Stefan Ruzowitzky and Karl Markovics A Director and an Actor Make an Authentic Holocaust Film out of The Counterfeiters by Brad Balfour Just when you think everything that happened during the Holocaust has been chronicled, another film appears based on a true story that offers another look at that horrible experience in a way which … Continue reading
Ryan Gosling Love for a Real Girl by Brad Balfour Born in Ontario, Canada, to a strict Mormon family, actor Ryan Gosling started his career as a Mouseketeer in the early ’90s version of The Mickey Mouse Club. Sharing that distinct career boost with the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, Gosling has … Continue reading
Angelina Jolie Speaks From A Mighty Heart by Brad Balfour When A Mighty Heart was about to be released, some members of Angelina Jolie’s camp decided to limit her press exposure. Since this film was about a courageous journalist who is kidnapped and beheaded by Al Qaeda members in Pakistan, the press had a bad reaction to … Continue reading
Ellen Page Nurtures the Screen In Juno by Brad Balfour When Juno was first released, who would have believed that this quirky comedy with a strong female perspective on youthful sexuality and teen pregnancy written by an ex-stripper would so resonate with both the public and the awards-nominating community? But impact it did, garnering key Oscar nominations, … Continue reading
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
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe Oppose Each Other in American Gangster by Brad Balfour What a pairing. Actors Denzel Washington (Training Day) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator) play two opposing forces in the struggle between an upwardly mobile black guy and upwardly mobile, distinctly Jewish guy during the ’70s in American Gangster. The black man starts out … Continue reading
Mary-Louise Parker Learns A Lot About The Spiderwick Chronicles by Brad Balfour It may have required an intoxicant for actress Mary-Louise Parker to play the perplexed mom who learns about The Spiderwick Chronicles the hard way – through an attack from goblins – she eventually gets a handle on the fantastic situation behind this incredible tale. Parker … 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
Ron Livingston Rescues Holly and Finds Something of Himself by Brad Balfour When I first met Ron Livingston, he was a featured personality at the New York Independent Television Fest kicking off his Fox TV show, Standoff (he starred as Matt Flannery, a senior FBI negotiator). He had come to my attention previously through the film The Cooler, but … Continue reading
Emile Hirsch Takes Some Severe Steps Into the Wild by Brad Balfour When youthful 22-year-old actor Emile Hirsch got cast for Into The Wild, it was great career move for him, not just because he got to work with the actor’s actor Sean Penn (in a directorial turn), but also because he was considerably challenged as … Continue reading
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