SEE HOW THEY RUN is a handsomely mounted period piece with a clever premise undermined by an irksome dithering about its tone and a rampant directorial lethargy. Calling out tropes from cinema and literary mysteries with the sort of wild abandon from which the pacing would have profited, this uneven comedy takes us to 1953,… Read More »
Welcoming THE MEDDLER with Susan Sarandon and Lorene Scafaria
Lorene Scafaria had threatened her mother for a long time about making a movie based on their relationship and calling it THE MEDDLER. With this smart and heart-warming comedy, she has made good on that threat. Based on their relationship, with a few flourishes involving creative license, Scafaria has crafted the story of Marnie Minervini,… Read More »
For Steven Knight, It’s A LOCKE
Steven Knight has written some of my favorite films, and so when I learned that he was making a trip to San Francisco on April 9, 2014, to promote LOCKE, I was more than delighted. A modest man with a dry wit, he humored my penchant for reading too much into things (the name Katrina… Read More »
Lily Tomlin and Paul Weitz and GRANDMA
In which Paul Weitz and Lily Tomlin talk the continuum of comedy, reading too much into a name, and paying one’s own way. And a good time is had by all.
Noah Baumbach Makes Hay WHILE WE’RE YOUNG
Noah Baumbach took a bold step in writing and directing WHILE WE’RE YOUNG. He decided not to take sides when telling this tale of youthful impatience and adult complacence meeting head-on, instead opting for the far more interesting neutral perspective that allows the audience to relish the quirks of both generations while never stooping to… Read More »
Brian Sloan has A WTC VIEW
WTC VIEW was the first play from The New York International Fringe Festival to make the leap to the big screen in 2005, but playwright Brian Sloan resisted the temptation to fundamentally change the nature of his play by opening it up beyond the one apartment in which it takes place. The metaphor of a… Read More »
David Cross Takes the HITS
David Cross was off coffee because of a stomach ailment when I talked to him on February 5, 2015 just before his film, HITS, kicked of SFIndieFest. Opting for tea, and overcoming his distaste for the bergamot in his Earl Gray, he was a lively conversationalist as we discussed his maiden effort writing and directing a feature film.… Read More »
Perry Blackshear, MacLeod Andrews & Evan Dumouchel Insist that THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE
THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE is a first-rate existential horror film, as well as a psychological thriller. I got the same vibe watching it that I had gotten watching PI and BRICK, the maiden efforts of Darren Aronofsky and Rian Johnson respectively. Writer/director Perry Blackshear understands more than just how to create evocative, even sumptuous, visuals, he knows… Read More »
Shlomi Elkabetz Records GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM
GETT, the Hebrew word for a bill of divorce, is the third film in a trilogy made by brother-and-sister filmmakers Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. The theme, as Shlomi explained to me on October 6, 2014, is freedom, specifically women’s freedom in the modern world. Inspired by their mother’s life, it’s a contemplation on the nature… Read More »
CITY ISLAND
The Rizzo Family of CITY ISLAND is a family of secret smokers. That smoke, though, is just a screen for the many other secrets that lurk amid this close-knit but volatile family, one that has no problem expressing itself, but not as much talent in sharing confidences. In fact, most of the secrets, smoking included,… Read More »
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