“Save some of that for the keys,” he said after he saw the cameraphone. A bright sun smile, and a Carribean lilt to go along with it.
If there is a way to be more bad-ass than a butcher in chinatown, it is probably illegal.
Sometimes the properties of a lens ask us to examine the nature of perception itself — straight lines that curve, large spaces that appear flat. One fine Sunday we will answer back, “yes, but where’s the humanity in that?”
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A couple of weeks ago, there was a simple afternoon transaction of crossing from inside of a park to outside of it. Standing sentry, alone, and bolstered by perfect acoustics was a gentleman, his bike, his instrument, and his voice. On the other side of the tunnel anxieties simply washed away in the waves of receding sound.
It’s type hard trying to survive in New York State.
– Mobb Deep
One of the perks of working in film is that most of the people I end up knowing are also filmmakers. And while it might seem obvious — most lawyers know tons of other lawyers, for instance — it’s always a kind of surprise and delight for me to know people who make movies. I’ve decided to start a not-so regular feature here of interviewing some of the filmmakers (directors, dps, producers, technicians, writers, etc.) that I come across — as much for my own edification as anything else.
Michael Kang is the writer and director of The Motel. The film, a Sundance selction and winner of numerous awards including the Humanitas prize, premiered in New York recently and is slated to make its LA premiere July 28th. It’s also starting up a run at the ImaginAsian in New York tomorrow. The beautifully realized film stars Jeffrey Chyau as 12 year-old Ernest, the heir of a seedy motel somewhere in Jersey. The good reviews keep rolling in, so visit the film’s official website for any of the nuts and bolts.
The interview was conducted on a bright Summer afternoon and via one week of emails, but, really, I’ve been trying to get inside Mike’s head for some time now. Stay awhile and meet the director, I’ll be doing my best Elvis Mitchell impersonation, and trying not to bung things up too badly.