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Daniel Day-Lewis stands among the greatest living screen actors ever to grace the silver screen. His success is in no small part thanks to the other-worldly level of dedication he brings to his roles. In fact, Day-Lewis approaches method acting with a "method" all his own. That method can be more than a little off-putting for his co-workers. In “There Will Be Blood,” actor Kel O’Neill was halfway through the 60-day shoot when director Paul Thomas Anderson replaced him with Paul Dano, who played lead antagonist Eli Sunday. Why leave an obvious award-winning film filled with Oscar-winning actors and crew?   It seems Mr. Day-Lewis would not stop intimidating his on-screen nemesis between takes, staring him down and otherwise bullying the actor throughout the shoot. Nerves shot, O’Neill took a well-deserved rest cure. Day-Lewis would not (or could not) "turn off" his method, even between scenes – even when a fellow actor was driven to flee in his presence. It's as disturbing as it is impressive. 

Those who remember her only from those endless grocery store checkout line-stories on her health problems, fluctuating weight, friendship with Michael Jackson & Bubbles, or impressive eight marriages (she wed Richard Burton twice), pay attention. Today, we celebrate the film career of a legendary beauty, prodigious talent, and a big personality, Elizabeth Taylor.

In a welcoming street of a tree-lined neighborhood in a sleepy Connecticut suburb, we’re about to uncover some truly twisted goings-on.  Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” (1997) captures the angst, confusion and frustration lying just beneath the surface in many affluent suburban “paradises.” Set in the awkward transition from the turbulent, idealistic ‘60s to the yuppified, cynical ‘70s, “Storm” follows the intersecting paths of two neighborhood households who have enough barely suppressed issues and grudges to keep a team of shrinks busy until disco becomes cool again.

We’ve got a special streaming suggestion for you weekend warriors: it’s Samurai Saturday. Samurai movies, known in Japan as “chambara” (literally, “sword fighting movies”), were originally associated with dramatic rather than action movies (think 1954’s “Seven Samurai”). The tendency towards more action-oriented films didn’t occur until later, when a slew of violent samurai films (some laughably cheesy and obvious) downgraded the genre to “B-Movie” status in the ‘70s and ‘80s with enough bright-red paint "blood" spraying each battle set to repaint the Golden Gate Bridge.  Nevertheless, numerous “chambara” from the 1960’s had a massive effect on audiences (some of whom went home to practice spearing each other) as well as filmmakers. You can see the influence of pioneering “Samurai” directors like Akira Kurosawa, Hiroshi Inagaki, and Masaki Kobayashi in the work of filmmakers Sergio Leone, George Lucas, David Mamet, and Quentin Tarantino, among others. 

Forget robins, forget flowers. The real harbinger of spring is baseball. And finally, blessedly, the MLB has returned today with Opening Day.  We’re celebrating America’s Pastime the only way we know how: with movies. In our new two-part series, we’re asking – if your baseball team were a movie, which would it be?

In 1983, the Center for Disease Control reported 1,025 cases of AIDS. By 1985, it had claimed the lives of over 6,000 Americans. Still no word came from the White House. When Reagan finally addressed the issue in 1987, over 36,000 Americans had been diagnosed.  The Oscar-winning “Dallas Buyer’s Club” is set in the midst of this terrifying silence. It’s 1986, and heterosexual Rob Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), gets diagnosed due to unprotected sex. While searching for treatments unavailable in the US, he realizes he can make a buck selling those drugs to patients back in the States. The homophobic Rob begins an awkward partnership with the transgendered Rayon (Jared Leto), whom Rob initially sees as nothing more than a foot in the door to their largest customer base: gay men.        McConaughey and Leto won Lead and Supporting Oscars for their memorable performances, and joined a small cadre of distinguished actors to be nominated by the Academy for portraying men living with the disease.

It’s been called the oldest profession in the world: offering companionship and sexual favors for money. As movies reflect life, portrayals of prostitution are numerous.

Not surprisingly, people frequently ask me, “What’s your favorite movie?” It sounds like a reasonable question, but actually it’s maddening for the simple reason that there are so many fabulous movies that attain the same superior level of quality, but are wildly different. That said, if someone forced me to compile a “Top Ten” list, Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” would definitely make the cut. While I’d watch it most anytime, it is for me the ultimate New Year’s Eve film.