Absolutely! I think everyone in that audience knew he should have won but Pachino had gotten robbed so many times, they couldn’t pass him again regardless of the competition.
Denzel was brilliant. I met him outside a pizza parlor once. Jacopo's in Beverly Hills. He said he'd like to chat after he had his pizza. I decided to leave him alone. I hope he's not still waiting.
These guys (Siskel & Ebert) were just so mindblowingly good at doing what they did. In such short and precise sentences they express their thought in a way that leaves everyone knowing what they mean. You can agree or not with their take, but you understand exactly what they mean. Excellency!!
Yes. And so many mental midgets have a misguided idea of what they and other film critics do, as well as think they are akin to a high priest class or something. Their takes on films are there for people to consider... or not. And you're not always gonna like or agree with what they say. Nobody is forcing anybody to heed them or agree with them.
Malcolm X did a great job of staying true to difficult source material and making an engaging movie. I think the film deserves even more credit than it got.
"We didn't come over on the Nina, the Pinta and the, and the, whatchamacallit..." What a great little touch this bit of dialogue is, underscoring Malcolm's disdain for the official version of history.
Denzel's performance is so good in this film, and it's so well-directed and blisteringly-paced that it's easy to overlook some issues with accuracy. For one, Malcolm was only 20 years old when he went to prison. The entire Brooklyn sequence is a depiction of a period in his life where he was actually mostly a teenager, and it probably would have been more compelling to cast a younger actor and transition to Denzel during the prison sequence. That being said, I'm sure no director who is working with Denzel ever wanted to use him less, so Spike Lee can be forgiven for this indulgence. Also interesting is that Baines is a composite character, a mashup of various figures out of the autobiography including Bimbi, who impressed Malcolm with his ability to command respect from the other inmates using only his words, and his own brother Reginald, who wrote to Malcolm telling him not to eat any more pork or smoke any more cigarettes, and that he would tell him how to get our of prison. Anyway, these aren't gripes. It's still a great movie. I re-watch it at least once a year.
Interesting that Siskel & Ebert said that Malcolm X reminded them of Lawrence of Arabia. Spike said that Lawrence of Arabia was the biggest influence on the movie. He and his cinematographer Ernest Dickerson watch it for inspiration at a New York theater.
Ive heard of Malcolm X before the film, knew he was some sort of activist......but this film really taught me a lot.....i learned a lot about the man and by the end of the film i learned some things about myself. Great picture.
It deserves far more honors and accolades than it got. At the Academy Awards, it received only 2 nominations: Best Actor (Denzel) and Best Costumes - it lost both. Spike Lee makes meaningful films: Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, and Clockers are among my personal favorites.
Denzel Washington didn't just play Malcolm X in a movie, he literally embodied the man we know as Malcolm X. Denzel should have won an Oscar for his portrayal of Malcolm X. But we know The Academy. I've always believed that his Oscar win for his portrayal of "Alonzo" in "Training Day" was a consolation for his Malcolm X snuff. All said "Malcolm X" was my Mom's favorite movie in the last few years of her life so every time I watch wonderful memories of her telling me what's going to happen next. My Mom's favorite part was when Malcolm got the Brother in jail, Hinton Johnson, the help he needed then marched the Nation of Islam to follow. Malcolm X brought a whole cadre to attention then pointed his his finger and they all marched lock step.
He can only do movies with African Americans. Don’t take that the wrong way but I’m just saying he doesn’t belong in the same class as Scorsese, Spielberg etc
Malcolm X was a brilliant film, and D. Washington couldn't have been better in the role. I re-watched it a few months ago, pretty much a perfect film by Spike Lee.
Derek Ruff Thanks for doing what you are doing. I met both these men as a teen in the seventies haunting film festivals at the biograph theater in chicago. Gene used to fall asleep during movies but yet gave the review and Ebert was very shy. I'd see him up and down Fullerton Ave in and out of bookstores. If you didn't speak first, he wouldn't either. You had to break that ice. After that, he was fine as long as you had something intelligent to say. Thanks again.
The 1992 Warner Bros. Pictures movie that was directed by Spike Lee, "Malcolm X" shall be mentioned on the Home Hunter show on May 31, 2020 along with three other Spike Lee joints, "He Got Game," "Miracle at St. Anna" and "BlackKlansman."
The only problem I had with "Malcom X" was the little morality commercial at the end. I thought that detracted from an - up to that point - great film.
Denzel Washington's performance is great. He should have won the Oscar that year instead of Al Pacino for Scent Of A Woman. But, in my opinion, the movie falls short. The " I Am Malcolm X" scene at the end, with Nelson Mandela making a cameo appearance, was really over the top. That scene nearly ruined the film for me.
S.S Simple solution, just buy the film and not watch that part. I also think it's over the top and completely unnecessary. But i guess ending the film with the assassination was way too depressing for Spike Lee, seeing as how he was shot about 15 times from point blank range, and one of the guns seemed to be a sawed-off shotgun, and he still survived long enough to utter his last words.
Are you insane? Have you actually ever seen Scent of a Woman? You're showing extreme bias if you think Denzel should've got it over Pacino. That's crazy.
Danm Seattle it is a a little over the top but it is separate and apart from the movie . It was just tacked on at the end as a eulogy of Malcolm X . You can turn the movie off before that part comes on. Also you have to remember at the time this movie came out it was the height of the Malcolm X craze during the 90s so the ending was just playing that up for the black audience
It's unfortunate that Spike Lee hit his high water mark so early in his career. I'm not black. Sadly I avoided Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X over the exact same worry S&E described. I dismissed them as angry "hate whitey" movies and I was 100% wrong. These were transcendent experiences for me. Spike reached for truth, not an agenda in those films. The honesty depicted was uncompromising and it let no-one off the hook. Christ, I CRIED at the end of Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. Beautiful movies. But Spike has, ironically, become a hate whitey film director and his films have suffered for it.
It’s a great film no doubt. Yet, the final shot where Malcolm says “by any means necessary” is a little misleading because when he left the Nation and became a regular Muslim he no longer believed in its extreme methods and ideals particularly racism and “the ends justify the means”. I think the intent for the final shot was for dramatic impact rather than historical accuracy.
Because this was a biographical film about an historical figure, this was one of the only films in which Denzel Washington didn't play the exact same character he always does.
Malcom X's autobiography was written up by the black Republican Alex Hayley, and in parts is as fictitious as Roots, another of his books. Malcom X, the Southerner was arrested for petty and disorganised crimes committed under the influence of drugs before being sent to prison, and was not the tough, dangerous criminal who confronted New York gangsters as per the fantasies X invented when recounting his life to Hayley. So whilst Malcom X as a movie is very good, it is important to see it as part of the myth building behind the man rather than a truly historic biopic.
uh, is _Gandhi_ REALLY so great, though? are we sure on that?? because i don't think it's aged very well. it's very very . . . . old-fashioned. sentimental. corny. Kingsley is, of course, the man, but the movie itself? _E.T._ should have taken every Oscar™ it was nominated for that year. _Gandhi's_ win over that movie is just baffling.
My white history teacher encouraged us to ditch school to watch Malcolm X on opening day...but here's the thing: he didn't join us. That's the problem with white America
lolz this movis such a joe the nation of islam louis faricon had malcom x killed lmaoo malcom was begging the white man to help him cause they were aftaaaaaaaaa him then he dies lmaooo cant have yer cake and eat itt too
As much I love Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, Denzel Washington should have won Best Actor for this film at the Oscar.
I agree!
Absolutely! I think everyone in that audience knew he should have won but Pachino had gotten robbed so many times, they couldn’t pass him again regardless of the competition.
Hoo-hah, yes......
It was a travesty that Denzel did not win the Oscars that year.
Typical of the Academy, they robbed Pacino when he was young, then they robbed Denzel by making up for robbing Pacino.
Denzel was brilliant. I met him outside a pizza parlor once. Jacopo's in Beverly Hills. He said he'd like to chat after he had his pizza. I decided to leave him alone. I hope he's not still waiting.
The physical similarities between Densial Washington and Malcolm X was spooky.
These guys (Siskel & Ebert) were just so mindblowingly good at doing what they did. In such short and precise sentences they express their thought in a way that leaves everyone knowing what they mean. You can agree or not with their take, but you understand exactly what they mean. Excellency!!
Yes. And so many mental midgets have a misguided idea of what they and other film critics do, as well as think they are akin to a high priest class or something. Their takes on films are there for people to consider... or not. And you're not always gonna like or agree with what they say. Nobody is forcing anybody to heed them or agree with them.
They were pretentious blowhards. The only reason to watch the show was to see upcoming releases pre-internet.
Malcolm X did a great job of staying true to difficult source material and making an engaging movie. I think the film deserves even more credit than it got.
It’s probably my favorite movie of all time
It's the best biopic ever made. And I've watched them all.
This was one of the best reviews Siskel and Ebert ever did of a great film
Possibly the worst Oscar snub in history. The power of this film is undeniable.
"We didn't come over on the Nina, the Pinta and the, and the, whatchamacallit..." What a great little touch this bit of dialogue is, underscoring Malcolm's disdain for the official version of history.
Roger ebert r.i.p.
RIP to Gene Siskel too
Malcom X is a great saga. It recognises that good biography is never about geography, it's the internal journey of the character that matters.
Denzel's performance is so good in this film, and it's so well-directed and blisteringly-paced that it's easy to overlook some issues with accuracy. For one, Malcolm was only 20 years old when he went to prison. The entire Brooklyn sequence is a depiction of a period in his life where he was actually mostly a teenager, and it probably would have been more compelling to cast a younger actor and transition to Denzel during the prison sequence. That being said, I'm sure no director who is working with Denzel ever wanted to use him less, so Spike Lee can be forgiven for this indulgence. Also interesting is that Baines is a composite character, a mashup of various figures out of the autobiography including Bimbi, who impressed Malcolm with his ability to command respect from the other inmates using only his words, and his own brother Reginald, who wrote to Malcolm telling him not to eat any more pork or smoke any more cigarettes, and that he would tell him how to get our of prison.
Anyway, these aren't gripes. It's still a great movie. I re-watch it at least once a year.
My whole middle school went to see this when it came out. Powerful
I cry every time I watch this movie.
One of my favorite movies ever
R.I.P. Siskel and Ebert. Malcolm X one of the greatest films ever for one of the greatest Black leaders.
It is a film for all people, it's just a great biopic!
still.....myfavorite SL film.
Mine too. Great film!
Great film it was a masterpiece
I agree 💯.
Interesting that Siskel & Ebert said that Malcolm X reminded them of Lawrence of Arabia. Spike said that Lawrence of Arabia was the biggest influence on the movie. He and his cinematographer Ernest Dickerson watch it for inspiration at a New York theater.
One of the greatest movies and definitely one of the greatest performances of all time
Oh man I miss these guys, they were great 👍
Yea very good unbiased movie critics! Chris Stukkman is all we got now who is worthy
My favorite Spike Lee film.
"Yeah, that brother's starving 😃."
Should be required viewing in American high schools.
I agree. I play it in my high school American History class every year. Students learn a lot from watching it.
*reading
Especially the part where Malcolm X warns that the greatest enemy of Black people, is the white liberal
Malcolm X biography was required reading at my high school. Been a fan since.
@@RuffRyder_43 Your a teacher? If so; your a great one 🙏🏻
Ive heard of Malcolm X before the film, knew he was some sort of activist......but this film really taught me a lot.....i learned a lot about the man and by the end of the film i learned some things about myself. Great picture.
5:26 one of the greatest lines in film history!
It deserves far more honors and accolades than it got. At the Academy Awards, it received only 2 nominations: Best Actor (Denzel) and Best Costumes - it lost both.
Spike Lee makes meaningful films: Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, and Clockers are among my personal favorites.
I think Do The Right Thing came off too morally ambiguous and nihilistic to the film Academy voters and even go some of the public at the time.
Two Thumbs up👍👍!
Denzel Washington didn't just play Malcolm X in a movie, he literally embodied the man we know as Malcolm X. Denzel should have won an Oscar for his portrayal of Malcolm X. But we know The Academy. I've always believed that his Oscar win for his portrayal of "Alonzo" in "Training Day" was a consolation for his Malcolm X snuff. All said "Malcolm X" was my Mom's favorite movie in the last few years of her life so every time I watch wonderful memories of her telling me what's going to happen next. My Mom's favorite part was when Malcolm got the Brother in jail, Hinton Johnson, the help he needed then marched the Nation of Islam to follow. Malcolm X brought a whole cadre to attention then pointed his his finger and they all marched lock step.
This movie speaks TRUTH
Malcolm X is an extraordinary film. Spike Lee is a born director.
I agree!
Great movie a masterpiece i have the special edition on dvd
Nobody would have done a Malcolm X biopic better.
He can only do movies with African Americans. Don’t take that the wrong way but I’m just saying he doesn’t belong in the same class as Scorsese, Spielberg etc
lyndon chastain and martin only does movies about white people...
Malcolm X was a brilliant film, and D. Washington couldn't have been better in the role. I re-watched it a few months ago, pretty much a perfect film by Spike Lee.
Derek Ruff
Thanks for doing what you are doing. I met both these men as a teen in the seventies haunting film festivals at the biograph theater in chicago. Gene used to fall asleep during movies but yet gave the review and Ebert was very shy. I'd see him up and down Fullerton Ave in and out of bookstores. If you didn't speak first, he wouldn't either. You had to break that ice. After that, he was fine as long as you had something intelligent to say. Thanks again.
The 1992 Warner Bros. Pictures movie that was directed by Spike Lee, "Malcolm X" shall be mentioned on the Home Hunter show on May 31, 2020 along with three other Spike Lee joints, "He Got Game," "Miracle at St. Anna" and "BlackKlansman."
Thank you for uploading all of these Siskel & Ebert reviews Derek! Keep them coming! :)
No problem! I’ll try to upload some more soon!
“Get your hand outta my pocket!”
It is a well-done performance & storytelling. Washington & Lee done wonderful job on the film.
This is a great film. I got the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray recently and it's full of great stuff.
Great movie. Denzel was amazing
it's the greatest black movie
Not even close.
The film that sold a million baseball caps and leather africa medallions.
Malcolm was the real deal.
needs remastering but good review ,Al "my sweet Charlie"Freeman R.I.P. King👑
#SpikeLee😆
Malcolm X was a superb film, probably the best bio movie of any U.S. activist.
"every time you break a seal on a liquor bottle, that's a gov't seal you're breaking." LOLOL
Real critics unlike todays
Sorry gene and roger didnt live to see spike win an oscar
They were two of his biggest champions. They saw his greatness from minute one. RIP to both of them.
Should have won it.
I don't think Spike will ever win an oscar, and it was hellaentertaintining!
@@violetbrown2372 what do you mean he has won an oscar he won for the screenplay for Blackklansman
Siskel at 4:37 "This is not your hate whitey picture." LOL. I miss 1992.
Probably wouldn't get away with that now
In 1992 we had riots in LA, Seattle, Atlanta and other cities over the Rodney King verdict. Not sure why someone thinks today's climate is different.
@@brianarbenz7206 Because Rodney King was wronged. George Floyd was wrong. That’s a big difference.
@@johnwilburn A death over a fake $20 bill. It's worse than Rodney King. Even the Simi Valley jury would understand.
@@fromthehaven94 No one died over a fake $20 bill. George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose while resisting arrest. These are not the same case.
It is a great film.
A little trivia to throw out, Al Freeman Jr. the actor who plays Elijah Muhammed played Malcolm X in the mini-series Roots: The Next Generations.
Yup. He sure did.
Easily one of the best films of the 90s
God forbid that these two felt uncomfortable by watching Malcolm X.
Nice
One of the best American films of the 20th century.
This movie was completely ignored by the Academy, unfortunately. Even though Al Pacino's performance was great, Denzel got robbed.
They both deserved to win in my opinion but Al was passed over so many times it was a make up
The only problem I had with "Malcom X" was the little morality commercial at the end. I thought that detracted from an - up to that point - great film.
This is my problem with a couple of spiked films lol
5:26 - :40 True of every man, no matter what skin color.
Denzel Washington's performance is great. He should have won the Oscar that year instead of Al Pacino for Scent Of A Woman.
But, in my opinion, the movie falls short. The " I Am Malcolm X" scene at the end, with Nelson Mandela making a cameo appearance, was really over the top. That scene nearly ruined the film for me.
It ruined the film? How
I love that part!
S.S Simple solution, just buy the film and not watch that part. I also think it's over the top and completely unnecessary. But i guess ending the film with the assassination was way too depressing for Spike Lee, seeing as how he was shot about 15 times from point blank range, and one of the guns seemed to be a sawed-off shotgun, and he still survived long enough to utter his last words.
Are you insane? Have you actually ever seen Scent of a Woman? You're showing extreme bias if you think Denzel should've got it over Pacino. That's crazy.
Danm Seattle it is a a little over the top but it is separate and apart from the movie . It was just tacked on at the end as a eulogy of Malcolm X . You can turn the movie off before that part comes on. Also you have to remember at the time this movie came out it was the height of the Malcolm X craze during the 90s so the ending was just playing that up for the black audience
I used to believe everything the media and politicians would say about Malcolm until I heard him speak and realized they were all lying about him
Should have won best picture
Whatever happens to Shorty?
How accurate is this movie? I know that it’s based on the autobiography, but I read that wasn’t entirely accurate either.
It's unfortunate that Spike Lee hit his high water mark so early in his career. I'm not black. Sadly I avoided Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X over the exact same worry S&E described. I dismissed them as angry "hate whitey" movies and I was 100% wrong. These were transcendent experiences for me. Spike reached for truth, not an agenda in those films. The honesty depicted was uncompromising and it let no-one off the hook. Christ, I CRIED at the end of Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. Beautiful movies. But Spike has, ironically, become a hate whitey film director and his films have suffered for it.
A spike lee bunk joint.
It’s a great film no doubt. Yet, the final shot where Malcolm says “by any means necessary” is a little misleading because when he left the Nation and became a regular Muslim he no longer believed in its extreme methods and ideals particularly racism and “the ends justify the means”. I think the intent for the final shot was for dramatic impact rather than historical accuracy.
Serpico09 Malcom was never an extremist He just wanted black people to fight back when they get attacked
Malcolm never completely shed his radical upbringing and for the best honestly
Because this was a biographical film about an historical figure, this was one of the only films in which Denzel Washington didn't play the exact same character he always does.
Malcom X's autobiography was written up by the black Republican Alex Hayley, and in parts is as fictitious as Roots, another of his books.
Malcom X, the Southerner was arrested for petty and disorganised crimes committed under the influence of drugs before being sent to prison, and was not the tough, dangerous criminal who confronted New York gangsters as per the fantasies X invented when recounting his life to Hayley.
So whilst Malcom X as a movie is very good, it is important to see it as part of the myth building behind the man rather than a truly historic biopic.
David Spade about _X_ on SNL at the time,
"I caught _X_ this weekend, but all I got were _Zzz._
Spike, it's called an 'editor.' Hire one."
High criticism from the star of Joe Dirt 2
David Spade was never funny and starred in some truly dogshit movies.
Still cringe when Siskel says, "Hate Whitey."
Malcolm X is a good film. However, comparing it to Lawrence of Arabia is a huge stretch.
Loved this film. Also learned a lot about Islam as a result.
uh, is _Gandhi_ REALLY so great, though?
are we sure on that??
because i don't think it's aged very well. it's very very . . . . old-fashioned. sentimental. corny.
Kingsley is, of course, the man, but the movie itself? _E.T._ should have taken every Oscar™ it was nominated for that year. _Gandhi's_ win over that movie is just baffling.
I believe that Gandhi is a great film. It may not be for everyone, though.
Of all the snubs for best picture the academy has gotten wrong over the years, that one isn't that much of a snub
CAUTION: This is a liberal's interpretation of Malcolm X by Spike Lee. Malcolm X was not a liberal . . .
And neither is Denzel Washington . . .
@Dench2020 Piss off . . .
My white history teacher encouraged us to ditch school to watch Malcolm X on opening day...but here's the thing: he didn't join us. That's the problem with white America
You were in special ed right.
@@jimduggan8962 hey btw how's Super Fly Jimmy Snooka doing
@@ResistanceQuest He died.
@@jimduggan8962 oh, shite. Well, not everyone can withstand snakebite-levels of physical challenge, as you did, and do
Maybe he already had seen?
This movie is way too long.
So was Titanic, each of the three Godfather movies, and Lawrence of Arabia. Boo hoo.
@@fromthehaven94 Titanic and Godfather too long? What planet are you living on.
@@jimduggan8962 Titanic is definitely over three hours, just like Malcolm X. What planet are YOU on?
@@jimduggan8962 Godfather 2 clocks in at three hours, 22 minutes. Exactly the same as Malcolm X.
@@fromthehaven94 That's different than "too long"
lolz this movis such a joe the nation of islam louis faricon had malcom x killed lmaoo malcom was begging the white man to help him cause they were aftaaaaaaaaa him then he dies lmaooo cant have yer cake and eat itt too
Guess u think this makes you look cool.
You know you there's an edit button, right?