Tag: Ossie Davis

Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING Available on 4k Ultra HD for the First Time on February 2nd

It’s the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can…DO THE RIGHT THING. In 1989, Academy Award® winner and visionary filmmaker Spike Lee mesmerized audiences with one of the most insightful and provocative films of its time, DO THE RIGHT THING. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment continues to celebrate diversity and Black stories by bringing one of the most thought-provoking and groundbreaking films of its time, DO THE RIGHT THING, to 4K Ultra HD for the first time on February 2, 2021. The controversial story centers around one scorching inner-city day, when racial tensions reach the boiling point in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood. Culturally significant and featuring over four hours of bonus features including a brand-new introduction by Director Spike Lee, a retrospective documentary with the original cast and crew, a feature commentary from Lee, deleted and extended scenes, DO THE RIGHT THING captures a vital look at American life. The film will also be available in 4K Ultra HD format on Digital.


DO THE RIGHT THING’s honesty, courage and original perspective on American race relations earned two Academy Award® nominations, including Best Original Screenplay. A powerhouse ensemble cast creates a gallery of unforgettable characters, with standout performances by Danny Aiello (Oscar® nominated for Best-Supporting Actor for his role in the film), Ossie Davis (Get On The Bus), Ruby Dee (American Gangster), Rosie Perez (Fearless), John Turturro (Barton Fink) and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction).


DO THE RIGHT THINGwill be available on 4K Ultra HD combo pack, which includes 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, & Digital Code as well as on Digital
4K Ultra HD is the ultimate movie watching experience. 4K Ultra HD features the combination of 4K resolution for four times sharper picture than HD.

  • Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.
  • Digital lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download.
  • The Movies Anywhere Digital App simplifies and enhances the digital movie collection and viewing experience by allowing consumers to access their favorite digital movies in one place when purchased or redeemed through participating digital retailers. Consumers can also redeem digital copy codes found in eligible Blu-rayTM and DVD disc packages from participating studios and stream or download them through Movies Anywhere.  Movies Anywhere is available only in the United States.

BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD & BLU-RAY™:

  • Brand New Introduction by Director Spike Lee
  • DO THE RIGHT THING: 20 Years Later – Retrospective documentary with the cast and crew
  • Deleted and Extended Scenes – Eleven scenes cut from the final version of the film
  • Behind the Scenes – Spike Lee’s personal video footage from the set of the film
  • Making DO THE RIGHT THING – In-depth documentary on the making of the film
  • Editor Barry Brown – Interview with the editor of DO THE RIGHT THING
  • The Riot Sequence – Storyboard gallery of the climatic riot sequence
  • CANNES, 1989 – Follow the film’s triumphant screening at the prestigious Cannes Film as DO THE RIGHT THING energizes and astonishes audiences with its bold message.
  • Trailers – Original theatrical trailer and TV spots
  • 20th Anniversary edition feature commentary with Director Spike Lee
  • Feature Commentary with Director Spike Lee, Director of Photography Ernest Dickerson, Production Designer Wynn Thomas, and Actor Joie Lee

Actress and Activist Ruby Dee Dead at 91

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Now she can join her long-time husband and acting partner Ossie Davis. Ruby Dee was Mother Sister, the old black woman who observes the neighborhood goings-ons from the window of her tenement in Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING in 1990. In 1950 she played the wife of Jackie Robinson opposite the ball player himself in THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY. Ruby Dee’s seven-decade career included triumphs and awards on stage, screen, print, and in the arena of civil rights. Her many movie credits credits included A RAISIN IN THE SUN (1961), BUCK AND THE PREACHER (1972),and AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007) for which she received an Oscar nom for Best Supporting Actress. Ruby Dee died today 91.

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SAG-AFTRA Mourns the Loss of SAG Life Achievement Award Recipient Ruby Dee in this statement:

SAG-AFTRA today released the following statement on the death of actor, activist and SAG Life Achievement recipient Ruby Dee:

SAG-AFTRA mourns the loss of SAG Life Achievement Award recipient Ruby Dee, who died yesterday at the age of 91. The multitalented Dee distinguished herself as an actor, writer and activist and received the Life Achievement Award in 2000 with husband Ossie Davis. They were only the second husband-and-wife team to win the award, the other being Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in 1985. Dee was predeceased by Davis in 2005.

As she accepted the award, Dee spoke of the power of the acting profession.

“We are artists also, and workers above all. We are image-makers,” She said. “Why can’t we image-makers become peacemakers too? Why cannot we, in such a time as this, use all the magic of our vaunted powers to lift the pistol from the schoolboy’s backpack and replace it with bright images of peace, with images of hope and faith in humankind? Of life lit by some large vision of goodness and beauty and truth?”

“Ruby Dee was truly one of a kind. She was a woman who believed deeply in fairness, a conviction that motivated her lifelong efforts to advance civil rights,” said SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard. “The acting community — and the world — is a poorer place for her loss.”

From Variety:

Ruby Dee, best known for her role in 1961’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and latterly for her Oscar-nominated turn as Denzel Washington’s mother in 2007’s “American Gangster,” died Wednesday in New York. She was 91.

Dee’s Oscar nomination in 2008 for her performance as the feisty mother of a Harlem druglord played by Washington in Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” was particularly impressive because the actress made an impression on the Motion Picture Academy with only 10 minutes of screen time. She won a SAG Award for the same performance.

Dee also won an Emmy in 1991 for her performance in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” movie “Decoration Day.”

She and her husband, Ossie Davis, who often performed together, were among the first generation of African-American actors, led by Sidney Poitier, afforded the opportunity for significant, dignified dramatic roles in films, onstage and on television…….

Read the rest HERE

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/oscar-nominated-actress-ruby-dee-dies-at-91-1201219148/

25th Anniversary of Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING To Be Celebrated By The Academy

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the seminal film DO THE RIGHT THING with writer-director Spike Lee and members of the film’s cast and crew at two special screening events:

June 27 in Los Angeles at the Bing Theater

June 29 in Brooklyn at the BAM Harvey Theater.

Lee’s groundbreaking third feature, set on a single block in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on summer’s hottest day, features a large ensemble cast including Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and then-newcomers John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson and Rosie Perez. It earned Oscar nominations for Original Screenplay (Lee) and Best Supporting Actor (Aiello).

LOS ANGELES (FRIDAY, JUNE 27) 
“Do the Right Thing” 25th Anniversary Screening and Conversation
8:30 p.m. at the Bing Theater on LACMA campus

Moderated by John Singleton

Panel discussion includes Spike Lee, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, casting director Robi Reed, production supervisor Preston Holmes and former Universal executive Tom Pollock.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

NEW YORK (SUNDAY, JUNE 29)
“Do the Right Thing” 25th Anniversary Screening and Conversation for Closing Night of BAMcinemaFest
Co-presentation with BAMcinématek
5 p.m. on the Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater

Moderated by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Panel discussion includes Spike Lee; actors Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn and Rick Aiello; film editor Barry Brown; and production designer Wynn Thomas.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Academy will also host the screening series “By Any Means Necessary: A Spike Lee Joints Retrospective,” beginning with a screening of “25th Hour” (2002) on Thursday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.  The evening also marks the opening of the photography exhibit “WAKE UP! David C. Lee Photographs the Films of Spike Lee,” in the theater foyer through September.

“By Any Means Necessary: A Spike Lee Joints Retrospective” continues July 11–27 at the Linwood Dunn Theater and the Bing Theater in Los Angeles, and June 29–July 10 at BAMcinématek in New York. Visit oscars.org and BAM.org for more information.

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