SPIKE LEE

Jon Batiste wears so many hats he may need a closet for them all — recording artist, bandleader, musical director, film composer, museum creative director and scion of New Orleans musical royalty.

The seminal filmmaker discusses the controversies around his 9/11 documentary.

Lincoln Center will honor Cate Blanchett with its 47th Chaplin Award at the arts organization’s annual fundraising gala.

Samuel L.

The ESPN Films series will feature never-before-seen footage from the life of the former NFL quarterback-turned-activist.

The ESPN Films series will feature never-before-seen footage from the life of the former NFL quarterback-turned-activist.

Spike Lee will direct a multi-part documentary for ESPN on Colin Kaepernick that features extensive interviews with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and access to his personal archive.

When the 1980's began, the NBA “was in trouble.”.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” has been named the best film of the year by the National Board of Review.

In this world, there’s a book for everybody.

In its 138 years, New York's Metropolitan Opera had never staged an opera by a Black composer – until now. The jazz trumpeter talks about his opera, based on Charles Blow's memoir of growing up in small-town Louisiana in the 1970s and '80s.

“Spike” is a new photograph book to be published November 17.

As he brings “American Utopia” back to Broadway following the pandemic pause, David Byrne says it's evident how thrilled people are simply to be enjoying live entertainment again.

It's premiere time for the film academy's long-awaited museum.

The projectors are rolling.

This week’s new entertainment releases include Mary Elizabeth Winstead starring in the brutal assassin thriller “Kate” on Netflix and a filmed version of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical “Come From Away.”.

Released last year, “The 24th” film has a disturbing tie to San Antonio.

As the 1980s came to a close, fashion went more casual and way more colorful. Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing is a great representation of the time.

While discussing his documentary series about Sept. 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic, Spike Lee raised some skepticism about the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The director gave his best “ta-da” in a custom Louis Vuitton suit at the Annette premiere. The fedora and pink sunglasses take the look to another level.

“Titane” has won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making Julia Ducournau the second female filmmaker to win the festival’s top honor in its 74 year history.

After a year off due to the pandemic, the lavish amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS and HIV research retuned in movie-star style Friday.

The pandemic is far from invisible at Cannes.

In the first two days of Cannes, one thing everyone can agree on is that Jodie Foster really speaks terrific French.

The Cannes Film Festival rolled out the red carpet for the first time in more than two years on Tuesday, launching the French Riviera spectacular with the premiere of Leos Carax’s “Annette,” the introduction of Spike Lee’s jury, and with high hopes for shrugging off a punishing pandemic year for cinema.

Cannes is back.

On Tuesday, the Cannes Film Festival will reopen.

“Zola” is very possibly the first feature film adapted from a Twitter thread.

The Tony Awards may be months away, but three groups can already celebrate: The Broadway Advocacy Coalition, “David Byrne’s American Utopia” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Freestyle Love Supreme” are going to get special awards.

The Philadelphia 76ers have not played like a top seed in the East against the Atlanta Hawks.

The hype for “In the Heights” has brought great expectation to the Latino community in the United States, which has been historically underrepresented or stereotyped on the screen.

A street-level song-and-dance spectacle to rival the MGM musicals of old, “In the Heights” is an exuberant celebration of the Latino immigrant experience, of a neighborhood, of a teeming summertime New York, of life.

Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton had Guy Fieri leaping out of his courtside seat.

An activist Roman Catholic priest cleared by an Archdiocese of Chicago investigation into decades-old sexual abuse claims has returned to lead worship at his longtime Chicago church.

The Cannes Film Festival on Thursday unveiled a lineup of films from big-name auteurs — including Wes Anderson, Asghar Farhadi, Mia Hansen-Løve and Sean Penn — for its 74th edition in July.

Flag Day is one of several films announced for the French Film Festival, which takes place in July.

Trae Young put the finishing touches on his impressive first playoff series with 36 points and nine assists, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks 103-89 in Game 5.

A play about young Black men trapped on a street corner has positioned itself as the first Broadway show audiences can watch live when the Great White Way restarts.

Derek Chauvin may get sentenced to decades behind bars when he returns to a Minneapolis courtroom for sentencing.

Nationally known activist Chicago priest the Rev. Michael Pfleger will be reinstated as the leader of his parish after an investigation found “insufficient reason to suspect” he sexually abused children.

Paul Mooney, a boundary-pushing comedian who was Richard Pryor’s longtime writing partner and whose bold, incisive musings on racism and American life made him a revered figure in stand-up, has died.

The 93rd annual Academy Awards were always going to be a bit surreal this year.

The premise was simple at the Oscars.

Leo Carax’s “Annette,” starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, will open the 74th Cannes Film Festival on July 6, festival organizers said Monday.

When Jimmy Rollins made his first All-Star team as a rookie with the Philadelphia Phillies 20 years ago, the percentage of Black players in the majors was 13.

CEO David Rogier founded MasterClass in 2015: "I started trying other figure out, 'Okay, how can I get a hold of the best people in the world? Correspondent David Pogue said, "An armchair observer might say, 'Wow, did MasterClass get lucky when the pandemic came along.' "You know, if you go to a class in a university, you know, maybe got 40 people in front of you," Mirren said. From their course, Teller offered a tip on misdirection: "When you don't talk, the audience has to tell itself the story. Last year, venture capitalists poured $100 million into the company; this year, MasterClass hopes to add 50 new celebrity courses.

FILE - Filmmaker Spike Lee poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Oct. 7, 2015. Lee will be president of the jury for the 74th Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – Spike Lee, who was set to lead last year's jury for the Cannes Film Festival that was ultimately canceled by the pandemic, will preside over this year's jury instead. Usually held in May, this year's Cannes Film Festival has been delayed by the health crisis. Lee is the first Black person to head the Cannes jury, which selects one of cinema's top prizes, the Palme d'Or.

10 — Nominations for “Mank," the most of any film this year, with nods for best picture, best director for Fincher, best actor for Gary Oldman and best supporting actress for Seyfried. In the best supporting actor category, Heath Ledger and Ralph Richardson were nominated, with Ledger winning for “The Dark Knight” in 2009. 5 — African nations that have received nominations for best international feature, now that Tunisia has its first nominee, “The Man Who Sold His Skin." 4 — Nominations received by “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao, a record for a woman in a record year for women. 1 — Man nominated for both best actor and best original song.

It’s a rare year when most of the Oscar nomination surprises are good ones, but 2020 was also a rare year for moviegoing and awards campaigns. Here’s our rundown of the snubs and surprises in the 93rd Academy Award nominations. FEMALE DIRECTORS GET THEIR SHOTFor 92 Academy Awards, only 5 women had ever been nominated for best director and never more than one in the same year. This year, the dubious honor goes to Glenn Close for her portrayal of Mamaw in Ron Howard’s adaptation of J.D. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, the film was well received, but seemed like a long shot for the major Oscars categories.

This image released by Netflix shows Michael Potts, from left, Chadwick Boseman and Colman Domingo in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." (David Lee/Netflix via AP)NEW YORK – Half a year after his death, Chadwick Boseman was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award on Monday for his final performance in “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.”The nomination for best actor was widely expected but still historic. Boseman is the first Black performer ever nominated posthumously for an Oscar. He was nominated alongside Steven Yeun ("Minari"), Riz Ahmed ("Sound of Metal"), Anthony Hopkins ("The Father") and Gary Oldman ("Mank"). Three months later, the August Wilson adaptation “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom” was released by Netflix.

Michael Pfleger, a charismatic priest of a thriving Black Catholic parish, inspired her to become an activist and recruited her to run his South Side church's violence prevention office. Stories like Bosley’s are recurrent at St. Sabina Church, a close-knit community that’s been a social activism hub for 40 years under Pfleger. Black Catholic parishes are few and dwindling. Of roughly 21,000 American Catholic parishes, about 800, or less than 4%, are mostly Black, according to a University of Notre Dame and National Black Catholic Congress study. Black priests are more rare, making up 250, or under 1%, of roughly 36,500 Catholic priests, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2015 file photo, an Oscar statue appears outside the Dolby Theatre for the 87th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. She was also tipped for the film’s adapted screenplay, editing and as a producer in the best picture category. “I just quietly gave thanks and felt some gratitude.”Davis, who won for her performance in 2016’s “Fences,” landed her fourth Oscar nomination, making her the most nominated Black actress ever. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year will be telecast April 25. “Collective,” the Romanian documentary about investigative journalism and government corruption, became just the second film nominated for both best documentary and best international film.

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2020, file photo, Eddie Murphy accepts the lifetime achievement award at the 25th annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. Murphy will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame this month. The NAACP announced Thursday, March 11, 2021, that Murphy will be inducted during the March 27 ceremony, which will air on CBS. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)LOS ANGELES – Eddie Murphy will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame this month. The NAACP announced Thursday that Murphy will be inducted during the March 27 ceremony, which will air on CBS. The NAACP Image Awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will also simulcast on BET, MTV, VH1, MTV2, BET HER and LOGO.

(AP Photo)NEW YORK – One of the country's oldest cultural instititutions, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, is undergoing some of its biggest changes in more than a century. AdHarjo, the first Native American to be appointed U.S. poet laureate, said she looked forward to having an influence on future academy choices. “There are so many incredible Native visual artists,” she told the AP, while also citing such authors as N. Scott Momaday and Leslie Marmon Silko. But the academy will still call itself an academy, while working to make itself more accessible to artists and to the general public. Besides choosing members, the academy also gives dozens of prizes and grants each year, totalling more than $1 million.

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Andra Day in "The United States vs Billie Holiday." (Takashi Seida/Paramount Pictures via AP)“The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Minari,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “One Night in Miami” are among the films AARP is honoring at its annual Movies for Grownups Awards, the nonprofit organization said Thursday. Director Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” starring Andra Day as the jazz singer, was named best picture, while the Korean American family drama “Minari” got best intergenerational film. “We focus on films made by and for grownups,” said Tim Appelo, the film and television critic for AARP. Catherine O’Hara took best actress for “Schitt’s Creek,” Mark Ruffalo got best actor for “I Know This Much is True” and “This Is Us” was named best series.

These films used Black stereotypes about poverty and drug abuse to put Black actors at the center of the action. While Black filmmakers are more prevalent and celebrated in Hollywood in the 21st century, there's still a lot of work to be done. The meta-documentary, as it has come to be called, featured a documentary, a documentary about a documentary and a documentary that documented a documentary about a documentary. Parks became Hollywood's first major Black director, bringing the iconic "Shaft" to theaters in 1971. "Get Out" was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture, best director, best actor and best screenplay.

The Screen Actors Guild has nominated the cast for a SAG Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. But the SAG Awards, presented by SAG-AFTRA, are considered a far better barometer for the Academy Awards, where actors account for the largest percentage of the academy. Usually, the eventual Oscar best picture winner is first nominated for best ensemble by the SAG Awards, though “Green Book” and “The Shape of Water" were two recent exceptions. In 2019, he memorably a ccepted the SAG ensemble award for “Black Panther." Aside from Boseman and Oldman, the nominees for best male actor in a lead role were Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) and Steven Yeun (“Minari”).

From the Kate Hudson movie that no one has heard of to the very awkward shut out of Spike Lee, here’s a look at some of the biggest surprises of the morning. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who wasn’t surprised to hear Kate Hudson’s name announced among the best actress nominees. Lee’s acclaimed Vietnam drama “Da 5 Bloods” was expected to be a shoo-in for any number of categories: Best picture, best director, best actor for Delroy Lindo or supporting actor for Chadwick Boseman, who died last year. The Globe nominations also tested our understanding of what constitutes a film with some interesting categorizations and nominations, putting Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology film series in a television category. The filmed “Hamilton” performance on Disney+, meanwhile, was eligible in the film categories and picked up two nominations.

In this image released by Netflix, Gary Oldman portrays Herman Mankiewicz in a scene from "Mank." On Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 the film was nominated for a Golden Globe for best motion picture drama. “Mank,” about “Citizen Kane” co-writer Herman Mankiewicz, landed nominations for best film, drama; best actor for Gary Oldman; best director for Fincher, best supporting actress for Amanda Seyfried; best score; and best screenplay for Jack Fincher, the director’s father who penned the script before dying in 2003. Netflix, which topped all studios at the Globes last year, too, led with a commanding 42 nominations, with 22 coming in film categories and 20 in television. AdThe Globes are typically the first major show of Hollywood’s awards season, which ends with the crowning of the best picture winner at the Oscars.

Nominations for the 78th annual Golden Globes will be announced on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – Whether anyone will be attending the Golden Globes in person remains uncertain and improbable. On Tuesday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the Globes — typically a bubbly dinner gathering with flowing drinks — will be held bi-coastally for the first time. digital channels and the Golden Globes' website. Last year's Golden Globes culminated in awards for “1917” and “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood."

Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are some household names who have graduated from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Since 1867, Howard University in Washington, D.C., has awarded more than 100,000 degrees. "Over the past 50 years, the number one producer of African Americans who went to Harvard's MBA program was a Harvard undergrad, and number two was Howard," Howard University President Wayne Frederick said. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the first woman of color to be vice president, graduated from Howard University in 1986. But despite the important role HBCUs have played in America's education system, Newkirk said many of the colleges and universities are facing funding challenges.

"It's been our longest season in NBA history, and so much was thrown at us collectively as a league." Following the March 11 Covid-19 interruption, the NBA was able to restart its season in a bubble campus in Orlando. Noel Vasquez | GC Images | Getty ImagesThe future courtside seatFacebook continues to work behind the scenes to improve its virtual reality courtside seat offering. Facebook can use the content to better authenticate the courtside experience and integrate with its Oculus virtual reality headsets. "That has been the problem with [virtual reality] NBA games," said Burden referring to resolution issues.

Aiello died Thursday night after a brief illness, said his publicist, Tracey Miller, who runs Tracey Miller & Associates. Actor Michael Rapaport tweeted that Aiello was a "huge inspiration," and actor Kirk Acevedo said, "We lost a great actor today." The ambitious Aiello rose to become president of the transit union. Danny Aiello, bus announcer"I wanted to become a politician," he told a reporter in 1995. A fourth child, stuntman and stunt coordinator Danny Aiello III, died in May 2010 of pancreatic cancer.

Copyright 2019 CNNATLANTA - Beyonc has revealed she "could not stop crying" when she attended the opening of Tyler Perry's gigantic new film studio. The 38-year-old singer, who joined famous faces including Oprah Winfrey and director Spike Lee at the grand opening of the 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, congratulated the award-winning writer and producer on Sunday night. Surrounded by my heroes, I watched Denzel, Queen Oprah, Spike, Whoopi, Sir (Sidney) Poitier, Will, Halle, Dame Cicely (Tyson) and our angels John Singleton and Diahann Carroll honored," she captioned the gallery. Perry's film credits include producing 2009's Oscar-winning drama "Precious" and writing and directing the 2007 hit comedy-drama "Why Did I Get married?". "It feels like encouragement, it feels like gratitude," he said at the studio's launch.

The Spike Lee film "Do the Right Thing," critics and columnists said, would provoke violence and disrupt race relations. "Spike Lee had done an almost impossible thing. The passion of "Do the Right Thing" is obvious: "Opinion will always be divided on ... 'Do the Right Thing,' " wrote The New Yorker's Anthony Lane. But perhaps the real reason people talk about "Do the Right Thing" three decades on is because it's still relevant. If you have yet to see "Do The Right Thing," try checking your local theater listings; the film is being re-released in 4K this weekend in select theaters.

London Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks has hit Major League Baseball's first home run on European soil. The shot came during a 27-minute top of the first inning Saturday when the New York Yankees batted around against the Boston Red Sox. Hicks drove a changeup from Rick Porcello 386 feet over the Boston bullpen in right field. The two-run drive on Porcello's 33rd pitch gave the Yankees a 6-0 lead just one out into the game. pic.twitter.com/10f2q6BfiY New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2019Saturday's game at London Stadium marked the first-ever MLB game played in Europe and the first time the Yankees and Red Sox play each other on artificial turf.