● As a wedding present of sorts, Britney Spears's father, Jamie, is giving up his long-held conservatorship, leaving Brit in full control of her finances and business decisions. [Page Six]

Of the over one-hundred billion people who have ever lived on earth, one is worthy of an HBO biopic more than the rest: former Washington, DC mayor Marion Barry. The man’s life was full of power, intrigue, crime, sex, drugs, violence, and the Ramada Inn--a perfect concoction for appointment-viewing television. In what amounts to good news for lovers of entertaining things, The Washington Post reports Spike Lee and HBO have a Barry biopic in the works, with Eddie Murphy attached to star as the mayor.

● Have you read Mike Albo's "The Junket" yet? Why not? It lovingly details Albo's career as a freelance writer, how the New York Times made an example out of him for going on a Thrillist swag trip, and his love/hate/love relationship with commercialism in general. Worth it. [Amazon] ● Jay-Z and Kanye are putting the DIY-ed Maybach from their Spike Jonez*-helmed "Otis" video up for auction to benefit famine victims in the Horn of Africa. We'd also be interested in bidding on Jay-Z's pocket brooch or on one of Ye's two watches. Just saying. [Act MTV] ● iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove broke her ankle in a tour bus accident. Everybody else on the bus was fine, but Cosgrove's injury means she has to postpone the rest of her "Dancing Crazy" tour. Sorry kids. [People]

● Catherine Zeta-Jones is joining the Rock of Ages movie as a villain, one that wasn't included in the Broadway production. And no, I'm not cruel enough to insert a Bipolar joke here. [Hollywood Reporter] ● Now this is impressive: 15 years into a hall-of-fame career, the Foo Fighters finally have their first number-one album, with Wasting Light moving 235,000 units in its first week. [Billboard] ● Status update! Mark Zuckerberg wanted to fuck the Winklevoss twins. In the ear. [TMZ]

When The Levees Broke, Spike Lee’s haunting 2006 documentary about Hurricane Katrina, is the director’s strongest work to date, and arguably the most powerful mainstream artistic response to the tragedy. For the film, Lee ditched the out-sized ego and over-the-top sensibility that tended to carry his projects into the realm of spectacle (see: Bamboozled, Crooklyn). Instead, we got a humbling and humbly shot masterpiece that relied on the power of images—destroyed homes, detritus in the streets, funeral parades—to tell its story. It remains an important film, the first piece of media to give American audiences a true taste of the storm’s severity. Now Lee is back with a follow-up documentary, If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, which airs tonight and tomorrow night on HBO.

Probably owing to The Wire’s having proven America’s appetite for urban grit and squalor on the small screen, Showtime is currently developing a dramatic series that will chronicle the yeasty days of New York’s Alphabet City during the 80’s. According to The Hollywood Reporter, native Gotham-ites Spike Lee and Robert DeNiro are on board to direct and produce respectively, with John Ridley (of Undercover Brother fame!?) penning the series. The title: Alphaville. Somewhere in the world Jean-Luc Godard is throwing up right now.

The legendary director's first rock musical

Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. In competition at the 89’ Cannes, it lost the Palm d’Or to Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape, owing at least in part to jury president Wim Wenders’ now famous opinion that the film’s hero, Mookie, was insufficiently heroic. Lee was incensed enough to suggest that Wenders “had better watch out 'cause I'm waiting for his ass!" He even claimed to have a baseball bat with the director’s name on it.