George A. Romero Relives His Zombies Through the Diary of the Dead by Brad Balfour For independent filmmakers, George A. Romero is one of the great culture heroes. Back in the 1960s, this Pittsburgh resident (he went from NYC to Carnegie Mellon U.) reared himself up and decided he was going to make movies with … Continue reading
Martin McDonagh Going Back to Bruges by Jay S. Jacobs Irish playwright Martin McDonagh has never played by the rules in the theater, so it should be of no surprise that his feature film debut as a screenwriter and director would be a quirky, fascinating affair. In Bruges tells the slightly surreal, definitely funny and often … Continue reading
Julian Schnabel Continues to Dive Into Filmmaking with The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Brad Balfour Director Julian Schnabel comes to filmmaking under odd circumstances. Long before he made his first film, he was a world-class fine artist – the self-proclaimed lion of the New York art world – whose paintings and other works … Continue reading
Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Dano and Ciaran Hinds There Will Be Accolades For There Will Be Blood by Brad Balfour Originally posted on December 26, 2007. Though Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, There Will Be Blood, is based on a book published in 1927 which dealt with the emerging oil business in Southern … Continue reading
Stephen King and Frank Darabont Step Out of The Mist by Brad Balfour What can one say about author Stephen King – one of the most successful writers of all time? King is the perfect name for the man, for he has conquered the world of weird fiction, horror and science fiction. And thanks to … Continue reading
Michael Apted How Sweet the Sound by Jay S. Jacobs In 1963, when a twenty-two-year-old researcher for Granada Television in England was sent out to find a representative sampling of British children for a special program on how seven-year olds saw the world, he never realized that assignment would completely change his life. Forty-four years … Continue reading
Andy Dick First-Time Director by Jay S. Jacobs Love him or hate him, one thing’s for sure – you simply can’t ignore Andy Dick. One of the most irreverent comic voices on the scene, Dick has occupied his own unique niche in show biz. He has played goofy sidekicks on two long-running show-biz themed sitcoms (NewsRadio and Less … Continue reading
Rachael Lawrence Doesn’t Really Mind Entering Her 30s by Jay S. Jacobs Fame can come from lots of different directions. Rachael Lawrence is determined to meet it head on. A California-born-and-bred multi-hyphenate; Lawrence has spent the last decade or so working as a singer, songwriter, actress, director and producer. She has even been a popular … Continue reading
Ang Lee Expresses Lust with Little Caution by Brad Balfour Sexually provocative and fraught with violence, Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution [Sie, Jie] powerfully explores the story of a young woman who uses her sexuality to gain the trust of a high-powered Chinese official – a high-ranking collaborator with the ruthless Japanese occupiers during the 1940s. Played by … Continue reading
Once Around Dublin’s Streets with Glen Hansard & John Carney by Brad Balfour Fashioning a hybrid from two cinematic genres can either pay off or be a profound failure. In the case of John Carney’s debut feature, Once, he succeeds handily. Maybe that’s because he enlisted his longtime pal and former band member, Glen Hansard, lead … Continue reading
