Audrey Kupferberg

Contributor at WAMC, Northeast Public Radio

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Articles

So many plays, TV series, and films suffer for lack of character development

2 days ago | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

So many writers are putting the emphasis on action or circumstances. What they fail to provide audiences with are proper introductions to their characters. The most successful shows-- whether on stage, films, TV shows, take the time to create interesting, riveting personalities. My late, wonderful friend Karen O’Hara, a sharp-minded script reader for many years, knew the value of winning characters. She always advised writers to imagine many details about their characters.
Legendary silent film gets new restoration

1 week ago | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

Years ago, the late renowned film archivist David Shepard put together a restored version of Merry-Go-Round (1923) from two16mm reduction prints. Film historians and silent film enthusiasts applauded the opportunity to see this notorious film. It’s difficult to determine what exactly makes Merry-Go-Round, originally dubbed a Super-Jewel from Universal Studios, a legendary part of film history. Is the story powerful and unique? No. Are the lead actors—Norman Kerry and Mary Philbin, captivating?
McCarty applies AI techniques to create 'A Few Bottles of Whisky'

1 week ago | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

Local talent, writer/filmmaker John McCarty, has published many film books and a few mystery novels over the years. He also has made competent, exciting films, many through his studio Leering Buzzard Pictures. Several are available online on Amazon’s Prime Video and YouTube. Ten to fifteen years ago, John and I made a few films as a team. He wrote, directed, edited and provided the final word, while I produced. We used wonderful local actors and hard-working crews of UAlbany students.
Midnight (1939) will be released on Blu-ray in June

1 month ago | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

1939 was a magical year for Hollywood studio output. Gone with the Wind (which wasn’t controversial then), The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory, and so many more amazing film productions. One under-rated screwball comedy from that year is Midnight. It was written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, and directed by Mitchell Leisen, a name we seem to have put to the side these days—but check out his wonderful work.
Four seasons of Slow Horses not enough? There’s more to come.

2 months ago | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

When I overhear someone asking the question, “When will season five be released,” I can guess to which show they are referring. Slow Horses, of course!AppleTV+ first released season one of this British comedy/drama/spy thriller in April, 2022. Each of its four seasons dramatizes a book in the London-based Slough House series by Mick Herron. The premise is clever. An agent of MI5 who makes a serious mistake could be fired.
A Real Pain boasts talented stars and a great screenplay

Mar 28, 2025 | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

Writer/director/co-star Jesse Eisenberg and his co-star Kieran Culkin are getting nods and wins for their unique take on the Holocaust tour film. It’s titled A Real Pain, and that’s an apt title. Culkin won an Oscar for his energetic, pain-in-the-butt performance as one of two loving Jewish-American cousins who travel to Poland on a Holocaust tour.
Docs profile women who became powerful forces in Hollywood

Mar 20, 2025 | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

So often we read about the movie moguls who created and ran the Hollywood movie industry. Louis B. Mayer, Jesse Lasky, Carl Laemmle, Sam Goldwyn, and David O. Selznick to name a few early moguls. And formidable directors who used their authority to make auteur films—D.W. Griffith, John Ford, Cecil B. DeMille, and modern auteurs such as Martin Scorsese. But occasionally, right from the beginning of moving pictures, a woman was able to prove herself and obtain power in the predominantly male business.
Will Ferrell and Harper Steele get serious

Feb 27, 2025 | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

Comic actor Will Ferrell met TV comedy writer Anthony Steele more than thirty years ago when the two worked on Saturday Night Live. Since then, their friendship has been strong. One day a couple years ago, Will received a letter from Harper Steele to inform her – not his but her, buddy that she has transitioned. She now is Harper, no longer Anthony. To see her, as we the audience soon do, Harper has an updo of sweeping, thinning, long grey hair and a wardrobe of shabby women’s clothing.
Emilia Perez turns the crime thriller genre on its ear with a gender-bending twist

Feb 13, 2025 | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

Emilia Perez is a film like no other. When I started to watch it, I gave up after ten minutes. This can’t be for me, I thought. It’s all flash. After a couple friends mentioned how exciting a film it is, I returned to Netflix to give it a second chance. So glad that I did! Award-winning French filmmaker Jacques Audiard wrote and directed this feature. It’s based on a 2018 novel called Ecoute by Boris Razon.
Robert Harris’ book translates to the screen as a gripping thriller

Jan 30, 2025 | wamc.org | Audrey Kupferberg

Conclave begins with a dead pope and the subsequent gathering of the college of Cardinals to elect a new pope. Cardinal Lawrence, played by Ralph Fiennes, is dean of the college and stands at the core of this sacred rite. If this description sounds like a religious drama, you wouldn’t be wrong, but you would be far from correct. Conclave is a fast-moving whirl of mysteries, a thriller filled with suspense.