* Mark, a new, experimental documentary by the controversial writer, filmmaker and critic Mike Hoolboom, explores the life of his longtime collaborator and friend Mark Karbusicky. Described by Hoolboom as, “a transsexual force of nature”, Karbusicky was an Animal rights activist, militant vegan and punk maestro who was instrumental in editing and supporting the director’s [...]

* Touted as America’s leading avant-garde filmmaker by none other than The New York Times’ film critic Manohla Dargis, Nathaniel Dorsky will personally introduce screenings of several of his films at Bio Ponrepo Oct. 11 and 15 at 8 p.m. The director is part of the FAMU visiting filmmaker series curated by filmmaker Henry Hills. [...]

* Actor Danny Trejo ferociously hacks and stabs his way through director Robert Rodriguez’ latest Grindhouse epic, Machete. His lined face and massive musculature conveys all the menacing violence anyone could ask for and are known to anyone familiar with Rodriguez’ considerable filmography. Less widely known is the fact the actor is the recipient of [...]

* The organizers of the 8th annual Prague Indian Film Festival are featuring a frank look at poverty and privation along with the usual allotment of Bollywood spectacle. Selections include Dark Times (2006), an examination of the growing trend of rural farmers driven out of the market and into suicide by multinational corporations, The Slumdog [...]

* For more than 80 years opera lovers worldwide have been able to get a regular taste of The Metropolitan Opera via a Saturday matinee radio broadcast. These days, one can visit local movie theaters in more than 40 countries around the world and enjoy a live broadcast in HD. The Met’s Peabody and Emmy [...]

* Hot off his success in Oliver Stone’s estimable sequel to Wall Street, Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas has completed the first in a series of chemotherapy treatments for Stage 4 throat cancer. After seeking medical attention for a persistent sore throat earlier this summer, the 65 year-old Douglas was given the news, adding injury, [...]

* My discussion with writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) continues. Check out the first installment to get up to speed. PP: You mentioned being inspired by Prague: how so? RJ: I went there on vacation with my dad several years before I wrote the script, and it seemed like the perfect place for [...]

* As part of a limited retrospective of French comedian and director Jacques Tati’s work, a print of 1974’s Parade will screen with English titles at the French Institute on Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. Originally shot for Swedish television, the film was screened at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Clocking in at just over 80 [...]

* Writer/director Rian Johnson burst onto the American independent film scene with 2005’s Brick, for which he won a special jury prize at Sundance. The neo-noir murder mystery is unlike anything else, a truly singular film featuring hardboiled detective story dialogue set in modern day suburban California. In response to a review of his excellent [...]

* After attaining international success with 1999’s The Sixth Sense, director, producer and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan (a self-appointed moniker that is as affected as his tedious films) enjoyed a temporary consensus which held that he was one of mainstream moviemaking’s most talented and promising auteurs. Even back then, I had my doubts, but the [...]