“Writer’s Block” and “The Puppy Trials” Delight at Pens to Lens 2017
Most of us have a movie that we dream of making someday. It’s what we fantasize about in the midst of our daily routine, imagining what an audience’s response might […]
Tag Archives: Indie Outlook
Why the Choreography of Ryan Heffington Has Become My New Obsession
Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” is the most euphoric cinematic mix tape I’ve seen since Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill.” Its hero, Baby (Ansel Elgort), copes with his chronic tinnitus by blaring […]
James Fotopoulos on “The Given,” “There” and More
Four summers ago, I met filmmaker James Fotopoulos at a screening in Chicago. I was so taken with his thoughts regarding cinema that I agreed to visit the set of […]
My RogerEbert.com Interviews Vol. 3
Ever since I was hired by Chaz Ebert in early 2014, I have accompanied my anniversary retrospectives at Indie Outlook with an annual compilation of my writing for RogerEbert.com. This […]
Indie Outlook: Fifth Anniversary
There’s no question that this independent film blog has been one of the great joys of my life for over the past five years. It has enabled me to champion […]
Indie Flashback: David Lowery on “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
The following interview was originally published on August 27th, 2013 at HollywoodChicago.com. Even if “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” hadn’t premiered this year, snagging two Sundance awards in the process, 2013 […]
The Angels, They Forgot Her: The Tragedy of “The Blackcoat’s Daughter”
“Just because someone isn’t alive anymore doesn’t mean your exploration of the relationship you have with that person doesn’t continue,” observed filmmaker Osgood “Oz” Perkins during our interview this past […]
Brad Jones on “Jesus, Bro!”
The YouTube videos of Brad Jones couldn’t have come into my life at a more crucial time. It was 2014, the year where Harold Cronk’s deplorable yet hugely profitable propaganda […]
Bobbi Jene Smith on “Bobbi Jene”
It’s impossible to watch dancer Bobbi Jene Smith perform without feeling utterly electrified. She’s at her strongest when she’s at her most vulnerable, stripped of all the material garments and […]
Maria Dragus on “Graduation” and “The White Ribbon”
When Cristian Mungiu wrote the script for his Cannes prize-winner, “Graduation,” he had only one person in mind for the film. It was Maria Dragus, an actress he had first […]
