Idealism and living those ideals in the real world is only one of the intriguing issues that screenwriter/director Michael Hoffman wrestled with in adapting THE LAST STATION from the book by Jay Parini to the screen. When I talked to Michael Hoffman on January 6, 2010, he explained how he used Anton Checkov to get… Read More »
Randall Wallace Trots Out SECRETARIAT
Soft-spoken with beautiful manners and a languid drawl to his vowels, Randall Wallace is the epitome of Southern gentility. When he speaks about the mysterious nature of horses in general, or about making the life story of arguably the finest race horse who ever lived, SECRETARIAT, and the turning point in the life of his… Read More »
Ivan Cooper Relives BLOODY SUNDAY
Ivan Cooper was a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, where he was a founding member of the SDLP. His was a commitment to non-violence, and the march he was leading on January 30, 1972, was planned as a peaceful protest against the British government’s draconian internment policy that could lock someone up indefinitely and… Read More »
The CONVICTION of Pamela Grey
The true story behind the film CONVICTION is remarkable and then some. Betty Anne Waters spent 18 years trying to get her brother, Kenny, out of prison for a brutal murder that she was sure he didn’t commit. First she had to get her GED, then her B.A., and finally be admitted to, and graduate from, law… Read More »
Danny Boyle’s 127 HOURS
Based on Between A Rock and A Hard Place, the book Aron Ralston wrote about his ordeal of being trapped in a slot canyon by a massive boulder pinning his hand, 127 HOURS was conceived by director/co-screenwriter Danny Boyle as a spiritual journey of a man forced to confront the solitary existence he had chosen for himself.… Read More »
Glenn Ficarra & John Requa Say I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS
John Requa and Glenn Ficarra have been writing partners for a decade or so, but when they got the call to adapt the true story of master con artist Steven Jay Russell, they decided that this might be the perfect vehicle for their directorial debut. In a conversation that touched on censorship, the Puritans, artistic… Read More »
Lou Taylor Pucci & Jim Kohlberg Reveal Why THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED
When I spoke with director Jim Kohlberg and actor Lou Taylor Pucci about THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED on March 2, 2011, it was hard to know where to start. The film, based on an essay by Oliver Sacks about a man who lost his short-term memory, but not his love for music, raises many questions… Read More »
Ewan McGregor & Mike Mills are BEGINNERS
BEGINNERS is based on writer/director Mike Mills’ experience of having his father come out as gay when he became a widower after forty years of marriage. The film is fictionalized, the father is Hal, played by Christopher Plummer, the son is Oliver, played by McGregor, as far as the details go, but is emotionally true… Read More »
Jonah Hill Plays MONEYBALL
Jonah Hill started his film career in comedies such as SUPERBAD and FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, but his roots are in writing, and his goal is to be a serious actor. When I spoke to him on September 16, 2011, the conversation moved from MONEYBALL, and the journey his character, Peter Brand, makes during the course… Read More »
Phyllida Lloyd Takes on THE IRON LADY
I talked with director Phyllida Lloyd on December 7, 2011, in the Lobby Lounge at the Ritz Carlton in San Franisco. It was a fitting location to discuss her opulent prodution of THE IRON LADY, a psychological biography of Margaret Thatcher. During the conversation, as diners around us happily enjoyed tea and scones, Lloyd discussed… Read More »
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