Thursday, February 9 2012
Swedish director Daniel Espinosa took an unusual approach with ‘Safe House’
LOS ANGELES — When Universal Pictures hired Daniel Espinosa to direct its rogue CIA agent thriller “Safe House,” the studio knew it was rolling the…
Streep sees something of herself in ‘Iron Lady’ Thatcher’s resolve
NEW YORK — At night after she finished the day’s shooting of “The Iron Lady” in London, Meryl Streep would undergo a kind of ritual.…
Lauded ‘Hugo’ proves costly to its producer
LOS ANGELES — Last weekend I hosted a panel at the Santa Barbara Film Festival that featured five producers whose films were Oscar best picture…
Pan African film festival going strong at 20
LOS ANGELES — Ayuko Babu, cofounder and executive director of the Pan African Film & Arts Festival, which kicks off its 20th anniversary Thursday, peppers…
Wednesday, February 8 2012
Is Clint Eastwood really a partisan provocateur?
LOS ANGELES — Of all the directors who could have become a lightning rod for the right this election season, Clint Eastwood wouldn’t be high…
‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ turns 50; does it stand up to time?
“Cuckoo’s Nest.” Sure, everyone’s heard of it. But is it worth reading? Before Jack Nicholson won his first Oscar, before there was a bus full…
Oscars 2012: Best picture nominees were predictable, and predictability is not a good thing
LOS ANGELES — If you read even half as many stories, blog posts, Facebook entries and tweets about the Oscar nominations as I did, you…
Monday, February 6 2012
Tilda Swinton helped birth a nightmare called ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Every mother has a birthing story, the play-by-play narrative that took her across the chasm from independence to attachment. Tilda Swinton…
Skeptics making some noise over ‘The Artist’
If there’s one thing I had failed to consider this Academy Awards season, it’s that “The Artist” exists not to show people a good time…
Sundance 2012: This year’s Sundance Film Festival was a family affair
Winnowing thousands of entries to showcase the most significant, film festivals serve as a time capsule, focusing attention on the values and concerns of the…
