Live Chat: John Sayles talks ‘Go for Sisters’ on Friday
“Saturday Night Live” alumnus Will Forte stops off at the Cinefamily Theatre in Los Angeles as he promotes his new movie, “Nebraska,” with with Bruce Dern.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)Hugh Hefner, who founded Playboy in 1953 and turned it into a multimedia empire, remains the magazine’s editor in chief.
(Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times)Actor Vin Diesel is the producer and star of the sci-fi thriller “Riddick.”
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)Director Guillermo del Toro, in the mixing studio at Warner Bros. in Burbank, has a new movie coming out called “Pacific Rim,” a shot of which is on in the background, about an alien attack threatening the Earth’s existence. Giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)Filmmaker John Sayles will be talking about his new film, “Go for Sisters,” in a live chat Friday at noon Pacific time with Times staff writer Mark Olsen. Sayles can answer your questions too; use the hashtag #AskLATimes on Twitter now and during the chat.
A two-time Academy Award nominee, for the original screenplay to “Lone Star” in 1996 and “Passion Fish” in 1992, Sayles has long been considered one of the key figures in the development of American independent filmmaking. Writing the screenplays for such films as “Piranha” and “The Howling,” Sayles also began making films of his own, beginning with 1979’s “Return of the Secaucus Seven.”
Since then, he has continued on his own distinctive, diverse path, from the lesbian-themed drama of 1983’s “Lianna”; the politically charged comedy of 1984’s “The Brother from Another Planet”; and on through the union drama “Matewan”; the true-life baseball story “Eight Men Out”; the Irish fable “The Secret of Roan Inish”; and many more films, including the more recent “Amigo.”
PHOTOS: Billion-dollar movie club
In “Go for Sisters,” Sayles explores female friendship overlaid with a mystery story set along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bernice (LisaGay Hamilton), a parole officer, searches for her missing son by turning to an estranged friend, Fontayne (Yolanda Ross), whose life has gone down a very different path. They enlist the aid of a former police detective (Edward James Olmos).
In a review in the Los Angeles Times, Sheri Linden noted “the three lead performances give the film its quiet center,” and Sayles has long had a keen eye for casting. “Lone Star” was an early key role for Matthew McConaughey, and the 1983 film “Baby It’s You” was an early lead part for Rosanna Arquette. Actor David Strathairn appeared in Sayles’ debut “Return of the Secaucus Seven” and a number of his other films. Chris Cooper has been something of a Sayles regular as well. “Eight Men Out” had an enviable young cast that included John Cusack, Charlie Sheen and D.B Sweeney.
So join us at noon on Friday as Sayles talks about “Go for Sisters” and his long and inspiring career as one of the leading figures of truly independent filmmaking.
ALSO:
Live chat: Jackie Chan talks about ‘Chinese Zodiac
Review: ‘Go For Sisters’ an intriguing character study
The Fall Guys: John Sayles’ young stars go on the road
Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Mark Olsen writes about all kinds of movies for the Los Angeles Times as both a feature writer and reviewer.