Izolda Trakhtenberg, Storyteller

Playwright, Author, Director, Podcaster

about

Writer, speaker, singer, educator

Category: movie

  • On Touchstones – We need them in storytelling and in life

    Everything in my life has been coming back to relevance. As I develop this new phase of my life, I am trimming away anything that doesn’t serve me. I have modified my patterns of behavior, thought modes, and emotional triggers. My motto is: If it doesn’t serve me, it goes. That perspective makes things easier,…

  • The Mother of Communication? – lessons on writing, talking, and connection

    Yesterday, at Balticon, I had the honor of sitting on a panel that discussed how to adapt fiction to stage or screen. One of the questions the moderator asked was to define the nuts and bolts of doing that sort of adaptation. One of the other panel members said that you needed to only the…

  • Spoilery review of "Inside Out."

    I’ll try to do a spoiler-free review of “Inside Out.” But likely it won’t be so fair warning. I wanted to love it. I did. But I didn’t. As colorful as it was, and as cool concept as it was, it was awfully two-dimensional. The Good: The voice acting and casting was superb. Richard Kind…

  • Les Miserables Review – Much to love. Much to be tweaked by

    Saw Les Mis today. I fully expect Ms. Hathaway and Mr. Jackman to stand on stage and accept their Academy Awards (her in support and him for leading actor). They both did a terrific job. Hathaway especially blew me away. She has an expressive face and she used it so well to show us Fantine’s…

  • Skyfall review

    So, Skyfall. [spoilers abound so be warned] It was great in many ways. I enjoy Craig as Bond. I enjoyed Bardem as Silva (I do understand that some might call his performance over the top and I agree to an extent. But he did the split between mad villain and toddler who wants his mommy,…