Top 70 Quotes about Spike Lee

I’m a huge Spike Lee fan. I saw ‘Do The Right Thing’ twice in the same night when it first came out and had long conversations with all my friends about the issues in it.

I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They’re amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they’d just be amazing documentarians.

I’m from New York, and yet I’ve done only one film executive-produced by Spike Lee and have never done a film that Spike Lee directed. I’ve never done a film that Keenan Wayans has directed, or Bill Duke.

I’m a huge Spike Lee fan. I saw ‘Do The Right Thing’ twice in the same night when it first came out and had long conversations with all my friends about the issues in it.

Spike Lee is obviously more stupid than anyone can be by accident.

Ah, there’s a director. Astonishing, Spike Lee. A feisty guy, but a guy who’s, I think, incredibly misunderstood. I think people review his politics or his color as opposed to his filmmaking sometimes. Because he’s a wonderful, wonderful filmmaker and a lover of the art.

Spike Lee is obviously more stupid than anyone can be by accident.

I’m going to have to call up Spike Lee. I did a cameo for him in ‘Malcolm X,’ and I’m trying to get him to do my life story and the history of the Black Panther Party.

I look at the stories that Spike Lee tells… Great stories. Great director, great storyteller.

It is fun, I learned, to stroll around with Spike Lee and to gauge other people’s reactions. Everyone recognizes him.

When I started at Pratt, Spike Lee had his 40 Acres and A Mule studios down the street. You’d see Rosie Perez walking around going to Mike’s Coffee Shop. So it was this black bohemian.

I am what I am as a writer because of Norman Lear and Spike Lee. Norman Lear in particular.

More than anything, I want to keep working with people of talent like Craig Gillespie, Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood. But there’s also those long-dreamt-of moments: I’d love to host ‘Saturday Night Live,’ I’d love to do a Penguin stand-alone movie at Warner Bros., I’d love to do a Teddy Roosevelt biopic.

Most of the great directors I’ve worked with – De Palma, Spike Lee – like rehearsals.

I’m interested to see what happens to Spike Lee with limited resources, you know? I love Spike Lee’s movies. But you know what? I kinda liked his movies when he used to scramble and fight more for them.

I like Spike Lee a lot. He’s incredibly gifted and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves as a filmmaker.

I guess I feel like it’s a gift to meet those talented artists like George Lucas and Oliver Stone, Spike Lee and Richard Kelly. Even if it’s a small role, it’s a gift to be working that closely with them.

I got a call saying that George Lucas wanted to meet me. Of all the phone calls I’ve received – Oliver Stone wants to meet you; Spike Lee wants to meet you – that was the one call I never in a million years thought was going to happen.

‘Straight Outta Compton’ is my first biopic, my first period piece, and I got a chance to kind of get out there like some of my idols, you know, like Scorsese, Spielberg, Spike Lee, the guys who came before me. You know, I’m feeling good about it.

I felt a little anxious/nervous representing a real person in a Spike Lee film.

Working with Spike Lee was a dream of mine. It was amazing to be able to collaborate with such a visionary.

My heroes were people like Jim Jarmusch. Scorsese was my god. Spike Lee was exciting, doing exactly what we thought we were going to do: personal movies based in, and about, New York. My heroes were all participating in an economic model that was collapsing as I was finishing film school.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from both Spike Lee and Tarantino, it’s that you can wear your influences on your sleeve but at the same time invoke new energy and new flavor.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from both Spike Lee and Tarantino, it’s that you can wear your influences on your sleeve but at the same time invoke new energy and new flavor.

‘Miracle at St. Anna.’ I was challenged by Spike Lee. When he offered me the film, he looked me square in the eye and said, ‘You start this film off and you end this film. I don’t want a dry eye in the theatre. Can you pull that off?’ He was dead serious.

In my opinion, Spike Lee is a national cultural treasure – to the black community in particular but to America in general.

Working with Spike Lee was a dream of mine. It was amazing to be able to collaborate with such a visionary.

David Benioff can hardly be classified as an underdog. The 2002 film adaptation of his first novel, ‘The 25th Hour,’ was directed by Spike Lee and starred Edward Norton.

I am what I am as a writer because of Norman Lear and Spike Lee. Norman Lear in particular.

In my opinion, Spike Lee is a national cultural treasure – to the black community in particular but to America in general.

I’m going to have to call up Spike Lee. I did a cameo for him in ‘Malcolm X,’ and I’m trying to get him to do my life story and the history of the Black Panther Party.

It’s been a twisty-turny path for me. I was studying to be a history professor, and then I left that, went to film school, and tried to be like my heroes, like, Spike Lee and Hal Hartly.

Spike Lee is a master of tone, so basically, if he wants to do something, he should do it, and Imma listen.

There’s a whole network of people, particularly in New York, obviously, that came up through the Spike Lee School. I’m one of them. That’s big!

‘Malcolm X’ is my favorite Spike Lee movie.

Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw that I was different. I learned that oftentimes, Spike directs in a sense that he might just stare at you and look at you in a telepathic way of communicating.

On a Spike Lee set, everybody seems to want to be there and is motivated to work in unison and do the best they can.

Everybody knows when you’ve got a role in a Spike Lee movie, you’re gonna blow up. But I happen to be the only person who’s had the lead in the two Spike Lee movies nobody saw.

So many people – DPs, writers, and the assistants that go on to be directors and writers – come from the School of Spike Lee. He’s almost set up an Institution of Spike Lee.

I’ve been working with good directors – the Wachowski brothers, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Mel Gibson… I love American movies, but I love European movies, too, and I want to do both.

Most of the great directors I’ve worked with – De Palma, Spike Lee – like rehearsals.

It is fun, I learned, to stroll around with Spike Lee and to gauge other people’s reactions. Everyone recognizes him.

So many people – DPs, writers, and the assistants that go on to be directors and writers – come from the School of Spike Lee. He’s almost set up an Institution of Spike Lee.

Spike Lee listens a lot. He’s one of the quietest creative people I’ve ever met.

David Benioff can hardly be classified as an underdog. The 2002 film adaptation of his first novel, ‘The 25th Hour,’ was directed by Spike Lee and starred Edward Norton.

I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They’re amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they’d just be amazing documentarians.

I was a pretentious teenager, so of course I had, you know, ‘Raging Bull’ posters and all of that. ‘Raging Bull’ is not a pretentious movie, but me having the poster was a pretentious action. I even grew a goatee and had a Knicks cap, because I thought I wanted to be like Spike Lee.

I got a call saying that George Lucas wanted to meet me. Of all the phone calls I’ve received – Oliver Stone wants to meet you; Spike Lee wants to meet you – that was the one call I never in a million years thought was going to happen.

I’ve been working with good directors – the Wachowski brothers, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Mel Gibson… I love American movies, but I love European movies, too, and I want to do both.

When I started at Pratt, Spike Lee had his 40 Acres and A Mule studios down the street. You’d see Rosie Perez walking around going to Mike’s Coffee Shop. So it was this black bohemian.

Spike Lee really gave us a platform, men and women of color.

I’m from New York, and yet I’ve done only one film executive-produced by Spike Lee and have never done a film that Spike Lee directed. I’ve never done a film that Keenan Wayans has directed, or Bill Duke.

Sometimes I’ve done small parts, like with Spike Lee, but it doesn’t matter because you want to work with the director.

My heroes were people like Jim Jarmusch. Scorsese was my god. Spike Lee was exciting, doing exactly what we thought we were going to do: personal movies based in, and about, New York. My heroes were all participating in an economic model that was collapsing as I was finishing film school.

‘Malcolm X’ is my favorite Spike Lee movie.

Spike Lee is one of my biggest influences. What I love about Spike, other than he’s just a fun guy to hang around, is that Spike is fearless. As much as people talk about him being politically outspoken, let’s not forget that he’s one of the best screenwriters, ever, in addition to being a visual master.