June Squibb with Fred Hechinger in ‘Thelma’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
One hardly expects to reach stardom at any age, but to hit that landmark at 90 is a feat of wonder. And that wonder is the charming, beautiful, funny June Squibb.
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Sigourney Weaver photographed by © Jason Bell
So what’s your favorite movie featuring the American actress? Or a personal anecdote you can share? I’ll tell you mine and one of them unsurprisingly involves Venice, of course, where all kinds of magic happens.
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Photo by Getty Images, courtesy of the BFI London Film Festival
As ‘Four Daughters’ finally opens in the U.S., I sat down with the film’s director at the London Film Festival for a dose of typically straight to the point insight into her work and the film’s necessity, in our current media landscape that likes to categorize people as just good or evil, when life is really mostly lived in shades of grey.
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A still from the short ‘Maya at 24’ by Lynne Sachs
All the great filmmakers have been artists of the lens. If you think about Hitchcock, Truffaut, Wilder, Kazan, Visconti, Fellini and endless more that make up our collective cinematic heritage, they constructed their work like one long sequence of aesthetics — sight and sound.
Lynne Sachs is no exception.
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Julia Vysotskaya in a still from ‘Dear Comrades!, photo by Sasha Gusov, Courtesy of NEON
So, if I had to explain why Andrei Konchalovsky’s films appeal so deeply to me, what would I say? That his women characters are always the entree in his films and often his male roles seem like the parsley sprinkled around them to enhance the presentation. Embodied often by his real-life wife Julia Vysotskaya, women like Lyuda in ‘Dear Comrades!’ appeal to my sense of womanhood, to my inner strength but also on a very basic aesthetic level. Lyuda is elegant, in her clunky shoes and with her hungry, lean body, as are the men around her. First and foremost Konchalovsky is a true artist, always loyal to the visual — the most important aspect of the seventh art.
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Photo by Donald Sorrie
It takes a lot to make New Yorkers come out on a chilly, rainy February school night. Yet the Secret Room, a cool, copper piped themed club in a basement on Eighth Avenue, just steps away from Times Square, was jam packed this past Monday night. Everyone was buzzing with excitement as we waited to watch and listen to the talents that would assemble on stage to perform “Love and Other Feelings at the Hidden Cabaret”.
I was there to watch Stephen Miller’s return to the stage, after 20 years spent on the producing side and in academia. Miller is a wondrous man with a taste of sequin jackets that highlight his tall frame. His boyish smile and confident stance complete the magic of this performer who was clearly born to be on a stage. The Hidden Cabaret proved that.
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A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I met and got to know TV and movie star Alexander Siddig. Recently, I got to watch him in what is his most terrifying interpretation as Ahmed Suidani in Netflix’ ‘The Spy’. As much as I loved him as the romantic lead and even the wondrous father who loves at all costs — see the interview below — I must admit that Suidani suits Siddig to a “T”. Please watch the series if you haven’t already.
Following is an interview from those many moons ago when Siddig, Sid to his friends, played Miral’s father, in Julian Schnabel’s beautiful film — one I’ll always defend to the victory. One day, maybe, possibly, I’ll tell the whole story of this fascinating human being. But maybe not, as some things are better left unsaid. And unwritten.
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Back in 2009, I was privileged to see an advance screening of the film ‘Tibet in Song’ by Ngawang Choephel in NYC and was absolutely mesmerized by Tibet’s breathtaking views, its people’s courage and beauty and its filmmaker’s strength and resilience in the face of adversity. I know that after watching ‘Tibet in Song’ I would try to never again complain about a rainy day I have to spend inside and I would respect my Tibetan brothers and sisters only that much more! I mean, the fashions and jewelry alone have made me a fan of Tibet but their courage made me a lifetime supporter. Back then, I caught up with Choephel and he shared some of his insight into this very personal journey of a film.
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Lady Melissa Percy wears the “Fonzie Jumper”
There is something about Lady Melissa Percy that reminds me of a young Katherine Hepburn. Aside from both being tall and slim, they don’t share actual physical traits as much as the ability to look glamorous and feminine in casual, sporty clothes. What both women of course do share is a love of the outdoors, sports and the similarities could continue beyond that.
Glamour to me has always been an affair of substance over style and it’s clear Lady Percy, Missy to her friends, embodies that wholeheartedly.
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Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick
"I'm in love with everyone I've ever met in one way or another. I'm just a crazy, unhinged disaster of a human being." -- Edie Sedgwick
You can have your Kim Kardashians, your Gigi Hadids, your newly transformed princesses and Instagram sensations, I'll take Edie Sedgwick every day over any of them. In fact, nearly fifty years after her death, she remains for this child of the 70s a favorite fashion icon, an "It Girl" like no other and an example whose style and attitude I always keep in my consciousness.
So why has Sedgwick remained such a star, even though she could appear to have done little more than be born a socialite and die at age 28, of an overdose-slash-suicide after several stretches in mental institutions? Because she once met Andy Warhol, whom with his usual flair for discovering the broken yet utterly fascinating -- see Jean-Michel Basquiat and Candy Darling among many many more -- made of Sedgwick the original reality star. She is the predecessor of the Kardashians, only her reality was captured on film, by Warhol, a master artist of creation.
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Photo courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
While I interview Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel in Venice I can’t help but feel incredibly vulnerable. For one, I started writing about cinema and attending film festivals after her previous film ‘The Headless Woman’ was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. And I never had a chance to watch either ‘The Holy Girl’ or ‘La Ciénaga’ before that. So I’m a Martel virgin going into her latest ‘Zama’.
But mostly, I feel unguarded, bare in the presence of this quietly powerful woman. She is a filmmaker, an artist, an undeniable trendsetter — Martel smokes a cigar during our interview and of course, there are those trademark cool glasses she wears — but she is first and foremost a formidable woman. I gush constantly and I’ll admit hearing myself on tape to transcribe our interview afterwards is painful.
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A still from 'Ryuichi Sakamoto CODA' by Stephen Nomura Schible
At this year's Berlinale, the iconically sophisticated Ryuichi Sakamoto serves double duty.
He is part of the official 2018 Competition Jury, and is the subject of Stephen Nomura Schible’s 'RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: async AT THE PARK AVENUE ARMORY', the companion piece, the B side if you will, to 'RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA', a film which screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2017.
When I met Sakamoto in person, inside the Casinò in Venice, I was awe struck. His shiny, perfectly straight silver hair, those tortoise shell eyeglasses and the stylish black suit all made for an image that is so naturally fashionable, hard to forget. Yet Sakamoto is so much more profound than just how he looks, his meticulously styled, outward persona.
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