different eras
(30:15):
of film with this, with this movie, and it's just
go on.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I was just gonna say, it feels like it would
have been an easy movie to play safe if he'd
have played it serious, were in a prestige TV era,
you could have really gone for that like totally different tone.
But instead, this is like the most Spike Lee movie
I feel like I've seen for a long time, even
like I love old Spike, that was like such a
huge part of my film lover's career was just like
(30:44):
watching you know, his classic movies and films that have
just completely changed the way that cinema is made, and
that kind of like raw energy that Mars energy that
he had. But this took me back to that, but
on this like really grand scale, which is such a
(31:06):
fun thing to get to see from a filmmaker who
is aging and who you have kind of aged with.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Well, I think that's part of what makes it feel
really personal to me. Like there's this Obviously a huge
element of this story is this kind of like aging
creative type who all through the picture is having people
whose only dream is to like have a sliver of
(31:36):
what he has pitching him themselves all the time. Can
I just play you a minute of my song? Can
I just send you this? You have to listen to
this person?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Have you heard of this?
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Like how I get to like trying everyone.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
And they're trying to almost like and they're trying to
almost like they jump scare him. They're always like waiting
for him at the record label, waiting for him outside.
And you know what, David King always because he feels
like he's got that that that super ear, you know,
he can't find the right person.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
And I just feels as if, Yeah, it feels as
if with both Spike and Andzel who you know, their
roles and their positions in the industry and and culture. Uh,
it's very easy for me to imagine that same kind
of dynamic happening all the time. And you really feel
the there's never h You always feel that David is
(32:31):
feels the weight and responsibility of like I'm he's a
super busy guy. He's like trying to close these business
deals that are extremely important to him. But he has
to stop because like the lifeblood of his business is
I got to stop and listen to this person for
a minute, because it really might be them that revitals.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, it really could be that. And I also I
think something that is so incredible about Spike is if
you if you look at the last movie he made,
which was the absolutely snubbed in my opinion, like should
have won a million. I think the Five Bloods about
you know, which was kind of again, what is his
(33:14):
take on an American war film?
Speaker 3 (33:16):
You know?
Speaker 2 (33:17):
That is an unbelievable movie. And I wonder, and you know,
Delroy Lindo, he got such an unbelievable performance out of him,
And I do wonder if this is like a you know,
I mean, we shouldn't be surprised at Spike Lee, but
I feel like that followed by this, I feel like
I'm just so excited to see what the rest of
(33:37):
this era looks like, because it feels like just completely
he's completely free and excited and has people believing in
him and his vision as he should. Because this looks
like an expensive movie as well. That's another thing that
I think is and it looks to see spend that
(33:57):
apple money baby like you deserve it.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
You don't feel like again as a New Yorker. Well,
first of all, there is a two minute Boston.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Wait, wait, wait, let me let's let's go for a
quick and break and then let's come back. And I'm
gonna ask you New.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
York Jason, Yeah, yeah, and we're back, Jason.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
In this special Spike Lee themed segment of Jason explains
it or tell us about Spike is in New Yorker
and how this movie absolutely just plays into that on
the highest level.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Well, I mean, first of all, there is a two
minute fuck Boston, Boston sucks like in this camera direct
to camera that is happening at during that straddles the
kind of set piece action sequence of this film, the
(35:10):
handoff between the handoff of the money. And does it
feel gratuitous, Yes, I think so, but it also hilario.
Was it hilarious?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yes? Did everyone in the cinema get amped up to
be part of that you know moment? And what I
really loved is this little it's a little snippet of
community that you feel in like a sports moment or
like a kind of some kind of community event like
(35:42):
that when you get caught on the train and someone
starts yelling that and then everyone starts yelling it. But
the bit that made me laugh out loud was after
the train kind of halts to a stop and we
know that David has dropped the money, then the train
chant changes to Boston broke the train, or like Austin
stop the train or something, and then everyone's blaming them
(36:03):
for that too, and I just thought it was like
really real and really funny.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
It is really real and and Spike has an ability,
you know, in that way that where we talked about
his ability to kind of depict the complexity without trying
to like shove an answer into the mix. It's that
ability that allows Spike to really capture something essential about
New York almost every single to the different people and
(36:29):
characters and the different ways that they all relate to
each other in ways that are often like in confrontation,
but are also in surprising ways like in harmony at
different points. And maybe my favorite, well maybe my most
rewatched Spike film is The twenty fifth Hour, which came
(36:50):
out like two thousand and two or two thousand.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, let's talk about times that's that's a lesson talked
about one.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
It came out in two thousand and two. It you
can feel the nine to eleven attacks, like the impact
of it in the all throughout the movie. And there's
this incredible, like five minute monologue that Ed Norton's character
is going to jail and he's kind of like settling
all his personal accounts in this twenty five hours before
(37:24):
he has to appear at the jail upstate, and he's
gone to this club and you know, and his girlfriend.
He's unsure if his girlfriend is going to stick with
him throughout this thing. And he goes to the bathroom
to kind of like just have a moment, and he
looks on the mirror. In the mirror, on the mirror,
there's some graffiti that says fuck you, and this causes
(37:47):
him into the mirror to launch into this like racist screed.
But it's where he criticizes, like course, terms every kind
of archetypical New York character, the squeegey guys who come
out and wash your windows, which hasn't really been a
(38:08):
thing since the eighties, but still, you know what, I
grew up in London. Yeah, every like the Puerto Ricans
and the Porto Rican Day Parade, Dominicans, the black community,
the white stockbrokers, the cops. He goes it like everybody,
and he does it in this way that I mean,
(38:29):
is it Is it a racist creed? Yes, But also
it's it's the kind of thing where, if you're from
New York, you've heard every single person in that montage
say something about every other person in that montage in
a very similar way, where it's this coarseness that's born
(38:50):
out of I'm living with these people. They're in my
face all the time. It's not this like I hate
that person in a kind of remote theoretical way where
you don't see them, or this person annoys me in
this kind of remote theoretical way, you know, I hate
as of people you've never met. It's like every day
I'm mashed up against all these different types of people
(39:14):
and here's my issues with all of them. And that
encapsulates New York and anything maybe that I've ever seen
in a film. It's that kind of antagonism that comes
from not necessarily a place of warmth or love, but
(39:35):
as like a kind of it's almost like bragging, like
I survive this, I live in this I live surrounded
by these groups who are constantly jostling for position, for attention,
for money, who are trying to rob me or trying
(39:55):
to like rip me off or trying to get over
on me, And I would never live anywhere else that
is like, that's basically what it's saying, and it's incredible.
And Spike has that ability like he's not trying to
solve the societal problems in New York City with this monola.
He's just trying to show you the complexity of it.
(40:18):
And that's why this movie is just one of my favorite, favorite,
favorite favorite Spike films. And I think maybe the the
one film that deals with the terrorist attacks of nine
to eleven in a way that feels like legitimate and real.
And Spike has this power, that ability to just like
pull these threads together.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
What does it feel like to have a directa that
is like so local to you? Because I feel like
that's just to have like a groundbreaking director but who
is essentially from where you're from and who makes films
about where you're from. Not everyone kind of experiences that.
What's that been like as a cinema love.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
And it's pretty it's pretty crazy. You know, like when
I was living in New York the last time in Brooklyn.
I mean, like his offices in Fort Green were like
everybody knew where they were, you could walk by them.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
It is.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
It's a really cool thing to know that there's a
guy who could just kind of gets it and can
put that on the screen. It's an amazing feeling who
really understands like the different groups and the way the
city is. There's no one story to a city of
(41:36):
ten million people. And then like the shameless you know, listen,
the shameless Knicks fandom. It's fantastic, you know, and it's
probably more in your face and ridiculous of this in
high's the lowest than it's ever been because let's you know,
the Knicks haven't been good for a long time. This
is the first this is the first New York Spike
(41:58):
film since the Knicks have been good. Again. True, he's
really enjoying it. He's really enjoying He's he's and he's
really happy about it.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Oh yeah, could you talk a little bit about just
about some of the stuff that we do get to
see here, because there is that the chase we get
through the parade is some of the most beautiful kind
of visuals that we've had from him in a long
time too. So could you talk a little bit about
about that parade and what it means.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
I mean, well, Supporter you Can Day Parade, and that's
one of the biggest events in then calendar of New
York City. And it's funny because in twenty fifth Hour
in that monologue, like Edward Norton's character calls out the
Porter you Can Day parade calls it the worst parade
of the city, and you're you know, which is a
take that I think you you will hear in certain
areas of New York for sure, But it's also like huge,
(42:53):
I mean here, it's like the feeling.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
You get that feeling like in England we have Annoying
Hill Carnival, which is like our version of Carnival, but
it and captured that like true community party. It is.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
It's an amazing event that takes over huge swaths of
the city. And then even if you if you're not there,
if you don't go to the parade route, you feel
it throughout the city because you'll be on the train
and you'll see people with the flags and you know,
with flags on their shirts and carrying uh, you know,
(43:28):
different emblems of Puerto Rico, and I thought he captured it,
the vibrancy of it, yeah, really well in this as
you know, a kind of integral though people complain about it,
that integral part of the culture of it.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
He shows like how it can literally get in your way,
like that's part of the whole why the why it
is set that but you get you know, we see
Rosy Perez, who obviously had her breakout in Do the
Right Thing, and I love Rosie Press so much, and
you know, having her, they're kind of at the parade
and then you know, all these beautiful shots of people
(44:09):
dancing and the sky and the Puerta Rican flag in
front of the blue skies was just really beautiful. But
at the same time it is letting you know, like
this takes over a city like the I think that
that while the movies train Handover obviously is hard to
compare to the original High and Low one, which is
so incredible. I thought the way that they envisioned how
(44:34):
young people understand the city in a way old people
can't was really really great because they absolutely just they
take that money, no problem, like that motorcycle chase where
they're switching between the different guys. I was like, yes,
he understands that while David King has money and power,
(44:54):
he doesn't have people on the street anymore. He needs
poor for that, you know. And I just I thought
that sequence was was just so so brilliant. Well you
are that you mentioned twenty fifth out, Well you are
the underseen Spike Lee movies that people should check out.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Off to this one, my underseen Spikes. I like it.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah, I I go for it.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
I mean, I like his genre stuff. This isn't different,
this isn't underscene. It's hard for me to just like.
I think he's Spike Clockers, which is a adaptation of
an incredible Richard Price novel Richard Price, I think one
of the greatest writers of dialogue that I've ever read, ever, ever, ever, Clockers.
It doesn't get talked about a ton I think that.
(45:40):
I mean, uh, Summer of Sam is another montage heavy
one that isn't I think it's it falls it falls
short of like a even like an above average Spike film,
But there is like something about the vibrancy and the
(46:03):
way he captures the the kind of Mailstrom that late
seventies New York was not only a city kind of
breaking down economically under a wave of crime and in
this film, like facing a wave of serial murder attacks
by the son of Sam, but it was also a
place where the stirring you know you add punk rock, Yeah,
(46:27):
like running into the what would become like hip hop,
and so it was a really culturally vibrant time and
he captured that.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Yeah, I think, well, I think that's a great picks
also because like again there's not one story about New York,
and that's one of those many stories about New York
and about how that impacted, like the Bronx and everything.
I will shout out one, which is my h This
was essentially his kind of like post old Boy. He
remade Old Boy. Might not remember that it was he
(46:57):
was taken away, don't worry, taken away from him in
the editing room. You know. He he didn't put Spike
Lee joint on it. It ends up just being called
a Spike Lee film. But after that, he essentially crowdfunded
a remake of Gandrin has called The Sweet Blood of Jesus,
which I just find such an interesting thing. I love
the original movie, so I'm always interested to see somebody
(47:22):
take it on. Obviously hard to do a remake that's better,
but I think it's a really interesting counterpiece and I
think it brought the original Gandarin has to a lot
more people who had maybe not seen it. And I
feel like, really that was just before his kind of
like career resurgence that came back post Old Boy and
he started doing you know you, then had his musical
(47:46):
with Shirak, you had a bunch of different then you
obviously had Black Klansman, which I think a lot of
people love big you know, Awards film. But he's He's
had an unbelievable career. I mean, what other direct are
there who are still looked upon like this, who have
directed you know, thirty plus movies in I think in
(48:08):
twenty twenty five, I mean, not really many of them.
And I I'm glad that even though it's a short
theatrical release. I think that Spike Lee adapting in Akira
Curus hour movie should be based on an Ed muc
Bain novel, by the Way, King's Ransom, which is like
from the late fifties, which is again the same idea,
would you if you are the most rich person like
(48:29):
and you have the money should you pay for somebody
else's kid who's been kidnapped in your kid's place, Like,
this is such a huge film, and I think it
should be in theaters, and I'm glad people are gonna
get see in theaters and hopefully you know, like a
Sinners or as we've seen, you know, strangely with K
Pop Demon Hunters, which is in theaters this weekend for
sing Along, they've already had to add more screenings to that.
(48:53):
We know that singers stayed in the movie theaters for months,
especially in the thirty five millimeter in seventy million meter
screenings at places like the New Beverly. So I'm really
hoping that this kind of catches fire in a similar
way and that you're gonna be able to see theaters
continuing to show this and maybe even like theeas who
(49:14):
you wouldn't normally see, Like I would love for this
to be more available to a wider audience, say in
AMCs and regals and cinemas, rather than your arrow and
your Lamel and your smaller theater chains. So I hope
it does break out because I do think that one
of the things that's really interesting about this movie, and
I think something that shows that Spike knows a shows
(49:39):
that Spike knows how young people watch stuff. Now, the
way that this movie flips between kind of genre and
tone and moments almost feels like vignettes that you could
be watching on you know, TikTok or something like that.
And I'm sure Spike is not trying to make a
movie that feels like TikTok, and this doesn't feel like
(49:59):
tik But I do think that there is a version
where if you're a teenager or a twenty something who
doesn't love watching movies, and I've met many of them
and I get it it's not your thing, this feels
like the kind of movie that could enrapture you and
inspire you and make you want to watch movies again,
especially in a twenty twenty five landscape of massive blockbusters
and comic book films being the major thing. So I
(50:21):
hope it does stay in theaters for a little bit longer,
and if not, at least everyone will be able to
watch it on Apple Plus TV, which honestly Apple continuing
its twenty twenty five quality rain over pretty much every
other streaming service at this point.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
Well, I hope people will watch it on the next
episode of Extra Vision, We're diving into some news through
this episode. Thanks for listening. Bye x ray Vision is
hosted by Jason Concepcion and Rosie Knight and is a
production of iHeart Podcast.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
Our executive producers are Joelmini and Aaron Kaufman.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
Our supervising producer is Abuza part.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
Our producers are Common, Laurent Dean Jonathan and Bay Wag.
Speaker 1 (51:08):
A theme song is by Brian Vasquez, with alternate theme
songs by Aaron Kaufman.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Special thanks to Soul Rubin, Chris Lord, Kenny Goodman and
Heidi our discord moderator.
Hosts And Creators
Jason Concepcion
Rosie Knight
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