Spike Lee's remake of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy doesn't hit theaters until October, and that just seems way too long to wait. I'm genuinely excited to see what Lee does with the material and am envisioning a revenge (and blood)-soaked 25th Hour. The good news is that FilmDistrict has finally dropped a tiny morsel from the upcoming film. The bad news: it's chicken scratch. more »
So, right before 2012 ended, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua piped up from Capri, Italy to assert that Spike Lee should not have publicly criticized Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained for the movie's spaghetti-western-style depiction of slavery. And to that I can only say, "Huh?" If ever there's a movie made to be publicly, loudly — and heatedly — debated, it's QT's anti-slavery epic. more »
Django Unchained will not be making filmmaker Spike Lee's year-end top 10 list nor any other list for that matter because he says he won't see it. The outspoken Red Hook Summer director said the slavery-centered feature by Quentin Tarantino may deal with the topic in a manner that is less than respectful.
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Spike Lee grew up a year apart from Michael Jackson, so like anyone of that generation, or those that followed, and really anyone in the world who had a heartbeat in the '60s, '70s, '80s, or '90s he was fixated on the chameleonic pop star for decades. A new 60-second trailer for Lee's music documentary Michael Jackson: Bad 25 reveals a mesmerizing wealth of behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the King of Pop's iconic 1987 album Bad so riveting that it's clear Lee's as much obsessed fan as curious documentarian.
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Bad 25 is having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which opened Wednesday, but the Spike Lee-directed documentary, which recalls the late pop-star's creative process leading up to his follow-up album from his seminal Thriller release. This year marks the 25th anniversary of MJ's 1987 mega-seller Bad. ABC will broadcast the feature on Thanksgiving in the U.S. after picking up television rights.
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In the latest installment of ARRIVALS, spotlighting breakthrough performers, Movieline chats with Dania Ramirez, who cycles to stardom opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon in this week's Premium Rush.
As Vanessa, the tough bicycling beauty of David Koepp's adrenaline-fueled Premium Rush, Dominican-born Dania Ramirez (X-Men: The Last Stand, Entourage, Heroes) bursts onto the screen with such vitality that it's no wonder director Spike Lee gave Ramirez her big break, years ago, after recognizing her as a former extra on one of his shoots.
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Back in January Spike Lee debuted his latest joint, the self-financed indie drama Red Hook Summer, to a divided reaction at Sundance — but as he tells Movieline, he had a feeling his controversial look at faith and the church in the projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, would leave Park City without a distribution deal. This week, following a solid opening in the New York area, the film expands to Los Angeles and beyond via self-distribution specialists Variance Films: "What would be the alternative to this? Not having distribution. And that’s not a choice. That’s not even a consideration."
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The Toronto International Film Festival added three Galas and 18 Special Presentations including eight World Premieres including dozens in its Contemporary World Cinema to its massive lineup Tuesday. Paul Andrew Williams' A Song For Marion with Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp will close the festival September 16th. New work from Dan Algrant, Paul Thomas Anderson, Dante Ariola, Yvan Attal, Susanne Bier, Nick Cassavetes, Daniele Ciprì, Lee Daniels, Brian De Palma, Bahman Ghobadi, Harmony Korine, Patrice Leconte, Spike Lee, Scott McGehee, Claude Miller, Henry-Alex Rubin, Walter Salles, Valeria Sarmiento, Pablo Trapero, Peter Webber join the 2012 lineup. Today's additions bring the final tally of TIFF Galas to 20, and the final number of Special Presentations to 70 including 49 World Premieres.
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The Bourne Legacy, The Campaign and Hope Springs are among the latest in studio fare churned out for your summer popcorn pleasure. And some - at least - are worth a view. But if you're itching for something else beyond the grain, check out the latest from Spike Lee, whose Red Hook Summer begins its roll out this weekend with an expansion set throughout the rest of summer. Actress/director Julie Delpy's sequel to her hilarious 2 Days In Paris opens, but this time she trades Paris for New York in, fittingly, 2 Days In New York, in which she stars opposite Chris Rock. And David Duchovny stars in Goats, which is finally making its way to the screen after a decade in the making. More teasers, insight and films here beyond the blockbuster...
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Also in Friday morning's round-up of news briefs, Warner Bros is eyeing Russell Crowe as it considers Stephen King project. Terrence Howard is set to play a hustler in a new pic, while a Game of Thrones star is joining an all-star cast in The Counselor and more.
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The Venice Film Festival released details about its 69th edition Thursday morning, with 17 films debuting in competition, competing for its top Golden Lion award. Among the new features headed to the Italian city are Brian De Palma's Passion with Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace and Paul Anderson. Harmony Korine's latest, Spring Breakers with James Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens joined the lineup along with Terrence Malick's To the Wonder, starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem and Olga Kurylenko. As previously announced, the festival, which runs August 29 - September 8 will open with the world premiere of Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
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Say what you will about Michael Jackson. He was the self-anointed King of Pop, but legions of fans around the world were his willing subjects for decades, crossing generations. So there is at least a reasonable in-house audience just itching for more about the moon-walker and Spike Lee is just the man to deliver. Lee and Jackson were friends in life and the filmmaker, whose Red Hook Summer opens next month, is working on a documentary tied to the 25th anniversary of the release of Jackson's Bad album.
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With his Sundance conversation-starter Red Hook Summer set for an August theatrical/VOD release, Spike Lee sat down with GQ and gave a rundown of which projects are happening for him, and which are not. Among the Spike Lee joints lost by the wayside due to funding struggles, etc.: His Jackie Robinson biopic, LA riots film, and Wesley Snipes-as-James Brown flick. Surprisingly, Lee admits he's still awaiting the green light on Oldboy — but in the meantime Lee's plotting to direct Mike Tyson on Broadway and has already interviewed the likes of Justin Bieber for a Michael Jackson doc celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bad, so there's that... [GQ]
All the fuss over Spike Lee's Oldboy remake star search can finally be put to rest, it seems — though who could have predicted that South African actor Sharlto Copley would've landed the plum co-starring lead opposite Josh Brolin? According to Deadline, the District 9 star, most recently seen bursting out of the woodwork every now and then as the manic "Howling Mad" Murdock in 2010's The A-Team, has nabbed the key role of Adrian Pryce, Oldboy's villain and "a mysterious billionaire trying to destroy the life of Joe Douchett (Brolin)." Bold move, Spike. But does Copley fit the bill (and, more importantly: Can he hold his own against Brolin)? [Deadline]
Days after the polarizing Red Hook Summer hit Sundance, co-writer/co-producer James McBride unleashed a passionate missive comparing the black artists' experience to cultural servitude: "You get to drive the well-meaning boss to and fro, you love that boss, your lives are stitched together, but only when the boss decides your story intersects with his or her life is your story valid. Because you’re a kind of cultural maid. You serve up the music, the life, the pain, the spirituality. You clean house. Take the kids to school. You serve the eggs and pour the coffee. And for your efforts the white folks thank you. They pay you a little. They ask about your kids. Then they jump into the swimming pool and you go home to your life on the outside, whatever it is. And if lucky you get to be the wise old black sage that drops pearls of wisdom, the wise old poet or bluesman who says ‘I been buked and scorned,’ and you heal the white folks, when in fact you can’t heal anybody." [40Acres.com]
