Robert De Niro – The Actor and Filmmaker Shaped Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale As His Directorial Debut by Brad Balfour On February 26, 2014, the First Time Fest team held a special event in tandem with Tribeca Enterprises in anticipation of the 20th anniversary of A Bronx Tale, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro‘s directorial debut. Since the concept of the fest is … Continue reading
Billy Crudup and Guillaume Canet – Honoring Their Blood Ties by Jay S. Jacobs Two brothers. One is a cop. The other is a gangster just getting out of an extended stay in jail and now sliding back into his old ways. That’s going to make for some uncomfortable family holiday dinners. That dichotomy is … Continue reading
John G. Avildsen – Rocky Road To a Classic by Jay S. Jacobs In the summer of 1976, Philadelphia was the home of the American Bicentennial. However, it turned out that celebration was only the second biggest thing to come out of the City of Brotherly Love that year. A small movie about a ham-and-egg … Continue reading
Hany Abu-Assad On His Oscar nominated Controversial Feature Omar by Brad Balfour Palestinian director Hany Abu–Assad’s controversial Oscar–nominated feature Omar merges genres and uses flawed characters to dynamically illustrate the complex political realities between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Born October 11th, 1961, in Nazareth, Israel, Abu–Assad was first nominated for a Best Foreign Language … Continue reading
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Lupita Nyong’o and Alfre Woodard – Looking Back on 12 Years a Slave by Jay S. Jacobs Director Steve McQueen’s film version of former slave Solomon Northrop’s autobiography 12 Years a Slave takes an eye-opening look at one of the great shames of American history, the prevalence of the violent slave … Continue reading
Blackfish Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite Searches For the Truth by Brad Balfour When SeaWorld trainer/performer Dawn Brancheau was killed by Tilikum — an orca who was a star of the aquarium/entertainment complex — the dangers of holding this wild species in captivity was spotlighted. Little did most of the public know that this wasn’t the first … Continue reading
Comic-Con 2013 – Geeks Run Amok in New York! Story and photos by Mark Doyle So, another year of Comic-Con New York and another year of the ever-lovin’ male fantasy. Hot women in costumes parading around for our viewing pleasure. Spending the full four days – well actually three days – walking the aisles of the … Continue reading
ABOUT TIME (2013) Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Tom Hollander, Will Merrick, Richard Cordery, Joshua McGuire, Margot Robbie, Tom Hughes, Clemmie Dugdale, Harry Hadden-Paton. Vanessa Kirby, Mark Healy, Mitchell Mullen and Lisa Eichhorn. Screenplay by Richard Curtis. Directed by Richard Curtis. Distributed by Universal Pictures. 123 minutes. Rated R. … Continue reading
The Coen Brothers, Oscar Isaac and John Goodman Step Out With Inside Llewyn Davis at NYFF 2013 by Brad Balfour Copyright ©2013 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Originally Posted: October 17, 2013. http://popentertainment-interviews.tumblr.com/post/96749450544/the-coen-brothers-oscar-isaac-and-john-goodman Written and directed by Oscar-winning brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis offers a glimpse into the life of singer-songwriter Davis (Oscar Isaac), … Continue reading
Ralph Fiennes Makes The Invisible Woman Appear at NYFF 2013 by Brad Balfour Copyright ©2013 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Originally posted: October 13, 2013. One of the consummate actors of his generation, the English-born Ralph Fiennes has earned not only numerous awards and nominations (Oscar noms for his portrayal of Nazi war criminal Amon Goeth in … Continue reading
