All credit to director Sarah Gavron and company for taking on the task of adapting “Brick Lane”, Monica Ali’s finely realized novel to the big screen. They’ve made bold cuts, condensing the story, but not the emotions, and distilling from it the essence of a woman’s journey from darkness to light. The darkness is the overwhelming… Read More »
LOVE, ACTUALLY
LOVE, ACTUALLY takes upon itself the daunting task of presenting to us love in all its manifestations. Theres the fairy tale, the tragedy, the farce, the friendships and the betrayals all rolled up into a set of interwoven tales that charm but never pander, giving us the bitter with the sweet, the whimsy with the… Read More »
MATCH POINT
Chris (Johnathan Rhys-Meyers), the focus of Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT is an existential man in the proper Sartrian mold making his way in a world, he will learn, that is ruled by the short of absurdist chaos favored by Jean-Paul’s arch-rival, Camus. So much for free will, bad faith, and making one’s own luck. Forget… Read More »
Sarah Gavron Visits BRICK LANE
When I spoke to Sarah Gavron at the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 25, 2008, her film, BRICK LANE, was screening and she was anxious to find out what Bay Area audiences would make of it. She needn’t have worried, but then, worry was part of the process of bringing Monica Ali’s novel to… Read More »
Malcolm McDowell Explains Why He’s GANGSTER NO 1
I spoke with Malcolm McDowell in October 2001 during the Mill Valley Film festival where GANGSTER NO 1 was screening. As charming in person as on film, he spoke eloquently about playing madmen, working with Kubrick and Anderson, and the hazards of taking career advice from writers. GANGSTER NO 1 is a slick and stylish tale… Read More »