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Spike Lee and The 'BlacKkKlansman' Cast Want You To Know The Past Is Our Present

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With almost forty years in the film industry, something has compelled Spike Lee to tell every single story upon which he’s cast his lens. BlacKkKlansman, the astounding tale of now-retired black police officer Ron Stallworth's infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan is no exception. “For the last thirty years, from She's Gotta Have It (1986) to BlacKkKlansman (2018), and all the films in between, the documentaries, Michael Jackson videos, Prince videos, short films, all are important to me," Lee revealed on a Sunday afternoon in late July as we sat in the corner of a swanky New York hotel overlooking Central Park. Stallworth's story, of being the first black police officer to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department, came to Lee through another visionary filmmaker -- Academy Award winner Jordan Peele. "I had never heard of Mr. Stallworth or his book. So that was the first time," Lee said, as he placed a vibrantly colored backpack with an image of his character Mars Blackmon on the window ledge next to us. "Even before I read the book, Jordan pitched it to me. I thought they were doing the David Chappelle skit again," he said, referring to Chappelle's fictional character Clayton Bigsby the black, white supremacist. "David Chappelle is brilliant, but that was a skit; this is someone's life. We found things in the past that ring true today, and hopefully, people will make the connection and see that this film is not a period piece, but a contemporary piece. It's about the word we live in --this crazy, crazy bananas world we live in today."

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

tags: BlacKkKlansman, Corey Hawkins, Laura Harrier, shadowandact, spike lee
categories: Film/TV
Tuesday 08.14.18
Posted by Aramide Tinubu
 

Review: ’24: Legacy’ Is A Bold & Culturally Relevant Reboot Reminiscent Of Its Predecessor

24-Legacy-FOX-TV-series-Corey-Hawkins Fifteen years after the iconic television series starring Kiefer Sutherland hit TV screens, and seven years since the last official episode of the series went off the air, Fox’s spin-off series, “24: Legacy” is attempting to breathe new life into the overcrowded and often overdone genre of television political thrillers.

Starring “Straight Outta Compton” actor Corey Hawkins, “24: Legacy” is an innovate, bold, and culturally relevant reboot of the original series. It’s also the first rendition of “24” that won’t star Sutherland in any capacity. As executive producer Brian Grazer said at the premiere party that I attended earlier this week, with everything going on in the world currently, “24: Legacy” serves as the perfect port of escapism.

The pilot opens with a very gruesome bang, and the action goes non-stop until the final second on the clock calls the episode to a close. Hawkins stars as Eric Carter, an Army Ranger who has gone into hiding with his wife Nicole (“Greenleaf’s” Anna Diop). After returning to US soil following a classified mission in Afghanistan that killed terrorist Bin-Khalid and prevented an attack in the States, Eric and Nicole are looking for a fresh start. Unfortunately, it seems like everything Eric did during that fateful mission is coming back to haunt him.

With this help of his former commander, Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto), head of the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) who is supposed to be stepping down from her role to support her husband in his bid for Presidency, Eric must figure out how to save himself and the country that he serves. In an interview with TV Guide, executive producer Manny Coto said that “24 Legacy” was inspired by the Navy SEALS who killed Osama bin Ladan and the trauma that they felt during the months following the raid.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

tags: 24, 24:Legacy, black tv, chocolategirlreviews, Corey Hawkins, FOX, Kiefer Sutherland, shadow and act
categories: Film/TV
Thursday 02.02.17
Posted by Aramide Tinubu
 

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