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Zack Knight: Taking Risks, Touring, and 'Makin Em Mad'
Zack Knight has just come off the stage in New Orleans. The British singer-songwriter has been touring around the United States for the last few weeks alongside Pakistani pop star Asim American Punjabi...
View ArticleNick Jonas Trades In Pop For Sultry R&B On New Solo Album
I sat down Nick Jonas sat to answer your questions from Twitter in front of a lucky group of winners from Dash Radio & Myspace. His self titled solo album, Nick Jonas, is set to be released...
View ArticleThe Making of the Legendary "Hunky Dory" Album and I Pierce My Ears for David...
David Bowie. Man, oh man. Rarely, if ever, have I been as wrong about an artist. Believe me, I loved David Bowie. Crazy love. Second only to The Who for at least a year or so. Actually, pretty much...
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James Brown Held the Spotlight, No Matter How Dark Life Got
James Brown was at one of the lowest points of his career when I met him in 1980. Perhaps testament to the depths of that decline -- after his disastrous endorsement of Nixon in 1972, his seeming...
View ArticleMy Goodbye to Joan Rivers
"I enjoy life when things are happening. I don't care if it's good things or bad things. That means you're alive. Things are happening." Joan Rivers was a notorious comedian who made a mark on the...
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A Memory of Two Joans
I first met Joan Rivers almost 50 years ago when I was a casting director working on The Swimmer starring Burt Lancaster. Most of the film took place in wealthy suburbia so the actors had to seem like...
View ArticleYou Should Love Beyonce!
You should love Beyonce. Yeah, that's right. I said you should love Beyonce. You shouldn't love her because she's beautiful. You don't even need to like her music. You should love Beyonce, because...
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AnnaSophia Robb on Role Models, Character Development and Inspiring Our Youth
AnnaSophia Robb is a well-known actress with over twenty film and TV credits including Soul Surfer, Bridge To Terabithia, The Way Way Back and The Carrie Diaries. In our interview she shares her...
View ArticleThe Identical Totally Entertains
From out of the blue comes a film titled The Identical. If you go into it without any beforehand information it takes a while to realize it is a "what if" account of Elvis Presley's life. The "what if"...
View ArticleJohn Waters' Women at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
No one missed the irony of a John Waters retrospective at The Walter Reade Theater across Lincoln Center's plaza from Fashion Week. On opening night, Waters, in hot red pants and print jacket,...
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Best of Venice: Words with Gods, Finding the Divine Within Our Imperfections
A still from "Kaboki" by Bahman Ghobadi, in Words with Gods "I looked in temples, churches & mosques. I found the Divine within my Heart." Rumi If there is a lesson to be learned from the nine...
View ArticleTORONTO 2014 IS THE YEAR OF THE ACTOR
By Day 3 it's become clear that the Toronto film fest 2014 is above all about the year of the actor, male and female. As I toggle between one theater and the next, I discover yet another film that...
View ArticleShe Inspired Me: My Tribute to Joan Rivers
"Life is very tough. If you don't laugh, it's even tougher. I'm in nobody's circle. I've always been an outsider." -- Joan Rivers (Las Vegas, 2012) And with those remarkable words from Joan Rivers, I...
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Live from the Toronto Film Festival: Sunday, Sept. 7
My Toronto schedule is mostly sketched out, with a line-up of four or five films a day from now through Thursday. With luck, the days will be more fruitful than my first day, a relatively light one in...
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Motorcycles, Riptides & More: Chats with Loudon Wainwright, Vancy Joy, John...
A Conversation with Loudon Wainwright III Mike Ragogna: You've got a new album, Haven't Got The Blues Yet and it looks like you're kind of expanding your style here. What prompted that? Loudon...
View ArticleShocked and Surprised: I Will Deeply Miss Joan Rivers
So my husband and I are celebrating our anniversary in Porto and a lovely couple, newly married, join us for white port (which I had never had before and is delicious). Joan Rivers has just died, and...
View ArticleJoan Rivers Died Like She Lived: Shocking People
I remember growing up and seeing Joan Rivers on TV. My mom, an import from the very blue collar northern parts of England, always considered herself quite proper, in spite of her humble beginnings. She...
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Best of Venice: Theeb Takes the World by (Sand) Storm
I had a very selfish craving for the film Theeb (which means "Wolf" in Arabic) to be good: I like the filmmakers and their crew. I've actually grown very fond of them in the last few days, thanks to a...
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The Music Industry Formula for Success Does Exist
Growing up in my generation we were taught to learn how to cook meals for ourselves. We're not talking microwave or frozen dinners. We're talking the ceramic flour canister, teaspoons for measuring,...
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Space Station 76: Jack Plotnick's Refreshing Take on Sci-Fi
Matt Bomer and Patrick Wilson in Space Station 76 About a month ago I was fortunate to catch Space Station 76 at Outfest. Fresh, unique and thoroughly entertaining, the film was directed by the...
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