There's a trend in actor-turned-director helmed films at Cannes this year, an impeccable direction of the people on screen. One of the clearest examples of this is James Franco's new feature film, As I Lay Dying.

Given this environment, and the reverence inspired by the life and legacy of Roger Ebert, shouldn't we take to heart -- and put it into practice -- what he stood for?

Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines is a sure-handed effort from a director who proved himself capable of dramatizing difficult human emotions in Blue Valentine.

It was the spring of 1975 and Robert Altman arrived in London with a print of Nashville. The audience was filled with the major players of the British film community.

It was late and chilly on Wardour Street, a good three miles to the flat I was renting in St. John's Wood, yet I desperately needed that walk to get a grasp on the emotions churned up by the film I had just screened.

It's very nice that Oscars made a special tribute to movie musicals. The only problem is that not a single one of the musicals honored (Chicago, Dreamgirls, Les Miz) was ever eligible for Oscar's own category of "Best Original Musical."

Ruby Sparks could be a tasty bit of magical realism in romantic-comedy form, the first produced screenplay by actress Zoe Kazan, who plays the title character. Except for one serious problem.

When you see the opening moments of Mighty Fine and catch your first glimpse of newcomer Rainey Qualley playing Andie MacDowell's daughter, your first thoughts will most likely be "Wow! That's great casting."

Duvall can look back with pride on a rich and colorful life, and his contributions to film should never be underestimated, as the following ten titles demonstrate.

As the film reveals with each Bronx boy-makes-good anecdote, Jerry Weintraub made it the old fashioned American way: persistence, chutzpah, a knack for making money, and luck.

I was understandably nervous and excited to meet this man. It was May 5th, 2004 in Stamford, Connecticut. As co-founder of a newly restored landmark...

Back in the day when writers were king, Elaine's was the place for book parties. That's how I first came there, to celebrate new publications by George Plimpton, Kurt Vonnegut.

What sets artists apart from stars and competent actors is originality and authenticity. Patricia Neal had these and other rare qualities in spades.

Nelson George is a cultural historian and filmmaker who candidly explores race, sex, parenting, gentrification, internet dating, and other hot-button issues in his voyeuristic web series, Left Unsaid.

My friend Jeffrey Wells recently ran a link to my review of Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, which I really liked, on his always interesting website,...

Actor Steve Buscemi believes in luck, up to a point. As he notes, it usually has nothing to do with what you do to get it but what you do with it. "I...

Why does the media who cover Warren Beatty's work assume the topic I care most about with regard to this highly accomplished figure is how many women he slept with? It's insulting, in a way, isn't it?

We're well into Oscar season and I've been despairing for Star Trek, a sensational reboot of the sci-fi franchise that offers the smart, broadly appealing entertainment that Hollywood does best.

Part Parisian travelogue, part Robert Altman film, Cedric Klapisch's Paris is engaging without really being memorable.

Well, it's that time again: Woodstock Fever has arrived (beads and headbands optional) to remind us there actually was music made before American Idol.