There is a certain trepidation that accompanies any screening of a film released in January. This is the graveyard of films that failed to meet studio expectations, but that for some reason or another, are due a theatrical release. There is even more trepidation when the film is one aimed at children. How bad, one… Read More »
The WHIPLASH of Damien Chazelle
When I met Damien Chazelle, one of the first things I said to him was that his film WHIPLASH had to be one of the sweatiest movies ever made, up there with BEN HUR and COOL HAND LUKE. He laughed and said he was pleased to have filled such a niche market. That’s the kind of guy… Read More »
Laura Poitras Meets CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras was hoarse the day I interviewed her for CITIZENFOUR. Her remarkable eye-witness documentary about Edward Snowden leaking NSA secrets to the press resulted in everyone wanting to talk to her. When we spoke, though, her dedication to bringing the truth to light was intact. I started by asking what it was like to… Read More »
Amir Bar-Lev Visits HAPPY VALLEY
Avoiding black holes. Amir Bar-Lev used that term when describing his approach to interviewing a victim of child sexual abuse, and it was a strikingly original way to describe how he wanted to be honest, but not salacious when it came to dealing with the charges against Jerry Sandusky in his documentary, HAPPY VALLEY. What… Read More »
THE OVERNIGHTERS — Jesse Moss
Jesse Moss didn’t go to North Dakota to make a film about the homeless problem that the oil boom brought with it. But when he heard about Pastor Jay Reinke’s program to house people who migrated to his small town of Williston, ND in search of work, he knew he’d found a story he wanted… Read More »
Timothy Spall is MR. TURNER
There is a wonderful juxtaposition in the modesty Timothy Spall evinces about his work, and the enormous talent he brings to it. When I mentioned his winning the best actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, he said with a half-laugh that no one was more surprised about it that he was. He must… Read More »
David Burris — THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT
When I spoke with David Burris on December 18, 2014, one of the things I most wanted to talk to him about was getting the accents right in THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT. It’s set in North Carolina, and he used actors from such far-flung places as Australia, England, and Los Angeles. We went on to… Read More »
TOP FIVE = Top Flight
TOP FIVE starts a little out of chronological sequence with two protagonists walking down a Manhattan sidewalk discussing art and life. Specifically art versus life with one opining that a movie is just a movie while the other disagrees. The man, as we will shortly learn, is Andre Allen (Chris Rock), superstar funnyman and recovering… Read More »
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
And so it is our last visit to Middle Earth, and a bittersweet one it is. Peter Jackson’s finale to his pair of trilogies is a triumph of spectacle and humanity, notwithstanding that the human beings of the piece are not the main characters. It’s only flaw, and that is a relative one, is that… Read More »
THE HOMESMAN
Tommy Lee Jones is a dour man, at least on screen. His carefully cultivated persona is a laconic one of few words and little patience. It is a character that he plays to perfection, and in THE HOMESMAN,he imbues it with a wonderful, understated quirkiness that makes his star quality all the more charismatic. As… Read More »
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