Thursday, December 21, 2006

Why is this film on Nobody's "Best of" List?

Just saw the first act of Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke.

I'm not saying it's a slam dunk, head and shoulders above the rest, best film of the year, but I'm suprised I haven't seen it mentioned on ANY lists that I've seen to date...it didn't garner a single vote in the documentary category at Indiewire, for instance.

I thought it played in Toronto to make it Oscar eligible, but even if it is not, there are plenty of lists that don't follow the same guidelines. I wonder if it is just the four hour run time that's kept everyone from seeing it, whether it's an anti-Spike thing, or whether people just didn't think it was good.

Everyone I know who has seen it speaks highly of it, though, so who knows?

1 comment:

Peter T Chattaway said...

A film has to play in L.A. and N.Y. for a week to be Oscar eligible, I believe -- one or two screenings at a festival in Canada don't count.

FWIW, this film is #17 on Film Comment's "Best Unreleased Films of 2006" list.