Thompson on Hollywood

LAFF: Destin Cretton Talks SXSW Grand Jury Winner 'Short Term 12,' Immaturity and the Mystery of Indie Film's Future (TRAILER)

Festivals

Destin Daniel Cretton talks his "Short Term 12," from Sundance winning short to SXSW Grand Jury prize-winning feature...

By Sophia Savage
|
June 16, 2013 1:11 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

LAFF: Bernard Rose and Danny Huston Reunite with 'Boxing Day,' Third in Tolstoy Series (VIDEO)

Interviews

Transplanted Brit writer-director Bernard Rose and Hollywood scion Danny Huston have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship. Casting Huston in "IVANSXTC," a llittle-seen 2002 success d'estime that in many ways presaged the indie digital age, jumpstarted the would-be director's career as an actor. Huston keeps coming back for more, because with Rose he winds up doing his best acting.

By Anne Thompson
|
June 12, 2013 4:08 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

'Dirty Wars': Glimpse Into Shadow World of U.S. Counterterrorism Via Tenacious Reporter

Features

"Dirty Wars," the riveting new documentary by journalist Jeremy Scahill and director Rick Rowley that probes the shadowy world of U.S. paramilitary operations, almost didn't get made. Or rather, it almost didn't become the film that premiered at Sundance in January to critical plaudits and hit theaters on June 7, via IFC Sundance Selects.

By Jacob Combs
|
June 12, 2013 12:41 PM
|
3 Comments

More:

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Gibney Talks Manning and Assange, Stars of his 'WikiLeaks' Expose

Interviews

Until recently, nobody knew who Bradley Manning was. Now he's all over the media, having pleaded guilty to ten charges (and not guilty to 12 others) before a Maryland military judge (see his leaked testimony here) for “misusing classified data,” the unlawful possession of classified material, exposing a cache of files, including videos, military logs and 250,000 State Department cables, and the transfer of this material to WikiLeaks. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. “The more I read the cables, the more I came to the conclusion that this was the type of information that should become public,” he told the judge.

By Anne Thompson
|
May 31, 2013 12:14 PM
|
2 Comments

More:

Cannes Interview: Mexican Director Amat Escalante Talks Violent Love Story 'Heli'

Interviews

When it screened at Cannes last week, the Mexican film “Heli” raised eyebrows and some hackles for its unsparing evocation of Mexico’s drug-war violence, including torture. A compelling story of one simple family who, through no real fault of their own, stumble into a nightmare, “Heli” is director Amat Escalante’s third film at Cannes, and his first in competition.

By Tom Christie
|
May 25, 2013 3:06 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

'Before Midnight' Interview with Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

Interviews

Well, you've been reading about "Before Midnight," the third film in Richard Linklater's trilogy about Celine and Jesse's ongoing romance, since Sundance, and now you finally get to see one of the most delightful and insightful movies of the year. The movie opens Friday. The trio, who could earn a second Oscar nomination for original screenplay, describe their unusual process in our interview below.

By Anne Thompson
|
May 22, 2013 2:22 PM
|
1 Comment

More:

Cannes: Asghar Farhadi Talks Fest Favorite 'The Past,' Starring Actress Winner Berenice Bejo

Festivals

In what’s turning out to be a very strong year for the Cannes Competition, it’s hard to pick a front-runner at the festival’s midway point. As many critics rate the chances of Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s “Like Father, Like Son” (not least because of a family-ties dynamic many assume will appeal to Jury president Steven Spielberg’s sensibilities), they are also looking at previous Cannes winners the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis." And this is before the Competition entries from Steven Soderbergh, Nicolas Winding Refn, Paolo Sorrentino, Alexander Payne, Roman Polanski and Jim Jarmusch have even screened. But one man sure to be in the fray for the Palme d’Or this weekend is Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi with “The Past.”

By Matt Mueller
|
May 20, 2013 3:34 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

Cannes Interview: David Lowery Talks 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

Interviews

Writer-director David Lowery has been putting in his 10,000 hours over the past few years, working as an editor and cinematographer on many of his friends' micro-budget projects, as part of the growing multi-tasking barter indie culture. He's helped many of the geographically disparate friends he's met on the festival circuit with their films; he edited with director Shane Carruth the much-talked-about "Upstream Color," now in limited release. SXSW has championed the Texas filmmaker, playing his shorts and features; "Saint Nick" showed promise on a meager $12,000 budget.

By Anne Thompson
|
May 17, 2013 8:07 PM
|
1 Comment

More:

Cannes Exclusive! Jim Mickle Talks Smart Horror Remake 'We Are What We Are'

Interviews

Just three years after Jorge Michel Grau's 2010 Mexican film "We Are What We Are" played at the Cannes Festival market (see trailer below), Jim Mickle's American remake, which debuted well at Sundance, is playing in the festival proper, in the Director's Fortnight, which sometimes welcomes smart well-made horror films such as this one. EOne will open the elegantly shot, well-acted film--which deals with a small town religious family maintaining their long tradition of ritual cannibalism-- this September.

By Anne Thompson
|
May 16, 2013 4:29 PM
|
1 Comment

More:

How Katie Aselton Made Feminist Thriller 'Black Rock' (EXCLUSIVE CLIP, TRAILER)

Interviews

Katie Aselton is yet another indie actress-writer-director who has taken matters into her hands. There's no point in waiting around for careers to come to you. With some financial freedom from FX hit comedy series "The League," in which she stars with her multi-hyphenate husband Mark Duplass, who directed her, with brother Jay, in "The Puffy Chair," Aselton co-wrote, directed and stars in the R-rated thriller "Black Rock" which opens May 17 in theaters and VOD.