PRIME TIME

With Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana, George Clooney continues to defy the expectations of Hollywood stardom. Matthew Ross speaks with Clooney.

CASUALTIES OF FAME

Wiith a deeply layered performace by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bennett Miller’s Capote explores the great cost of artistic creation. By Peter Bowen.

THE WILD MAN

Matthew Ross talks with master cinematographer Chris Doyle about Asian pride and the problem with America.

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY

After two grueling epic movies, Ang Lee makes Brokeback Mountain, a small film with an awfully big heart about gay cowboys. By Peter Bowen.

THE PARENT TRAP

Noah Baumbach’s Sundance Award–winning The Squid and the Whale is a richly observed, semi-autobiographical tale about a Brooklyn family struggling with divorce in the 1980s. By Howard Feinstein.

NEW GIRL IN TOWN

Walter Salles speaks with Scott Coffey, who’s made a sly and hilarious ode to the world of struggling L.A. actors with Ellie Parker.

ASIA EXTREME

For her second feature, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things director and actress Asia Argento pushes limits with a harrowing depiction of child abuse adapted from the JT Leroy story collection. Travis Crawford catches up with Argento.

A QUESTION OF CONTROL

Chris Cunningham may be the most important film- maker who has not yet made a feature. While we wait, he’s released a new short, “Rubber Johnny,” and extends his mastery of special effects to new dimensions. By Dan Ouellette.

MASCULINE/FEMININE

Duncan Tucker’s Transamerica, about a pre-op transsexual’s relationship with his newly discovered son, premiered under the radar at Berlin before landing a deal with the Weinstein Company and IFC. Jason Guerrasio details the making of the film.

ESCAPE FROM MOVIE JAIL

Richard Shepard, writer-director of The Matador, on doing hard time for making a failed first feature.

TOUGH CHOICE

Thom Powers takes us behind the scenes on picking a film fellowship winner.

COLOR THEORY

Once solely the province of big-budget filmmakers, the digital intermediate is revolutionizing post-production for independents as well. Bob Fisher investigates.

QUICK STUDY

Filmmaker Andrew Wagner takes a crash course in self distribution. By Mike Plante.

Matthew Modine’s Full Metal Jacket Diary; Kevin Jordan’s Brooklyn Lobster; new soundtrack releases from Commotion Records; Ennio Morricone’s greatest hits; Trixie DVD; Palm Pictures’ Directors Label; rediscovering Nicolas Roeg; David LaChapelle’s Rize on DVD; Lourdes Grobet’s LUCHA LIBRE: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling; the Had To Be Made Film Festival; a Jerome Hill tribute; Rodrigo García’s Nine Lives.