Spike lee top films and unforgettable controversies

Spike Lee is one of the most influential and provocative American moviemakers. Recently, he celebrated the 20 year anniversary for the release of his remarkable debut film Shes Gotta Have It. His films are groundbreaking in their controversial approach towards social and political issues and offer different perspective on race, class and gender issues in contemporary America. Spike Lee was born as Shelton Jackson Lee in 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia to a jazz musician and an art teacher. When Lee was a young child, the family relocated to Brooklyn, which was used as a background for many of Spike Lee's movies. Lee's talent was recognized while he was still a film student in NYU. His thesis film Joes Bed Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads won 1983 Student Academy Award for best director. Spike Lee's debut movie Shes Gotta Have It was released in 1986. The movie was shot in 12 days in a budget of 175,000 dollars. The film was written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. Shes Gotta Have It tells the story of Nora Darling, a young, independent African American graphic designer who cannot commit to any of her three lovers. Tracy Camilla Jones played the role of Nora Darling. Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell along with Lee himself played the three men in Noras life. Shes Gotta Have It was a landmark film in its presentation of African American characters in an American movie and part of the explosion of 80s independent movie industry. The African American community embraced the movie, which displayed a non stereotypical group of young, intelligent black American people. The film won the Prix de Jeuness at the Cannes film festival for the best new film by a newcomer. The 1992 biographic epic Malcolm X is considered by many as Lee's best film. The 195 minutes movie depicts the story of the African American activist Malcolm X, from his early childhood to his assassination. Lee uses the Malcolm X story to confront the audience with the racial discrimination and violence that black people went through during the 1950s and 1960s in America. Spike Lee's name was associated with many controversies. He was often accused of anti Semitism and racism for portraying Jews and Italians in his films a stereotypical manner. His 2001 television miniseries about one of the Black Panthers founders, Huey P. Newton, stirred another controversy, which helped establish Lee's image as a provocative and radical figures in the American film industry. Lee's latest project is the documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, which tells the story of New Orleans post and pre hurricane Katrina. The four hours documentary is about the New Orleans culture, the damage caused by hurricane Katrina and the recovery efforts. Lee does not spare his critic on the government inadequate reaction to the destruction. 5 Top Movies Directed by Spike Lee Do The Right Thing: this 1989 comic drama shows what happens in Brookline when the interracial tension heats up during the hottest day of the year. Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro Mo Better Blues: Denzel Washington as a jazz trumpeter who makes all the wrong decisions regarding his musical career and relationships. Jungle Fever tells a pessimistic interracial love story between an African American man and an Italian American woman. Girl 6 looks at the life of a young black actress who prefers working as a phone girl than being abused by movie directors 25th Hour is dedicated to the last 24 hours in the life of a New York drug dealer before his jail term begins.

National free screening for vascular disease

A national screening program could help save thousands of lives by diagnosing-and bringing attention to-one of the most undertreated health care concerns for older Americans. Millions of Americans may have vascular disease without even knowing it, according to the American Vascular Association (AVA). Vascular disease outside the heart kills and cripples tens of thousands of Americans every year despite widely available noninvasive procedures to detect its most common forms: abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral arterial disease and carotid artery disease. • Strokes due to carotid artery disease are the number one cause of disability in this country and the third leading cause of death. • Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), which affect 15,000 Americans each year, can be permanently cured when diagnosed early, but rupture is fatal in most cases. Congress recently passed legislation for select Medicare patients to undergo an AAA screening. The covered patient population includes men age 65 and over who have smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lives, plus women with a family history of AAA. • Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) may cause crippling leg problems and indicate an increased risk for stroke. Certain conditions are associated with a higher risk of vascular disease, including hypertension, high blood cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, family history of vascular disease, previous heart or leg problem treatments and prior stroke. AVA's 2006 National Screening Program will be held May 13 to 20 in more than 250 cities across the country. The free tests for vascular disease are noninvasive, painless and simple. It is recommended that anyone over 55 with risk factors undergo a screening. AVA created the National Screening Program in an effort to educate the public about major vascular problems, risk factors, prevention and treatment options. Each patient leaves the screening with a copy of his or her Vascular Report Card, completed on-site by a vascular specialist. "Our national screening program will enable participants to know definitively their level of vascular health," said Dr. William R. Flinn, Vice Chairman of AVA. "Early detection of vascular disease has great value and can significantly reduce the risk of disability and death."