Movie of the Year : 2020 – Da 5 Bloods
Movie of the Year: 2020
Da 5 Bloods
The Taste Buds discuss one of 2020’s most entertaining movies, Da 5 Bloods!
Da Five Bloods is the first movie by Spike Lee–excuse me, PopFilter Hall of Famer Spike Lee, respect–released exclusively on Netflix, but it doesn’t feel like a small movie even if it was destined for the small screen. It is an adventure through the heart of Viet Nam, and perhaps dear listener through the heart of man himself? The movie moves quickly between fact and fiction, history and histrionics, and pathos and bathos. Featuring tone shifts that we have come to expect from life, but not from movies, the film pushes boundaries while being charming, funny, and timeless.
One part hang out movie, one part war movie, one part action romp, it asks what do we take away from war, and perhaps more importantly, what do we leave behind?
Tough questions
Does Lee’s desire for an action movie get in the way of the more emotional and historical points he’s trying to make or does he walk the balance between poignant and bombastic? Does Delroy Lindo steal the show, or does he distract from the other Bloods? These are just two of the issues we cover in this episode, dang. It’s not for me to be impressed, obvi, but I guess I just am. Let me know if I am out of line here.
Silly Season
At one point, Mike says, “I was blown away by the performances, I mean, Viet Damn!” Which, to me, seems borderline. I like to stay further back from the edge than Mike, though, so I respect him. As sort of a weird joke I am going to indicate here that Ryan wins this one by the score of 42-34, but also I am going to further indicate that I would think it was funny to just make something like that up.
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