Free Republic

Actress Jurnee Smollett, brother of hate crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett, says HBO’s latest racially charged drama, Lovecraft Country, is a fictional reflection of a segregation and Jim Crow-era America that black people “are still on that quest today in 2020” to overcome. “[Racism] is sometimes even more of a threat because it’s unexpected,” Jurnee Smollett said on a Television Critics Association panel discussing the HBO series, which is set in 1950s. The J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele-produced drama sees black characters face racism while battling the fictional creatures and monsters of Marc Ruff’s famous fiction novel. “It affects your livelihood...

In 1959 Rod Serling's TV series, "The Twilight Zone," made its debut on CBS. Though not a major success at the time, the show that served up horror and science fiction stories as winking tales of contemporary society has taken on legendary status, influencing films and TV ever since. David Pogue looks at how Serling crafted a TV classic with New York Times television critic James Poniewozik, and talks with the writer's daughter, Jodi Serling, about the influence that his hometown, Binghamton, N.Y., had on Serling's allegorical tales. Pogue also talks with Jordan Peele, the writer-comedian behind the Oscar-winning "Get...

This just in: a top Hollywood director said that he does not see himself casting an actor of a certain race as the lead in one of his films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, fresh off the box-office success of the horror movie "Us," director Jordan Peele said he does not see himself casting a "white dude" as the lead in one of his future films. "I don’t see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie," Peele said during an appearance at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood. "Not that I don't like white dudes....

[snip] But there are other kinds of power, and Peele plans on wielding his judiciously. One way is to continue putting black faces on the screen in leading roles. "The way I look at it," he explained, "I get to cast black people in my movies. I feel fortunate to be in this position where I can say to Universal, 'I want to make a $20 million horror movie with a black family.' And they say yes." It's a formula he's not interested in messing with. "I don’t see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie....

Spike Lee, the famed director whose “BlacKkKlansman,” was up for a best picture award at the Oscars on Sunday night, reportedly attempted to storm out of the Dolby Theatre after it was announced that “Green Book” won the award. He walked toward the back of the auditorium and, according to a reporter for Deadline, got into what appeared to be an intense conversation with the writer Jordan Peele. The report said that he turned his back to the stage during the speech.

The reboot of the classic episodic TV show The Twilight Zone will hit CBS All Access on April 1st, and with just over a month to go, CBS has released a full trailer for the series. Get Out director Jordan Peele will host and produce the show, as heard in a surreal TV spot that aired during this year’s Super Bowl. This new teaser shows off a bit more of what to expect from this new effort: a series of surreal, unsettling episodes with a cast that includes Adam Scott, Kumail Nanjiani, John Cho, and Peele himself.

A startling video of former President Obama calling President Trump a “complete dipshit” is a coordinated stunt from filmmaker Jordan Peele as a public service announcement to warn about fake videos. The video appears to show Obama beginning to issue a warning. However, viewers don't hear the former president's voice; instead, Obama’s lips move in sync with Peele's voice. “We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point at time — even if they would never say those things,” Peele says voicing the former president. “So, for instance, they...

Two wise black men butt heads when it becomes apparent that they're both offering advice to the same white guy.