Editing Spike Lee (section)

== Career ==

=== 1980s ===
In 1983, Lee premiered his first independent short film titled, ''[[Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads]]''. Lee submitted the film as his [[master's degree]] [[thesis]] at the [[Tisch School of the Arts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spectrumculture.com/2012/03/oeuvre-spike-lee-joes-bed-stuy-barbershop-we-cut-heads.html/ |title=Oeuvre: Spike Lee: Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads |publisher=Spectrum Culture |date=March 15, 2012 |access-date=December 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317165601/http://spectrumculture.com/2012/03/oeuvre-spike-lee-joes-bed-stuy-barbershop-we-cut-heads.html/ |archive-date=March 17, 2012 }}</ref> Lee's classmates [[Ang Lee]] and [[Ernest Dickerson|Ernest R. Dickerson]] worked on the film as [[assistant director]] and [[cinematographer]], respectively. The film was the first student film to be showcased in [[Lincoln Center]]'s New Directors New Films Festival. Lee's father, [[Bill Lee (musician)|Bill Lee]], composed the score. The film won a [[Student Academy Award]].

[[File:Spike Lee.jpg|thumb|left|Lee circa 1990s]]

In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, ''[[She's Gotta Have It]]''. The [[black-and-white]] film concerns a young woman (played by [[Tracy Camilla Johns]]) who is seeing three men, and the feelings this arrangement provokes. The film was Lee's first feature-length film, and launched Lee's career. Lee wrote, directed, produced, starred and edited the film with a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7 million at the U.S. box office.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=shesgottahaveit.htm |title=She's Gotta Have It (1986) |website=Box Office Mojo |date=August 26, 1986 |access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref> ''[[New York Times]]'' film critic [[A.O. Scott]] wrote that the film "ushered in (along with [[Jim Jarmusch]]'s ''[[Stranger Than Paradise]]'') the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/44229/She-s-Gotta-Have-It/overview | first=A. O. | last=Scott | title=She's Gotta Have It | access-date=August 7, 2020 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027102646/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/44229/She-s-Gotta-Have-It/overview | department=Movies & TV Dept. | work=[[The New York Times]] | author-link=A. O. Scott | date=2007 | archive-date=October 27, 2007}}</ref> He followed this with the musical drama ''[[School Daze]]'' (1988).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=School Daze movie review & film summary (1988) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/school-daze-1988 |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1989, Lee made perhaps his most seminal film, ''[[Do the Right Thing]],'' which focused on a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension on a hot summer day. The film's cast included Lee, [[Danny Aiello]], [[Bill Nunn]], [[Ossie Davis]], [[Ruby Dee]], [[Giancarlo Esposito]], [[Rosie Perez]], [[John Turturro]], [[Martin Lawrence]] and [[Samuel L. Jackson]]. The film gained critical acclaim as one of the best films of the year from film critics including both [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]] who ranked the film as the best of 1989, and later in their top 10 films of the decade ({{Numero|6}} for Siskel and {{Numero|4}} for Ebert).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjYS8EUakgs |title= Siskel & Ebert 1989-Best of 1989 (2of2) |publisher= [[YouTube]] |date= December 17, 2010 |access-date= April 29, 2015}}</ref> Ebert later added the film to his list of ''[[The Great Movies]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/great-movies/ |title= The Great Movies |author= Roger Ebert |publisher= rogerebert.com |access-date= April 29, 2015}}</ref>

To many people's surprise, the film was not nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] or [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] at the [[Academy Awards]]. The film only earned two Academy Award nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]], Spike Lee's first Oscar nomination, and for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] for Danny Aiello. At the Academy ceremony [[Kim Basinger]], who was a presenter that evening, stated that ''Do the Right Thing'' also deserved a Best Picture nomination stating, "We've got five great films here, and they are great for one reason, because they tell the truth, but there is one film missing from this list because ironically it might tell the biggest truth of all and that's ''Do the Right Thing''".<ref>{{cite news |title=Kim Basinger Rips Academy for Snubbing Spike Lee's Film |work=Jet |issue=27 |publisher=Ebony Media Operations |date=April 16, 1990}}</ref> The film that did win Best Picture was ''[[Driving Miss Daisy]]'', a film that focused on race relations between an elderly Jewish woman ([[Jessica Tandy]]) and her driver ([[Morgan Freeman]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hollywood-flashback-a-snubbed-spike-lee-trashed-wim-wenders-at-cannes-1989-1111408/|title=Hollywood Flashback: A Snubbed Spike Lee Trashed Wim Wenders at Cannes in 1989|first1=Bill|last1=Higgins|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=May 12, 2018}}</ref> Lee said in an April 7, 2006, interview with ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine that the other film's success, which he thought was based on safe stereotypes, hurt him more than if his film had not been nominated for an award.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hill |first=Logan |url=http://nymag.com/anniversary/40th/culture/45772/ |title=Q&A with Spike Lee on Making 'Do the Right Thing' |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=April 7, 2008 |access-date=June 13, 2011}}</ref>

=== 1990s ===
[[File:Spike Lee 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Lee at the 1999 [[Cannes Film Festival]]]]

In 1990, Lee had his first collaboration with [[Denzel Washington]] in ''[[Mo' Better Blues]]''. After the release of ''Mo' Better Blues'', Lee was accused of [[antisemitism]] by the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and several film critics. They criticized the characters of the club owners Josh and Moe Flatbush, described as "[[Shylock]]s". Lee denied the charge, explaining that he wrote those characters in order to depict how black artists struggled against exploitation. Lee said that [[Lew Wasserman]], [[Sidney Sheinberg]], or Tom Pollock, the Jewish heads of MCA and [[Universal Studios, Inc.|Universal Studios]], were unlikely to allow antisemitic content in a film they produced. He said he could not make an antisemitic film because Jews run Hollywood, and "that's a fact".<ref name=Times900816>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/movies/critic-s-notebook-spike-lee-s-jews-passage-benign-cliche-into-bigotry.html |title=Spike Lee's Jews and the Passage from Benign Cliche into Bigotry |last=James |first=Caryn |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 16, 1990 |access-date=December 1, 2009}}</ref> His next film was ''[[Jungle Fever]]'' (1991), for which Samuel L. Jackson won acclaim for his performance as a [[Crack cocaine|crack]] addict.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Freedman |first=Samuel G. |date=1991-06-02 |title=FILM; Love and Hate in Black and White |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/02/movies/film-love-and-hate-in-black-and-white.html |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1992, Spike released his biographical epic film ''[[Malcolm X (1992 film)|Malcolm X]]'' based on the ''[[Autobiography of Malcolm X]]'', starring Denzel Washington as the famed [[Malcolm X|civil rights leader]]. The film dramatizes key events in Malcolm X's life: his criminal career, his [[Prison|incarceration]], his [[conversion to Islam]], his ministry as a member of the [[Nation of Islam]] and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to [[Betty Shabazz|Betty X]], his [[Hajj|pilgrimage]] to [[Mecca]] and reevaluation of his views concerning [[White people|whites]], and his [[assassination]] on February 21, 1965.  Defining childhood incidents, including his father's death, his mother's [[Mental disorder|mental illness]], and his experiences with racism are dramatized in [[Flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]]. The film received widespread critical acclaim including from critic [[Roger Ebert]] ranked the film No. 1 on his Top 10 list for 1992 and described the film as "one of the great screen biographies, celebrating the sweep of an American life that bottomed out in prison before its hero reinvented himself."<ref>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=The Best 10 Movies of 1992|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19921231/COMMENTARY/40308026/1023|work=rogerebert.com|access-date=March 15, 2011|date=December 31, 1992}}</ref> Ebert and [[Martin Scorsese]], who was sitting in for late ''At the Movies'' co-host [[Gene Siskel]], both ranked ''Malcolm X'' among the ten best films of the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/bestof90s.shtml|title=The Best Films of the 1990s|access-date=June 21, 2010|last=Anderson|first=Jeffrey M.|publisher=Combustible Celluloid }}</ref> Denzel Washington's portrayal of Malcolm X in particular was widely praised and he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. Washington lost to [[Al Pacino]] (''[[Scent of a Woman (1992 film)|Scent of a Woman]]''), a decision which Lee criticized, saying "I'm not the only one who thinks Denzel was robbed on that one."<ref>{{cite web|author=DVDTalk.com|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/interviews/spike_lee_on_ma.html|title=Spike Lee on Malcolm X|publisher=Dvdtalk.com|access-date=July 18, 2010}}</ref>

{{external media
|video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?76013-1/black-genius Presentation by Lee at the New York University's ''Black Genius'' series, October 18, 1996], [[C-SPAN]]
}}
He followed ''Malcolm X'' with ''[[Crooklyn]]'' (1994),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marx |first=Andy |date=1993-03-04 |title=Lee gets a go for 'Crooklyn' |url=https://variety.com/1993/film/news/lee-gets-a-go-for-crooklyn-104551/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Clockers (film)|Clockers]]'' (1995),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Clockers movie review & film summary (1995) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/clockers-1995 |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[Girl 6]]'' and ''[[Get on the Bus]]'' (both 1996).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=1996-03-22 |title=FILM REVIEW;Finding a Career in Telephone Sex |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/22/movies/film-review-finding-a-career-in-telephone-sex.html |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brennan |first=Judy |date=1996-10-16 |title=The 'Bus' Stopped Here |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-16-ca-54227-story.html |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> His 1997 documentary ''[[4 Little Girls]]'', about the girls killed in the [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing]] in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], in 1963, was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature|Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998|title=The 70th Academy Awards &#124; 1998|website=Oscars.org &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=October 5, 2014 }}</ref> In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-17-178/ |title=2017 National Film Registry Is More Than a 'Field of Dreams' |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=December 13, 2017}}</ref> He had his third collaboration with Denzel Washington on the sports drama ''[[He Got Game]]'' (1998).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=He Got Game movie review & film summary (1998) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/he-got-game-1998 |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He followed this with ''[[Summer of Sam]]'' (1999),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summer of Sam |url=https://ew.com/article/1999/04/19/summer-sam/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref> based on the [[Son of Sam]] murders.

=== 2000s ===
[[File:Spike Lee at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lee at the 2009 [[Tribeca Film Festival]]]]

In 2000, Lee directed ''[[Bamboozled]]'' (2000),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=2000-10-06 |title=FILM REVIEW; Trying On Blackface in a Flirtation With Fire |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/06/movies/film-review-trying-on-blackface-in-a-flirtation-with-fire.html |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> a satire about a modern televised [[minstrel show]]. He followed this with ''[[25th Hour]]'' (2002) starring [[Edward Norton]] and [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] which opened to positive reviews, with several critics since having named it one of the best films of its decade. Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] added the film to his "Great Movies" list on December 16, 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=25th Hour Review |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091216/REVIEWS08/912169990/1004 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=December 16, 2009 |access-date=July 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100322193930/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20091216%2FREVIEWS08%2F912169990%2F1004 |archive-date=March 22, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[A. O. Scott]],<ref>{{cite news |title=A. O. Scott's Ten Best Films of the 2000s |first=Brian |last=Dunn |author-link=A.O. Scott |url=http://www.bpdreview.com/2009/12/michael-phillips-and-o-scotts-ten-best.html |date=December 26, 2009 |access-date=November 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319052251/http://www.bpdreview.com/2009/12/michael-phillips-and-o-scotts-ten-best.html |archive-date=March 19, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Richard Roeper]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Roeper's best films of the decade |first=Richard |last=Roeper |author-link=Richard Roeper |url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/1967980,roepers-best-films-of-the-year-010110.article |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=January 1, 2010 |access-date=July 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421214649/http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/1967980,roepers-best-films-of-the-year-010110.article |archive-date=April 21, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Roger Ebert all put it on their "best films of the decade" lists.<ref>{{cite news|title=The best films of the decade |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/12/the_best_films_of_the_decade.html |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=December 30, 2009 |access-date=July 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528130622/http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/12/the_best_films_of_the_decade.html |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was later named the 26th greatest film since 2000 in a [[BBC]] poll of 177 critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160819-the-21st-centurys-100-greatest-films |title=The 21st Century's 100 greatest films |publisher=BBC |date=August 23, 2016 |access-date=October 14, 2016}}</ref> The film was also a financial success earning almost $24 million against a $5 million budget.<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=25thhour.htm |title=25th Hour (2002) |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=June 18, 2013}}</ref> He followed ''25th Hour'' with ''[[She Hate Me]]'' (2004), which received negative reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Much to hate, plenty to love in 'She Hate Me' movie review (2004) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/she-hate-me-2004 |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2006, Lee directed ''[[Inside Man]]'' starring Denzel Washington, [[Jodie Foster]], [[Clive Owen]], [[Chiwetel Ejiofor]], [[Willem Dafoe]] and [[Christopher Plummer]]. The film was an unusual film for Lee considering it was a studio heist thriller. The film was a critical and financial success earning $186 million off a $45 million budget. ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' gave the film four stars out of five, concluding, "It's certainly a Spike Lee film, but no Spike Lee Joint. Still, he's delivered a pacy, vigorous and frequently masterful take on a well-worn genre. Thanks to some slick lens work and a cast on cracking form, Lee proves (perhaps above all to himself?) that playing it straight is not always a bad thing."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=117338 |title=Empire's Inside Man Movie Review |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |publisher=[[Bauer Media Group|Bauer Consumer Media]] |access-date=January 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617111841/http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=117338 |archive-date=June 17, 2013 }}</ref>

On May 2, 2007, the 50th [[San Francisco International Film Festival]] honored Spike Lee with the [[San Francisco Film Society]]'s Directing Award. In 2008, he received the Wexner Prize.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wexarts.org/about/wexner_prize/spikelee/ |title="Spike Lee to Receive the Wexner Prize"; Wexner Center for the Arts |publisher=Wexarts.org |access-date=June 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614222728/https://www.wexarts.org/about/wexner_prize/spikelee/ |archive-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref> The same year, Lee directed the [[World War II]] drama ''[[Miracle at St. Anna]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lee blasts Hollywood war mythology as Miracle at St. Anna debuts|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/lee-blasts-hollywood-war-mythology-as-miracle-at-st-anna-debuts-1.764188|date=September 7, 2008|work=CBC News|accessdate=February 10, 2025}}</ref>

=== 2010s ===
In 2012, Lee directed ''[[Red Hook Summer]]'', in which he reprised his role as Mookie from ''Do the Right Thing.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coming of age in Brooklyn movie review (2012) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/red-hook-summer-2012 |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.rogerebert.com |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2013, Lee won [[The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize]], one of the [[List of the world's richest literary prizes|richest prizes in the American arts]] worth $300,000.<ref>{{cite web |author=Chris Lee |date=September 18, 2013 |title=Spike Lee awarded $300,000 Gish Prize |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-spike-lee-awarded-gish-prize-20130918,0,5323916.story |access-date=September 19, 2013 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The same year, he directed ''[[Oldboy (2013 film)|Oldboy]]'', a remake of the [[Park Chan-wook]] [[Oldboy (2003 film)|2003 film]], which was reportedly taken away from Lee in the editing room, leading him to remove his trademark "A Spike Lee Joint" credit for a more impersonal "A Spike Lee Film".<ref name="variety1">{{cite news |author=Maane Khatchatourian |date=November 29, 2013 |title='Oldboy' Will Likely Be Trampled by New Releases in Thanksgiving Rush |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2013/film/news/spike-lees-oldboy-looking-like-a-big-fat-turkey-at-thanksgiving-b-o-1200892692/|access-date=August 4, 2016}}</ref> He followed this with ''[[Da Sweet Blood of Jesus]]'' (2014), which was primarily funded on [[Kickstarter]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundas |first=Scott |date=2014-06-23 |title=Film Review: 'Da Sweet Blood of Jesus' |url=https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-spike-lees-da-sweet-blood-of-jesus-1201242049/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2015, Lee received an [[Academy Honorary Award]] from the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] for his contributions to film.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/news/spike-lee-debbie-reynolds-and-gena-rowlands-receive-academys-2015-governors-awards |title=Spike Lee, Debbie Reynolds And Gena Rowlands To Receive Academy's 2015 Governors Awards |date=August 27, 2015 }}</ref> Friends and frequent collaborators [[Wesley Snipes]], Denzel Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson presented Lee with the award at the private [[Governors Awards]] ceremony.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntDXsajJnXI| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/ntDXsajJnXI| archive-date=October 28, 2021|title= Spike Lee receives an Honorary Award at the 2015 Governors Awards|website= [[YouTube]]| date=November 15, 2015|access-date= August 6, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Lee directed, wrote, and produced the MyCareer story mode in the video game ''[[NBA 2K16]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spike Lee Is Writing A Video Game Campaign |url=http://kotaku.com/spike-lee-is-writing-a-video-game-campaign-1709168903 |publisher=[[Kotaku]] |last=Plunkett |first=Luke |date=June 4, 2015|access-date=June 6, 2015}}</ref> Later that same year, after a perceived long dip in quality, Lee rebounded with a musical drama film, ''[[Chi-Raq]]''. The film is a modern-day adaptation of the ancient Greek play ''[[Lysistrata]]'' by [[Aristophanes]] set in modern-day [[Chicago]]'s Southside and explores the challenges of race, sex, and violence in America. [[Teyonah Parris]], [[Angela Bassett]], [[Jennifer Hudson]], [[Nick Cannon]], [[Dave Chappelle]], Wesley Snipes, [[John Cusack]], and Samuel L. Jackson starred in the film. The film was released by [[Amazon Studios]] in select cities in November. ''Chi-Raq'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has rating of 82% with the site's critical consensus stating, "''Chi-Raq'' is as urgently topical and satisfyingly ambitious as it is wildly uneven – and it contains some of Spike Lee's smartest, sharpest, and all-around entertaining late-period work."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chi_raq/ |title=Chi-Raq (2015) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |date=December 4, 2015 |access-date=August 6, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Cannes 2018 14.jpg|thumb|Lee and his cast promoting ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'' at the [[2018 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
Lee's 2018 film ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'', a [[true crime]] drama set in the 1970s centered around the true story of a black police officer, [[Ron Stallworth]], infiltrating the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. The film premiered at the [[2018 Cannes Film Festival]], where it won the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix]] and opened the following August.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/movies/2018/05/19/cannes-2018-winners-spike-lee-blackkklansman-shoplifters/|title= Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman wins Grand Prix award from Cannes|magazine= [[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date= August 6, 2020}}</ref> The film received near universal praise when it opened in [[North America]] receiving a 96% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] with the critics consensus reading, "''BlacKkKlansman'' uses history to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events – and brings out some of Spike Lee's hardest-hitting work in decades along the way."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blackkklansman|title= Rotten Tomatoes – BLACKKKLANSMAN|website= [[Rotten Tomatoes]]|date= August 10, 2018|access-date= August 6, 2020}}</ref> In 2019, during the awards season leading up to the [[Academy Awards]], Lee was invited to join a Directors Roundtable conversation run by ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]''. The roundtable included [[Ryan Coogler]] (''[[Black Panther (film)|Black Panther]]''), [[Yorgos Lanthimos]] (''[[The Favourite]]''), [[Alfonso Cuarón]] (''[[Roma (2018 film)|Roma]]''), [[Marielle Heller]] (''[[Can You Ever Forgive Me?]]''),  and [[Bradley Cooper]] (''[[A Star Is Born (2018 film)|A Star is Born]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/director-roundtable-spike-lee-bradley-cooper-ryan-coogler-more-1169111|title="Movies Fall Apart a Million Times": The Director Roundtable|website= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=December 14, 2018|access-date= August 4, 2020}}</ref> It was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] (Lee's first ever nomination in this category). Lee won his first competitive Academy Award in the category [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIzK9rFkTx0|title="BlacKkKlansman" wins Best Adapted Screenplay|date=March 25, 2019 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2019|title=The 91st Academy Awards &#124; 2019|website=Oscars.org &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=April 15, 2019 }}</ref> When asked by journalists from the [[BBC]] if the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] winner ''[[Green Book (film)|Green Book]]'' offended him, Lee replied, "Let me give you a British answer, it's not my cup of tea".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXd8vSbAFak| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/QXd8vSbAFak| archive-date=October 28, 2021|title= Oscars 2019 Spike Lee says Green Book 'not my cup of tea'|website= [[YouTube]]| date=February 25, 2019|access-date= August 6, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Many journalists in the industry noted how the [[91st Academy Awards|2019 Oscars]] with ''BlacKkKlansman'' competing against eventual winner ''Green Book'' mirrored the [[62nd Academy Awards|1989 Oscars]] with Lee's film ''[[Do the Right Thing]]'' missing out on a Best Picture nomination over the eventual winner ''[[Driving Miss Daisy]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/spike-lee-reacts-green-books-oscars-win-1190271|title= Spike Lee on 'Green Book's' Controversial Oscars Best Picture Win|website= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date= February 24, 2019|access-date= August 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/green-book-win-gives-spike-lee-driving-miss-daisy-deja-vu-ref-made-a-bad-call/|title= Spike Lee Gets 'Driving Miss Daisy' Deja Vu From 'Green Book' Win: 'Ref Made a Bad Call'|website= [[The Wrap]]|date= February 24, 2019|access-date= August 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/arts/green-book-interracial-friendship.html|title= Why Do the Oscars Keep Falling for Racial Reconciliation Fantasies?|website= [[The New York Times]]|date= January 23, 2019|access-date= August 6, 2020|last1= Morris|first1= Wesley}}</ref>

=== 2020s ===
[[File:Spike Lee Headshot.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Lee in 2024]]
Lee's Vietnam war film ''[[Da 5 Bloods]]'' was released on [[Netflix]]. The film starred [[Delroy Lindo]], [[Jonathan Majors]], [[Clarke Peters]], [[Isiah Whitlock Jr.]], [[Mélanie Thierry]], [[Paul Walter Hauser]] and [[Chadwick Boseman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/spike-lee-da-5-bloods.html |title=Spike Lee's Forever War: How the Vietnam War epic Da 5 Bloods became one of the most ambitious films of his career. |first=Lane |last=Brown |date=June 9, 2020 |access-date=June 10, 2020 |website=Vulture}}</ref> The film was released worldwide on June 12, 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/da-5-bloods-spike-lee-challenges-his-new-project-1297668 |title=Spike Lee on the Challenge of Bringing Netflix's 'Da 5 Bloods' to the Screen |last=Keegan |first=Rebecca |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=June 11, 2020 |date=June 11, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/netflix-spike-lee-da-5-bloods-release-date-1202229868/ |title=Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods' to Stream on Netflix in June, but It's Still Eligible for Oscars |date=May 7, 2020 |work=IndieWire |first=Zack |last=Sharf|access-date=June 11, 2020}}</ref> The film's plot follows a group of aging [[Vietnam War]] veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there. Before the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the film was scheduled to premiere out-of-competition at the [[2020 Cannes Film Festival]], then play in theaters in May or June before streaming on Netflix.<ref name="Vulture">{{cite news| author = Josef Adalian| title = Breaking: The Wire's Michael K. "Omar" Williams Is Headed to Community| access-date = July 23, 2011| url = https://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/07/the_wire_star_michael_k_willia.html | date=July 23, 2011}}</ref> The film received widespread critical acclaim; the website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gave it an approval rating of 92% based on 252 reviews, with the critical consensus reading: "Fierce energy and ambition course through ''Da 5 Bloods'', coming together to fuel one of Spike Lee's most urgent and impactful films."<ref name="rt">{{cite web|title=Da 5 Bloods (2020)|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/da_5_bloods|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=July 20, 2020}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|title=Da 5 Bloods Reviews|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/da-5-bloods|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=July 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Schaffstall |first=Katherine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/da-5-bloods-review-roundup-what-critics-are-saying-1297852 |title='Da 5 Bloods': What the Critics Are Saying |magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=June 10, 2020 |access-date=June 11, 2020}}</ref>

Lee has been linked to a movie musical about the origin story of [[Viagra]], Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug.<ref>{{Cite web|last= Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|date=November 17, 2020|title=Spike Lee Sets eOne Film Musical On Pfizer's Pre-COVID Miracle Drug: Viagra|url=https://deadline.com/2020/11/spike-lee-viagra-musical-film-pfizer-eone-pre-covid-miracle-drug-kwame-kwei-armah-1234616563/|access-date=December 12, 2021|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref> He signed a deal with [[Netflix]] to direct and produce more movies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Spike Lee Signs Multiyear Film Deal with Netflix to Direct and Produce|date=December 16, 2021|url=https://www.thewrap.com/spike-lee-netflix-multiyear-film-deal/}}</ref> In February 2024, it was announced that Spike Lee was confirmed as the director of ''[[Highest 2 Lowest]]'', a reinterpretation of [[High and Low (1963 film)|''High and Low'']] (1963) originally directed by [[Akira Kurosawa]], with Denzel Washington to star.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/spike-lee-remake-akira-kurosawa-high-and-low-a24-1234952391/|title= Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Are Remaking Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low' with Apple and A24|website= [[IndieWire]]|date= February 8, 2024|accessdate= February 9, 2024}}</ref>