by Fred Topel

For some reason I expected Errol Morris to be a really serious documentarian trying to blow the lid off a scandal. Instead he was happy and smiling and laughing. He even made a joke that my two digital records (one for backup) were brother and sister. Morris has explored topics like police corruption in The Thin Blue Line and Abu Ghraib in SOP. His latest film, Tabloid tells a story we may not know, with a theme that still resonates today.

Joyce McKinney caused a scandal in the ‘70s when she allegedly kidnapped Kirk Anderson from the Mormon Church. At the time, the London tabloids either glorified her as a beautiful heroine or slammed her as a sexual predator. Today it takes far simpler scandals to make someone a tabloid star. For the film, Morris conducted an interview with McKinney and some of the other men who knew her, helped her or tried to stop her. The story unfolds in their own words, with a few on screen images for emphasis.

I spoke with Morris about today’s media, tabloid or otherwise.

Read our exclusive interview with Errol Morris on SuicideGirls.com.

by Jay Hathaway

John Linnell and John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants have been making music for 30 years, and they still haven’t run out of things to say. While other bands with that kind of longevity just go through the motions and secretly hate one another, the Johns somehow manage to get along and keep making good records.

Their 15th record, Join Us, has been three years in the making. During that time, They Might Be Giants have been putting out wildly successful kids’ albums, and Join Us marks their return to “adult” rock n’ roll.

We were lucky enough to spend some time on the phone with John Linnell, trying to figure out what this record is all about. It turns out that after 30 years, a band can just make music without having to explain themselves. Join Us is a They Might Be Giants record: you’ll either get it, or you won’t, and Linnell is totally okay with that.

Read our exclusive interview with John Linnell on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

On camera the Jackass cast and crew always come off like psychotic eight year olds, which they are. But it also takes some talent to take this very motley crew, have them do all these insane and disgusting things to themselves and each other, and still be able to formulate it all into a movie. That’’s where Jackass co-creator and director Jeff Tremaine steps in.

Before the Jackass phenomenon, Tremaine was best known as the editor for Big Brother Magazine. Tremaine was the one who put all these lunatics together into the major franchise that they are now.

Read our exclusive interview with Jeff Tremaine on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Laura Dern is the talented and beautiful muse of many of David Lynch’s best films. Dern has starred in Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and most recently, Inland Empire.

In Lynch’’s three hour, shot on video opus Dern plays multiple characters all orbiting her main character of an actor who lands her first really great part in a long time.

Dern has not only supported many independent filmmakers throughout her career, she produced Alexander Payne’’s first film Citizen Ruth, scored an Oscar nomination for Rambling Rose and even changed herself into a femme fatale for Novocaine.

I got a chance to talk with Dern about Inland Empire from an undisclosed place in Manhattan.

Read our exclusive interview with Laura Dern on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have long been one of the most respected directors in music videos and commercials. But it wasn’t until 2006 when Fox Searchlight released their independent film, Little Miss Sunshine, that their names were on everyone’s lips. Sporting a dream cast that includes Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Toni Collette, the movie is about Olive a young girl who, by default, gets accepted to a beauty pageant. When her parents realize they don’t have enough money to fly her to the pageant, they decide to drive her in their rickety VW bus along with their voluntarily mute son, her suicidal uncle and her grandfather who snorts heroin and is teaching Olive her dance routine. The film has grossed nearly $60 million domestically and is a favorite to get nominated for lots of prestigious awards. I got a chance to talk with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris about the film.

Read our exclusive interview with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris on SuicideGirls.com.

by Fred Topel

Patty Schemel, former drummer for the grunge rock band Hole, is the subject of a new documentary. Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel profiles her time with the Courtney Love fronted band, her decline into drug addiction, and her subsequent resurrection.

What makes Hit So Hard more personal than the usual biography of a troubled rocker is that it is founded upon home video of Hole shot behind the scenes on tour. The film began when Schemel wanted to transfer her old Hi-8 video (a high end format from the early ‘90s), and director David Ebersole decided to follow the story in more depth.

Schemel’s story didn’t end with her drug addiction and recovery. She also struggled with coming out to her family, and now she is happily married to her partner, Christina Soletti. After leaving Hole, Schemel spent some time homeless, living on the street. Through her firsthand accounts, and commentary from fellow rock goddesses like Gina Schock and Nina Gordon, Schemel and Ebersole paint a portrait of her struggles, and a side of Hole you never knew. Some of the Hi-8 videos even feature Curt Kobain shortly before his suicide.

The film has played the festival circuit this year. It premiered in Austin at South by Southwest, where I sat with Schemel before the film even screened in competition. On her own, Schemel was a mature, reflective conversationalist, the evidence of her former life, her rock & roll tattoos only being visible when she rolled up her sleeves.

New Directors/New Films reunited Schemel and Love in person, and the film continues to play the country in festivals like Seattle International Film Festival and this month’s Outfest in Los Angeles.

Read our exclusive interview with Patty Schemel on SuicideGirls.com.

By Nicole Powers

Despite being grounded by a seemingly paradoxical levity, which comes across in the form of wry humor throughout our interview, Peter Murphy, a leading light in the gothic underworld, has remained an enigma for over three decades.

He first came to prominence with the preeminent goth band Bauhaus – their seminal cut “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” being forever imprinted in the minds of those who appreciate the dark side thanks to its inclusion, and Murphy’s mood setting appearance, in Tony Scott’s 1983 cult horror classic The Hunger (which starred Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon).

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