Todd Haynes took on an icon when he decided to film MILDRED PIERCE. Even though his adaptation sticks to the James M. Cain novel with a loving fidelity, he was surprised by how much spectre of Joan Crawford in the title role of Michael Curtiz’s classic noir still looms. Addressing that issue when I spoke… Read More »
Alex Gibney Ponders GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
When I spoke to Alex Gibney on April 8, 2008, the first question was the one that stuck with me from the minute I heard about this documentary. Where do you begin with a man who was larger than life, as was his writing? Gibney, with a succinct erudition, summed up his own struggle with… Read More »
Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith Introduce You to THE MOST DANGROUS MAN IN AMERICA – DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
When I spoke with Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith on February 4, 2010, their documentary had just been nominated for an Oscar, and so naturally that was a subject up for discussion, along with the implications for future financing and distribution of political documentaries. Politics is certainly at the center of THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN… Read More »
Laura Poitras Takes THE OATH
Laura Poitras spent two years in Yemen shooting footage for THE OATH. What began as an investigation into the military prison at Guantanamo Bay became instead a remarkable portrait of two brothers-in-law and their separate journeys in the wake of the American invasion of Afghanistan. Abu Jandal, now a Yemeni taxi driver, was bin Ladin’s… Read More »
Ivan Cooper Relives BLOODY SUNDAY
Ivan Cooper was a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, where he was a founding member of the SDLP. His was a commitment to non-violence, and the march he was leading on January 30, 1972, was planned as a peaceful protest against the British government’s draconian internment policy that could lock someone up indefinitely and… 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.
Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij Listen to the SOUND OF MY VOICE
For co-writers Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, making SOUND OF MY VOICE wasn’t just a labor of love, but one of passion. Batmaglij directed and Marling stars as Maggie, the enigmatic leader of a cult who claims to have come from the future to save her followers in a film that lets the audience decide… 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 »
Sam Greene Monitors THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND
As a post-Baby Boomer, Sam Greene was barely alive when most of the events discussed in his documentary, THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND, occurred. Perhaps because he was able to come to the project without the emotions that colored that era that resulted in the balanced portrait he and partner Bill Siegel have created of those troubled… Read More »
Chen Kaige is TOGETHER
Having lived through the political and cultural turbulence of China’s recent past, it’s hardly surprising that Chen Kaige’s films reflect his preoccupation with the changes his homeland has, is, and will continue to experience. While is other films, such as FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE, have dealt with history, his latest, TOGETHER, looks as the present using… Read More »