Blog Posts by Meriah Doty

Director Spike Lee Spike Lee doesn't have much to say about Quentin Tarantino's new film about a slave-turned-gunslinger. When it comes to "Django Unchained" he simply won't watch it.

"It'd be disrespectful to my ancestors to see that film. That's the only thing I'm going to say. I can't disrespect my ancestors," Lee told VibeTV in a recent interview.

The director, known for films that examine race relations including "Do The Right Thing" and "Red Hook Summer," took to Twitter to further explain his position on "Django," writing, "American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western.It Was A Holocaust.My Ancestors Are Slaves.Stolen From Africa.I Will Honor Them." [sic].

Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Django Unchained' (Photo: The Weinstein Company)

Leonardo DiCaprio cut his hand while the cameras were rolling on the set of "Django Unchained" and kept moving through the scene, never breaking character. His real-life bloodied hand made it into the final version of the film, The Weinstein Company has confirmed with Yahoo! Movies.

It is this type of dedication that helped earn the 38-year-old actor a Golden Globe nomination and Oscar buzz for playing an evil slave plantation owner.

SPOILER ALERT: DiCaprio's hand injury happened during one of the movie's most climactic scenes

Christian Bale, right, and Steven Spielberg during the late '80s (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures/Mptvimages.com)Over the past year, Yahoo! Movies had the chance to catch up with stars of yesteryear. Many were former child stars, some of whom now have children of their own -- like Fred Savage, Kim Fields and Candace Cameron. Some got their first gigs working for Steven Spielberg. We spotted one former "Growing Pains" star in the year's highest grossing film, while we also managed to ruffle the feathers of another former kid actor of big screen fame.

Click through to see who we are talking about and what they are up to today.

Thirty years after 'E.T.,' Henry Thomas, left, starred in 'The Last Ride' in 2012 (Photo: Category One Entertainment )

Recognize the guy on the left? It's Henry Thomas, who played Elliot in the Steven Spielberg classic "E.T." "It certainly wasn't something that I ever thought I'd be talking about 30 years from then," Thomas told Yahoo! Movies earlier this year about the anniversary of the iconic film. "It's funny because I think it's just now starting to hit me how hugely successful it was and what a big deal it was." Thomas, now 41, married, and the father of three, is still acting,

Jessica Chastain, center, in 'Zero Dark Thirty' (Photo: Sony Pictures)

A torture scene takes place at the outset of "Zero Dark Thirty" as audiences are first introduced to Maya, a CIA operative played by Jessica Chastain. As the scene plays out in the film -- already nominated for four Golden Globes -- an uncooperative, hungry, beaten-up detainee is eventually forced to withstand water being poured over his face as it is muffled by a thick cloth, causing him to gargle and choke. Maya administers the water as her male colleagues hold the man in place.

The scene depicts a tactic formerly employed by the U.S. to get detainees with suspected links to terrorism to talk -- known as waterboarding. The film, which covers an array of methods used by the CIA to hunt down terrorists, does make several references to the government's use of torture as a tool. The film also covers the changing political climate as President Obama took office and banned waterboarding. At one point Maya indicates the ban seriously thwarted efforts to hunt down the bad guys, including, Osama bin Laden.

The film's seeming endorsement of the practice and its depiction of the widespread torturing of detainees has three senators in Washington expressing their "deep disappointment," calling for Sony to state that the film is a work of fiction. As of now, Sony isn't budging.

Louis ZamperiniIf it didn't actually happen, you might think the story came from a Hollywood pitch that started with: "Think 'Forrest Gump' meets 'Life of Pi'." But Louis Zamperini's real life tale -- which has already been spun into a best-selling book -- is now being made for the big screen. And it's all true.

News broke this week that the Zamperini tale "Unbroken" will be directed by Angelina Jolie, who is said to have beat out other directors to helm her first major studio film. The story is being adapted from Laura Hillenbrand's best selling 2010 book of the same name. And those who have read it know exactly why the biography would play well on the big screen. It's simply unbelievable.

Angelina Jolie (Photo: Getty Images)No stranger to directing films about the terrors of war, Angelina Jolie says she fought for the opportunity to direct World War II story "Unbroken" -- based on a book of the same name.

"I read Laura Hillenbrand’s brilliant book, and I was so moved by Louie Zamperini’s heroic story, I immediately began to fight for the opportunity to make this film," Jolie said in a written announcement for the film. And Jolie is reported to have campaigned passionately against other directors for the film, according to Deadline.

Hillenbrand has also written "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" -- on which the 2003, seven-time Oscar nominated film was based. Her 2010 non-fiction "Unbroken" spent more than a dozen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

A few weeks ago I was invited to interview Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen for the mother-son comedy "The Guilt Trip." As I read the details of Paramount's invitation, one line stopped me in my tracks: They invited my mother along.

Immediately, I questioned whether this was a good idea. I needed a gut check and asked my boss whether he thought it was a good idea. He did. My contact at Paramount was anxiously waiting to confirm me and my mom, Sally -- something she was delighted to hear when I broke the news. Without hesitation, my mom said yes. Like most women of her generation who grew up with Streisand's music, not to mention "Funny Girl" (1968), my mother is a huge fan.

The next thing I know, mom is getting her eyebrows done, relaying her clothing options to me over FaceTime and requesting that our outfits "at least be in the same color family." She booked a hotel in a strategic location between my office in Santa Monica, CA, and the interview location in nearby Beverly Hills. Knowing that the interview was going to be on camera, she reveled in saying (more than a few times) with a giggle, "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille" -- her version of the famed "Sunset Boulevard" line.

Watch my mother and I interview Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen: