The distortion doesn't complement anything...and certainly doesn't communicate the blatant literal attempt it tries to. It just takes away from the wonderfully acted and designed set that captures living in the midwest 1970s so well...that now the distortion takes away from it.The distortion is a really bad idea because your audience is immediately distracted by the first thought as to 'What is wrong with the projectionist?" Next thought is you are now well aware you are in a theatre watching a possible technically error. Thanks for reminding me I'm in a movie...watching a movie....because that's the goal of all filmmakers. At that point, your train of thought has taken you away from the action happening in wonderful detail in the actors expression and set design you fail to miss this "blatant literal" attempt to tell your audience that they can't possibly understand this change in the character's environment so now "I'm going to help you because you are too stupid by the 40 minutes of Brooklyn living to see the difference between the two environments!" Either Spike felt his actors were so bad or his audience to stupid to get it. Sorry Spike...most of us were exposed to slumber parties in other households as children where the culture and environment was vastly different from our own. We didn't need distortion glasses then to know our environment changed...trust me..your audience get's it and would've better appreciated your art departments, wardrobe's work and the actors performance better without the distortion. Do you really need to be that literal? Are Brooklynites that stupid to get and you put it in there for them? Or do you think people in the suburbs would be too stupid to get it? Really? Any chance of releasing a "Fixed Crooklyn" version so that every time I see that scene....I don't feel like I'm being spoon-fed a narrow viewpoint of a Brooklynite that never got out of their house for a slumber party in the 70s or couldn't fathom other lifestyles? I'm sorry..I don't know about the Brooklyn school system but we had geography and social studies in Middle School. We were taught about other cultures way back in the 70s. I would have expected you would've known about the other world outside your neighborhood by the time you made this movie.The distortion effect is an epic fail on really one of your best family drama films. It's like a turd in the middle of this great Brooklyn experience of a story.Other than that...it's a great movie with a lot of replay value. If you ever watch Soul Train back in the 70s or been to a slumber party.....this movie captures the period in a very realistic way! Too bad the distortion takes away from the reality of the suburb scene. I wonder why he didn't distort any of the reality of the Brooklyn scenes? I would think someone coming to Brooklyn from the burbs would expect to see all their movies shot in Brooklyn to have a distorted effect in their local theatres. Hmmm...call me stupid!!!

Released in 1994 and running a little long at 115 minutes.My favorite hard ass director goes soft trying to be edgy in this whimsical story of growing up in Brooklyn back in the day.I loved it but not as a Spike picture,rather as remembering what a neighborhood was all about and family and kids and just because they are all black there is a lot I remember like it.About as edgy as it gets is Spike in a small role as Snuffy,gets hit in the head by Zelda Harris as Troy,the real star of this film and gezz I wonder where she went?? Alfre Woodard as Carolyn Carmichael and Delroy Lindo as Woody Carmichael are great as the parents who are trying to raise their 5 kids in Crooklyn but it's hard and there are tragic things that happen and at the end young Troy is now the anchor of the family and it's future is not certain.The soundtrack is wonderful representing music from the 70's,the acting is first rate as Spike always finds talent and the story, while soft by Spike standards ,is still very strong by white standards and sad in many ways besides being hopeful.I'm white and was raised in Brooklyn and I thought I had it easy after seeing this film.

Ahhh who can forget the good Ol' days of Spike Lee films that had heart as well as insight? Who can forget this gem? Crooklyn is loosely based on Spike Lee's life growing up. Its mostly a story that mostly details the struggles of a family growing up in Brooklyn as seen through the eyes of Troy(played by Zelda Harris). There are beautiful performances to be seen here. Alfre Woodard's presence is felt as the stern but loving mother of four kids and Delroy Lindo's is great as the father who is also dealing with pressure as a struggling musician and trying to pay the rent on time. They go through the normal strife that any black family has to go through in poor areas but they still find a way to maintain. I remember as a kid that the last scene with the mom passing on had me choked up. Troy and her brother holding hands at the reception for the funeral was a touching scene too. They drove each other crazy but it was still love in the end. Crooklyn has brief moments of awareness like one scene in particular: Troy's aunt comparing troy's hair to her adopted child's hair saying that the adopted child's hair was good hair and that Troy's hair was rough was a subtle form of self-hatred but most people wouldn't pick up on that. Of course Spike Lee has to make an appearance in the movie. He plays a junkie who chases kids around trying to steal money from them. In short Crooklyn stands out as one the best dramas of all time and one of Spike Lee's best work. The characters are ones that you care about, their struggles are real and anybody who has been there can also relate. Two thumbs up for Spike Lee's work of art on film.

I may be very young but, I love this movie. It's funny, I understand it, and it has a bit of drama and attitude which I love. I've seen it a million times and it never gets old. It's one of my most favorite movies. How could anyone not like it? I don't know much about spike lee, but he did a great job. I could really relate to the movie. Anyone who thinks differently is DEAD WRONG! You didn't hear it from me. Any comments about my opinion, e-mail me @ [email protected]. Because I want to hear exactly what you have to say. Right now, I'm watching Crooklyn actually. And like I said, it never gets old. No matter how long it's been out. I'll still love it. Like I said, e-mail me([email protected])