Artist Martin Rogers-in the Cafe through 05/28/10

Artist Statement
I find it easy to be creative.
However, the only thing I cannot create is....
....INSPIRATION.

From where does it come?
Why does it arrive when it does?
Where does it go?

There.... for but a moment, the image captured, then gone.

Like a gentle breeze, taken back into it's home; the roiling, eternal cosmic storm of all life, creation and thought.

It is far greater than me, the source of this breeze.
For, it is the source of ALL.

Am I using this inspiration, or it, me?
The question hangs, bloated and waiting.

As I use the brush to create, I ponder the concept of myself, perhaps being an instrument in the hand of the true, only, MASTER artist. For, is it not God?

Martin J. Rogers 5-10'

Robin Hood Opens, Friday May 14

Russell Crowe Interview

A new book published this month claims that Crowe threatened to kill “with [his] bare hands” an elderly producer of Gladiator, whom he felt was underpaying his staff. The book, by Nicole Laporte, also reveals Crowe’s reluctance to deliver the film’s most famous line – “And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next” – telling Scott he thought it to be “s---” before adding, “but I’m the greatest actor in the world and I can make even [that] sound good”.

Today, Crowe is in a rather mellower mood. “As many times as Ridley and I have disagreed on things, we don’t yell at each other; there’s no need,” he says. “We just discuss things and we understand we might not see each other’s point of view all the time, but ultimately by the time we’re standing in front of the camera we’ve collaborated on the decision that we’ve made and what we’re doing.”

Crowe, as always, threw himself into the role of Robin Hood, losing the weight he’d packed on for Body of Lies, learning about English folklore and taking archery lessons. “I had to be able to do the things that he did,” he says. “And obviously his principal skill was with a bow and arrow.”

Read the full interview here.

Letters to Juliet opens Friday, May 14

Amanda Seyfried's star continues to rise with the release of this week's romantic dramedy 'Letters to Juliet,' co-starring Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal and real-life couple Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave.

In the film (in theaters Friday), Seyfried plays Sophie, a fact checker for the New Yorker who travels to Verona, Italy (aka the city where Romeo met Juliet) with her fiance (Gael Garcia Bernal) for a romantic pre-honeymoon getaway. But when he ignores her, Sophie is left to wander the city on her own, during which she discovers a wall where people write letters to Juliet asking for her advice about love. To her surprise, Sophie finds a letter dating back to 1957, which leads her on a life-changing journey across Tuscany to reunite its author (Redgrave) with her long-lost love, Lorenzo. But when chemistry blossoms with Claire's grandson (Egan), Sophie is forced to reevaluate her own love life and wonder if he's her true Romeo after all.

See the video interviews here.

The Secret of Kells opens Friday

Cool fan art page!

Excerpt from an interview with filmmaker Tomm Moore
Moore first had the idea of a Kells-inspired film about a decade ago out of Ballyfermot College in Dublin, as he and a friend formed Cartoon Saloon, their animation company in Kilkenny. Some five years later, "Kells" began to become real when the animated film "The Triplets of Bellville" received an Oscar nod -- and its European producers backed Moore's project. "We kind of got the financing from that Oscar nomination," Moore says. "That was a big boost for us because they signed us as the follow-up."

Another boost was getting acclaimed Irish actor Brendan Gleeson to do voicework -- the filmmakers' first choice. "Brendan was a really early supporter," Moore says. "He'd agreed years ago -- he was making 'Gangs of New York' at the time -- and he probably thought it was never going to happen. But then we went back to him and he said yes."

Read the full article here.

Opening Friday-Babies

About the Film Babies
A nature film about humans, "Babies" is devoid of political agenda, philosophizing or, for that matter, commentary of any kind.

Visiting with four babies during the first two years of their lives, the documentary tracks their physical development, the blossoming of personality and the ways their cultures socialize them. As a portrait of children who are wanted and loved, it's intimate and often delightful.

Article/interview with the director