CLERKS 2 isn’t just everything a perfect sequel should be, it’s everything a superb film should be, too. Right on top of the zeitgeist, and fiendishly clever in it commentary on it, it skewers political correctness within a profane framework that unwaveringly champions middle class values with an infectious elan. It picks up with the eponymous… Read More »
SLITHER — DVD
SLITHER has perhaps the worst poster of any terrific film released in 2006. It may have actually kept people away, what with the way its space slugs converging on a bathtub cradling a classically nubile nymphette. It fails in every respect to convey the wicked humor and superbly self-aware irony that permeates every frame of… Read More »
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
I am one of those slavish devotees of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhker Trilogy who can, as a result of manic bouts of reading (the books), watching (the BBC television series) and listening (to the original incarnation produced by BBC radio) recite vast swaths of text. It’s a skill that provokes delight in some, consternation in others,… Read More »
Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman Consider ADAPTATION
Frankly, I would have been disappointed if an interview with director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman hadn’t turned surreal with the first question posed. The team that brought us BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and now with ADAPTATION, a tall tale of orchid hunters and moviemaking, have their own take on reality, which makes for a refreshing change… Read More »
Mark Henn & Mike Surrey Invite Us to Meet THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
I’ve always said that animators are among the happiest people on the planet, and Mark Henn and Mike Surrey were no exception. Tasked with bringing Tianna and Ray, respectively, to life in Disney’s instant classic, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, they were delighted to talk about the pleasures and perils of returning to a completely hand… Read More »
Jean-Pierre Jeunet Tinkers at MICMACS
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s puckish yet profound approach to filmmaking, evident in such films as AMELIE and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, has been delighting audiences for years. His latest, MICMACS, is no exception, dealing as it does with arms dealers who show a complete indifference to the results of their actions, and the inventive denizens of the lowest… Read More »
Todd Solondz Explains LIFE DURING WARTIME
Todd Solondz was just finishing up his oatmeal when we were introduced on July 21, 2010. With a such a wholesome and solid breakfast under his belt, he was more than ready to talk about LIFE DURING WARTIME, a film that uses the idiom of wholesomeness and savagely juxtaposes it with lives rife with anguish,… Read More »
Andre Ovredal Exposes the TROLLHUNTER
Andre Ovredal waited over a decade before embarking on his second adventure in feature filmmaking. He used the time to hone his skills as a successful commercial filmmaker in his native Norway, a country whose folklore gifted him with the premise of TROLLHUNTER. A man with a quick wit, and a killer smile, he talked… Read More »
Tim Heidecker & Eric Westehim & TIM AND ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim take their comedy very seriously, as befits two guys who started out as artists and filmmakers rather than sketch artists. At least, that’s how they explain it. When I spoke to them on February 7, 2012, the conversation included the allure of the shopping mall as a stage for their… Read More »
Wayans, Marlon — A HAUNTED HOUSE
Its not often that my heart is broken in the first minute of an interview, but such was the case when talking to Marlon Wayans about A HAUNTED HOUSE on December 3, 2012. As is my wont, I included some of his upcoming projects in my introduction, one of which, a bio-pic of Richard Pryor,… Read More »