To Live and Write in LA

SXSW: ‘Everybody Wants Some’ and a Tribute to Richard Linklater

Sometimes, when a movie plays at SXSW, it’s not just a screening, it’s a celebration. Last year, that was true about ‘The Breakfast Club.’ This year, the celebration was for the opening night premiere of Richard Linklater’s ‘Everybody Wants Some.’

Dallas Buyers Club

(First published on blogcritics.org) Opening night of the 2013 Film Independent (FIND) Forum, a three-day intensive on filmmaking at the Directors Guild on Sunset Boulevard, featured a preview of Dallas Buyers Club and a question and answer session with its producers, Robbie Brenner (Escape Plan, Immortals) andRachel Winter (Brooklyn Rules, The Lather Effect). Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jered Leto,Dallas Buyers […]

The Independent Spirit Awards: Real Reel People

(First published on blogcritics.org) A lot goes into creating the “willing suspension of disbelief” needed for an audience to become immersed in a film and experience it — laughter, tears, fear — as “real.” The most important factor? The characters must be believable. In reviewing films to vote for in Film Independent’s Independent Spirit Awards, I watched […]

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