Spike Lee
Spike Lee Thinks Gone With the Wind and The Birth of a Nation Should Be Screened With Proper “Context”
Legendary director Spike Lee thinks that problematic films like Gone With the Wind and The Birth of a Nation should still be seen — provided the viewing experience includes “historical social context.” Lee shared his thoughts in an interview with Moonlight director Barry Jenkins. The conversation about Lee’s career and latest movie Da 5 Bloods quickly veered into a discussion on two of the most famous movies in history — both of which are also notoriously racist. 1939’s Gone With the Wind is America’s highest-grossing film ever, adjusted for inflation, but its depiction of Black people as cheerfully dumb and eternally grateful to white people was bad when it was first released and hasn’t improved since. 1915’s The Birth of a Nation was originally titled T...
Why Summer Blockbusters Won’t Ever Go Straight to VOD
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel debates whether the blockbuster will ever eschew the theater experience and go straight to our living rooms. Back at the end of March — remember March? Like, even the concept of the month of March? — my wife informed me that our sister-in-law was being proactive. She was starting an online petition regarding an issue about which she felt passionate. Was it related to the dearth of Covid-19 testing throughout the country? Staggered school re-openings in her state or others in the Union? No, she had begun a petition to exhort the Walt Disney Company to release Mu...
The 100 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time
“Cool.” “Riveting.” “Gripping.” “High-Octane Thrill Ride!” All cliches of film criticism and yet all feelings we’ve experienced while watching a crackerjack summer blockbuster. Oops, there we go again. All things considered, any moviegoer can speak to the divine feeling of sitting in a cool, packed theater in the heat of the summer and being united by narrative. Not just united, but hypnotized, mentally convinced that the fate of the world is before your eyes, and there is nothing more important in that very moment. It’s escapism. It’s popcorn. It’s Chinatown. But also, it’s the power of spectacle. Over the years, Hollywood has certainly run that concept through the ringer, having turned what used to be a summer blockbuster season into, well, an entire calendar year. Now, all those aforeme...
AFI to Host Live Conversation with Spike Lee, Stream Do The Right Thing for Free
Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing will be honored this week by the American Film Institute. The 1989 Oscar-nominated masterpiece has been named their latest Movie Club selection, and to celebrate, they’ll be speaking to the director himself. “AFI Movie Club’s global reach has inspired the need for more thoughtful discussions about films that have shaped our culture,” said CEO Bob Gazzale. “Do The Right Thing is a timeless and timely classic, and Spike Lee has forever proven himself the voice for change that we need now more than ever. We would like to thank our partners at Universal for their essential support in educating and inspiring audiences around the world.” The conversation goes down this Thursday, June 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT via the AFI YouTube channel. In anticipation,...
Spike Lee Apologizes for Defending Woody Allen: “My Words Were Wrong”
Over the weekend, Spike Lee took a slight, problematic detour amidst his press run for Da 5 Bloods. During an interview with New York’s WOR 710 radio (via The Playlist), the legendary filmmaker came to the defense of Woody Allen. “I’d just like to say Woody Allen is a great, great filmmaker, and this cancel thing is not just Woody,” Lee explained. “And I think that when we look back on it, we are going to see that — short of killing somebody — I don’t know if you can just erase somebody like they never existed.” He continued, “Woody is a friend of mine, a fellow Knick fan, and I know he’s going through it right now.” Editors’ Picks As expected, those thoughts warranted some major backlash online, and Lee has since released a statement on Twitter clarifying his position: “I Deeply Apo...
Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods Brutally Confirms We Haven’t Learned Enough From War: Review
The Pitch: Five bloods, four surviving soldiers, the fall of Saigon, a hunt for gold, and the ever-lasting damage and degradation of war. Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is his take on Vietnam through the eyes of African American grunts, both past and present. Vietnam, 1971. Paul (Delroy Lindo), Eddie (Norm Lewis), Otis (Clark Peters), Melvin (Isaiah Whitlock Jr.), and Norman (Chadwick Boseman) are a battalion that finds a crate filled with Vietnamese gold. Knowing they can’t just grab it and go, the men bury the prize with the hope of coming back for it when the time is right. In the meantime, they’re fighting in a war they’re not sure they need to be a part of, questioning the dangers of this foreign land against the rioting, fires, and protests at home. Ho Chi Minh City. Today. Paul, Eddie, Oti...
Spike Lee Releases Powerful Video Juxtaposing ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Murders Of George Floyd & Eric Garner
Source: Timothy Hiatt / Getty When it comes to speaking out about social injustice, Spike Lee is known for not holding his tongue. On Monday (June 1), during an interview with CNN over the current unrest taking place in cities across the country, Spike Lee premiered a short video featuring clips from the intense and crucial scene in his iconic film, Do The Right Thing, Juxtaposed with the real videos of the murders of both Eric Garner and George Floyd at the hands of police. “What we’re seeing today is not new,” Lee said. “We’ve seen this again and again and again, and people are asking the same questions, like: ‘Why are people rioting? Why are people doing this?’ Because people are fed up and people are tired of the debasing, the killing of black bodies. That’s what this country is built ...
Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Amazon Prime in June 2020
Don’t get lost scanning through Amazon, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Netflix. Consequence of Sound has rounded up the best of the best on all four streaming networks, all so you can avoid that mindless meandering on your couch. Granted, we’ve already shown you everything coming to Amazon, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Netflix in June 2020. But, for brevity’s sake, we’ve assembled an easy-to-read guide that you can consult throughout the month. On the TV front, Netflix is on fire with final seasons for both 13 Reasons Why and Dark, the return of Queer Eye and F is For Family, and a new comedy special from Eric Andre. Elsewhere, Disney Plus will close up shop on their Mandalorian docuseries, while Hulu debuts both The Best of the Bachelor and Love, Victor. Those looking for some major films are in luck. ...
Spike Lee Shares 3 Brothers Short Film With George Floyd, Eric Garner Footage
Spike Lee took to Twitter last night to share a powerful video amid nationwide protests, as he blended footage of Eric Garner and George Floyd being killed by police officers with a scene from his 1989 film Do The Right Thing. The video shows a scene from the film, where a police officer continues to choke character Radio Raheem (played by Bill Nunn) and surrounds it with cellphone footage of Garner’s murder in 2014 and Floyd’s on May 25. The short’s caption reads “3 Brothers-Radio Raheem, Eric Garner And George Floyd” and the clip starts with the question “Will history stop repeating itself?” Lee has been vocal about the recent murders of Floyd, Breonna Taylor in Louisville and Ahmaud Arbery, tweeting on May 29 “May Our Queen And Kings Rest In Paradise While Agent Orange Tweets ‘When...
What’s Coming to Netflix in June 2020
Each month, Consequence of Sound puts together a full list of new TV and film titles coming to Netflix. June 2020 brings all kinds of summery gems to mine, including the latest joint from director Spike Lee: Da 5 Bloods. Binge-watchers should also make space in their queue for all three seasons of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, the fourth season of 13 Reasons Why, the return of Queer Eye, and the debut of Netflix’s new docuseries Lenox Hill. For those looking for a few comfort watches, pop some popcorn for Lady Bird, The Disaster Artist, and The Help. Though, if you’re looking to fall off the couch laughing, Eric Andre has a special worth losing air over. Check out the entire list below and start stocking up on some snacks. To help round out your streaming sessions, be sure to look out for our g...
Spike Lee and Ray Allen Working on He Got Game 2
Jesus Shuttlesworth may hit the court again. In a new interview with The Encore, director Spike Lee discussed the possibility of a sequel to 1998’s He Got Game. He even has a new player in mind: New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson. “We were trying to, B.C. not ‘before Christ’ but ‘before corona,’ try to get a meet and greet (with Zion),” Lee explained. “Ray [Allen] and I were going to go to a home game in New Orleans. So, I’m still for it. The story is murky in my mind, but the material is so rich.” So would Williamson. Last year, the 19-year-old player expressed interest to Esquire, saying: “I would wanna be in the sequel to He Got Game, I would definitely want to be, like, in the Part 2 of that movie.” This isn’t the first time talk of a sequel has popped up. Allen spoke to ESPN...
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Peep The Trailer To Spike Lee’s Vietnam Film ‘Da 5 Bloods’ [Video]
Source: Netflix / Netflix t’s been more than a year since we learned that Chadwick “Black Panther” Boseman was cast in Spike Lee’s newest project, Da 5 Bloods. While it may sound like a film about gangbanging, it’s actually much deeper than that. The Oscar-winning director’s latest film centers around four African-American Vietnam veterans – Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) – who come together to fulfill a pact made when they were young soldiers serving on the front lines of Nam. Now well into their senior years, the four men return to Vietnam five decades later to not only retrieve the remains of their deceased squadron leader (Chadwick Boseman), but also dig up a treasure chest filled with enough gold to have them set fo...
