The arch nemesis of Tyler Perry’s Pro-Madea movement Spike Lee is finally returning to his Brooklyn roots with the release of his anticipated new film ‘Red Hook Summer‘. The story follows a young teenager’s move to the Red Hook projects in New York for the summer to live with his grandfather who pastors a church. It was originally rumored that Lee would be taking his latest project to a major studio for distribution but opted instead to premiere it at the Sundance Film Festival, a rarity for an established director.
Spike openly discussed his frustrations with allowing Hollywood big wigs to make a mockery of his vision:
“We never went to the studios with this film, I told you!” he shouted. “We said, ‘Were gonna do this motherfucking film ourselves and show it at Sundance…. This whole thing was planned out.” Of the studios, he added, “They know nothing about black people. And they gonna give me notes about what a young black boy and girl gonna do in Red Hook? Fuck no! We had to do it ourselves!”
I’ve been an avid fan of Spike Lee since I was a kid favoring such classics ‘School Daze’, ‘Crooklyn’, ‘Jungle Fever’, ‘Do The Right Thing’, and ‘Malcolm X’ as some of my favorites films. While I’m not too elated for this new flick I am happy that Spike is making movies again that relate so closely to his earlier theatrical offerings all while offering a social message.
Peep the trailer after the jump.
