Category: Filmmakers
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Remembering Seven-Time Oscar Nominee Norman Jewison
Seven-time Oscar nominee Norman Jewison died on January 20 at the age of 97. His range was remarkable, from romantic comedies to socially conscious dramas, splashy musicals to classy caper films. Dramas like The Cincinnati Kid and In the Heat of the Night have only gotten better with age, and his most beloved film, Moonstruck, has become a modern…
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Revisiting John Woo’s Little Seen Native American Epic, ‘Windtalkers’
The new thriller Silent Night marks action master John Woo’s first American film in 20 years. Seems like a good occasion to look back on my summer 2002 interview with the Hong Kong legend; the subject was, like Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a rare, big-scale story about Native Americans. Gentle, modest and courtly, John Woo…
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Remembering Terence Davies, Film Poet of the Ordinary
The acclaimed British writer-director Terence Davies died today, October 7, at the age of 77, after a short illness. I met the soft-spoken but defiantly idiosyncratic artist in 1993, to discuss one of his most lauded films, The Long Day Closes. Davies went on to make seven more features: The Neon Bible, based on the novel by…
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My Encounters with Billy Wilder, Part 2
For my second interview session with Billy Wilder on March 4, 1994, at his office in Beverly Hills, the legendary writer-director allowed me 45 minutes—and served as my personal countdown clock. In our wide-ranging conversation, we talked about his relatives in Vienna, his early days in Hollywood, his reasons for becoming a director, his high…
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My First Encounter with Billy Wilder
It’s now 117 years since the birth of Billy Wilder on June 22, 1906. I had the good fortune to interview the great writer-director of the classics Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Some Like It Hot, The Apartment and so many others in his office in Beverly Hills on September 17, 1993, the first of six encounters (two in…
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For Clint Eastwood’s 93rd Birthday, A Look Back at ‘Million Dollar Baby’
Clint Eastwood turns 93 on May 31, 2023—and he’s still at it, in pre-production on his 40th feature, Juror #2. I was lucky to get him on the phone in 2004 to discuss one of his two Best Picture Oscar winners, Million Dollar Baby. A last-minute addition to that year’s release schedule, Million Dollar Baby…
Kevin Lally on Film 