George Ratliff’s documentary, HELL HOUSE, chronicles the building of a Halloween house that doesn’t purvey ghouls, werewolves, or vampires. Instead, this brainchild of the sincere folks of Trinity Church in Texas use the concept of a Halloween fright fest to convert the unsaved to their brand of fundamentalism. A fundamentalism in which abortion, raves, and Harry Potter are presented as… Read More »
Herzog, Werner — INTO THE ABYSS
Ordinarily I edit out the the sound of a phone ringing during an interview, but there was something about the way Werner Herzog responded to it when it happened during our talk on November 5, 2011, that it seemed wrong not to include it. The film we were discussing was his documentary, INTO THE ABYSS,… Read More »
Richard Linklater Would Like You To Meet BERNIE
Richard Linklater makes films that are as varied as they are piquantly challenging. With BERNIE, based on a true story, he considers a good and universally beloved man who does a bad thing to a spiteful and universally despised woman. When I spoke to him on April 20, 2012, the whole idea of justice and… Read More »