Scottish director Lynne Ramsay directed the new thriller 'We Need to Talk About Kevin.' You wouldn't know it from this interview.

Like many American actors of Italian descent, Michael Imperioli got his start playing gangsters. His performance as Christopher Moltisanti on HBO's The Sopranos not only earned him an Emmy award, but helped give birth to the concept of the modern mobster. Although Imperioli has been writing screenplays for over a decade now, it's only recently that he made the jump to directing. His debut feature is The Hungry Ghosts, a sprawling ensemble drama about the lives of a group of dysfunctional New Yorkers. I had the chance to talk to Imperioli via telephone about baseball, David Berkowitz, and Detroit as a metaphor for America.

"There are so many unpleasant memories connected with the comics industry."

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock burst on to the scene in 2004 with the cinderella success that was Super Size Me. The pure novelty of the idea struck a chord with the viewing public and when all was said and done, the film wound up being one of the most profitable documentaries of all time as well as earning its director an Academy Award nomination. His mix of daredevil bravado come self-destructive sadism quickly led to Spurlock’s profile rising to that of second-best known documentary filmmaker in the country. But where do you go from a month of eating only at America’s most beloved fast food chain? Television, of course. Following the recipe that led to his initial success, Spurlock developed 30 Days, a program for FX that’s three seasons ran from 2005 to 2008. The show’s concept is essentially the McDonalds diet expanded into the more controversial water-cooler topics of American life. 30 Days hits DVD shelves this week as a complete series and I had the opportunity to talk to Spurlock about the role of documentary in today’s society, his favorite Simpsons episode, and just what it’s like working with Harvey Weinstein.

A few weeks ago, I called seventies icon Elliott Gould to discuss his new film The Caller, and it turns out the man is a conversational pirate, boarding and plundering any question asked in order to say whatever was on his mind at the time. I had admired Gould’s work since I first discovered his collaborations with New Hollywood pioneer Robert Altman, and upon viewing The Caller, I couldn't help but be reminded of another film in which he played a private eye -- Phillip Marlowe in Altman's The Long Goodbye. We discussed this film and other projects from Gould’s past, and during our conversation, there were instances in which I'd get lost in his philosophical meanderings on the artistic process and nature's beauty. But, if you follow his logic, some grand truth might just reveal itself.