Spike Lee
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The Truth From Ruth: As Her Collaboration With H&M Drops in Stores, Ruth E. Carter Drops Some Knowledge on Us
“I’ve never wanted to be a fashion designer, because I felt like I was a storyteller,” says famed costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who, in 2019, thrillingly added an Oscar to her many accolades for her work in 2018’s Black Panther. For many longtime film lovers (including this writer), Carter’s triumph was long overdue; since…
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Spike Lee for President: Lee Named First Black Jury Head of Cannes Film Festival
Imagine a world where Spike Lee was President of the United States. I mean, I’d say anything goes now that we have Donald “Orange Julius Geezer” Trump in the White House, so just imagine it. I can see it now: President Spike Lee at a press conference wilding out over Republican efforts to block his…
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Purple Rain and She’s Gotta Have It Among 5 African American Films Added to National Film Registry
The Library of Congress has announced 25 new films to add to its National Film Registry for 2019. Of the 25 films that are “selected because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage,” five of them are created by and/or centered around African Americans. Those black films are Purple Rain,…
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From 'The Ladder' to 'The Cross,' Prince's Legacy Endures Through His Friends and Music at a Town Hall Tribute
The first time I saw Prince perform live, it was Christmas Eve, 1984 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minn. It was his Purple Rain tour and I was already a rabid fan at age 9—albeit mildly scandalized watching my icon dry hump one of the many massive amps on stage (before…
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Prince's Posthumous Memoir The Beautiful Ones Celebrates His Humanity. A Musical Event in New York City Will Celebrate Its Release
“I stayed in Minneapolis because Minneapolis made me. You have to give back.” — Prince Rogers Nelson, ‘The Beautiful Ones’ text As a kid coming of age in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minn. in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there were certain things I took for granted: the summers would be as hot as the winters…
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On the Comeback Trail, Nate Parker Shows American Skin and Apologizes About ‘Tone Deaf’ Response to Resurfaced Rape Charge
Nate Parker has a new attitude. And a new project he’s hawking to the masses. The once embattled actor/director—who torpedoed his Academy Award possibilities for his directorial debut, The Birth of a Nation in 2016 after a 1999 rape charge resurfaced while promoting the Nat Turner biopic—is back on the film festival circuit with his…
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Do The Right Thing Turns 30 This Week. Not Much Has Changed Since 1989
Spike Lee’s third film, Do The Right Thing, turns 30 years old on Sunday, July 21, but its message is so fresh that it could have been made today. I was first introduced to this film during my senior year of high school, in March 1999. I borrowed it from a library in Oklahoma City,…
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She’s Gotta Have It Not Renewed for Season 3 at Netflix; Expected to Be Shopped Elsewhere
It looks like Netflix does not, in fact, gotta have it. (Had to do it; too easy.) It’s official. She’s Gotta Have It is not being renewed for Season 3. According to a press release via Netflix, their strategy when it comes to parting ways with their television shows has more to do with viewership…
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Do The Right Thing…Again: Spike Lee's Critically Acclaimed Joint Will Be Rereleased in Theaters for 30th Anniversary
If you can believe it, it’s edging on 30 years since Spike Lee implored us to Do The Right Thing. The critically acclaimed “Spike Lee joint” debuted on June 30, 1989, which means it’ll be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. That calls for a special celebration! Well, that’s exactly what’s being served up as…
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Spike Lee on Filming in Georgia After Abortion Ban: 'They Got to Shut It Down'
Ever since Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a “heartbeat” bill that prohibits abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, Hollywood studios such as Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. have expressed an unwillingness to continue filming in the state should the draconian legislation be implemented. And as celebrities arrived for Denzel Washington’s…