Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at the New Yorker Festival

I’ve been reading The New Yorker quite religiously for more than a decade now. I don’t remember how many subscriptions I gave to friends as gifts over the years and it is still one of the few subscriptions that I receive in the mail every week. And, the New Yorker Festival feels like the pages of the magazine literally coming to life for a weekend throughout the city with talks, conversations, readings, performances, panels with individuals that are at the top of their game in their respective fields — including arts, sciences, politics, sports, theater, music, literature, film, TV, food and more… As someone that attended quite a few events at the festival over the years, I can confidently say that, independent of the context, all events share one characteristic: intelligence. The festival participants are without exception endowed with some real brainpower. They are, in The New Yorker‘s own words, “some of the most talented and influential thinkers about topics ranging from politics to pop music, science to cinema, and so much more.”

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Well, it is the New Yorker Festival time of the year again! And I cannot help go back to my most favorite New Yorker Festival moment ever. It was exactly seven (whaaaaaaaa??????)  years ago that JaniaJania and I were extremely lucky to attend the fabulous conversation New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins had with Damian Lewis at the festival.

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REDUX: ‘Keane’ with Lodge Kerrigan and Damian Lewis at Film at Lincoln Center

After the screenings at Film at Lincoln Center in New York and American Cinematheque in Los Angeles in  August, the recently digitally restored ‘Keane’ is going to Boston’s Brattle Theater for screenings on September 23 and 24. In celebration of these new screenings, I would love to share, one more time, my account of  the recent ‘Keane’ screening and Q&A with director Lodge Kerrigan and Damian himself at Film at Lincoln Center.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, August 2022 marks, after three years of famine, a month of delicious feast, a Damian Lewis one to be precise, for me! In early August, I was so privileged to be in the audience at Damian’s very special first gig at Omeara in London. And then I was there at the newly 4K restored Keane screening followed by a lively Q&A discussion with director Lodge Kerrigan and Damian himself. It was full house at Francesca Beale Theater at Film at Lincoln Center. Lodge Kerrigan and Damian introduced the movie together, they watched it with us, and then took the stage for more than a half-hour Q&A which actor Christopher Abbott led with his questions and kindly made room for audience questions towards the end. As a huge admirer of independent cinema and its fearless warriors that take risks and do art without taking the ‘box office factor’ into account,  I was honored to share the evening with Mr. Kerrigan, Damian, and fellow independent movie fans. The evening felt like a collective celebration of independent cinema!

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Appetite for Power – Eating, Drinking & Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide is ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!

Well, if you are a follower of this blog, you probably know that I published a  Billions book last year:  Appetite for Power – Eating, Drinking and Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide is available for purchase through online vendors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Strand Book Store, Indiebound, and BAM!.

Today marks the first anniversary of the book’s release and I was very lucky to have a selfie taken with my book and my muse a few weeks ago! Continue reading “Appetite for Power – Eating, Drinking & Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide is ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!”

‘Keane’ Screening and Q&A with Lodge Kerrigan and Damian Lewis at Film at Lincoln Center

Well, ladies and gentlemen, August 2022 marks, after three years of famine, a month of delicious feast, a Damian Lewis one to be precise, for me! In early August, I was so privileged to be in the audience at Damian’s very special first gig at Omeara in London. And now I feel very lucky that I was there at the newly 4K restored Keane screening followed by a lively Q&A discussion with director Lodge Kerrigan and Damian himself. It was full house at Francesca Beale Theater at Film at Lincoln Center. Lodge Kerrigan and Damian introduced the movie together, they watched it with us, and then took the stage for more than a half-hour Q&A which actor Christopher Abbott led with his questions and kindly made room for audience questions towards the end. As a huge admirer of independent cinema and its fearless warriors that take risks and do art without taking the ‘box office factor’ into account,  I was honored to share the evening with Mr. Kerrigan, Damian, and fellow independent movie fans. The evening felt like a collective celebration of independent cinema!

Continue reading “‘Keane’ Screening and Q&A with Lodge Kerrigan and Damian Lewis at Film at Lincoln Center”

Fan Fun Movie of the Month: Keane

“I’m proud of all my work. I always turn up and try my hardest to do the best job I can, but I was proud of my Hamlet, playing Soames Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga, and I’m also very proud of a small film called Keane, which not many people saw.” – Damian Lewis

As Damian suggests, Keane is a small, independent film which not many people saw; however, it is a very serious film selected to be screened at both Cannes Film Festival and New York Film Festival in 2005 and LOVED by the critics, too. It is a movie that makes you think, and think hard. Questions pop up in your head as you watch the movie, and you have more questions than answers when you finish… Keane is a puzzle that you cannot solve, but that you cannot forget, either. It just stays with you.

And now that Keane has received a 4K restoration and is opening today at Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, we cannot name any other movie than Keane the Fan Fun Movie of the Month. See it on big screen if you can!

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