By Iain Blair
Well the gig went great and caught up with tons of old friends I hadn’t seen in years – one, Tim Harris, wrote such huge hits as Twins, Kindergarten Cop and Trading Places, as well as producing that great thriller, Falling Down that starred Michael Douglas, and now lives in London.
Another, Bob Tait, […]

By Iain Blair
London Calling! Over here playing a reunion show with Fred Karno’s Army, the first rock n’ roll band I ever had. We’re doing a gig at The Hogarth Club in West London on 13th and filming the whole show for posterity – it’ll be on the web at some point, so stay tuned.
Staying […]

 By Dyana Carmella
The Art of Cinematography was the night’s focal point at the 12th Annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards that took place at the Directors Guild of America this past Sunday.
Steven Poster, The National President of the International Cinematographers Guild, kicked off the evening by welcoming guests and introducing the new chairman, Jim Matlosz. Without hesitation […]

 By Iain Blair
London will soon celebrate its 52nd Film Festival – this year it runs from Oct 15-20 – and I wish I could stay to catch some of this year’s great movies. The festival’s sponsored by The Times, and there’s a great quote from the late Anthony Minghella – a former Chair at the […]

 By Iain Blair
I’m a huge fan of Don Cheadle, one of the most versatile actors out there, and he’s so good in his new thriller, Traitor. Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor in Hotel Rwanda, the true story of a hotel manager who saves hundreds from slaughter during Rwanda’s genocidal massacres […]

By Iain Blair 
You really know summer’s over when everyone in Hollywood migrates north for the great feeding grounds of the Toronto Film Festival, which is now one of the most important in the world. It’s a zoo, but one where all the exhibits are new every year. Sadly I’ll miss it this year as I’m […]

By Iain Blair
Was chatting with Alan Ball, the Academy Award and Emmy Award winning writer and director, about his great new film Towelhead, which is certain to generate controversy. It’s his feature film directorial debut, based on his screenplay adaptation of the novel “Towelhead” by Alicia Erian.  The film stars Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette, Maria […]

Bumped into my Topanga neighbor, Jon Avnet on the trail early today – we’re both avid hikers. The veteran producer and director has a big new film out soon, Righteous Kill, which he directed, starring two actors who’ve become legends – Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
 
The last time the two starred together was in […]

By Iain Blair 
Went to meet Chinese-American director Wayne Wang who has two new films coming out - A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, winner of four prizes at the San Sebastian Film Festival, including a Golden Shell for Best Film for Wang and a Silver Shell for Best Actor for star Henry O, and Princess of […]

By Iain Blair 
I loved No End In Sight, but when Charles Ferguson decided to make it as his first film, the author and academic didn’t make it easy on himself. Instead of learning his craft and honing his skills with, say, an expose of corrupt florists, he jumped in the deep end by taking on […]