Inside Man 2006
Both Justin's and Sean's favorite Spike movie, which Sean admits feels like an unserious answer next to 'Do the Right Thing' or 'Malcolm X.' Amanda's watching it too: 'this is the Inside Man fan club.'
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review
Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods': The Most Important Movie of 2020
June 12, 2020/ 87 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Justin Charity
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins are joined by Justin Charity to talk through Spike Lee's career and favorite films, then dig into 'Da 5 Bloods,' his Vietnam War heist movie about four Black veterans returning for buried gold and their squad leader's remains.
8 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Spike Lee in 2020career, reputation, and favorites
Do the Right Thing 1989
Called his masterpiece, no dissent.
Malcolm X 1992
Amanda's pick, missing from Sean's published top five. Denzel Washington's non-nomination is still, in her words, one of the great Oscar travesties.
Crooklyn 1994
Amanda rewatched it for the first time since the '90s and was floored by how much of the homesickness and family dysfunction landed differently as an adult.
Clockers 1995
One of the films Sean ranks above 'Malcolm X' on pure rewatchability.
25th Hour 2002
Same list as 'Clockers' for Sean: important isn't the same as favorite.
BlacKkKlansman 2018
The $15 million movie that made $100 million and won Lee his first competitive Oscar, yet still wasn't enough to get 'Da 5 Bloods' financed anywhere but Netflix.
'Da 5 Bloods'
Da 5 Bloods 2020
Four Vietnam vets (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isaiah Whitlock Jr.) go back to retrieve their squad leader's remains and the gold they buried decades earlier; Chadwick Boseman plays that leader in flashback, an idealized, almost Christ-like figure the group still measures itself against. No de-aging for the leads: Lee just cast the actors as themselves, which the hosts land on as purposeful once they clock it. Delroy Lindo's Trump-supporting veteran is the centerpiece: the movie treats his politics as a symptom of untreated trauma rather than a punchline, and pairs the MAGA hat with an OxyContin bottle in the same scene. A landmine set piece involving Jonathan Majors (playing Lindo's son) is singled out as some of the best filmmaking Lee's done in years. Consensus: very good, a genre swing that folds in Coppola, Aldrich, and even Michael Bay, but not quite in the 'Do the Right Thing'/'Malcolm X'/'Inside Man' tier.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Other Spike Lee films mentioned Da Sweet Blood of JesusShe Hate Me4 Little GirlsChi-Raq
Films that inspired or echo 'Da 5 Bloods' Apocalypse NowThe Dirty DozenThe Treasure of the Sierra MadreStand by MeDead PresidentsTriple FrontierThe IrishmanThe Ballad of Buster ScruggsGirls TripSaving Private RyanMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldThe Rocketeer
Cast credits mentioned Congo42Get On UpBlack Panther
Awards conversation SelmaMoonlight
Outro plug The King of Staten Island
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The Good FightThe WireWhen the Levees Broke