AltWeeklies Wire
Will Actor and Country Has-been Jeff Bridges Finally Snag the Elusive Oscar?new
Jeff Bridges is a physical presence who leads with his body in a way that often obscures the intelligence he lends his characters — a gallery of American manhood in all its compromised, destroyed or hopeful ambiguity.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-11-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Quentin Tarantino Serves Up Hitler's Head in 'Inglourious Basterds'new
Inglourious Basterds has next to nothing to do with Jews, Nazis or World War II, though Winston Churchill has a funny cameo and Joseph Goebbels a minor, if crucial, role as a twisted auteur of nationalist cinema. It's a highly entertaining, graphically bloody and woozily romantic romp.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
08-21-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Michelle Williams Finds a Safe Haven With Outsider Director Kelly Reichardtnew
It's a rare bankable star who lends her name to a tiny project budgeted at $300,000 and shot over 18 days with a mostly volunteer crew by a director whose name, had Williams bothered to ask permission from her agents, would doubtless have inspired the response "Who?"
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-19-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
From Manchester to Mumbai with Danny Boylenew
He wanted to make a movie from inside, and he's succeeded with Slumdog Millionaire, a vibrant, fast-paced, gorgeously mounted and soulful Oliver Twist makeover about Jamal, an inner-city youth who reaches the finals of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
11-14-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Bill Maher's Cross to Bearnew
Maher has been hammering away forever at institutionalized faith, but Religulous, which Lionsgate quixotically plans to position as an Oscar contender in the documentary category, raises the bar to a whole new dimension of attack, as you might expect from a movie with Borat director Larry Charles at the helm.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
10-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Director Timur Bekmambetov's Stock Rises with Action Fansnew
Bekmambetov happily agrees that the movie may be the year's fastest, bloodiest and chattiest Hollywood picture, but he denies that it's a celebration of ruthlessness.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
06-27-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Director Sergei Bodrov Retraces the Footsteps of Genghis Khannew
Just over a decade ago, Bodrov made his mark in the West with his Academy Award–nominated movie Prisoner of the Mountains. After frustrating stints as a director-for-hire, he did the smart thing and made the movie he wanted to make.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
06-13-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Jellyfish''s Etgar Keret: The Wizard of Idnew
Writer/director shoots from the hip about his low-budget movie and his high-budget life.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
04-28-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Juan Antonio Bayona: Refinding Neverlandnew
A conversation with The Orphanage's master of melancholic terror.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-21-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Juan Antonio Bayona, The Orphanage
Tamara Jenkins Keeps It Realnew
Coming almost 10 years after Slums of Beverly Hills, her new movie, The Savages, mines a difficult time in Jenkins' early 30s, when she saw both her grandmother and her father succumb to senility.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
12-04-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Tilda Swinton: The Ice Queen Meltethnew
Though Swinton's career has taken a decided turn for the commercial these days, I still think of her as the intimidating eminence rouge in the elliptically stylized Jarman films that launched her career, or the ornately costumed androgyne in Potter's Orlando, or even the frigid witch in Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
11-02-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Playing Down on Her Luck, Amy Ryan's Star Risesnew
"I hope people ask me, 'Where did you find that local actress?,'" Ben Affleck told Amy Ryan when he cast her as a wreck of a single mother in his directing debut, Gone Baby Gone.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
10-26-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
A Dark-Skinned Good Guynew
Tall, slender and elegant in a charcoal-gray leather jacket and neatly trimmed chin stubble, Ashraf Barhom is an Israeli Arab making his Hollywood debut as the righteous Saudi Arabian who sets an example of personal and professional heroism in The Kingdom.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
10-02-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Peter Berg, The Kingdom
The Many Freckled Faces of Catherine Keenernew
Keener plays Jan, a slackly conceived and overly familiar character, but she brings the role a warmth, specificity and diffuse sadness that makes you wish she had a lot more screen time.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
09-24-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Into the Wild, Sean Penn
Steve Buscemi on 'Second Glances'new
Looking back at the landmark gay film that launched Buscemi's career.
L.A. Weekly |
Ella Taylor |
07-13-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Bill Sherwood, Second Glances
