After a pretty eventful 2024, Samuel L. Jackson’s slate of 2025 movies is relatively chill. Which is probably why the beloved actor and pop culture icon had the time to be a part of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show. It was a performance as awesome as any of Mr. Jackson’s work in screen and stage, and that fact was not lost on equally iconic director/collaborator Spike Lee.
More specifically, the man behind visions such as Da Five Bloods and Do The Right Thing cited the actor’s role in 2015’s Chi-Raq, a.k.a. “the movie that pissed off Chicago’s mayor.” When it came to discussing this hot button pop culture event in a recent Instagram post, Lee issued this emphatic and heartfelt thanks that clocked the flick as a potential inspiration:
I Want To Thank My Brother Kendrick For The 40 Acres And A Mule Shoutout Which Has Been The Name Of My Production Company Since NYU Grad Film School. And I Want To Send A Special Shoutout To My Morehouse Brother Samuel Jackson Who Started This Super Bowl Halftime Extravaganza As Uncle Sam And You Might’ve Seen Him As Dolmedes In CHI-RAQ. The Term 40 Acres And A Mule Was A Proposal For Reparations To Former Enslaved African-Americans In The Aftermath Of The Civil War. The Proposal Was Intended To Provide Land And Resources To Provide Land And Resources To Help Free People Achieve Economic Independence. This Promise Was Ultimately Broken. HAPPY BLACK HIS-HERSTORY.
If you missed Chi-Raq, don’t worry, Spike Lee’s take on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is available for Prime Video subscription holders to enjoy. Between the name check to the director’s production company, as well as the presence of Mr. Jackson in a very similar role, the flick feels like a pre-requisite piece of further viewing.
But for anyone who may have questioned the politically charged nature of the Academy Award nominated rapper’s mindful spectacle, let this final piece of evidence have the last word. Here, for your review, is the trailer for Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq - which features Samuel L. Jackson’s Dolmedes pretty prominently:
It’s fair to say that everyone has their favorite Spike Lee movie. Some people might be huge Malcolm X fans, while others like CinemaBlend’s own Jerrica Tisdale have their reasons to favor Crooklyn as Lee’s best work. After looking a bit closer at the parallels between the messages of Chi-Raq and the Super Bowl halftime show, I wonder if Kendrick Lamar’s favorite has to be that underrated Spike Lee title?
No matter the answer to that question, we can definitely see the man's respect for Samuel L. Jackson. And just as the MCU vet isn't bothered by lacking an Oscar, he's probably all smiles right about now when seeing a dear friend compliment his latest gig in the public eye.
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