Nick Broomfield makes documentaries that seek the truth and report it without fear or favor to anyone. There is no better example of what he does, and why it makes for such compelling cinema, than TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER, which takes on the reasons why a 25-year killing spree by the eponymous serial killer… Read More »
THE CHANGELING
THE CHANGELING, directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, is based on a true story so Kafka-esque that it staggers the imagination. In March of 1928, Christine Collins came home from work to discover her nine-year-old son, Walter, was missing. Her call to the Los Angeles police for help was rebuffed because the boy hadn’t been… Read More »
Idris Elba and TAKERS
Idris Elba has several thriving careers going for him, not the least of which is giving powerful performances in both feature films and on television. When I spoke with him on August 8, 2010, he explained how his career in music informs his thespian efforts, how and why he wanted to make his TAKERS character, a daring… Read More »
Michael Pena & Natalie Martinez Take the END OF WATCH
END OF WATCH is anything but a typical cop flick. Written and directed by David Ayers of TRAINING DAY fame, it makes an edgy, gritty, and engrossing film about cops, played by Michael Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal, who are neither corrupt, as in TRAINING DAY, nor of the rogue variety that are out for their own brand of… Read More »
CRASH With Ryan Phillppe and Paul Haggis
CRASH represents a sea change in careers moves for many of the people involved, not the least director and co-writer Paul Haggis, a veteran of television sitcoms. The provocative story of anger, fear, and race relations in contemporary Los Angeles also provides Ryan Phillippe with one of his best roles in years, maybe the best… Read More »