Though I must admit his theater work is a total blind spot for me, I’m a huge fan of what Martin McDonagh does as a writer/director in film. I loved the wildly funny Six Shooter, the violent and subversive short that won McDonagh an Academy Award, and his debut feature, In Bruges, was a darkly comic addition to the hit man movie subgenre that showed he could work skilfully on a larger cinematic canvas. For his new film, Seven Psychopaths, McDonagh seems to be ratcheting up the silliness factor — although I’m sure there’s some very black moments in the movie that […]
by Nick Dawson on Aug 14, 2012It was a big night for Lee Daniels’ Precious at the 2010 Spirit Awards. The film picked up awards for Best First Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher), Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique), Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Director (Lee Daniels) and Picture. The only other film to win more than one award was Crazy Heart, which picked up Best First Screenplay and Actor (Jeff Bridges). Hosted by Eddie Izzard and presented by Film Independent, the awards were the first Spirits held in downtown L.A. on a Friday night rather than Saturday afternoon at the Santa Monica beach. The Spirits’ gently irreverent tone remained the same — […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 6, 2010Leading up to the Oscars on March 7, we will be highlighting the nominated films that have appeared in the magazine or on the Website in the last year. Jason Guerrasio interviewed Precious director Lee Daniels for our Fall 2009 issue. Precious is nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Daniels), Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher) and Best Editing (Joe Klotz). It’s November 2007 and manager-turned-producer-turned director Lee Daniels is shooting a film in New York City for the first time. Having already been shut down by the NYPD for going over his permit time in Harlem, […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 4, 2010