12/16: Spike Lee Parties, ‘Mad Men’s Creator Talks…

…and Sofia Coppola continues her NYC tour for ‘Somewhere’

By Elizabeth Bougerol

| Thursday, Dec 16, 2010 | Updated 6:45 AM EDT

12/16: Spike Lee Parties, ‘Mad Men’s Creator Talks…

HISTORY: Did you know that Spike Lee originally wanted to cast Robert DeNiro in Danny Aiello’s part in Do The Right Thing? Or that he discovered Rosie Perez when she cursed him out at an LA nightclub? DUMBO’s powerHouse Arena welcomes the director with a release party for his book Spike Lee: Do The Right Thing, a thorough compendium of behind-the-scenes goods on the 1989 film that put him on the map. Lee will sign copies of the book at the event. 7PM.

‘MAD’ WORLD: What’s it like to make history with a TV show? Find out when Emmy-hoarding TV writer Matthew Weiner, who created Mad Men coming off of work on The Sopranos, comes to the 92nd Street Y to talk about the cult AMC drama and his creative process with novelist/academic Thane Rosenbaum. 8PM.

REDUX: And in case you missed her last night at the TimesCenter, where she discussed her new film Somewhere with the film’s star and comeback kid Stephen Dorff, Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola continues her rounds with an appearance at the Soho Apple Store. The film—about an actor living a comfortably numb life at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont, until the daughter (Elle Fanning) from his failed marriage shows up and he reconnects with her and himself—hits theaters December 22. 6PM.

--EB

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