Click here to listen to the interview. Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller had been working on HALLELUJAH, LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG for half a decade or so when the pandemic struck. When I spoke with them (with occasional comments from their parrot) on June 17, 2022, my first question to them was how… Read More »
Beth Harrington Follows THE WINDING STREAM
One of the first things Beth Harrington did when preparing for her documentary about the Original Carter Family, THE WINDING STREAM, was to sit down with a box set of their recordings in order to immerse herself in their music. When I spoke with her on April 19, 2016, she described the experience, and why… Read More »
Jeffrey D. Brown & Sushmita Mukherjee Talk How SOLD Changed Their Lives
Director Jeffrey D. Brown and co-star Sushmita Mukherjee wanted to do more than make a film, they wanted to make a difference for the kids like the one depicted in SOLD. That’s why they have partnered with NGOs, and are aiming for more than a run-of-the-mill theatrical release. In that spirit, there are links to several of… Read More »
The Zen of Conquering MERU
Before starting the formal interview with Jimmy Chin, Conrad Anker, and Chai Vasarhelyi about their stunning documentary MERU, on May 4, 2015, I felt compelled to tell them that while I have climbed stairs in my life, I have never, and never will, climb a mountain. Vasarhelyi, the co-director with her husband, Chin, laughed and… Read More »
A THOUSAND WORDS
There is something almost poignant in the way Eddie Murphy so palpably desires to make a meaningful film about enlightenment. The almost comes from the difference between that aspiration and the painfully ill-conceived follow-through in A THOUSAND WORD. This is not Murphy’s first attempt to explore the spiritual side of the human experience. There was… Read More »
THE GURU
THE GURU is a fluffy confection that mixes the exuberance of Bollywood with measured lunacy of 30s screwball comedies and adds just a dash of The Joy of Sex to leaven the mixture with a millennial sensibility. Our hero is Ramu, an Indian dance teacher who was marked as a child by seeing John Travolta… Read More »
CHAC: THE RAIN GOD
Long unavailable to its legion of fans, CHAC THE RAIN GOD, made by Rolando Klein and released 1975, has been issued in a superb DVD edition by Milestone. It’s about time. This tale of pilgrimage, ritual and sacrifice in a Maya village in the Mexican wilderness has a magic and a wonder that few films achieve. The story… Read More »
Edward Norton Chisels STONE
Edward Norton is not a man to give a casual answer. When discussing the spiritual journey of the title character of STONE, or his preparations to play the prisoner manipulating his way to parole, he conveys his committment to finding the right voice, literally and figuratively, for Stone. The story is gritty, but the themes… 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 »
Jimi Mistry & Heather Graham Find THE GURU
THE GURU was a hit in Europe long before it made its way to the States and that’s a darn shame. Its infectious good humor and playful smarts is something no moviegoer should have to do without a minute longer than necessary. Playful is also the way I’d describe two of its stars, Jimi Mistry… Read More »