Interview articles from April 2003

Interview archives from April 2003

Letters.
April 1, 2003... HOLDEN FORTH Dear Interview, Of all the images in Bruce Weber's inspired (and inspiring) "The New Catchers in the Rye" portfolio [February 2003], none bowled me over more than the photos of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. I have not yet...

Oscar gold: a look worth its weight in. (Look of the Month).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... In the natural world, camouflage and surprise are two of the most important and valuable of abilities. In the very wild worlds of film and fashion, the same can often be said. This month, given the flurry of social, cultural, historical, and...

Daniel Sunjata: the star of Broadway's take me out, a play about sexual politics in athletics, talks to a former professional athlete who knows the score all too well. (Theater Home Run).(Interview)
April 1, 2003... You could say that part of the enduring fascination with professional sports' locker-room environment has to do with the way it has managed to stay beyond the pervasive gaze of ESPN. Now, in Richard Greenberg's play Take Me Out--which recently...

Try and remember this name: will they go Nuts about Nutsa? (Movie Spotlight).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Newcomer Nutsa Kukhianidze plays a golden-hearted hooker to Nick Nolte's good-natured junkie in Neil Jordan's The Good Thief--and more than holds her own in a sea of testosterone. Of being the only woman on the set, the 19-year-old says, "It...

Victor Rasuk: his lip-smackin' upstart seduced audiences at the sundance film festival. Your town may be next. (Movie Buzz).(Interview)
April 1, 2003... In his feature debut as the title character in Raising Victor Vargas, 19-year-old Victor Rasuk gives an extraordinary performance: vulnerable, funny, and filled with subtleties one associates with more seasoned actors. Growing up on the streets...

Shots in the dark: as the Academy looks back at 2002's films, so do we. We've found a new strain of thoughtfulness.(Movie Column)
April 1, 2003... The films released in the last quarter of 2002 made it one of the most satisfying moviegoing years in recent memory. Suddenly, there was so much worth seeing, from Punch-Drunk Love, Solaris, Far From Heaven, Adaptation, The Lord of the Rings:...

Billoah Greene: a street-fighting kid channels his passion into acting and comes out swinging. (Movie Tip).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Actor Billoah (Buh-LOY) Greene is so easygoing, it's hard to imagine he'd swat a fly. But years ago, he was such a troublemaker that he was nearly expelled from school. The 23-year-old explains that in his "rough" Newark, New Jersey,...

Colin Farrell and Joel Schumacher: the wild-side-walkin', potty-mouth-talkin' lad chats with the director who held him captive in a phone booth and got one of the all-time great performances out of it. (Movie News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... COLIN FARRELL: How are you, darling? JOEL SCHUMACHER: So this is what it takes for me to talk to you? CF: This is what it takes for me to answer my phone. JS: Listen, I want you to think back for a minute. Go back two-and-a-half...

When life and art collide: talking to Joel Schumacher about what happened when the real-life D.C. sniper crisis led to the postponed release of this month's Phone Booth, his movie about a fictional sniper. (More Movie News).(Interview)
April 1, 2003... PATRICK GILES: "Art imitates life; life imitates art" is a cultural bromide--but just a few weeks before you were about to release your latest film, Phone Booth, which concerns a sniper attack, you came close to living it. What happened? ...

Anger Management. (Preview).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... (Columbia) Directed by Peter Segal Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson go toe-to-toe in this emotional fender bender about a timid soul and a belligerent therapist, with stellar support from John Turturro, John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei,...

Head of state. (Preview).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... (Dream Works) Directed by Chris Rock Okay, so nowadays it seems all actors want to direct, but how megalomaniacal is it that Rock makes his debut behind the camera with a comedy he stars in as a Washington, D.C., Alderman who runs for...

Basic. (Preview).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... (Columbia) Directed by John McTiernan The attraction here is John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson reunited onscreen for the first time since 1994's Pulp Fiction. But without Quentin Tarantino's wild pop-philosophical antics, it's...

Dreamcatcher. (Preview).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... (Warner Bros.) Directed by Lawrence Kasdan Talk about a big chill! Kasdan helms this Stephen King adaptation about four old friends who reconvene for some bonding in a country cabin and wind up hip deep in snow and face-to-face with...

The Good Thief. (Review).(Movie Review)
April 1, 2003... (Fox Searchlight) Directed by Neil Jordan Jordan reconceives Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob Le Flambeur (1955), a crime caper about a down-on-his-luck gambler with some lofty heist plans. Only problem is, this remake's already been remade,...

Assassination Tango. (Review).(Movie Review)
April 1, 2003... (US) Directed by Robert Duvall An aging hit man (Duvall) gets a job knocking off an Argentine general and finds himself drawn into the world of a beautiful tango dancer (his real-life girlfriend, Luciana Pedraza). While...

Poolhall Junkies. (Review).(Movie Review)
April 1, 2003... (Gold Circle/Goldwyn) Directed by Mars Callahan Poolhall's plot is about as fresh as the air in the dives that host the film's primary action, but a cool young cast led by director-actor Callahan, Rick Schroder, and Michael Rosenbaum...

Stevie. (Review).(Movie Review)
April 1, 2003... (Lions Gate) Directed by Steve James In his first documentary since the acclaimed Hoop Dreams (1994), James follows his title subject--for whom he once served as a "big brother"--from troubled foster child to child molester. His camera...

It's back; this spring, there's only one way to go: up. (Rising Trend).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... If you feel something creeping up your leg this spring, it may Just be your hemline. This season proved to be a maxi moment for the mini, one of life's perennial favorites since its debut way back in fashion folklore. Since then, designers,...

Elisha Cuthbert: she's been kidnapped, shot at, and used as live bait, but it's just another long day at the office for TV's toughest daughter. (TV Heat).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Perhaps the most popular underage actress on TV not working for the WB network, Elisha Cuthbert, 20, plays star Kiefer Sutherland's daughter on Fox's 24. The show's format--a 24-episode season covering just one full day, each hour-long show...

Simon Cowell: some call him awful. Some call him great. others call him his show's only real star--whatever he is, he's helped make American Idol the talk of TV. Here, he takes the stand. (TV Baddie).(Interview)
April 1, 2003... SARA SWITZER: You judge aspiring pop stars. often quite harshly, on American Idol. How did this job come about? SIMON COWELL: I helped create the show with a friend of mine, Simon Fuller. I've run a record label [S Records] for about 10...

To serve, protect, and entertain: you want the zeitgeist? It carries a badge. (TV Beat).(television America)
April 1, 2003... You can't change the channel these days without being flipped a badge. Sure, cop shows have been around virtually as long as TV itself, but a new breed of law enforcers--from cops on the beat to spies in lingerie--has taken over the airwaves....

The weekend players: they want to take your mind off the 9-5. And they do. (Happening Music).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... When you hear good music and then learn that it came about organically, somehow it sounds even better. Such is the case with this London-based group made up of vocalist Rachel Foster and producer Andy Cato, of Groove Armada. Their new U.S....

Lizzie West: she found her voice on a subway platform--next stop, record deal. (Music on the Move).
April 1, 2003... You never know what's going to set off something revolutionary inside of you. For Lizzie West, it was a chance encounter with a black guitar while browsing through a crowded pawnshop in Nashville. It was a pivotal moment for the then--Elizabeth...

Biblical blues, over-the pop, and some guy named Russell from down under. (Sound Advice).(music recordings)
April 1, 2003... THE WHITE STRIPES Elephant (V2) There's not a lot of room within the strict guitar-drums-occasional-keyboards parameters this duo sets for itself. But Jack White manages to push the envelope here, wading into gospel, backwoods...

Exercising fashion options: lookin' good and feelin' good don't have to be mutually exclusive concepts. (Flashion).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Fashion designers this season may have been able to inadvertently achieve the kind of focus on good living that doctors and nutritionists could never get from their fashionista patients. Building on fashion's flirtation with sportswear, a...

Who will write our red badge of courage? Camille Paglia on why in times like these we need our artists and poets more than ever. (Opinion Corner).(Interview)
April 1, 2003... INGRID SISCHY: War, antiwar--this is a time in America, and in the world in fact, that has been full of uncertainty. People are struggling to figure out what they think. And what's been remarkable recently is the speed with which the peace...

Interview's 11th annual two-minute oscarworthy performances: Sheila Benson picks the minigems that should get their own golden statues. (It's Oscar Time).
April 1, 2003... As we mark our 11th year of picking the movies' one-scene wonders, a few things to note. We've varied them a little--standing still is deadly. We have our first ensemble nominees, and one with the barest sliver of an appearance, yet the center...

All the dish: Britain has them. Boston had one. Now it's NYC's turn--the tea-party spirit hits the big apple.(Food Column)
April 1, 2003... It comes as no surprise that during this time of worldwide instability, when old approaches for restoring a sense of well-being (more mashed potatoes, anyone?) are growing in popularity as fast as alternative ways like yoga, a tradition such as...

Letter from the editor April 2003. (View).(Ms. Dynamite, A Little Deeper and Jack Nicholson)(Interview)(Editorial)
April 1, 2003... "I refused to be a stereotype," explains Ms. Dynamite on page 158 of this issue. The singer has already caused a sensation in her own country, Britain, with her mold-breaking album A Little Deeper, which seemed to come out of nowhere and...

Salma Hayek: a one-of-a-kind, behind-the scenes look at the inner life of one of Hollywood's most daring and hottest--by a photographer and interviewer who's not bad on the big screen herself.(Interview)
April 1, 2003... PENELOPE CRUZ: Hola? SALMA HAYEK: Huevos! [laughs] PC: Huevos! [laughs] Que pasa? The first thing I want to say is that I am so proud of you and so happy for Frida's awards and nominations. I know everything you went through with this...

Ms. Dynamite: bored and fed up with hip-hop's bling-bling? Get ready--there's a big, bold new political voice about to turn the genre on its ear.(Interview)
April 1, 2003... The United Kingdom may lay claim to inventing the English language, but British and rap are two words that have never inspired much excitement when placed next to each other. That's all about to change, however, thanks to Ms. Dynamite and the...

Alessandro Nivola; he wanted nothing more than the courage to talk to that French waitress, and came to one conclusion: fame would be a lot easier.(Interview)
April 1, 2003... Alessandro Nivola's looks may be responsible for his status as an Internet pinup, but it's this 30-year-old's chameleonic range that has movie insiders buzzing. In only a handful of years, he's played everything from a psychotic criminal...

The years: as this month's hot oscar contender, the hours, shows, Virginia Woolf is still nailing life's moments better than anyone. Here, writer Michael Cunningham tells why.
April 1, 2003... I read Virginia Woolf for the first time when I was 15 years old, under duress, and was surprised to find that she rocked my little adolescent world. I remember thinking, Wow, she was doing with language something like what Jimi Hendrix does...

Jack Nicholson.(Interview)
April 1, 2003... HOLLYWOOD LEGEND AND BEST FRIEND ROBERT EVANS DESCRIBES HIM AS HAVING "A MILLION-DOLLAR SMILE AND A BILLION-DOLLAR BRIAN." HERE, HE SHOWS US THE MONEY. PLUS THE WORD FROM KATHY BATES, CHER, SEAN PENN, SUSAN SARANDON, AND, OF COURSE, EVANS ...