On her first night as a wife, the title character of EFFIE GRAY is disconcerted to see her husband spirited away to his bath after his long trip from Scotland by his mother. Later, at dinner, said mother all but tosses a gift to Effie telling her she might as well have it, since she… 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 »
FRIDA
At one point during Julie Taymor’s exquisite film, FRIDA, Diego Rivera tells Frida Kahlo that while he can only paint what he sees, she paints from the heart. And so it is as it should be that Taymor’s biopic of Frida’s life is the landscape of Frida’s heart than a straightforward telling of the events… Read More »
Nev and Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost Catch A CATFISH
When a painting arrived for photographer and filmmaker Nev Schulman at his office, he couldn’t have imagined the journey it would take him on along with brother Ariel and business partner Henry Joost. The painting was a rendering of a photograph of Nev’s that had appeared in the newspaper. The artist was eight-year-old Abby, and… Read More »
Tom McCarthy Schedules THE STATION AGENT
THE STATION AGENT is an unlikely critical and audience favorite. It doesn’t adhere to any cinematic formulas, nor does its leading man, Peter Dinklage, fall into the typical leading man mold. When I spoke with its writer/director, actor Tom McCarthy, on October 3rd, 2003, the momentum was just building following several festival screenings, including an award-winning… Read More »