Interview articles from December 2003

Interview archives from December 2003

Art is in the eye of the beholder.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Dear Interview, In his interview with Nicole Kidman [October 2003], David Furnish talked about falling in love with [his partner] Elton John--so did millions of other people, including me. Elton is the greatest. On another note, however, I...

Pull up a chair.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Dear Interview, Big mistake not mentioning the interview between Jack Black and Conan O'Brien [September 2003] on the cover. Their conversation was funny and an insight into modern comedy and entertainment-industry politics. Make sure your...

Comments for the commentator.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Dear Interview, I was blown away by Camille Paglia's article, "The College Conundrum" [September 2003]--she definitely hit the nail on the head. I am a 29-year-old college student still trying to get my degree (after my third change in...

Now hear this, Hollywood!(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Dear Interview, I had to write to support Mickey Rourke's return to the screen [October 2003]. I agree with Johnny Depp's opinion regarding Mickey's abilities as an actor. He is a magnetic, charismatic screen presence and an awesome...

One actress who's on the wall.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Dear Interview, Thank you for the Gina Gershon article [October 2003] and for the gorgeous, wall-worthy photographs of her by the very talented Albert Watson. Gershon has sex appeal, strength, brains, and a rawness very hard to find in...

Fanning the flames.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Dear Interview, Thank you so much for your interview with Josh Lucas in the September 2003 issue. He is such a talent, and I enjoyed reading a little more about him. The photos were fantastic, as Interview's photos always are. I certainly...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2003... On page 209 of the September 2003 issue, a pair of shoes worn by Michelle Rodriguez was incorrectly credited. In fact, the shoes are by Giuseppe Zanotti Design.

Charlie Hunnam: most actors his age just want to rake in the cash. He wants to take a stab at immortality.(Movie Rule Breaker)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... After meeting on the set of the December epic Cold Mountain, actor Charlie Hunnam, 23, and Max Minghella, 18, became fast friends. Here, Minghella, an aspiring actor and the son of Mountain director Anthony Minghella, catches up with his pal....

Ginnifer Goodwin: she would have been happy doing church-basement theater, but this actress had to settle for working with Julia Roberts.(Movie Spotlight)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... A feel-good hybrid of Dead Poets Society (1989) and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, the December drama Mona Lisa Smile stars Julia Roberts as a sage professor at Wellesley College circa 1953, who touches the lives of four students...

Billy Bob Thornton: the tattoos, the vials of blood, and all the other tabloid-perfect details got audiences hooked on him, but his nuanced performances and masterful directing bring them back. With two new roles, he keeps the drama going.(Movie Rebel)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... Arkansas-reared, with a thick-as-honey accent to match, Billy Bob Thornton has become to the Southern eccentric what Tom Hanks has to the everyman--a visceral, living-and-breathing embodiment of a celluloid stereotype. Since his breakout in...

Christina Milian: don't worry, J. Lo. This singing actress has a different career path in mind.(Movie Heat)(Brief Article)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... Singer, songwriter, budding movie actress--Christina Milian is one busy 22-year-old. "My family have always been go-getters," says the New Jersey--born, Maryland-raised hybrid talent from the set of Cheer Up, where she's playing a cheerleader...

The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King.(third in the series, directed by Peter Jackson)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (New Line) Directed by Peter Jackson It looks as though this final film in the triptych will be the series's crowning achievement, which is saying a lot. Jackson is that rare director capable of delivering awe, and for that he deserves...

Cold Mountain.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Miramax) Directed by Anthony Minghella Jude Law plays Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier heading home, where his sweetheart, Ada (Nicole Kidman), is fighting to keep her farm afloat with the help of a scrappy loner, Ruby (Renee...

The Last Samurai.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Warner Bros.) Directed by Edward Zwick Tom Cruise stars as an American Civil War veteran recruited by the Japanese Meiji emperor to help forge a modern army. Among his first duties is to wipe out the feudal samurai, whose ways he soon...

The Alamo.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Touchstone) Directed by John Lee Hancock Word is Hancock's taken a bit of dramatic license here, splicing historical glory with revisionist guts. There's sure to be plenty of spectacle, but tweaking this Texas legend may be its...

Big Fish.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Columbia) Directed by Tim Burton Tall tales cast a shadow over reality as a dying man's life plays out in fantastical flashbacks. Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney shine as the hero past and present, but it's Burton's surrealism,...

House of Sand and Fog.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (DreamWorks) Directed by Vadim Perelman A recovering alcoholic (Jennifer Connelly) and a former Iranian colonel (Ben Kingsley) fight over the deed to a California home. When the woman's policeman lover (Ron Eldard) gets involved, the...

Girl with a Pearl Earring.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Lions Gate) Directed by Peter Webber Echoing her performance as a young woman who stirs an older man in Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johansson is Griet, a shy maid who inspires 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer's (Colin...

In America.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Fox Searchlight) Directed by Jim Sheridan In Sheridan's semiautobiographical story, an Irish family emigrates to New York after the loss of a child. Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine bring an understated grace to the grieving...

The Barbarian Invasions.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... (Miramax) Directed by Denys Arcand Remy, the womanizer from Arcand's Decline of the American Empire (1986), is felled by a terminal disease, and his old friends and family come by to help him negotiate his final exit. An affective film...

The Fog of War.(Brief Article)(Television Program Review)
December 1, 2003... (Sony Classics) Directed by Errol Morris In this documentary, subtitled "Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara," the architect of the Vietnam War dispenses his own Art of War. Pairing combat footage with McNamara's pearls...

Shots in the dark: as 2004 begins, a look at what's likely to play out onscreen over the coming months.(Movie Column)
December 1, 2003... As the quick "victory" in Iraq became a fallacy, movie chatter in 2003 began to find anti-Americanism everywhere. An exchange between two sharks in Finding Nemo--"Humans! Think they own everything." "Probably American,"--sparked a debate about...

Unforgettable in 2003: some of the best moments from some of the best films of the past year.(Movie Column)(Column)
December 1, 2003... * Jimmy (Sean Penn) learning his daughter (Emmy Rossum) is dead in Mystic River; his wife, Annabeth (Laura Linney), coming on as Boston's Lady Macbeth as she initiates sex with him; distraught Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) wandering among the...

Colin Firth: this complex actor studies the quirks of life--no wonder he plays eccentrics with a bite.(Movie Profile)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... After excelling as repressed, troubled, or traumatized Englishmen in such films as A Month in the Country (1987), Apartment Zero (1988), and Tumbledown (1989), and as the French seducer in Valmont (1989), Colin Firth became a star by playing...

Be cointreauversial[TM].(cocktail recipes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... the lemon drop 1 part Cointreau[R] 2 parts vodka 2 parts fresh lemon juice shake with ice strain into a martini glass the original margarita 1 part Cointreau[R] 2 parts tequila fresh lime juice shake well pour...

Found treasure: a year after his death, a visionary photographer still calls the shots.(Interview Vault)(Herb Ritts spots Eric Balfour)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... A few months before his death last December at age 50, photographer Herb Ritts approached Interview about shooting an up-and-coming actor named Eric Balfour. With more than two decades of iconic, unforgettable imagery to his credit, Ritts had...

A clip worthy of the bard: this winter, diamonds are a fairy's best friend.(Fairy-Tale Style)(new jewelry at Van Cleef and Arpels Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... "I'll give thee fairies to attend on thee," said Titania, queen of the fairies, to her human beloved in A Midsummer Night's Dream. "And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep/And sing, while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep." This was...

Peachy Keane: introducing the sweetest, juiciest color trend of the upcoming season.(Style Tip)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The new shades of spring are just peachy. Last seen on a ruched puffball skirt and frosted lipstick circa 1986, peach is back for face and body alike. Seen on every catwalk from New York to Milan to Paris, this color of choice for spring was...

The magnificent seven: forget the himbo jokes: the new generation of models is savvy, streetwise, and full of surprises. Interview gets the scoop on their eclectic pasts, hectic presents, and promising futures.(The Catwalk Class Of '03)(seven male models)
December 1, 2003... MATHIAS Hometown: Copenhagen. Campaign: Dior Homme. Before he was a model, he was: A high school soccer player. Hobby: "I draw a lot--pencil and paper, very naturalistic." Definition of despair: "If I had to decide for something bad to happen...

Wine me, dine me: from the vineyard to the runway: fashion for the bacchanalian set.(Fashion Flash)(fashion designers take color cues from wine)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... A glass of red wine a day keeps a coronary away, so it's no surprise that designers are taking health matters to heart with vineyard-inspired palettes. From the smoky burgundies of Michael Kors to the warmer merlots of Tom Ford for Gucci, a...

Fish tales: in Tim Burton's latest adventure, Big Fish, a dad weaves tall tales to win the love of his family and friends. Here, Interview asks some of the film's cast about their own flights of fancy.(Whopper Special)
December 1, 2003... HELENA BONHAM CARTER "The only tall tale I'll admit to telling was when I was at school, aged 10 (actually, that's a bit of a tall tale--I was 16, and should have known better by then). To get out of an English-literature exam I soooo did...

Lucas Samaras: he might make boxes (or paintings, or sculptures, or photographs, or jewelry), but as two new shows prove, he won't be put in one.(Art Maverick)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... NEVILLE WAKEFIELD: You have a gallery show featuring your latest work at New York City's PaceWildenstein [through January 17] and a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum [through February 8]. So, what's it like for a self-confessed...

Nellie McKay: a lounge singer with moxie--and a message.(Music News)(Brief Article)(Biography)
December 1, 2003... Nellie McKay really wants to change the world. Upon completing her forthcoming debut, Black America (Columbia), the 19-year-old singer-songwriter, whose jazzy compositions and razor-sharp lyrics manage to recall both Norah Jones and Eminem,...

Living Things: bloodcurdling noises and ballistic guitars--these rockers are political creatures.(Music Breakout)(members of rock group include political opinion in their shows)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... It's been a long, long time since rock music felt even remotely dangerous. But along come Living Things--three brothers from St. Louis who mash out an anarchic collision of power chords and screaming vocals that feel like a bottle breaking near...

Britney Spears in the Zone.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (Jive) Spears's fourth album is a self-conscious dissection of her sordid pop life. The opener, "Me Against the Music," a rumbling Eastern-influenced dance duet featuring Madonna, sets the tone for a mix of club cuts, airy sketches, and...

Dizzee Rascal Boy in Da Corner.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (XL Recordings/Beggars Group) On his debut, this Mercury Prize--winning U.K. garage-gangsta stutters over bass-heavy beats, tackling all the right subjects--urban plight, social protest, street violence--in his distinctive stop-and-go...

Roy Ayers Virgin Ubiquity.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (BBE/Rapster) As the seminal vibes master behind the 1970s acid-jazz outfit Ubiquity, Ayers established himself as an icon of spirit and soul. This new collection of rarities, featuring James Brown and jazz drummer Bernard Purdie, is lush...

Air Talkie Walkie.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (Astralwerks) On their third full-length, Frenchmen JB Dunckel and Nicolas Godin test the maxim that less is more when it comes to crafting their slow, dreamy compositions. Pastoral and organic, the record features an array of acoustic...

Ronald Isley & Burt Bacharach Here I Am: Isley Meets Bacharach.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (DreamWorks) Funk-soul progenitor Isley lends his seductive voice to a handful of Bacharach's 1960s-ish pop hits. While, back in the day, artists like Dionne Warwick and Karen Carpenter once delivered these songs with a suave purity,...

Sarah McLachlan Afterglow.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (Arista) Following a six-year sabbatical, McLachlan returns with an elegantly bruised collection of songs that deals more directly than ever with her favorite subjects: love, loss, and longing. She has lost none of her affinity for broad...

Josh Groban Closer.(Sound Recording Review)
December 1, 2003... (Reprise) Produced by pop maestro David Foster (Celine Dion), Groban's sophomore effort finds the singer belting poetic over synthy orchestral arrangements. But while his operatic low tenor resonates brilliantly, it sometimes overwhelms...

Carmelo Anthony: sportswriters say he looks like Magic Johnson on the court, but this teenage prodigy is earning a name of his own, one basket at a time.(Sports Slam Dunk)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... While Kobe Bryant's Law & Order--type saga dominates the NBA season. Carmelo Anthony stars in his own version of Fantasy Island. Last April, after leading Syracuse University to the NCAA championship as a freshman, averaging 22 points and...

All the dish: meatballs? Mac and cheese? From the city's meta-chefs? You must be almost home.(Food Column)(Mix In New York, Schiller's Liquor Bar, and Rocco's, New York City)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2003... Depending on your particular household, the words home cooking can mean anything from meatloaf to Wiener schnitzel, something that many of New York City's hottest new canteens have wisely tuned in on. The following three restaurants may offer...

Back and ahead: Interview polled some cultural movers to recall the events and creations that shook them--for better or worse--in 2003 and to predict what things will stand out in the New Year.(View)
December 1, 2003... INTERVIEW POLLED SOME CULTURAL MOVERS TO RECALL THE EVENTS AND CREATIONS THAT SHOOK THEM FOR BETTER OR WORSE--IN 2003 AND TO PREDICT WHAT THINGS WILL STAND OUT IN THE NEW YEAR What was emblematic about 2003? Was there a line in a song you...

Letter from the editor: December/January 2004.(View)(Anthony Minghella, Naomi Watts, Mike Nichols)(Editorial)
December 1, 2003... While we were working on this issue, I had the privilege of being given a great insight into the creative process. It came from writer and director Anthony Minghella, to whom I'd been talking (page 122) because his much-anticipated Civil War...

Ryan Adams: behind closed doors, one of music's most idiosyncratic heartbreakers gets intimate with his paramour, actress Parker Posey, opening up about finding his voice and getting his rock on.(Interview)
December 1, 2003... PARKER POSEY: So, your new album, Rock N Roll [Lost Highway Records], is out. This is your rock "n" roll album, right? RYAN ADAMS: Uh, no. PP: Why are you being argumentative? RA: [laughs] I'm not being argumentative. PP:...

Cyndi Lauper: two decades after blazing the way for a generation of female pop singers, the original day-glo diva is reigniting her career with a collection of songs as colorful as she is.(Interview)
December 1, 2003... EVELYN McDONNELL: Your new album, At Last [Epic/Daylight], is a covers record on which you tackle some very famous songs, but you do so in a really inventive way. For example, you transform the Four Seasons" "Stay" into a mambo jam, and Etta...

Paul Bettany: after playing a specter in A Beautiful Mind, this actor keeps on delivering haunting performances.(Interview)
December 1, 2003... Best known for playing a schizophrenic's imagined companion in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Paul Bettany's current hot streak is anything but illusory. The 32-year-old Brit has reteamed with Beautiful Mind star Russell Crowe in the recently...

Cold Mountain.(Interview)
December 1, 2003... MAKING THE TIME-MACHINE MOVIE COLD MOUNTAIN WAS AS MUCH OF AN EPIC EXPERIENCE AS ANYTHING ENDURED BY THE FILM'S CHARACTERS. AS A TEAM PLANTED TOBACCO AND BUILT A TOWN, DIRECTOR ANTHONY MINGHELLA AND THE STAR-STUDDED CAST TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN...

The pink link! That fuddy-duddy idea that pink is only for women was turned on its head recently by fashion designers who understand that real men can--and as demonstrated on this season's runways, do--wear pink!(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Models (courtesy of Mega Rio, in order of appearance): MATEUS, LEONARDO, CHRISTIAN BOMFIM, VICTOR FERRET, LEANDRO, MARCUS, SERGIO, CHRISTOPHER, MAYTE, LIVIA, CHARLANA, MAIKO, VIKTOR, ROMULO, YASMIN. Hair and makeup: CELESTE RANDALL. Makeup...

Revolution rock: when Joe Strummer, lead singer of the Clash, died one year ago this month, the music world lost a true visionary. With the release of Strummer's final album, two legends discuss the legacy of one of rock 'n' roll's most innovative, irrepressible, and influential artists.(Interview)
December 1, 2003... ELTON JOHN: So, Bono. As you know, this is the first anniversary of Joe Strummer's death. To mark the occasion, I wanted to take a moment to talk with you about the huge importance of his work, which was very political and experimental, as well...

Red-carpet ready.(Karl Lagerfeld photographs Linda Evangelista )
December 1, 2003... "GLAMOUR," SAID SCREEN SIREN MARLENE DIETRICH, "IS WHAT I SELL. IT'S MY STOCK IN TRADE." AND WITH THAT CURRENCY IN MIND, DESIGNER AND PHOTOGRAPHER KARL LAGERFELD TOOK LINDA EVANGELISTA AND FRIENDS TO THE STREETS OF PARIS AND TURNED HIS LENS ON...

Naomi Watts: for anyone who ever needed a reminder of what can happen when you hold onto your dreams--here she is.(Interview)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2003... INGRID SISCHY: Some seismographic events occurred during your childhood--the kind of things that can really be formative. NAOMI WATTS: Yes. They really shape you. Mine was not your conventional upbringing, but it was exciting and...

The Angels have landed: in the early '90s, out of the ashes of AIDS, came the seminal drama of that time, Angels in America--an epic of spirituality, disease, and American identity. Now, as Mike Nichols's new production comes to TV, Interview brings together the director, the playwright, and the all-star cast.(Interview Special)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... "Greetings, Prophet. The Great Work begins: The Messenger has arrived." Since it opened on Broadway a decade ago, Angels in America has come to be considered nothing less than a cultural phenomenon. Though this theatrical epic centers upon...

No translation needed.(Page 5)(celebrities at the Lost in Translation premiere)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Gina Gershon and Lili Taylor at the New York premiere of Lost in Translation, hosted by Marc Jacobs, Focus Features, and Interview. Drinks courtesy of SKYY Vodka, Perrier, and Michelob Light. ...