Fincher and Nolan praise Malick’s The Tree of Life Here is something extraordinary. This video shows two great, commercial filmmakers devoting time to praising the work of another master filmmaker who is not as commercial but who is doing some of the most creative, personal and exciting filmmaking being done anywhere. Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and David [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, parts of The Tree of Life were filmed in Houston. The actual list of locations is long and varied, but the heart of the story was shot in Smithville, halfway between La Grange and Bastrop. Smithville stands in for 1950s Waco. Louis Parks, a longtime Houston film journalist, wrote a story for the Chronicle about The [...]

In the recently released trailer for the upcoming Muppets Movie, Amy Adams and Joel Segel suffer the ups and downs of a relationship, then are flummoxed by the sudden appearance of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and other talking, plush, animated characters. “Wait, wait, stop!” says Segel, perplexed by the goings on. “Are there Muppets in this movie?” Something similar [...]