This is the not the first time that Disney has tried to cinema-ize its Haunted Mansion attraction. That perennial favorite got the film treatment 20 years ago with Eddie Murphy heading an indifferent story and a sentimental subplot that I found to be more interesting than anything involving Mr. Murphy. Alas, this latest attempt fares… Read More »
JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY — Frank Marshall Interview
Frank Marshall has some of the most impressive bona fides in the film industry. Starting out as a volunteer-of-all-trades, including an extra, on Peter Bogdanovich’s debut, TARGETS, he has gone on to a stellar career as a producer, with and without wife Kathleen Kennedy, he put Indiana Jones on the big screen, as well as Jason… Read More »
THE DUNNING MAN — Michael Clayton, Kevin Fortuna, and Ian Blume Interview
The one question I knew I wasn’t going to ask the team behind THE DUNNING MAN was the one about that Oscar™-winning film that shares a name with DUNNING MAN’s director/screenwriter, Michael Clayton. Instead, when I spoke with Clayton, writer Kevin Fortuna, editor Ian Blume by phone on March 6, 2017, I started the conversation by… Read More »
PRESENTING PRINCESS SHAW
Princess Shaw (AKA Samantha Montgomery) is a larger than life personality. It’s only fitting that she should have a larger than life experience, and to have it documented in PRESENTING PRINCESS SHAW, a documentary about hope, determination, and talent getting the attention it’s due. Princess was working at a nursing home to pay the bills,… Read More »
Michiel Huisman Counts on THE AGE OF ADALINE
THE AGE OF ADALINE is a bit of a departure for Michiel Huisman, known for troubled and/or troubling characters on NASHVILLE, TREME, and GAME OF THRONES. So when I talked with him on April 13, 2015, the first question I asked was if that was part of the reason he chose a role that allowed… Read More »
TROUBLE THE WATER
Tia Lessen and Carl Deal went to Louisiana just days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans with the idea of making a documentary about the Louisiana National Guard troops who returning home from Iraq to find their homes changed forever. Instead, while doing an interview for that film, two people walked up and introduced themselves.… 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 »