Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic
Speaker 1: episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: welcome to part two of q LS Classic with the
Speaker 1: Great Spike Lee. We have so many questions about the
Speaker 1: illustrious cinematic history. You know, we're just nerves here at
Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme. We hope you enjoy part two of
Speaker 1: our journey with Spike Lee. Let's go.
Speaker 2: Again another film. The last time I father scored were
Speaker 2: my films, and he.
Speaker 3: Was ready and willing to be actually in the film
Speaker 3: because that was like his first life.
Speaker 1: Part part of the part of the score. Did I
Speaker 1: not hear some of those score motifs in later films?
Speaker 1: The I felt there's one particular score piece.
Speaker 2: There's one piece of Terrence Blanchet wrote that that we
Speaker 2: used later to say, it's the thing. It's called song
Speaker 2: for Soweto I love. Yeah, and that's the one he's
Speaker 2: playing on the Brooklyn Bridge. Terrence blanche wrote that, Okay,
Speaker 2: so here's the thing. Note with those scores with the
Speaker 2: school Day's score, do the right thing, and Branford with
Speaker 2: school Days do the right thing. Mo better blues in
Speaker 2: the orchestra. My father scored. You had Terrence Blanchard. I
Speaker 2: mean you had Terrence so for more better blues. When
Speaker 2: you hear Wesley, that's Branford. Denzel is Terrence blanche So
Speaker 2: they were both given the actors. You know, my favorite
Speaker 2: got to be a musician how to play the instruments.
Speaker 1: This is one I want to ask you because there's
Speaker 1: a scene that you do that not many musicians notice.
Speaker 1: But because I was coming up and starting about the
Speaker 1: inter college and stuff and like mo, I'll say that
Speaker 1: it's where even though I don't pick mo Beta Blues
Speaker 1: as like, okay, that might be my spike leave film
Speaker 1: of choice. It's just like maybe it chose me. But
Speaker 1: so there's the scene where Denzel interrupts uh.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So there's a point you watch if you watch Wesley
Speaker 1: and it's done and it's even on the soundtrack. It's like,
Speaker 1: how did you Is it written in the script that okay, uh,
Speaker 1: Denzel's character is going to interrupt Wesley's sack solo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because that desk that's all done the playback, so
Speaker 2: we had to had to be in the script. So
Speaker 2: when we recorded it.
Speaker 1: So at what point did you say exactly five minutes
Speaker 1: and thirty four seconds, I want you to interrupt.
Speaker 2: It wasn't exactly, but but the script says he has
Speaker 2: I mean structurally and for a dramatic Denzel his character
Speaker 2: but get him has been humiliated. And so these two
Speaker 2: brothers who are at odds, want to show shadow Henderson's
Speaker 2: his humanity, his love for his brother. So he's like
Speaker 2: picking him up, let me save you, saving him.
Speaker 1: I'm not even talking about the end. I'm talking at
Speaker 1: the very beginning, the very not even the battle just
Speaker 1: and that's this thing.
Speaker 2: It was so much that see what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: It was so minuscule at the very beginning, when you're
Speaker 1: you're egging on Denzel like yo, man, he's so in
Speaker 1: for thirty six bars, get him, go and get him.
Speaker 2: And then we worked out in the recording stoo because
Speaker 2: all this stuff is done, done, done, done, and you
Speaker 2: know the playback.
Speaker 1: I realized you were on some next ship because any
Speaker 1: in lesser hands, I felt like that scene would have
Speaker 1: been an interrupted scene. I don't know. Just as a musician,
Speaker 1: I hate watching music, miss.
Speaker 2: It the same way I hate watching basketball films.
Speaker 4: Really, yes, even though I want the dog that.
Speaker 2: Somebody shoots, there's the cut to the basket and the
Speaker 2: ball goes in.
Speaker 1: So why were you not allowed to call it a
Speaker 1: Love Supreme?
Speaker 2: Oh? Alice Cole tranp uh did not like the profanity
Speaker 2: and sex in the film in the script, so I said,
Speaker 2: you let her read it first. Yeah, I mean that,
Speaker 2: that's she she requested that. But I did care about
Speaker 2: the title. I just wanted love.
Speaker 1: Supreme because when doing that period.
Speaker 2: Because we do. It's funny because every film we had,
Speaker 2: like we make Jackets, the crew Jackets, the Crew Jackets
Speaker 2: said Love Supreme.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, why do you because like with rappers,
Speaker 1: we will send the clean version of that song for
Speaker 1: the sample to get cleared.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I cannot do that. The junk cold Tran's
Speaker 2: wife could not.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but in the name of art, you know, older
Speaker 1: people don't.
Speaker 2: I cannot do that. But I think most In fact,
Speaker 2: a friend of mine who I went to school with,
Speaker 2: Patty Hale's, She's one that came up with the title
Speaker 2: MO Better Wow.
Speaker 3: By this time, I'm not that I'm adding, but I
Speaker 3: will say I'm I too. Am a fan of the
Speaker 3: spike love scenes. So by more Better Blues, the numbers
Speaker 3: had come up, you know, what I'm saying, like from
Speaker 3: school days.
Speaker 2: From junkle Fever, what do you mean numbers?
Speaker 5: Numbers? Like as many scenes? It was more. It was like, yeah,
Speaker 5: more sex, more sex.
Speaker 3: It was Denzel and Senda, and then it was Senda
Speaker 3: and Wesley and then it.
Speaker 1: Was the scenes. What's the question?
Speaker 3: The question is what is your love scene philosophy? I
Speaker 3: guess I would ask Spike because they are so a
Speaker 3: party of movies.
Speaker 2: People think those things sexy, but they are hard to shoot.
Speaker 2: It's hard, people uncomfortable and.
Speaker 5: You shot your sister, So what is that like?
Speaker 1: Yeah, she read the script.
Speaker 2: Then they read the script and they were cool. I
Speaker 2: was cool.
Speaker 6: And so the scene, uh, where she delivers the baby,
Speaker 6: we had.
Speaker 2: We went up to Harlem hospital and we knew about
Speaker 2: the We we we went to the doctor and say
Speaker 2: when is somebody can be born this day? Hm hmmm.
Speaker 2: So they can predict, you know. So we we had
Speaker 2: several people who signed up and uh, we got the call.
Speaker 2: We rushed to the hospital and filmed the birth.
Speaker 1: I was going to say this point, you had leverage
Speaker 1: because you were Spike Lee and.
Speaker 2: It was a Harlem hospital.
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just saying that by that point, I
Speaker 1: doubt like you got that. I mean, I'm sure you've
Speaker 1: gotten your share of nose from the Hollywood system.
Speaker 2: But like, but the whole the hospitals found as long
Speaker 2: as you get permission from the moms and the family.
Speaker 1: People film births all the time.
Speaker 6: So if the people that you know, if they prove it,
Speaker 6: then they approve of it being used in the film,
Speaker 6: then what's the problem.
Speaker 1: But I'm certain that I would get well not I'm
Speaker 1: sure that your Joe Schmoe filmmaker would get funk out
Speaker 1: of here. I'm not, you know, as opposed to it's
Speaker 1: an honor.
Speaker 2: I met her too, okay one day, said, you know
Speaker 2: I was in More Better Blues, So yeah, what role
Speaker 2: you feel it being booked? She was like a teenager.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. That's where I wanted to see, Like as
Speaker 1: the VC, this is my.
Speaker 2: First immortalized forever man.
Speaker 1: Nothing that film. I didn't expect it to take the
Speaker 1: turn that it took f the end and every musician.
Speaker 2: Man, but here's the thing, though, A mirror that doesn't
Speaker 2: come from music, that comes from sports. So you just
Speaker 2: what I did, because you know, any athlete. Now let's
Speaker 2: say let's let's say, most athletes, whatever sport is, they
Speaker 2: started playing it. They started playing it when they're a
Speaker 2: little kid.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 2: At a certain point, you see, I'm going to try
Speaker 2: this is what I want to do. So just like musicians, athletes,
Speaker 2: whatever sport, they spend all their time developing the skill.
Speaker 2: So what happens I was thought about these athletes who
Speaker 2: are very young blow out their knee or their armed.
Speaker 1: I want you to save my life, you.
Speaker 2: Know, and then they're like, they're like twenty twenty five and.
Speaker 1: Like and retiring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I just that premise of a career and
Speaker 2: an injury. I just moved that to music to a
Speaker 2: trumpet player.
Speaker 5: That's still one of the hardest things to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a Yeah.
Speaker 6: That was another movie that I saw it as a kid,
Speaker 6: but seeing it older, that was when it really guys like.
Speaker 2: And musicians they turn that yes, yeah, child, they turned
Speaker 2: no musician like I actually played.
Speaker 7: They know they know what you know what this time
Speaker 7: out what I'm jumping in?
Speaker 8: Uh?
Speaker 1: Like through middle school, I was like first chair, all
Speaker 1: State ban all that. Can you be a guest on
Speaker 1: your own reas? I don't know this, I thought, I
Speaker 1: tell yeah, yeah you Grammy nominated freaking acting man, you
Speaker 1: do everything?
Speaker 5: He missed The Humble Tea Manids.
Speaker 1: How did you discover Williams audition? Was she Robbie Reid
Speaker 1: still Robbie Reid cool? So we gotta get right yes,
Speaker 1: here into the street.
Speaker 2: Or it's a combination of both. You have to go
Speaker 2: find new talent or does she have interns that like, no,
Speaker 2: you go to you go you find new talent. Also
Speaker 2: people sending her agents are sending her people to the
Speaker 2: combination of both.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: Wow was her first film Williams?
Speaker 3: I mean fast forward years years later. But were you
Speaker 3: proud when you kind when you watched the new Additional
Speaker 3: Story because that was really great?
Speaker 5: Cast into that she she did.
Speaker 2: Rob Yeah, did do that.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: She's I mean, she's a top executive at BT. No,
Speaker 2: I mean she's done great. I mean Ruth Carter one
Speaker 2: of the top costume designers again her class of Hanton
Speaker 2: two chemical nominations for Malcolm X and Amistad. So Rufe's
Speaker 2: doing the thing, you know.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Academy, how did you feel about that? That
Speaker 1: was a very awkward thing, like thesenger, Oh.
Speaker 2: I know you're talking about why do you explain it
Speaker 2: because I remember.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember watching the Academy and it's basically like
Speaker 1: Kim bassengers just went off script and said that. You know,
Speaker 1: it was like the very first Oscars a white moment
Speaker 1: where the the the glaring omission of Do the Right
Speaker 1: Thing getting nominated for Best Picture, Best Picture, and it
Speaker 1: made literally everyone.
Speaker 2: We had two nominations. Danny got one for supporting Supporting
Speaker 2: Yeah he lost the Denzel Denzel cried right and and screenplay.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So you know, she just made mentioned that, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, it's the glaring omission of and I almost
Speaker 1: feel like even I mean back.
Speaker 2: Then said said, yeah, she said it like she really
Speaker 2: went off script and went rogue.
Speaker 1: But I was just like, m she didn't get black balled.
Speaker 1: Let me find out. They just not like, yeah, let's
Speaker 1: script it in just to you know, keep them at
Speaker 1: bay and to keep them satisfied and not protesting us
Speaker 1: and whatever. But were you in the art I was there,
Speaker 1: How did you feel? Were you shocked? I was shocked
Speaker 1: because you lost the driving His Days that was that
Speaker 1: the year.
Speaker 2: Was Driving as motherfucking Day.
Speaker 1: I like that movie Wait.
Speaker 2: The best picture of the year that date.
Speaker 1: Were you was do the Right thing up for the
Speaker 1: palmdor that year or was that for ju No we
Speaker 1: lost it to h Was that Jungle Fever?
Speaker 2: Or no, do the right thing? We lost to uh
Speaker 2: Sex Lives of the Tape? Wow?
Speaker 1: So was that that another movie I haven't thought about
Speaker 1: in thirty exactly? Was that that we was robbed?
Speaker 6: Here?
Speaker 1: Damn you damn near the Kanye of your pre Kanye
Speaker 1: Kanye is a spike of his.
Speaker 3: No wonder you ain't show up to get that jo
Speaker 3: on that look look bested up?
Speaker 1: So with with with Jungle Fever? I know that com
Speaker 1: Film Festival was so moved by Samuel Jackson's performance. Did
Speaker 1: they invented best supporting? The category?
Speaker 2: Just made it up right?
Speaker 1: So they decided to have supporting categories so that Sam
Speaker 1: could win. Did he win or no he won?
Speaker 2: They made up?
Speaker 1: He better went if they made up.
Speaker 2: It was all stand I mean, Sam, I mean that
Speaker 2: that for me. You know people might talk about, uh
Speaker 2: that turned yeah, but it was really jungle for you.
Speaker 2: And the Sam has even said to himself, was.
Speaker 6: He actually still going through fighting his addiction at the time?
Speaker 2: He was, but he just I was the last one
Speaker 2: to find out.
Speaker 1: You didn't know I didn't know.
Speaker 3: Wow, So how much of that role is scripted? Like
Speaker 3: I really I kind of want to even go like
Speaker 3: scene by scene.
Speaker 5: It's weird. I'm like, how much did he improve at
Speaker 5: the dance?
Speaker 1: You know how I do it.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing though, so again, this is how it
Speaker 2: buries first film. So while we rehearse in rehearsal process,
Speaker 2: he's taking hoghly all his former spots.
Speaker 5: Wow, what she said he taught her how to be
Speaker 5: a crackhead.
Speaker 2: Damn he was taking like so that I mean, that's
Speaker 2: I mean due to the right. Then here's the thing though,
Speaker 2: I like to say real quick because I know we
Speaker 2: gotta want to move move ahead. But people, we all
Speaker 2: know what a misdirection play is in football, right. The
Speaker 2: misdirection and Jungle Fever was the inter racial relationship between
Speaker 2: and Wes Annabella Shore and wealthy character. The real story,
Speaker 2: which a lot of people miss, is the effect of
Speaker 2: crack on black families. That's what Jungle Fever is about.
Speaker 1: See, I've always about religion and black family because to.
Speaker 2: Me that that things, but that that comes with Ozzy
Speaker 2: and Ruby. But also we also get the whole thing
Speaker 2: with Marvin gay senr.
Speaker 6: Right, and mar You know that that comes directly from Yeah,
Speaker 6: I felt that the that's that's where it.
Speaker 2: Came from Senior killing his son, Marvin.
Speaker 1: Gay, because I felt like that was the father. Maybe
Speaker 1: the son was the crack story and the Holy Ghost
Speaker 1: was the interracial relationship as far as like subplot lines whatever.
Speaker 1: But dude, no scene has ever scared the ship out
Speaker 1: me more than Charlie Murphy. He was how.
Speaker 2: Yes, No, that was that was the old ballroom. I
Speaker 2: think of Abostinian Ballroom, which which is in it was just.
Speaker 1: In decay.
Speaker 2: But what I do is there great songs. Why just
Speaker 2: make a mental checklist, And I said, one day I'm
Speaker 2: going to use I just gotta find the right scene.
Speaker 9: But motherfucker, I'm gonna use that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And the way it matched up with the lyrics and and.
Speaker 1: The touch of I don't know if it was maybe
Speaker 1: on television at the time, but when I seen it
Speaker 1: as he got closer to the crackhouse, there was more
Speaker 1: of like a green tint of I don't don't know
Speaker 1: if you guys used to filter or not, or what.
Speaker 2: Kind of TV do you sody? Why would the TV?
Speaker 1: I how many extras was that? How many extras.
Speaker 2: Had a thousand. We wanted we wanted that to be
Speaker 2: like that famous scene from God with the Wind where
Speaker 2: they all the Confederate soldiers are like on the ground
Speaker 2: and injured.
Speaker 1: Did you have to pay them all?
Speaker 2: Yes? At the point did the sack rules up a
Speaker 2: certain point that to be SAG members. After that we
Speaker 2: said number then you just they don't have to be.
Speaker 5: Sacked non unions like me, I take that dollars.
Speaker 2: Really, but that that that that and then the thing.
Speaker 2: It's a great scene. But then at the Wesley Leaves
Speaker 2: where the whole when when divin the crack coat golsness
Speaker 2: pocket goes and makes some pockets and sees it here
Speaker 2: he's been holding on crack like I mean here sucking
Speaker 2: dicks for you, and I mean like and she was
Speaker 2: she was, yes, she was smacking this ship out of us.
Speaker 3: Then she came around and then she was like, now
Speaker 3: smoked this ship because she's seen that he was in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's that's one.
Speaker 1: I mean, how take how many hours was it? That
Speaker 1: was one day?
Speaker 2: That whole scene an entire day in there?
Speaker 1: Damn?
Speaker 5: When did you know that?
Speaker 3: Like Ruby d and Ozzie Davis just believed in what
Speaker 3: you were going to do.
Speaker 5: That's an amazing accomplished.
Speaker 2: My father had done this thing called I Forgot the play,
Speaker 2: but he did the music for it, and they were
Speaker 2: in it. So I've always known them and loved their work.
Speaker 2: And uh just I've been blessed to work with Ruby
Speaker 2: d I mean with first, as you mentioned before school days,
Speaker 2: co Oldham didn't do the right thing, the mayor Ruby
Speaker 2: mother's sister. Then you got them playing together, husband and
Speaker 2: wife and jungle fever. Then uh, Ozzie getting and get on.
Speaker 1: The bus, get on the bus.
Speaker 2: But then we brought his people. And remember, don't forget this.
Speaker 2: We bought Ozzie back. Did we do.
Speaker 1: Malcolm eulogy?
Speaker 2: He back and Steard? We do that? So giants, giants.
Speaker 1: By that point, Uh, Spike Lee, the media star, I
Speaker 1: mean you were constantly on Nightline. Uh seen you on
Speaker 1: Phil Donahue, Seeing you on I mean you were like,
Speaker 1: you know, well the point where you're like the the
Speaker 1: black spokesperson or the angry militant black spokesperson. And I
Speaker 1: remember doing your Donna Hue appearances that you were, you know,
Speaker 1: a little myth that you were being asked like where
Speaker 1: the drugs like, how come you haven't dealt with the
Speaker 1: crack epidemic? Kettering where you know? How come there was
Speaker 1: no crack? And do the right Wall Street?
Speaker 2: I mean we that was a big criticism of do
Speaker 2: the right thing, that the streets were clean, that that
Speaker 2: that there was no crack and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But that was.
Speaker 2: A conscious decision. That was another film, which was was
Speaker 2: Jungle Fever. But I mean, I mean I made the
Speaker 2: comment because Wall Street. You know those marvels, right, I
Speaker 2: mean there was no any I mean any of that
Speaker 2: stuff in there.
Speaker 1: But did you feel the pressure at that point like Okay,
Speaker 1: I gotta I gotta do a crack movie now, or
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: No, it wasn't the pressure. It was just seeing the
Speaker 2: devastation of a crack. I mean, we're still dealing with
Speaker 2: crack because we had a generation of people who are
Speaker 2: beautiful Black people grew up without parents in the homes
Speaker 2: and mothers.
Speaker 1: They killed the moms. Like every other drug was kind
Speaker 1: of like social whatever.
Speaker 2: Took people's soul. I mean, we always had drugs, be hairmal.
Speaker 1: Stuff like that.
Speaker 2: But crack. This thing was was a devilish.
Speaker 1: The infamous uh Sister Girls scene, I forgot what you
Speaker 1: called it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I forgot what you're going one day, I'm going
Speaker 6: back to the vaults.
Speaker 5: I want to see the full what do.
Speaker 1: You call it in the film? Don't go in there
Speaker 1: there because that's the you had a special title for it.
Speaker 1: Told them don't go in there because they're having.
Speaker 2: A Yeah you did.
Speaker 1: I forget the title. But was that.
Speaker 2: No, that was not around it.
Speaker 1: You just let the cameras run, talk about all your
Speaker 1: all the bags when you ever had your life with
Speaker 1: black men?
Speaker 6: So basically it was it was a day on Twitter.
Speaker 3: Wait so then that was there each their individual real experiences. Yes, wow,
Speaker 3: so Teresa when Theresa was like.
Speaker 5: How data mall? And you know, oh.
Speaker 2: My god, that could have been a movie alone we
Speaker 2: have that was the the least that for two hours.
Speaker 1: Wow. I have to okay, I have to play Devil's
Speaker 1: advocate because I know that there's been criticism of your
Speaker 1: representation of women and how the scripted, which I was
Speaker 1: asking like, well, damn, that seemed pretty realistic. But they
Speaker 1: were so how especially with Phillis yvon Stickney, who always
Speaker 1: felt was so underutilized. At no point did you think like, okay,
Speaker 1: I have to give her a piece so that she can.
Speaker 2: No, I saw Phyllis her One man Shows, I mean
Speaker 2: one woman shows. She's a she's a great talent, so
Speaker 2: that's why I put her down, right.
Speaker 1: But I felt like, especially she stole that scene like
Speaker 1: she's going to have a movie by herself and you
Speaker 1: know it, but it never happened. Is it hard to
Speaker 1: really write for for? Is it hard for you to
Speaker 1: write for women?
Speaker 2: And I think it really depends on that.
Speaker 1: Are you concerned with their development as much as your
Speaker 1: your male characters?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 2: Yes, I think I think I got a lot much
Speaker 2: better than once I got married.
Speaker 5: When when she hated me? Was that post marriage?
Speaker 2: That was pre marriage?
Speaker 5: Okay, Okay, you're right, you're right, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 2: You you can definitely look where I got married as
Speaker 2: us before and after, and so I would definitely say
Speaker 2: that my woman, my betrayals of women more fuller and
Speaker 2: more layered after I got married.
Speaker 1: Damn girl, how long was Malcolm X in your pocket
Speaker 1: before you finally felt the need to unleash it as
Speaker 1: far as the script was concerned, and you wanting to
Speaker 1: because I can imagine that you had Malcolm X in
Speaker 1: your pocket.
Speaker 2: No, it wasn't that that wasn't the case at all. Uh.
Speaker 2: The late producer of Marvel Worker bought the rights to
Speaker 2: the book from the late great Alex Haley and the
Speaker 2: late great doctor Betty Shabbaz.
Speaker 1: Was it instantly yours or you had to know.
Speaker 2: He's been trying to make that film for twenty years
Speaker 2: sh And so finally it was announced that Norman Jewison
Speaker 2: was going to direct the film with Denzel and I
Speaker 2: started saying the press, hell no, and then the Marvel
Speaker 2: worf got in touching me and said, Spike stopped, stopped
Speaker 2: speaking the press, and I'm going to arrange a meeting
Speaker 2: between you and Norman Jewison. Very fine directed work, yeah,
Speaker 2: and heated a night with ste Poitier, and I explained
Speaker 2: to Norman Jewis and why I think that I was
Speaker 2: the right director for the film, And to his credit,
Speaker 2: he gracely bowed out because he had the gig. He
Speaker 2: had the gig, He had the gig Denzel or Denzel
Speaker 2: was going to play Malcolm X, so that that thing
Speaker 2: was together before me. Denzel Will played Malcolm X and
Speaker 2: Norma Jewis and direct the film was.
Speaker 1: The final product your vision?
Speaker 2: Yes, that's why three hours?
Speaker 1: Was there any scene that You're like.
Speaker 2: Damn if we could just only No, it was it
Speaker 2: was three hours convening long.
Speaker 1: I mean.
Speaker 2: We I always saw this film as an epic film.
Speaker 2: I mean Ernest Dickerson and I. He was very we
Speaker 2: were very lucky that somehow there was a restoration of
Speaker 2: lawnser Ray. But right when you were in preproduction at
Speaker 2: the Zigfield and we said, that's the shit we gotta do.
Speaker 2: So we wanted to tell the autobiography his life and
Speaker 2: not just pick us a certain dis and that. No,
Speaker 2: we want to show the evolution of man, Malcolm Little Detroit, Red,
Speaker 2: Malcolm x Elhaa, you know, to show the whole evolution
Speaker 2: of many. And you can't show his transformations from this
Speaker 2: person for that person in a two hour film. And
Speaker 2: so trouble began from the very beginning because we never
Speaker 2: had the correct budget, enough budget for the shoot.
Speaker 1: That film was the initial budget.
Speaker 2: It wasn't enough.
Speaker 1: I forgot, Okay, were you given rat budgets? In other words?
Speaker 2: Uh uh?
Speaker 1: Cypress Hill's first album sixty one thousand. Meanwhile, Metallica's Black
Speaker 1: Album was four million. Double standard.
Speaker 2: No, it wasn't a double standard, just wasn't enough due
Speaker 2: to epic film we wanted to do, and also Warner
Speaker 2: Brothers did not want the film to be that length
Speaker 2: because three hours, that's one less screening in the theater.
Speaker 2: Funny story, not funny, but the first time we screened
Speaker 2: the film for the two heads of Warner Brothers co chairman,
Speaker 2: it was Bob Daily and I keep forgetting the other
Speaker 2: guy's name. Anyway, the first time they saw the film
Speaker 2: was the day of the La.
Speaker 1: Riots show.
Speaker 2: Wow, and to their credit, they both stayed. And that
Speaker 2: was a four hour cut. But the secretaries would come
Speaker 2: in and throughout the whole thing, or notices and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. So it's ironic that the first time we
Speaker 2: showed the film, the Warner Brothers La was up in flames.
Speaker 1: Damn, do you remember any of the celebrity these that
Speaker 1: didn't help.
Speaker 2: No, here's a thing, let me get the story. So
Speaker 2: I will not cut the So Warner Brothers wants the
Speaker 2: film to be two hours. I said, look, it can't
Speaker 2: be two hours. And so I know that all the
Speaker 2: Stone is getting ready to finish. JFK preproduction and water
Speaker 2: brought us film. So I say, how long is JEFFK?
Speaker 2: They say it's two hours.
Speaker 9: They're knowing I knew al the stone, I think, yo, alva,
Speaker 9: how long is the okay?
Speaker 2: The spikes? Three hours? Don't tell us mother etn cursed,
Speaker 2: he said, don't tell me my I said, so, so wait
Speaker 2: a minute, jaff case me three hours and we can't
Speaker 2: be three hours. I wouldn't. I wouldn't cut the film.
Speaker 2: So Warner Brothers let the Bond Company take over the film.
Speaker 1: Oh no.
Speaker 2: And so then all the people post production got a
Speaker 2: letter saying you're no longer. You're fired. So we had
Speaker 2: no money and I got paid one million dollars for
Speaker 2: Malcolm X. I put that money into the budget right
Speaker 2: towards the film. And so in the eight nine months
Speaker 2: in pre production for Malcolm X, this these I kept
Speaker 2: thinking about what Malcolm talked about, self reliance, self determination,
Speaker 2: self religned, self determination, and I kept thinking about that.
Speaker 2: Then it hit me like a motherfucker tongue of bricks.
Speaker 2: I got people I could call. I got the number.
Speaker 2: And here's the tricky thing. It it It couldn't. It
Speaker 2: was not gonna be a investment in the film. It
Speaker 2: cannot be a tax break. It just had to be
Speaker 2: a gift.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: The first call was Bill Cosby, so called Bill was
Speaker 2: up and he said, what do you want to spike?
Speaker 2: I told him he knew, so he said, I'll put
Speaker 2: the check in. I said, no, no, no, I'm coming now.
Speaker 2: So I jumped on the subway.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: Just where you live up east.
Speaker 1: Side, you went to him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I got on the subway.
Speaker 1: He was like, I don't believe you. I'm gonna get it.
Speaker 2: He opened the door, had the check. I snatched the
Speaker 2: check and even come in the house and it ran
Speaker 2: to the bank before ran the bank before you could
Speaker 2: cancel that ships. So we had Janet Jackson.
Speaker 1: Did you have a relationship with her like that you
Speaker 1: could ask her?
Speaker 2: I had a number, you know.
Speaker 1: She just said the strangers for a million?
Speaker 2: So Janet Prince, Tracy Chapman, Wow, ms Oprah Winfrey. There's
Speaker 2: a woman, an African American woman whose entrepreneur name is
Speaker 2: Pegga Cooper k for it's from DC. So there's two
Speaker 2: more people on my list, Magic Johnson. Now one more
Speaker 2: person my list, Michael m hm. So the only thing
Speaker 2: that people said, please do not discount, Please do not,
Speaker 2: you know, disclose how much? So I said, my mother's grave.
Speaker 2: No one's ever gonna know. So I called my last
Speaker 2: call my main man money. So Michael Jordan is very
Speaker 2: very competitive.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, you want to know how much everybody else get?
Speaker 2: You know, I just mentioned the range of what Magic gave.
Speaker 1: He wanted to make it rain.
Speaker 7: He said, fuck that you're getting this. So that money
Speaker 7: enabled me to rehire Oh yeah, that's dope my people.
Speaker 2: And we kept it quiet so there was no interaction
Speaker 2: between myself and it's still for months. And on Malcolm
Speaker 2: Ex's birthday, May nineteenth, we had a press conference at
Speaker 2: the Schomberg Library one hundred and thirty fifth Street in Lennox,
Speaker 2: where we had a press conference announced the names these
Speaker 2: prominent African Americans who came through out of goodness their heart,
Speaker 2: so the vision so the world can see our vision
Speaker 2: of Malcolm X. And the next day, you know happened.
Speaker 2: Warner Brother started putting back on the payroll man true story.
Speaker 2: So how long?
Speaker 1: Okay? Can I ask you who's who was the hardest pitch?
Speaker 1: Because it's weird because like I have a hard time
Speaker 1: getting people to come to my DJ gigs. It's like
Speaker 1: as a virtual stranger. I mean, I have a hard
Speaker 1: time getting people to do this show. So it's like,
Speaker 1: how's your pitch? Is it lengthy or is it just
Speaker 1: like black people education?
Speaker 2: It's like it's nation time. Wow, It's Nation time.
Speaker 5: And nobody was scared. Did their name?
Speaker 1: Was this your first conversation with Prince?
Speaker 10: Like?
Speaker 1: Who was your first? Like? Did you have That's what
Speaker 1: I'm saying.
Speaker 2: As knew everybody, not like friends, but I knew enough
Speaker 2: that I had that number. And it wasn't like, look,
Speaker 2: here's the story.
Speaker 1: How'd you even get to Prince to be like, yo,
Speaker 1: I gotta ask him because he's kind of elusive.
Speaker 2: I don't remember, but I got his check, I talked,
Speaker 2: I told everybody people because it had been the pressed though,
Speaker 2: I mean it was in the press. This, I mean,
Speaker 2: the whole thing of Malcolm X was huge, the whole baking,
Speaker 2: all this stuff.
Speaker 1: And at that point by that point too.
Speaker 2: You know, so it was known. And then the fact
Speaker 2: that there was known, that that that that they pulled
Speaker 2: the plug on the money, and so people people understood
Speaker 2: what was at stake and they would just say how
Speaker 2: much you need? And so here's the thing, though, so
Speaker 2: I have a list. Everybody asked in the list came through,
Speaker 2: but every time one said no one said no, how
Speaker 2: can you even go to the other Michael.
Speaker 1: That's about that matter of fact, the two other Michaels.
Speaker 2: Who both were Muslim at some point, because at a
Speaker 2: point I had my money. Okay, so you didn't want
Speaker 2: to go over just no, no, I just I didn't
Speaker 2: want to be greedy.
Speaker 1: And you knew that you needed nine million more.
Speaker 2: That wasn't a million. There was at nine million, But
Speaker 2: I just knew what I needed. So every time I
Speaker 2: would asked, I would go up and get more confidence,
Speaker 2: getting pepping my step. So it's like a scale. Every
Speaker 2: next call, I'm asking for more?
Speaker 5: Are you hitting your chest?
Speaker 2: Like self determination, self alliance? And these prida black people
Speaker 2: came together and gave us the money to make the
Speaker 2: feeling way he wanted to make it.
Speaker 1: So Tracy Chapman wasn't like, Okay, well maybe I'll need
Speaker 1: two videos like no one.
Speaker 2: No, it was all love. It's all love. It had
Speaker 2: nothing to do with me. It's about Malcolm X. It
Speaker 2: was about Malcolm.
Speaker 1: Even more importantly, how did you get them all in
Speaker 1: the room at the same time to shoot that last
Speaker 1: the credit scene where they're.
Speaker 2: All they weren't the same room. You just made it
Speaker 2: seem no, we we just where we could find them
Speaker 2: put on the.
Speaker 5: Wait is that a X men? And I swear I
Speaker 5: didn't know past that and credits.
Speaker 1: It just looks like when revolution explained by arrested development.
Speaker 2: Who's where to have Ganet, Michael and Magic are together?
Speaker 1: Right? Okay? The way you cut it, though, I just
Speaker 1: thought everybody was in the room at the same time.
Speaker 1: I was more impressed with that. I'm like, it was different.
Speaker 1: This prince got a Malcolm X, this crib or something.
Speaker 1: Did you give him a baseball gap just in case
Speaker 1: he wanted one? Prince? That's where I at.
Speaker 2: But that was that was the main because I don't
Speaker 2: know what it's gonna do.
Speaker 1: How did you pull off the mega sine?
Speaker 2: We were the first, yes, we were the first people
Speaker 2: ever allowed to bring a thirty five millimeters camera in
Speaker 2: the Holy City of Mecca during Hajj, and so we
Speaker 2: just had to hire a Muslim crew.
Speaker 5: Why why why would they they say they let you
Speaker 5: do it.
Speaker 2: They respect my welcome mix as a Muslim.
Speaker 1: And again, who's pitching them? I don't know. It's just
Speaker 1: the then of miracles.
Speaker 2: One of the social producers of Fernando Sultan. Somehow he
Speaker 2: talked the High Islamic Court into grant this permission to shoot.
Speaker 1: Was the resistance or is there a sex in the film?
Speaker 1: Is there?
Speaker 2: We had to send describe mean, look, I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: mess around with the High Islamic Court. So thank thank
Speaker 2: Allah they gave us permission to shoot it because you
Speaker 2: cannot recreate what we did when when that stuff?
Speaker 1: I mean, come on, well, on the other side of
Speaker 1: the coin, how did you avoid the ire or anger
Speaker 1: of the nation?
Speaker 2: Easy? In pre production, I flew to Chicago and had
Speaker 2: a meeting with the minister. Minister far Khan gotcha, I had.
Speaker 2: I don't want no problems. So I got on a plane,
Speaker 2: flew Chicago and sat down on the minister and the
Speaker 2: minister was really not concerned how he portrayed Malcolm X.
Speaker 1: I was more concerned with.
Speaker 2: Only concerned about honor Olije Muhammad.
Speaker 1: That's what.
Speaker 2: And he said, Spike, I wish you well, but there
Speaker 2: hopefully you will do say that, what do you let
Speaker 2: me do all the time? Terms like it could possibly?
Speaker 5: Was he cool because you gave a couple of gems
Speaker 5: in the movie, bro, I mean, but.
Speaker 2: It's deeper.
Speaker 1: There is two.
Speaker 2: He liked the film. He did say Spike, I saw
Speaker 2: him eventually after he did like the film, did not
Speaker 2: Who played?
Speaker 1: Was he nominated for Best Supporting Actor?
Speaker 2: Should have been was any?
Speaker 5: It was any?
Speaker 2: Only the nominations were Denzel and Ruth Carter. And that's
Speaker 2: a lost Alpacino for Center one number Wait, that's the
Speaker 2: NBA makeup call because Pino is a great actor. Did
Speaker 2: not win for Godfather One. Curp Cold the Afternoon, right,
Speaker 2: and so Denzil's young You'll be back boom want anyway?
Speaker 1: Center A Woman was stupid though that It's amazing disappoint
Speaker 1: you had a good it was such a classic film.
Speaker 2: But look, Pacino did not win for Godfather One, Godfather Circle,
Speaker 2: do the right thing. At least one of those you
Speaker 2: should have won too, At least.
Speaker 6: Malcolm X was so crazy. I remember it's it's just
Speaker 6: so crazy to be sitting there with you. It came
Speaker 6: out when I was in seventh grade. You cut school,
Speaker 6: no even better. I tried to get my class to
Speaker 6: go see it, and I almost got it done, but
Speaker 6: something happened and the principle was like nah, and it
Speaker 6: ended up in the paper.
Speaker 2: They ended up in the papers.
Speaker 1: It was as the school I went to. Ready, Yeah, we're.
Speaker 2: Gonna go see cut school play Hooky.
Speaker 1: The school I went to men in the Hall Middle.
Speaker 6: It was like it was like a school that was
Speaker 6: in the middle of a very affluent neighborhood in our city.
Speaker 5: But it's still Carolina And uh, I mean, yeah, but
Speaker 5: niggas got money. I'm saying that.
Speaker 1: I was just saying, you know, but yeah, but it
Speaker 1: was you know so but yeah, But I was like, Yo,
Speaker 1: we should go see it. We could make it a
Speaker 1: class trip and all this ship and it was happening
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden it just got shut down.
Speaker 6: And I remember reading it in the paper. So apparently
Speaker 6: something went down with the principal of some ship. But
Speaker 6: they were like nah, But I ended up going to
Speaker 6: see it myself, of course. So were you fine with
Speaker 6: the parting of you and Ernest at that period? I
Speaker 6: don't know, Oh, yeah, you'd stopped working with each other after.
Speaker 2: Because Ernest wanted to do the day he came to
Speaker 2: film school told me I'm gonna be a director. So
Speaker 2: I always knew that day was coming when he would,
Speaker 2: you know, direct the film and continue on that path.
Speaker 1: See, we're just like give me five years. And no,
Speaker 1: we never talked about.
Speaker 2: It, you know, but it was at Malcolm X. I
Speaker 2: knew that was going to be the end that he
Speaker 2: was looking to direct.
Speaker 1: But you couldn't do both. I'm sorry, that's not.
Speaker 2: What we wanted to do. And so look, I mean
Speaker 2: I want people do what they want to do.
Speaker 1: But aren't you afraid that the formula will be different?
Speaker 1: Like damn? Like you you have such a good marriage
Speaker 1: and such an identity with these shots.
Speaker 2: I've worked with great deep peace, Malik said Ellen curis
Speaker 2: uh a whole bunch of people, you know. So we
Speaker 2: had we had a great time together. You know, we're
Speaker 2: away to have those films and he's doing what he
Speaker 2: wants to do, which is direct.
Speaker 1: What did you think of Juice? Loved it? This was it. Damn.
Speaker 1: It just hit me that you never worked with Tupac
Speaker 1: And now I wonder what would have come of it
Speaker 1: had Tupac acted in one of your films. I mean
Speaker 1: he had he had conversations at all.
Speaker 2: I don't think I ever met him. I don't I
Speaker 2: don't really remember meeting him. Wow, because when I came
Speaker 2: to the set, he wasn't there.
Speaker 1: Juice, no have you ever met Tubac. I don't think
Speaker 1: I remember. I remember was Distance spit in the interview
Speaker 1: like this was a while. I mean this is he was.
Speaker 6: He was saying, because I didn't come to the premiere
Speaker 6: or Juice or something like that.
Speaker 2: No, that I wasn't around the set. I mean me
Speaker 2: and Ernst were like we grew up together. I have
Speaker 2: to be on this first of all, when i'm when
Speaker 2: i'm when I'm on when i'm if I'm a direct
Speaker 2: in the film, I don't.
Speaker 3: Go to this.
Speaker 2: I just I just feel awkward on all the people's sense.
Speaker 1: I don't go.
Speaker 8: And also, you visited Graffiti Bridge anywhere I wanted any Prince,
Speaker 8: you couldn't stop that.
Speaker 1: You couldn't stop that from half.
Speaker 2: I wanted, when Prince calls for you, I'm coming right
Speaker 2: right right?
Speaker 1: Is that how y'all got girls sick? And how you
Speaker 1: got him to do this?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I had this script and I said, look, I
Speaker 2: said the script, want use all your songs? So okay,
Speaker 2: And he said, can I choose a song? Said yeah,
Speaker 2: go ahead, Wow, So he wrote the theme song title.
Speaker 1: So I guess for crooking. Well, even though it's the
Speaker 1: story of your mother, that could have been more the.
Speaker 2: Lee family story, the Lee family growing up and for
Speaker 2: true was it anything that was I mean, the dog
Speaker 2: didn't pop about of the castle, the character that.
Speaker 5: You played with, and the dude the neighbor down.
Speaker 1: But I'm just saying that even though you're talking about
Speaker 1: your family, that is really something on a biographical But
Speaker 1: to me it was like a lighthearted Okay, it wasn't
Speaker 1: in the days. Yeah, that could have been your romantic
Speaker 1: comedy or you're you're lighthearted.
Speaker 2: We want to do something after Malcolm X different.
Speaker 3: That was the first time I say my daddy cry
Speaker 3: after he saw Crookly because people want to raise.
Speaker 6: The New York the scene in Crookland where when she
Speaker 6: goes south down and what was the thought behind That's.
Speaker 2: Well, it was ours in Wonderland Ash.
Speaker 1: She's in a strange place, and you.
Speaker 2: Know it's crazy because people were I was TV.
Speaker 1: I was confused at first, but straight it took me
Speaker 1: a minute to figure out what you were going for.
Speaker 1: I love that. That's one of my favorite movies.
Speaker 2: The other day Raising and Beads and you know what,
Speaker 2: people if I if I took score, people come up
Speaker 2: of all the things I done. People say Crookland want
Speaker 2: any other film more to do the right thing more
Speaker 2: than Malcolm X. Just on the street, just strangers, they say, Crook.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because yeah, and it's like a not a workingman's film.
Speaker 1: But you know, I feel like your your initial arsenal.
Speaker 1: The first five or six were so larger than life
Speaker 1: and epic and you know, again you have the pressure
Speaker 1: of being our spokesperson and you have to cross every team,
Speaker 1: dot every I I was gonna ask like, is there
Speaker 1: I mean, do you have writers block? And I'm paralleling
Speaker 1: this the songwriting, Like, okay, so obviously Malcolm X is
Speaker 1: your thriller, your Purple Rain or whatever. Like when you're
Speaker 1: trying to follow up a film, are you just like
Speaker 1: I'm out of ideas or I just like, where do
Speaker 1: you go to? Well, I've been to your crib before.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing though, is that is that I've
Speaker 2: done films I didn't direct. I mean, excuse me, I
Speaker 2: didn't write. So the original script A Crook was called
Speaker 2: hot Piece and Butters written my brother SANKI and my
Speaker 2: sister JOI. So they brought it to me. I said,
Speaker 2: I want to, you know, rewrite it. And so that's
Speaker 2: where that that was the origin of that. So I
Speaker 2: always have I have a bunch of stuff to make,
Speaker 2: So it's nothing about writers blocks about getting the money
Speaker 2: to make those films.
Speaker 6: My question for you one thing I've always admired about you,
Speaker 6: and I don't know how you do it. You always
Speaker 6: seem to be like right on time, like timely, so
Speaker 6: like particularly thinking of twenty fifth hour, I mean that
Speaker 6: came like right, you know, on the hills of nine eleven.
Speaker 6: How how did that come together?
Speaker 2: Well, twenty thous a novel by David Bennioff of Games
Speaker 2: of Throne Fame, and the novel takes place before Nane eleven.
Speaker 1: Ah, so.
Speaker 2: Edward Norton I got the idea to make it take
Speaker 2: place post nan eleven. So that's that's how that happened.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's one of my I think, in my opinion,
Speaker 6: that's one of your underrated joints. Like, I mean, people
Speaker 6: they talk about do the right thing and all the
Speaker 6: early but twenty four that one really spoke to me.
Speaker 6: I thought you really did a great joy was just
Speaker 6: capturing the city post nine eleven.
Speaker 1: Like it just felt so empty and like it was
Speaker 1: fucked up. I loved it.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Look at The Barry Pepper, Edward Norton, The
Speaker 2: Lake Phillis, te Mahawfin Rosario, Brian Cox.
Speaker 3: I mean the cast was killing, you know, don't you
Speaker 3: think every person because that's Fante says, that's his favor.
Speaker 3: But I feel like every person who's a Spike fan
Speaker 3: has their list of classics and then the ones that
Speaker 3: I think people slept on, like I think people slept
Speaker 3: on Miracle as Saint Anna, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: But it seems like you have those two lists of
Speaker 5: you slept.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing, though, you know, you really it's like music.
Speaker 2: You know, we sleep on albums, you know, you sleep
Speaker 2: on plays, and and you just gotta hope that sooner
Speaker 2: or later people get it, you know, and that's that's
Speaker 2: all you can do as an artist. You know, you
Speaker 2: just put it out there, and once it's out in
Speaker 2: the public, you know, really, what can you do? You know,
Speaker 2: you can't really, especially when you don't have millions of
Speaker 2: million dollars behind you to push it. You know, I
Speaker 2: just gotta you just gotta leave it out there, you know,
Speaker 2: see what happens.
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm slightly and I'm jumping ahead of a lot
Speaker 1: of films because I felt that one of the films
Speaker 1: that has proved itself there very accurate in time. Yeah. Yeah, Actually,
Speaker 1: in this very room that we're in, you came to me, uh,
Speaker 1: sixteen seventeen years ago with all of these menstrual toys
Speaker 1: in a.
Speaker 2: Bag which I still have.
Speaker 1: You pitched us bamboozle and ask you a question.
Speaker 2: Yes, did you guys take a lot of heat for
Speaker 2: playing Alabama porch Monkeys once?
Speaker 1: NAS tried to use that against us because okay, well,
Speaker 1: because we had backed up jay z It's it was
Speaker 1: like we chose sides during that Nas jay Z war,
Speaker 1: and we chose when we did jay Z's Unplugged, but
Speaker 1: you were choosing size though we were supposed to be Switzerland.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But the thing was when we did take over, like
Speaker 1: we started your music, yeah right, we started doing like
Speaker 1: non music, so like really like you know, put the
Speaker 1: put the dagger in the heart and so you know,
Speaker 1: he he had words for us on Hot ninety seven,
Speaker 1: but we didn't we didn't catch words. However, when what's it?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 1: Who played? Uh, I'm about to say not not the
Speaker 1: Detta Man Roger Smith. Yeah, yeah, he had visited the
Speaker 1: fallon set and on like day one. He happened to
Speaker 1: be like a the NBC building and he he had
Speaker 1: a h he's a.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: A matter of fact, we did Barefoot Pregnant for Spikes
Speaker 1: walk Out Late Night with Jimmy fo.
Speaker 6: Is that an original song or is that? Yeah, we
Speaker 6: just made on on the spot. I've been waiting for
Speaker 6: that to show up on the Roots album for the
Speaker 6: last sixteen years.
Speaker 5: When you think porch Monkeys or.
Speaker 1: The thing is, here's the thing was? It was like.
Speaker 2: I was warned.
Speaker 1: I regret it. No hell, no good, here's the thing.
Speaker 2: I was like.
Speaker 1: At first, I thought, come on, man, like, all right,
Speaker 1: here's the deal.
Speaker 6: You.
Speaker 1: I didn't know if you were doing the school days
Speaker 1: on us, but for some reason, the trailer for the
Speaker 1: Roots and we had to put on black face and
Speaker 1: all that ship the trailer for the Roots and wearing
Speaker 1: those jail suits. The trail, the our dressing room trailer
Speaker 1: was three blocks away from where we had to shoot
Speaker 1: that school you being with no context whatsoever, I don't know.
Speaker 1: And you know this nineteen ninety nine two thousand was
Speaker 1: our breakout year, so you know, pre things fall apart,
Speaker 1: you know, I was like the guy with the weird
Speaker 1: head or you know, you have the Snoop Dogg haircut.
Speaker 1: Here comes. But I was definitely quest love at that point,
Speaker 1: and there was a thank god social media wasn't out
Speaker 1: man at that point. It was it was like.
Speaker 5: When there was okay.
Speaker 6: No, they were just confused, like what the how was this?
Speaker 6: And because I had the red lipstick. Yeah, so it
Speaker 6: wasn't even like y'all could do the Dead Presidents with
Speaker 6: the white.
Speaker 1: Get sat doing it for a week, just doing it
Speaker 1: without context. So people just think there was no cell
Speaker 1: phone back then on this stuff. And by the last day,
Speaker 1: I was like, let me find out Spike's trying to
Speaker 1: school days us. And so when I saw the film,
Speaker 1: I was like, damn, this is this is a hard
Speaker 1: feel to swallow, Like what's the likelihood? Because I knew
Speaker 1: by that point the only menstrual we really truly had
Speaker 1: to worry about was like, you know, upn had that
Speaker 1: home and yeah, he's a secret diary of Desmond BI.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's stuff.
Speaker 5: And that was a funny slave show.
Speaker 1: I was like a slave rom com. I mean, we
Speaker 1: were excited because this is like our first feature thing.
Speaker 1: But in the bad I was like, maybe Spike went
Speaker 1: over the top with this one. But then maybe five
Speaker 1: years later I was like, oh, just like they said
Speaker 1: in Bamboozle. Next year, oh yeah, that's right, just like Bamboozle.
Speaker 1: But then by year ten I remember hitting up like,
Speaker 1: I was like, Yo, do you find it strange that
Speaker 1: all the things that Spike was talking about back in
Speaker 1: two thousands happening now?
Speaker 6: It's like bamboozo and Idiocracy or like films, Yeah, their
Speaker 6: documentaries squat.
Speaker 1: I just want to say, yeah, so I mean you,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you have the dart in your hand,
Speaker 1: I would said that, you know, you weren't exactly one
Speaker 1: hundred maybe you were kind of like sixty one percent
Speaker 1: back in two thousand. Now I'm thinking that you went
Speaker 1: a little light, like, well, did you really foresee that
Speaker 1: we wound up in the post minstrel entertainment hell that
Speaker 1: we are in right now?
Speaker 2: Where I saw it coming and what I wanted to
Speaker 2: coming though, I mean.
Speaker 5: Tyler, it was just.
Speaker 1: The Korea, not where are you listening this album? Totally
Speaker 1: forgot what you're talking about.
Speaker 2: I just think I've always felt that you could tell
Speaker 2: who we are as a people. Bar music that really
Speaker 2: tells you.
Speaker 1: Know who we are. Boy, damn muse.
Speaker 2: And I just saw it going south and uh literally or.
Speaker 1: No Southland, No south I'm not doing that. No Southlander.
Speaker 1: Don't you live down south? But come on, bruh. But
Speaker 1: you know you from Queens, you know, and we adopted you, brom.
Speaker 1: I'm Carolina born and raised. Man. I ain't going nowhere
Speaker 1: claim man. We claimed you. Okay, that's cool. I just
Speaker 1: saw where's your heart? Line? My heart it's still line.
Speaker 5: You have a Northeast liberal, you are.
Speaker 1: I'm a Northeast liberal.
Speaker 5: Half a Northeast liberal.
Speaker 1: Oh okay.
Speaker 2: Maybe I just think that it was going, you know, down,
Speaker 2: not south, but down, and that we were losing. We're
Speaker 2: forgetting who we are. We're great people, come from great ancestors,
Speaker 2: and we were losing that for the fame of money
Speaker 2: and fame praying at the on our knees, praying at
Speaker 2: the altar, the almighty dollar. And this was an examination
Speaker 2: of this character De la Croix, who lost his soul
Speaker 2: trying to be successful and then once he got woke,
Speaker 2: it was too late. It was too late. And it
Speaker 2: was also when that film was made. It was one
Speaker 2: hundred anniversary of film and was the fifth one hundred
Speaker 2: and it was the fiftieth anniversary of television. So why
Speaker 2: did this show how these two mediums have the based
Speaker 2: our ancestors are people who we are. But that same
Speaker 2: film can be made about the debasement of Native Americans women.
Speaker 2: So it's how I mean, if you look at look
Speaker 2: at the films of John Ford and John Wayne, look
Speaker 2: what the Native Americans are savages and this whole the
Speaker 2: humanization of people through the powerful mediums of television and Cinnamon.
Speaker 2: That's why we have that that very very hard, hard
Speaker 2: hard montage at the end, which is really painful to see.
Speaker 2: But I felt that, you know, we need to Why
Speaker 2: is it that that your people, Jewish people talk every
Speaker 2: day about the Holocaust and that's great, you know, we
Speaker 2: should deal with our own Holocaust too, and that's what
Speaker 2: that film is about.
Speaker 1: But I was just what was yeah you said, because
Speaker 1: that means I get the floor.
Speaker 4: Just coincidentally maybe or I don't know, my favorite one
Speaker 4: of your films, bimbos. Yeah, with the just the most
Speaker 4: direct message, most in your favorite message, Malcolm X. And
Speaker 4: then that's the truth.
Speaker 2: I believe you. I believe you.
Speaker 1: So it was a very very.
Speaker 2: I mean, just like this stuff that you talked about
Speaker 2: those those the memorabilia, the Jolly Nigger Bank and all
Speaker 2: that stuff. That is the real thing, real things.
Speaker 3: And I invite everybody to go to the National Museum
Speaker 3: of African American History and Culture where they have a
Speaker 3: crazy display of the history of the menstrual and that stuff.
Speaker 1: Well did you Okay? So even even more than just
Speaker 1: the menstrual angle, reality TV, just with reality TV and
Speaker 1: the viral natel that we are in now, snuff film, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the live streaming snuff film.
Speaker 5: Oh my god. Yeah, the girl killing her sister in
Speaker 5: the car like you.
Speaker 2: And Eric the murder Eric Gardner's the snuff film, and
Speaker 2: we go on, I mean every just snuff films we're seeing.
Speaker 5: Because after a certain amount of views is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, h wow. Did I interrupt you?
Speaker 6: Oh? Well, only the question I had about one at
Speaker 6: what was the decision to shoot? Because you shot that
Speaker 6: on digit many TV? So my questions what was it budget?
Speaker 1: Was it a budget?
Speaker 2: It was two things. It was artistic and budget. Chair
Speaker 2: you wanted to shoot the performance on digital tape and
Speaker 2: everything and everything else on film because most TV shows
Speaker 2: are filmed on tape. So that was that was Ellen.
Speaker 2: Curious again, was it the DP did a great job.
Speaker 2: So that was the decision to do it like that?
Speaker 1: Oh no, actually.
Speaker 2: I love the the end for the end title song
Speaker 2: Misrepresented People No Shadow Lands by Bruce Warren. Yeah, great, yeah, great,
Speaker 2: great song.
Speaker 5: It's a good soundtrack too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Stevie mister, speaking of.
Speaker 1: The soundtracks, how did you and Stevie get together for
Speaker 1: Jungle Fever?
Speaker 3: Job?
Speaker 1: Did you? Had you already chosen to do the the
Speaker 1: Ta Mall scene was living for the city and then.
Speaker 2: But that was the only song that was not written
Speaker 2: for the film.
Speaker 1: After I was asking, like, did you ask Steve after
Speaker 1: you had made this?
Speaker 2: Out of his son wrote to the script. I said,
Speaker 2: see the script and he said, please do this, do
Speaker 2: the songs for us. He said okay, wow. And everybody
Speaker 2: told me that he would not do it in time,
Speaker 2: but he through.
Speaker 1: I was going to say, how did you because one
Speaker 1: he had no no records ready. Between eighty eight and
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 2: The script was transcribing to Braille, Wow, and we would
Speaker 2: send them scenes and you know, he goes. Steve goes
Speaker 2: the movies all the time, and he came through. One
Speaker 2: of my favorite songs on that album is a chemical
Speaker 2: Love you remember that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, some people don't drive drink. Yeah that woman, yeah,
Speaker 1: cover yeah. Me and my band the Forny Change we
Speaker 1: covered heart Yeah. I got that's from from Jungle all right,
Speaker 1: So we get on the bus. Did you knowing that
Speaker 1: the event? How much an advance did you have before?
Speaker 1: You were like, okay, you know what I'm saying, like
Speaker 1: it was so old time.
Speaker 3: We had like.
Speaker 2: Really probably two months. But to shoot it, I mean,
Speaker 2: they came to me, so let's do this film. Were
Speaker 2: shooting eighteen.
Speaker 1: They came to you.
Speaker 2: Who oh, I forget I'm bad with names now, but
Speaker 2: they said, we got this film, I want to shoot it.
Speaker 1: A road movie. And you didn't write it.
Speaker 2: No, Reggie Rock wrote it. Okay, Reggie, Yeah, he wrote it.
Speaker 1: Oh, Gena and okay, oh I didn't know it. Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 2: So it was a road movie.
Speaker 3: I'm trying to get everything out there were touched Where's
Speaker 3: girl six in the skil?
Speaker 5: Kind of did?
Speaker 3: But I was just had a Teresa always say Randall Randall,
Speaker 3: Teresa Randall question because she had such in Malcolm X
Speaker 3: and in Jungle Fever like especially younger people was a
Speaker 3: smaller role and of course Malcolm x more still small
Speaker 3: but like what why her?
Speaker 2: Like, I mean, it's very hard for black women.
Speaker 5: To say that in the mics, I hear it's very
Speaker 5: hard for black.
Speaker 2: Women to sustain long careers. And uh, very talented, very attractive.
Speaker 2: And I don't know what happened, but I mean, I
Speaker 2: mean bad boys, but I mean.
Speaker 1: She father what.
Speaker 6: He is?
Speaker 1: Fad Jesus? The story? Sorry?
Speaker 6: fIF for is it the story true about him taking
Speaker 6: pictures at the walmart and bring them to you?
Speaker 2: For? Yes? Uh?
Speaker 1: For? She got.
Speaker 2: I don't know that Mackay's cousin.
Speaker 1: What's that story?
Speaker 2: Mackay accompanied his cousin to the audition, and we asked him,
Speaker 2: what do you want audition?
Speaker 1: You're here?
Speaker 2: So he came in and he got the role.
Speaker 5: Wow, okay, seeing you.
Speaker 1: Or seeing Robbie? Does he do all? I was in
Speaker 1: the room, Oh okay, okay.
Speaker 2: Robbie like pre screen stuff. But you know, like I
Speaker 2: was in the room when I saw Mackay said, because
Speaker 2: he was even the comfortable dishes came because he said,
Speaker 2: come with me.
Speaker 5: Wow, look at him now?
Speaker 1: So for he got game? First of all, what irks
Speaker 1: you about basketball films.
Speaker 2: That I don't fake? That what I'm using, I'm not
Speaker 2: saying fake news, just don't look real. And here's the
Speaker 2: thing though, where I sit in masquare a garden, I
Speaker 2: did not want players on the Knicks or opposing teams,
Speaker 2: say Spike, that movie is bullshit.
Speaker 1: So the last scene of Denzel and Ray planning that
Speaker 1: was a real game.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's scripted. This famous famous story is scripted
Speaker 2: that Ray's polls to win. He live in zip. Denzel No,
Speaker 2: Denzel was on Fortum's JV team. His coach was PJ. Chrissimo.
Speaker 2: And Denzel is says, an athlete. So his thing was like,
Speaker 2: fuck what the script says, I'm scoring at least one
Speaker 2: basket and it will be a moral victory. And so
Speaker 2: Denzel started throwing up some humble shit it was going
Speaker 2: in and Ray Allen was shocked because this Ray's first film.
Speaker 2: You gotta do what the script so racist. Spike was up,
Speaker 2: He's not He's not about to get any basket like this,
Speaker 2: What do you want me to do? So after that,
Speaker 2: Race said fun that then they doesn't score another basket,
Speaker 2: but it was a moral victory and it was better
Speaker 2: for the film too, that that that Denzel that that
Speaker 2: that Jake Schulsworth got those baskets the scripted raised Jesu
Speaker 2: supposed to win. He liveing zip.
Speaker 6: And and and.
Speaker 2: Ray did not know basket that the Densil could play.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that Denzel could Playford JV Team on
Speaker 1: the crazy mm hmm. So how did you? I mean,
Speaker 1: just what is it as a non sports junkie asking
Speaker 1: you guys? Shocker? No, I'm not. I'm not. So what
Speaker 1: am I missing in sports films that you see or
Speaker 1: you look at sports film the way that look at
Speaker 1: music films like, Okay, his fingering is not right.
Speaker 2: It's fake and it's not real. Earl Monroe from Philadelphia
Speaker 2: was a basketball consultant on the film, and we just
Speaker 2: wanted that's where we cast real players. We've cast real players,
Speaker 2: so we get the You know.
Speaker 1: Now, how much patience did you have to have with
Speaker 1: your actors who didn't have that much experienced acting.
Speaker 2: Yeah. One of the world's greatest acting coach, Susan Batson,
Speaker 2: who was there every day with him. So I mean,
Speaker 2: I think Ray did a great job, you know, and
Speaker 2: just that whole again, for me, it's more than a
Speaker 2: basketball film. For me, that that is a father and
Speaker 2: Son story.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get to the end. I swear to.
Speaker 5: Seven more movies.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I've seen I've seen Summer Sam maybe
Speaker 1: at the right time, but I don't know. That's it's
Speaker 1: not like, you know, it wouldn't be in my my
Speaker 1: Spike type top three. But for some reason, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm picking that in my I love that film.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 1: I like thrillers. I wish you would do more thrillers.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just it. Yeah, and in fact, you
Speaker 1: got Jimmy Breslin to like do it. That was crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the beginning and the end, like the book. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because theo Berg was on Sam. He was writing letters
Speaker 2: to Jimmy Bresling. I mean, that's why I want to
Speaker 2: be the booking And you know he just recently passed
Speaker 2: God bless his soul. Great guy, great guy.
Speaker 1: So my question for Inside Man is was there a
Speaker 1: not Again, I don't know if there's ever a pressure,
Speaker 1: but I mean, Inside Man, you made your Holly film. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're you know you're opening The opening was marvelous, know it?
Speaker 1: So for you, was it just like, Okay, I want
Speaker 1: to show Hollywood that I know how to make I'm
Speaker 1: gonna play their game, and you know, not.
Speaker 2: Not really, because it was a great script and it
Speaker 2: was a chance to work again with my men, Denzel
Speaker 2: Washington and I and I like that genre and we
Speaker 2: we we screened Dog Day Afternoon like numerous times by
Speaker 2: the great director Sydney. So it was a fun It
Speaker 2: was a fun film. Russell Russell Gorovitz first, I'm screenwriter.
Speaker 2: And the twist at the end, we know we would
Speaker 2: get people. The funny thing about that film is that
Speaker 2: that the it was critical the fine actor would stand
Speaker 2: up to Denzel because most actors, you know, Denzel could
Speaker 2: run over you.
Speaker 1: How how you see she would tell no.
Speaker 5: The way he does is a quiet attext.
Speaker 1: Is it to direct Denzel is Denzel? You know you
Speaker 1: can't tell me nothing, no, no.
Speaker 2: You let Denzel do his thing. And then there's certain
Speaker 2: things that you know, listen, but you know he doesn't
Speaker 2: need you to say do this, do this this. You
Speaker 2: know that's that's disrespectful.
Speaker 1: You know you never do that, is it? Yes? But
Speaker 1: even though you get the final word, well, I mean
Speaker 1: and we.
Speaker 2: Never we've never ever had had an instant. I mean
Speaker 2: it's like sometimes he says, Spike, I think I got
Speaker 2: us okay, and sometimes I need one more and he said, cool,
Speaker 2: let's do it. But you know we we've it's always
Speaker 2: been me and him been mad, mad cool, but I
Speaker 2: want to get back. The other point is that Denzel
Speaker 2: is so powerful that he makes an actor shrink and
Speaker 2: he's intimidating, so I knew I had to get an actor.
Speaker 2: It was like, there's not going to be afraid of Denzel,
Speaker 2: Like Clyde was like, fuck this, I'm a man too
Speaker 2: over me and you needed that that happens.
Speaker 1: Yes, well, I was just imagining that if you have
Speaker 1: a script.
Speaker 5: A little bit like you can see that.
Speaker 1: But I'm like, if you have a script and say,
Speaker 1: like there's a scene where I have conflict with Denzel's character,
Speaker 1: and I had to argue, you're saying that he's so
Speaker 1: powerful of an actor that I might intimidation. It's like
Speaker 1: if you're playing on stage with somebody this yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but I figured that a tier and I'm not doudesn't.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that I figured that a wise veteran
Speaker 1: actor would want you to shine with them.
Speaker 2: Or is it just because it might be that your
Speaker 2: character's role that you gotta do your thing and so
Speaker 2: if somebody'dn't stand up against you, it's gonna be like
Speaker 2: a slaughter. And that's why, because you had to have
Speaker 2: this conflict where they were like head the head and
Speaker 2: if someone was weak or soft, you won't believe it.
Speaker 2: And that's why it was Thank god we got Clive Owen.
Speaker 1: So can I ask you were you did you know
Speaker 1: that Denzel had in him to do training day? Because
Speaker 1: when I watched that shit, I was like, oh God,
Speaker 1: who knew? I never knew knew it. How come you
Speaker 1: weren't tempted to show that because.
Speaker 2: Because the films I did didn't that wasn't a role.
Speaker 2: I mean, you get someone, you see someone, and he
Speaker 2: got game.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, yeah, but he he was also at the
Speaker 1: mercy of you know, like he was on his knee,
Speaker 1: not on his but or or he was on his
Speaker 1: knees and humbled because he was in prison and trying
Speaker 1: to broker deal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but when he came out though, he was smacking.
Speaker 1: Throat punch And I'm not going to say that.
Speaker 2: But amir, here's the thing I'm gonna repeat this though,
Speaker 2: is that I knew Denzel had a train date. But
Speaker 2: what what film would that would that was not working
Speaker 2: mo better, I.
Speaker 1: Did you come up with a vehicle that would maybe
Speaker 1: even he looked he like the Detroit red O come
Speaker 1: on out. Yeah, with the gun.
Speaker 2: He was pure gangster hit hit the upside in in
Speaker 2: in the Great Bar to just close the Harlem Linux Louns. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Lynus lounge. They even took the sign down. It's crazy side.
Speaker 2: The guys have the bottle. Oh, he's definitely a gang American.
Speaker 2: That's just that's that's that's the American gangster and trendated
Speaker 2: which you read would.
Speaker 1: You ever have? Do you think it's in you to
Speaker 1: come up with a fifth vehicle? Fourth vehicle for you
Speaker 1: and him to work in.
Speaker 2: Be the fifth Yeah, I'm sorry, but all the time,
Speaker 2: you know, just gotta to be the right right. First
Speaker 2: of all, you got to get him because it's just
Speaker 2: stacked them like at JFK mean, I mean like got
Speaker 2: movies the next two years and.
Speaker 5: Ship were you were you really proud of the defenses?
Speaker 5: I mean that was his to my but him him
Speaker 5: doing it if I'm directing just the.
Speaker 1: Product itself, but I know that he also did the
Speaker 1: Great Debaters, but say director.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he was more. That was like his passion project.
Speaker 1: Did he direct Antoine Fisher too? What did it? Yeah?
Speaker 1: That's where Derek Luke, Yeah, I forgot.
Speaker 2: Is a total package.
Speaker 1: All right, we can go on forever. I'm I'm gonna
Speaker 1: try and I'm gonna rapid fire this. Okay. So as
Speaker 1: as a musician, there are songs that I wish I
Speaker 1: had written as a director.
Speaker 2: What songs?
Speaker 1: I really I got really under my skin when I
Speaker 1: first heard outcasts Potiolicious. It's not a hit, but I
Speaker 1: just wish I came up with that. Well, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: in the hearts of But I really wish I had
Speaker 1: my hand in that because I got something to say.
Speaker 1: That's all I got to say. Shut up. But are
Speaker 1: there movies or projects that you well besides Jackie Robinson
Speaker 1: and James Brown, but films specifically, one film that you
Speaker 1: wish you directed, be it success or failure, that you
Speaker 1: wish he had your version of it? I wish he
Speaker 1: directed Ali for the record, but.
Speaker 2: I wanted direct I had interviewed for it. I didn't
Speaker 2: get the job.
Speaker 5: Wow, who did you have to talk to for Colored Girls?
Speaker 1: Ali? Yeah?
Speaker 6: Was it?
Speaker 1: Who was the executive?
Speaker 2: Was the Will and James? Last?
Speaker 1: Yikes?
Speaker 5: You know that's interesting.
Speaker 3: Never mind, I'm not getting anybody. And that's yeah, because
Speaker 3: they're both I was just thinking that's interesting. They're both brothers.
Speaker 3: It's over brook.
Speaker 5: They had to you know, and they chose.
Speaker 1: They chose Michael Mann exactly.
Speaker 5: So I was just thinking, that's interesting.
Speaker 2: I mean, it wasn't I mean, it was a I
Speaker 2: mean does the studio have to say to mm hmm?
Speaker 1: So you wish that Ali was your I would like
Speaker 1: to direct that.
Speaker 2: I would like to director Jackie Robbinson, James Brown too.
Speaker 1: I wish Brown movie. I still think there's others to do.
Speaker 1: We didn't talk about your documentary work at all. Whoa
Speaker 1: that could be oversight.
Speaker 5: Movies.
Speaker 6: We won't get into it now. If you could do
Speaker 6: a director cut of any of your movies, which one
Speaker 6: would you do?
Speaker 1: Wait? Is there a four hour Malcolm X?
Speaker 2: We knew that it was never gonna be four hours,
Speaker 2: but that was the first cut that we showed to.
Speaker 1: Is there a version of it unscathed? Is there a
Speaker 1: four hour cut?
Speaker 2: We think somewhere out there, I think a Warner Brothers.
Speaker 1: You don't have a copy for yourself, you don't keep
Speaker 1: a demo.
Speaker 2: Keep we were That was the last thing we would
Speaker 2: think about then damn.
Speaker 1: It made.
Speaker 2: But for the documentaries, I mean, I'm very proud of them,
Speaker 2: the two Katrina, uh God, and then Jesus Story about
Speaker 2: Full Little Girls. So while we're in pre production, uh,
Speaker 2: we found the post more than pictures of the Full
Speaker 2: Little Girls, and I kept praying and praying, should I
Speaker 2: include these photographs? And final just made the decision.
Speaker 1: We have to show.
Speaker 2: How hate looks like, how the clan looks like, how
Speaker 2: these murders look like, how these Reddinneck racists look like.
Speaker 2: And so we included the photographs. And I did not
Speaker 2: tell the parents that we included. You know, they were shook.
Speaker 1: Were they still alive them or some of them.
Speaker 2: That then uh Dan's parents were and then they were
Speaker 2: shook then, but they understood why, uh why I did it?
Speaker 2: And this who we are as a people. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, it's amazing that we as black people don't
Speaker 2: go off man, who I mean, we're talking about p
Speaker 2: s what's it called? We had that from slavery, that's
Speaker 2: still with us, that is still with us, and we're
Speaker 2: not a lot of us aren't. Mentally you know, we're
Speaker 2: not right because we're still dealing with the vestages of slavery,
Speaker 2: and and and and washing television and seen as being
Speaker 2: shot down like dogs and then cops walk away like nothing,
Speaker 2: nothing even happened. And I mean it's crazy. Now today,
Speaker 2: I know this is not gonna be this will be
Speaker 2: seen dated. But today that they passed, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: getting rid of Obamacare, I mean, and and those are
Speaker 2: these guys. They have no heart, no love. They're just
Speaker 2: cold blood and murderers because people are gonna die if
Speaker 2: they can't get the stuff they got through Obamacare, and
Speaker 2: they don't want to give a fuck, so what poor
Speaker 2: it's it's it's, it's it's And that's why I to
Speaker 2: give a shout out to man jay Z. That album.
Speaker 2: I gotta give it up. You know, I've always been
Speaker 2: a fan, but this new album, I mean, it's it's amazing.
Speaker 1: Have you ever worked with or anything?
Speaker 2: I did one thing for him? There's a short film
Speaker 2: called to be jay Z for one Day. It was
Speaker 2: for as for his rock aware Well other than that,
Speaker 2: that's it.
Speaker 5: Did your son listen to the album? I wonder because
Speaker 5: I know, okay.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, my son, he's on it. We'll be hipping
Speaker 2: me ship because.
Speaker 3: Folks, you know, sometimes they say, that's a little bit
Speaker 3: of an older person's album in that way.
Speaker 2: The certain things that the certain things that my wife
Speaker 2: and I town, you know, they ask questions like so
Speaker 2: we have to break it down, but you know there's
Speaker 2: something they don't know. My daughter too, who just graduate.
Speaker 1: N y U. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah doing she graduated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's working at MTV the new RTL show.
Speaker 1: One question I have for you is about remakes. Uh,
Speaker 1: how do you determine what the remake?
Speaker 6: Because when you did The Sweet Blood of Jesus, which
Speaker 6: was the Gonjas, that was a very odd I mean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, really odd.
Speaker 2: So I haven't seen that very early on when I
Speaker 2: was in film school. It was written by a really
Speaker 2: underrated black filmmaker, playwright Bill Gunn and uh so on
Speaker 2: the film school and always loved that film and thought about,
Speaker 2: you know what, how how we do that today with
Speaker 2: this whole religious you know impact, you know, and then
Speaker 2: going back to Africa and stuff like that. And it's
Speaker 2: not a horror film. And I never saw doctor Hess
Speaker 2: as a vampire, but these are people who blood, and
Speaker 2: you really use blood as a for a lot of
Speaker 2: other things. So that that film was great about that
Speaker 2: film was shooting Marla's Vinie because I've always wanted to
Speaker 2: shoot a film Marlin's Vienna. I ne't even heard of
Speaker 2: mars Vinia in one of my classmates. There's always been
Speaker 2: a large black community in mars Vinyon up and down
Speaker 2: the East coast, you know, professional black folks. And my
Speaker 2: friend was from Philly, John Wilson. One we were in school.
Speaker 2: We said, you should come to Martins have a house.
Speaker 2: My grandma's the house of mars Vina said Marla's viny
Speaker 2: I went there loved and I said, one day, Lord,
Speaker 2: if you ever get any money, I want to buy
Speaker 2: a Brownston Brooklyn season ticket to Knicks.
Speaker 1: In the house, would you consider doing the Kickstarter route again?
Speaker 1: Like for that?
Speaker 2: That was my questions, That was, I can't do that again.
Speaker 2: But what people might not know we were using the
Speaker 2: strategy a Kickstarter marketing to make them no, no, to
Speaker 2: make she's gonna have it right, you know. So we
Speaker 2: just have the technology. And so it's always been my thing,
Speaker 2: like you gotta you gotta whatever you gotta do, you know,
Speaker 2: show up killing somebody and going to jail and still
Speaker 2: be honest. You gotta do what we gotta do. To
Speaker 2: get the films made, because this is an industry, an
Speaker 2: art phone where you need money. And now with the technology,
Speaker 2: people making films with their their iPhones.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you and Tyler Perry, or maybe Tyler Perry had
Speaker 6: beef with you. He had words for you, and he
Speaker 6: was very vocal at one time saying, well, if you
Speaker 6: think my movies are bad, you know, why don't you
Speaker 6: try to help me?
Speaker 1: Or whatever?
Speaker 6: What would you say as a director and director speak,
Speaker 6: what could make his movies better?
Speaker 2: Me and Tyler Perry are cool. All that stuff it's
Speaker 2: been squashed like four or five years ago. So I
Speaker 2: mean it's it's there's really, you know, nothing to dig up.
Speaker 2: You know, we're cool. He's doing all things. You know,
Speaker 2: we got love for each other. And you know, I
Speaker 2: flew down to Atlanta. I said, Yo, we gotta speak.
Speaker 2: I got got on the plane delta, went to his house.
Speaker 2: We sat down, we talked. You know, we said, well,
Speaker 2: whatever we discuss, will just keep between us and say
Speaker 2: we're cool. And that was and that's that's what happened.
Speaker 5: I'm I had that conversation before Color for Colored Girls.
Speaker 1: You know, I I wish I can't wait for the
Speaker 1: day where he's just a producer and not star. I
Speaker 1: like him as an actor, and uh, girl, baby girl,
Speaker 1: the lawyer, he was the lawyer.
Speaker 6: But I couldn't have to sit through the trailer for
Speaker 6: Boom too, so Boom Boom, there's a second, the second one.
Speaker 1: Halloween Halloween.
Speaker 2: Lord, how I'm just doing trails for Halloween films already.
Speaker 1: I saw when I went to one.
Speaker 2: Next year that Black History Month.
Speaker 1: So well, yeah, I'm just saying that I can't wait
Speaker 1: for the where he's just producer and that he finds
Speaker 1: and he he's just you know, or the curator of
Speaker 1: other to come in and precious the studio. Speaking of which, okay, yes,
Speaker 1: red Stone and Ship, did you and Eddie Murphy ever
Speaker 1: have a Kumbay conversation moment just since never found the project? Wait?
Speaker 5: What?
Speaker 1: No? He just never We just never found the work together.
Speaker 1: So I know he was excited. I know Chris Rock
Speaker 1: told when he was on the show, he spoke of
Speaker 1: Eddie Murphy and all of them coming to see she's
Speaker 1: got to have it and you know, having a screening
Speaker 1: of it. But just during that period, like, did you
Speaker 1: guys ever did he ever try to invite you to
Speaker 1: be in the Black Pack and that sort of.
Speaker 2: Thing and funny story during Do the Right Thing. Halfway
Speaker 2: through said Spike, I want to give you guys a party.
Speaker 2: That's when he lived in that was it called Bubble Hill.
Speaker 2: We tourist house up this broken. I left when people
Speaker 2: started jumping in the pool naked. That's all I get
Speaker 2: out of here.
Speaker 6: Do the do the younger guys, the young cats come
Speaker 6: up like with Ava she you know, and like Ryan Coogler,
Speaker 6: did they chop it up with you today?
Speaker 1: Come to you for advice or game or whatever.
Speaker 2: Uh my man did when he was doing uh Rocky,
Speaker 2: he came to mind office and your office, n y U.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing though, you know, like look, people
Speaker 2: people have my number, so it's you know, people want
Speaker 2: to speak. I'm available, so it's not like I'm trying to.
Speaker 1: You know. What about with your cousin Malcolm, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Mean by the way, yeah girls, and yeah, big shout
Speaker 2: out to my first cousin Malcolm Lee, my father, his father, brothers,
Speaker 2: and uh he's doing this thing, doing that thing.
Speaker 1: What's the what's the age gap between you two?
Speaker 2: Like were you when I was in fact, when I
Speaker 2: was in n y U. I was living in his basement.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, in Crown Heights. So Malcolm was in high
Speaker 2: school when I was in grad film?
Speaker 1: Were you the reason why he got in the film.
Speaker 2: That's what he said, That's what he says.
Speaker 6: I can take that.
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean his cousin was a big movie director,
Speaker 2: so it was it was an influence. But you know
Speaker 2: he's done it on his own, you know, so power
Speaker 2: to them. Happy form.
Speaker 5: Whose images are you feeling? Like?
Speaker 3: Who's what's the last couple of projects that you saw?
Speaker 3: You was like, I'm appreciating his voice.
Speaker 2: Well, my two films I saw last year, I'm Not
Speaker 2: Your Negro, Roe Peck and o J in America those
Speaker 2: are my joints. I mean those those were monumental.
Speaker 1: Did you see get Out?
Speaker 2: You loved it too, but.
Speaker 1: But I loved it. But for me, I just.
Speaker 2: Those two films I mentioned before, I'm not Your Negro
Speaker 2: and uh Older in America?
Speaker 1: Did you see Moonlight?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: What what was your take on it?
Speaker 2: Like it too? But my two favorite, I.
Speaker 5: Mean just my Yeah, you know I'm not your Negro?
Speaker 5: Need to view?
Speaker 1: So yes, yeah, I saw that. I saw that one
Speaker 1: time I was up here we were taping.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm just always curious to hear just what you know,
Speaker 6: the movies that we like as consumers, but you as
Speaker 6: a director, like what you see?
Speaker 2: You know the new joint that is dunk Kirk, Is
Speaker 2: it like her? Yeah? You gotta goes Christopher Nolan's no joke.
Speaker 6: So I wasn't big on Interstellar, but I heard because
Speaker 6: like that, do we need to do the seventy millimeters?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you gotta see the Imax sixty eighth and Andy.
Speaker 1: Okay seven million? Oh that I heard they are in
Speaker 1: their ninety three Rotten Tomatoes, so that ship.
Speaker 2: Look, Christopher Nolan is a serious director. He's dope. And
Speaker 2: there's hardly any dialogue in it too, and no and
Speaker 2: no and no blue screens. All that'sh's real. No green screens.
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, I'm gonna take it. Yea, I'm gonna let
Speaker 1: you because I'm getting the last question on this.
Speaker 6: How can I see the entire last hustle in Brooklyn
Speaker 6: aside from just a clip in the Off the Wall documentary.
Speaker 2: One day when when I'm going to have to go
Speaker 2: back do color correction, pick up the sound. But the
Speaker 2: thing about a lot of that music was never cleared,
Speaker 2: you know, there's all disco music.
Speaker 1: She's got to have it. Netflix series. Yes, when is
Speaker 1: that dropping?
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving Day? Can we talk all black excellence bene day?
Speaker 2: We will do that.
Speaker 3: Yes, the Wanda Miller I recently found I'm sorry, I
Speaker 3: recently fell in love with her underground shots fired. But
Speaker 3: I don't even know the sequence of the cast and
Speaker 3: if you were third or whatever, but we were after that? Okay, okay,
Speaker 3: So what made you decide she was no dope?
Speaker 5: Yeah, she's like dope.
Speaker 2: You know who's gonna be gonna know who's gonna surprise
Speaker 2: people in this?
Speaker 1: Who fat Joe? Wow?
Speaker 2: Bad joke.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you what's here for Joe?
Speaker 2: This character is called winn he Win and he plays
Speaker 2: the MC owner of a burless club called the Hot
Speaker 2: and Trot.
Speaker 1: Wow. How many episodes? Ten?
Speaker 2: I directed them?
Speaker 1: All? Is it our half hour?
Speaker 2: Half hour?
Speaker 1: Half hour?
Speaker 2: What's this given day?
Speaker 1: What's that? Can you give us? Like the premise or like,
Speaker 1: what's the kind of Well it's.
Speaker 2: Really an updating of the original film, but now it
Speaker 2: takes an a gentrified Ford Green, gentrified for Green.
Speaker 1: So is there Mars black Men and the Noble Darling?
Speaker 2: Yes, marsh Blackness Now Black and Puerto Rican. It's played
Speaker 2: by the Great Triple Threat Anthony Raymonds from Used to
Speaker 2: Have Oh, Hamilton Black, Hamilton, Hamilton.
Speaker 5: I know the dude from Hamilton is on Blackish.
Speaker 1: Boy, that's that one day I'll take you.
Speaker 5: I'm not I've never been to see Hamilton, sir. I'm
Speaker 5: not that rich. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 10: You know the producer of it, I always told not
Speaker 10: Hamilton yet. Hamilton's before for twenty years. Mars Blacks now
Speaker 10: a week wad black and Puerto Rican?
Speaker 5: Wow?
Speaker 3: Wow?
Speaker 6: Oh well this last one Red Hook Summer Nola Darlings. Uh,
Speaker 6: I was like sad to see. I was like, damn,
Speaker 6: Like she really just is the church lady that's like life?
Speaker 6: It was so that was based on a real.
Speaker 1: Character or she that's strange Camelo John's real life.
Speaker 2: Now, yes, she's a pentecost preacher.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, wow.
Speaker 5: Wow see your picture? Want you?
Speaker 1: So?
Speaker 5: She changed her life?
Speaker 2: So she left music, left movies and found the lord. Wow,
Speaker 2: where do you go?
Speaker 1: The only reason I consented to do this is because
Speaker 1: I wish to clear my nyme.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's it, that's what we brought that back.
Speaker 6: Oh so Tracey, he's in the in the cameo, Okay,
Speaker 6: that's dope, Bill. Anything you got left, I think, oh miracle,
Speaker 6: you got a questions. But okay, I want to go
Speaker 6: back to twenty fifth hour with the nightclub scene with Bra. Yeah,
Speaker 6: did you choose the song? I choose all the music
Speaker 6: and mine. Did you choose it before you shot it
Speaker 6: or did it come afterwards?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: Bra is one of one of those songs where I
Speaker 2: knew you know it okay because you said somewhere like.
Speaker 1: That is just so. It was so working.
Speaker 2: Who was on the cipher right was the.
Speaker 3: Yea?
Speaker 1: Yeah, mixed up like that's comedian extraordinary, that's what I've heard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's in the comedy.
Speaker 2: Rosario was dancing.
Speaker 1: She was mad at me, Yes, she was. You know,
Speaker 1: we weren't. Okay, I'm done, I have.
Speaker 2: But the first first time my stres are was film Kids.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes.
Speaker 5: It's like show she hate me. I'm going to start
Speaker 5: by saying.
Speaker 3: Before Carrie Washington and Diana Ramirez, I too enjoyed that situation, Anthony, Yes,
Speaker 3: any regrets. I always thought it was interesting that so
Speaker 3: manysbians wanted to have sex with one man.
Speaker 5: It was lesbians.
Speaker 1: She feels like it was your uh midlife crisis film,
Speaker 1: and that was your Porsche.
Speaker 5: Is that's true?
Speaker 6: That's exactly how I feel it was properly make mo
Speaker 6: Like that's when I was like, oh damn, Carrie, what's
Speaker 6: what's it for?
Speaker 1: Like that was not Carrie Washington from say The Last Dance,
Speaker 1: not at all.
Speaker 2: So that it was a film we want to do
Speaker 2: at the time what people think? What I really liked
Speaker 2: about that film as well? We had the Tewetai character.
Speaker 1: Yes, was he the guard? Was the guard?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Frank.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing though, if you watch CNN with this
Speaker 2: whole stuff happened with the White House, all these guys
Speaker 2: are half dead. They're talking about Watergate and John Dino's motherfuckers.
Speaker 2: They never talk about Frank Wells. It was this guy,
Speaker 2: this brother. If he didn't cast those crooks, the whole
Speaker 2: War Day thing would never happen.
Speaker 1: And he's dead.
Speaker 2: He died painless, and every time they talk about Watergate,
Speaker 2: they never mentioned his brother, Frank Wells. But look, I'm
Speaker 2: not ashamedly. Here's the thing though, I say this all
Speaker 2: the time, all the films I've done. The only thing
Speaker 2: I ever regret because the only thing I regret was
Speaker 2: the rape scene, and she because that was immature and
Speaker 2: made light of such a horrible act that one can
Speaker 2: do another human being. That is the only thing every.
Speaker 6: That's interesting because I remember we watched that in a
Speaker 6: class in college, and I remember we watched it and
Speaker 6: it was it was mixed crowd, it was men and women,
Speaker 6: and the teacher, our professor, came up and she was like,
Speaker 6: after we were discussing, she's like, so, what do you
Speaker 6: think about the rape scene?
Speaker 1: And like half the.
Speaker 6: Class was like, huh, like that was a rare rape, right, yeah,
Speaker 6: Like it's just odd. Just I mean, you say that
Speaker 6: you regret it, like because I didn't read it that way.
Speaker 5: When I first know, I was trying to think I
Speaker 5: was I can't even remember it to be when I.
Speaker 1: First eighteen, I just thought it was in passion love scene.
Speaker 1: And then when I started reading more and stuff than
Speaker 1: I realized like, oh, that's supposed to be a rape scene. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I read the screenplay first before I saw the movie,
Speaker 1: and I knew.
Speaker 5: So there's no regrets about she taking them none.
Speaker 2: So none.
Speaker 6: What about like specific shots of the specific shots you
Speaker 6: wish you could shoot over?
Speaker 1: You guys are kind of stepping the mart Wait, can
Speaker 1: I just ask ask Steve, do you have anything? Yes,
Speaker 1: mister Lee, what what can I as a white person
Speaker 1: if you make your films nothing.
Speaker 2: Supreme?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 2: That was one of Malcolm's regrets that he told that, yes,
Speaker 2: the white coch student, that.
Speaker 1: I watched your extras, heady told her nothing, that is
Speaker 1: the one you're you're extras?
Speaker 5: What did he I didn't see the extras? What did
Speaker 5: he wished he would have said.
Speaker 2: Go back and talk to your people.
Speaker 3: There you go, Steve, Yeah, I told her white girlfriend
Speaker 3: who is starting to date black dudes, you can't do
Speaker 3: that if you ain't seen those spike Ly movies.
Speaker 5: That's the way I'm because tributing.
Speaker 1: You can see the collective? All right, so Spike Spike Thriller?
Speaker 1: Yes or no?
Speaker 2: Are you going to It's not up to me, it's
Speaker 2: up to the state.
Speaker 1: Was the estate happy with Bad They love it very much.
Speaker 1: Was the state happy with Off the Wall? Yes? So
Speaker 1: you gotta wait for Have you had a conversation yet
Speaker 1: or it hasn't come up yet.
Speaker 2: Well, we had conversations, but they're not I don't think
Speaker 2: they got other stuff they're doing before they get to Thriller.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, what's What's what else? What else is it?
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson's arsenal that coming out on film?
Speaker 2: If you listen to me, I got some TV shows
Speaker 2: stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, nice, I mean asking Spike Lee if he's
Speaker 1: going to direct the Thriller documentary.
Speaker 2: I want to because I would if I was able to,
Speaker 2: if I was blessed to get to do trilogy. I'm
Speaker 2: dumb because I mean to do to do Thrilled, That'd
Speaker 2: be a trilogy for me. Trilogy. I'm done. That's someone
Speaker 2: else dangerous past. I'll be happy to pass the baton on.
Speaker 1: But Dangerous is a New jack classic in my eyes. No,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just saying that would be the only
Speaker 1: one that was to do it because he did the
Speaker 1: video for Remember the Time. Actually, yeah, yeah, it's actually
Speaker 1: three parts. Okay, this is kind of my rapid fire. Okay,
Speaker 1: now I'm gonna just running. Can you name me three
Speaker 1: directors uh that came under the leaves of your tree
Speaker 1: or or your family tree, that you've enjoyed their work.
Speaker 1: Three African American directors that you've.
Speaker 2: Malcolm Lee, Ernest Dickison, Uh, d Rees you said, Pariah
Speaker 2: she was she was my student.
Speaker 1: Well, n Yu those three now, uh, three acting students
Speaker 1: or three first timers that didn't have any history and
Speaker 1: films that have now blossomed to actors, Like who's your You're, You're, you're, you're,
Speaker 1: you're starting three squad, like the three students that you're
Speaker 1: proud of in the acting.
Speaker 2: World, Like I didn't teach acting, well not acting.
Speaker 1: But you know that you that you gave the first
Speaker 1: film that are now like, hey, like a halle Berry
Speaker 1: I was first.
Speaker 2: That wasn't I mean halle Berry Rosie. Uh, but that
Speaker 2: you Thiev was Queen Lativa's first film.
Speaker 1: So it's just the black and.
Speaker 2: Remember that lie.
Speaker 1: So those three you're the proudest of that they Okay,
Speaker 1: now the same question but for crew, because I know
Speaker 1: that besides Earnie Dickerson maliks I, I didn't imagine all
Speaker 1: the cematographers and editors.
Speaker 2: Maliks started as electric. I'm Malcolm X and now one
Speaker 2: of the best dps, Ellen Curis, who shot Summer sam
Speaker 2: Full Little Girls Bamboozled. Uh, my newest DP, a gentleman
Speaker 2: named Daniel Patterson morehouse Man. Also, what was my student,
Speaker 2: n y you who shot up all the episodes for
Speaker 2: She's Got to Have It?
Speaker 1: Who who? Side question yes, even side questions to my
Speaker 1: final question, you've been your longest ally employee that's been
Speaker 1: with you since. Has there been someone that's been there
Speaker 1: since the beginning like your editor or your costume designer
Speaker 1: or your craft services?
Speaker 2: Right, I mean they're people that I work with, but
Speaker 2: there has been like every single film, so you know
Speaker 2: a lot of times when I'm shooting something, they have
Speaker 2: another film.
Speaker 1: So okay, what what three actors have you yet to
Speaker 1: work with that you were like, I.
Speaker 2: Want Sean penn is one?
Speaker 1: Wow, dam have more together? I would see I could
Speaker 1: have seen Shan penn in twenty fifth Hour as well.
Speaker 2: Sean Penn.
Speaker 1: Uh ever worked with no never?
Speaker 7: You know?
Speaker 1: You know, will you ever work with DeNiro? Hopefully?
Speaker 2: You know who's potentially be a great actress Solange?
Speaker 5: Wow?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 5: I think I see that.
Speaker 2: He wants to act, and that's another thing, but I
Speaker 2: think that a great potential.
Speaker 5: Uh, Morgan Freeman. Ain't getting no.
Speaker 2: Nothing against Moran, It's.
Speaker 5: Just funny guys like who has he not just been around?
Speaker 1: You haven't worked with Morgan Freeman?
Speaker 2: That did not happen, but work with.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying to be a black actor.
Speaker 3: No, that was just it was just a random legendary
Speaker 3: black actor that I was like, Oh, that's the one
Speaker 3: that he works a lot.
Speaker 2: But you said that, I mean I liked I was
Speaker 2: too young, but I wish I could have worked with
Speaker 2: Paul Newman. Ah that film, Uh cool hand Lucas. Yeah,
Speaker 2: yeah that's nice.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yes, yes, I'm sorry. Did you ask that
Speaker 1: because it was a white film?
Speaker 2: His head.
Speaker 1: Like, Paul, my head is that was like forty eggs,
Speaker 1: right eggs? Yeah? Okay. So I don't know if directors
Speaker 1: can divide their scenes like their songs from an album whatever.
Speaker 1: But in your arsenal, what do you feel are your
Speaker 1: three most important scenes? Okay, your three most important scenes? Like,
Speaker 1: I'm more than three, you gotta get me three guns
Speaker 1: your head, three, I'm burning all your other world. We
Speaker 1: know his house is burning.
Speaker 2: I would say Mookie throwing a garbage the window. Absolutely
Speaker 2: assassination Malcolm Max and uh that scene in twenty four
Speaker 2: Hour Edwin Norton's talking into the mirror.
Speaker 1: M okay, tricky. I thought the uh, I could swear
Speaker 1: your number one would have been the Times Mahon scene. Oh,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you said only three though, Okay, but the
Speaker 1: fact that that wasn't even your got it? I mean, okay, No,
Speaker 1: I'll think those three again, the expanded version that that
Speaker 1: was your songs. You're you're the three albums and three albums,
Speaker 1: the three films that when you're gone and mind if
Speaker 1: we look at your cannon, what are the three films
Speaker 1: that you want representing your work? Wow?
Speaker 5: For me, that's that's it, ain't nothing.
Speaker 1: It's like picking kids. Pick your three favorite kids. You
Speaker 1: have twenties choice.
Speaker 2: But here's the thing, though, you you say you love
Speaker 2: all your children the same. We might like them tell
Speaker 2: about darkness, but I would just say I've done so
Speaker 2: many films that I leave it up to I'm telling you,
Speaker 2: I can't pick three guns to.
Speaker 1: Your head, man, I can't pick three guns to your head,
Speaker 1: House on fire, I can't pick three universal house burning
Speaker 1: all the reels. You can't pick three. Okay, Well, what's
Speaker 1: the opposite. That's the opposite. You gotta kill you three?
Speaker 1: You gotta kill three with three films? With three films,
Speaker 1: do you kind of wish? I'm cool if nobody sees that.
Speaker 2: As I said before, the only thing I wish I
Speaker 2: could do over the rape scene, and she's gonna have it.
Speaker 2: Because everything I've done, for good or bad, is the
Speaker 2: experience that helps me what the next film is. So
Speaker 2: that's that's the way it is, is learning how to
Speaker 2: hone your skills. You know, good, bad, and different. Every
Speaker 2: time out you learn something new, different circumstances, and if
Speaker 2: you're smart, the lessons that you learn, you'll apply that
Speaker 2: to the next film.
Speaker 6: He's not gonna answer your question, what is the most
Speaker 6: overlooked Spike Lee film in your opinion? I got a
Speaker 6: lot of those, like the one you think that most
Speaker 6: people really should see.
Speaker 1: Or see again.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think people saw Miracle sa. I don't
Speaker 2: think people saw bamboozo Here's the thing, though, there's two
Speaker 2: there's two categories. How do people to see when it
Speaker 2: came out versus people discovered, you know later on so
Speaker 2: Bamboozle goals in.
Speaker 1: That character where people discovered it discovered it. Miracle is
Speaker 1: Saint Ana? What was there? Was a novel it was
Speaker 1: based on James McBride.
Speaker 6: I almost wrote The Color Water, almost entered the casting
Speaker 6: call for extras for that movie.
Speaker 1: Oh for real. I had a homie that was in
Speaker 1: that he was. He was one of the interesting did
Speaker 1: he go overseas? Yeah?
Speaker 6: Thereak no uh Ron he ain't gonna remember the name,
Speaker 6: but uh not Turanron something I can't.
Speaker 2: I don't want to.
Speaker 5: It's embarrassing you called.
Speaker 2: I mean, we had to cast these these guys to
Speaker 2: play the uh the Buffalo soldiers, but none of them
Speaker 2: had passports.
Speaker 1: We had to go to Italy's scrambling, you know, to
Speaker 1: get to get the past. That's why I didn't.
Speaker 2: Sing all about it.
Speaker 3: It's at the top of our list now for requirements.
Speaker 3: He must have a passport.
Speaker 1: I got it. Yeah, he was telling me that was real.
Speaker 6: He was like yo, like he's like, man, we had
Speaker 6: the cannons was going off, and he was like it
Speaker 6: was real, Like there was really like in comebat and
Speaker 6: he's ad for Like when he came back it took
Speaker 6: he like he kind of had PTSD after the shoot,
Speaker 6: Like it was like he was going to sleep and
Speaker 6: he couldn't.
Speaker 1: You know, He's still be hearing the ship going off.
Speaker 1: It was crazy. Okay, this is my final, my final, final,
Speaker 1: final question. It's two parts. Spike the episode absolutely no.
Speaker 1: First of all, I appreciate you for doing this.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I been amazing man.
Speaker 5: Yeah, macaroons for you, so that's well.
Speaker 1: I brought it for everybody. But appreciate the ship because
Speaker 1: we is he talking ba people don't eat macaroons. We
Speaker 1: don't you want that on there? Five million people don't
Speaker 1: offer no person ed? Okay anyway, Spike, Uh, there's a
Speaker 1: game that we play on the show. Yes, which one?
Speaker 1: This is your final question of Spike from his four
Speaker 1: million dollars? Can you please tell me what's the original
Speaker 1: sample of this song? Inside joke, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Spike Lee. We're coming on Quest Love Supreames, take a
Speaker 1: load sugar, Steve Boston, Bill, unpaid Bill and Lie.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 1: This is Quest Love signing off Spike Leeve. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for answering on my question.
Speaker 5: Appreciate doctor now sorry that was my.
Speaker 1: Last man, I'm sorry last words.
Speaker 2: Teacher he's a teacher.
Speaker 5: Okay, thank you?
Speaker 2: Sorry anyway, Harry, Yes, anyway till next week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if we're still here, Yes, and macaroons for everybody.
Speaker 1: Don't listen. This is Quest Love signing off Only on Pandora.
Speaker 1: This is a Quest Love Supreme. You see all that
Speaker 1: show round.
Speaker 7: Thank you, yo yo yo I'm gone with the wind
Speaker 7: because it is sapapa love the fitness.
Speaker 6: When the ship hits the fan, I got my shake,
Speaker 6: give him my hand, black man with the permanent ten.
Speaker 1: I'll come from the building that.
Speaker 5: For rand Damn, I'm feeling the love the part of reality.
Speaker 1: It me one not represent the f.
Speaker 9: Ap straight from the Bill Hill, then't play the building.
Speaker 2: I mean they're releague or nothing.
Speaker 9: Y'all make a killing for a like see I'm fitting
Speaker 9: in the bus to pipe original head strip to chet
Speaker 9: the brook Man all night.
Speaker 2: Who would die? I'm saying this shot. Will I bring
Speaker 2: your clicks.
Speaker 5: That we can get stone like family slid. We need
Speaker 5: to see ya in the bush, Mighty Maxine, Rock.
Speaker 1: In the rock, Given the Bush quest Love Supreme. It's
Speaker 1: a production iHeartRadio. This classic episode was produced by the
Speaker 1: team at Pandora. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the Ihart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.