Columns
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“I Was Getting Hate Mail Before I Even Started Shooting”: Keith Gordon on The Singing Detective
Writer-director Keith Gordon had one of the best film schools imaginable in the late ’70s and early ’80s, when he broke into the business as an actor and appeared in several now classic movies including All That Jazz, Dressed to Kill, and Christine. He must have learned quite a bit watching the likes of Fosse, De Palma, and Carpenter direct, because his own filmography is one of the most consistent in all of contemporary American cinema. Gordon has directed five features to date, every single one of which is an uncompromised treasure – and each one is different from the […]
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“This is Supposedly the Age for Things to Come Together More…”: Sabrina Dridje on Business and Technology
I’ve owned seven different glasses since my first pair at eight years old. My short-sighted impairment has gotten worse over the years, but I’ve recently grown out of my astigmatism. Looking through someone else’s lenses and accurately guessing the prescription is my favorite party trick, even though I’m probably just impressing myself. Nevertheless, I’m well-versed in the topic of being near-sighted. Though it’s not uncommon, being near-sighted feels like a significant trait, impacting how I see and, depending on whether I wear glasses or contacts, how others see me. I like how being near-sighted is described as a “defining characteristic” […]
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“The Ultimate ’80s Guilty Pleasure Movie”: Randal Kleiser on Summer Lovers
Has there ever been another summer for American movies like the summer of 1982? From the release of John Milius’s Conan the Barbarian on May 14 to the exploitation double-whammy of Class of 1984 and The Beastmaster on August 20, virtually every week saw the release of one or more spectacularly enjoyable films across a wide array of genres. The summer gave us a pair of Spielberg classics (E.T., Poltergeist) and numerous seminal science fiction films (Blade Runner and John Carpenter’s The Thing were released on the same day); teen comedies both high (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Last […]
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“Kickstarter is Based on Such an Optimistic View of Humanity — That People will Give to an Idea”: Liz Cook on Crowdfunding
I’m sitting in a small cinema in Berlin watching Mad Max: Fury Road, thrilled by the action and by the fight for freedom. Less thrilling is the guilty reminder of today’s massacres in Syria or human trafficking epidemic. I feel a similar pang of conscience while re-reading passages from Medea during real-life Greek tragedy, while the potential Grexit compromises the entire economic stability of the Eurozone. I’m torn between bearing the responsibility of world strife personally, as a passive consumer, and indirectly, as a helpless Samaritan. I can sometimes evade my guilty conscience by damning society. But even then, I’m […]
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Several Kind of Funny Reasons Why You Probably Shouldn’t Upgrade to Apple Music Yet
I have a lot of positive things to write about Apple Music, but in the interest of not burying the lede, I’ll write this first: If you have a large, well-tended and carefully created iTunes Music Library, do not upgrade to Apple Music. Do not install the latest 12.2 version of iTunes and, most importantly, do not turn on iCloud Music Library on any of your devices. Or, if you decide to ignore the above advice, make sure you have a Time Machine backup of your iTunes library before you go ahead and do so. Why the alarm, you ask? […]
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“I Think That Being Unapologetic Gets You Farther Sometimes”: Anna Weinstein on Comedy and Working with Talent
I’d heard the rumors about Cannes. About the heels of shoes that are measured if they appear suspiciously low. About some authorized shoe detective (random festival volunteer) who is qualified to deem a heel unfit for a premiere and deny entry. About how this unwelcomed fashion consultation excludes nobody — except men. When I first heard of this supposed Cannes custom — since confirmed by recent celebrity outbursts and Facebook posts from friends in attendance — I lost interest in attending myself. It’s not about whether or not I like getting dolled up, or if I like to wear heels […]
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“As a Younger Person, You are Also Closer to the Social Moment”: Emily Buder on Film Criticism
I spent months complaining about the drug dealers on my doorstep. I didn’t like dodging their transactions or how they’d hover or call after me. But when one of them offered to help adjust my bike seat, witness to my prolonged and embarrassing struggle, an alliance was formed, and over the course of a few weeks, a friendship. Despite the language barrier — I speak poor German, and he, worse — I learned how he fled Senegal on a crowded boat of sick and dying refugees, and how he arrived in Italy without knowing a soul, the language, or an […]
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“A Lot of People Don’t Know the Added Value of Publicists”: Mirjam Wiekenkamp on Film Publicity
I can’t say I’ve had many positive experiences with publicists. I once met one who texted throughout our entire first meeting, another who pretended not to have a spare ticket for a screening, and another who set up an interview and then told me afterward it couldn’t be published. But a series of lousy experiences by no means speaks to the universal personalities that PR attracts. It’s just that I’ve found publicity in general to be more on the unpleasant side of film industry unpleasantry, so it’s somehow been easier to judge. When I think of PR, I have a […]
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“I Strive To Be Professional with Everyone, and I Never Hold Grudges”: Corrine Aquino on Management and Production
I remember signing with an agent. As an eleven-year-old actress, the prospect of TV and radio work was thrilling. When I didn’t book a print job, my agent blamed it on the braces. But when I landed a local Cleveland radio spot, my flair for voiceover was celebrated, but not too much. With children for clients, my agent was careful to keep any star-driven egos in-check (even though the moms were bigger hazards). What I remember most during this year-long agency exploit is not the disappointment of frequent rejection or the high of occasional validation; I mostly remember the relationship between my agent […]
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“In a Dream World, I’d Want People to Leave with the Feeling They Could Do Anything”: Verena von Stackelberg on Film Exhibition in Berlin
I’m walking to a bar after seeing Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin in Berlin’s progressively gentrified neighborhood, Neukölln. Our group of four is unanimously in favor of the sci-fi thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. But by the time we take our seats in the bar, rumblings of an argument have begun. When my challenger brings up male-gaze, I say that its existence in cinema may be fundamentally problematic, but for me, its presence in Under the Skin is necessary in the experience of the film. He says his issue with male-gaze actually relates to the objectification of the male subjects, not […]
