Red Hook Summer

Of Red Hooker Summer and Spike Lee, the Critical Film-artist
Right now I am meditating upon Spike Lee's film "Red Hook Summer." This film--preaches red, walks red, uncovers an evil church red "rat" that needs to be corrected by the community. The implicit recognition that something is very wrong in the African American church experience is this film's thesis and its "rat." Mookie (Spike Lee), i.e., knows that; therefore, he will deliver pizza, but he will not attend "Old Timers Day." And it seems Spike Lee intends to right the wrong by telling and giving voice to an African American story that is often silenced by church members. Loving preachers can be flawed and one of their flaws may be molesting boys. The film calls for a right of the wrong that has been placed in a community. Oh it seems that the wrong is a poor community; it seems that the wrong is a vegan man-child who may not believe in God. In the inner sanctuary of the wrong, the wounded (as well as those who inflict the wounds) function. "Red Hook Summer" begs for a response. This...

A return to Brooklyn
Spike Lee and Woody Allen are the only film makers that come to my mind who are in love with the cities that they live in. Their movies are not just about the characters but also about the city - mostly New York and its vibrancy. While Allen has recently flirted with Europe, Lee remains a faithful New Yorker and returns to his Brooklyn roots with Red Hook Summer.
Red Hook Summer abounds with characters, their observations through dialogues, often include monologues which help Spike Lee create a very watchable film but with limitations.

Flik (Jules Brown) is a 13 year old teenager whose mother, Colleen (De'Adre Aziza), brings him from Atlanta to New York to spend a summer with Bishop Enoch (Clarke Peters), the grandfather with whom both Flik and his mother are estranged from.
Enoch is a hardcore Baptist preacher who runs a little church facing financial trouble known as Lil' Piece of heaven and is hellbent on teaching Flik the importance of God- Jesus. Flik...

AMATEUR HOUR
I remember a day when a Spike Lee movie would come out and critics would fall all over themselves to talk about what a genius he was. I would see these same movies and think they were well made and interesting but nothing near as special as they seemed to think they were. Then things began to change. Lee's new movies weren't getting near the attention his earlier works did and he became known more for his outrageous comments than his films. If he continues to make movies like this I can see that continuing.

REDHOOK SUMMER takes place in the now familiar Lee territory of Redhook, Brooklyn. Young Flick is forced by his mother to arrive in Redhook to spend the summer with his religious grandfather Enoch, a pastor of a church there. Coming from a middle class home where he has his own food and non-stop use of his Ipad 2, Flick grumbles about wanting to go home and hates the situation he's in.

Enoch doesn't cow tow to the boy and makes the food he normally does. He...

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