There are murky waters, literally and figuratively, in THE LESSON, a languid tragedy of manners about family dynamics and career neuroses. At its center are Liam Somers (Daryl McCormack), a brilliant literature tutor struggling to complete his first novel, and the subject of Liam’s Oxford thesis, the revered writer, J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant). To… Read More »
NEVER LOOK AWAY – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Interview
Click here to listen to the interview. Before I started recording my interview with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck on January 14, 2019, we reminisced about the last time we had met. It was just before his film, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, had beaten Guillermo del Toro’s odd-on favorite for the Best Foreign Language Oscar™, PAN’S… Read More »
AFTER LOUIE — Vincent Gagliostro Interview
Vincent Gagliostro was an ideal person to ask my pop-quiz question during the second Frameline press day on June 23, 2017. The question was why arts are important in the age of Trump, and Gagliostro, whose film, AFTER LOUIE is the festival’s closing night film, is a man who has worked in many media, some… Read More »
Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical — John Fisher Interview
John Fisher is a busy man. Actor, playwright, and Executive Director of Theatre Rhinoceros, the longest running queer theater in the world. Simultaneously. Such a workload prompted me to ask him when he found time to sleep when we spoke on May 12, 2017. The larger subject was Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of Priscilla, Queen of… Read More »
Laurie Anderson Shares the HEART OF A DOG
Where oh where to start when talking to Laurie Anderson? A performance artist, musician, actress, filmmaker, first NASA artist-in-residence, and all around great soul, she was in San Francisco to talk about her new film, HEART OF A DOG, a film that uses her dog Lola Belle’s life and death as a touchstone for a… Read More »
NASTY BABY
It’s a toss-up which is more unpredictable: creative impulse when given full rein, or that same impulse when it is stymied, though, perhaps one is a little that is more dangerous than the other. The struggle, be it artistic or procreative, is the theme of Sebastian Silva’s NASTY BABY, a modern fable about family, friendship,… Read More »
William Farley and PLASTIC MAN: THE ARTFUL LIFE OF JERRY ROSS BARRISH
William Farley was a great choice to direct a film about Jerry Ross Barrish. They are both artists who came from the working class, they both worked in sculpture and in film. It gives Farley an insight into Barrish as a person as well as an artist that others, no matter who talented, might miss. … 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 »
Don Argott, Sheena Joyce & Lenny Feinberg Reveal THE ART OF THE STEAL
For director Don Argott and producers Sheena Joyce and Lenny Feinberg, making THE ART OF THE STEAL about the fight over the Barnes collection of early modern art was a labor of love. The resulting film plays like a political thriller. During the course of our conversation on February 15, 2010, each spoke about what… Read More »
Hal Hartley & Parker Posey Revive FAY GRIM
The only room to be found in the shared suite was the cramped bedroom, and so Hartley, Posey, and I stretched out amid my recording equipment on the bed to chat about art, politics, and the effect of eye contact on and off the screen.