Best of 2021: “Passing” Writer/Director Rebecca Hall On Navigating the Complicated History of Racial Identity

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on November 30.

The complexity of bringing a thematically laced film like Passing to the screen isn’t a simple one. For Rebecca Hall, who makes her directorial debut, it was also a personal journey, “an extended catharsis” that allowed her “to get to the bottom of a lot of mysteries” in her family.

Best of 2021: “King Richard” Casting Director Rich Delia on Finding Venus & Serena

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on November 19.

The new film King Richard (Warner Bros.) halted shooting in March 2020 during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Although his work was done, Rich Delia, one of the project’s casting directors, was “sitting at home freaking out” over one thing:

“What if one of the girls goes through a growth spurt?”

The girls are,

Best of 2021: “No Time to Die” DP Linus Sandgren on Daniel Craig’s Epic Sendoff as James Bond

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on October 7.

In No Time to Die, Daniel Craig gets two hours and 43 minutes to show James Bond fans what they’ll be missing once he exits his five-movie run as the world’s most enduring British spy. Following Craig’s every step, car chase, and explosion along the way is Swedish DP Linus Sandgren.

Best of 2021: Aaron Sorkin on Having a Ball Making “Being the Ricardos”

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on December 10.

You might think the opportunity to write a film about the legendary Lucille Ball would have been irresistible for Aaron Sorkin, but he wasn’t immediately convinced. “It took me about 18 months to say yes, to commit to it,” Sorkin says of the project that would eventually become Being the Ricardos, 

Best of 2021: Mixing History & Modernity in the Costumes of “The Harder They Fall”

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on November 2.

The Harder They Fall, Netflix’s addition to the world of Westerns from director-writer Jeymes Samuel, is not a monochromatic throwback set on the dusty frontier. Honoring the names of historical characters like Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz) while leaving most of their actual histories behind,

Best of 2021: “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Breakout Star Meng’er Zhang on her Knockout Debut

This interview is part of our highly subjective, decidedly non-comprehensive “Best of 2021” year-end list. It was originally published on December 1. 

From the second she enters the frame, Xialing radiates a younger sibling’s mixture of hurt and defiance at the brother who abandoned her. Yet Xialing is no longer a little girl, and as the daughter of the crime boss and formidable, superpowered martial arts master Wenwu, she’s become everything her older brother—Shang-Chi—was meant to be.

“A Journal for Jordan” Screenwriter on Adapting This Moving True Story for Denzel Washington

Virgil Williams knows a thing or two about crafting a screenplay based on a previously written work. After all, his script for Netflix’s Mudbound, co-written with director Dee Rees and adapted from the novel by Hillary Jordan, earned him nominations for an Oscar and both Critics Choice and Writers Guild of America awards, among many others.

Now, Williams has tackled a best-selling memoir, and a uniquely moving one at that.

“Don’t Look Up” Editor Hank Corwin on Cutting The End of the World

Editor Hank Corwin has a natural shorthand with Adam McKay. The duo has worked on a trilogy of films together plating the collapse of the 2008 real estate market in The Big Short, framing the power of Dick Cheney during his White House tenure as VP in Vice, and now with Don’t Look Up, they poignantly question our modern human condition under the guise of an end of the world satire.

“The Matrix Resurrections” Co-Writer David Mitchell On Conjuring a Meta Mind-Blower With Lana Wachowski

The Matrix changed everything in 1999 when it set the bar in Hollywood for mind-twisting science fiction expressed through next-level visual effects. Written and directed by the Wachowski siblings, The Matrix and its two sequels introduced “Bullet Time” and the “Red Pill/Blue Pill” to the popular imagination, merging art and commerce to the tune of $1.6 billion in domestic box office. Now, The Matrix Resurrections (in theaters and streaming on HBO Max now) updates the franchise with Keanu Reeves returning as the heroic Neo.

“The Power of the Dog” Costume Designer Kirsty Cameron on Highlighting Harsh Beauty

There’s a Japanese film from director Hirokazu Koreeda titled Shoplifters about a family that goes to great lengths in order to survive. It sneaks up on you and pulls you in such a profound way that by the end you’re left craving for more. It’s an extraordinary film that is brought together, in part, by the creativity of those behind-the-scenes who shaped a deep, realistic environment that allows viewers to comfortably sink into the world.

“Being the Ricardos” Costume Designer Susan Lyall on Capturing Lucy & Desi’s Many Lives

Being the Ricardos takes us back to the days of I Love Lucy for an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at its stars, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as the iconic TV couple, the film delves into such sensitive subjects as Arnaz’s infidelity, Ball’s pregnancy, and the turmoil that ensues when columnist Walter Winchell alleges that Ball is a communist.

“Being the Ricardos” Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth on Blending Period & Modern Techniques

Having photographed The Social Network, cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth knows the writing style of Aaron Sorkin all too well. So when the writer/director said, “You’d make my wish come true if you say yes to this’ during an initial meeting,” it was easy for Cronenweth to jump on board. “This script is classic Sorkin dialogue, packed from one end to the other,” says the Oscar-nominated cinematographer. “It’s extremely clever. It’s emotional.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Co-Writers Talk Villains, Peter Parker & Changing the Script

Reviewers raved, Twitter went berserk with anticipation and spoilers went (mostly) unleaked as Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters this past weekend, making box office history in the process. Third in the trilogy of Tom Holland-headlining Marvel films directed by Jon Watts, No Way Home picks up where Far From Home left off 18 months earlier, with Peter Parker trying to cope with the consequences of vengeful Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) revealing his secret superhero identity to the world.

“Nightmare Alley” Cinematographer & VFX Supervisor on Creating Guillermo del Toro’s Carnival Noir

Most of the films coming out now – whether award contenders, tent poles, or any combination thereof – share similar stories apart from whatever genre the movie itself belongs to: namely, the story of the Covid delay, and how it affected production.

So it was for Guillermo del Toro’s version of Nightmare Alley, another rendering of the novel by the ill-fated William Lindsay Graham, whose work originally inspired Tyrone Power’s memorable,

“Nightmare Alley” Production Designer Tamara Deverell on Creating a Carnival of Creepy Delights

Director Guillermo del Toro pulls back the curtain of a 1930s traveling carnival in a love story that gets downright creepy in Nightmare Alley.

Bradley Cooper is Stanton Carlisle, a quiet drifter who finds himself working for a carnival to make ends meet. After falling for a fellow carny, Molly (Rooney Mara), who quite literally electrifies the crowd, he transforms himself into one of the greatest mind-readers,

“Red Rocket” Writer/Director Sean Baker & His Cast On Their Charmingly Offbeat Comedy

Sean Baker, indie writer/director of award winners Tangerine and The Florida Project, has been very successful in creating narratives that feel authentic. Determined to always film on location, never on a soundstage, and a champion of hiring locals and newcomers in featured roles, he has employed guerrilla filmmaking and made more than one career for his performers. You can never see a Sean Baker movie coming,

“Being The Ricardos” Hair Department Head Teressa Hill on Wigs Done Right

Being the Ricardos (in theaters now) faced a Russian Doll challenge when writer-director Aaron Sorkin decided to make a movie about the off-stage drama surrounding I Love Lucy. The fifties-era sitcom drew 60 million viewers every week and made Lucille Ball the most famous redhead in America. Portrayed by Nicole Kidman, Ball starred as daffy housewife Lucy Ricardo. She’s married in the show to bandleader Ricky Ricardo, played by her real-life husband Desi Arnaz,

Aaron Sorkin on Having a Ball Making “Being the Ricardos”

You might think the opportunity to write a film about the legendary Lucille Ball would have been irresistible for Aaron Sorkin, but he wasn’t immediately convinced. “It took me about 18 months to say yes, to commit to it,” Sorkin says of the project that would eventually become Being the Ricardos, his propulsive new film that takes us through a week of production on the set of I Love Lucy, 

“West Side Story” Music Producer David Newman on Arranging Steven Spielberg’s Musical Masterpiece

Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is finally landing in theaters on December 10. His film is a new take on the original 1957 Broadway musical and the 1961 classic film, which both feature music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story is a musical version of Romeo and Juliet, but with the Montagues and the Capulets represented by two gangs, the Italian-American Jets and the Latinx Sharks,

How “The Killing of Two Lovers” Sound Team Created an Agonizingly Tense Soundscape

The Killing of Two Lovers, written, directed, and edited by Robert Machoian, is a tale of a marriage coming undone that’s as taut and tense as a guitar string. The film opens in the moment before we believe it will earn its title. Two lovers are asleep on a bed, Niki (Sepideh Moafi) and Derek (Chris Coy) dream in the cold morning light while, looming above them and brandishing a pistol, is Niki’s husband,