Interview: Directors Sam & David Cutler-Kruetz Talk Their Oscar-Nominated Short Film "A Lien"

By Ben Miller

Directors Sam and David Cutler-Kruetz are newly minted Oscar-nominees with their short film A Lien. Recently, I spoke with the pair about their film, the timeliness of the narrative, the collaborative effort between the brothers, and how all this attention just makes them exited to make more films.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Ben Miller:  For starters, congratulations! You can now you can now put the title [Academy Award Nominee] on every business card you have from now on. Obviously, you guys shot this film pre-election and now immigration is such at the very forefront of the news cycle. And specifically all over the place these last couple days. These things happening right now are not a positive, but do you view the timeliness of this story, kind of the reason you guys are kind of in the conversation?...

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Paul Newman @ 100: "Sometimes a Great Notion"

By Ben Miller

Whatever your feelings of Paul Newman as an actor, movie star, matinee idol or philanthropist, his directorial achievements are never high up on the list. Who's to say why he only directed five feature films in his distinguished career? In the case of Sometimes a Great Notion, it was out of necessity.

While signing on as star and producer of the adaptation of the Ken Kesey novel, original director Richard A. Colla left due to the classic "artistic differences" clash. Whether it was Newman or someone higher up, Newman attempted to recruit longtime collaborator George Roy Hill, who declined. With no other options, Newman took on the job himself...

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Interview: "Clodagh" Director Portia A. Buckley

By Ben Miller

Director Portia A. Buckley is in the middle of a whirlwind experience. Not only has her short film Clodagh been listed on the BAFTA longlist for Best Short Film, it was also announced as a finalist for the Best Live Action Short Oscar. I recently spoke to her about the chaos of awards season, her relationship with cinematographer Jomo Fray, prepping her for bad interview questions, and keeping her film lighter in tone...

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Review: Nature (and the Audience) is Out of Balance in “Evil Does Not Exist”

By Ben Miller

Following the release of Darren Aronofsky’s divisive 2017 film mother!, most of the viewers who saw it didn’t know what was going on. It was only until it was explained that it made any sort of sense, and then it almost made too much sense. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist lives on that same plane, with significantly more subtlety.

Not that this is the time or place to spoil the film by breaking it down scene by scene, but those places exist and can be found relatively easily. That doesn’t exactly bode well for the film. It’s one thing for a filmmaker to make you think, it’s another to send you on a search for answers you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. On the flipside, the answers make so much sense, it enhances the film long after the credits have rolled...

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Interview: "The Taste of Things" Director Tran Ahn Hung

By Ben Miller

Image courtesy of IFC FilmsI was fortunate enough to sit down with Award-wining Vietnamese director Tran Ahn Hung to talk about his wonderful new film The Taste of Things. We spoke about his film's themes, making a film without conflict, and shooting cooking scenes like action sequences.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.  THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS SOME FILM SPOILERS

BEN MILLER: I loved your film.  Thank you so much for having it.  I was curious, more than anything else, how the story came about as far as how it relates to the food...

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