Close
The Belgian director Lukas Dhont spotted Eden Dambrine, an eleven-year-old French dance student, on a train and asked him to audition for his latest film Close (2022). Among the youth’s qualities were his “very big eyes.” In discussing film acting, the great director Nicholas Ray—They Live by Night (1948), Johnny Guitar (1954) and Rebel Without […]
The Andy Warhol Diaries
The six-part Netflix docu-series The Andy Warhol Diaries, produced by Ryan Murphy and directed by Andrew Rossi, takes a strange tack by focusing on the Pop artist’s love life in the period after he was shot by Valerie Solanas in 1968. The near-death experience altered the course of Andy’s life—not only artistically, but socially. His […]
Light From Light
Paul Harrill’s second feature, Light From Light (2019) is an even stronger, more assured work than his marvelous first feature Something, Anything (2014). The film played at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival where it received very positive reviews from both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, and was picked up for distribution by Grasshopper Films. Like […]
Red Rocket
I was given the opportunity to write about any American indie film for the new “21st Century Film Essentials” series from UT Press. I chose The Florida Project (2017) because I believe that Sean Baker is simply one of the best indie filmmakers working today. The chance to study the film in-depth has only given […]
Sean Baker Book: The Florida Project
Sean Baker's latest film Red Rocket opens in LA and NYC this weekend, so you might imagine how busy he is at the moment. Yet he found the time to post a video about my recently published book on The Florida Project from the University of Texas Press on Twitter and Facebook. Check it out […]
The Florida Project Book
At long last, my new book on Sean Baker’s indie film The Florida Project (2017) was published last week. It’s the 3rd book in a series entitled 21st Century Film Essentials from University of Texas Press, and the 4th film book related to indie cinema that I’ve published. In order to write the book, Baker […]
Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed
When I was growing up, John Gnagy’s “Learn to Draw” series on television encouraged everyone, especially kids, how easy it was to draw. I remember that at the end of the show viewers were encouraged to submit artwork for evaluation. My older brother—he might have been about 9—did an absolutely terrific drawing, for which he […]
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
Last week was Peggy Guggenheim’s birthday, which elicited numerous posts about her online. It prompted me to re-watch Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s fascinating documentary Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015), which is available for viewing on Amazon Prime. The film benefits from a long-lost taped interview with her that was discovered in a basement. Guggenheim’s life, as […]