This film is part of Rentals
Chi-Raq
Spike Lee’s bold and vivacious hip-hop musical restages an ancient Greek battle-of-the-sexes in 21st-century Chicago.
Director: Spike Lee
Overview
Spike Lee is back on the rampage and the result is this dazzling, rage-fuelled, in-your-face hip-hop musical that re-purposes Aristophanes’ Lysistrata – a comedy about a Greek heroine who leads a sex-strike to prevent war – setting it in Chicago’s South Side. Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon) is the leader of the Spartans and the lover of foxy, feisty Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris - Mad Men). The Spartans are at war with rival gang, the Trojans, led by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes). When an 11-year-old-girl is killed in the crossfire, Lysistrata decides to take action, convincing her sisters on both sides to take a stand - with the rallying cry of “No peace, no pussy”.
The first original movie from Amazon Studios employs the still considerable energies of a clearly rejuvenated Spike Lee, who revels in this crazy-on-paper project that conflates Greek mythology, hop-hop and a scorching social commentary on inner city violence. Reframing the Black Lives Matter debate with colour, creativity and pounding beats, and featuring an incredible cast that also includes John Cusack, Angela Bassett and Samuel L Jackson as rhyming narrator (surely a successor to Mister Señor Love Daddy), this is Spike Lee’s most intoxicating joint for a decade.
Strong language, sex, sex referencesRelated
Oh... Rosalinda!! Oh... Rosalinda!!
Musical 1956 99 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Like the gloriously camp, all-singing, all-dancing cousin of The Third Man, the Archers’ take on Strauss’s operetta of infidelity is as frothy as the champagne it celebrates.
The Tales of Hoffmann The Tales of Hoffmann
Anthology 1951 125 mins Director: Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell
Powell and Pressburger direct this adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's spectacular opera, featuring sensationally sumptuous production design.
Singin' in the Rain Singin' in the Rain
Comedy 1951 103 mins Director: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Hollywood’s troubled transition from silent to talking pictures at the end of the 1920s provided the inspiration for this greatest of movie musicals.
Babymother Babymother
Musical 1998 77 mins Director: Julian Henriques
Neeta and her crew rise to dancehall fame in North West London's Caribbean community, in the first Black British musical.
Lisztomania Lisztomania
Biopic 1976 103 mins Director: Ken Russell
Ken Russell's characteristically spectacular biopic of Liszt, with Roger Daltrey portraying the composer as a rock god, is a heady brew complete with garish Freudian symbolism, Hitler, spaceships and Ringo Starr as the Pope.
The Boy Friend The Boy Friend
Musical 1972 136 mins Director: Ken Russell
A timid actress is forced to cover for the injured star and falls for the leading man, in Ken Russell's thoroughly British variant on the MGM musical.
Chevalier Chevalier
Comedy 2015 105 mins Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
Athina Rachel Tsangari's biting and hilarious dissection of the male ego was awarded Best Film at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival.
Toni Erdmann Toni Erdmann
Comedy 2016 162 mins Director: Maren Ade
A lonely prankster upends the life of his high-powered daughter in a riotous comedy, deep and sharp.
A Man Called Ove A Man Called Ove
Comedy 2015 116 mins Director: Hannes Holm
A curmudgeon turns over a new leaf in this Oscar-nominated comedy that became one of Swedish cinema’s biggest hits.
Everybody Wants Some!! Everybody Wants Some!!
Drama 2014 117 mins Director: Richard Linklater
A gang of wild college jocks enjoy three days of freewheeling fun before school starts, in Richard Linklater’s ‘spiritual sequel’ to Boyhood and Dazed and Confused.
The Big Sick The Big Sick
Comedy 2017 120 mins Director: Michael Showalter
The hilarious, breakout indie comedy about a Pakistan-born comedian and his culture-clash relationship with an American grad student.
Brakes Brakes
Comedy 2017 85 mins Director: Mercedes Grower
Breakups have never been funnier, as Mercedes Grower's all-star, ensemble comedy charts the end of various affairs. With Julian Barratt, Steve Oram, Julia Davis and Noel Fielding.
If Beale Street Could Talk If Beale Street Could Talk
Crime 2018 119 mins Director: Barry Jenkins
Barry Jenkins follows his Oscar®-winning Moonlight with an audacious, distinctive and assured adaptation of James Baldwin’s account of love, injustice and racism in America.
Dear White People Dear White People
Comedy 2014 108 mins Director: Justin Simien
The diversification of an all-black residence hall forces a group of African-American university students to take a stand on their own cultural beliefs and identities.
Malcolm X Malcolm X
Biopic 1992 202 mins Director: Spike Lee
Denzel Washington takes the lead in one of the great screen biopics, directed by Spike Lee.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
The Ballymurphy Precedent The Ballymurphy Precedent
Documentary 2018 108 mins Director: Callum Macrae
John Pilger's film on the conflict in Northern Ireland is a skilful mix of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflections on contemporary history.
Utopia Utopia
Documentary 2013 111 mins Director: John Pilger and Alan Lowery
John Pilger's portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture is also an investigation into a suppressed colonial past, and rapacious present.
The Coming War on China The Coming War on China
Documentary 2016 113 mins Director: John Pilger
John Pilger’s prescient 60th film for ITV is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.
Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Drama 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of the 2024 Sundance audience prize.