Film
The Changing Tide of Indie Film Distribution
The Changing Tide of Indie Film Distribution

Is this the end of everything we know? Medicine for Melancholy Text by Andrew Rogers With a global economic meltdown afoot, wars involving American soldiers raging on two continents and a landmark presidential race entering the home stretch, it might seem trivial to spend much time thinking about the state of independent film. But then […]

The Evolution of Ramin Bahrani
The Evolution of Ramin Bahrani

Text by Andrew Rodgers Writer-Director Ramin Bahrani just added another major accolade to his already crowded trophy cabinet. In early September, the Winston-Salem-born filmmaker’s third feature, Goodbye Solo, held its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and received the prestigious fipresci International Critic’s Prize. The film then traveled to Canada and had its North […]

Down in the Delta 
Down in the Delta 

Filmmaker Lance Hammer ponders his journey to Mississippi, and what led to the self-distribution of his award-winning debut Ballast. “There is a place for industrial filmmaking, and film as a commodity that you sell like an iPod or a car or a sandwich. But I also think there is another reason to make films,” filmmaker […]

Late on the Scene
Late on the Scene

Quantum of Solace’s anti-Hollywood actor, David Harbour, acts like an adult. I’m thinking about wearing a Hold Steady T-shirt to a couple of movie premieres,” says David Harbour, via telephone. “Maybe that will help the cause?” “The cause” is Harbour’s pending nuptials to Strangers With Candy’s Maria Thayer (Tammi Littlenut) for which he has single-mindedly […]

Film Reviews
Film Reviews

This Film Is Not Yet Rated Directed by Kirby Dick The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is the lobbying organization for the film industry charged with advising filmgoers to the appropriateness of a film’s content for certain ages, and it wields enormous power over what gets seen in American theaters. If, for instance, members […]

Death Arrives with Ozon’s Time to Leave
Death Arrives with Ozon's Time to Leave

Text by Yon Motskin “It is often said that when people grow old they become children again,” director François Ozon said recently about his latest film Time to Leave. The tough, love-loss drama is the second in the French filmmaker’s “trilogy of mourning” that began with Under the Sand, and though it treads similar water […]

The Independent Mind of Lili Taylor
The Independent Mind of Lili Taylor

Text by Michelle Lanz Photography by Jason Nocito Over the last two decades, Lili Taylor has portrayed a feminist assassin, a deranged kidnapper and a heartbroken teenage songstress, and just shy of her 40th birthday, she has cemented a reputation unparalleled in its boldness by playing subversive characters most actresses wouldn’t dare attempt. As one […]

Lying Awake with Michel Gondry
Lying Awake with Michel Gondry

Text by Andrew Rodgers Photograph by Ye Rin Mok Known for crafting beautifully stylistic music videos for the likes of Björk, the Chemical Brothers and the Foo Fighters, as well as for a number of award-winning commercials and the incredibly well-received feature Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, French-born director Michel Gondry has made a […]

Film Reviews
Film Reviews

I Like Killing Flies Directed by Matt Mahurin The greasy spoon, long a staple of Americana, is paid an affectionate tribute in director Matt Mahurin’s new documentary. The film focuses on Shopsin’s, a Greenwich Village restaurant popular as much for its unusual specialties as for the eatery’s lovably crusty owner and cook, Kenny Shopsin. In […]

The Autonomy of Brazilian Cinema
The Autonomy of Brazilian Cinema

Text by Hanna Eves National film industries ebb and flow, and when they flow, critics inevitably start bandying about the phrase “new wave.” In recent years, there has been a tremendous resurgence of successful filmmaking in Brazil, causing many to sit up and take notice. For example, Carlos Diegues’ God is Brazilian (2003) took the […]

Leo Fitzpatrick’s Composed Cool
Leo Fitzpatrick's Composed Cool

Text by Patrick Knowles Photograph by Glynnis McDaris The measure of celebrity is a tricky thing to gauge. These days, an actor’s notoriety is more often defined by leaked sex videos and internet buzz than box office bottom lines. So, it’s an odd testament of one’s career when say, some random person creates a fake […]

Larry Clark: A Portrait of the Artist as an Outsiders
Larry Clark: A Portrait of the Artist as an Outsiders

Text by Mila Zuo Photographs by Brigette Sire Larry Clark is sometimes depicted as a detached voyeur whose books and films are a divination into the secret and seedy lives of teenagers. On the contrary – Clark is co-conspirator in his tales, whether by intimating the story via his own personal narrative of sex, drugs […]

Film Reviews
Film Reviews

Wordplay Directed by Patrick Creadon In the occasionally fuzzy world of habits and addictions, some things are clearly much worse than others. For instance, smoking is probably worse than picking your nose, but better than robbing liquor stores. The compulsion to tackle The New York Times crossword puzzle, then, must surely rank somewhere between channel […]

Scottish Film: Waiting For Godard?
Scottish Film: Waiting For Godard?

Text by Mitchell Miller Photograph by Gautier Deblonde My friend Elke is giving me one of her quizzical looks. It is a magical thing, encompassing amusement, pity and a quick scan of all available exits. A fellow film critic, she is compelled to unleash this interpersonal nuke as countermeasure to yet another intemperate rant over […]

Good Guy, Bad Guy
Good Guy, Bad Guy

Text by Andrew Rodgers When the forgettable film Rules of Engagement was released six years ago, it was almost universally panned, but Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan had some kind words for one of the film’s supporting players, Guy Pearce. In his review, Turan singled out Pearce’s “impressive” work in the film and […]

Altman’s Voice Of America
Altman’s Voice Of America

Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly in Robert Altmans A Prairie Home Companion The iconic director examines garrison keillor’s historic radio program. Text by Yon Motskin If there is such a thing as a quintessential Robert Altman picture, his latest might just be as close it gets. The iconic director is best known for painting […]

Film Reviews
Film Reviews

Our Brand Is Crisis Directed by Rachel Boynton Plenty of documentaries have captured the do-or-die tactics of high-pressure political campaigns, yet something about Our Brand Is Crisis – which highlights the exporting of our American political machine to Bolivia – is more jarring and alarming than its homebound counterparts. Perhaps it has something to do […]

The Moral World of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
The Moral World of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Text by Hannah Eves It’s a rare honor for a director to win multiple Palmes d’Or, the highest prize for a film competing at that grande dame of foreign film celebrity, the Cannes Film Festival. Yet after winning with 1999’s Rosetta, Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne joined a list of film luminaries (including Francis […]

Art School Confidential
Art School Confidential

Text by Steven Snyder He has created worlds this unusual before – lairs of the bizarre, the wacky, the cynical and the angry. But director Terry Zwigoff has never before filmed his dreamscapes from the eyes of someone who didn’t embrace the low-key, low-energy and low-brow ways standard in Zwigoff’s films. Just consider his repertoire. […]

When Buscemi Reigns, He Pours
When Buscemi Reigns, He Pours

Text by Mila Zuo Steve Buscemi. Nearly a household name, but only a few fans could name every single contribution he’s made to theater, film and television. To say that the “Indie King” (as doting fans on the Internet call him) has carved out a prolific career would be a vast understatement – but for […]

Rolling the Dice with PJ Ransone
Rolling the Dice with PJ Ransone

PJ Ransone wears Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane plaid sleeveless shirt, black tie, suspenders and black pants Cloak black striped shirt and gray jacket Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane suit, shirt and tie Text by Patrick Knowles Photographs by Brooke Nipar SOMA: So what’s with your “No Dice” tattoo? PJ Ransone: I have these two […]


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