When Richard Linklater directed School of Rock—the first truly commercial success of his career—you’d think he’d stay in the world of profitable, A-list comedy. After all, the paychecks are bigger than what you’d make for say, directing a film that features Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy discussing abstraction and truth, uninterrupted on the streets of Paris. But Linklater has always followed his own path, and despite making some of the most memorable films of the last twenty years (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life), the director still struggles to get projects off the ground. I recently had the chance to speak to Linklater from his home in Austin, where we discussed his latest documentary, his upcoming period piece Me and Orson Welles starring Zac Efron and Claire Danes, and anything and everything about the movie business.

You had a streetball / Hip Hop show on an Ivy league jazz radio station. That’s not really a question, more of an observation.
And a good one. I had the world’s first-ever talk radio program discussing playground basketball on WKCR 89.9FM. It was called On the Fence, and came on earlier in the evening every Thursday before me and Stretch Armstrong’s hip hop show. I also wrote the first article on sneaker culture in media history, titled “Confessions of a Sneaker Addict.” It ran in Source magazine in 1991. I also hosted the first TV series ever dedicated to sneaker culture, called It’s the Shoes, which ran for two seasons on ESPN. I could go on but I’ll stop there!

What kicks do you have on permanent ice?
There is no pair on permanent ice in my closet—everything gets worn at some point! There are definitely joints that only come out on special occasion when they’ll be a good amount of heads that will understand what’s on the feet and can appreciate it.

Fifteen years have passed since Jennifer Chambers Lynch released Boxing Helena, arguably the most problematic debut film of all time. It was originally slated to star Madonna as the mutilated object of a demented surgeon’s affection, but was later recast with Kim Basinger when Andrew Lloyd Webber threatened to revoke her starring-role in Evita. When Basinger later pulled out at the insistence of one of her handlers, a front-page court battle ensued, ending in the bankruptcy and eventual divorce of Basinger and then-husband Alec Baldwin. Lynch was only 23 when the backlash reached boiling point. She was unfairly attacked in the media as a hack, and worse, for being the hack whose father was cinematic icon David Lynch. Compelled to create Helena’s world of misplaced adulation and amputation by a car accident that destroyed her spine, she felt doubly punished when the film was released to frigid reviews and “audience venom.” After a series of life-changing events, Lynch sought refuge in the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Now sober, walking and demon-free, the controversial filmmaker comes out of hiding with this month’s deliciously amoral thriller Surveillance, a triumphant comeback in every sense of the word.

Jessie James is a young, Southern belle, getting some recognition for some Billboard-friendly tunes about heartbreak and girl power that was on the soundtrack for some movie that was equally about heartbreak and girl power. Now she’s taking her act on the road, opening for the Jonas Brothers, showcasing that country twang to legions of squealing tweens in advance of the August 11 release of her debut album. Miss James called us from the road in Colorado to talk about who uses sex to sell and who doesn’t, enjoying Nickelback’s music, and her desire to take down the Third Reich.

Written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker features an elite squad of U.S. army soldiers, dismantling bombs in the most dangerous areas of Baghdad. The film’s anything but your typical big-budget war flick—avoiding sensationalism and without political agenda, it realistically portrays one of the most fascinating and underrepresented facets of the war in Iraq, in the process capturing the psychological complexity of soldiers who voluntarily deal with borderline-psychotic danger on a daily basis. Rising star Jeremy Renner taps into Sergeant William James, a member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), who’s taken apart 873 bombs in the heat of combat. James and his subordinates Sanborn and Eldridge (Notorious star Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, respectively) are specially trained to handle homemade bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which are responsible for more than half of America’s Iraq War casualties and the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Already winning awards at the Venice Film Festival and earning Renner and Mackie Independent Spirit Award nominations, this not-to-be-missed war flick hits theaters on Friday (don’t forget to check out the review from this month’s issue of BlackBook before you see it). In a car ride on his way to the airport, Renner gave us a ring to wax on recklessness and courage, and the bombs that he’s disarmed both in front of the camera and in his own life.

Political and contemporary cultural issues, sometimes by default, tend to dictate the work of musicians, and if nothing else, this can be an effective and entertaining way to promote social awareness. Of course, this fusion of politics and music isn’t always mind-blowing. Take, for example, Young Jeezy’s demonstration of his rhyming skills and his familiarity with color schemes in the now notorious, but let’s face it—a little ‘elementary’—rhyme, “My president is black, my Lambo is blue ... ” This kind of celebratory pop-rap aside, find comfort in the fact that there are artists who make entertaining music that can also offer the potential for a shift in mainstream perspective. Enter K’naan, the storyteller MC and native of the war-torn city of Mogadishu—the “hot zone” in 2001’s Black Hawk Down—who’s got a mouthful to share on his second album Troubadour, about Somalia, America, and speaking to a hip-hop culture that thinks they understand guns and conflict.

On April 8th of this year, Billy Bob Thornton appeared on CBC Radio One with his rockabilly band the Boxmasters. After being introduced by the program’s host, Jian Ghomeshi, as an actor with a prolific film career, Thornton regressed into monosyllabic petulance, each response punctuated by the disinterest of an ersatz Dylan. And, given the recent resurgence of performers who love to act and sing (from Scarlett Johansson and Zooey Deschanel to Jessica Biel and Terrence Howard), Thornton’s reaction has become the bellwether for how we address crossover stars. It’s difficult, when speaking to a performer best known for his cinematic work, not to discuss his films, especially in the case of Adam Goldberg, whose career over the past two decades has included stand-out performances in Dazed and Confused, Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind and The Hebrew Hammer. But, after just one listen to Eros and Omissions, a hypnotic, meditative debut album featuring songs that Goldberg wrote over the past six years, one can’t help but want to focus on LANDy, Goldberg’s musical alter ego. Assured, fractured and, at times, downright nasty (On “BFF,” Goldberg sings, “So your parents didn’t love you? Well, now mine don’t as well”), the album swells and shivers like a forlorn lover lost in a downpour. Here, days after news broke via Twitter that his ABC show “The Unusuals” had been canceled, Goldberg discusses his second act.

In the Williamsburg apartment/recording studio of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel—childhood best friends turned electro heroes Holy Ghost!, I’m drinking from a mug with a picture of a young Millhiser and Frankel on one side and the words “I love my auntie” on the other. It’s a testament to the longevity of their friendship and creative partnership. The duo has been working together for almost 15 years, from their elementary school breakdance crew West Side Boyz, to high school rap group Automato, to their current incarnation as Holy Ghost!. With the wildly successful release of their debut disco-tronic dance single “Hold On” and a slew of subsequent remixes under their belt—most recently for Parisian pop rockers Phoenix’s new single “Lisztomania”—the two DJs have garnered a burgeoning wave of hype and numerous remix requests. On the 24th of June, their new single “I Will Come Back” is released and available exclusively at Green Label Sound. It’s their first original piece of music in two years since the release of “Hold On.” Eating takeout sushi and smoking American Spirits, Millhiser and Frankel discuss experiences on tour in Europe, where to find good dance music in New York, and the demise of radio hip hop.

Attention men: this ain’t your typical rom com. The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, is worth sucking it up for a date night. The film follows Andrew (Reynolds) and his Devil Wears Prada publishing boss, Margaret (Bullock) as they attempt a simple deception to bypass Margaret’s imminent deportation back to Canada. Mostly set in picturesque Sitka, Alaska—Andrew’s hometown—the punch-for-punch dialogue between Reynolds and Bullock combined with supporting cast Oscar Nuñez (as a male stripper) and Betty White (as an uncensored old lady) prove to be an enjoyable combo. Director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses) shares some almost bloopers, deets about the nude scene, and her version of why it’ll be a hit with the gentlemen.

Whatever Works reunites director-writer Woody Allen with Larry David. The legendary funnymen had previously worked together on Radio Days and New York Stories. Most actors would be ecstatic to be offered the lead in a Woody Allen movie, but David had a much different take. “I thought Woody had become unhinged,” he says. “I wondered who put this crackpot idea in his head. And of course as with anything I’ve ever been offered, I didn’t feel up to the task. Feeling up to the task is not my thing.” David eventually took on the part of Boris Yellnikoff, a man who is so disenchanted with his marriage, luxurious lifestyle, and the human race that he tries to commit suicide. Saved by a canopy outside his uptown Manhattan apartment, Boris gets divorced, moves downtown, and meets a much younger woman, Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood). The two ultimately learn a tremendous amount about love and life from one another.

Did you have to dig deep to play the role of a middle-aged Jewish man?
That aspect was really unusual. I tried to find as many Jews as I could and befriend them and talk to them and see what made them tick. I went back to Brooklyn and walked the streets and interviewed people, “What’s it like being a Jew? How do you behave?”