Indie film news, reviews, commentary, interviews, podcasts and more, updated throughout the week.
DJ Spooky Witnesses a "Rebirth"
By Aaron Hillis on 06/22/2009
A prolific artist and writer, Paul D. Miller is still best known under his "constructed persona" as the experimental trip-hop musician DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid. Miller's latest multimedia project could begin classifying him as a film director, sort of, as his "Rebirth of a Nation" is a feature-length remix of D. W. Griffith's seminal yet blatantly racist 1915 Civil War epic "Birth of a Nation." Applying a similar methodology to what he does as a sampling, manipulating DJ, Miller's deconstruction of the original film has been hyper-colorized, with digital effects added, its previously silent soundtrack reinvented musically (aided by... MORE »
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A Terse Interview With Larry David
By Aaron Hillis on 06/17/2009
Filed under: InterviewsJewish-American funnymen Larry David and Woody Allen, the "last of the schlemiels" as a recent New York magazine cover story dubbed them, have technically collaborated three times now. David -- the co-creator of "Seinfeld" and HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (its seventh season will premiere this fall) -- had bit roles in Allen's "Radio Days" (as a Communist neighbor) and his segment of the "New York Stories" omnibus (as a theater manager). But in the new comedy "Whatever Works," the Woodster's long-awaited return to NYC filmmaking, David slouches front and center as Boris Yellnikoff, a misanthropic former physicist who takes an... MORE »
Álex de la Iglesia Puzzles Over "The Oxford Murders"
By Stephen Saito on 06/16/2009
Filed under: InterviewsÁlex de la Iglesia always has to be the odd man out. At the American Cinematheque's Recent Spanish Cinema series the other week, de la Iglesia's thriller "The Oxford Murders" was the lone English-language film shown, serving as a linguistic break from Goya winners like Jose Luis Cuerda's "The Blind Sunflowers" and Agustín Díaz Yanes' "Just Walking." The film's also a departure from the wild comedies de la Iglesia has become known for, like the cutthroat salesman competition comedy "El Crimen Ferpecto" and the theme park-set spaghetti western "800 Bullets." (If you haven't seen either, we won't be offended if... MORE »
Duncan Jones' (Inter)stellar Debut
By Nick Schager on 06/12/2009
Filed under: InterviewsMaking a cerebral sci-fi film on an indie budget isn't easy, especially when it requires your star to tackle simultaneous dual roles. Yet that's exactly what 38-year-old writer/director Duncan Jones -- son of rock legend David Bowie, born Zowie Bowie -- undertook with "Moon," an assured, haunting saga set on a lunar outpost where the only inhabitant, Sam Rockwell's miner, awakens from an accident to find that he has a new guest: himself. With its eerily contemplative mood, stark space station setting and calmly speaking robot (voiced by Kevin Spacey), Jones' first foray into feature filmmaking after years spent making... MORE »
Francis Ford Coppola Untangles "Tetro"
By Stephen Saito on 06/11/2009
Filed under: InterviewsIt was telling that a roundtable interview with Francis Ford Coppola ended with a great deal of enthusiasm... about his vineyards. And much of it was from the director himself, who slyly countered one of the assembled journalists' praise of his Cabernet Sauvignon with "maybe I should offer an associate producer credit for people buying my wine." Of course, it was the fruit of Coppola's estimable winery that financed "Tetro," but the film itself appears to be a product of a filmmaker who's become richer with age, though the clearer focus he now has as an artist has produced a... MORE »
The World According to Lee Daniels
By Alison Willmore on 06/10/2009
Filed under: InterviewsDirector, producer and general force of nature Lee Daniels is a hot property these days. So hot that two studios, Lionsgate and the Weinstein Company, are suing each other over the rights to distribute his second directorial effort, "Precious," the winner of both the jury and audience awards at Sundance earlier this year. Lawsuits willing, "Precious" opens in the fall, and in the meantime Daniels has "Tennessee" in theaters, a small-scale Americana-steeped road movie he produced under his own banner of Lee Daniels Entertainment. "Tennessee," directed by David Cronenberg nephew Aaron Woodley, has the distinction of containing the first Mariah... MORE »
The Naked Truth of Bai Ling
By Aaron Hillis on 06/10/2009
Filed under: InterviewsChinese-born actress Bai Ling gets around, and that's not meant to sound as filthy as you gutter-minds might interpret. Sure, she's a ubiquitous social butterfly as caught by paparazzi at various premieres and events in the States, but just look at her lengthy résumé, and you'll find roles in countless indies ("Southland Tales," "Edmond"), multiplex fare ("Anna and the King," "Crank: High Voltage"), popular TV shows ("Lost," "Entourage") and foreign films (the woefully underseen "Dumplings"). If she's as crazy as the media often depicts her, how come she's been hired for at least nine upcoming features -- including "Confidante," in... MORE »
Rachel Dratch's Big Fat Greek Adventure
By Aaron Hillis on 06/03/2009
Filed under: InterviewsAfter six seasons as a "Saturday Night Live" player, offbeat funny lady Rachel Dratch leapt away from a show she calls a safety net to pursue other TV ("30 Rock") and film roles ("I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," "Spring Breakdown"). Her latest opportunity to make us giggle is the new rom-com "My Life in Ruins," which stars Nia Vardalos as a frazzled Greek tour guide (get the title now?) trying to get her "kefi" (groove, mojo, etc.) back. Dratch plays a shrill, uncultured American tourist with whom Vardalos is stuck, with the equally eccentric-humored Harland Williams as Dratch's... MORE »
Exclusive Music Video Premiere: LANDy's "BFF!"
By Brandon Kim on 06/02/2009
Filed under: InterviewsAdam Goldberg's been a hero to the thinking man and woman since his role as the hilarious back seat misanthrope who ultimately just wanted to dance in "Dazed and Confused." He acts, he writes, he directs, and with this long-in-coming foray into music as LANDy, he lays himself bare. The 18-track album "Eros and Omissions," recorded with help from Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips, Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza and others, hits June 23rd. I got a chance to talk with Goldberg, after a bit of call juggling, about expressing himself through music, what's on his mind, and the new video... MORE »
Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida Pass "Go"
By Aaron Hillis on 05/27/2009
Filed under: InterviewsMcSweeney's founder and editor Dave Eggers has penned six books (including his acclaimed 2000 memoir "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"), and his wife Vendela Vida is no slouch herself as a founding co-editor of The Believer with three books to her name (such as New York Times Notable Book of the Year "And Now You Can Go"). But even these two distinguished literary voices admit they'd never have guessed that sitting on their couch, taking turns typing while trying to make the other laugh, would ultimately yield a screenplay for the next project from "Revolutionary Road" director Sam Mendes.... MORE »
The Porn Star Turned Movie Star
By Aaron Hillis on 05/20/2009
Filed under: InterviewsPlenty of adult film stars have gone mainstream, from the late Marilyn Chambers ("Rabid") to Ginger Lynn Allen ("The Devil's Rejects"), and even Traci Lords (whose long-time public resentment over being labeled an ex-porn star probably isn't helped by her supporting bit in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"). However, sleepy-eyed sex starlet Sasha Grey -- already one of the hottest properties in her biz today -- may have trumped her predecessors with the central role in a penetrating, thrilling Steven Soderbergh drama that played Sundance. Shot cheaply and quickly last October with no other professional actors and a largely... MORE »
Rian Johnson's Last Con
By Alison Willmore on 05/15/2009
Filed under: InterviewsHow do you follow up a film that managed to be both a faithful noir throwback and an unusually effective teen movie? Rian Johnson knew before he finished his 2005 debut "Brick" that his next feature was going to be about con men. But "The Brothers Bloom" is as much about the relationship between two siblings as it is about graft -- Bloom (Adrien Brody) and his brother Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) are the greatest con artists in the world, and like so many of their cinematic brethren, it's the personal problems that do them in. Bloom, who's point person in... MORE »
Riding Along with Steve Zahn
By Aaron Hillis on 05/14/2009
Filed under: InterviewsSince his big break in 1994's "Reality Bites," Indiewood mainstay Steve Zahn's been best known as a supporting player (thanks to scene-stealing performances in "Out of Sight," "Rescue Dawn" and studio fare like "Riding in Cars With Boys"), so it's refreshing to see his sunny, faux-dopey charm lead the pack. In "Management" -- the directorial debut of "Tape" playwright/screenwriter Stephen Belber -- Zahn stars as Mike, a socially stunted oddball who works the late shift for his parents' Arizona desert motel. In walks Sue (Jennifer Aniston), a corporate art saleswoman staying for two nights, with whom Mike ineptly flirts by... MORE »
Truly Outrageous
By Alison Willmore on 05/08/2009
Filed under: Interviews"Outrage," the new film from Oscar-nominated documentarian and redoubtable muckraker Kirby Dick ("This Film Is Not Yet Rated," "Twist of Faith"), isn't an inflammatory exercise in outing politicians, though it certainly isn't afraid to name names. It hones in on how closeted politicos have tended, perversely, to have the most steadily anti-gay rights voting records, counting on the gay community to keep their secret even as they've legislated against it. And as the title promises, "Outrage" is angry, but it's also undoubtedly sad, an analysis of the psychological effect that years of lying, hiding and fear have had on these... MORE »
Thomas Haden Church Rolls On
By Stephen Saito on 05/06/2009
Filed under: InterviewsA day after he traveled home from the sound of thunderous applause at the Tribeca Film Festival, Thomas Haden Church was driving through the pouring rain outside his ranch in Texas when he called to discuss "Don McKay." Church left knowing the darkly comic film about a janitor who rekindles a relationship with a high school sweetheart after hitting a dead end 25 years after the fact was "not going to be for everybody," but that writer/director Jake Goldberger's unexpectedly twisty take on why most reunions after that much time don't work was working for the audience. Much of the... MORE »
The Intoxicating Tilda Swinton
By Aaron Hillis on 05/06/2009
Filed under: InterviewsThere are certain roles that scream out for a Tilda Swinton. You imagine the British actress playing characters who are sophisticated and wise, or luminous and otherworldly, which means you'd never have guessed she'd be the right choice to lead French filmmaker Erick Zonca's latest, "Julia." Being brilliant at what she does, however, Swinton indeed transforms into the titular bar floozy, a barely in control alcoholic who bullshits her way through every selfish, reckless moment of her day. Acting on an addled survivor's instinct, Julia stumbles down a convoluted rabbit hole of increasingly horrific events, from an unwise scheme to... MORE »
The Ghosts of Conor McPherson's Past
By Stephen Saito on 05/01/2009
Filed under: InterviewsConor McPherson insists it's his lead Ciarán Hinds who provides "instant soul" to his latest film "The Eclipse," but it's the 37-year-old Irish playwright who's responsible for the ghosts. As has been his habit in his acclaimed plays like as "Shining City" and "The Seafarer," McPherson once again conjures up the supernatural for a love story about a grieving widower (Hinds) who finds a connection with a writer of ghost stories (Iben Hjejle) when he volunteers at a literary festival in the small Irish town of Cobh, serving as a driver to a loutish bestselling author (Aidan Quinn) who's equally... MORE »
Jim Jarmusch Pushes the "Limits"
By Aaron Hillis on 04/30/2009
Filed under: InterviewsAs filmmaker Jim Jarmusch sits down for our conversation, he pulls out a small notebook filled with what looks like quickly jotted-down ideas during his travels. When I ask about it, he jokes with the same deadpan wit that his movies are known for that they're his answers to my questions. He then segues to his musician friend and hipster icon Tom Waits, who apparently kept a similar notebook full of topics he wanted to remember to discuss while being interviewed: "So, regardless of the question, he'd say: 'Do you know there are albino moles living under Las Vegas?'" Since... MORE »
A Heart-Stopping (Literally) Premiere
By Stephen Saito on 04/30/2009
Filed under: Festivals, InterviewsIn a horror film, it's usually the audience that's freaking out, but that wasn't the case Saturday night at the Tribeca Film Festival, when Michael Cuesta's "Tell Tale" made its world premiere. Right as the stylish retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" reached its climax, one audience member's heart literally stopped, at least momentarily, as the film was suspended and an ambulance was called. (Though Cuesta initially suspected it might be a stunt on the part of Ridley Scott's production company, Scott Free, the director was later told it was likely a fainting spell or a transient ischemic... MORE »
Dan Fogler Goes "Psycho"
By Stephen Saito on 04/29/2009
Filed under: InterviewsAt the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his directorial debut, actor-turned-filmmaker Dan Fogler ("Balls of Fury," "Fanboys") wanted to kick-off the Q & A by thanking his friends, family and most of all, his fiancé for "keeping me sane." "Well, she's not doing a good job," Fogler's mother yelled from the back of the theater, demonstrating that humor has been passed down in the Fogler family, and nuttiness -- who's to say? And it serves him well -- "Hysterical Psycho" is the kind of crazed slasher film/comedy that Alfred Hitchcock would've made had the famed auteur been able to fully... MORE »
Cheryl Hines Gets Serious
By Stephen Saito on 04/28/2009
Filed under: InterviewsOf the half-dozen scripts that actress/writer/director Adrienne Shelly completed before her tragic death in 2006, "Serious Moonlight" isn't the obvious choice for first posthumous film to be made from her work. Produced by her husband Andy Ostroy, who's committed to making all of her scripts into films, it's a dissection of how a marriage can go wrong between a long-wedded couple (Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton). After her breakthrough film as a director, the sweet-natured "Waitress," "Serious Moonlight" is decidedly sour: Ryan's long-suffering Louise takes her husband hostage by duct-taping him to a toilet; while a subplot involving home invasion... MORE »
Bana and the Beast
By Alison Willmore on 04/27/2009
Filed under: InterviewsEric Bana bought "the Beast," a 1973 Ford GT Falcon Coupe, when he was a 15-year-old growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne. And he's kept it, over 25 years that have spanned a successful stand-up and sketch comedy in Australia, an acclaimed break-out performance in 2000's "Chopper" and Hollywood stardom that's included roles under Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down"), Ang Lee ("Hulk") and Steven Spielberg ("Munich"). That car, the genuine relationship someone can have with an automobile and a five-day rally race held in Tasmania all factor into Bana's rather unexpected directorial debut, "Love the Beast." Part personal documentary,... MORE »
The Many Mutations of Ron Perlman
By Aaron Hillis on 04/23/2009
Filed under: InterviewsRon Perlman has done Ibsen, Chekov, Pinter and Shakespeare, but since his burly physique first filled screens in 1981's "Quest for Fire," the 59-year-old actor has become known as someone who can give strong performances under layers of facial prosthetics. (See also: "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and the TV show that launched his stardom, "Beauty and the Beast.") It's almost strange to see the demon hero of "Hellboy" without all the make-up, as Perlman can currently be seen au naturale (above the neck, anyway) as Clay Morrow on TV's biker drama "Sons of Anarchy" and his new film, "Mutant... MORE »
A Child's Eye View of Tribulation
By Alison Willmore on 04/21/2009
Filed under: InterviewsThe best films about childhood rely heavily on an alchemic bond between filmmaker and actor, and the connection between director So Yong Kim and the two very young leads of her new film "Treeless Mountain" must have been nothing short of miraculous. The story of Jin (Hee-Yeon Kim) and Bin (Song-Hee Kim), sisters left in the care of an indifferent, hard-drinking aunt while their mother goes in search of their absentee father, is a marvel of naturalism. Taken out of school and abandoned to wander the village all day, six-year-old Jin and four-year-old Bin learn to be resourceful, catching grasshoppers... MORE »
Toback on "Tyson"
By Aaron Hillis on 04/16/2009
Filed under: InterviewsThe old chestnut is that opposites attract, which might explain how maverick filmmaker James Toback ("Fingers," "Two Girls and a Guy") became such good buddies with Mike Tyson in 1985, long before the boxing legend had his face tattooed or threatened to eat anyone's children. Toback even went so far as to give Iron Mike cameo roles in two of his films, "Black and White" and "When Will I Be Loved," setting the stage for Toback's ultimate cinematic gift to his friend: an eponymous documentary. More first-person confessional than standard doc portrait, "Tyson" does feature ring footage and other archival... MORE »
Hey DJ
By Alison Willmore on 04/15/2009
Filed under: InterviewsWesley Pentz is better known as Diplo. And he's better known as a DJ who's worked with M.I.A., who co-wrote "Paper Planes," who's toured with Justice and who brought baile funk to the mainstream masses with a series of nasty-good party-making mixes. But with "Favela on Blast," which had its premiere at SXSW last month, Diplo's now also a filmmaker, collaborating with Brazilian co-director Leandro HBL on a documentary about the world from which baile funk comes. "Favela on Blast" goes deep into the teeming slums of Rio de Janeiro, whirling through interviews with producers and DJs to street-level party... MORE »
Jon Voight's Long-Lost Hal Ashby Comedy
By Aaron Hillis on 04/09/2009
Filed under: InterviewsWhile journalist Nick Dawson was researching his new biography, "Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel," his interviews with Jon Voight (who won an Oscar for Ashby's "Coming Home") revealed that a director's cut of a long-lost Ashby/Voight collaboration still existed under everybody's noses. 1982's "Lookin' to Get Out," which had its world premiere last week at the Sarasota Film Festival as part of an Ashby retrospective tied to Dawson's book, will finally be available to audiences when it hits DVD on June 30th. Voight and Burt Young co-star as Alex and Jerry, a couple of small-time New York gamblers... MORE »
Is "Meeting People" Still Easy?
By Brandon Kim on 04/09/2009
Filed under: Interviews[This article is part of our Radiohead Fanatic Fortnight -- check out our box set giveaway here.] When Radiohead achieved worldwide fame following the success of "OK Computer," Grant Gee was there capturing it all with an array of cameras, some fresh ideas and a lot of style. Ten plus years later, that style still looks fresh in his documentary "Meeting People Is Easy," an uncomfortable chronicle of Radiohead's 1998 tour, a portrait of the band as they hit the height of their success as well as their breaking point as a group. A prolific music video director (he also... MORE »
Cillian Murphy Takes to "The Water"
By Brandon Kim on 04/08/2009
Filed under: InterviewsCillian Murphy is the kind of guy who can call himself Kitten, put on a dress, make you believe he's a girl, then make you forget everything else. His repertoire's impressive and he is, like his characters, unquestionably memorable. Maybe it's the eyes, maybe it's the voice, but even his sinister roles are strangely comforting -- something very genuine always comes through Mr. Murphy, a welcome exception in an era of green screens and Ponzi schemes. His latest role is an unusual one, in a semi-experimental short film called "The Water," inspired by the Feist song of the same name.... MORE »
Sacha Gervasi Lifts "Anvil"
By Matt Singer on 04/07/2009
Filed under: InterviewsThe story of "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" began in a London rock club in the early '80s, where a teenage metal devotee named Sacha Gervasi first saw Canadian rockers Anvil. After the show, Gervasi went backstage and met the band, striking up a friendship with Anvil's lead singer and guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner. Eventually, Lips and Robb invited the then-15-year-old to be a roadie on their North American tour the next summer. Asked what a documentary on his relationship with the band during that period might have looked like, Gervasi replies, "That would have been... MORE »
