comment #1

D.Z. says ...

Wait, I thought sequels were one of the things you hated about today's studios, Jeff.

comment #2

D.Z. says ...

Oh, and "mary" on a different board mentioned a Departed 2. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117953342.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

comment #3

The Winchester says ...

How can they make a sequel? This is another bad idea. And from Brain Grazer no less.

comment #4

The Movie Man says ...

I really liked Inside Man, but this sounds a little desperate to me, trying to sequalize the first hit you've had in however long. What about the Selling Time movie Lee was working on? Is that still next?

comment #5

Dave Polands Gut says ...

Well Spike cant make money doing anything he wants to do so he may as well take director for hire gigs.

comment #6

Bandersnatch says ...

I liked Inside Man for what it was, but the only thing in it that really stuck with me was Denzel's performance. I would watch a sequel about Detective Frazier, but not one that just tried to duplicate the original, i.e. by setting up another "perfect crime" scenario.

comment #7

Ju-osh says ...

I love Spike Lee -- loooooove Spike Lee. As a young, 13-year-old movie-loving kid, Lee was one of the first filmmakers whose style and content actually stood out to me, that spoke directly to me and who compelled me to want to further educate myself about the topics and themes he was tackling. Fast forward almost 20 years, and Inside Man was the first film by Spike that inspired nothing in me. No awe, anger, bewilderment, nothing. It was simply a piece of well-crafted, well-acted entertainment. Now, for most directors, hitting that highwater mark would be something to boast about. But from Spike Lee...well, I've always expected something wholly unique and identifiably personal from him. Inside Man was the sort of by-the-book crime film I expect from a director like Sydney Pollack or Sydney Lumet -- and I mean TODAY, not in their prime. And now we get word that Spike's going back to this shallow, tepid well? What about the Joe Luis movie Spike wrote with A Face In The Crowd/On The Waterfront scribe Budd Schulberg? Now THAT'S a film I want to see! Lee's Hurrican Katrina doc When The Levees Broke was incredible. Am I being selfish to only want this caliber of filmmaking from Spike Lee? Hell, I'll even endure another miscalculated fiasco like She Hate Me. At least he was trying something new.

comment #8

The Movie Man says ...

Ju-osh-

I agree with your sentiment, but you know how it is, Lee's probably going to have to make at least two or three more Inside Mans to get to some of the movies that Lee fans are looking forward to. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, Lee needed to recharge his battery, refind his groove, love telling a story again, and Inside Man was just what he needed, an entertaining trifle that seemed effortless only because Lee is a very good director, it was sort of his Ocean'S Eleven (though I prefer Inside Man), here's hoping that the new Inside Man movie is not his Ocean's Twelve.

comment #9

Dixon Steele says ...

Ju-Osh, I don't think you're being selfish, just a bit too idealistic.

Personally, I thought INSIDE MAN was a first-rate piece of commercial filmmaking. Very well written, directed, great cast. Where's the shame in that?

I'd rather sit though something like that than, as you correctly out it, a "misguided fiasco". What's the point in sitting though a misguided fiasco under any circumstances?

I guess you're just more "noble" than I am...

On the other hand, a sequel...Nah.

comment #10

Sean says ...

Dixon -

I kind of agree with both of you. Chris Rock had a great quote around the time 'Truman Show' came out ... (paraphrased) "Jim Carrey is great in 'The Truman Show' but, you know what? There are a dozen actors who could do that role. How many people could be Ace Ventura?"

With Spike Lee, it's kind of the same thing. Anybody could've made 'Inside Man', but only Spike Lee could've made 'She Hate Me'. 'She Hate Me' may ultimately fail, but it fails because it tries way too many things ... it has a lot of unformed ideas that it jumps between in a sort of stream of consciousness way. It probably ultimately fails as a movie, but it tries so many interesting things along the way to failing that it's difficult to know what to make of it. 'Inside Man', it's pretty cut and dry; you either like it or you don't, though acknowledging it's better made than the average movie of its type. 'Inside Man' isn't going to spark any serious conversations and, as good as it may be, that makes it a slight disappointment as a "Spike Lee movie".

Personally speaking, I find Lee's "failures" far more interesting than his "successes" (except 'Malcolm X', which is a masterpiece).

comment #11

The Movie Man says ...

I think one of Lee's most potent, absorbing pictures is "Clockers" and that seems like a perfect marriage of mainstream, "genre" picture and Lee's traditional concerns. I'm not really sure what my point is but I just wanted to mention the movie.

comment #12

Dave Polands Gut says ...

I'd be shocked if anyone who saw and liked Inside Man left the theatre still thinking about it. It was a decent popcorn flick that was utterly forgettable.