Interview

CHICAGO – La Toya Jackson has been making news for two weeks now, as she tours with her new book, “Starting Over.” In it, she relates that her brother Michael Jackson feared for his life, and his premature demise might have had implications beyond the cause-of-death revelations.

CHICAGO – When Robert Redford was on the lookout for equine consultants to assist him with his 1998 drama, “The Horse Whisperer,” he got a lot more than he bargained for when he hired Buck Brannaman. The real-life “whisperer” was one of the chief inspirations for the character of Tom Booker in the Nicholas Evans novel that provided the source material for Redford’s picture. Yet Brannaman’s inspiring work doesn’t merely apply to horses.

CHICAGO – Noah Wyle stars in the upcoming TNT series “Falling Skies,” a family drama dressed up like an alien-invasion series and premiering Sunday, June 19th, 2011.

CHICAGO – Writer/director Richard Ayoade is one of the most unassuming, soft-spoken subjects with which I have ever spoken. He is modest beyond measure and seems completely unaware that he has made a film, the coming-of-age comedy “Submarine,” that has already started the kind of buzz that turns an indie film into a cult hit. People will love this movie. And Ayoade may not be quiet for much longer.

CHICAGO – Throughout his extensive work as a film columnist, author and journalist, Robert K. Elder has been drawn to exploring both the universality and striking diversity of the human experience. In his books, Elder is intent on capturing specific moments within the lives of his subjects, while discovering their universal truths through their juxtaposition.

CHICAGO – What would be the circumstance if after a mother dies, the father suddenly comes out as a gay? Writer/director Mike Mills had that situation occur, and created the new film “Beginners,” featuring Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor.

CHICAGO – The stars of the new TNT legal comedy “Franklin and Bash,” Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer, have been playing the PR game long enough that they’re completely comfortable sitting in front of a reporter and just being themselves. When I walked in on them at the Four Seasons in Chicago, they were both on their smart phones laughing and tweeting. It seemed a natural place to start.

CHICAGO – The scariest aspects of a Simon Rumley picture aren’t in the form of ominous monsters or buckets of blood. They are instead hidden within the corners of a tormented human psyche. It’s the impulse for destruction that haunts every one of his characters in “Red White & Blue,” a deeply unsettling drama that transforms into a galvanizing horror film during its final act.

CHICAGO – “Blue Valentine” director Derek Cianfrance is happily married now with two young children, but the road getting there was turbulent and sometimes still is. While that’s real life, romance films often end with the lucky guy getting the pretty girl and them living happily ever.

CHICAGO – What if you had a deep desire and passion to make a movie? Would you know what to do, how to go about it? Carmen Marron was in that spot seven years ago, with no connections, no clue on how to do it, only that necessary passion and desire. This Friday, her hip-hop dance film, “Go for It!” opens in 250 theaters nationwide.