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Interviews

October, 2013

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‘Where the fuck were you?’ Interview with John Landis, director of The Blues Brothers & Three Amigos!

, Oct 16, 2013

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On the subject of business in Hollywood, veteran John Landis -- director of classics such as The Blues Brothers, Three Amigos! and Animal House -- pulls no punches.
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Right for the Jugular — new Australian thriller comes to my lounge room

, Sep 05, 2013

Australian feature film Jugular opens this year's Melbourne Underground Film Festival. In it my friend goes crazy and there's a scene in my apartment. Allow me to explain.
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On a bleed to know basis: interview with Dror Moreh, director of The Gatekeepers

, Aug 21, 2013

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Dror Moreh scored the coup of a lifetime when he sat down to talk to all surviving heads of Israeli intelligence agency, the Shin Bet. His Oscar-nominated documentary The Gatekeepers explores the grey areas of war and terrorism.
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Interview with Michael Winslow, Police Academy’s Man of 10,000 Sound Effects

, Aug 08, 2013

As the 'Man of 10,000 Sound Effects', his reputation precedes him. And speaking to Police Academy's Michael Winslow doesn't disappoint.
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Video: interview with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, stars of The World’s End

, Aug 04, 2013

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After the halcyon highs of my bone-jittering 4D interview with The World's End director Edgar Wright, things came crashing back to earth when I sat down for a chat with stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
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Video interview: taking The World’s End director Edgar Wright into the fourth dimension

, Jul 24, 2013

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Have you ever watched a film critic interview a major film director inside a 4D cinema, while watching a 4D movie? Let's assume the answer is no. Therefore, you've come to the right place.
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‘Have I made a difference in the world?’ Interview with James Cromwell, star of Still Mine

, Jun 11, 2013

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Academy Award nominated character actor James Cromwell has appeared in dozens of popular film and TV shows since the 1970s -- but never, until now, in a lead role. Cromwell reflects on life, death, legacy, working as an ageing actor and much more.
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‘The tactics of Scientology’: filmmaker v Assange, WikiLeaks v the world

, Jun 03, 2013

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The response to acclaimed director Alex Gibney's WikiLeaks documentary may say more about the current state of the organisation than anything in his film. I talked to Gibney -- and somehow got caught up in the maelstrom.
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‘Moments that happen one time’: interview with Derek Cianfrance, writer/director of The Place Beyond the Pines

, May 14, 2013

Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to his 2010 head turner Blue Valentine has guns, shoot-outs and Ryan Gosling -- but it's also a daring and unconventional work. There was plenty to talk about.
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‘You guys have got a thumb up your ass’: interview with Marlon Wayans, writer/star of A Haunted House

, May 03, 2013

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Marlon Wayans isn't known for critically acclaimed work. But comedy is subjective and sometimes -- as he says of the critical populace -- "you guys have got a thumb up your ass."
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The beauty and horror of climate change: interview with Chasing Ice director Jeff Orlowski

, Apr 09, 2013

Jeff Orlowski's Oscar-nominated climate change documentary Chasing Ice reveals the delicate craft of measuring global warming on glacial ice. It's no easy job -- and neither is making a film about it.
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Dealmaker or dream breaker? Tropfest phenomenon comes down to heart, Polson insists

, Feb 18, 2013

Has Tropfest got too big for its own good? I speak to organiser John Polson after another wildly successful event in Sydney -- which some filmmakers refuse to enter.
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‘I am a mean looking Mexican’: interview with Hollywood hardass, Danny Trejo

, Feb 13, 2013

He's Hollywood's go-to guy for a mean looking Mexican. Veteran actor Danny Trejo has been in more films and TV shows than even he can count -- and his fascinating real-life story is every bit as intense as the kind of characters he portrays.
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All about the close-up: interview with Tom Hooper, director of Les Misérables

, Dec 28, 2012

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Tom Hooper's adaptation of Les Misérables has received a mixed response from critics. I talked to him about the mammoth task of bringing Les Mis to the big screen.
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To infinity, the aquarium and beyond: interview with Lee Unkrich, director of Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3

, Nov 13, 2012

Both myself and my three-year-old niece love Finding Nemo and Toy Story. Does having an impact on a person's formative years feel daunting for a filmmaker? I speak to director Lee Unkrich about this, the colossal influence of Pixar Studios and more.
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Good film, just don’t mention the ‘war’: interview with Paul Thomas Anderson

, Nov 06, 2012

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I assumed acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson would be happy to discuss correlations between his new film, The Master, and the Scientology movement on which it was partly based. I was wrong.
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Fear, loathing, savages and success: interview with Benicio Del Toro

, Oct 16, 2012

Benicio Del Toro’s road to success has not been a conventional one. The Oscar-winning actor spoke to me about making it in Hollywood, his new film Savages, the legacy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and being a bad-ass Puerto Rican.
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Cruisin’ for a PR bruisin’: Chopper Read film over before it begins

, Oct 10, 2012

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The producer claims they had an agreement. The star, Chopper Read, calls bullshit. Both speak to me about the bizarre launch of new Australian film The Hurtin' Kind Part One: The Albanian.
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Unscripted and on message: an interview with Mark Duplass, star of Your Sister’s Sister

, Sep 05, 2012

Director Lynn’s Shelton’s love-triangle-with-a-twist dramedy Your Sister’s Sister (which opens in select cinemas nationwide this week) is the best kind of micro budget American indie: a thoughtful, engaging, and, in its own unprepossessing way, daring feature built on strong performances and interesting characters. After making a scene at a memorial party for his late brother […]
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Underground and unrepentant: an interview with Terry McMahon, director of Charlie Casanova

, Aug 22, 2012

Charlie Casanova is not a film you watch and forget. Irish writer/director Terry McMahon’s grungy hard-hitting character portrait follows a self-obsessed sociopath named Charlie (Emmett J. Scanlan) who runs over a woman with his car and decides, Two Face style, to draw a card to determine whether he calls the police. His business is struggling, […]