Layered in the tiny personal details of its quietly odd characters, Nicole Holofcener’s “Please Give” falls in the category of “slice of life.” It doesn’t inflict drama. Nor is it smitten with anti-drama in the manner of some indie films, that nagging feeling of falsely repressing emotion with a goal of being different. The film’s vibe just is, ambling along at its own little pace and its own ... more >
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Please Give
And Cathy Keener plays the kooky wife
Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt and Rebecca Hall
Directed by Nicole Holofcener
TFF’10 – Please Give
When social faux-pas become nasty
"Please Give," the new comedy written and directed by native New Yorker Nicole Holofcener ("Friends With Money") is about miserable urbanites of three generations, behaving miserably, being miserable to each other. Hellbent on proving her thesis that tactlessness is the most vibrant quality in just about everyone—the helpless elderly, adolescent daughters, guilty liberals—Holofcener creates six ... more >
Catherine Keener
2009's Actress to Watch
Which of her screen characters do you think Catherine Keener resemble most? Floatie Dupree (Box of Moonlight, DiCillo, 1995), a carefree, easygoing flirt or Maxine Lund (Being John Malkovich, Jonze, 1999), a sassy company woman who wears irony on her sleeve? I'd go with the latter although doing so would be to overlook her ability to play both character types—and everything else in between. With ... more >
Hamlet 2
Rock me sexy Hamlet?
Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener and Joseph Julian
Directed by Andrew Fleming
As William Shakespeare said, “The play’s the thing,” right? So that’s where we’ll start, rating a Tucson high school’s performance of the musical sequel to the Bard’s masterpiece – Hamlet 2, anchored by the show-stopping and possibly damnation-inducing number “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus.” (That title reminds me of an old dilemma – if I download “Jesus Christ Superstar,” am I at risk of spending an ... more >