He was known for performances in ‘The Wire’ and ‘Veep.’
Whitlock Jr. was also a regular collaborator with director Spike Lee.
Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. has died at the age of 71, his manager confirmed, following a brief illness.
Best known for his unforgettable portrayal of corrupt state senator Clay Davis on HBO’s ‘The Wire’ — and for co-starring in ‘Veep’ and several films by director Spike Lee — Whitlock’s career spanned more than four decades.
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Stars, collaborators, and fans around the world are paying tribute to the beloved actor.
Isiah Whitlock Jr as Judge Lomax in ‘I Care a Lot.’ Photo: Seacia Pavao/NETFLIX.
Born September 13, 1954 in South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock began his journey far from Hollywood’s red carpets. After studying theater on a scholarship, he trained at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, laying the groundwork for a career defined by versatility and depth.
Whitlock’s early work included guest appearances on television series throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He also had small roles in films such as ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Pieces of April,’ showcasing his ability to shine in any role, large or small.
Whitlock’s breakthrough came with HBO’s ‘The Wire,’ where his portrayal of the charismatic and corrupt State Senator Clay Davis became iconic.
He went on to captivate audiences in the political satire ‘Veep,’ playing Secretary of Defense George Maddox, and appeared in acclaimed series such as ‘Your Honor’ and ‘The Residence.’
On the big screen, Whitlock was a favorite of director Spike Lee, collaborating on multiple films including ’25th Hour,’‘Da 5 Bloods,’‘BlacKkKlansman,’‘Chi-Raq,’ and more — a creative partnership marked by mutual respect and deep friendship.
Across more than 120 film and television credits, Whitlock gave performances that were at once commanding, humorous, and deeply human.
Isiah Whitlock Jr.: Offscreen
(L to R): Isiah Whitlock Jr and Ayoola Smart in ‘Cocaine Bear.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
Though Whitlock kept much of his personal life private, those close to him remembered his warmth, generosity, and infectious spirit. In a heartfelt announcement, his manager Brian Liebman described him as “a brilliant actor and even better person,” noting that all who knew him were deeply affected by his loss.
Tributes have poured in from peers and collaborators, including Lee, who referred to Whitlock as “my dear beloved brother,” a testament to their long friendship both on and off set.
Isiah Whitlock Jr.’s legacy will endure in the memorable characters he brought to life and the joy he brought to audiences around the world. Whether delivering a sly smile, a sharp political jab, or his unforgettable vocal cadence, he was an actor who left an indelible mark on stage and screen alike.
He will be remembered not just for what he played, but how he made us feel: entertained, moved, and always, at times, saying — in his unforgettable way — “sheeeee-it.”
Selected Movies and TV Featuring Isiah Whitlock Jr.:
(L to R) Rebecca Miller and Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Rebecca Miller about her work on ‘Mr. Scorsese’, how she got involved in the project, interviewing Martin Scorsese, his working relationship Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, which interview surprised her the most, pacing the series over five episodes, what Scorsese had to say about ‘Taxi Driver’, and what she hopes people take away from watching the series.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about how you got involved with this project and when conducting the interviews with Martin Scorsese, what was it like essentially directing the greatest director of all time?
Rebecca Miller: Well, I got involved with it really by a formless hunch, a feeling. I had made another documentary, Damon Cardasis my producing partner said, “What would you like to do?” Because I said I’d like to make another one. He said, “What’s the subject?” I thought of Martin Scorsese first. You know, he made it so easy in a way to interview him. He almost makes fun of himself in the very beginning of the series where he’s making jokes about, “You need a slate” and stuff like that. But really, he was just so open, I think, is the word. Just very open. I wasn’t really directing him so much as just listening to him, you know, and then asking the next question. We led each other into some very unexpected places.
(L to R) Archival photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese on the set of “The Aviator” featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Mr. Scorsese has had many great collaborators over the years, but the three that stick out from the documentary were Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Can you talk about interviewing them and is there a through line between their collaborations that you can put your finger on?
RM: The first word that comes to mind is trust. In fact, he mentions that with regards to them. You know, he knew that De Niro, even though he was becoming a star after ‘Mean Streets’, he could trust him. That he wasn’t going to abandon him or allow anyone to take the work away from him, because that was still a possibility from Marty at that time. With Thelma, he knew that he could trust her to help him make the work that he needed to make and not be obstructionist or egotistical about it. The same thing with, I think with Leonardo, because that’s what Marty needs is to be able to trust people that he’s collaborating with. Then once that trust is there, you’re free to experiment and to really be wild because you trust each other.
(L to R) Archival photo of Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Of all the interviews you did with Mr. Scorsese’s friends, family and colleagues, was there one interview that really surprised you and was there anyone you wanted to speak with but were unable to?
RM: I got to talk to so many people, and people that I never expected to be able to speak to. His childhood friends were like a particular boon, it was just so amazing that I got to talk to them, especially because one of them died shortly after I interviewed him. But also, the model for Johnny Boy (from ‘Mean Streets’), you know, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn’t even know that I would necessarily have them.
(L to R) Robert De Niro, Frank “Butch” Piccirillo and Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Can you talk about pacing and the challenge of fitting in all aspects of Mr. Scorsese’s life and career into just five episodes?
RM: I mean, I didn’t want to rush, but on the other hand, I really wanted there to be a sense of pacing and of urgency, because his work has that, and his personality has that. I wanted it to reflect his personality. I wanted the film to feel like Marty himself. Maybe that’s why sometimes there are certain cuts that feel like his cuts, because they’re originating with him and his personality. Then, of course, his work is an outgrowth of his personality. But you know, the number of segments really, at first it was going to be one feature film. Then I quite quickly realized there was no way I could do it that way, because the childhood and early adulthood really needed time, so you could understand how deeply connected his work in general is to those early years. Once you do that, once you spend that first episode, then you need more time to get to the rest of it. Because essentially, the series is really the dance between the art and the life. They’re creating each other. Art’s creating life, life’s creating art, and at a certain point, we kind of ran out of life in a way. That’s the point where you’re like, “Okay, that’s the end”. So, it’s the dance between those two things.
Archival photo of Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘Gangs of New York’ featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Was there any movie that you asked Mr. Scorsese about where you were surprised by his answer?
RM: Well, I mean, I was very intrigued by his answers to ‘Taxi Driver’. I talked to him about it. I asked, “What is it about you at that time that’s in that film?” And you can see him close his eyes and sort of be resistant, but also want to give an answer. He gives this extraordinary answer but over throughout, there’s this thread of the deep connection between what he’s going through as a person, his own suffering, his obsessions, and the films that he’s making.
Archival photo of Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘The Departed’ featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: In the series, Mr. Scorsese talks says that in the stories he tells, the human struggle is what he is most interested in? Can you talk about his passion for that idea in terms of his filmography?
RM: I think overall, there’s a sort of sense of, as Nicholas Pileggi says, “Underdogs trying to score”, and very often, these people are struggling to become themselves. It’s like they want to become themselves, but in that process of trying to become themselves, like Jake LaMotta (in ‘Raging Bull’), for example, you can lose your soul, and that’s interesting too. The loss of the self, the loss of the soul, the kind of darkness that can come into sight of people. It’s not always good news in Scorsese’s universe.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Finally, what will you remember most about making this series and what do you hope fans learn about Mr. Scorsese and his work that they did not already know?
RM: I mean, just having him in my life and the friendship that I have with him is such an immense reward. The idea that I was able to maybe give him back to the people that love him in a form that they didn’t know or anticipate, and to shed something new on the films and maybe bring people back to the films or to the films when they haven’t seen them, that to me is a great reward.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What is the story of ‘Mr. Scorsese’?
Explore the many lives of Martin Scorsese through intimate interviews with the man himself, access to his private archives, plus conversations with Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg, and more.
His new film, ‘Highest 2 Lowest‘, which reunites him with longtime collaborator director Spike Lee, opens in theaters on August 15th before being available to stream on Apple TV+ on September 5th.
In honor of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’s release, Moviefone is counting down the 45 best movies of Denzel Washington’s incredibly impressive acting career, including his latest.
Denzel Washington as Joe “Deke” Deacon in ‘The Little Things’ from Warner Bros. Pictures.
Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon (Washington) joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) to search for a serial killer who’s terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.
A sailor (Derek Luke) prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor (Washington), he confronts his painful past and begins a quest to find the family he never knew.
A DEA agent (Washington) and an undercover Naval Intelligence officer (Mark Wahlberg) who have been tasked with investigating one another find they have been set up by the mob — the very organization the two men believe they have been stealing money from.
The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist from his Middle East homeland leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York. An FBI senior agent (Washington) and his team attempt to locate and decommission the enemy cells, but must also deal with an Army General (Bruce Willis) gone rogue and a female CIA agent (Annette Bening) of uncertain loyalties.
Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin (Washington) gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device to help prevent crime.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes in ‘Out of Time’. Photo: MGM.
Matt Lee Whitlock (Washington), respected chief of police in small Banyan Key, Florida, must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion. Matt Lee has to stay a few steps ahead of his own police force and everyone he’s trusted in order to find out the truth.
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and her groom-to-be, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), team up with Claudio’s commanding officer, Don Pedro (Washington), the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) — a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John (Keanu Reeves) plots to ruin the wedding.
Homicide detective John Hobbes (Washington) witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas). Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese’s style.
An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter (Sarita Choudhury) falls in love with a black man (Washington), and the respective families have to come to terms with it.
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7 (Russell Crowe): a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only one man can stop him.
Denzel Washington in ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Hard-nosed liberal lawyer Roman J. Israel (Washington) has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner – the firm’s frontman – has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He soon discovers some unsettling truths about the firm – truths that conflict with his values of helping the poor and dispossessed – and finds himself in an existential crisis that leads to extreme actions.
In a rural town in Louisiana, a black Master Sergeant is found shot to death just outside the local Army Base. Military lawyer, Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.)—also a black man—is sent from Washington to conduct an investigation. Facing an uncooperative chain of command and fearful black troops, Davenport must battle with deceit and prejudice in order to find out exactly who really did kill the Master Sergeant.
A US Army officer (Washington), who made a “friendly fire” mistake that was covered up, has been reassigned to a desk job. He is tasked to investigate a female chopper commander’s (Meg Ryan) worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At first all seems in order. But then he begins to notice inconsistencies between the testimonies of the witnesses…
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gillian (Washington) is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo (Joie Lee) and Clarke (Cynda Williams). But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend (Spike Lee), Bleek finds his world more fragile that he ever imagined.
From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Joel Coen comes the propulsive, boldly cinematic ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’ starring Oscar-winners Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as the devious, ill-fated Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. An original, striking reimagining of the classic Shakespearean tale portrayed in sumptuous black-and-white cinematography, ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ finds the titular general and his loyal wife older and warier, desperately striving against a merciless ticking clock as they attempt to seize upon a final opportunity for power. In the chaos that ensues, their grasp on the throne unravels, terror mounts and regret enshrouds every inch of their wretched world. Co-starring Kathryn Hunter, Corey Hawkins, Moses Ingram, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Melling and Bertie Carvel.
Denzel Washington in ‘John Q’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
John Quincy Archibald (Washington) is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son’s name on the donor’s list.
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man (Washington) fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker (Washington) has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he’s managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober — but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie in ‘The Bone Collector’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme (Washington) – formerly the department’s top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury – to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed ‘The Bone Collector’. The murderer’s special signature is to leave tantalizing clues based on the grim remains of his crimes.
A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko (Washington), a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist.
Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus (Russell Crowe) at the hands of his uncle (Joaquin Phoenix), Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Two competing lawyers (Tom Hanks and Washington) join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
Robert McCall (Washington) believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
2016’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Washington) for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.
A runaway train, transporting deadly, toxic chemicals, is barreling down on Stanton, Pennsylvania, and proves to be unstoppable until a veteran engineer (Washington) and young conductor (Chris Pine) risk their lives to try and stop it with a switch engine.
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student (Julia Roberts) has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist (Washington) wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.
After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible worldwide threat. U.S. submarine Capt. Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) signs on a relatively green but highly recommended Lt. Cmdr. Ron Hunter (Washington) to the USS Alabama, which may be the only ship able to stop a possible Armageddon. When Ramsay insists that the Alabama must act aggressively, Hunter, fearing they will start rather than stop a disaster, leads a potential mutiny to stop him.
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father (Washington) struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in Columbia Pictures ‘The Equalizer 3.’ Photo by: Stefano Montesi.
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day’s work for dispatcher Walter Garber (Washington) into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
A dangerous CIA renegade (Washington) resurfaces after a decade on the run. When the safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Ryan Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.
Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) leads the US Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton) is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone (Washington) – who is tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
When a titan music mogul (Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.
The story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (Washington), a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins (Washington) is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore), a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city’s black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson (Clarence Williams III), Frank Lucas (Washington) establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. Partly based on a true story.
Robert McCall (Washington), who serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance when a long-time friend (Melissa Leo) is murdered.
Denzel Washington in ‘Man on Fire’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she’s kidnapped he’s consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.
When an armed, masked gang (led by Clive Owen) enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective (Washington) assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader (played by Washington) of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Police chief Xavier Quinn (Washington) investigates the gruesome murder of Donald Pater, one of the wealthiest residents on a Caribbean island. He was found decapitated in his Jacuzzi. Although the local political establishment, especially crooked Governor Chalk (Norman Beaton), insists that small-time thief Maubee (Robert Townsend) is responsible, Xavier has his doubts. This view is complicated by the police chief’s personal history with Maubee: The men have been friends since childhood.
His latest movie, ‘Highest 2 Lowest‘, which marks his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington, opens in theaters on August 15th before debuting on Apple TV+ on September 15th.
In honor of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’, Moviefone is counting down every film Spike Lee has ever directed from worst to best, including his latest.
Damon Wayans in ‘Bamboozled’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
Frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea, producer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) pitches the worst idea he can think of in an attempt to get fired: a 21st century minstrel show. The network not only airs it, but it becomes a smash hit.
Zack Homer (Monty Ross) takes over managing the barbershop after Joe (Horace Long) is killed for trying to rip off his “investor”, Mr. Lovejoy (Tommy Redmond Hicks). All Zack wants to do is run a traditional barbershop giving traditional haircuts, but modern styles have passed him by and business is slow. One evening, Mr. Lovejoy shows up to offer Zack the same deal he gave to Joe. It could turn his business around, but what will he have to give in return?
Dr. Hess Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams) becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient African artifact and is overwhelmed with a newfound thirst for blood. Soon after his transformation he enters into a dangerous romance with Ganja Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams) that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status.
When his mom deposits him at the Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn to spend the summer with the grandfather he’s never met, young Flik (Jules Brown) may as well have landed on Mars. Fresh from his cushy life in Atlanta, he’s bored and friendless, and his strict grandfather, Enoch (Clarke Peters), a firebrand preacher, is bent on getting him to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Only Chazz (Toni Lysaith), the feisty girl from church, provides a diversion from the drudgery. As hot summer simmers and Sunday mornings brim with Enoch’s operatic sermons, things turn anything but dull as people’s conflicting agendas collide.
A scene from ‘Get on the Bus’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995. On the bus are an eclectic set of characters including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop who is of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the march, including manhood, religion, politics, and race.
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd “Buffalo Soldier” Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
A man (Josh Brolin) has only three and a half days and limited resources to discover why he was imprisoned in a nondescript room for 20 years without any explanation.
From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher (Alfre Woodard), her stubborn jazz-musician husband (Delroy Lindo) and their five kids living in ’70s Brooklyn.
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo (Joie Lee) and Clarke (Cynda Williams). But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
The story of Nola Darling’s (Tracy Camilla Johns) simultaneous sexual relationships with three different men is told by her and by her partners and other friends. All three men wanted her to commit solely to them; Nola resists being “owned” by a single partner.
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.
Four African-American Vietnam veterans (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) return to Vietnam. They are in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. These heroes battle forces of humanity and nature while confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of the Vietnam War.
Strike (Mekhi Phifer) is a young city drug pusher under the tutelage of drug lord Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo). When a night manager at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in his body, Strike’s older brother (Isaiah Washington) turns himself in as the killer. Detective Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel) doesn’t buy the story, however, setting out to find the truth, and it seems that all the fingers point toward Strike & Rodney.
A successful and married black man (Wesley Snipes) contemplates having an affair with a white girl (Annabella Sciorra) from work. He’s quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster in ‘Inside Man’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective (Denzel Washington) assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
In New York City in the days following the events of 9/11, Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a convicted drug dealer about to start a seven-year prison sentence, and his final hours of freedom are devoted to hanging out with his closest buddies and trying to prepare his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson) for his extended absence.
A tribute to Malcolm X (Denzel Washington), the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
(L to R) Richard Edson, John Turturro and Spike Lee in ‘Do the Right Thing’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Salvatore “Sal” Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin’ Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin’ Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
Remaking what is regarded as one of Akira Kurosawa’s best, bleakest, and most cynical films is a big swing, and Spike Lee boldly puts his own imprint on Kurosawa’s 1963 gem ‘High and Low.’ He updates it to the modern era and New York City, makes some changes to the story while keeping the central premise and dilemma more or less intact, and includes his usual grab-bag of distinctive trademarks – both for better and worse.
In the end, the biggest attraction is watching Lee once again collaborate with Denzel Washington for the fifth time and first since 2006’s ‘Inside Man.’ The latter delivers for his director in towering fashion, making this version of the story perhaps more of an epic character study than police drama. It remains compelling material, thanks in particular to Washington and Jeffrey Wright, even if Lee meanders off course with distracting asides, some uninspired staging, and one of the most overbearing and ill-fitting scores of the year.
Story and Direction
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
The plot of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ follows that of ‘High and Low’ in the broad strokes. Washington plays legendary music mogul David King, who’s on the verge of selling his famous independent label, Stackin’ Hits Records, to a larger corporate concern (the protagonist owns a shoe company in the original). King’s peak years, when he made the cover of magazines regularly, are behind him, but he’s still worried that the sale will stamp out the label’s identity and “drain Black culture.” So he instead lays down his own personal assets – his savings, his stocks, and his properties, including his family’s luxury high-rise apartment in a riverfront Dumbo skyscraper – to buy Stackin’ Hits on his own, with the reluctant approval of his wife Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera) and business partner Patrick (Michael Potts).
The deal is about to go through when calamity strikes. David gets a call from a kidnapper (A$AP Rocky) who says he’s seized David and Pam’s teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and wants $17.5 million in Swiss francs in exchange for his life. David is ready to pivot from his deal and lay out all his money for his son’s safe return. But then it becomes apparent that Trey is okay and the kidnapper has mistakenly taken a boy named Kyle (Elijah Wright) – the son of David’s lifelong friend and driver, Paul (Jeffrey Wright).
Therein lies the moral dilemma at the heart of both film versions of this tale, as well as ‘King’s Ransom,’ the Ed McBain novel on which both are based. When it’s David’s son’s life on the line, he’s ready to pay up at a moment’s notice. But when it’s someone else’s child – even that of one of his closest friends – all of a sudden the loss of all that money that David was going to use to buy back Stackin’ Hits looms much larger in his mind. What makes ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ different from ‘High and Low’ is that this dilemma is resolved rather quickly – after a bit of soul-searching by David and some silent suffering from Paul, who seems to always be in the corner of David’s eye – and the moral aftermath is left more or less behind as ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ turns into a story of a once-powerful, gifted man who learns how to get his mojo back.
A$AP Rocky in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
That a lot of it works is a tribute to both Washington’s train-like forward motion and Lee’s increasingly energetic direction. The opening scenes of the film are weirdly static, not in an elegant fashion like the work of Kurosawa himself, but in a perfunctory, ‘just stick the camera here’ way. But Lee seems to find his rhythm as he goes along, and no one can shoot New York City quite like him (with the help of ace cinematographer Matthew Libatique). Speaking of trains, there is a suspenseful scene on an elevated car that homages the original movie but is undercut by cross-cutting to both an admittedly lovely Puerto Rican parade (and a few distracting cameos) plus throngs of Yankees fans filling up the train on the way to the stadium. These are things that Lee loves about his city but they prove a little jarring here. A later, climactic fight scene, also staged atop an elevated line, is much more successful.
Along the way, Lee touches on changes in the music industry, the content of music itself, whether fame on social media is a good thing or not (“attention is the biggest form of currency,” David says to his son), and the tensions inherent between the elite and working classes. It’s a lot, it doesn’t always cohere well, and it’s not helped by one of the most intrusive scores we’ve heard in some time. Howard Drossin’s loud orchestral cues continually threaten to swamp the movie, incessantly braying in the background to irritating effect.
Cast and Performances
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
Denzel Washington is in powerhouse form here, exuding a looseness and spontaneity that also charged his performance in 2024’s ‘Gladiator II.’ He embodies David King almost perfectly from start to finish, from the man’s narcissism to his empathy to his pride. In the end, King is a decent man of multitudes and action, even if he sometimes acts on impulses that can get him in trouble, making the moments when he shows uncertainty or selfishness all the more striking. Washington handles the character’s transformative arc with the skill and dexterity that only one of our greatest living actors could provide.
Equally sensational is Jeffrey Wright as Paul, another three-dimensional character whose pain over the fact that his child’s life is in the hands of the man who has been his benefactor up to this point is evident in his face and body. Paul and David are lifelong friends but separated in many ways by experience and fortune, and the former’s fear and anger are made palpable through Wright’s excellent portrayal. The two leads’ scenes together are among the best in the film.
The rest of the cast is a bit of a mixed bag. Ilfenesh Hadera is poised, warm, and elegant as Pam King, but the sense of her position and power in the family structure and as David’s trusted adviser is only intermittent. A$AP Rocky, meanwhile, makes a sharp impression as Yung Felon, the rapper-turned-kidnapper whose own life story is inextricably linked to David’s in ways that the latter only belatedly realizes. John Douglas Thompson, Michael Potts, and Wendell Pierce all bring regality and gravitas to their relatively minor roles, while Aubrey Joseph and Elijah Wright – as the two teen boys at the center of the story – are raw and real if somewhat unpolished.
While it’s a “remake” in the loosest sense of the word, any movie that finds Denzel Washington in a rhyme battle with A$AP Rocky with his life possibly on the line can’t be described as anything but original. But this also isn’t Spike Lee at either his sharpest or tightest (more recent examples of that would be ‘Da 5 Bloods’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’), and the fact that the movie ends with not one but two musical numbers (each representing a direction that David could take with his career, toward easy commercialism or something more soulful) is a hint that Lee’s cinematic instincts are not always what they once were.
Still, those performances and Lee’s vaunted, improvisatory aesthetic keeps the movie crackling even when it threatens to collapse within itself. And the ideas contained within are thoughtful, important ones. Despite its name, the movie never hits either the highs or lows of the rest of Lee’s filmography – but with due respect to Kurosawa, it’s all Spike Lee.
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What is the plot of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’?
When a legendary music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business,” is targeted with a ransom plot, he is caught up in a life-or-death moral dilemma in this reimagining of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller ‘High and Low,’ now played out on the mean streets of modern-day New York City.
Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in ‘Gladiator II’ from Paramount Pictures.
Preview:
Denzel Washington says he has “few films” left he’s interested in.
He may opt to retire from acting and instead focus on directing.
That said, he still has ‘Gladiator II’ and Spike Lee’s ‘High & Low’ headed our way.
Is Denzel Washington looking to close the curtain on the time in front of the camera? He’s certainly hinting at that.
In a new interview with Empire, Washington talked up the fact that, “There are very few films left for me to make that I’m interested in, and I have to be inspired by the filmmaker.”
Which all points to the fact that he’s starting to feel he’s said all he can in front of the camera and isn’t looking to keep that side of his career forever.
Of course, actors (and directors) talk about retirement, but frequently go back to work –– for every Gene Hackman (who hasn’t acted in years), there’s a Steven Soderbergh (who announced he was stepping back from directing movies but soon returned).
Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in Columbia Pictures ‘The Equalizer 3.’ Photo by: Stefano Montesi.
With Denzel, it’s a little less clear.
Back in June at the American Black Film Festival in Miami Beach, Washington talked up the likelihood that he could wrap up the acting side and focus on directing, where he’s had success with movies such as ‘Fences’ and ‘The Great Debaters.’
This was Washington’s statement at the time:
“The things that are going on for me professionally behind the camera are as important to me now as in front of the camera. I think there’s less and less time I’ll be spending in front of the camera.”
What does Denzel Washington have coming up?
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Spike Lee in ‘Malcolm X.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Despite all the retirement talk, he’s still booked and busy.
The new outing, set 20 years after the events of the original, follows Paul Mescal’s Lucius (the character was a child in the first film) as he himself becomes a gladiator in the arena.
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Washington plays Macrinus, a wealthy arms dealer who wants to be Emperor and he’s willing to do anything to get there.
He was clearly happy with his latest collaboration with Scott:
“We had a great go-round the first go-round and here we are. He’s engaged. He’s excited about life and his next film. He’s an inspiration. We should all want to feel like that at 86.”
‘Gladiator’ 2 will be in theaters on November 22.
Paul Mescal plays Lucius in ‘Gladiator II’ from Paramount Pictures.
And also in the can? A reunion with even more regular collaborator Spike Lee, with whom he’s made crime drama ‘High and Low’.
Beyond those two? A potential movie about the warrior Hannibal, which has Antoine Fuqua directing, and a stack of scripts he’s attached to as a producer.
Denzel Washington in ‘Man on Fire’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Spike Lee in ‘Malcolm X.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
Preview:
Denzel Washington will star in ‘High and low’.
Spike Lee is directing the new movie.
The film will remake a 1960s Akira Kurosawa crime thriller.
The idea of Denzel Washington and director Spike Lee teaming back up to work on a new movie together is certainly one to anticipate given their past collaborations.
Good news, then, for fans of the shared Spike/Denzel joints, as that’s exactly what is happening. Possibly more controversial (at least to those who worry about such things) is the fact that it’ll be a remake of no less a director’s work than Akira Kurosawa.
It’s not the first time Washington has led a remake –– ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ springs to mind –– but with Lee directing, we’re confident it’ll be something interesting and fresh.
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What’s the story of ‘High and Low’?
Director Akira Kurosawa’s ‘High and Low.’ Photo: Kurosawa Films.
Kurosawa’s film is loosely based on the 1959 novel ‘King’s Ransom’ by Ed McBain (a pseudonym for Evan Hunter).
It follows the story of a board member for a Japanese company who is forced to choose between using a vast amount of wealth to gain executive control and helping his chauffeur by lending him the money to free his child from kidnappers.
Lee is writing the script for the new movie with Alan Fox, but don’t yet know whether this will be a direct remake of the original or what will be changed. Given that it’s Lee, we can imagine he’ll be adding his own themes and ideas to the story.
‘High and Low’ will mark the fifth time the two Oscar winners have worked together, most recently on 2006’s ‘Inside Man’, along with ‘Malcolm X’ (for which Washington was nominated for an Oscar), ‘He Got Game’ and ‘Mo’ Better Blues’.
According to Deadline, this is a project they’ve wanted to work together on for a while now, but when the actors’ strike shifted schedules for various movies (including ‘Gladiator 2’, which Washington is starring in), that meant a delay from a planned 2023 shoot. With his duties on the ‘Gladiator’ sequel now complete, the actor is available, and Lee is planning to start shooting ‘High and Low’ in March.
When will ‘High and Low’ be in theaters?
While Apple and A24 are backing the new movie, it doesn’t yet have a set release date. There’s a chance Lee could have it ready for awards season, but we’d guess it’s more likely to be a 2025 entry. And the plan is for A24 to have it in theaters before it lands on Apple’s servers.
The groundbreaking 1992 movie ‘Juice,’ directed by Ernest R. Dickerson and starring Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year by releasing a 4K UHD Blu-ray on January 11th. The movie stars Epps as Q, a teen living in Harlem with dreams of becoming a DJ, when his best friend, Bishop (Shakur), convinces him to take part in a robbery that goes wrong.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Ernest R. Dickerson about the 30th anniversary of ‘Juice.’ He discussed writing the movie, getting it made, casting Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps, and how working as a cinematographer for Spike Lee prepared him to direct his first film.
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You can read the full interview below, or watch a video of the interview above.
Moviefone: To begin with, ‘Juice’ was your first feature film as a director, what is it like to see that the film is still beloved and relevant 30 years later?
Ernest R. Dickerson: I’m pleasantly surprised. You always hope that your film is going to have longevity when you make it, but you don’t give it that much thought because you’re just trying to get the film made in the first place. But to see that 30 years later, the themes of the film are still relevant today is sobering. But I’m gratified, I’m happy that it’s lasted, and I’m glad a lot of younger people are able to see it.
When you’re growing up, whether you’re Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indian, you reach a point in your life when you’re wondering what kind of power or influence do you have on your life, on where your life is going to go, and on your environment? What kind of juice do you have? Historically, it’s part of human nature that when you reach a point in your life, you wonder what that is.
The forces that influence the decisions that you make to take your life ultimately into the directions that it goes, a lot of time, it’s affected by peer pressure. That’s one of the main themes in the movie, the effects of peer pressure. It can steer you in the right direction, or it can steer you in the wrong direction. And sometimes the quest for power, the quest for juice in your own life can take you in the wrong direction.
Our main character, Q, is finding his juice. He’s finding juice through music. His mother probably couldn’t afford to buy musical instruments for him, but he was able to take old turntables and use those as musical instruments as a scratch and mix artist, and that’s where he’s finding his juice.
But Bishop, played by Tupac, he takes a wrong turn in trying to find juice. To him, it’s emulating the gangs that he sees in the neighborhood. That’s where the drama comes from, that division that’s going in two different directions, and the peer pressure that sometimes pulls you in the wrong direction. So, I think it’s as prevalent today as it ever has been.
MF: How did you come up with the idea for the screenplay, and how did you develop it and eventually get it made?
ERD: Gerard Brown and I wrote the script in the early 1980s. I wrote it after I had graduated from NYU Film School around 1981. Before I started working, I started writing the script. Actually, it’s an idea that I had had for a long time. But, when I had a summer job and I had to be there at seven o’clock in the morning, I’d see these kids that looked like they’ve been hanging out on the bus all night long. I was just wondering, “What kind of adventures do they get into?” I always thought, “Oh, God, there’s a movie there.”
Then years later, I started writing ‘Juice’. But in 1981, nobody wanted to make it. I took it around and I showed it to some people. They considered it to be too dark, and too much of a rough film. My agent, even he said that there was no way I was going to get this movie made, and ‘Juice’ wound up sitting on the shelf for many years. Then finally around 1991, Gerard got a new agent, She wanted to see what he had written as a screenplay, and he showed her ‘Juice.’ She was amazed that we weren’t able to get this movie made. Then she took it to several different studios that automatically wanted to make it.
When Gerard and I wrote ‘Juice,’ the idea was to use it to premier ourselves as the writer-director team. So, when it went to the different studios and they gave me a list of the directors they wanted to bring in, it was a three page list, and my name was the last one on the third page. Then we started getting notes from the different studios, they wanted to turn it into a comedy. They thought that it would play better as a coming of age comedy, starring young actors who were more well-known on television at that time. Gerard and I, we didn’t like the direction it was going in, we just said, “No,” and we took the script back.
We could have sold it and made a lot of money, but it would’ve meant putting our names on something that we didn’t like, that we wouldn’t have been proud of. You got to wake up and look at yourself in the mirror in the morning. So, we took it back, we said, “Well, that was that.” Then I got a phone call out of the blue, from a young man named David Heyman (‘Gravity, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’), who was looking with a couple of partners of his for their first film as producers. They had gotten a copy of the script and they read it. David called me up and asked me to meet with them to tell them the film that I wanted to make.
We met, and I said, “Well, there’s nobody that we know of who can act in this film.” I said, “It’s got to be shot on location. It takes place in Harlem so we got to shoot it in Harlem, it’s got to be raw, and it’s got to be real. I really think we got to go after unknown actors to really make it feel as realistic as possible.” After saying that, he said he liked it and he asked me if I wanted him to get funding for it. I said, “Yeah.” So, that’s how that started, and then we started going after young unknowns and we shot it all in Harlem.
(L to R) Khalil Kain, Tupac Shakur, Omar Epps, and Jermaine Hopkins in ‘Juice.’
MF: Can you talk about the first time you met Tupac Shakur? What was he like as a person then, and what was he like as an actor on set?
ERD: We found him purely by accident. He came in with someone else. He came in with a guy who came in to read. Tupac didn’t come in to read. He was hanging out with his friend, and I was getting desperate because I wasn’t finding the right actor for Bishop. I said, “Well, what about you, man? You want to read?” He said, “Yeah.”
He ultimately read the part, auditioned and knocked it out the box. It was interesting because later on we found out that he had trained as an actor at the High School of the Performing Arts in Baltimore, and he got the job because he understood the pain underneath the anger that Bishop had. He knew that. What was really interesting, you could tell that Tupac was a student of human nature, he was a student of people, and he would talk to people.
When we started making the movie, if he saw somebody that looked like they were really going through some serious problems in their life, or somebody that just looked interesting, even on the street, he would go over and start talking to them. He always had a notebook, and he was always writing stuff down. I like to think that in talking with people and writing, I think what he was writing became his music that he ultimately shared with the rest of the world.
But he was just really open. He was open to the people in the neighborhood. The whole film we shot in Harlem, and folks in the neighborhood would come around and watch us shoot, and he would spend time talking to them. I think the that’s why he was so successful as a rapper and why there’s so much truth in what he put out as a rapper. Because he was a student of human nature, and he knew the forces that affected people and the decisions that they made or weren’t able to make in their lives.
MF: When you did finally get to make ‘Juice’ in 1991, hip-hop was emerging as the dominate form of music, and you cast a lot of hip-hop artists in the movie including Tupac, Queen Latifah, Eric B., and members of Cyprus Hill. That is something that wouldn’t have happened had the movie been made in 1981. Do you think it was a case of “the right place at the right time?”
ERD: Yeah, it was the right place at the right time. It was interesting because I had just met Queen Latifah when I shot ‘Jungle Fever.’ She had that great scene in Sylvia’s where she played the waitress. She’s my homegirl, she’s from Newark, New Jersey, and it’s interesting because in the script, that part was originally written for Afrika Bambaataa. He was not available, and Latifah was, and had gotten a little bit of the bite of the acting bug having done ‘Jungle Fever.” She was available and we were able to get her.
The other people we were able to get, part of that came from the influence of Keith and Hank Shocklee. They were the masterminds behind Public Enemy‘s sound, and were also doing the musical score for the film. So, just finding those folks was really interesting because they liked what the film was about and they saw that there was a universality to what our story was all about. So, I like to think that they just wanted to be part of it because of that.
MF: What qualities did you see in Omar Epps that made you think he was the right young actor to play Q?
ERD: There was a soulfulness that Omar had and still has, and it’s in the eyes. There was an innocence, but a toughness that was really important, you know? He was 17, a senior in high school, and trying to decide what his juice was going to be, where he was going to go. He was part of a little musical group, so he was at one point thinking that his future might lie in music.
I think he had dabbled in a little bit of theater in the neighborhood or something like that, but I guess ‘Juice’ helped make up his mind for him. Because he did such a beautiful job. You could see everything that he was thinking and what was going through his mind, it was all on his face, and that was the beauty of what he brought to the film.
MF: Finally, you began your career as a cinematographer working with Spike Lee. What did you learn about directing from that experience that prepared you to make ‘Juice?’
ERD: Well, what’s interesting is that a lot of the films that I did as a cinematographer, the directors also acted in them. My very first professional film was ‘The Brother from Another Planet.’ and John Sayles played one of the bounty hunters who’s after Joe Morton, the alien in the film. In film school, Spike never acted in his films, but he did it in ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ because the original actor fell out at the last minute and he couldn’t find anybody else, so he decided to take on that role. It put him in a position where from then on the deals that he made for the films, he had to act in them.
So, whenever that happens, it forces the cinematographer to be the co-director, because I have to be his eyes while he’s in front of the camera. I’ve got to let him know what I see in and what he’s doing, and if it’s working, and the people around him as well.
It really opened my eyes and gave me a whole brand new respect for acting. When we did ‘School Daze,’ which is the film after ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ after shooting I would spend a lot of time talking with the actors like Giancarlo Esposito. We would talk in the hotel bar, and I would talk to him about what I saw him doing, his motivation, and what his character was doing.
It’s something that continued in Spike’s films all the way through. I even worked with the Chinese director, Peter Wang on ‘The Laser Man,’ and he acted in that. So, a lot of times I was forced into this position of being a co-director, so being able to talk with actors was something I think I got from that.
Spike Lee’s latest feature film ‘Da 5 Bloods’ premieres on Netflix this week. The prolific and influential director (who also co-wrote and produced this film) joined cast members Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Jonathan Majors, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Norm Lewis to talk to Moviefone and Made in Hollywood about the new film.
In light of the recent national (and global) protests about police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a new Spike Lee Joint couldn’t be more timely. The film had been shot and edited on schedule, and in May, Lee announced that the film would be released on Netflix in June. But then “the world changed” as Lee says in our interview.
Star Delroy Lindo agrees, saying that the film is now “even more acutely relevant.” Co-star Clarke Peters thinks likewise, telling us “we couldn’t have orchestrated the timing of this coming on out, but those of you who have seen this, understand the importance at this time.”
Actor Jonathan Majors calls Lee a “griot” (a West African historian, singer or storyteller, maintaining an oral tradition and often seen in a leadership role), and says that Lee “may be sensitive to patterns of the world.” And Lindo had similar praise saying “Spike’s got his finger on the pulse.”
Lee and his cast members go on to discuss their shooting locations (Thailand and Vietman), and the energy and collaboration on set, and Lee also shares why it’s so important for him to include historic references and figures in his films.
‘Da 5 Bloods’ will be available on Netflix on June 12, 2020.
Lee created this new short film by intercutting a scene from 1989’s Do the Right Thing portraying Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) getting strangled to death by police with an eyewitness video of New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo strangling Eric Garner to death in 2014 and a more recent eyewitness video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin strangling George Floyd to death on May 25th of this year. Chauvin and the three other Minneapolis officers have been fired and charged in Floyd’s death. NYC officer Pantaleo was never charged in Garner’s death.
Director Spike Lee with actor Clarke Peters on the set of ‘Da 5 Bloods’ premiering on Netflix on June 16.
While speaking to CNN’s Don Lemon, Lee took a moment to speak to the CNN audience directly, saying “How can people not understand why people are acting the way they are? This is not new, we saw with the riots in the ’60s, the assassination of Dr. King, every time something jumps off and we don’t get our justice, people are reacting they way they do to be heard. We are seeing this again and again and again. This is the thing: the killing of black bodies, that is what this country is built upon.”
Lee’s next feature film, ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ will premiere on Netflix on June 16.
