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Leslie Hassler

Tribeca Film Festival Portrait Gallery 2013

Leslie Hassler | Posted 04.28.2013 | New York
Leslie Hassler

My absolute favorite moment of the festival was while shooting the hilarious Jason Schwartzman. He got up from the set and slowly looked around for a prop while saying, "I'll know it when I see it," and proceeded to go over to my paint supplies.

Brilliant Documentary Bitter Seeds Illuminates Plight of the Indian Farmer

Leslie Hassler | Posted 11.29.2012 | New York
Leslie Hassler

Bitter Seeds shows us how little we know about genetically modified seeds. But farmers have an advocate in quantum physicist and activist Vandana Shiva, India's leading opponent of genetic modification and the patenting of seeds.

Mishka Shubaly Is Not 'Bachelor Number One'

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 10.03.2012 | Books
Cynthia Ellis

Mishka Shubaly's writing grabs you by your neck, his thumb fingering the delicate pulse by your throat. He's going to tell you about himself, and the reason you can't stop reading? It's because he also seems to know a thing or two about your inner life.

Fonda's Summer Hit Opens: Peace, Love & Misunderstanding

Linda Hassler | Posted 08.07.2012 | Entertainment
Linda Hassler

If you're ready for a raucous ride on the innocent side of wild, see Academy Award winner Jane Fonda strut like the many fancy chickens she keeps in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, opening in limited release this Friday.

Interview: Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus Picture Paris

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 06.27.2012 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

Talking to Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus about their delightful new short film, Picture Paris, the conversation ranged from the intricacies of Parisian culture to the hilarious masturbation episode of Seinfeld.

Interview: Willem Dafoe Is The Hunter

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 06.04.2012 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

It was one of the most wonderful and unique starts to an interview ever: Within a minute, Willem was speaking in the incomprehensible babble of the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil. And then in Italian. Two of the world's finest languages!

Revenge of the Electric Car: Plug It In on DVD

Linda Hassler | Posted 03.26.2012 | Entertainment
Linda Hassler

After making his successful 2006 film, Who Killed The Electric Car, director Chris Paine was elated to learn the auto industry was finally committing to electric cars (EVs).

In HBO's Marathon Boy, An Indian Slum Boy Runs For His Life

Linda Hassler | Posted 01.04.2012 | Entertainment
Linda Hassler

Marathon Boy chronicles the treacherous true saga of a frail, dirt-poor four-year-old boy in India and his ambitious mentor-trainer who loves him and makes him famous for running long distance races.

Christina Hendricks Discusses the Three Best Things in Life: Jon Hamm, Ryan Gosling, and Pie

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 11.16.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

Christina Hendricks has the old-world, but never old, sex appeal of our Marilyn, and is perhaps our first red-headed pin-up since Rita Hayworth. And she has major acting chops.

Senna: Director Asif Kapadia Explores The Man Vs. The Myth

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 10.18.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

You will laugh, you will cry, it is better than CATS. But most importantly, you will be moved. Senna is one of the most successful documentaries to come out of England to the States, ever.

HBO Foodie Film A Matter of Taste Gets Three Wows

Linda Hassler | Posted 08.13.2011 | New York
Linda Hassler

After apprenticeships beginning at age 15 in London and Paris, chef Paul Liebrandt hit New York at 22 with dreams of culinary stardom. The film follows his up and down career in NYC's treacherous restaurant business.

Vera Farmiga Finds Higher Ground With Her New Film

Linda Hassler | Posted 08.01.2011 | Entertainment
Linda Hassler

"Christianity per se is not the film's subject, just the setting. Doubts and questions come to people within any faith or culture. And it's the questions that are essential no matter which religion or culture we come from."

Q&A With Jack Osbourne for God Bless Ozzy Osbourne

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 07.26.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

It was Jack Osbourne's idea to make a movie about his rock-legend father's life and career, but it was his father, Ozzy Osbourne who said, "You can't be nice."

French Film Romantics Anonymous Woos Us With Chocolates and Laughter

Linda Hassler | Posted 07.22.2011 | New York
Linda Hassler

Romantics Anonymous is a clever romantic comedy about two interested but reluctant, stymied sweethearts who can't manage hinting, flirting or even a date outside their work at a chocolate factory.

Trifecta Interview: Michael Cuesta Directs Ron Eldard and Jill Hennessy in The Roadie: Queens, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 07.16.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

The adage, "You can't go home again," isn't completely true. You can go home again, but it's going to involve serious heartbreak, a coke binge, multiple altercations, confronting uncomfortable truths and your own mother slapping your just-punched face.

Tribeca 2011: Kids Get High on Acting in Shakespeare High

Linda Hassler | Posted 07.11.2011 | New York
Linda Hassler

Every year, 75-85 high schools in and around LA County participate in this program. Students learn to act out scenes from Shakespeare's famous plays. And come together for one day to perform for each other.

Tribeca Interview: Abigail Breslin and Alessandro Nivola in Janie Jones: Rock God Meets Rock Child

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 07.06.2011 | New York
Cynthia Ellis

For those who best remember Abigail Breslin with her tear-away pants, gyrating to "Brick House" while her grandfather cheers her on from the sidelines, well, a lot has happened since then.

Tribeca Film Exclusive Interview: Alex Gibney's Catching Hell -- Sports: The Dark Side

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 07.05.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

Can catching a ball for your favorite baseball team, in front of millions of fans, literally ruin your life? This very scenario is the subject of Alex Gibney's brilliant new documentary, Catching Hell.

William H. Macy Goes for Broke (and Drunk) in Showtime's Shameless

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

William H. Macy has a voice that could sell needles to a porcupine. He can say the word "Golly" and have it be rife with unspoken meaning and depth.

Emmy Rossum Revels in Being Shameless

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

Emmy Rossum is beautiful and sexy enough to rest on her laurels, but her talent and drive are having none of that.

Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna Stage Their Own Revolución

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Cynthia Ellis

To hear Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna talk about their lifelong friendship is unusual and exquisitely beautiful. They are tender and honest about their love for each other.

Lands: A Poetic Film About a Mysterious Place

Linda Hassler | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Linda Hassler

Lands is a weird, wild and wonderful film that took me by surprise. Brazilian director Maya Da-Rin gave me a trip to a strange and interesting land.

Stolen Dreams: An Intimate Look Inside Rio's Slums

Linda Hassler | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Linda Hassler

New York has just played host to a unique film -- part social commentary, part an alert, part tragedy, part hopeful -- about three teenage girls in an economic and moral morass that leads to prostitution.

Mamachas Del Ring: A Wrestler's Toughest Fight Doesn't Happen in the Ring

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Cynthia Ellis

When director Betty M Park tells people that she has made a documentary about indigenous women wrestling in Bolivia, this is the usual response: "mud wrestling?"

Tribeca Film Festival: Juror Hope Davis' Special Relationship

Cynthia Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Cynthia Ellis

Hope Davis is instantly recognizable to New Yorkers. As soon as we are in the elevator heading downstairs to the coffee shop, we are besieged by an immaculately dressed couple.