Tag: Do the Right Thing
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‘I Told You So’ Review — A Visually Stunning Drama
The concept of separate but intertwining narratives isn’t a new one. From Oscar-winning films like Crash and Babel to holiday classics like Love Actually and Valentine’s Day, filmmakers have used the technique of interconnected stories for ages — some more effectively than others. The idea of tensions running high during a heatwave is a classic…
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Spike Lee Blasts Critics at TIFF Tribute Awards for Initially Suggesting ‘Do the Right Thing’ Would Incite Riots
Spike Lee blasted critics who suggested that “Do The Right Thing” would spark riots when it opened in 1989, while honoring one of the reviewers who came to the film’s defense. The remarks came as Lee received the Ebert Director Award, named for the late film critic Roger Ebert, at the Toronto International Film Festival…
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Samuel L. Jackson Details Spike Lee Feud Over ‘Malcolm X’ Casting
Samuel L. Jackson is detailing his 1992 falling out with Spike Lee that took more 20 years to rebuild.Jackson, in a wide-ranging interview with Vulture, shared that the creative split from Lee was due to a “Malcolm X” salary dispute which ultimately led Jackson to turn down the role of Baines in the historical epic.…
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‘Do the Right Thing’ Gave Us a Completely Different Giancarlo Esposito
There’s no actor on television right now who is quite as intimidating as Giancarlo Esposito. Esposito’s haunting performance as the brilliant drug lord Gus Fring in Breaking Bad was hailed as the most fearsome television villain of his time, which is no small statement considering that this was in the Game of Thrones era. Esposito…
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Spike Lee Wants Twitter to Calm Down About Daniel Scheinert Calling ‘Malcolm X’ a ‘Crime Movie’
Spike Lee is calling a ceasefire to the backlash following “Everything Everywhere All at Once” co-director Daniel Scheinert calling Lee’s biopic “Malcolm X” a “crime movie.”During a Criterion Collection’s “Closet Picks” video, Scheinert called “Malcolm X” a “riveting crime saga,” adding, “Maybe my favorite crime movie? It just blew my mind when I first saw…
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25th Hour Is Spike Lee’s Powerful Expression of Fear of the Future
In perhaps his most emotionally punishing film to date, Spike Lee grappled with the tragedy that his hometown and common setting of his films, New York City, would feel the lingering effects of until the end of time: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 25th Hour is a slight deviation from what audiences might…
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Spike Lee to Be Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award at 2022 DGA Awards
Spike Lee will receive the lifetime achievement award for distinguished achievement in motion picture direction from the Directors Guild of America. The group announced Lee as the recipient of the organization’s top honor on Wednesday morning.“Icon. Trailblazer. Visionary. Spike Lee has changed the face of cinema, and there is no single word that encapsulates his…
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Bong Joon Ho Confronts ‘Fearful’ Anti-Asian Hate and Calls on Filmmakers to Respond
During a virtual masterclass with Chapman’s Dodge College this week, Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho reflected on the rise of anti-Asian hate in the United States and called on his fellow directors in Hollywood and all around the world to “use your insight to portray the issues that are currently boiling underneath the surface of…
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‘Enforcement’ (‘Shorta’) Review: ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ Meets ‘Training Day’ in Gripping Danish Cop Movie
Slick, unsettling Danish law-enforcement thriller “Shorta” — or as it’s been generically retitled in the United States, “Enforcement” — opens with a familiar “I can’t breathe” moment as a team of police scramble to restrain a 19-year-old Muslim man, suggesting that what happened to Eric Garner in Staten Island, and to George Floyd in Minneapolis,…