Lisa Cholodenko Movies
A Los Angeles native who preferred European art cinema to Hollywood studio fare, writer-director Lisa Cholodenko made her mark on the independent film scene with her moody examination of sexuality, ambition, and heroin chic in High Art (1998).Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Cholodenko had no thoughts of becoming a filmmaker when she headed to college at San Francisco State. She had changed her mind, however, by her mid-twenties. After working as an assistant editor on Boyz 'N the Hood (1991) and Used People (1992), Cholodenko enrolled in Columbia University's graduate film program in 1992. Mentored by Milos Forman, Cholodenko made two highly regarded short films, Souvenir and Dinner Party. After earning her M.F.A., Cholodenko served as an assistant editor on Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995) while working on the screenplay for her first feature, High Art.
Taking off from Cholodenko's firsthand observations of the 1990s New York art world and her interest in such photographers as Nan Goldin and Larry Clark, High Art centered on a reclusive photographer-turned-junkie and the aspiring young art magazine editor who becomes infatuated with her. Starring Ally Sheedy in a career-resurrecting performance as the doomed artist, Radha Mitchell as her naively ambitious admirer, and Patricia Clarkson as Sheedy's Teutonic lover, High Art earned raves for the performances and a Sundance Film Festival prize for Cholodenko's astute, complex screenplay. Despite High Art's success, Cholodenko's second feature, Laurel Canyon (2002), languished in development hell for several years. Her interest in the darker reaches of character psychology, however, served Cholodenko well as a TV director, helming episodes of NBC's lauded Homicide: Life on the Street before it went off the air in 1999 and HBO's blackly comic family drama Six Feet Under in 2001. Cholodenko finally got to return to features when one of High Art's producers plucked Laurel Canyon out of turnaround purgatory. Focusing on the temptations of Southern California, Laurel Canyon starred Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale as an uptight young couple seduced off the straight and narrow by Bale's hedonistic record producer mother Frances McDormand. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Gini Reticker and Lesli Klainberg direct the 74-minute documentary In the Company of Women, a production of the Independent Film Channel. The film offers an introduction to the major women of independent filmmaking, starting in the 1980s. It includes commentary from directors Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, and Nicole Holofcener. Actresses Patricia Clarkson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rosie Perez also offer insight and comments. In the Company of Women was shown in a special screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival before making its broadcast premiere on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, (more)
Cavedweller is an adaptation of Dorothy Allison's novel of the same name. Anne Meredith, who also adapted Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina, wrote the script, and the film was directed by Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon). Kyra Sedgwick stars as Delia Byrd. As the film opens, Delia loses her wayward rock-star husband, Randall (Kevin Bacon in a bit part), to a car accident, and decides to take her angry, heartbroken young daughter, Cissy (Regan Arnold, who played the tormented little sister in Blue Car), from Los Angeles back to her hometown in rural Georgia, where Delia left her two daughters and her abusive husband, Clint (Aidan Quinn), many years ago, to join Randall on the road. "Those people are not gonna be happy to see you," warns Delia's friend, Rosemary (singer Jill Scott in her film debut), but Delia is determined to reclaim her daughters. Cissy irrationally blames Delia for Randall's death, making the drive to Georgia an unpleasant one. Upon arriving there, Delia finds that she is not remembered fondly. Her taciturn grandfather (Myron Natwick) reluctantly takes her and Cissy in, but Delia soon learns that Clint is dying, and that her daughters, Amanda (Vanessa Zima) and Dede (April Mullen), are living with Clint's fire-and-brimstone mother (Jackie Burroughs), who has no intention of letting the girls see her. Realizing he has wronged her, Clint agrees to help Delia get custody of the girls, in exchange for her caring for him until he dies. Cavedweller was shown at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival before premiering on Showtime. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyra Sedgwick, Aidan Quinn, (more)
Writer/director Lisa Cholodenko follows up her much-acclaimed 1997 debut High Art with this examination of a young couple seduced into a hedonistic, left-coast lifestyle. Taking its title from its central locale, Laurel Canyon focuses on a pair of upper-middle class lovebirds from the East Coast who relocate to Los Angeles. Freshly minted from Harvard, Sam (Christian Bale) and Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are eager to continue their medical studies out West, but they need some lodging while they hunt for a home. Enter Jane (Frances McDormand), Sam's estranged, Age-of-Aquarius mom, who's more than willing to put the couple up in her lavish digs. Jane is a successful record producer whose latest charge -- both in the studio and in her bedroom -- is Ian (Alessandro Nivola), a brazen, libidinous twentysomething Brit-rocker. As Sam and Alex settle in at Jane's, they gradually lose their straight-and-narrow approach to life and begin to experiment. Alex takes to Ian and Jane, while Sam is wooed by co-worker Sara (Natascha McElhone). Laurel Canyon features a score by Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren; the music for Ian's band was provided by Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous and indie-rockers Folk Implosion. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, (more)
- 2001
Following the burning of the abandoned house across the street, the Fishers wonder if Claire (Lauren Ambrose) might be the mystery arsonist. In the midst of the arson investigation, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) makes an appearance at her first dinner with the family, but her desire to make a good impression on Ruth (Frances Conroy) is severely compromised when Ruth discovers her and Nate (Peter Krause) in a somewhat graphic situation. Meanwhile, the family grapples with the funeral arrangements for a murdered Mexican-American gang member, from whom David (Michael C. Hall) mines some unexpected courage that helps him end an argument with Keith (Mathew St. Patrick). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1999
The hit-and-run death of a Vietnam veteran prompts Stuart Gharty (Peter Gerety) to once again flash back to his own wartime experiences. Fed up with Gharty's ramblings, Munch (Richard Belzer) tells his colleagues that he has serious doubts about Stuart's war record. Ultimately, the two men have a heated confrontation at the Waterfront Bar -- yielding a "casualty" in the form of waitress Billie Lou (Ellen McElduff). And back at the precinct station, Lewis (Clark Johnson) expresses discomfort when Sheppard (Michael Michele) is placed back in rotation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
Lisa Cholodenko wrote and directed this lesbian-themed drama, winner of the 1998 Sundance Film Festival's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Ambitious photography magazine associate editor Syd (Radha Mitchell) has a ho-hum relationship with James (Gabriel Mann). Investigating a ceiling leak, she enters the apartment of her neighbor, retired photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy), who lives with former Fassbinder actress Greta (Patricia Clarkson), a heroin addict. The friendship between the worldly Lucy and the naive, insecure Syd ripens into an affair, one destined to change the lives of both women. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell, (more)
