Miracle at St. Anna's

So today as I was riding on the Metro 240 to the Orange Line, I get a phone call. It was from Steph (the co-founder of Inner-City Filmmakers) and she asked if I wanted to come see a pre-screening of Spike Lee's new joint: Miracle at St. Anna's. It was on the way so I was so down to go.

I hopped onto the Orange Line, then the Red Line, got off at Hollywood and Highland and met up with a few Inner-City Filmmakers alumni '08s and other years.

It was crazy stuff. Spike Lee was actually there as well as other celebrities like Damon Wayans, Rick Fox, Terry Cruz, Lenny Kravitz, Derek Luke, Omar Benson Miller, etc. etc. I was on a bit of a celebrity high but had to calm myself down if I wanted to be a peer of one of them someday.

What did I think about the film itself? I really couldn't tell you because I don't think I fully understood it. I mean, I understand what happen and who the characters where and what they were meant for in terms of plot but I don't think I'm sure what I should take away from the film. What does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? Everyone else said they enjoyed it but I felt like if I asked them "why" they wouldn't be able to give me a straight answer or a generic one. The film was certainly humorous and dramatic. It brought up emotions in me, that's for sure, but some scenes fell short for me, especially the flashback to the Louisiana Parlor. I'll make a full review once I watch it again or when I could collect my thoughts. At the moment the film at a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes which would make the film, currently, his worse reviewed film since 2004's She Hate Me. I do appreciate the work Spike Lee does, though. He does not tell his stories in the regular conventions of filmmaking. In a way, he is a bit experimental in his methods of storytelling and he doesn't have to do it with fancy edits, grand special effects or crazy cinematography. This film is definitely more of a fantasy than a real interpretation of WWII. But that's great because it would not have worked as well with certain aspects (i.e. the opening war scene with the Nazi lady playing with the African-American soldier's minds). All and all, at this point, I am extremely undecided.

Peace