Bugs Bunny in Glen or Glenda

by Nick Dawson | On August 31 @ 03:22 PM

While the film industry has been all abuzz with chatter about the big cartoon studio that bought the comic book company, my day was brightened by something else animation-related. The video below, which has been doing the rounds over the last day or two,...

DUH! Pirate Radio's Tom Sturridge in Teen Vogue

by Peter Bowen | On August 31 @ 11:32 AM

In “Young Hollywood 2009: Leaders of the Pack,” Teen Vogue features today’s new hotties and hottresses. And head of the class is Brit newcomer Tom Sturridge, who’ll be appearing in Focus’ upcoming Pirate Radio. Of the film...

James Schamus in The Onion

by Peter Bowen | On August 31 @ 07:50 AM

Writing in the A.V. Club section of The Onion (that the part that isn’t necessarily parody), Sam Adams talks to James Schamus about his relationship with Ang Lee, writing Taking Woodstock, and more. As Adams points out in his intro: “If you...

Ang Lee from the Filmmaker Archives

by Nick Dawson | On August 28 @ 01:54 PM

To mark the release today of Ang Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock, we have delved into the archives of Filmmaker magazine to run two interviews with Ang from years past.         First up, we have Peter Bowen's 2005 interview...

Brian Brooks Redefines the Meaning of Woodstock Generation

by Scott Macaulay | On August 27 @ 05:09 PM

After viewing Taking Woodstock at Cannes, Indiewire's Brian Brooks realized that he belongs to "the Woodstock Generation." Never mind that he was born less than a year before the event and that during his childhood he styled himself like Alex Keaton, the...

Demetri Martin on becoming Elliot Tiber

by Nick Dawson | On August 27 @ 11:03 AM

Demetri Martin, the star of Taking Woodstock - which goes on release through Focus Features tomorrow - has been on the interview trail. Martin, who plays Elliot Tiber in the movie, recently sat down with Todd Gilchrist from Cinematical and spoke to him,...

Planning a "trip" to Woodstock

by Peter Bowen | On August 27 @ 05:59 AM

Acid trips are almost a cliché in representations of the sixties: the spinning camera, the reverse zoom, the kooky colors. But as Eric Philpott points out in his piece “Acid Trips and History on the Big Screen in Taking Woodstock” ...

Ben Stiller Tells Mickey Rooney About Twitter

by Nick Dawson | On August 26 @ 02:54 PM

I mean, honestly, that's about it. Ben Stiller tells Mickey Rooney about Twitter. Yup, just about covers it. Simple, straightforward, awesome.       I'm now picturing a scene from the future in some other, better...

The Eagle of the Ninth Begins Shooting

by Nick Dawson | On August 25 @ 04:55 PM

Focus Features announced that their highly anticipated film The Eagle of the Ninth has started shooting today. The movie, directed by Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald and starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Mark Strong and Donald Sutherland, is an...

Homies Unidos leader arrested

by Nick Dawson | On August 25 @ 08:15 AM

Earlier this year, we wrote about Alex Sanchez, the inspirational figure who heads up Homies Unidos, an organization which works to reduce gang violence internationally. In the article Homies Unidos... Will Never be Defeated, Peter Bowen...

Huff Po Podcast with Ang Lee

by Peter Bowen | On August 25 @ 06:21 AM

Dan Persons on Huffington Post offers a podcast of his recent interview with Ang Lee. It’s a good listen about how Woodstock is both concert and catalyst. As he Parson points out: Director Lee latches onto the almost universally familiar...

France Says "Oui!" to 9

by Nick Dawson | On August 24 @ 01:54 PM

Shane Acker's animated movie 9 is being released in numerous countries worldwide on the all too easy to remember date of September 9 - i.e. 09/09/09 - but it has already had an early bow in France, where it has been very warmly received. (Insert joke...

NY TIMES: Taking Woodstock made with Woodstock Groove

by Peter Bowen | On August 23 @ 07:55 AM

As Karen Schoemer points out in her New York Times piece fo the Sunday Arts and Leisure section, “Turn ON, Tune In, Turn Back the Clock,” in the case of Ang Lee’s new film, life imitated art (imitated life). The story of how a new...

Tom DeLay at Woodstock?

by Peter Bowen | On August 22 @ 06:28 AM

Michael Winship has penned a fascinating piece, “Tom DeLay and the Woodstock Nation,” which highlights the values of Woodstock by considering how someone like Tom DeLay, now seen “Dancing with the Stars,” might have fared during...

Ang Lee on Stephen Colbert --Whew!

by Peter Bowen | On August 21 @ 06:41 AM

In case you missed in Ang Lee appeared on The Cobert Report on Wednesday night to talk about his new film Taking Woodstock.In typicla hilarious fashion, Ang stayed true to the film's groovy message and Colbert asked, "Would it have helped Woodstock to...

DreadCentral and new 9 Drawings

by Peter Bowen | On August 20 @ 08:27 AM

Dread Central is reprinting some very cool drawings that show the origin of the characters in 9. They show the evolution of 8, who they remind us is: “Armed with a giant kitchen cleaver and half a scissor blade, the none-too-bright muscle and...

The Top 10 Worst Trailers

by Nick Dawson | On August 19 @ 01:43 PM

Folks have dubbed the trailer for the Coen brothers' upcoming A Serious Man one of the best of recent times, but on the Huffington Post site right now they're focusing on the other end of the quality scale. They offer up the clunkers and stinkers in The...

Ebert on "Death Panels"

by Peter Bowen | On August 19 @ 07:19 AM

As the health care war rages in American town halls, film makers and critics are raising their voices to join the fracas. Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney recently produced an adaptation of Maggie Mahar illuminating book Money-Driven Medicine....

What is it about the 60s?

by Peter Bowen | On August 18 @ 09:28 AM

In Esquire, S.T. VanAirsdale asks the question that everyone has been thinking-- “What's So Great About the Sixties Anyway?” The answer, as he pushes further and further into the subject, touching on "Mad Men", President Obama, Woodstock and...

Tarantino's Top 20 (1992 - present)

by Nick Dawson | On August 18 @ 09:20 AM

Yesterday, a video popped up on the internets of Quentin Tarantino talking about his favorite 20 movies made between 1992 and the present. If that seems a bit random, it's the period of time that Tarantino has been a director. Tarantino has always been...