‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Is an N.Y. Movie State of Mind, With Spike Lee!

Sean and Amanda start the show by reacting to a handful of recent movie trailers, including the ones for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights—starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi—and Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (3:33). Then, they unpack Spike Lee’s newest film, Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky. They explore its very high highs and occasional low lows, Washington’s fascinating performance style, and what makes this film so different compared with the rest of Lee’s filmography (17:09). Next, they cover Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, starring Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz; they both found it quite disappointing, to the point that they even discussed whether or not Austin Butler is a “leading man” (39:54). Finally, Sean is joined by the legendary filmmaker Spike Lee to talk about his new movie. Lee reflects on the first time he visited Akira Kurosawa’s work and touches on what Kurosawa means to both him and cinema at large, talks through Denzel Washington’s brilliant improvisations in this film, explains why he is—in Lee’s opinion—the greatest actor of all time, and explores what is missing from Hollywood and the filmmaking industry right now (1:07:01).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins
Guest: Spike Lee
Producer: Jack Sanders