Red Hook Summer is a disturbing and brave masterpiece. Clarke Peters deserves an Oscar, because he was directed into delivering an indelible performance by one of the most prolific American filmmakers in the last two decades; Spike Lee.

"I always try to make stuff that affects me and I think that if given the chance, a lot of music that doesn't seem like the formula of what might be a hit would be more popular. There's a lot of great music that doesn't sound like whatever. Everything sounds very dance-y now."

What is/are The Crazy Coqs? They is a new cabaret room, and in these parlous times when it's more usually reported that an intimate boite is shuttering, the fact that one has opened is a cause for celebration.

Spike Lee is so fearless about going for it, trying new things, breaking from the conventional approach to moviemaking that sometimes you've got to cut him some slack.