-Welcome back to the show. Oh, my goodness.
-Thanks for having me again.
Very early on, you had me on
right before the film came out in August.
Here we are. -And here we are.
-Here we are. -Six nominations.
I got to be -- 'Cause I loved -- I mean, yes.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Got to feel good. Yeah, exactly. That's right!
So happy for you, buddy. -Well, it's been a long grind.
-It has been, right? -Yes.
-When did "Do the Right Thing" come out?
-This June 30th will be the 30th anniversary
of "Do the Right Thing."
This year. -Holy mackerel.
-Getting old.
-"BlacKkKlansman" nominated for Best Picture,
Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay,
Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and --
Terence Blanchard, my longtime composer.
Jazz musician, trumpeter.
Barry Brown -- first time he's gotten a nomination, too.
He's my longtime -- He edited "Do the Right Thing."
and "Malcolm X."
This is his first nomination.
-So a lot of this team stuck with you for the whole ride.
-Crew. -Really?
-The squad. -The squad right there.
-The squad.
-I left out, of course, Best Director.
Spike Lee nominated -- Best Director.
Is that a first?
-First time. -First time.
How is that possible?
I don't understand it, but whatever.
I'm just so happy. -My face says it all.
-I want to show it.
There's a video of you and your family
watching the nominations come out,
and this is your reaction when they found out
that "BlacKkKlansman" was nominated.
Here's Spike Lee watching the Oscar nominations
with his family.
Take a look at this.
-"BlacKkKlansman." [ All cheering ]
-Oh! That's what it's all about.
Yeah! That's what it's all about, man.
What does a nomination mean to you?
What would the win for directing mean for you?
-Well, number one, one of the best things about this
is that, again, Terence -- He's been doing my scores
for a long time.
Barry Brown's been editing my films, so --
-The editing was great, too.
-So, we're just moving forward.
And I'd like to say this, though.
Very early on in film school,
because my professors would mess with me,
I never wanted to have people validate my work,
whether it be my professors, critics, the Oscars.
You know, I know what I want to do.
I just wanted to have the --
But then my life built up a body of work,
and now I'm going into my fourth decade.
I said, in film school, at NYU film school,
"I'm not going to let anybody --
give them the power to validate my work."
-Yeah. -Wasn't having it.
-Of course not, but... -But...
-But, but... -But...
But it feels pretty good when people like you.
-Oh, it feels good. It feels good.
It feels good. I'm not gonna front.
I mean, you saw the joy of me jumping up and down
like I was courtside when the Knicks were good.
-But, I mean, this film went to Cannes.
-Right.
-And it got a standing ovation there.
The critics loved it.
I think it's like a 95% at Rotten Tomatoes or whatever.
It's just all -- It's been all good, and it's a well-done film.
-Well, here's the thing, though, is that --
And, Questlove, you know this.
You guys know this -- that you could do your best stuff,
but, sometimes, it takes everything,
the stars to be aligned.
-Right.
-And everything was in-line for this film.
I mean, it's topical.
We still got this guy in The White House, you know,
just got back from the government being, you know,
shut down because of the build some wall that nobody wants.
And so it's very -- And he's in the film, too.
-Yeah, he is. -Not his best moment.
-No, no.
The film does touch on these serious issues
about racism, but, also, it's very funny, as well,
which is a mix.
-Well, here's -- The thing about it, being the humor --
I'm going to use the word "humor," instead of "funny."
When Jordan Peele called me and gave me
possibly the greatest six-word pitch
in the history of the studio system,
Hollywood studio system --
Six words -- "Black man infiltrates Ku Klux Klan."
So the humor comes from the absurdity of the premise.
So it wasn't like we were writing jokes and stuff.
The premise just gives you humor naturally.
-Yeah. It's tough to balance that,
and I think you did a perfect job.
-That's the hardest thing we have in the film,
to balance the tone because of a very serious subject matter,
but, at the same time, there's humor.
But many films have done this.
Stanley Kubrick's
"Dr. Strangelove," a whole bunch.
Even "Do the Right Thing" -- you know, a lot of humor in that.
It was a very serious subject matter.
But it's hard to do, and that's something why
Barry got nominated, because in the editing room,
we would get the right balance of the tone.
-That's correct.
Editing -- I know, for humor, if you don't edit
it the right way, you lose the bits.
But it just worked. It flowed. I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's John David Washington
in Spike Lee's movie "BlacKkKlansman."
Take a look at this.
-Politics? How so?
-Because another way to sell hate...
-What are you doing? -Think about it.
Affirmative Action, immigration, crime, tax reform.
He says no one wants to be called a bigot anymore.
I guess Archie Bunker made that too uncool,
so the idea is under all these issues.
Everyday Americans can accept it.
Support it.
Until, eventually, one day, you get somebody
in The White House that embodies it.
-[ Laughs ] That sucked.
Come on.
America would never elect somebody like David Duke
for President of the United States of America.
-Coming from a black man, that's pretty naive.
-Spike Lee, everybody.
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