Spike Lee Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Oscar-nominated movie directed by Ava DuVernay follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) during the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights marches.

K.J. Yossman Actor, director and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah has joined the board of Endeavor-backed production company The Story Collective. In the role, Kwei-Armah will bring expertise and mentorship to various projects in development as well as nurturing new ideas to bring to screen.

Filmmaker Sam Pollard, one of the most prolific and important forces in contemporary documentary, will be honored by Black Public Media at its upcoming PitchBlack Awards in New York.

Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington is clearly one of our finest actors (he’s been nominated ten times in total for various Best Acting and Best Supporting Actor turns). The actor, who has worked with many of the greats, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Jonathan Demme, etc.

Bradley Cooper has revealed that he directed his new Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro in character as the late conductor, having been inspired by Christian Bale’s method in 2013’s American Hustle.Speaking to fellow director Spike Lee in an interivew for Variety, Cooper recalled being impressed by Bale’s commitment to staying in character.“American Hustle was the first time I saw an actor stay in the voice of a character,” he said. “It was Christian Bale. I had heard stories about Daniel Day-Lewis.

In one of the earliest announcements in recent memory, the Cannes Film Festival announced early Thursday morning Paris time the president of the jury for 2024. And, in something of a surprise, this year’s president is Greta Gerwig, a soon-to-be multiple Oscar nominee for the 2023 blockbuster “Barbie.” Gerwig is the first woman to lead the jury since Cate Blanchett in 2018 and the second American this decade after Spike Lee presided over the first post-pandemic jury in 2021.

MasterClass‘s holiday deal is ending tomorrow, so be sure to grab yours while you can!

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor “The Pianist” and “King Kong” star Adrien Brody spoke at the Red Sea Film Festival Friday about a wide variety of creative pursuits, including making music from popcorn in the 1990s. “I liked the sound of the kernels of popcorn hitting the aluminium lid of the pan and so I set my microphone up and recorded it and then I sampled it and put on some reverb,” he told the audience in Saudi Arabia. “It went pok-a-pok-a-pok.” Something of a prodigy, he was cast as a lead in a TV movie “Home at Last” when he was only 15 and later became the youngest actor to win the best male lead Oscar.

MasterClass‘s Black Friday deal is ending today, so be sure to grab yours while you can!

Jean Knight, the voice behind Mr Big Stuff, one of the most recognizable songs of the 1970s funk era, has died aged 80. 

Afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here bringing you the latest from around the globe as our friends in America tuck into their turkey. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Will Tizard Contributor Indie and art film producer Jon Kilik, unlike many, remains hopeful for the personal, mid-budget movie for grown-ups. “Those are the films directors love to make and audiences still love,” says Kilik, being feted this week at Poland’s Camerimage cinematography festival for work of special visual sensitivity.

As awards season approaches, many consider “Oppenheimer” a frontrunner for all kinds of awards. But while Christopher Nolan and his film will undoubtedly be in the running for Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars, the director is ready to leave the film behind.

MasterClass‘s Black Friday deal is back a little early!

Criterion Collection for a month-long 50% off winter sale — with all DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Ultra HD discs marked down, sitewide. We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” Spike Lee‘s “Do The Right Thing,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor Adam Driver, star of Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” will travel to Camerimage, the cinematography-oriented film festival, to accept Special EnergaCamerimage Award for an Actor. He will also introduce the film, one of the entries in the Camerimage Main Competition and a prominent awards contender this season. The fest will run in Toruń.

One of the Knicks’ most passionate fans is showing off some of his most prized possessions.Oscar-winning director Spike Lee is giving fans a front-row seat to his basketball obsession — and much more — at the Brooklyn Museum’s new exhibit, “Spike Lee: Creative Sources,” on display through Feb. 4, 2024.There’s an entire room devoted to Lee’s love of the Knicks, withsigned gear, artwork, photos, and even a net from the franchise’s first championship in 1970.All these years later, the filmmaker’s fandom remains as fierce as ever, buoyed by stars like Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.

One of the Knicks’ most passionate fans is showing off some of his most prized possessions.Oscar-winning director Spike Lee is giving fans a front-row seat to his basketball obsession — and much more — at the Brooklyn Museum’s new exhibit, “Spike Lee: Creative Sources,” on display through Feb. 4, 2024.There’s an entire room devoted to Lee’s love of the Knicks, withsigned gear, artwork, photos, and even a net from the franchise’s first championship in 1970.All these years later, the filmmaker’s fandom remains as fierce as ever, buoyed by stars like Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.

Angelique Jackson The American Cinematheque awards, scheduled for November 4, has been postponed due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Helen Mirren was previously announced to be the recipient of the 37th American Cinematheque Award, with Kevin Goetz and Screen Engine set to be honored with the Power of Cinema Award, presented by Hill Valley. The new date for the annual awards ceremony, held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Spike Lee has always been a filmmaker who is willing to critique other people’s art. And when you’re Christopher Nolan and you released one of the biggest films of 2023, you can expect everyone to have an opinion.

Spike Lee has commented on Oppenheimer, suggesting it should have shown “what happened to the Japanese people”.The recent Christopher Nolan historical drama follows the story of the Manhattan Project during World War 2, which developed the first nuclear weapons. These were ultimately dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and are estimated to have killed up to 226,000 people.The film focuses solely on the US side of the events, and in a recent interview Lee – who has directed films such as Do The Right Thing and BlacKkKlansman – praised Nolan, though suggested a “comment” regarding the historical depiction of events.“Chris Nolan with Oppenheimer, you know, he’s a massive filmmaker.

Oscar winner Spike Lee has shared some thoughts about two of the highest-profile movie titles of 2023, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon.

Before becoming a staple of daytime television, Kelly Ripa was typecasted as a “weird girl” in the film industry.

Kerry Washington is opening up even more.

Kerry Washington is sharing her story.

David Byrne met A24’s young fans as the Talking Heads Stop Making Sense is set to gross $800,673 from 264 Imax screens in North America this weekend. Its cumulative gross of $1.43 million includes Thursday screenings and a live event at TIFF for this remastered version of the 1984 Jonathan Demme-directed concert film ranked by critics as one of the best ever.

The 40th anniversary 4K-cut of Stop Making Sense continues to make a lot of cents.

Michaela Zee After winning this year’s Toronto International Film Festival’s people’s choice award, “American Fiction” has pushed back its limited release to Dec. 15 and will expand in theaters on Dec. 22.

Angelique Jackson Emmy and Tony Award nominee Corey Hawkins has signed with CAA for representation. Hawkins is best known for his recent performances in “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” “In the Heights,” “Topdog/Underdog” on Broadway, as well as his breakout role, portraying Dr. Dre in F.

Ethan Hawke may be Maya Hawke’s dad, but he treated her like the professional she is on the set of “Wildcat”.

Monday night’s special 40th anniversary screening of Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense at the Toronto Film Festival is now Imax’ highest-grossing live event, the company said. The groundbreaking Talking Heads concert film, from A24, earned $640,839 and sold out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London.

Steve Harvey is slamming rumours, once again, surrounding him and his wife.

Ethan Hawke is a big Toronto fan.

Talking Heads reunited for a Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival last night (September 11) – check out the footage below.The band – comprising frontman David Byrne, bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz and guitarist Jerry Harrison – made their first public appearance together in over 20 years at the event.As announced last month, the long-awaited reunion was staged in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Talking Heads’ legendary concert film, Stop Making Sense (1984).The band members were joined by moderator Spike Lee (who produced and directed Byrne’s American Uptopia) for a brief Q&A following the debut screening of A24’s 4K restoration of the movie.“It’s so good to be here with my bandmates tonight,” said Frantz, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It’s been a long time.” The publication reports that all four members sat in separate rows to watch the screening, but claimed no “tensions were on display”.Despite prior speculation, Talking Heads did not perform acoustically or mention their tumultuous break-up.

At a Toronto International Film Festival that saw its wattage dimmed by a SAG-AFTRA strike; it took a Talking Heads reunion at the 40th Anniversary of Stop Making Sense to crank up the festival’s volume to an 11 in Spinal Tap-speak.