After the failure of 'Miracle of St. Anna,' Spike Lee has been doing a lot of television and documentary work, which is a shame, because Lee is one of the great American directors. So we welcome his return to feature films with 'Red Hook Summer,' which not only brings him back to New York, but also to his character from 'Do the Right Thing.'

The film premiered at Sundance, where it received mixed notices. The main knock against it was that it's bloated, though there may have been some trims since then. It's being released by Variance films, and will have a limited release August 10.

The film stars Jules Brown as Flik Royale, a middle class Atlanta kid sent to stay with his grandfather ('The Wire's Clarke Peters). Flik rejects his grandfather's religious ways, though we bet they come to an understanding at some point. Spike Lee makes an appearance as well as Mr. Mookie, and Mookie was his character's name in 'Do the Right Thing,' which led some to call this a sequel. Perhaps like 'Prometheus' it's more "in universe" than an actual follow up.

Lee is supposed to helm the American remake of 'OldBoy' next, but we haven't heard much about that for a while, so it may have quietly gone away. But with 'Red Hook Summer' we're happy to have the return of Spike Lee.

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