Benjamin Crossley-Marra

You wouldn’t think films such as American History X and Lake of Fire would come from a man so soft-spoken, with a slew of nervous mannerisms. Also hard to believe, was that this was the man who so eagerly fought to have his named changed to Humpty Dumpty on the American History X credits, after Ed Norton went in and re-cut the film for more screen time.

Wes Anderson’s films strike a polarizing cord among the critical community. On the one hand, the meticulously crafted, intricate framing and deadpan delivery have garnered him “auteur” status among today’s working directors. On the other, his films almost always revolve around insular, upper-middle class white men suffering from arrested development.

Jason Schwartzman is an interesting cat. Hobbling into the press conference suite with a cane and a giant grin on his face, he comments on how unique the hotel room i

Greetings from New York! This is Benjamin and I’ll be your ioncinema.com guide for the 45th Annual New York Film Festival, which kick starts today for a little more than two weeks into the crisp month of October. Produced by The Film Society of Lincoln Center, the festival has a very “New York” feel to it this year as ten of the film’s screening here are from New York based directors. Also, 2007 has been a great year for international festivals such as Cannes, Venice and Toronto and that’s been reflected in this year’s showcase.

Prolific Hong Kong director Johnnie To recently secured two US theatrical distribution deals after a working fro almost twenty years within the industry. Getting his start at the famous Shaw Brothers studios he would continue work as a producer and director until forming his own production company, MilkyWay Image, with collaborator Wai Ka-Fa.