Crooklyn (1994, dir. Spike Lee)

Episodic films are attractive to me: they are prone to lyrical tangents and memorable portrait. Crooklyn brings exactly that to the table, but not without losing its hyper-focus on the Carmichael family. Nothing about the household feels like a caricature.

While it’s a pleasure to see the Carmichaels’ home-life, the film’s scope doesn’t stop there. We get a sizeable look into their 1970s Brooklyn neighbourhood, then the satisfying (and shockingly ultra-wide) juxtaposition of somewhere suburban in the South. Things don’t stop happening, and the music barely ever stops.