| Friday, August 17, 12:00 PM
Just when you thought David Cronenberg couldn't surprise you, here comes Cosmopolis, a hallucinatory express ride into modern oblivion that's unlike anything in the director's already distinct body of work. Adapted from Don DeLillo's 2003 novella, the movie follows the surreal odyssey of Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), a 28-year-old billionaire fund manager cocooned in his stretch limousine as it crawls through a nightmare landscape of New York City on the verge of financial and social apocalypse. Ostensibly en route to get a haircut -- personal grooming being paramount as the world implodes -- Packer soon finds himself in a spiral of self-destruction, as Cronenberg orchestrates a rhythmic trance in which money, information and technology acquire a meaninglessness and only derailed acts of sex and violence appear real. Perhaps the most fascinating element to Cosmopolis is the performance of its star, Robert Pattinson. Having previously stepped sideways from his teen-idol status to mixed effect, Pattinson here throws himself fearlessly into Cronenberg's world, delivering an unforgettable, almost alien-like portrait of a young man disconnected from reality and willfully engineering his own spectacular demise. We had a chance to speak with Cronenberg earlier this week, during which he shared his thoughts about the film and how he came to cast Pattinson in particular.
| Thursday, August 16, 11:58 AM
Following the success of Henry Selick's wondrous Coraline in 2009, the team at Laika studios are back this week with their second animated feature, ParaNorman, another stop-motion marvel concerning the misadventure of a young outsider and his spooky connection to the land of the dead. Pitched as "John Hughes meets John Carpenter," it's written by Coraline and Corpse Bride animation artist Chris Butler and co-directed by Butler and Aardman alum Sam Fell, with voices by Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick and John Goodman, and music by Jon Brion. We had a chance to chat with Fell and Butler this week ahead of the movie's release, where they talked about five of their favorite movies -- and how they influenced the creation and execution of ParaNorman.
| Friday, August 10, 12:10 PM
David Duchovny became a bona fide pop culture star in the '90s with his wry, oddball performance as alien-chasing Special Agent Fox Mulder on TV's The X-Files -- though some may remember his even more eccentric FBI turn on Twin Peaks -- a role he reprized over several award-winning seasons and two big-screen films. Duchovny parlayed the success into his current starring role on the hit Californication, while on occasion finding time to appear in films like this week's Goats, in which he plays a bearded, stoned Arizona goat herder -- and quite convincingly, it should come as little surprise to learn. With the film opening in limited release this week we got a chance to sit down and chat with Duchovny, where we talked about his five favorite films.
| Friday, August 3, 3:32 PM
One of the busiest and most recognizable British character actors in movies, Timothy Spall cuts a unique figure of comedy and menace that's seen him play everything from Winston Churchill in The King's Speech to the nefarious Wormtail in the Harry Potter series. Along the way, Spall has worked for the likes of Clint Eastwood, Tim Burton, Ken Russell and Bernardo Bertolucci, while his collaboration with longtime friend Mike Leigh yielded an acclaimed lead performance in the director's Secrets & Lies. This week, Spall makes an appearance alongside Donald Sutherland and Christian Slater in the action thriller Assassin's Bullet, and we had the chance to chat with the very charming actor about his career and five of his favorite movies.
| Monday, July 23, 2:15 PM
33%
20%
92%
