My 7 Favorite People From the Year in Culture

I do a lot of interviews. So when looking back on my favorite stories of 2010, sure, I live blogged seven Harry Potter movies over the course of 36 hours and, yes, I somehow had the time to watch five seasons of Lost in three weeks, but, interviews -- indeed, people -- are what I remember the most.

Not just any interview or interview subject, though; most of the interview settings actor-directors are thrust into aren't exactly conducive to, well, anybody. The scene at your local press junket is similar to that of a third-world sweat shop only with more pastries, or maybe a neverending mall queue of journalists waiting for their turns to sit with Santa. But, even in such less-than-ideal conditions (and, thankfully, not all of them are), a lot of interesting things can still take place with interesting people. Among them...

1. Jesse Eisenberg 

Movieline's discussion with Jesse Eisenberg was most definitely not at a junket. Having a conversation with someone at a bar, over the course of an hour, with no time limits or publicists, leads to exchanges like the following -- which also happens to be one of my favorite ideas, and one on which I really do hope Eisenberg follows through. Honestly, the best part about this section of the conversation was the combination of pride and glee on Eisenberg's face:

I had this idea, which I think I may implement: People ask to take pictures of me all of the time. This is like, in the last five years: Somebody recognizes you on the street. And I wasn't recognized five years ago. But it's occurred to me that with technology everybody takes a picture on their camera phone. So I had the idea that I'd only agree to take a picture -- because always, inevitably, you have to take a picture on somebody's little cell phone -- I thought it would be a good idea that they can take a picture on the condition that they will e-mail me the picture. And then I'll have all of these pictures. Then I can kind of like put them out as a book to show the absolute absurdity of it: Of standing there with my same dumb expression with 100 different people.

Have you started doing that yet? You really should.

No. My only concern is that if I get an e-mail address and somebody hacks into my computer. Do you know anything about computers? Is that possible?

I'm not an expert, but I think if you just set up a Gmail account specifically for this, like Eisenbergpictureproject at gmail or something, you should be fine.

Right! Right. That's what I need to do. I'll do it tonight.

I wouldn't give out your actual e-mail address.

No, no, I'm not going to do that. But that's totally safe?

I think so?

Could people hack in or send me viruses?

I guess they could, but Gmail is pretty good about weeding those out.

OK, Gmail. I need to get a Gmail account. This is going to be a great idea.

This is a fantastic idea. 

[Laughs] Yeah.

The only thing, how do you get people to follow through on that? Then again, I bet they'd be happy to do it: "Hey, I met Jesse Eisenberg, and now he wants me to e-mail him a photo of us."

I think they would be. I think if the experience is at all exciting for them -- "Oh, I ran into someone I saw in a movie on the street..." -- they'd want that experience to continue, if that means sending somebody a picture.

They would want the story to continue, "He even gave me his email address!"

"Wait, his e-mail is EisenbergPictures@gmail?" [Laughs]

2. Irvin Kershner

I never hesitate to mention that my favorite movie of all time is The Empire Strikes Back. So, for the opportunity to do a series of interviews for the 30th anniversary of the film was, to say the least, quite exciting. The last interview of the series was Empire's director, Irvin Kershner. The line that got the most attention was the fact that he mentioned that, if asked, he would have directed one of the prequels, but my personal favorite part was when he revealed his favorite film of the last 10 years. Kershner passed away in November and this wound up being his last interview:

"In the last 10 years of watching films I have found that some of the foreign films I saw affected me most. One American film that stands out for me for its workmanship and artistry is Ratatouille. It was an astonishing effort in filmmaking. Ratatouille has a fine mixture of a credible love story, a sense of family and the black sheep, and a mature satire. Its animation is extraordinary in its color, cinematic compositions, and well-rounded figures. Film is a window to the real world but a lie that makes you believe the unbelievable. Ratatouille is a story that keeps its tension intact throughout its telling. The film has inner rhythm, as a film should. It has a story full of suspense, humor, and believable characters. It works on many levels for adults as well as children."

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