Gustavo Steinberg Gustavo Steinberg Setting Free Tito and the Birds By Jay S. Jacobs Brazilian director Gustavo Steinberg has finally broken through to the American market, and it is with his first animated film. However, even though it has been made for children, Tito and the Birds is a trenchant and surprisingly nuanced film about the modern political landscape. Essentially, it is a movie about fear. About dealing with fear. About how certain people will use politics and me

The Fencer THE FENCER (2015) Starring Mart Avandi, Ursula Ratasepp, Hendrik Toompere Sr., Joonas Koff, Liisa Koppel, Egert Kadastu, Elbe Reiter, Ann-Lisett Rebane, Piret Kalda, Lembit Ulfsak, Kirill Karo, Jaak Prints, Kaarle Aho, Piret Kalda and Mikhail Paschuck. Screenplay by Anna Heinamaa. Directed by Klaus Haro. Distributed by CFI Releasing. 99 minutes. Not Rated. The inspirational teacher is a staple of film dramas, going back to classics like Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Black

Creed CREED (2015) Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Andre Ward, Anthony Bellew, Ritchie Coster, Jacob “Stitch” Duran, Graham McTavish, Malik Bazille, Ricardo “Padman” McGill, Gabriel Rosado, Wood Harris, Buddy Osborn, Rupal Pujara, Brian Anthony Wilson, Alex Henderson, Jim Lampley, Michael Buffer, Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser and the voice of Liev Schreiber. Screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington. Directed by Ryan Coo

Listen to Me, Marlon LISTEN TO ME, MARLON (2015) Featuring footage of Marlon Brando, Christian Brando, Cheyenne Brando, Anna Kashfi, Tarita Teriipia, Vivienne Leigh, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Lee J. Cobb, Bernardo Bertolucci, Maria Schneider, David Niven, Susanna York, Stella Adler and Bob Crane. Written by Stevan Riley. Directed by Stevan Riley. Distributed by Passion Pictures.  102 minutes.  Not Rated. Marl

Reese Witherspoon at the “Wild” promotion at Apple Store, SoHo, New York. Photo copyright 2014 Brad Balfour. Reese Witherspoon Finds New Life In Making Wild by Brad Balfour Along with Wild‘s author Cheryl Strayed, co-star Laura Dern, and producing partner Bruna Papandrea, Reese Witherspoon made appearances throughout New York when the film version of Wild was first released in December. The 38-year-old actress came to Fox Searchlight’s Christmas reception for media and friend

Keira Knightley discussing “Begin Again” in New York. Photo copyright 2014 Brad Balfour. Keira Knightley The Actress (and Now Singer) Has a Grand Slam Year by Brad Balfour The great thing about having a bunch of good-to-great films out in one year is that you land in front of audiences so often that they think of you during award season. Certainly, that’s been the case with the beautiful and blunt British actress Kiera Knightley, who has been in blockbusters from Star Wars to

Julianne Moore, Kate Bosworth and Kristen Stewart at the New York press conference for “Still Alice.” Photo copyright 2015 Jay S. Jacobs/PopEntertainment.com Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Genova & Wash Westmoreland Stare Down a Debilitating Disease with Still Alice by Jay S. Jacobs It is pretty much agreed that Julianne Moore is one of a handful of the finest actresses working in film. Therefore it is even more shocking that she has never won an Oscar f

Marketa Irglova in concert at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Photo copyright 2014 Jim Rinaldi. Markéta Irglová Can Have Whatever She Dreams Of by Jay S. Jacobs Music has led Markéta Irglová down many roads.  She was born under the communist regime in the old Czechoslovakia.  Though not a musician himself, her father was very involved in the local arts scene and helped to set up performances by many international artists. It was through one of these performances that Irglová

Matthew McConaughey discussing “Dallas Buyers Club.” Photo copyright 2014 Brad Balfour. Matthew McConaughey Discusses Resurrecting His Career with Dallas Buyer’s Club and True Detective by Brad Balfour What a year this has been for actor Matthew McConaughey. After a serious dry spell he’s enjoying a rebirth, finally getting his mojo back as noted in his award winning Dallas Buyer’s Club performance. This 44 year-old has stripped down to his core and rebuilt his career playing

Hany Abu-Assad at the New York Press Day for “Omar.” Hany Abu-Assad On His Oscar nominated Controversial Feature Omar by Brad Balfour Palestinian director Hany Abu–Assad’s controversial Oscar–nominated feature Omar merges genres and uses flawed characters to dynamically illustrate the complex political realities between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Born October 11th, 1961, in Nazareth, Israel, Abu–Assad was first nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Lupita Nyong’o and Alfre Woodard Looking Back on 12 Years a Slave by Jay S. Jacobs Director Steve McQueen's film version of former slave Solomon Northrop's autobiography 12 Years a Slave takes an eye-opening look at one of the great shames of American history, the prevalence of the violent slave trade in the 1700s and 1800s. Northrop was a free man who was claimed as a slave and had to spend over a decade in forced servitud

COMMUNITY — “Repilot” Episode 501 — Pictured: (l-r) Joel McHale as Jeff, Jim Rash as Dean Pelton — (Photo by: Justin Lubin/NBC) Joel McHale and Jim Rash Rebooting Community by Jay S. Jacobs When we last left Greendale Community College, anarchy reigned.  After a marginally successful flirtation with some new show runners following series creator Dan Harmon's being shown the door at the end of season three, Jeff Winger and his study group had graduated, the college was a wreck

Sandra Bullock, Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman & Jonás Cuarón – Defying and Defining Gravity by Jay S. Jacobs Even before she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Blind Side in 2010, Sandra Bullock was happy to take chances when taking on a role. However, never in her long and varied career has she gotten a role that is such a challenge as she has found in Gravity. In the film, Bullock plays Ryan Stone, a scientist and a mother who is tapped to work on a space exploration. When a

Michael Haneke at the New York Film Festival screening of “Amour.” Michael Haneke Makes A Loving Statement in Amour by Brad Balfour A cultivated couple in their 80s, retired music teachers Georges and Anne have a nice apartment in a fine Parisian neighborhood. One night, after seeing a former student perform, Anne blanks out at home, presaging the condition to come. Afterwards, surgery to correct her blocked artery causes a stroke, which paralyzes one side. Suddenly her husba

Marjane Satrapi at the New York press day for “Chicken with Plums.” Marjane Satrapi Cooks Up A Tasty Chicken With Plums by Brad Balfour Iranian-born director and artist Marjane Satrapi lives in Paris, France, and has never lived in post-revolutionary Persia throughout her adult life. Yet her home country has shaped and influenced her creative work whether it be her written and drawn graphic novels or her feature films. In 2000, an independent book of bande dessinée (as comics

Director Chris Weitz making “A Better Life” with stars José Julián and Demián Bichir. Chris Weitz Helping Others to Find A Better Life by Jay S. Jacobs It is not often that people almost completely change course in Hollywood.  However, after making two straight huge blockbuster films, Chris Weitz has downshifted into the tiny independent drama A Better Life. However, smaller is not necessarily a bad thing.  Weitz started small when he and his brother Paul directed the first A

Annie Hall ANNIE HALL (1977) Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Donald Symington, Helen Ludlam, Mordecai Lawner, Joan Newman, Jonathan Munk, Ruth Volner, Martin Rosenblatt, Beverly D’Angelo, Shelley Hack, Jeff Goldblum, Lucy Lee Flippen, Gary Muledeer, Marshall McLuhan, Dick Cavett and Sigourney Weaver. Screenplay by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman. Directed by Woody

Vik Muniz and Lucy Walker Vik Muniz’s Garbage-Art Transforms a Waste Land Into a Nominee & Award Winner by Brad Balfour Brazilian conceptualist Vik Muniz has been making remarkable photo-constructs and garnering accolades within the fine art world for years including such places as New York’s Guggenheim Museum. But recently the artist has landed squarely in the public eye so that he is making an impact far beyond the sometime peculiar and opaque world of exhibition art. First

Lee Unkrich at the New York press day for “Toy Story 3.” Lee Unkrich A Dual Oscar Nominee, Toy Story 3‘s Director Muses on Childhood and the Future by Brad Balfour Now sitting before me is a big box – something like a Borg cube, but not one loaded up with malevolent androids wanting to absorb me into the collective. It is the box set of the three Toy Story films on DVD. These discs have time-traveled me back to a storied childhood that turns me into a burbling sentimentalist.

Carey Mulligan and Alfred Molina at the NY press day for “An Education.” Carey Mulligan An English Actress Gets An Education and Award Noms by Brad Balfour With An Education, the 24-year-old British actress Carey Mulligan has come out of nowhere to garner the kind of critical acclaim and award notice that few receive so quickly – she’s up for a Golden Globe tomorrow for example. But her performance as 16-year-old Jenny in Danish director Lone Scherfig’s version of Lynne Barbe