Quiet in tone, and visually arresting, TESLA tells the story of a man whose perspective had only the most tangential relationship to that of the mere mortals who surrounded him. Michael Almereyda film echoes that with a high-minded tone-poem that mixes fact and fiction to achieve an emotional and intellectual, if not factual, truth. The… Read More »
Dr. David Kaplan has PARTICLE FEVER (and It’s Contagious)
I was only half joking when I told particle physicist Dr. David Kaplan that listening to him had raised my IQ at least five points. He had just explained in garrulous fashion, and in terms that were both clear and compelling, how the observer effect couldn’t have applied to the search for the Higgs particle… Read More »
Roko Belic Wants You to Be HAPPY
Roko Belic has been making films about people living their dreams, including the Oscar(tm)-nominated documentary, GENGHIS BLUES. That his latest documentary, HAPPY, should be a look at the profound nature of that state of being is no surprise. When we spoke on June 30, 2011, it was at the fabled Roxie Theater in San Francisco… Read More »
Leila Conners Peterson on THE 11TH HOUR
When I talked with Leila Conners Petersen on August 8, 2007, the thing I most wanted to discuss was how her film, THE 11TH HOUR, >wasn’t< a rehashing of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Both deal with humankind’s effect on the environment, but Petersen and her filmmaking partners, Nadia Conners and Leonardo DiCaprio, wanted to do more… Read More »