Talking to Writer/Director Robin Swicord About Wakefield
It’s been a decade since screenwriter Robin Swicord’s directorial debut, The Jane Austen Book Club, opened in theaters and managed to gross slightly more than its $6 million budget in worldwide ticket sales. Since that time, she has struggled to find backers for a sophomore effort – despite being Oscar-nominated for her contributions to the adapted screenplay for 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
It’s a situation that many females in the industry know all too well.
Director Steven James on his Crucial Doc Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
When discussing the 2008 financial crisis, the word "big" comes up a lot. The big banks, The Big Short, too big to fail. But the first American financial institution to be indicted for mortgage-lending misconduct after 2008 was not big, as director Steve James acknowledges in the title of his new documentary, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, which opens in New York on May 19.
"I had to inform them today that they have dropped from being the 2,651st largest bank to the 2,652nd largest bank,
Actor Tracy Letts & Writer/Director Azazel Jacobs Talk The Lovers
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' rueful new drama began with Debra Winger's interest in its 2011 predecessor, Terri. The actress told Jacobs she liked that movie, so he consulted with her as he wrote what eventually emerged as The Lovers. In it, Winger and actor-playwright Tracy Letts are Mary and Michael, a suburban couple whose marriage has gone dormant. Each is dallying with another — Richard (Aiden Gillen) and Lucy (Melora Walters),
Ridley Scott Says Alien: Covenant Sequel to Start Filming in 14 Months
With Alien: Covenant scoring positive early reviews, Ridley Scott is already talking about the sequel (and Covenant isn’t even out until May 19!). Starting with 2012’s Prometheus, Scott has been reverse engineering the Alien mythology, leading us back to his iconic 1979 masterpiece that started it all—and inspired countless sci-fil films since.
Considering Scott has been working on this since well before 2012,
Talking to Eleanor Coppola on her Feature Directorial Debut Paris Can Wait
You know a first-time narrative-feature director and writer has chutzpah when they include a Hitchcock-style cameo in their debut effort. Yes, that lady quietly reading a magazine in a hotel lobby as Paris Can Wait star Diane Lane exits an elevator is indeed Eleanor Coppola. You might not know the face, but you definitely recognize the surname of this matriarch who presides over a tight-knit cinematic dynasty. Members include two Oscar-winning filmmakers, Francis,
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story Doc Writer/Director on Unsung Film Heroes
The work of storyboard artist Harold Michelson and researcher Lillian Michelson was integral to some of the most iconic films in Hollywood history: The Ten Commandments, The Apartment, The Birds, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate and Rosemary’s Baby, to name just a few.
But you won’t find their names in most of the credits.
The couple,
Spotlight Director Tom McCarthy Eying Disney’s Timmy Failure
Tom McCarthy is most recently known for his excellent directorial work on the Academy Award-winning Spotlight, which catapulted the already Oscar-nominated writer/director (he co-wrote Pixar's sensational UP, to name a few of his credits) into the "choose whatever project you want" portion of his career. It looks as if McCarthy's next move will be a turn from his recent very serious topical work: adapting the kids’ book series,
John Ridley on his Post-Rodney King Verdict Riots Doc Let It Fall
He wrote 12 Years a Slave and tackled anti-Muslim prejudice, homophobia and immigration in his American Crime TV series. Now, 25 years after the Rodney King "not guilty" verdict sparked riots in Los Angeles, Oscar-winning writer-director-producer John Ridley takes another deep dive into American dysfunction with Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992. Opening theatrically April 21 and airing on ABC April 28, the documentary examines a decade's worth of catastrophic decisions culminating in the six-day uprising that cost 55 lives and more than a billion dollars in property damage.
The Filmmakers Behind the Sweeping Historical Epic The Promise
Although best known for 2004's Hotel Rwanda, Terry George has written or written and directed a half dozen films about areas of conflict, notably his own childhood homeland, Northern Ireland. With The Promise, which opens April 21, George addresses the genocide of Armenians in what is now Turkey during World War I. The murder of approximately 1.5 million is well documented, yet Turkish authorities have never acknowledged it.
Norman Director Joseph Cedar on his Unusual, Poignant new Film
In Joseph Cedar’s new film, the titular character, Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) might as well be homeless. And jobless, with (mostly) no family. And yet, he’s everywhere, seems to know everyone, and has an iPhone he clings to like a figurative lifeline. Given the strange and informal role he’s cut out for himself in life, it pretty much is. Norman: the Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer chronicles just that,
Talking to The Lost City of Z Writer/Director James Gray
Introducing his new film, The Lost City of Z, to a full house at the National Geographic Society auditorium, writer-director James Gray confessed to something he termed "a bit embarrassing": He originally hadn't considered the ecological aspects of the Amazon-set saga that was making its Washington debut in March as part of the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. That facet of the tale was revealed to him only when he reached the area of Brazil explored in the early 20th century by his protagonist,
The Legendary Werner Herzog on Craft, Opening two Films Today & More
"Have you ever experienced the desert?"
Nicole Kidman, playing real-life early-20th-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell in Queen of the Desert, directs that question to the desk-bound bureaucrats who try to stop her from exploring the Arabian peninsula. But the question could be posed just as naturally by the man who wrote that line, Werner Herzog.
The German-bred, L.A.-based writer-director is known for movies that brave deserts,
Hot off Get Out, Warner Bros. Looking at Jordan Peele to Helm Akira
Jordan Peele is on fire. The co-creator of Key & Peele, one of the most influential sketch comedy shows of all time, is coming off his blockbuster smash Get Out, his directorial debut, no less, which is a commercial and critical hit. Get Out has already grossed over $150 million and has generated extraordinary amounts of buzz, as well as serious think pieces on Peele’s ability to dissect racism in ways no other filmmaker has done.
Director Oz Perkins Takes It Slow in The Blackcoat’s Daughter Shocker
Oz Perkins wrote and directed The Blackcoat's Daughter (opening in theaters and On Demand March 31) determined to create a slow-burn horror film in the classic mold. The story: two teenagers (Kiernan Shipka of Mad Men and British actress Lucy Boynton) go mad when they're abandoned at their devil-infested prep school over winter break. Separately, a depressed young woman (Emma Roberts) treks through the night on a mysterious mission her own.
Joe Swanberg Gambles on Jake Johnson’s Poker Hand in Win It All
Director Joe Swanberg never played a game of cards in his life, but he totally relates to the poker player at the heart of his new movie Win It All (opening April 7 on Netflix). "As an independent filmmaker I feel like a gambler all the time," he says. "Especially as someone who puts my own money into my own movies, I really know that feeling of taking a big risk and not knowing what's going to happen."
The Boss Baby‘s Director & Producer Talk Baldwin, Childhood, Dr. Seuss
Director Tom McGrath (the Madagascar movies) admits that his very funny and heartwarming new animated film, The Boss Baby is both a tribute and apology to his older brother. It is the story of a seven-year-old named Tim whose blissful life is turned upside down by the arrival of a baby brother. As Tim’s parents dote on the new arrival, they somehow never notice that the baby has a suit and tie,
SXSW 2017: Bill Pullman & Director Jared Moshe on the Making of The Ballad of Lefty Brown
The Ballad of Lefty Brown was an audience favorite at SXSW for its classic western style and fresh storytelling. Bill Pullman (Independence Day) played the title role, but it was a character that diverged from the leading man parts that he is famous for. As the sidekick to Senator Johnson (Peter Fonda) in 1889 Montana, Lefty learns a difficult lesson when the brutal west doesn’t always honor honesty and loyalty as he’s come to believe it would.
SXSW 2017: California Dreams Blurs the Line Between Doc & Narrative
California Dreams is a bizarre study of five Southern Californians trying to make it in Hollywood. The film features Cory Zacharia who has hopes of becoming an actor, but seems unaware that he’s already the lead in the film. Billed as a documentary, the movie has some hallucinatory moments like a running gag of Cory being chased by a Dog the Bounty Hunter impersonator and collecting twenty-dollar bills that fall from the sky in a field just when he needs them.
SXSW2017: Austin Production La Barracuda Has Real Bite
Shot and filmed in Austin by local filmmakers Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, La Barracuda was a hometown darling at SXSW. The suspense drama stars Texas native Allison Tolman (Fargo) as Merle, the tone-deaf daughter of a country music legend. When a mysterious woman appears and introduces herself as Merle’s half sister, Sinaloa (Sophie Reid), tensions flare. Everyone in the family has their suspicions of her true intentions that range from selfish to sinister.
SXSW 2017: Talking with The Transfiguration Filmmakers About the Vampire Thriller
The Transfiguration is a gritty urban vampire story that ditches the typical startling horror vibe of monster movies for the shock of a realistic bloodthirsty killer. Adding to the film’s discomfort is the innocence and confusion of the quiet teenage predator. Raised by his older brother, Milo (Eric Ruffin) is lonely and doesn’t seem to be able to comprehend the consequences of his actions. When fellow angst ridden teen Sophie (Chloe Levine) takes an interest in him,
