Put in the Work with Spike Lee

On this very special episode of IMO, legendary filmmaker Spike Lee joins the podcast to discuss his new film Highest 2 Lowest. He shares how his childhood shaped his art, behind-the-scenes stories of Do the Right Thing and BlacKkKlansman, and his favoriteNew York sports stories. Plus, Michelle and Craig discover a very small world (and highly influential) connection with Spike. Have a question you want answered? Write to us at imopod.com http://imopod.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I have something called, I don't have this slexia. I have something else.

• 0:06Craig Robinson?

  What is that?

• 0:06Speaker 00

  This slip it. Should be slipping.

• 0:13Craig Robinson?

  You medical term.

• 0:14Speaker 00

  Him setting that up.

• 0:21Michelle Obama?

  This episode is brought to you by Colaguard and Chase Home Lending.

• 0:27Craig Robinson?

  Well, hello.

• 0:28Michelle Obama?

  Craig Robinson.

• 0:30Craig Robinson?

  Michelle Obama, how are you?

• 0:31Michelle Obama?

  In my opinion, I am delighted to be here.

• 0:36Craig Robinson?

  Ah, that's cute. I am so happy to see you in your bright yellow.

• 0:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, I got a little yellow, got a little sparkle going on.

• 0:43Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 0:44Michelle Obama?

  It's like, yeah, I think, yeah, I felt like dressing up for our guests today.

• 0:49Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 0:50Michelle Obama?

  What's been going on with you?

• 0:52Craig Robinson?

  Not much. I've been, actually, I've been on the road with the kids for summer hoops.

• 0:59Michelle Obama?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:00Craig Robinson?

  So there's been a little bit more than usual, but loving my time popping in to say hi to you and a couple of guests. So really excited, you know,

• 1:14Craig Robinson?

  you're, you're in quickly like I am traveling and I'm staying at this Airbnb in Georgetown. And it's really neat, but you know what's really neat? Other than being able to walk around the neighborhood and get a coffee or get something to eat and everything's in walking distance. Even our dinner last night. But our, the, our, the host lives nearby and he was kind enough to come by and say hello.

• 1:49Michelle Obama?

  Oh, that's nice.

• 1:50Craig Robinson?

  And give me a tour of the spot. It was really neat and we've been so busy. I haven't been able to take him up on it, but I will, I will do that the next time I'm here because I think I'll stay here again.

• 2:02Michelle Obama?

  Well, that's kind of the, um, that experience when we think about when we had Brian Chesky on, who's the

• 2:10Michelle Obama?

  Founder and CEO of Airbnb. It sounds like your experience is more along the lines of what, how he initially envisioned the Airbnb experience.

• 2:23Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 2:24Michelle Obama?

  That you would actually stay in the home of someone and kind of get to know them.

• 2:30Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 2:30Michelle Obama?

  Right?

• 2:31Craig Robinson?

  It's more communal.

• 2:32Michelle Obama?

  More communal. And I think this is the first time you've met the host.

• 2:37Craig Robinson?

  This is.

• 2:37Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 2:38Craig Robinson?

  And so you know what? It feels less transactional.

• 2:41Michelle Obama?

  Mm hmm.

• 2:42Craig Robinson?

  You know, it was really, really nice. And I would encourage owners to do that.

• 2:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah. Well, shout out to the Airbnb, Airbnb host in Georgetown, who is looking after my, my big brother. Thank you for making him feel at home. So we got, we got, we got a good conversation planned for, for this episode.

• 3:04Craig Robinson?

  We do, we do. This is not only going to be good, this is going to be a fun conversation. I'm looking, really looking forward to it. Spike Lee is an Academy Award winning director, producer, writer, actor, and author who helped revolutionize modern black filmmaking. He's a graduate of Morehouse College and New York University's Tisch School of Arts, where he is a tenured professor of film and artistic director. His newest film is Highest to Lowest, streaming now on Apple TV Plus. And you and I both got to.

• 3:42Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, we're gonna, we get to talk to him about that.

• 3:44Craig Robinson?

  So I can't wait to talk to him.

• 3:46Michelle Obama?

  It's a great project.

• 3:47Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, so without any further ado, Mr. Spike Lee.

• 3:53Michelle Obama?

  The one, the only, in the flesh, on the. Spike?

• 3:59Speaker 00

  Sis.

• 4:00Michelle Obama?

  Love you, sweetie. Love you, love you.

• 4:02Speaker 00

  My man, brother man.

• 4:03Michelle Obama?

  Thank you for this.

• 4:05Speaker 00

  No, we'll have.

• 4:06Michelle Obama?

  So we.

• 4:07Speaker 00

  Thank you for.

• 4:08Michelle Obama?

  Well, we concocted this, this visit just a couple of days ago. Cause Spike and Tanya came over. We were having a little, having a little meal.

• 4:18Speaker 00

  A little something, something, something.

• 4:18Michelle Obama?

  A little something, something like we do in the vineyard. Cause I love Spike, but I love Tanya even more, probably a little. Yeah, she, she a little.

• 4:26Speaker 00

  I understand.

• 4:26Michelle Obama?

  You, you should.

• 4:27Speaker 00

  I understand.

• 4:28Michelle Obama?

  You should understand, because Tanya is real, the real star.

• 4:31Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, she's, she's.

• 4:32Michelle Obama?

  Beautiful, smart.

• 4:33Craig Robinson?

  Yes, yes.

• 4:33Michelle Obama?

  You know, you start wondering, how'd you do that, Spike?

• 4:38Speaker 00

  Tell her you had some game back in the day.

• 4:41Speaker 00

  We just met each other and time stopped.

• 4:44Michelle Obama?

  Did, okay, alright, I was going, so tell us, okay, tell us the origin story.

• 4:51Speaker 00

  Well, I was in for the Congressional Black Caucus weekend. Okay. And I was there to show a couple scenes from Malcolm X. I had a date.

• 5:05Michelle Obama?

  Oh.

• 5:06Speaker 00

  So, as I was going to the restroom,

• 5:11Speaker 00

  and she was going to restroom,

• 5:16Speaker 00

  we saw each other. Okay.

• 5:19Michelle Obama?

  Where was your date?

• 5:21Speaker 00

  She said I could go to miserable with me.

• 5:23Michelle Obama?

  You left her in the chair. It's like, you wait here.

• 5:27Speaker 00

  No, I said I have to go to restroom, so. We paused and looked at each other. And so,

• 5:36Speaker 00

  I got up there and, you know, gave her a little speech and we showed the clip and people love the film. Denzel Washington's, Denzel's Malcolm, come on now. Yeah.

• 5:46Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 5:48Speaker 00

  And so,

• 5:50Speaker 00

  night went on and

• 5:53Speaker 00

  I was looking for, looking for time the rest of the night, but it was time to go.

• 6:00Speaker 00

  So, I'm going down the escalator.

• 6:04Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:05Speaker 00

  With my date at night.

• 6:07Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:08Speaker 00

  And she's going up the escalator.

• 6:10Michelle Obama?

  Mm.

• 6:13Speaker 00

  So I said, I got to the bottom, well, we, we, we, we, we looked at each other.

• 6:17Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:18Speaker 00

  Like, it was like this.

• 6:21Michelle Obama?

  Truly ships passing.

• 6:23Speaker 00

  Yeah, it wasn't no, no googly eyes, nothing like that, but it was just a look. So I got to the bottom of the elevator on the escalator.

• 6:32Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:33Speaker 00

  I said, you know what?

• 6:37Speaker 00

  I forgot my Montblanc pen.

• 6:38Michelle Obama?

  Oh, man.

• 6:42Michelle Obama?

  You lied.

• 6:43Speaker 00

  No, he acted. He's an actor. He's like, no.

• 6:47Michelle Obama?

  Really, but this is a moonblow. You know what my set pay costs back then? Right. I had that type of money.

• 6:54Speaker 00

  And we exchanged numbers.

• 7:00Speaker 00

  And the rest is history, herstory.

• 7:01Michelle Obama?

  Okay. I never heard that story. I like that story.

• 7:05Speaker 00

  It's the truth.

• 7:06Michelle Obama?

  Now I gotta get her version of it. I'm gonna do that when we get back to the vineyard.

• 7:12Michelle Obama?

  That's beautiful. Spike is my brother. We've gotten to know each other.

• 7:21Speaker 00

  Over the years.

• 7:22Michelle Obama?

  Over the years and real getting to know, you know, because it's.

• 7:27Speaker 00

  And I'd like to say on behalf of Ty and I, we were on the island and we get an invitation from our peoples, our folks. They're like, we're going.

• 7:39Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, so we concocted this episode visit over dinner.

• 7:45Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 7:46Michelle Obama?

  We were talking about the new film, which we'll get into.

• 7:49Speaker 00

  Can I just jump real quick?

• 7:50Michelle Obama?

  Please.

• 7:51Speaker 00

  Can we talk about your first date?

• 7:53Michelle Obama?

  Well, you know.

• 7:57Michelle Obama?

  Because who hasn't heard about this first date? But this is another reason, another thing that connects us.

• 8:04Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 8:05Michelle Obama?

  The Obamas deeply to the Lees and to Spike in particular.

• 8:09Speaker 00

  When I see Barack, I say, good thing, good thing you made that movie. No, good thing you say we're going to see Driving the Daisy.

• 8:20Speaker 00

  That is a wrong move. My sister had Driving the Daisy.

• 8:24Michelle Obama?

  It's like, excuse me. Excuse me. Well, as the story goes, I wasn't real clear that it was appropriate for me to date my husband, right? Because we worked in the same place.

• 8:38Speaker 00

  Right.

• 8:38Michelle Obama?

  You know, we probably want a handful of black folks. But he was persistent and he said, you know, who cares what these folks think, you know? We want to go out. We should just give it a shot. So I acquiesced and he planned a beautiful day. Didn't even know, it was sort of one of those dates that go on and on. Started with lovely. Time spent at the Art Institute, you know, he was showing all his sides, you know, his cultural artistic side, he was bringing it. He was macking.

• 9:09Speaker 00

  That's the word.

• 9:11Michelle Obama?

  You know, walking slowly as he, you know, noticed things in the Monet and the this and the that, and then we had lunch in the courtyard in the Art Institute, and if you know Chicago, it's one magnificent mile, so down Michigan Avenue from the Art Institute is on the south end. We strolled all the way north, walking, talking, all the way. You know, the evening starts, the day is starting to unfold, I'm starting to see new sides of him, I'm starting to look at him a different way. I think we had dinner at Lake Point Tower, which is further down, lovely, sky view, so nice restaurant, good food. And then he says we should take in a movie, Do the Right Thing, had just come out, it

• 9:54Michelle Obama?

  was the first weekend. And if anybody knows anything about Spike Lee and his movies, you know, they were a happening. They, they still are a happening. And so, Do the Right Thing was a thing you had to see. And the fact that this brother was hip to the fact that we needed to see it on its opening night, it was impressive. So we watched the movie, it was phenomenal, you know. Did Lucky do the right thing? He did, he did the right thing. Throw in the garbage can, do Sal's, save his piece in rear window?

• 10:37Michelle Obama?

  But then after, because Do the Right Thing is the kind of movie that after you watch it, you, you gotta talk about it, you know? I mean, and now you find out, you know, I found out his character, you know, did he see what I see? Did he have the feelings that I felt? Did he, did he get what I got out of the movie? So we talked for hours after the movie, like everyone would, would tend to do, and I would say that that date probably sealed the deal. Wasn't Dr. Miss Daisy, right? Was not Dr. Miss Daisy. The Caddy Award winner.

• 11:08Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 11:09Michelle Obama?

  Best Picture, Dr. Miss Daisy. Yeah, yeah, no, that, that didn't do it. It was Spike Lee's joint. Thank you, Spike, for that. No, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

• 11:19Speaker 00

  I like it, Spike is like, I wanna hear that story.

• 11:23Craig Robinson?

  But this is the first time I ever heard it from my sister. I read about it. Oh.

• 11:31Michelle Obama?

  But wasn't it last summer, the two summers ago, you gave us the sign?

• 11:35Craig Robinson?

  The street sign.

• 11:35Michelle Obama?

  The street sign. You know, which was, we got, this is, you know, this is like, you know, fancy friends. Because you gave us a do the right thing, street sign from the.

• 11:49Craig Robinson?

  Street got renamed, do the right thing.

• 11:50Michelle Obama?

  We got renamed. We got a sign that is signed by Spike Lee. It's in, it's in the, the house in the vineyard.

• 11:58Craig Robinson?

  Well, you know.

• 11:59Michelle Obama?

  Thank you for that.

• 11:59Craig Robinson?

  Thank you. Spike is a thoughtful person. And now I haven't known him as long as you have. But I will tell our audience that when we had dinner together at your house on the vineyard. Spike found out from my wife that our two youngest kids, Austin and Aaron, were big Knicks fans and Spike Lee fans. And the funny thing is, and everybody who's our age is gonna laugh at this. They weren't old enough to watch your movies yet at that time. I hope not.

• 12:31Craig Robinson?

  He said, I hope not. But then you remember what you said? He was like, they can watch Crooklyn. That's the one. That's the one. They can watch Crooklyn. That's it. And you were, he was as protective of them as we were, and he made the movies. That was what was funny. But you, I don't know if you remember this, but you, and, and, well, I'm jumping around here. The funny part is, they only know you as a Knicks super fan.

• 12:59Michelle Obama?

  That's your claim to fame.

• 13:01Craig Robinson?

  That was your claim to fame to them. So when they heard they were coming over to dinner, they were excited. So what does Spike do? He takes a stroll with them in your backyard about.

• 13:14Craig Robinson?

  Seventy-five yards down and back and just talk. And you can see Spike, one's on one side, one's on the other. And who's doing all the talking? Spike. And then you see the guy saying something and you see and.

• 13:28Michelle Obama?

  We're all wondering, what are those two doing?

• 13:29Craig Robinson?

  What are those three talking about?

• 13:32Speaker 00

  How old were they at that time?

• 13:33Craig Robinson?

  So that, this was how many years ago? Three years ago?

• 13:36Michelle Obama?

  I don't.

• 13:36Craig Robinson?

  So they were probably twelve and ten. Is there fifteen and thirteen now?

• 13:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 13:43Craig Robinson?

  They can see quicker. But, but they're almost at the point, thanks to Malia. They goes, she wants them to see some R-rated stuff, so.

• 13:51Speaker 00

  That wasn't me, man.

• 13:52Craig Robinson?

  I know, I know it wasn't you. They're older now. They're older now. But, but my point is, you're, you, I mean, you haven't known me. You are a generous soul because.

• 14:04Michelle Obama?

  And kids are very important to you. I mean, anytime there are young people, you know, in our presence. Spike, you, I know, you will go, you, you, you bird's eye to the young people. And now, Tanya says that's because you are a big old kid yourself.

• 14:21Craig Robinson?

  Oh, she's a.

• 14:24Speaker 00

  She said more than that.

• 14:29Michelle Obama?

  Spike, you are crazy.

• 14:32Speaker 00

  It could've been thirty years.

• 14:38Michelle Obama?

  Oh, man, I'm gonna get you out of trouble. Well, Spike, what is, what's your favorite film that you have made? Or do you have a favorite? I know you probably get this all the time, but we've never talked about this.

• 14:52Craig Robinson?

  I'm wondering if I could turn your question around.

• 14:54Michelle Obama?

  Please.

• 15:02Craig Robinson?

  This back-to-school season, spend less on your kids with Amazon. You know, Mish, I've had such fond memories of our kids' first day of school. And I'm just thinking back to when. We would get them ready and go shopping for school supplies. And how excited they got over a new T-shirt.

• 15:23Michelle Obama?

  I know, right, right.

• 15:24Craig Robinson?

  A new pair of shorts.

• 15:25Michelle Obama?

  Pencils, all the excitement over decorating their lockers. One of the things that I used to do in preparation for school, because our summers in the White House got pretty exciting. I mean, it was usually when we did an international trip because the girls were away. So summers were fun. It was camp. And I found that a couple of years, they weren't mentally ready to get back to school because they were having so much fun.

• 15:51Craig Robinson?

  Right.

• 15:52Michelle Obama?

  Right? So I started employing a strategy that fun had to stop two weeks before school started. So that they would be no fun, no, nothing planned, just bored. So that by the end of that two weeks, they would be begging me to go to school. So I learned, I learned that strategy because if it's fun up until the end, they're like, why would we want summer to stop?

• 16:17Craig Robinson?

  That's tough.

• 16:18Michelle Obama?

  And when we were growing up, we were always ready for school because summers would drag on forever.

• 16:23Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, because even when we went to day camp, that ended in the, in the July. So August was like.

• 16:29Michelle Obama?

  You had dead space.

• 16:30Craig Robinson?

  You had to figure out your own plane. Well, I, I, I tell you, these kids have, have really been spoiled with vacations and all this great stuff. But I really look forward to back to school. And, and the excitement at our house now, it's more about what day you get your haircut. You gotta get the fresh cut close enough to the start of school so that it's still fresh. And for us this year, it's going to be a tough one because it's the weekend of Labor Day.

• 17:02Michelle Obama?

  Oh, it's very dicey.

• 17:04Craig Robinson?

  Those fresh, those fresh haircuts are going to be like four or five days old by the time they get to school.

• 17:08Michelle Obama?

  And then there was just the back to school shopping, which I must say, cannot relate to because as First Lady, it was very hard for me to do the back to school shopping with the motorcade and police and all of that.

• 17:22Craig Robinson?

  I remember when we used to run around to a million different stores chasing down spiral notebooks, lunchboxes, calculators. Now with Amazon, everything you could ever need can be purchased from anywhere you are. You can be on vacation, a sports field, and get all of it delivered fast, right to your doorstep. One click, no stress. And with Amazon's low back-to-school prices, you can spend less on your kids.

• 17:51Michelle Obama?

  Who could ask for anything more?

• 17:59Speaker 00

  When people come up, total strangers come up to me. More people say Brooklyn than any other film.

• 18:06Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, wow.

• 18:07Speaker 00

  Right name, Malcolm X. It's just that, that, that family.

• 18:13Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 18:14Speaker 00

  That's the film people love. And not just black folks, it's just that, that family.

• 18:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 18:18Speaker 00

  And, and Deroy played my father. And Alvin Wood played my mother. And so, uh, my mother had to be the tough cop. Cause my father is like, Daddy, cue your mother. When, oh yeah, go ahead, but just don't hurt yourself.

• 18:34Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 18:35Speaker 00

  So she was forced to be the cop. And so, we grew up sometimes, like, not liking our mother.

• 18:43Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 18:43Speaker 00

  Cause she let us do nothing.

• 18:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 18:46Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 18:47Speaker 00

  I'm also fine. We were crazy.

• 18:49Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 18:50Speaker 00

  We were just, wow, Brooklyn kids. They were like, and my mother had to be a disciplinarian because otherwise, we would, we'd, it would not have been good.

• 19:00Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 19:02Speaker 00

  And so, I feel bad, like, we saw, all of us saw our mothers as a bad.

• 19:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 19:09Speaker 00

  The sheriff.

• 19:09Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 19:10Speaker 00

  Cause we, she, she wouldn't let us do nothing.

• 19:12Michelle Obama?

  And so, you mad at her? And she's holding it down for everybody.

• 19:16Speaker 00

  Holding it down. Hold it down.

• 19:19Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 19:19Speaker 00

  So that's, that's, that's why I think people think Brooklyn. These total strangers just come and say, say.

• 19:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 19:26Speaker 00

  They name them all, it says, uh, my favorite is.

• 19:29Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 19:30Speaker 00

  Brooklyn. And not just black folks too, just.

• 19:33Michelle Obama?

  Did you always want to know that you wanted to go to, to be a filmmaker?

• 19:37Speaker 00

  No, that came later. I just went to the movies.

• 19:39Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 19:42Speaker 00

  Well, I went to the movies. I mean, this is, you know, screaming. I mean, this is like the early sixties, so. It's, you know what I tell you, when I say? Film chose me, cinema chose me. It wasn't, I didn't choose cinema.

• 19:56Michelle Obama?

  How so?

• 19:59Speaker 00

  Summer of nineteen seventy seven. One of the most infamous summers of New York's history. And I had a friend, her name is Vietta Johnson, smart.

• 20:12Michelle Obama?

  Do you wish?

• 20:12Speaker 00

  Did she go to Princeton? Yes. Let me tell the story, let me tell the story.

• 20:17Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 20:18Speaker 00

  So Vietta and I grew up together.

• 20:20Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 20:21Speaker 00

  And went to Stuyvesant, the top high school in New York. Yeah, Stuyvesant High School, yeah. Broken Tech was on my block, my office is Stuyvesant in the science. Yeah. And so she was always smart. And that summer, New York City was broke. There's a famous front page of Daily News. Ford, the city drop dead, that's President Ford.

• 20:46Speaker 00

  So I came up for the summer and there were no summer jobs. So I wanted to come make some money so I could have some fresh clothes going back to school.

• 20:55Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 20:55Speaker 00

  In the fall.

• 20:58Speaker 00

  And that summer, all we would do was play sports, you know, stickball, stoopball, stuff like that. And this day changed my life, there's no BS. I went to see Vietta. She was, she lived in a university towers on the other side of Fork Green Park. Rang the bus, said, come on up. So she's studying for some test, S A T whatever it was. So we're sitting in her living room and there's a box, this is a true story. This day changed my life. So what's in that box? She said, oh, it's a Super 8 camera my father gave me. I don't want it.

• 21:36Speaker 00

  So what's in the other box? It's the cartridges for the Super 8. You can have it.

• 21:41Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 21:42Speaker 00

  Your father gave it to you, he gave it to me, but I'm gonna be a doctor. Right.

• 21:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:49Speaker 00

  She was studying for some L S A T, whatever it was.

• 21:54Speaker 00

  And so now I had something to do for the summer.

• 21:56Michelle Obama?

  Wow, wow. How old were you?

• 21:59Speaker 00

  I was uh. So seventy seven.

• 22:01Michelle Obama?

  Oh yeah, you had to be, you had to be a junior.

• 22:02Speaker 00

  Twenty is old, I was born fifty seven.

• 22:04Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 22:05Speaker 00

  So now I had something to do. So I spent the whole summer filming.

• 22:10Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 22:11Speaker 00

  And that summer was a summer of the blackout.

• 22:13Michelle Obama?

  Uh-huh.

• 22:15Speaker 00

  So when it happened, my father drove me around to see my fellow Bahuikwas, Puerto Ricans. Mm-hmm. And my brother and sisters looting. I had it all, driving cars, Cadillacs out through the wind, I mean.

• 22:30Michelle Obama?

  So you were in the middle of the looting, catching it all?

• 22:33Speaker 00

  Yes. So I come back to school for my junior year and I declared my major, mass communications. More, more than had that, but I clocked across the street.

• 22:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 22:46Speaker 00

  So I declared myself mass communications, mass communications, which is film, TV, print journalism and radio. Okay. And this teacher, help, turn out, his name is still Dr. Herb Eichelberger.

• 23:02Speaker 00

  I told him about this footage I have, he said, you should make a documentary. He encouraged me. On days where he didn't have to work, he would come in and open up the office, the center for film. So I made this, the film was called Last Hustle in Brooklyn, Omar's Last Hustle in Paris, Brando. Anyway, none of that, none of that stuff in that Brando.

• 23:23Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 23:24Speaker 00

  But I made the film, worked on it first semester, the spring semester, I showed it my class. And that, that got a response. So then in there I said, I'm gonna be a filmmaker.

• 23:37Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 23:38Speaker 00

  So I was focused.

• 23:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 23:41Speaker 00

  Graduate Morehouse, I wanna go to film school. I applied to the three best film schools. USC, da, da, da, da.

• 23:51Speaker 00

  And by American Film Institute, and NYU. Okay. At that time, to get into AFI and USC, you had to get an astronomical score on a GRE. Okay. I did not get the astronomical score. NYU, all you had to do is submit a, or create a portfolio. Oh, and you had your documentary?

• 24:09Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 24:10Speaker 00

  And I could, first of all, I, at that time, I even had my driver's license, so it would have been crazy being in LA.

• 24:14Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 24:16Speaker 00

  But now I'm. Typical New Yorker.

• 24:18Michelle Obama?

  I know, really. That's how I thought. It's like, what was I thinking?

• 24:21Speaker 00

  I was like, wait a minute, aren't you? Drivers' lights, because Kanye said, "I'm tired of driving you around."

• 24:27Michelle Obama?

  Driving you around. You just barely got to your right, right?

• 24:32Speaker 00

  Well, we don't need a driver's license, you know. Typical New Yorker.

• 24:36Michelle Obama?

  That's right. So USC is out.

• 24:40Speaker 00

  So, came to NYU. Ang Lee and Ernest Dixon were my class. Ernest shot all my stuff.

• 24:49Michelle Obama?

  Ang Lee was in your class, yeah.

• 24:53Speaker 00

  Ernest from Howard. So right away, Morris from Howard, we were like.

• 24:55Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 24:57Speaker 00

  So Ernest shot all my stuff. My thesis film was a film called Joe's Bedside Bowers. We cut heads. Won a Stewart Academy Award. Then later Ernest shot for me together. She's the Habit, School Days, Do Right Thing, Mobeta Blues, Jungle Fever, and Malcolm X.

• 25:14Michelle Obama?

  Man.

• 25:15Speaker 00

  So.

• 25:16Michelle Obama?

  All because Vieta gave you her father's camera, you know?

• 25:20Speaker 00

  That was not an accident.

• 25:23Michelle Obama?

  So wait.

• 25:23Speaker 00

  That was not some happenstance. That was God, Allah, whatever you want to call it.

• 25:28Michelle Obama?

  All right, so crazy connection. Vieta Johnson was one of my brother's first girlfriends at Princeton.

• 25:37Speaker 00

  Did she run track then too?

• 25:38Michelle Obama?

  She ran track. He is a, I've never said it publicly, ever.

• 25:43Speaker 00

  But.

• 25:44Michelle Obama?

  Hey, Vieta, by the way. I've never even told Vieta that. Oh, she doesn't know?

• 25:49Speaker 00

  She never knew I liked her.

• 25:50Michelle Obama?

  You liked Vieta? Everybody liked her.

• 25:54Speaker 00

  Everybody liked her.

• 25:56Michelle Obama?

  I didn't like her. I liked it in her. You liked it. You liked it, liked it.

• 26:00Speaker 00

  You liked it in her.

• 26:01Michelle Obama?

  Well, that was Craig's girlfriend. See, that's why y'all like each other. I liked it in her.

• 26:05Speaker 00

  That's Black Roses and some Puerto Ricans, it's really, that's Rosie Perez. I liked that, I liked it in her.

• 26:10Michelle Obama?

  That is crazy. And then, what happened?

• 26:14Michelle Obama?

  With Vietta?

• 26:15Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 26:16Michelle Obama?

  He tried to get in your business.

• 26:17Craig Robinson?

  It didn't work out. Didn't work out.

• 26:18Michelle Obama?

  Clearly.

• 26:19Craig Robinson?

  She dropped me. But that's okay.

• 26:22Speaker 00

  Join the club.

• 26:25Michelle Obama?

  He was a younger.

• 26:26Speaker 00

  That's the only hard club.

• 26:28Craig Robinson?

  Kindred spirits. I was too young for her.

• 26:30Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. He was a freshman.

• 26:32Speaker 00

  You know where she's from, right?

• 26:34Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 26:34Speaker 00

  Where?

• 26:35Craig Robinson?

  Brooklyn.

• 26:36Speaker 00

  The People's Republic. Well, the People's Republic of Brooklyn. That might have been a little, that might have been a little, that might have been a little reachy.

• 26:45Michelle Obama?

  Well, I'm glad we shared that because Vietta should know.

• 26:47Craig Robinson?

  I know that. She should know that story.

• 26:49Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 26:49Speaker 00

  But I think about that, you know? Life go this way.

• 26:54Michelle Obama?

  That's right.

• 26:55Speaker 00

  If.

• 26:55Michelle Obama?

  You knocked on her door.

• 26:57Speaker 00

  That day.

• 26:59Craig Robinson?

  No, rang, rang.

• 27:00Michelle Obama?

  Ringed the bell, sorry. Yes, ringed the bell.

• 27:02Speaker 00

  But if her father.

• 27:03Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 27:03Speaker 00

  Did not give her that Super 8 camera.

• 27:06Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 27:07Speaker 00

  I wouldn't be here.

• 27:08Michelle Obama?

  You wouldn't be here.

• 27:09Craig Robinson?

  Or if she was interested in the camera herself.

• 27:12Michelle Obama?

  And she, Vietta, did become a doctor. So she was very clear. Yes.

• 27:16Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 27:17Speaker 00

  I mean, life, I think about it.

• 27:19Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, that's crazy.

• 27:20Speaker 00

  That's like, god damn.

• 27:21Michelle Obama?

  That's crazy. Well, it's a good thing you were good at it.

• 27:28Michelle Obama?

  So, um, you've had a, a pretty, you know, steady team. Throughout your.

• 27:38Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 27:38Michelle Obama?

  Your, your film career. I mean, you see the credits, you know, you see your same crew, your photographer, your, you know. Is that your good luck charm? Do you, you know, is that, is that normal in filmmaking? That you, people have that, those long, long relationships?

• 27:58Michelle Obama?

  Film after film?

• 27:59Speaker 00

  Well, you know that this is relationships that can drive film.

• 28:04Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 28:04Speaker 00

  Sports.

• 28:05Craig Robinson?

  Teams, yep.

• 28:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:07Speaker 00

  You know, so it's people you're comfortable with and that you could flow with.

• 28:12Craig Robinson?

  Mm hmm.

• 28:14Speaker 00

  And people that, here's an important thing, that you could, you trust their opinions.

• 28:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:19Speaker 00

  Am I right or wrong?

• 28:20Craig Robinson?

  You're right.

• 28:21Speaker 00

  Because if some, you work with some Mama Luks.

• 28:24Michelle Obama?

  Okay, Mama Luks, let's explain that for the people.

• 28:28Speaker 00

  Italian American, you know, Italian American. My family was the first family to move into Cobble Hill because I was born in Atlanta. We moved in, when we moved in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

• 28:39Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:39Speaker 00

  It was stone, we were the first black family.

• 28:42Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:43Speaker 00

  And so I began to think about doing the right thing and jungle fever came from being a child.

• 28:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:48Speaker 00

  And a predominantly Italian American neighbor, so Mama Luke.

• 28:53Michelle Obama?

  Mama Luke.

• 28:54Speaker 00

  It's not.

• 28:56Craig Robinson?

  You don't want to be a Mama Luke.

• 28:58Speaker 00

  So when you trust someone.

• 29:01Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:02Speaker 00

  You know they have

• 29:05Speaker 00

  your best, one of the best for you.

• 29:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:09Speaker 00

  So they're not going to tell you some crazy stuff. Now, you don't, somebody's opinion you don't respect, you're not going to listen to them. Cause you don't know where that's coming from.

• 29:19Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 29:20Speaker 00

  And we all know

• 29:23Speaker 00

  in this room.

• 29:24Michelle Obama?

  In the room.

• 29:25Speaker 00

  We've taken, in the world, you've taken some advice or something.

• 29:29Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:29Speaker 00

  And then say.

• 29:31Michelle Obama?

  Huh. Yeah, yeah.

• 29:36Speaker 00

  But when you're surrounded by, people want you to be the best you can be.

• 29:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:44Speaker 00

  You can trust them.

• 29:45Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 29:46Speaker 00

  And we've all seen

• 29:49Speaker 00

  teams, guys that get along and this and that, and like, and it comes on the court.

• 29:53Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:55Speaker 00

  Now, I was at game seven, May 1970.

• 30:03Michelle Obama?

  Which game is this? Fill me in.

• 30:05Speaker 00

  The Knicks first world championship.

• 30:07Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 30:08Speaker 00

  That's the Los Angeles Lakers.

• 30:09Michelle Obama?

  It's like, which game is this? I'm sorry, fellas.

• 30:12Speaker 00

  I'm talking about a team, Coach Redd Housman, starting five.

• 30:16Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 30:16Speaker 00

  Willis Reed, Dave DeBusher.

• 30:19Michelle Obama?

  All right.

• 30:19Speaker 00

  Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett, who recently passed away.

• 30:22Michelle Obama?

  This was before, I even knew basketball existed, but thank you.

• 30:26Speaker 00

  That's the team, off the bench, Cassie Russell.

• 30:29Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 30:30Speaker 00

  Dave Stow, Mike Reardon, I was at that game.

• 30:34Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 30:37Speaker 00

  My father's lawyer had season tickets and he promised me there's a game seven. You can go. And it's the Willis Reed game. Willis Reed, game five, got hurt. He didn't play game six. And I've been to Super Bowls, World Cups, World Series. I've never heard a noise, crowd noise, as loud when Willis, when he dragged his leg out. That noise. The teams, both teams doing their layup line. The entire Laker team froze. Turned around, saw Willis Reed drag his leg.

• 31:16Michelle Obama?

  What happened to his leg?

• 31:18Craig Robinson?

  Well, he, he had hurt his leg in game five. And didn't come out to warm up with the rest of the team. So the Lakers were thinking, okay, great. Willis Reed's not playing game seven. We're in good shape. But he came out late.

• 31:32Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 31:32Craig Robinson?

  And I can't even imagine the sound of the crowd, the gardens.

• 31:35Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 31:36Craig Robinson?

  I mean, you know, when it's packed.

• 31:38Speaker 00

  We're talking about three of the all-time greatest Willis Reed.

• 31:40Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm. So this is one of your famous sports analogies that gets us back to team.

• 31:46Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 31:47Craig Robinson?

  See, see, see what I have to deal with here? This is what I gotta deal with.

• 31:51Speaker 00

  Sports is in every, you don't know that yet, sister?

• 31:54Michelle Obama?

  I know that's what you think, Spike and Craig.

• 31:57Speaker 00

  Mahomet Ali, Jackie Robinson, we go on and on.

• 32:02Michelle Obama?

  But then you gotta know the game. It's like, nah, it took me five minutes to figure out, well, what happened to his leg?

• 32:08Speaker 00

  I wanna say to listeners, uh, please forgive me because, uh, I have something called, I don't have this, Silexia. That's something else.

• 32:18Craig Robinson?

  What is that?

• 32:19Speaker 00

  The slipper. Should be slipping.

• 32:26Speaker 00

  You better not turn.

• 32:27Craig Robinson?

  You better not set that up.

• 32:28Speaker 00

  That was a good one, that was nice one.

• 32:31Michelle Obama?

  I heard that was.

• 32:32Speaker 00

  It's also called Brooklyn Dings too, the slipper.

• 32:37Michelle Obama?

  I'm generally good. I can keep us on course, you know, but the zero.

• 32:42Speaker 00

  I'm turning my best, man. I had some sleep last night.

• 32:45Michelle Obama?

  I mean, shoot.

• 32:47Craig Robinson?

  But let's talk about highs to lows.

• 32:48Speaker 00

  Yes, please. Uh, when I was in film school, NYU graduate film school, I was introduced to Japanese cinema.

• 32:57Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 33:00Michelle Obama?

  Our producer Dan is losing his mind that you even brought this up. He's a cinephile nerdy.

• 33:11Speaker 00

  And a Spike Lee.

• 33:12Michelle Obama?

  We were just talking about, well, you do know that this was a.

• 33:15Speaker 00

  A Kurosawa.

• 33:16Michelle Obama?

  Kurosawa. And I'm like, no, I did not. So he's so happy. Please continue.

• 33:22Speaker 00

  In film school, NYU, graduate film school, you introduce a lot of international cinema. And Rashomon really made an effect on me. In this film, there's a murder and a rape in characters. He'd speak on it. In fact, that's where the term comes Rashomon effect, where the same different people see the same thing but different. So that was a kernel, but she's got to have it. Where Noah's three boyfriend and her address.

• 34:01Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 34:01Speaker 00

  Speak to the camera. And say what their stories are left to the audience.

• 34:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 34:08Speaker 00

  Who didn't want to believe.

• 34:09Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 34:11Speaker 00

  And this film is not a remake, it's a reinterpretation of the great film by the great Japanese filmmaker Kurosawa, High and Low. So we flipped this. So our title is called Highest to Lowest. But as a nod to Prince, we used the number two instead of.

• 34:32Craig Robinson?

  Ah, I didn't know that when I was watching it. Okay.

• 34:37Speaker 00

  And I'm blessed to have worked with my brother Denzel Washington.

• 34:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, he gives a performance.

• 34:47Craig Robinson?

  We are blessed that you're working with your brother Denzel.

• 34:57Craig Robinson?

  You know, as some of our listeners may have seen, my brother-in-law, your husband, joined us on the show a few weeks back and had a interesting opinion that ketchup is just for kids. But here at IMO, our opinion is that ketchup is for everyone. And honestly, it has to be Heinz. Mish, I would say that IMO is a pro-ketchup podcast.

• 35:23Michelle Obama?

  Without a doubt, we believe in ketchup here at IMO and in life in general.

• 35:29Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 35:30Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, so but despite what my husband said, ketchup exists in our household everywhere.

• 35:37Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, what are some of the ways you guys use ketchup?

• 35:40Michelle Obama?

  Uh, well, you know, there's the basic potato, french fry, ketchup dip thing. I mean, it's always there. The girls, you know, before they can even start their meal, the question is always, where's the ketchup?

• 35:54Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, especially with fries, because it's a rare fry that you can get away with just salt and pepper.

• 36:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, and having a little bit of that tomatoey, rich flavor.

• 36:05Craig Robinson?

  Vine-ripened.

• 36:06Michelle Obama?

  You know, and, you know, it gives it a little substance, you know? It's not dripping down your fry. And then barbecues.

• 36:15Craig Robinson?

  Yes, I was gonna say grilling. You have to have ketchup for your burger. And I'm not even offended if I'm grilling and people put ketchup on their burger. You can dip it, or you can have it on there. I'm not offended. I'm not offended, and I'm from Chicago. I'm not offended if you put it on your hot dog.

• 36:32Michelle Obama?

  You know, and that's a question. Are you a pour or are you a dipper? Because people have a certain opinion about ketchup. Some people want one application.

• 36:41Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 36:42Michelle Obama?

  Other people want a bite, a dip, a dip, a bite. Do you have a preference?

• 36:47Craig Robinson?

  My preference, it depends on what I'm eating. So if I'm eating a hamburger, I like to dip my hamburger into the ketchup.

• 36:55Michelle Obama?

  Got it.

• 36:56Craig Robinson?

  I love, because I want to bite a ketchup with my hamburger. But if I have a brat or a Polish, or I want to have it along the length of the brat.

• 37:08Michelle Obama?

  I can picture that. Oh, and that just reminds me, even though my kids aren't young, as a mother of little kids, ketchup was an important source of vegetable intake.

• 37:22Michelle Obama?

  Especially when it came to broccoli. I mean, you know, look, you want your kids to get their vegetables in. And let me tell you, ketchup is a excellent vegetable delivery system.

• 37:35Speaker 00

  Absolutely.

• 37:36Michelle Obama?

  We got a lot of broccoli down just with a little Heinz ketchup dip. Made the girls happy. I was happy. Kids were happy. Veggies were eaten. Life goes on.

• 37:48Speaker 00

  And at the end of the day, it has to be Heinz.

• 37:58Speaker 00

  And it's kind of sad because this might be the last film that we're doing. He's talked about retiring. But every time I read the article, he's retiring, he's doing another movie.

• 38:12Speaker 00

  So who knows? So I said today, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna stop saying that this is my last film.

• 38:20Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 38:21Speaker 00

  With Denzel. Yeah, you don't know. Yeah. Because you keep saying that, it's gonna make that happen.

• 38:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, that's right.

• 38:26Speaker 00

  And Denzel, you know, it's all that was Spike. You know, I said it was, but you think it's so, so.

• 38:31Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 38:32Speaker 00

  Denzel, I'm gonna stop saying that.

• 38:33Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 38:34Speaker 00

  In order. Mobeta Blues.

• 38:37Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 38:37Speaker 00

  Malcolm X. He Got Game. Inside Man. And here's the crazy thing. Both Denzel and I did not know eighteen years had gone past between Inside Man and I was lost. We both.

• 38:54Michelle Obama?

  Just, time just went, yeah. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have thought that either, that eighteen years.

• 39:00Speaker 00

  We were shocked. We were like, eighteen years?

• 39:03Michelle Obama?

  But because, you know, Inside Man feels fresh, you know? I mean, it, you know, it's, it's a standout. I mean, it's, it's on, on the top of everyone's favorite Spike movies. So it feels like it just happened, you know? And you, and you haven't aged, not a, not a second.

• 39:22Speaker 00

  My, my, I'm right.

• 39:23Michelle Obama?

  Except for your slipology or whatever it is.

• 39:26Speaker 00

  We operate as something that's right me. But it has been, all jokes aside.

• 39:34Speaker 00

  It's been a gift to work with Denzel. And.

• 39:42Speaker 00

  Added plus, he has season tickets for the Lakers.

• 39:48Michelle Obama?

  You are so silly.

• 39:50Speaker 00

  So when the schedule comes out, I look over the Knicks.

• 39:55Speaker 00

  I got this right. And then the way it is now, a lot of times, what they're doing now is like, they stopped teams doing travel. The Knicks are playing the Clippers like back to back. So I know the owner.

• 40:09Michelle Obama?

  Well, it sounds like you made the movie schedule around the basketball schedule, Spike, and I wouldn't be surprised.

• 40:17Speaker 00

  Let me tell you this.

• 40:20Speaker 00

  When we were rolling with,

• 40:24Speaker 00

  if I had a game,

• 40:27Speaker 00

  and the day, the night we're shooting, people know they're going home at 5 o'clock.

• 40:35Michelle Obama?

  It's like early call time.

• 40:37Speaker 00

  They're calling their wives and, "I'll be home for dinner." They know. If we're shooting on a game day.

• 40:44Michelle Obama?

  You are crazy. You are crazy. What's it like to direct Denzel? What makes that partnership special to you?

• 40:55Speaker 00

  He knows what he's doing. He knows what he wants. He doesn't need 20 takes.

• 41:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, wow.

• 41:03Speaker 00

  But also,

• 41:05Speaker 00

  he listens to notes. Look.

• 41:07Michelle Obama?

  He's not too big for that.

• 41:09Speaker 00

  When you're great,

• 41:13Speaker 00

  I'm not gonna tell Denzel, "Well, can you move a little?" I mean, look, if there's a note, I tell him. But I'm not in a there like,

• 41:26Speaker 00

  "Let's do his thing."

• 41:29Speaker 00

  Now, actors aren't that level, and I doing what I wanna do.

• 41:36Speaker 00

  That's a different story.

• 41:39Speaker 00

  And Denzel, people don't understand.

• 41:45Speaker 00

  His improvisation is so great. You'd think that stuff is written. And it's not.

• 41:54Speaker 00

  It's like, right there.

• 41:57Speaker 00

  And it's the perfect thing you needed. But it's not in the script.

• 42:06Speaker 00

  And when he gets actor on his, like, on a level and they start going back on improv.

• 42:16Michelle Obama?

  How was, it was ASAP Rocky also, you know?

• 42:20Speaker 00

  ASAP, I keep telling people.

• 42:22Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 42:22Speaker 00

  Don't sleep on ASAP.

• 42:24Michelle Obama?

  No, no, he showed up.

• 42:26Speaker 00

  ASAP and Denzel, that's like a heavyweight fight.

• 42:30Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 42:31Speaker 00

  It's not like heavyweight, lightweight.

• 42:34Speaker 00

  Toe to toe. Yeah. And he's, and it's.

• 42:37Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, had ASAP.

• 42:39Speaker 00

  He's been in several films.

• 42:40Michelle Obama?

  He's been in several films.

• 42:41Speaker 00

  So this is not his first film. Okay. He.

• 42:45Michelle Obama?

  He was fun to work with.

• 42:46Speaker 00

  Here's the thing. Denzel is such a powerful actor. I've seen actors like Wilt.

• 42:55Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah. It's a lot to work against a beside.

• 43:01Speaker 00

  You've seen his work, you've seen, you know what he is, then you're like, I'm gonna see when Denzel was like. Yeah, it's like being at practice with Jordan. Come on now, you know what I'm saying?

• 43:11Michelle Obama?

  Oh lord, here we go, more basketball.

• 43:16Speaker 00

  This is not sports talk radio, man.

• 43:18Michelle Obama?

  Like, oh my god.

• 43:20Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, this is Vinny from Brooklyn, yeah, yeah. What's wrong with the Yankees now? They stink.

• 43:26Speaker 00

  What else is new?

• 43:29Speaker 00

  Hey, we got 27 rings, so don't, don't, don't start.

• 43:32Michelle Obama?

  Okay, back to ASAP. Oh, my god.

• 43:36Speaker 00

  Not my, not my sister, you knew he was gonna be some ass.

• 43:40Michelle Obama?

  Exhausting. I was just getting into hearing about ASAP.

• 43:45Speaker 00

  No, we'll back to that.

• 43:49Speaker 00

  ASAP.

• 43:51Speaker 00

  He was like.

• 43:53Michelle Obama?

  Something else.

• 43:54Speaker 00

  He was like, you know, he was like, I got testicles too.

• 43:57Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, oh, that scene with him in the, the.

• 44:02Speaker 00

  Corn studio?

• 44:02Michelle Obama?

  In the recording studio, I know, don't want to give it away for the listeners.

• 44:07Speaker 00

  And, and, and you know what's great about that? Denzel wants.

• 44:13Speaker 00

  Because if he's in a scene. And he's killing the other person like.

• 44:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 44:19Speaker 00

  That's killing the scene.

• 44:20Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 44:20Speaker 00

  So he wants.

• 44:21Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 44:22Speaker 00

  And then here's the thing.

• 44:26Speaker 00

  Even before I was asked through this film, people have always said ASAP looks like Denzel's son. Have you ever?

• 44:36Michelle Obama?

  I've heard that. I've heard people say that.

• 44:39Speaker 00

  Now I have to look for it because I didn't notice it when we were watching the film. People saying that to me for years. And so that adds another.

• 44:48Michelle Obama?

  Layer.

• 44:50Speaker 00

  Another, thank you for that word.

• 44:51Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 44:53Speaker 00

  Another layer. Because then on a subconscious level, it's this a father-son thing.

• 45:01Speaker 00

  It's father-son.

• 45:02Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 45:03Speaker 00

  So you add a layer upon layer and that just makes, that lists the whole film out.

• 45:08Michelle Obama?

  Now, in addition to Denzel, I mean, you have, you have given so many black actors and so many actors, period, because of that team.

• 45:18Speaker 00

  Can't leave out Rosie Perez.

• 45:19Michelle Obama?

  Can't leave out Rosie.

• 45:20Speaker 00

  By Wee Qua. Boy, we're in for a show.

• 45:22Michelle Obama?

  Can't leave out Rosie. It's just been amazing how you've been so, so conscious about, you know, especially with Ozzy Davis, Ruby Dee. I mean, you.

• 45:37Speaker 00

  King and queen.

• 45:38Michelle Obama?

  You know, kept a lot of really amazing actors in the zeitgeist, you know, so that generation.

• 45:47Speaker 00

  You just made me think of something.

• 45:48Michelle Obama?

  What's that?

• 45:49Speaker 00

  Harry Belafonte. My father played with Harry Belafonte. And every time he would see me spike, do you have to use Ozzy every single day? Can't Ozzy just let me get one?

• 46:01Speaker 00

  And Ozzy's, excuse me, and Mr. Belafonte. You had to call him Mr. Belafonte. His last film was Black Landsman.

• 46:12Speaker 00

  You know, his health's not good. So I didn't know till that morning where he's come to the set. So I had a backup we had stashed away.

• 46:23Michelle Obama?

  Wow, really?

• 46:24Speaker 00

  You know, I'm not sure he was, but in the hotel, I did not, I told the cast, this day before, I said, you come to work, dress your Sunday best. And have you ever been on a film set, my work?

• 46:42Michelle Obama?

  Like this set?

• 46:43Speaker 00

  You know, you had to come to a.

• 46:44Michelle Obama?

  Much like, much like here. No, I'm just kidding.

• 46:49Speaker 00

  Anyway.

• 46:52Speaker 00

  When the car rolled up, when everybody said, alright, he's coming. Everybody was out there. And when he got out of the car, people lost their minds.

• 47:03Michelle Obama?

  Hmm, wow, I can only imagine.

• 47:05Speaker 00

  Crying and bowing.

• 47:06Michelle Obama?

  Wow, wow.

• 47:07Speaker 00

  That was a great experience.

• 47:08Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 47:09Speaker 00

  For years, he was saying, Spike, you had to.

• 47:11Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, and you've got it.

• 47:12Speaker 00

  Can Ozzy get arrested for getting in there?

• 47:15Michelle Obama?

  And you did it.

• 47:16Speaker 00

  And we got him in for his last film. Oh, that's great.

• 47:18Michelle Obama?

  You did it.

• 47:21Michelle Obama?

  But your latest film, you know, it,

• 47:27Michelle Obama?

  while there may not be a direct message, that last scene with Denzel and ASAP, there is a statement about

• 47:39Michelle Obama?

  the industry, the music industry, and sort of, you know, I don't want to give away a twist, but there's a cynicism about the way young people today use social media, how that affects the creative process. Can you speak a little bit about how you feel about sort of where things are, how filmmaking has changed, how the creative process is being impacted?

• 48:10Speaker 00

  The thing that scares me,

• 48:14Speaker 00

  AI with arts. No, alright, well, AI for this and that, but when it comes to being writing scripts,

• 48:24Speaker 00

  TV shows, I'm not with that.

• 48:27Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 48:28Speaker 00

  Because

• 48:31Speaker 00

  I don't think, in my opinion, you cannot duplicate human beings.

• 48:40Speaker 00

  My opinion.

• 48:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 48:42Speaker 00

  You know, a machine

• 48:45Speaker 00

  writing.

• 48:51Speaker 00

  I'm thinking about AI music.

• 48:52Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 48:53Speaker 00

  Yeah. Plays.

• 48:57Speaker 00

  Books. It's, call me old-fashioned.

• 49:02Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, no, I'd.

• 49:03Speaker 00

  I know, well, just for the audience.

• 49:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, okay, sorry, my bad.

• 49:11Speaker 00

  I just think that there's some, there's things that are sacred as human beings.

• 49:17Speaker 00

  That.

• 49:22Speaker 00

  The arts.

• 49:26Speaker 00

  I have a problem with that.

• 49:27Michelle Obama?

  How's it, how do you see it in, in the classroom? Cause you're still, you're teaching.

• 49:31Speaker 00

  Yeah, but I don't have to write papers for that.

• 49:33Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 49:33Speaker 00

  But.

• 49:35Michelle Obama?

  But scripts?

• 49:37Speaker 00

  Yeah, I read their scripts. I could tell they're not.

• 49:39Michelle Obama?

  You can tell.

• 49:39Speaker 00

  Yeah, I can tell. But. Come on, like, I don't have exams.

• 49:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, I got it.

• 49:45Speaker 00

  But people, it's the students who are losing out. Because they're not, and we know, look, at this table, we all know.

• 49:55Speaker 00

  And we learned this many, many times. Cause we didn't get to where we are if it wasn't for that. You have to put the work in.

• 50:01Michelle Obama?

  That's right.

• 50:01Speaker 00

  W E R K.

• 50:10Michelle Obama?

  See, just when I think.

• 50:13Speaker 00

  I love this so much.

• 50:14Michelle Obama?

  Just when I think, you know?

• 50:18Speaker 00

  You gotta put the work in.

• 50:19Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, you're right, you're right.

• 50:21Speaker 00

  You think you're getting over, but you're cheating yourself.

• 50:23Michelle Obama?

  That's right.

• 50:25Speaker 00

  And as parents, we've, we've, we've, we've told our children, no, you can't. There's another one, you can't fake the funk.

• 50:34Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, well, that one, yeah, yeah.

• 50:37Craig Robinson?

  So Spike, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yes, my sister.

• 50:41Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yes, I like that.

• 50:45Speaker 00

  Why you bolt guarded?

• 50:46Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 50:46Speaker 00

  Why you violating?

• 50:49Craig Robinson?

  It might as well be the same. It might as well be the same here as it is everywhere.

• 50:56Craig Robinson?

  Go ahead, your highness.

• 50:57Michelle Obama?

  Oh, now I forgot what I was gonna ask. All right, what are you gonna ask?

• 51:03Craig Robinson?

  I was just gonna ask, what does it take now to get thoughtful, original, brave films made in Hollywood?

• 51:14Michelle Obama?

  That was close to what I was gonna ask.

• 51:16Craig Robinson?

  Oh, well, what do you know?

• 51:17Michelle Obama?

  All right, so, worked out, worked out for me, anyway.

• 51:20Speaker 00

  It's getting harder and harder.

• 51:22Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 51:23Speaker 00

  Because of the powers that be.

• 51:28Speaker 00

  They're just looking at the bottom line.

• 51:33Michelle Obama?

  Mm hmm.

• 51:34Speaker 00

  I know for this personally, there are fewer and fewer people in those positions, the gatekeepers.

• 51:42Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 51:44Speaker 00

  That are willing to produce different type of material, more challenging type of material and not do what they think is a guaranteed thing. But there's initiatives, there's nothing's guaranteed.

• 52:01Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 52:03Speaker 00

  And it's just, it's just tougher. I mean, I have some friends that are in the music industry. These labels are dropping people off, firing people left and right.

• 52:15Michelle Obama?

  Hmm.

• 52:16Speaker 00

  So I think there's something, this not just the industry of film, but

• 52:21Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 52:22Speaker 00

  across the board and people are just.

• 52:27Michelle Obama?

  Everybody wants the, the same type, you know, they, they want a category. They want a guarantee.

• 52:34Speaker 00

  But the audience is there, but they're not.

• 52:36Michelle Obama?

  The audience, that's the, that's the frustrating thing. I mean, it's like, you know, you have conversations with some of the, the decision makers and they swear, swear that the audiences don't exist, you know, that the numbers bear it out. But that, that can't be possible, you know, that some of the, one could argue that some of the drop in, uh, box office is because there are just not enough variety.

• 53:03Speaker 00

  It's the same thing.

• 53:04Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it's the same thing. I mean, if I don't like action, if I don't like Marvel, and if that just doesn't happen to be my thing, right, what, what, what am I going to the movie for? And then if you get, get out of the habit of going to the movie because you just assume, you know, there's nothing there for you.

• 53:22Speaker 00

  Or you're gonna stream.

• 53:22Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, that's, that's the pattern.

• 53:26Michelle Obama?

  But I want to see a little bit of everything, you know? I want to see love stories. I want to see all kinds of faces. I want to, I want to see women leads. I want to see stories about, uh, coming of age, uh, all of that.

• 53:41Speaker 00

  And that's why the President, you know, for pictures.

• 53:47Speaker 00

  When I did Do the Right Thing, Tom Pollak, when we were talking about, oh, Hollywood doesn't

• 53:57Speaker 00

  take the chances they used to. Tom Pollak is a hero to me. He was, everybody in Hollywood told him not to make Do the Right Thing.

• 54:07Speaker 00

  That black folks would come out of the theater rioting. There was tremendous, tremendous, tremendous pressure on him.

• 54:18Speaker 00

  He just did a film called Last Temptation of Christ that Martin Square's face he directed. He had death threats after that film.

• 54:29Speaker 00

  He had to have armed guards with him and his family. And on top of that comes Do the Right Thing.

• 54:39Michelle Obama?

  Right, yeah.

• 54:42Speaker 00

  It was courageous for him to go ahead and make Do the Right Thing at The Last Temptation of Christ, where him and his family was a potential danger.

• 54:57Speaker 00

  And we had the world, we had the world, the world near Do the Right Thing was in Cannes.

• 55:02Speaker 00

  And right then, this was caused riots, I mean, but he stood behind the film.

• 55:13Speaker 00

  And I don't think there are too many people who are head of studios today

• 55:18Michelle Obama?

  That would do that.

• 55:18Speaker 00

  That would do that. So I'm gonna love it.

• 55:20Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 55:21Speaker 00

  My brother Tom, because he,

• 55:25Speaker 00

  people within Universal's boss, the industry, the press,

• 55:33Speaker 00

  they said this film would make black folks run amok.

• 55:42Speaker 00

  And he thought otherwise.

• 55:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 55:45Speaker 00

  But those, very few of those people.

• 55:47Michelle Obama?

  Few and far between, yeah. Yeah.

• 55:50Speaker 00

  In the industry now like that.

• 55:51Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, they, they exist. But, you know, the algorithm sometimes, it plays too big of a role.

• 56:00Craig Robinson?

  Well, well, speaking of helping folks and generational

• 56:05Michelle Obama?

  Okay, segue.

• 56:08Craig Robinson?

  We have a

• 56:12Craig Robinson?

  Thing here on IMO where we get a question from one of our listeners, and this happens to be from one of our listeners in DC.

• 56:22Michelle Obama?

  Okay, right.

• 56:22Craig Robinson?

  Tori from DC has got a question for us.

• 56:33Craig Robinson?

  This episode of IMO is sponsored by Chase Home Lending, committed to supporting you all the way home with smart digital home buying tools and resources. Chase Home Lending is dedicated to helping individuals and families achieve their dream of homeownership. They offer expert guidance throughout the home buying journey, helping customers navigate the process with confidence. This brings me back to a time when we grew up living upstairs from my aunt in a two-family home that she owned and we rented. And it was a wonderful time, but being a renter, we had to be extremely careful of what we did. For example, we had to be quiet at a certain time. We couldn't play on the front lawn.

• 57:18Craig Robinson?

  My sister couldn't have a dog. And we didn't realize the importance of being a homeowner until we got late in life. We always would talk to our dad about why we don't own a home. And he talked about being house poor. Little did we know that homeownership was a great way to build equity. My sister and I ended up buying our own homes later in life, and we used that to help pay for our kids' college. And that is a way where homeownership can lead to future success. Chase Home Lending offers personalized support, expert knowledge, and access to valuable resources,

• 58:01Craig Robinson?

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• 58:22Craig Robinson?

  This episode of IMO is brought to you by Cologuard, a non-invasive colon cancer screening test. Currently, the American Cancer Society recommends that if you are at average risk, you should begin screening for colon cancer at age 45. There are an estimated 60 million adults aged 45-plus in America who are not up to date with their colon cancer screening. So we need to change that by spreading the word about another option. The Cologuard test can help you put your health first and feel more in control of your colon cancer screening process. This easy-to-use screening test is delivered right to your door and allows you to collect a sample comfortably at home,

• 59:07Craig Robinson?

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• 59:51Craig Robinson?

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• 1:00:36Craig Robinson?

  and certain hereditary syndromes, or a personal or family history of colorectal cancer, the Cologuard test is not a replacement for a colonoscopy in high-risk patients. Cologuard test performance in adults ages 45 to 49 is estimated based on a large clinical study of patients 50 and older. False positives and false negatives can occur. Cologuard is available by prescription only. I love this time of year, but hosting during the holidays can be a bit of a challenge. So Kelly and I have collected a few hacks to make it a little bit easier. One of our favorite moves is an extendable dining room table. It's this great walnut color,

• 1:01:21Craig Robinson?

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• 1:02:06Speaker 03

  Wayfair, every style, every home.

• 1:02:09Craig Robinson?

  This back-to-school season, spend less on your kids with Amazon. I remember when my wife Kelly and I would be running around to a million different stores, chasing down spiral notebooks, lunchboxes, and that one specific calculator that somehow every math teacher requires. And look, I love my kids, but I do not love fighting over the last pack of highlighters in a crowded store at 7:00 PM on a Tuesday. That's why I love Amazon. Amazon. Has everything for back to school. Backpacks, pencils, clothes, snacks, and even those dry erase markers the teachers secretly hoard.

• 1:02:53Craig Robinson?

  All delivered fast, right to my doorstep. One click, no stress, boom. And the best part, I can shop from my couch. With my now fifteen year old and thirteen year old, I grab their school supply list and I'm all set. Now, instead of running around town stressed out, I get to actually spend the last days of summer with my kids. We're doing movie nights, bike rides, and even, dare I say, back to school fashion shows in the living room. Parents, do yourself a favor. Go to Amazon. Get your back to school checklist done in like five minutes,

• 1:03:37Craig Robinson?

  while saving a few bucks. So, remember with Amazon's low back to school prices, just spend less on your kids. Because every dollar you don't spend on them is a dollar you haven't spent on them.

• 1:03:59Speaker 04

  Hi, Michelle and Craig. My name is Tori and I'm a forty-one year old paralegal in DC. While I'm not able to have children, I've built a life focused on service, purpose, and growth. From 2019 to 2020, my husband and I fostered refugee children, which deeply shaped how I view my role in the world. I'm currently considering law school while also thinking about how to mentor and uplift others in the paralegal field. My questions are, how do you decide which path will allow you to have the greatest impact, especially when you're torn between multiple good ones? How do you cope with the feeling that you're not fully living up to your potential, even when you're doing meaningful work?

• 1:04:41Speaker 00

  Again, none of work. That's a humdinger.

• 1:04:43Michelle Obama?

  That's a humdinger. We've gotten.

• 1:04:48Speaker 00

  That's deep.

• 1:04:50Michelle Obama?

  It is. It's a humdinger. And we've talked about this before in other conversations. But I don't know when you talk to your, your, your kids, because our kids are all in their late twenties, early thirties-ish. Seems like a lot of, of young people in that age group are struggling in that way. They're wondering, you know, should they be doing more? Have they chosen the right path? I find myself having conversations with young people about having the patience to sit with where you are and find the meaning with what you're doing at the moment.

• 1:05:33Michelle Obama?

  You know, all impact isn't big, you know? All, all meaningful impact isn't big. You know, Tori is fostering refugee kids. And, you know, it sounds like there's a lot of stuff going on in Tori's life right now, where she's having a lot of impact. Being a good neighbor, you know, having impact with the people who are right in your midst, the people you have responsibility for, that is big impact, you know? And that, to me, is enough.

• 1:06:07Speaker 00

  What's bigger than that?

• 1:06:08Michelle Obama?

  What is bigger than that? What, what is bigger than that?

• 1:06:12Craig Robinson?

  It, it feels like she's trying to figure out how to build a legacy. And I just, you know, I, I like what you're saying about being patient, but I real, I think she needs some direction. And if I were to give her some direction, I would say to her, try different things. The right idea will eventually come to you. But in the meantime, you're doing some wonderful things by fostering refugee kids.

• 1:06:41Michelle Obama?

  And maybe the how to is how do you how does maybe Tori is trying to figure out how does she explore different paths? You know, I mean, you know, a lot of kids don't have networks, a lot of young people, you know, you you get into one profession and it's hard to figure out how to get to another or even explore. I know when I was came out of law school, thought I wanted to be a lawyer, worked at a big firm, did all those things, only to find out after two years, my feeling was like, no, this ain't it. So how would I how do I pivot? How did I figure out how to pivot? And it was something as simple as, you know, I had to think about who I might want to be. So there's some work that

• 1:07:24Michelle Obama?

  Tori has to do on her own. I mean, she's got to kind of dig deep and ask herself questions.

• 1:07:29Speaker 00

  I'd like to ask both of you this question. I'm glad I was born when I was born to be a kid today.

• 1:07:38Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:39Speaker 00

  All of a sudden, it's just.

• 1:07:43Michelle Obama?

  Seems like there are too many choices.

• 1:07:45Speaker 00

  Not just choices, but we get choices, you got 500 channels to go watch, you know, I mean, just.

• 1:07:53Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:54Speaker 00

  It's just this is, I mean, I'm just.

• 1:07:55Michelle Obama?

  No, it's.

• 1:07:56Speaker 00

  March 21st, first day of spring, 1957.

• 1:07:59Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:08:01Speaker 00

  Because I know say corny say was simpler back then, but it was just like.

• 1:08:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, too.

• 1:08:06Speaker 00

  It's like bananas, you know, I mean, good God.

• 1:08:09Craig Robinson?

  And Spike, I don't know if you find this with the students you teach, but I hear this in young athletes, I hear it in young artists, too. Everybody wants to be impactful right away. And that's unrealistic. Oh, you walk. It's unrealistic. And it gets back to what you were saying when we were talking a little bit about filmmaking is you got to put in the W E R K.

• 1:08:40Craig Robinson?

  That was too good. That was too good.

• 1:08:43Speaker 00

  Leave me with the, the, the, the. The stuff is messed up. No, no, no, you stay where you are. Stay where you are.

• 1:08:53Michelle Obama?

  They don't.

• 1:08:55Craig Robinson?

  But what do you, what do you, what are you telling your students when they come to you and they wanna be Spike Lee right now, rather than?

• 1:09:05Speaker 00

  Well, they don't say they wanna be me, you know, Spillable is gross, say, say, but. What I, what I do is that if this is what you wanna do, you gotta be serious about it. And you may read that stuff, but there's no things overnight success. Cause a lot of people, they say that, but they wanna leave out that, you know, they were giving blood.

• 1:09:31Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 1:09:32Speaker 00

  To eat, donating blood to eat.

• 1:09:33Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, right, right.

• 1:09:35Speaker 00

  They leave that out.

• 1:09:35Michelle Obama?

  They'll tell you the, the backstory, the dark side.

• 1:09:38Speaker 00

  The backstory. And, and, and this is even more important. I tell my students, first day of class, I hope you are here because this is what you wanna do the rest of your life. Because you want, because this, this makes you happy.

• 1:10:03Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:04Speaker 00

  Cause if you have a job, occupation that you love, that's a home run.

• 1:10:12Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:12Speaker 00

  That's a three pointer.

• 1:10:13Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:14Speaker 00

  That's an 80 yard field goal.

• 1:10:15Michelle Obama?

  Oh, good lord.

• 1:10:19Speaker 00

  That's an hour marathon.

• 1:10:21Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:22Speaker 00

  Because when you have occupation that you love, you don't need to hit the alarm four times to get up.

• 1:10:31Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:33Speaker 00

  You do that when you, you, you hit a job you hate.

• 1:10:35Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:36Speaker 00

  When I'm shooting a film, I don't have an alarm.

• 1:10:38Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:10:39Speaker 00

  I know I gotta be on the set at 6 a.m.

• 1:10:42Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:43Speaker 00

  I know when I need to put my skinny black ass to bed.

• 1:10:47Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:48Speaker 00

  So I get sleep.

• 1:10:49Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:50Speaker 00

  So I can wake up and do the job I love.

• 1:10:52Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:53Michelle Obama?

  Like, we can tell Spike loves what he does. Minute he walks in.

• 1:10:58Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:58Michelle Obama?

  You know?

• 1:10:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, but you ain't seen me in a Knicks game, though.

• 1:11:01Michelle Obama?

  Well.

• 1:11:01Speaker 00

  Actually, I have. I have. It's rough. You know what?

• 1:11:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:07Speaker 00

  Will you be my guest?

• 1:11:09Michelle Obama?

  I will.

• 1:11:09Speaker 00

  This season?

• 1:11:10Michelle Obama?

  I will.

• 1:11:11Speaker 00

  Don't waste that on her.

• 1:11:13Michelle Obama?

  Oh, don't even.

• 1:11:14Speaker 00

  Take me.

• 1:11:17Speaker 00

  Get your pack of...

• 1:11:21Michelle Obama?

  I would be honored to be your guest at the Garden.

• 1:11:26Speaker 00

  Have me back, please.

• 1:11:27Michelle Obama?

  I would love it. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, give a last plug for the film. What do you want to tell the people?

• 1:11:37Speaker 00

  The new joint.

• 1:11:39Michelle Obama?

  The new joint?

• 1:11:40Speaker 00

  The new joint is "Highest to Lowest," starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright.

• 1:11:48Michelle Obama?

  A cast.

• 1:11:49Speaker 00

  ASAP Rocky.

• 1:11:50Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it is a cast.

• 1:11:52Speaker 00

  Wanda Pierce, streaming on Apple September 5th. Apple TV Plus. Yes, yes.

• 1:11:57Michelle Obama?

  You see how the slippage doesn't happen when it comes to, you know, it's like you pull up Bates and whatnot. I'd be like, Spike, he not gonna know when the film drops. It's like, nope, not when it comes to the thing he loves. There is no slippage. I love you, Spike.

• 1:12:14Speaker 00

  Love, love around.

• 1:12:16Michelle Obama?

  We'll see you back at the ranch.

• 1:12:39Craig Robinson?

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• 1:13:23Craig Robinson?

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