When I spoke with John Carroll Lynch by phone on September 19, 2017, one of the things I asked him about was choosing a topic for his directorial debut that our culture prefers to ignore. We started, though, with something remarkable about Stanton as an actor, the peculiar light that shines from his eyes, despite… Read More »
SYRIANA
At two different points during SYRIANA, two different men in traditional Arab robes sits on a floor surrounded by two different sets of rapt listeners sitting in a circle. Each explains with perfect conviction how to make the world a better place. One is an eloquent imam in a poverty-stricken madrassa, advocating a return to… Read More »
THE DANCER UPSTAIRS
THE DANCER UPSTAIRS is a stunning exploration of passion and delusion, and not just the romantic kind, though the power of Eros is seen here as just as treacherous as the political backdrop of the story. Set in an unnamed South American country in a time specified only as the recent past, an honest man,… Read More »
Tom Dolby Savors the LAST WEEKEND
It was only right that when I spoke by phone with Tom Dolby about LAST WEEKEND on September 12, 2014, he was on his porch overlooking a lake. LAST WEEKEND, which Dolby co-directed with Tom Williams from his own script, is set on Lake Tahoe during an emotionally tumultuous Labor Day Weekend for the affluent Green family. One of the… Read More »
The LEVITY of Ed Solomon
Making his directorial debut filming his own script wasn’t the only break Mark Solomon made with his previous work. Unlike the broad comedy he’s done before, LEVITY is a thought-provoking film that isn’t afraid to examine matters religious and moral in a world that offers few absolutes when it comes to right and wrong. It was… Read More »
John Malkovich Captures THE DANCER UPSTAIRS
John Malkovich is a man who likes to take his time, whether putting together THE DANCER UPSTAIRS, his directorial debut in films, or in answering questions and about the art and craft of acting on stage and on screen. It led to a fair amount of philosophizing when I interviewed him on April 17, 2003 and a… Read More »
Stephen Gaghan Visits SYRIANA
Stephen Gaghan has a broad worldview, one that is reflected in his Oscar(tm)-winning screenplay for TRAFFIC and now, even more superbly, in SYRIANA, which is also his directorial debut. This multi-faceted story of intrigue and deception surrounding the rights to an oil field in an unnamed Persian Gulf country is gripping, surprising, and scathingly intelligent.… Read More »
Tony Gilroy Pulls the Strings on MICHAEL CLAYTON
Tony Gilroy is no stranger to the inner workings of law firms. He researched how things operated while writing the screenplay for THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, but with MICHAEL CLAYTON, which marks his directorial debut, he kept things strictly out of the supernatural realm while still exploring the evil at work in the world. When we… Read More »
David Schwimmer Says RUN FATBOY RUN
When I spoke to David Schwimmer on March 5, 2008, his directorial debut was the reason for the interview, but it was his working relationship with radio legend Studs Terkel that I wanted to start with. Schwimmer’s reminiscence about the man, and the effect he had on his theater career that shed a whole new… Read More »
Tim Allen & Michael Lembeck Invoke THE SANTA CLAUS 2
Though the result may be so much cinematic cotton candy, the process of making THE SANTA CLAUS II was anything but all sweetness and light for its star Tim Allen. Playing both Santa and his evil toy double required extensive prosthetic makeup that took hours to apply and didn’t last all that long under the… Read More »