In Spike Lee’s four-part HBO documentary, NYC Epicenters, footage we’ve seen too much of recently (reports on the pandemic’s deadly toll) pairs with footage we’ll be seeing a lot of in the next month or two (elegies on the 20th anniversary of 9/11). The film chronicles the seismic events of 2001 and 2021 with archival photos and videos; interviews with first responders and politicians as well as with Jon Stewart, Anthony Fauci, and Busta Rhymes; and clips from Lee’s films Do the Right Thing and Inside Man, plus classics such as On the Waterfront and Casablanca. The result is a eulogy for lives lost, an ode to the resilience of New Yorkers, and an homage to the city that is the director’s biggest inspiration. —J.V.