That was an excellent one.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Spike Lee's fist, and in many ways his best work. Simple, elemental, insightful, and funny. Beautifully shot in black and white the film is a true "New York/Brooklyn" movie that makes the most of the City, it's streets, and landmarks; with a wonderful soundtrack by his Dad, Jazz legend, Stan Lee. You have to remember that this was a small budget Indy film from a director who would later enjoy big budget successes.When this movie first came out it had everyone buzzing about it and him; and it earned him the accolade: the up and coming Black Woody Allen in the New York press. (a statement that implied a unique "New York" perspective on the world, his intellect, his talent, and his humor; hopefully not also a parallel to the two men being rather short in physical stature....

"She's Gotta Have It" was the beginning of an illustrious career for filmmaker Spike Lee. It starred Tracy Camilla Johns as the sex driven Nola Darling. Her three men were played by Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell and Spike Lee. All the three men had certain traits that stood out. Jamie Street (Hicks) is cool, calm and caring towards Nola. Greer Childs (Terrell) was the obnoxious, stuck up, rude pseudo black man that thought he was better than anyone else. And last but not least was Mars Blackmon (Lee), he was funny and outgoing. Annoying at times but his wit could win you over. This film is full of memorable one liners like "please baby baby baby please" and much more. This film was heavily criticized for it's depiction of women (like all of Spike's films), lesbians (the character Opal) and the reality of it. But nonetheless, "She's Gotta Have It" opened in 1986 to rave reviews and grossed 7 million dollars (not a lot but it is amazing compared to the thousands it took to make it). What made this film a gem is that you don't find characters like these anymore. They all had something about them that was hard to resist. Mars Blackmon became so famous that he was reprised by Lee in Nike Air Jordan commercials with the great Michael Jordan, airing from 1988 to 1995 (the Nola character also appeared in one Air Jordan commercial with Mars Blackmon, the commercial only aired once). "She's Gotta Have It" is a decent start for a young filmmaker and a must see for those that haven't seen it.She's Gotta Have It- Rated R *** out of ****

Thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes in the quirky company of Spike Lee and his cast of weirdos. The male characters (Nora's three lovers) are all inadequate in their way, so it is hardly surprising that Nora needs several such men to satisfy her.If men behave the way Nora behaves, it is seen as a sign of virility, whereas Nora is more or less sent to the shrink because her behaviour is so out of line. But this is mostly comedy so you can put aside the "is it feminist, is it misogynist?" stuff and enjoy it for what it is - an unusually good low budget movie.

So I finally got around to seeing the debut from auteur Spike Lee. I felt as though I knew the film before seeing it after reading an interesting history about it in John Pierson's "Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes". If you're a fan of independent cinema, you should check out both the book and film.Spike's familiar style and approach is evident in this early indication of a talented filmmaker. Whatever shortcomings that revealed themselves were largely unavoidable in such a low budget outing, and usually quickly forgivable.The film's testimony approach often gave characters some depth and clearly gave the film a more intimate relationship with the audience, but at times hurt the film with some unfortunate bad acting from names you never heard before and probably never will again. Again, not Spike's fault. It does include one of my buddy's favourite pick-up lines, "Baby, I'd drink a whole tub of your bath water." I'm sure most women would appreciate that sentiment as the way to their heart.Spike's sister and father have small roles which must say something about the man's admirable family pride. Of course, with many of his films, it seems Spike can't resist the allure of the space in front of the camera while controlling all that's behind it. Not many directors divide their energy in such a manner, but some of the most notorious directors of our time do. Whether this divides their focus in a negative aspect or not is difficult to say. But if it's a distraction or handicap, Spike seems to be managing fineBut even now I haven't stated either way if it's a good, recommendable film or not. It's largely in black and white, which is a turn off for non-film lovers. I once overheard some one say of "Schindler's List", "It's a really good film, even though it's black and white." I'm sure with some films the inclusion of colour can enhance the enjoyment of the film, but some things are not meant to be in colour, some things are better without it. Films like this one are only possible in black and white due to budget restraints. Whenever I see the efforts of some colourization nightmare, it makes my stomach turn, but I digress.What can I say, I am a film lover, and I enjoyed it. If you fall in the same category, you probably will too.