Since international travel is currently all but impossible the movies provide a way to visit other parts of the world—as they always have. And it was of tremendous importance to writer/director John Patrick Shanley (“Doubt,” “Moonstruck”) that Ireland, the land of his forefathers, be a main character in his new film “Wild Mountain Thyme,” adapted from his play “Outside Mullingar.” “Instead of ... more >
ARCHIVES

“I didn’t hire Christopher Walken for his accent; I hired him for his soul” (talking with playwright and writer/director John Patrick Shanley about his latest film “Wild Mountain Thyme”)
Shanley is best-known for the 2008 film "Doubt"

Doubt
Uneven but riveting all the same
Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams
Directed by John Patrick Shanley
Doubt, which recently sailed into movie theatres, seems to suffer from an existentialist crisis: who am I? It has faults, likely because the same person who authored the play also directed the film. Should someone else have directed Doubt for the cinema? Yes, without hesitation. Shanley is likely too married to the idea of Doubt as a play to effectively adapt it to the big screen. The movie's ... more >