NYC Film Critic

Duncan Jones follows-up his strong feature debut Moon with another compelling story of a man betrayed by the institution that employs him.  Opening in theaters next Friday, April 1 (look for my review next week) Source Code plays as a Hitchcockian thriller with a Twilight Zone twist.  My interview with Jones and the film’s screenwriter Ben Ripley just went live over at Film Journal.

Kevin Smith launched the latest phase of his career on Saturday night on Radio City Music Hall,  kicking off the Red State U.S.A. Tour, traveling roadshow built around his new film, Red State, which he’ll be self-distributing in the fall.  The film screened before 3800 Smith fans the writer/director took the stage afterwards for one of his famous Q&A’s.  Read my take on the event over at Film Journal International. 

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost team up for their third big-screen outing, the sci-fi road comedy Paul, but sally forth without the aid of their longtime collaborator Edgar Wright.  Stepping into Wright’s place is director Greg Mottola, best known for helming Superbad and Adventureland.  I spoke with Mottola about the task of bringing Paul (which also stars Seth Rogen as the voice of the titular alien) to the big screen for Film Journal International.  Read the feature here and look for my review closer to the film’s March 18 release date.

Korean director Kim Jee-woon brings his unique brand of genre filmmaking to the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcinematek program with the six-film retrospective Severely Damaged, which kicks off this Friday the 25th with the New York premiere of his latest film, I Saw the Devil.  The series runs until March 2 and includes Kim’s debut feature The Quiet Family, his recent western The Good, The Bad and The Weird and, my personal favorite, the 2003 horror film A Tale of Two Sisters.  (You can read my reviews of both the original film and its 2009 Hollywood remake here and here.)  I interviewed the director–who will be present for a Q&A following the Devil screening–via email for a story that’s appearing in this week’s issue of the The Brooklyn Paper.  Because I had to leave some of his comments on the cutting room floor due to space, I’m running the full text of the interview below.  I’ll have my thoughts about I Saw the Devil posted sometime next week, before its theatrical release on March 4th.

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Blockbuster season stars earlier and earlier every year.  For example, 2011’s first big-budget sci-fi action/adventure franchise adventure I Am Number Four arrives on President’s Day weekend.  I interview the director of the movie, D.J. Caruso, over at Film Journal.

Also, if there are still tickets available, Brooklyn residents should try making their way to BAM tonight for a special screening of Gregg Araki’s new film Kaboom, a silly, winning comedy about a couple of college kids that may or may not be able to prevent the end of the world.  I spoke with Araki for this short piece in The Brooklyn Paper. A full review of Kaboom will be coming later today.

As Disney prepares to roll out its next blockbuster hopeful TRON: Legacy, I speak with the trio that got the highly anticipated sequel (by me at least) to the 1982 cult classic up on the giant-sized IMAX screen.  I’m talking, of course, about director Joseph Kosinski and writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.  Read my interview with them over at Film Journal.

Todd Phillips returns to the genre that kicked off his career with Due Date, his second road-trip comedy after 2000’s conveniently titled Road Trip.  He’s traded up in terms of star power, though; that one starred Tom Green and Breckin Meyer while this one features Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis.  Read my feature story with Phillips at Film Journal.

Brooklyn-based filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden leave the seriousness of Half Nelson and Sugar behind for a more seriocomic tale in It’s Kind of a Funny Story, an adaptation of the book by Ned Vizzini.  I interview the directors for The Booklyn Paper.

Matt Reeves accepted a difficult assignment when he agreed to helm an American remake of the terrific Swedish vampire film, Let the Right One In.  But guess what?  His gamble paid off.  While Let Me In and Let the Right One In tell the same story, both are very different movies in terms of tone.  The Swedish version is an austere drama while the American cut is an emotionally charged horror film.  This is one of the rare Hollywood remakes that works on its own terms, which is a not inconsiderable achievement considering the industry’s uneven track record with adapting foreign language films.  Read my feature interview with Reeves at Film Journal.

Documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein makes her narrative feature debut with Going the Distance, a surprisingly sweet and funny–if at times too conventional–romantic comedy starring on-again, off-again real-life couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.  My feature story with Burstein is live over at Film Journal.