June 18, 2015 feels so far away now, and like such simpler times. The Supreme Court was eight days from announcing its landmark decision legalizing marriage equality in all 50 states, and the pre-Pride air in San Francisco was humming with anticipation.… Continue Reading
This week on The Binge Movie Podcast, I have the pleasure of sitting down for a chat with Barry Jenkins, screenwriter/director of the profound new drama Moonlight. Based on an unpublished play by Tarell Alvin McRaney, set and shot in the… Continue Reading
Out of all the stars who first (and, for many, last) grabbed our attention during the late-’90s teen movie boom, Clea DuVall is firmly among the most memorable. With her choppy androgynous hair, intimidating glare, and delightfully surly demeanor, she stood out… Continue Reading
Fourteen years after the first American Idol season and countless other vocal competitions later, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that American audiences have had our fill of aspiring singers clamoring for our attention, packaged with personal origin stories designed to pull at our heartstrings… Continue Reading
There are surface aspects of writer/director Lorene Scafaria‘s superb new comedy The Meddler that almost dare you to underestimate it. The name, for one, is admittedly adorable. Then you watch the trailer and see what appears to be a sitcom-ready scenario: Lori… Continue Reading
Learn the name Jeff Nichols, because it’s one we’re all going to be talking about for years to come. After his well-received but little-seen debut, Shotgun Stories, in 2007, the 37-year-old Little Rock native emerged as arguably the most promising new American filmmaker… Continue Reading
When you’ve been in the game as long—and as famously—as two-time Oscar winner Sally Field, it’s rare to find a role so unique and unexpected that it reveals you to audiences in an entirely new light. But that’s just what Field, who turns… Continue Reading
The idea that beautiful people can get away with anything is taken to brutal—and brutally funny—extremes in the comedy-thriller You’re Killing Me. Directed by Jim Hansen from a screenplay he co-wrote with star Jeffery Self, it’s the story of Joe (Matthew McKelligon),… Continue Reading
Boasting such screenplay credits as The Wedding Date, What Happens in Vegas, and Couples Retreat (which she also produced), Dana Fox is among the reigning behind-the-scenes studio comedy queens. Whereas many female filmmakers understandably go the independent cinema route to bypass Hollywood’s entrenched sexism, the… Continue Reading
It’s been 16 years since actor Natasha Lyonne and director Jamie Babbit simultaneously achieved cult status with the wickedly hilarious queer classic But I’m A Cheerleader (1999). While Lyonne had been acting since childhood and played the lead in Tamara Jenkins’… Continue Reading
