This installment of BAMF Interview Archives features my 2004 conversation with Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. This was right before the release of the documentary film Some Kind of Monster, which chronicled the trials and tribulations of Metallica while they were recording their 2003 album, St. Anger. (more…)
This installment of the BAMF Interview Archives features my 2002 conversation with acclaimed writer, poet and filmmaker Sherman Alexie. Best know for his novels and poetry, Alexie ventured into making his own film with The Business of Fancydancing, which at the time of our interview he had just started self-distributing. (more…)
This is the first installment of the BAMF Interview Archives. Over the course of next few months I will be posting some of the interviews that I have conducted over the years. In most cases, only small portions of these interviews were used for articles/reviews I was writing for the newspaper I used to work for. This interview with writer-director Shane Black was conducted in 2005 just before the release of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Not only was the film about a week from being released, lead actor Robert Downey Jr. had not yet made his triumphant comeback with Iron Man. (more…)
For reasons that that I can’t fully comprehend, people have been wanting to know what’s on my mind lately. In January 2011, I was interviewed four times (once for a radio show and three times for websites). If you have the time, check out any and all of these interviews, which are far more interesting and engaging than I am in real life, and somehow manage to make me sound intelligent. World of Hurt is the website of the greatest web comic on the Internet. Jay Potts is an amazing artist and writer, and in addition to the comic he posts some great articles. Scott’s Introspection Section has a two-part interview with me, which shows how long-winded I can be. This is a site I only recently discovered, but there is some great pop culture content and insight (including a new interview with rap legend Kool G Rap). KBOO radio’s Lisa Loving is an awesome journalist and even more awesome person. We had a particularly insightful conversation. Last but not least, there is YNET, an Israeli website that among other things asked me some interesting questions about “Jewsploitation.” For not, this interview is only up in Hebrew, but there should be an English translation soon. And if anyone is interested in hearing me on a weekly basis, don’t forget that I’m a guest every Tuesday morning on the Cort and Fatboy Show, where I manage to talk about nothing on a regular basis.
Fourteen years ago, New Jersey filmmaker Kevin Smith helped to change the world of independent cinema with his debut feature, Clerks. A caustic, no-frills, micro-budget portrait of a day in the life of convenience store workers, Clerks was a critically acclaimed hit, praised for its foul-mouthed, pop culture driven dialog and its raw, working-class aesthetic. At a time when arthouse indie films were mostly regarded as highbrow intellectualism, Smith came along with a lowbrow, everyman approach to storytelling, and became a hero to a legion of fans. (more…)
Okay…seriously, there’s no way I’m going to defend John Edwards. That was just a catchy headline to trick you into reading this. And look…it worked.
John Edwards, the North Carolina senator, former vice presidential candidate, and up until earlier this year, one of the front runners for the Democratic nomination for president, has admitted to having affair. I’m sure you’ve read all about this by now, so it really isn’t anything new. We all know how his wife Elizabeth, who campaigned tirelessly for him, had cancer while he was throwing a hump into some other woman. And of course, anyone who supported Edwards in any way shape or form shutters at the thought of what would have happened had he actually become the frontrunner for president. But what is interesting is that as of yet, I haven’t read anything in which Edwards has asked God for forgiveness. Usually, when a politician fucks up this bad, one of the first things they do is ask God to forgive them for their foolish mistake. With that in mind, I decided to give God a call, in part because it had been a while since we’d touched base, but also because I wanted to get the Almighty’s take on Edwards. (more…)
Sibling filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass made an impressive feature film debut in 2005 with The Puffy Chair. Critically acclaimed, The Puffy Chair possessed a low tech, naturalistic cinema verite style that has since become labeled “mumblecore,” and helped establish the Duplass Brothers as two rising talents in the world of indie filmmaking. Their sophomore film, the oddly titled Baghead, finds the Duplass Brothers returning the same aesthetic that defined The Puffy Chair, with both Jay and Mark serving as directors. (more…)
The ever-increasingly popular sport of mixed martial arts was tailor-made for film. In fact, well before the emergence of the UFC in the 1990s, B-movies about street fighters, kick boxers and bare-knuckle brawlers slugging it out in back alleys, dank basements and chain link cages were common place. And now that the UFC and mix martial arts competition have gained legitimacy—at least as much legitimacy as modern-day gladiatorial games can have—the sport has steadily found its way into mainstream films, most notable being the recent craptacular Karate Kid rip-off, Never Back Down. But up until now, there has yet to be a film that seriously incorporates MMA the way boxing has been incorporated. Writer-director David Mamet’s Redbelt changes that. (more…)
Stupid shit. Stupid fuckin’ shit! Everywhere I go, stupid shit is there to greet me. I read the news, and I read stupid shit. I observe people going about their day, and I’m really watching stupid people do stupid shit. Everyday all day. And I’m not sure why I’m choosing to write about it at this moment, other than I feel like writing, and the only thing on my mind is stupid shit. So, with that said, let’s start with Iowa Senator Steve King. (more…)
For thirty years Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep has enjoyed legendary status. Completed in 1977 as Burnett’s UCLA master’s thesis, Killer of Sheep was seldom seen outside of film festivals or academic settings, but never the less had managed to develop a mythological reputation as one of the greatest achievements of independent American cinema. Among the first fifty films to be inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, and named one of 100 Essential Films of all time by the National Society of Film Critics, the reputation Burnett’s work has earned is richly deserved. Killer of Sheep is a brilliant film, stunning in its perceived simplicity, heartbreaking in its honesty, and unparalleled in its humanity. (more…)
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