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Film Festivals
"Another Earth" Takes "Lost" Actor Mapother To A New Place
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Interviews
- Published on Wednesday, 06 July 2011 23:18
- Written by Brad Balfour
After its award-winning Sundance Film Festival debut this past January, the sci-fi-oriented 
Another Earth ended up on the indie hot lists early on. Now that the Mike Cahill directed film is about to be released, it is getting further viewings by critics and industry insiders alike as a suprisingly sure-handed debut.
Talk now includes not only the hosannas for its unusual premise and co-writer/star Brit Marling's striking yet unvarnished good looks, but also for veteran actor William Mapother, who plays John Burroughs, the film's tragic centerpiece and the Earth-rooted counterpoint to Marling's character Rhoda.
As the really experienced cast member, Mapother has to shoulder some serious thespian duties for Marling to react to. It is he who embodies the tragic launch point of the film, for it is his character's family that the teenage drunk-driving Rhoda (Marling) kills, landing her a four-year prison sentence for negligent homicide.
The film's focus shifts from the tragedy to the revelation that a twin Earth has somehow appeared and moved close enough to our solar system that it can be easily viewed in the night sky. The story mutates as well from a simple tear-wrencher to an intellectually provocative challenge.
Through Films and Shakespeare, Actress Lily Rabe Has Been Having a Good Year
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Interviews
- Published on Tuesday, 07 June 2011 16:22
- Written by Brad Balfour
Actress Lily Rabe has been having a good year . She has had two films screening this year -- the earlier released All Good Things (starring Ryan Gosling), and now Letters from the Big Man will screen as part of the third annual BAMcinemaFest, June 16-26, 2011. It had premiered at Sundance in January.
Rabe plays artist/government hydrologist Sarah Smith who is on a post-forest fire survey in southwestern Oregon's Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Along the way, she unwittingly encounters an actual sasquatch man, and they share a mutual curiosity. As their friendship evolves, Sarah must take bold steps to protect him, as well as herself.
A few weeks ago, after the Drama Desk Awards ceremony wrapped and the hall was virtually deserted, nominee Rabe and dad David -- the playwright/novelist -- were gabbing with fellow actor (and award winner) Bobby Canavale and a couple of other people. Present in support of his daughter, Rabe exuded the fatherly pride that such a nom would prompt in this family of artists. Younger brother Michael Rabe is studying acting and older step-brother Jason Rabe is leading a band and composing for films.
Orlando Bloom Shines in Both Sympathy For Delicious and The Good Doctor
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Interviews
- Published on Sunday, 15 May 2011 16:18
- Written by Brad Balfour
![Orlando Bloom [ Photo by Brad Balfour ]](/images/stories/2011/05/orlando-bloom-bb.jpg "Orlando Bloom [ Photo by Brad Balfour ]")
It's been quite a week for British born actor Orlando Bloom. With two films -- Sympathy For Delicious (opening in theaters) and The Good Doctor (debuting at Tribeca Film Festival 2011) -- playing before audiences, the 34 year-old actor has been seen in a different light from his Pirates of The Caribbean-tattered days. Bloom displayed his darker chops to good effect.
Born in England in 1977, Bloom moved to London at age 16 and spent two seasons with the National Youth Theatre, and then trained with the British American Drama Academy. Like many young actors, he got a number of television roles to further his career.
When he attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1998, he fell three stories and broke his back. Despite fears he would be paralyzed, he recovered and returned to the stage.
Meet Tribeca's Angel - AMEX CMO John Hayes
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- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Interviews
- Published on Friday, 22 April 2011 10:00
- Written by Brad Balfour
With the opening premiere of The Union, director Cameron Crowe's documentary about Elton John and Leon Russell, the 10th Tribeca Film Festival kicks off. Though this 12-day event has enjoyed mixed reviews after its noble start as a response to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack's devastating effects on downtown Manhattan life, it has become an annual event in the city's spring calendar.
Initially created to regenerate interest in and bring people to Tribeca and lower Manhattan, the festival evolved into a sprawling set of contradictory ideas and goals -- was it meant to be a high-profile red-carpet, celebrity-driven media circus, or a celebration of international cinema? In any case, one thing has been certain: with the support of its founding sponsor, American Express, the festival had the secure financial bedrock from which it could be nurtured into a yearly event sustained by more than its original rationale for existence.
