Hello, guys! I fell off my SIFF-blogging duties for a few days there (Sasquatch), but I'm back now, and showered, and let's talk about today.

The big thing, obviously, is the Tribute to Spike Lee at the Egyptian, which includes a Q&A and a screening of his new film Passing Strange.

Of the film, Brendan Kiley writes:

Even though it played on Broadway, Passing Strange isn’t any kind of musical you’d recognize—it’s a concert with an autobiographical script and it’s transcendently awesome. Writer and musician Stew sings about his younger self, a middle-class black kid who fled L.A. for Europe. In America, an older mentor tells him, “We’re passing, like your high-yellow grandma back in the day—but we’re passing for black folks.” In Amsterdam and Berlin, he begins shedding his American baggage (the pressure to get a job, go to church, not act white, not act too black) and discovers sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. (As well as political riots, extremist lifestyles, and German performance art.) Spike Lee saw Passing Strange and decided to film the final performance so future generations could see this sweet, sad, and tragically funny story. And the performers—Stew, his backup band, his backup actors—are fucking fantastic. Thank you, Spike Lee. Thank you, Stew.

There's plenty of other worthwhile stuff today too, including the highly-recommended Rembrandt's J'Accuse (Paul Constant: "J’Accuse resembles no other film so much as Orson Welles’ great, underrated documentary F is for Fake"); Bluebeard (Paul Constant again: "The story of Bluebeard has been put to film many times, most memorably in a 1972 Richard Burton/Raquel Welch thriller, but never has it looked as good as in Breillat’s stylized adaptation"); The Higher Force (alsoPaulConstantWTF: "way more 101 Reykjavík than Pulp Fiction, but if you like Icelandic cinema, it’s a joy from beginning to end"); and It Came from Kuchar (Christopher Frizzelle: "If you’re into film history, it’s edifying").

You've also got Moon, which seems like it might be interesting until you notice that all the raving quotes in the trailer are from Harry Knowles. Still, we'll check it out and let you know.

See you tomorrow!