spike lee
Big Screen
As Vivendi Fiddles, Hollywood Awaits Big Shake-Up (Or Shake-Down)
1:03AM Richard Rushfield | Nothing that excites Hollywood more than the thought of a studio changing hands; the implications spilling down over a generation of executives and deals might be completely incomprehensible from this distance, but they are darn exciting. More »
Small Screen
4:15PM Andrew Belonsky | Now here’s a Big Apple-based show we could love. Spike Lee and Robert De Niro are coming together to bring Showtime a new drama series about the nitty-gritty 80s-version of the once-fearsome Alphabet City. It’s called Alphaville. [THR]
Lee And De Niro Learning ABCs For Showtime
4:15PM Andrew Belonsky | Now here’s a Big Apple-based show we could love. Spike Lee and Robert De Niro are coming together to bring Showtime a new drama series about the nitty-gritty 80s-version of the once-fearsome Alphabet City. It’s called Alphaville. [THR] 
‘New Yorker’ Spike Lee Profile Even Better When Reprinted 4 Months Later Without Attribution In The ‘Guardian’!
3:30AM Seth | Does the Spike Lee quote from The Guardian about how he’s a man of means, but not Oprah-means, in today’s Page Six and Huffington Post sound familiar? More »
Prince Shia LaBeouf to Lay Waste to Elders, Minorities and the Poor at the Box Office
2:05AM STV | Welcome back to Defamer Attractions, your indispensable guide to what’s new, noteworthy and/or totally doomed this week at the movies. Today we welcome Shia LaBeouf and his million-dollar pinkie back to theatres alongside Spike Lee, Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Charlize Theron and Kirk Cameron (!), while facing a robust litter of potential arthouse underdogs and DVD release for the agoraphobes among us. As always, our opinions are our own, but if Josh Groban can steadfastly see it our way, shouldn’t you as well? More »
Jonathan Demme Does Scorsese A Solid
5:30AM Seth | Jonathan Demme has stepped in for the departing Martin Scorsese on the authorised Bob Marley documentary project. This is the movie Marley’s estate want released before the Weinstein’s Bob biopic, a scheduling snafu that caused an irate Harvey to whip a can of Diet Coke at an assistant’s head as he taunted the incapacitated call-roller to, “C’mon, Josh! Get up, stand up. Stand up for your rights!” [Variety] More legend docs! Spike Lee told a crowd at Cannes that he’s hoping to bring a feature-length documentary about Michael Jordan to the festival next year, contingent of course on Denzel playing Michael. [Variety] More »
Today in Cannes Hell: Spike Lee vs. The World, ‘Che’ Unveiled and Mouthbreathing Over Penelope Cruz
2:55AM Defamer Hollywood | Only a few days remain before Cannes ends and we can roll our bleary eyes from the backs of our heads. In the meantime, the rubbernecker in us can’t help but take an interest in Spike Lee’s latest sortie against the Hollywood establishment — this time as personified by Cannes darling Clint Eastwood, whom Lee railed against while promoting his upcoming Afro-centric World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna:
The Oscar Glass is Half-Full For Spike Lee
7:30AM Defamer Hollywood | Knowing what we know about Spike Lee’s constructively critical awards-podium jeremiads, we think the filmmaker doth protest too much this week about his lack of faith in the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, the sadist in us also appreciates his analysis of the vagaries of Oscar justice that we presume will embrace Lee one of these days: More »
Award-Winner Spike Lee Blazes New Trails in Acceptance-Speech Racial Tension
2:35AM Defamer Hollywood | In L.A. this week to accept the Chrysler-sponsored Behind the Lens award for 25 years of filmmaking and shit-stirring par excellence, Spike Lee took a moment to thank the Italian producers who supported his latest film, Miracle at St. Anna, before unloading a potent spray of ammo from which wounded attendees are still recovering in intensive care units and barricaded studio offices all over town. As THR’s Risky Business blog reports: Lee continued on what he called his “little tirade,” addressing the African-American industryites in the audience and telling them it didn’t matter what kind of car they drove or how big their houses are, “we’re way behind in film,” adding “None of them look like you. The only black guy I see is the brother man at the security gate.” More »
Trade Roundup: Tom Cruise Vs. Germany III: The Benderblock Lockdown
7:00AM Defamer Hollywood | · In the latest development in the increasingly hard-to-follow story of Valkyrie’s Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer’s attempts to obtain shooting permits for German government sites in Berlin, the production has been denied permission to film in the historic Benderblock building, where the revered Nazi-hunter to be portrayed by the actor was executed. But not because Cruise is a Scientologist! Government officials understandably just want to preserve the dignity of their memorial, realising that everything Hollywood touches is instantly desecrated. Variety More »
