Interview articles from June 2004

Interview archives from June 2004

America's sweetheart?(Courtney Love)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Dear Interview, I was thrilled to see Courtney Love on your April cover. Miss Thing looks good on you! I was worried about my girl, fearing she forgot that she is loved by many. It's strange how passionate people are about her--I know...

One song at a time.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Dear Interview, Thank you for the piece on Rufus Wainwright [April 2004]. Elton John was right-on about how Wainwright's latest record, Want One, must be heard: It saved my life. In the piece, Wainwright states, "With my music, it is...

Saving face: where's superman? Probably at the spa with Lois Lane.(Look Of The Month)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Chalk it up to the sea change that's been revolutionizing ideas about masculinity for the past decade (including everything from hair gel to pec implants). In any case, more and more men are allowing themselves to be more and more captivated by...

Charles Bukowski: boozing, brawling, and larger-than-life, he was the rebels' poet, on the occasion of a much anticipated documentary about his legacy, a spiritual bedfellow looks back.(What's Up, Doc?)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Ten years since his death and now the subject of a riveting documentary, Bukowski: Born Into This, writer Charles Bukowski continues to fascinate and inspire. Here, Mickey Rourke, who portrayed Bukowski alter ego Henry Chinaski in 1987's...

Hilary Harkness: and the battle goes on.(Art Mover & Shaker)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... "I started out drawing high-heeled shoes," says painter Hilary Harkness, "and when I got older I found out that Warhol had already claimed that." Heels may still figure in Harkness's work, but they are now just one fetishized aspect of the...

Be your own bouquet: floral prints aren't just for couches anymore.(Fashion Spotlight)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Maybe it's a contemporary nod to the '60s peace movement, maybe it's the seeds of a Bloomsbury fashion revival for fall, or maybe it's just the true arrival of warm weather. Whatever it is, this season's fashion is a hotbed of flower power. ...

Marc Bojanowski: riding a wave of hot hype to a debut novel that delivers.(June's Big Book)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Pity Marc Bojanowski. With his spare, searing prose and visceral depictions of life's raw deals, he's drawing comparisons to literary lions like William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy. Not that he minds the praise--"I could never write like those...

The pierces: folk-rock's new twisted sisters.(Catherine and Allison Pierce)(Brief Article)(Biography)
June 1, 2004... The American ballet scene's loss is the music world's gain. Such is the case with Catherine and Allison Pierce, two singing sisters from Birmingham, Alabama, who kicked aside years of rigorous ballet training to play music. The Pierces, who...

Peter Salett: with even multiplatinum musicians complaining about the music industry squeeze, this cinematic troubadour--and insider favorite--is making a name for himself by working outside the system. Edward Norton finds out how.(Music Profile)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Most artists resign themselves, on some level, to the suspicion that the work they create is going to be appreciated best by total strangers; that family and friends, even the most supportive, will always be a little more aware of the effort...

The veils: the rumbling rock band that marries urban bustle with rural hustle.(Music Breakout)(Brief Article)(Biography)
June 1, 2004... The Veils' Finn Andrews is a man of two homes--and two minds. Born in London, the quartet's front man grew up surrounded by the electronic music of his father, Barry Andrews, of the 1980s band XTC. But when the younger Andrews was in his early...

Avril Lavigne Under My Skin.(Brief Review)(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... AVRIL LAVIGNE Under My Skin (Arista) The skate-punk princess's sequel to 2002's multi-platinum Let Go is stripped of much of the tomboy sass that made her debut so infectious. Instead, with ex-Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody filling...

Devendra Banhart Rejoicing in the Hands.(Brief Review)(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... DEVENDRA BANHART Rejoicing in the Hands (Young God) When eccentric singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart sings "It's like finding home in an old folk song" on "A Sight to Behold," he might as well be describing himself. On his sophomore...

PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her.(Polly Jean)(Brief Review)(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... PJ HARVEY Uh Huh Her (Island Def Jam) On her dirge-y fifth album, Polly Jean Harvey forgoes the lush prettiness of 2000's Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea for the raw, brittle beauty of her earlier work. No longer the...

Wilco A Ghost Is Born.(Brief Review)(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... WILCO A Ghost Is Born (Nonesuch) "I'm an ocean," sings Jeff Tweedy, "An abyss in motion." This follow-up to 2002's sterling Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is all about spectral disconnection. "Less Than You Think" contains the kind of feedback...

Morrissey You Are the Quarry.(Brief Review)(Sound Recording Review)
June 1, 2004... MORRISSEY You Are the Quarry (Attack/Sanctuary) After a seven-year hiatus, Morrissey remains unchallenged as the iconic troubadour of jangly angst. The former Smiths front man's distinctively conversational moan remains intact,...

Frederic Sanchez's tip sheet.(Sound Advice)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... INTERVIEW: So, Frederic, what's going on in Europe right now? FREDERIC SANCHEZ: With the 1980s revival, a lot of popular music got to be very cold-sounding. But now there seems to be a new romanticism creeping into music. It isn't a nice,...

Jon Heder: in a real-life revenge-of-the-nerds story, this newcomer dares to be himself in a sea of wannabes.(Movie Buzz)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... In pop culture, all cool kids resemble one another, with their homogenized style and ready-for-print quips, but all individuals are unique in their own way. For actor Jon Heder, the star of this month's comedy Napoleon Dynamite and a devout...

Jim Jarmusch: with religion making a killing at the box office, one of the movies' most independent-minded directors worships--with the hippest cast of the summer--at the temple of smoke, caffeine, and downtime.(Coffee and Cigarettes)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... For some directors, action means computer-generated tidal waves and elaborately choreographed battle scenes. But for Jim Jarmusch, the real action occurs in life's forgotten moments: waiting for buses in Mystery Train (1989), riding in cabs in...

Preview: Shrek 2.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... PREVIEW: SHREK 2 (DreamWorks) Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon The wildly lucrative fairy-tale pastiche picks up where the first film left off, as the gentle giant faces his new in-laws. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz,...

Preview: The Day After Tomorrow.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... PREVIEW: THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (Fox) Directed by Roland Emmerich Rampaging lizards and aliens have nothing on Mother Nature in this disaster master's eco-friendly epic. Global warming causes Buick-sized hail in Tokyo and tidal waves in...

Preview: The Terminal.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... PREVIEW: THE TERMINAL (DreamWorks) Directed by Steven Spielberg Tom Hanks continues his Streep-like run of accents as an Eastern European who finds himself stranded in a U.S. airport after a civil war at home leaves him nationless. His...

Preview: The Stepford Wives.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... PREVIEW: THE STEPFORD WIVES (Paramount) Directed by Frank Oz In this comedic remake of the 1975 cult thriller, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick star as a couple who move to an all-too-perfect suburb where women are being replaced by...

Preview: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... PREVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (Warner Bros.) Directed by Alfonso Cuaron Mexican fabulist Cuaron grabs hold of the franchise's reins, with Harry piecing together his late parents' past after a villain makes trouble at...

The Door in the Floor.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... REVIEW: THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR (Focus) Directed by Tod Williams This uneven adaptation of John Irving's A Widow for One Year chronicles a summer in the tragedy-ridden marriage of children's author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his wife, Marion...

Stateside.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... REVIEW: STATESIDE (First Look) Directed by Reverge Anselmo A Marine recruit (Jonathan Tucker) falls for an actress-singer (Rachael Leigh Cook) who is coping with mental illness. At times overwrought, the film is ultimately redeemed by its...

Zatoichi.(Movie Review)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... REVIEW: ZATOICHI (Miramax) Directed by Takeshi Kitano Kurosawa meets Tarantino in this pulpy twist on the kung fu revenge genre as a blind swordsman slices and dices gangsters in a 19th-century village. Flashbacks jar and plotlines...

The Mother.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... REVIEW: THE MOTHER (Sony Classics) Directed by Roger Michell An exquisitely rendered examination of an offbeat May-December romance. After her husband dies, an older woman dallies with a younger man, who is also making time with her...

Springtime in a Small Town.(Movie Review)(Brief Review)
June 1, 2004... REVIEW: SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN (Palm Pictures) Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang An old friend blows into a provincial Chinese town and awakens longing and happiness in a long-married couple. Its Chekhovian premise and breathtaking...

Mario Van Peebles: it's been 33 years since melvin van peebles kick-started a movie genre that redefined cool. now his son pays tribute with a rousing new biopic.(Movie Maverick)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... RICHARD DORMENT: In your new film, Baadasssss!, which you also co-wrote and directed, you star as your father, Melvin Van Peebles, as he struggles to direct his groundbreaking movie Sweet Sweetback's Baod Asssss Song [1971]. Why did you want to...

It's the hot-button topic of our times: till death does who part? Interview asks some of culture's most opinionated to sound off on the issue of same-sex marriage.(Point Of View)
June 1, 2004... MARY-LOUISE PARKER Actress "I find it a bit tiresome to hear about the inviolability of marriage from people who have probably been divorced more than once, cheated on their spouse, or had questionable regard for their partner. If all it...

Small talk: did the homemaker heroine cook her own goose?(Camille Paglia )(Interview)
June 1, 2004... INGRID SISCHY: Camille, can you bake? CAMILLE PAGLIA: [laughs] I don't bake, no. My specialty is large hunks of highly spiced meat I'm good at making great pots of things like pot roasts and stews--like medieval banquet dishes for Viking...

Shots in the dark: how does an actress who won't follow Hollywood's rule book make her mark in the movies?(Emily Mortimer)
June 1, 2004... In September 2003, Emily Mortimer, indiscernibly six months pregnant, posed in a silver Dolce & Gabbana micromini, toeless silver Gucci heels, and a shoulder-revealing black Gucci jacket on the cover of the British Telegraph Magazine. She was...

All the dish: the slow-roast approach to cooking up a red-hot restaurant.(The Critics Go At It--Food Column)
June 1, 2004... The hype surrounding a handful of new food establishments in New York City each year might make one think that the open-with-a-big-splash model is an aspiring restaurateur's only hope for success in the world's most competitive restaurant city....

Letter from the editor June 2004.(View)(Editorial)
June 1, 2004... "I have a dog in the fight," declares Al Franken in his interview with Nora Ephron (page 96), and boy, has he been putting his money where his mouth is. A few months ago he launched a radio show, The O'Franken Factor, on Air America, throwing...

Joy Bryant: where does a girl from the Bronx go after making her mark on the Ivy League, the fashion world, and now the movies? Anywhere she wants.(Interview)
June 1, 2004... With high-octane oomph and a face seemingly chiseled from stone, Joy Bryant has transformed her early dreams into opportunities that others can only imagine. Born in the Bronx to a teenage mother and raised by her grandmother, the actress has...

Christopher Walken: where can a song-and-dance man from queens with a reputation for portraying off-kilter spooks, deranged psychos, and tragic lugs wind up playing a model citizen? only in this month's remake of the cult classic film the Stepford wives.(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Only sharks have Christopher Walken's instinct for forward motion: Weaving elegantly through one film after another, this actor's actor has taken unforgettable turns in movies like Annie Hall (1977), At Close Range (1986), Biloxi Blues (1988),...

The white album.
June 1, 2004... THE CLOTHES THAT WERE SENT DOWN THE READY-TO-WEAR RUNWAYS IN NEW YORK, PARIS, AND MILAN FOR THIS SEASON MADE US WANT TO THROW CONFETTI AND POP CHAMPAGNE CORKS. IT'S AS IF FASHION IS CASTING ITS VOTE. THIS JUNE EVERYONE'S A BRIDE IF SHE WANTS TO...

Lenny Kravitz: he was retro before retro was cool. But with a new album, it's looking into the future that's got Lenny Kravitz thinking. Legendary artist and photographer Gordon Parks, one of American history's most intrepid chroniclers, gets the measure of the man.(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Lenny Kravitz's new album, Baptism (Virgin), should go far toward complicating any notions that he's an easy guy to peg. While the record's title may suggest a birth of sorts, the album itself is more about endings--Kravitz's bittersweet...

Lindsay Lohan: forget those Hilary and Colin rumors--one of the movies' biggest rising stars goes on the record.(Interview)
June 1, 2004... After earning praise in last summer's surprise hit Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan breaks out her knives, and her acting chops, in the new film Mean Girls. In the Tina Fey-scripted comedy, based on Rosalind Wiseman's best-seller Queen Bees and...

Rodrigo Santoro: at home he's it. Now can he translate his magic to the rest of the world?(Interview Close-Up)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A film and television star in his native Brazil for the past decade, Rodrigo Santoro tried English on for size last year in the worldwide blockbusters Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Love Actually and found the language a perfect fit. ...

Al Franken wants you: actions may speak louder than words, but comedian, author, and newly minted talk-radio host Al Franken is starting a not-so-quiet riot, taking on the Bush administration, conservative pundits, and the American right wing. He testifies before writer and director Nora Ephron.(Interview)
June 1, 2004... NORA EPHRON: Just for the record, it's Sunday afternoon, April 18, 2004. It's the week of President Bush's press conference. It's the week that the 9/11 commission interviewed the FBI and the CIA. And it's your third week on the air with Air...

On the town.
June 1, 2004... Al Franken at the Public Theater in NYC for opening night of the Tim Robbins play Embedded, hosted by the ACLU and Interview. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Harry Belafonte at the Embedded opening. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Patricia...