Finally, Spike Lee’s underrated, not to mention unfairly critically maligned, “Bamboozled” will be part of the Criterion collection and released in March, announced via press release today by Criterion. Other titles getting the Criterion treatment for March release include John M. Stahl’s “Leave Me Alone,” David Maysles “Salesman” and, huh, Barbara Streisand’s Oscar-nominated “Prince of Tides,” which doesn’t belong in the collection — it was a heavy-handed dud back in 1991 and it still is to this today.
Back in 08.14.15, I had written a piece for IndieWire titled “10 Films That Should Be in the Criterion Collection,” and Lee’s film was one of the titles I selected. About ”Bamboozled,” I wrote:
“Most people have forgotten how groundbreaking, political and philosophical Spike Lee's work in the late 80's and early 90's really was. "Bamboozled" came out in 2000, when the director was about to enter a new, albeit confusing, phase of his filmmaking career. It would be the last explicitly political movie Lee would make about race in America, that is until “BlackKklansman,” of course. Starring Damon Wayans and Savion Glover, “Bamboozled” was pure Lee: Over the top, angry and ready to throw darts at its audience. Lee's film is as relevant as ever, dealing with an African American's frustration with a blindly racist country. All hell breaks loose when a black minstrel show becomes a primetime television hit. The film wasn't an easy watch, but it’s become a summary of Lee's strengths as a filmmaker, encapsulating a time when his anger translated into celluloid. A few years later he'd follow it up with the masterful "The 25th Hour," which couldn't have been more tonally or texturally different.”