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Tag: Spike Lee

  • Oscars: Spike Lee acts funny as ‘Green Book’ clinches best picture

    Though Roma and The Favourite led the nominations with 10 each on Sunday, it was Green Book that took the best picture gong, with Rami Malek and Olivia Colman winning big in the best-acting categories.

    Other big wins of the night included Alfonso Cuarón for best director, Spike Lee for best adapted screenplay — his first non-honorary Oscar win — Mahershala Ali for best supporting actor, Regina King for best supporting actress and Black Panther for three awards: best costume design, production design and best original score.

    For Spike Lee, winner of the best adapted screenplay award for his film BlacKkKlansman, that meant heading off to South East Asia at the first opportunity.

    “I’m on a plane tomorrow morning to Thailand,” the US film-maker told reporters on Sunday.

    Spike Lee did not do much to hide his displeasure when Green Book beat his film and six others to this year’s best picture Oscar.

    The ‘BlacKkKlansman’ director was said to have tried to storm out of the Dolby Theatre when the winner was read out by Julia Roberts.

    “I thought I was courtside at the [Madison Square] Garden and the ref made a bad call,” Lee later told reporters, saying the film was “not his cup of tea”.

    “I’m snake-bit,” he joked, using a euphemism for experiencing failure or bad luck. “Every time somebody’s driving somebody, I lose.”

    His comment was a reference to ‘Driving Miss Daisy’, winner of the best picture Oscar in 1990 and a film to which ‘Green Book’ has been compared. Lee’s film ‘Do the Right Thing’ was nominated for two Oscars in 1990 – best original screenplay and best supporting actor – but missed out on both.

    In ‘Green Book’, an African-American classical pianist is driven around the American south of the 1960s by an Italian-American chauffeur. In Driving Miss Daisy, an elderly Southern matron grudgingly agrees to be chauffeured by an African-American driver.

    “They changed the seating arrangement!” said Lee of ‘Green Book’, which also won Oscars for its screenplay and for supporting actor Mahershala Ali.

    ‘Black Panther’ star Chadwick Boseman also expressed disappointment as ‘Green Book’ director Peter Farrelly and his predominantly white production team took to the stage.

  • Cannes’18: Applause for Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’

    WITH over 35 movies by his production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, American film director, producer, writer, and actor, Shelton Jackson Lee, aka Spike Lee has been made famous for his political and racial insightful movies for which he has won the heart of film enthusiasts.

    His latest film, ‘BlacKkKlansman’ made a strong impression on the audience at the Cannes Film Festival which ends today, earning a 10-minute standing ovation at the premiere as the credits roll.

    Produced by GetOut’s Jordan Peele, the film which is set in the 70s, stars John David Washington, Adam Driver and Topher Grace in the lead roles.

    The movie tells the story of Washington’s Ron Stallworth who, after becoming the first African-American detective on the Colorado Springs Police Department, sets out to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan while posing as a racist extremist.

    ‘BlacKkKlansman’ is based on Stallworth’s very own biography Black Klansman.

    The release of the movie is expected to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville riots which saw one woman die after a car drove into a crowd during a clash between white nationalists and anti-fascist protestors. The emotional finale is said to include real footage of the incident.

    This is about the sixth time that Lee’s movie will premiere at Cannes, who in 1989 lost out on winning the Palme d’Or for ‘Do the Right Thing’ to Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’.

  • Ooni of Ife, Ayade, Spike Lee, others for NAFCA honours

    Ooni of Ife, Ayade, Spike Lee, others for NAFCA honours

    His Imperial Majesty, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II (Ooni of Ife), Governor Benedict Ayade,  Richard Mofe Damijo, Spike Lee, Dionne Warwick, Dr. Alexander Cummings, and Floyd Mayweather Jr, are among personalities to be honoured by The Nollywood & African Film Critics’ Awards (NAFCA)

    Founder and the CEO of Nollywood & African film Critics’ Awards, Victor O. Olatoye, said that over 100 films have been received from filmmakers across Africa and the Diaspora.

    “We are very proud of our filmmakers for the significant improvements we continue to see as we review these films. NAFCA 2016 is going to be our biggest award to date since we moved the award to Hollywood in 2014 and we are partnering with Hollywood producers including over 400 members of the press to spread the word.

    “We also have some dignitaries who will be honored at NAFCA 2015 His Imperial Majesty Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II(Ooni of Ife) , President Ali Bongo and Governor Benedict Ayade of Cross River State. Nollywood will also be represented and so far over 100 A-listers from the African film industry have requested invitations and hundreds from Hollywood,” he said.

    Dry, Boxing Day, Tribe, Mud, Return of the Don and Oxford Garden run away with this year’s nominations as the show holds on Saturday, Sept 17, at the Legendary Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, California USA.

    NAFCA is an accolade bestowed by the Nollywood Film Critics, USA, a movie review organization for Nollywood and African films to recognize excellence of professionals in the African film industry. The annual formal ceremony started September 16, 2011 in North Carolina, USA.

  • The others side of Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes

    The others side of Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes

    Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes have one thing in common, they are all damn good actors. Unfortunately, many do not know that most of these good artistes are also good singers. Cynda Williams who has worked with these artistes say they are also good at singing. In 1990, Spike Lee directed a hit movie called “Mo’ Better Blues” that starred Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes in the leads. In an amazing screen debut, a beautiful and talented actress named “Cynda Williams,” appeared in the role of Clarke Bentancourt. She chewed up the scenery and, at the end of the movie, she sang an amazing track called “Harlem Blues” which hit number 9 on the R & B Charts. Her vocal, 23 plus years, stands the test of time.

  • Spike Lee grooms another Halle Berry

    Spike Lee grooms another Halle Berry

    Legendary film producer and actor, Spike Lee has a knack for bringing out talents. After spotting Zaraah Abrahams in a short film, the legendary director cast her as the lead in his new movie Da Sweet Blood Of Jesu’s – the role came at the perfect moment. Since the age of 15, Abrahams star has been quietly flickering, with TV roles in Coronation Street and Waterloo Road, followed by a place in Dancing On Ice’, Abrahams, graph has continued to rise as many have said she is likely to become another Halle Berry.