Category: Uncategorized
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Sandra Hüller Shows Her Range at the New York Film Festival
Sandra Hüller is having a moment. An Oscar nominee for her riveting, multilingual performance in Anatomy of a Fall (Was her character guilty or innocent? We still don’t know), Hüller scored a big Hollywood success this past spring, starring opposite Ryan Gosling in the popular outer-space adventure Project Hail Mary. Currently, she’s appearing opposite Tom Cruise in Alejandro…
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The New York Film Festival Confronts a World in Turmoil
No shade on the many fiction films at this year’s New York Film Festival, but the most gripping entries of the 2026 edition are two documentaries that urgently address the current moment. The 2024 festival brought us My Undesirable Friends: Part I—Last Air in Moscow, a marathon 324-minute look into the lives of a group of…
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In 1984, Mark Rydell Followed ‘On Golden Pond’ with a Torrential ‘River’
The director Mark Rydell died on August 13, 2026, at the age of 97. Rydell began his career as an actor, earning fans in the 1950s for his role on the daytime soap opera “As the World Turns.” (It was my mother’s favorite soap, and I actually remember him from my summers off from elementary…
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Robert Duvall Triumphed as Both Actor and Director with ‘The Apostle’
Robert Duvall, one of the greatest actors of his generation, died on February 15, 2026, at the age of 95. What many people don’t know is that he was also a formidable and adventurous film director. I had the good fortune to interview Duvall in 1997 to discuss one of his acting and directing triumphs, The Apostle. As…
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A 1992 Visit with Pioneering Director Mira Nair—and Her Infant Son, Zohran Mamdani
One of the week’s big newsmakers is Zohran Mamdani, the relative newcomer who decisively defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo (and his big-money machine) in the Democratic primary race for mayor of New York City. What I didn’t know before voting this past weekend is that Mamdani’s mother is the gifted film director Mira…
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Tribeca Fest Spotlights Jayne Mansfield, Barbara Walters—and an Amazonian Activist
Mariska Hargitay has had a remarkable TV run as the Emmy-winning star of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” over a record-breaking 26 seasons. Many of the show’s younger fans may not know that she’s the daughter of a movie icon, the buxom 1950s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay was only three years old when…
