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feuds
Clint Eastwood Would Like Spike Lee To Shut His Face Right About Now
The Guardian runs an outrageously satisfying interview with Clint Eastwood today, in which he was asked to address comments made at Cannes by his perennially malcontented, bullhorn-wielding peer, Spike Lee. In them, Lee suggested Eastwood ignored African-Americans' contributions to the Allied cause in Flags of Our Fathers. (The exact quote: "There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint for not having one [in the films]. That was his version: the negro soldier did not exist. I have a different version.") And while "a guy like him should shut his face" will undoubtedly emerge as the rant's most pull-quoted phrase—and deservedly so, being eight perfectly chosen syllables that manage to encapsulate everything we love about the shoot-first, dump-the-body-later Eastwood mystique—there's much else to savor in the permagrizzled auteur's verbal swat-down:
More »Eastwood has no time for Lee's gripes. "He was complaining when I did Bird [the 1988 biopic of Charlie Parker]. Why would a white guy be doing that? I was the only guy who made it, that's why."
trade roundup
Jonathan Demme Does Scorsese A Solid
· Jonathan Demme has stepped in for the departing Martin Scorsese on the authorized 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]
cannes film festival
Today in Cannes Hell: Spike Lee vs. The World, 'Che' Unveiled and Mouthbreathing Over Penelope Cruz
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:
"Clint Eastwood made two films about Iwo Jima that ran for more than four hours total and there was not one Negro actor on the screen," Lee told reporters. "If you reporters had any balls you'd ask him why. There's no way I know why he did that — that was his vision, not mine. But I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It's not like he didn't know."More »
snubs
The Oscar Glass is Half-Full For Spike Lee
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 »
rage against the machine
Award-Winner Spike Lee Blazes New Trails in Acceptance-Speech Racial Tension
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
· 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, realizing that everything Hollywood touches is instantly desecrated. [Variety]
· Actors who may or may not be joining the cast of Desperate Housewives: Dana Delany, Nathan Fillion, and Lyndsy Fonseca. Fun fact: Delaney was the first choice for the role eventually given to Marcia Cross. [THR]
· Transformers gets a "six-day weekend" to squeeze as much money as possible out of the Fourth of July holiday. [Variety]
· Sad news: We may be falling slowly out of love with the most promising show of the summer, NBC's Kittens Vs. Cougars: The Battle To Bone Onetime Tennis Star Marc Philippoussis, which felt a little desperate and saggy after last night's low-rated, back-to-back installments. (And what happened to companion show Boner Vs. Science?) [THR]
· Spike Lee angry. [Variety]
trade roundup
'On The Lot' Still Alive, Weakly Kicking
· On the Lot CancellationWatch: Fox's unkillable Nielsen invalid draws just 2.3 million viewers, despite a return to an earlier format in which its contestants were challenged to direct comedy shorts featuring bank-commercial-quality humor levels and production values while racing against a ticking clock. (Adrianna Costa CleavageWatch: Covered up, again.) [Ed.note—Don't worry, despite the creepiness of that image from TheLot.com contestant Jess Brillhart is not dead, she was just dismissed from the competition at the top of the show, in blatant disregard for reality TV convention. ] [THR]· Stalag 17: It's Spike Lee meets Broadway meets WWII prison camps! [Variety]
· The NBA will remain on ESPN, ABC and TNT through 2016. Pop quiz: Who won the recent, scarcely watched NBA Finals? [THR]
· Tom Cruise and longtime enforcer Paula Wagner will drop by the Cinema Expo in Holland to promote Lions for Lambs, as well as Valkyrie, the movie whose shoot the German government isn't too excited to be hosting. [Variety]
· Another sign the Hollywood apocalypse is nigh: FX pays about $16 million for the cable TV rights to Wild Hogs. [Variety]
awards
Awards Round-Up: Warner Bros. Doesn't Care Which DiCaprio You Vote For
· Oscar rules might not be able to literally pit Leo vs. Leo like at the Globes, but that doesn't mean he can't face off against himself in the trades: Warner Bros. has been using a picture of the actor in their The Departed FYC ads extremely similar to the one they're using in their Blood Diamond Best Actor campaign. Will the confusion benefit everyone, or will Academy members, brainwashed by repetitive Leo conditioning, award DiCaprio every available Oscar, including Animated Short, Sound Design, and Best Picture? [The Carpetbagger]· But how did it play in Leeds and Humberside? U.K.'s regional film journalists name Pan's Labyrinth their film of the year, with Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker picking up the top acting awards, and Abigail Breslin being named "newcomer of the year." [Variety]
· Everyone involved in the Oscars telecast showed up for the annual production meeting powwow, including 16-year gag-writing vet Bruce Vilanch, who bragged that he can bang out an entire show's worth of one-liners in a night, simply by transcribing the top two drawers of his novelty T-shirt collection. [AP] More »
james brown
Brian Grazer And Spike Lee Have Their James Brown Movie Ending
While porcupine-becoiffed superproducer Brian Grazer (don't worry—we won't use the headshot) has long been developing a big screen treatment of James Brown's life story with the cooperation of the legend himself, just two days after the singer's death comes a report that Spike Lee has signed on to direct. And although Grazer wasn't necessarily looking for a Hollywood ending, something about Brown hip-gyrating off this mortal coil on Christmas Day makes for a satisfyingly spectacular conclusion to the life of a Soul Messiah: More »
trade roundup
Trade Round-Up: Brian Grazer To Take Meeting With Rodney King, Ask, 'You Know, Why *Can't* We All Get Along?'
The National Board of Review makes the first official penetration of the awards season orgy, naming Letters from Iwo Jima best film, Martin Scorcese best director, Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren best actors, and Volver best foreign film. Brace yourself for the imminent deluge of awards and nominations announcements that may or may not have anything to do with a film's Oscar chances over the coming weeks. [Variety]The Grammy nominations are out! And? These are probably the only words we're going to write about them: Mary J. Blige, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Justin Timberlake are all multiple nominees. [THR/Billboard
At yesterday's HRTS luncheon, showrunners of scripted programming gathered together to bitch about reality television and the absurdity of network censorship guidelines concerning the number of pelvic thrusts one may display during sci-fi show sex scenes. (Answer: as many as you can squeeze in without depicting "rhythmic sex.") [Variety]
· This article about the five actors who've joined Paul Haggis' next directoring effort, In the Valley of Elah/The Untitled Paul Haggis Project, makes absolutely no mention of Crash or its Oscar victory. For a very happy moment, we allowed ourselves to believe the win was just a very bad dream. And yes, we're still carrying around that pain. [THR]
Imagine's Brian Grazer chooses Spike Lee as the directorial vessel through which the superproducer can explore the L.A. riots in dramatic form, signing on to produce L.A. Riots for Universal. Negotiations are ongoing as to whether he can convince his director to bill the movie as "A Brian Grazer (with Spike Lee) Joint." [Variety]
al pacino
Hollywood PrivacyWatch: Oscar Winner Al Pacino Subjected To 'HOO-Ah' Jokes At LAX
PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers, and are now posted several times a week—so send them using whatever Blackberry-in-a- bathroom-stall means necessary. Submit yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and let everyone know about the time you saw the entire cast of Heroes forced into wearing dorky promotional swag and sticking together on a field trip to a Dixie Chicks concert. More »
trade roundup
Trade Round-Up: The United Artists Of Tom Cruise
· It still hasn't totally sunk in that Tom Cruise is going to be running United Artists. We think we all still need some time with this one. [Variety, THR]Robert De Niro and 50 Cent are in "final negotiations" to star as partners in cop thriller New Orleans, a project that is screaming out to be immediately reimagined as a Lethal Weapon-style buddy comedy. [THR]
Producer Brian Grazer, Universal, and a dump truck full of cash are close to convincing Spike Lee that a sequel to seemingly self-contained bank heist flick Inside Man is a good idea. [Variety]
Madonna-founded Maverick Films is suing a film production company for stealing its ideas for a movie Maverick is making on the Stanford Prison Experiment, which they themselves originally appropriated from a Psychology 101 college textbook. [THR]
Universal's Rogue Pictures will distribute legendary video-game-adapting hack Paul W.S. Anderson's Castlevania movie. [Variety]
spike lee
