tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70564537325625010482008-05-08T17:59:55.554-04:00Webmasterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643468321632241172noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-71028892251348755342008-04-29T14:57:00.007-04:002008-04-30T17:23:26.214-04:00

The following essay by David Gordon Green on Todd Rohal’s The Guatemalan Handshake accompanies the film's DVD release from Benten Films out today. I am plagued by two mothers of frustration: 1. POWER PROBLEMS: Who controls the switches? Who pushes the buttons? How do I get to be large and in charge like Arsenio Hall's portly alter ego Chunky A? 2. LOST AND FOUND: Why did you leave? Where

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-40209855411979131862008-03-18T11:11:00.011-04:002008-03-18T16:02:47.812-04:00

Over the course of eight feature films, Olivier Assayas has built a solid international reputation as a director of stylish, naturalistic thrillers and social dramas that team with sensuality. Assayas is a boundlessly resourceful director and in his most recent film, Boarding Gate, a lower key, appealingly absurd riff on the same erotic, globalization-era techno thriller he first brought us in

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-79136793903792163452008-03-17T13:36:00.016-04:002008-04-09T10:34:57.733-04:00

Though her short-film and documentary projects have a clearly articulated social conscience, director Patricia Riggen says she prefers to make moving films that tell a story with “big emotions.” Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Riggen began writing scripts for television after a stint in the world of newspaper journalism, and eventually became vice chairman of short-film production at the Mexican

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-46147529111419858322008-02-08T12:34:00.002-05:002008-02-25T12:20:08.593-05:00

Last spring we took an exclusive look inside the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs as filmmaker Braden King posted weekly stories about his experience with his project, Here, co-written by himself and Dani Valent. Now, he's graciously given us an insight into what he took away from the Institute, including attending this year's Festival, where he was involved in the New Frontier's

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-10521956317515169752008-02-08T12:10:00.001-05:002008-02-21T01:34:03.510-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Howard Feinstein interviewed I'm Not There co-writer-director Todd Hanyes for the Fall '07 issue. I'm Not There is nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett). Todd Haynes’s first film, a 1985 student short called Assassins

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-73980707432090555712008-02-08T12:09:00.001-05:002008-02-22T12:44:36.063-05:00

TOM WILKINSON AND GEORGE CLOONEY IN TONY GILROY'S MICHAEL CLAYTON. COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES. Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Nick Dawson interviewed Michael Clayton writer-director Tony Gilroy for our Director Interviews section of the Website. Michael Clayton is

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-54233528862910420552008-02-08T12:08:00.002-05:002008-02-21T09:54:05.815-05:00

PAUL BREMER (LEFT) AND GENERAL JAY GARNER. Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Scott Macaulay interviewed No End in Sight director Charles Ferguson for the Summer '07 issue. No End in Sight is nominated for Best Documentary. In the current debate over the Iraq war, Charles

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-9707538502228845062008-02-08T12:07:00.001-05:002008-02-21T09:54:21.926-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Nick Dawson interviewed Beaufort co-writer-director Joseph Cedar for our Web Exclusives section of the Website. Beaufort is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. This was a particularly exceptional year for Israeli cinema. Dror Shaul's

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-68425492334837292362008-02-08T12:05:00.001-05:002008-02-19T08:12:04.541-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Scott Macaulay interviewed Away From Her director Sarah Polley for the Spring '07 issue. Away From Her is nominated for Best Lead Actress (Julie Christie) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley). Whether it is as the paralyzed survivor in

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-28596104797155488842008-02-08T12:04:00.001-05:002008-02-19T10:38:32.965-05:00

SYLVIE TESTUD WITH MARION COTILLARD (RIGHT) AS EDITH PIAF IN LA VIE EN ROSE. Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Scott Macaulay interviewed La Vie en rose star Marion Cotillard for the Spring '07 issue. La Vie en rose is nominated for Best Lead Actress (Marion Cotillard), Best

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-32694421530423326002008-02-08T12:00:00.001-05:002008-02-14T02:56:41.596-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Ray Pride interviewed The Savages writer-director Tamara Jenkins for the Fall '07 issue. The Savages is nominated for Best Lead Actress (Laura Linney) and Best Original Screenplay (Tamara Jenkins). Note-perfect, Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-52863577997886445602008-02-08T11:59:00.000-05:002008-02-14T10:10:28.185-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Jason Guerrasio interviewed The Kite Runner director Marc Forster for our Web Exclusives section of the Website. The Kite Runner is nominated for Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias). When Khaled Hosseini sat down to write his first novel

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-52076938779258655032008-02-08T11:54:00.000-05:002008-02-12T09:10:16.280-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Scott Macaulay interviewed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly director Julian Schnabel for the Fall '07 issue. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is nominated for Best Director (Julian Schnabel), Adapted Screenplay (Ronald Harwood), Editing (

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-39503286583369755072008-02-08T11:53:00.000-05:002008-02-12T10:21:30.954-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Howard Feinstein interviewed Sicko director Michael Moore for our Web Exclusives section of the Website. Sicko is nominated for Best Feature Documentary. Timely is the release of Michael Moore’s long-gestating Sicko, an exposé of the U.S.

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-69740278425947997472008-01-28T16:00:00.000-05:002008-02-08T09:39:17.895-05:00

The following essay by Ray Carney on Aaron Katz’s Quiet City accompanies a 2-disc DVD release from Benten Films out this week of Quiet City and Katz's first film, Dance Party, USA. Mainstream film is so much an art of the maximum – the biggest, the flashiest, the fastest, the most exaggerated – that it is easy to forget that the great films all go in the opposite direction. They are, almost

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-7952437101101225342008-01-28T13:42:00.002-05:002008-02-07T09:06:28.475-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Ray Pride interviewed Once writer-director John Carney and lead Glen Hansard for the Spring '07 issue. Once is nominated for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" (Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova). When Baz Luhrmann was

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-52067478354037851922008-01-28T13:41:00.000-05:002008-02-07T10:24:18.915-05:00

RYAN GOSLING DINES WITH PAUL SCHNEIDER, EMILY MORTIMER AND "BIANCA" IN CRAIG GILLESPIE'S LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. COURTESY MGM. Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Nick Dawson interviewed Lars and the Real Girl director Craig Gillespie for our Director Interviews section of the

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-77646765696561712852008-01-28T13:40:00.000-05:002008-02-05T12:28:27.247-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Lisa Y. Garibay interviewed Juno director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody for the Fall '07 issue. Juno is nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing (Jason Reitman), Best Lead Actress (Ellen Page) and Best Original Screenplay (Diablo

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-24965059873350397472008-01-28T13:39:00.000-05:002008-02-05T18:21:17.588-05:00

Leading up to the Oscars on Feb. 24, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Nick Dawson interviewed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford director Andrew Dominik for our Web Exclusives section of the Website. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is nominated for Best Supporting

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-73960245324829539262007-12-21T12:00:00.000-05:002008-01-13T22:51:28.241-05:00

In Denzel Washington’s second directing effort, the Oprah Winfrey produced The Great Debaters, he takes what he learned from his debut, Antwone Fisher, and uses it to make the inspirational true story of one small all-black school’s rise to the top of the college debating ranks in the Jim Crow South. Washington also stars in the film as the rebellious Melvin B. Tolson. Known for his American

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-7547273351974604432007-11-28T15:32:00.001-05:002007-11-29T11:16:21.805-05:00

As a filmmaker, Oscar winner Jessica Yu is smart, adventurous, and utterly fearless. You'd have to be to make a talking-head documentary inspired by the 5th century B.C. playwright Euripides (an idea proposed by the Carr Foundation) and then decide to outfit key scenes with wooden rod puppets speaking ancient Greek. But her new film, Protagonist, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-66513397313558467982007-10-26T22:30:00.000-04:002007-11-14T16:58:52.059-05:00

Jan Kounen is a French music video and feature film director who has specialized in bringing the spiritual world to the screen. On locations in Peru and Mexico to film the psychedelic spaghetti western, Renegade (2004, released as Blueberry outside the U.S.), an adaptation of the French comic book by renowned visionary artist Moebius, he discovered Shamanism, fell in love with the indigenous

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-10002864881129156652007-10-15T17:18:00.000-04:002007-11-14T17:07:53.912-05:00

From commercial crab fishing in Alaska, to learning how to become a filmmaker in Peru, Aaron Woolf’s worldly experience makes him an ideal documentarian for PBS. His previous films — Dying to Leave: The Human Face of Global Trafficking, Greener Grass Cuba and Baseball and the United States — all aired on public television, but Woolf is proud to have his latest film, King Corn, get theatrical

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-73578610382376502462007-09-18T17:11:00.000-04:002007-09-18T18:06:49.269-04:00

In 2005 indie director Larry Fessenden was troubled by the state of the world—specifically, by our leaders’ callow response to the threat of global warming. So he did what he does best: He made a horror movie. The Last Winter, about a skeleton crew of oil-dredge workers afflicted by madness and other disturbing phenomena in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, revisits some of the tropes

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7056453732562501048.post-2572581448655675242007-09-04T15:36:00.000-04:002007-09-04T23:18:28.510-04:00

Jeff Garlin may be best known as Larry David’s right hand man on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, but there’s more to this Second City alum than his deadpan humor. Along with doing stand up and developing new TV shows when Curb isn’t taping, he’s also been trying to get his feature films made. His first is I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival to rave

Jason Guerrasiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958031172216065142noreply@blogger.com