| All The Money In The World - Trailer ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince his billionaire grandfather (Kevin Spacey) to pay the ransom. When Getty Sr. refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money. Directed by: Ridley Scott Starring: Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Romain Duris, Charlie Plummer, Timothy Hutton |
Thursday 30 November 2017
The Party - Trailer
| The Party - Trailer In Sally Potter’s new dark comedy THE PARTY, Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) is hosting an intimate gathering of friends in her London home to celebrate her political ascension, while her husband, Bill (Timothy Spall), seems preoccupied. Janet’s acerbic best friend, April (Patricia Clarkson), arrives and others follow, some with their own dramatic news to share, but an announcement by Bill provokes a series of revelations that gradually unravel the sophisticated soiree, and a night that began with champagne may end with gunplay. Directed by: Sally Potter Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall |
Slumber - Trailer
| Slumber - Trailer Alice is a rational-minded sleep doctor, haunted by the mysterious nocturnal death of her younger brother. Whilst performing a routine examination on a traumatized family with sleeping problems, Alice is attacked by the father in his sleep. The father is arrested and blamed for causing the family’s sleep issues, but when he is thrown into jail and the problems get progressively worse, Alice is forced to abandon scientific rationale and accept that the family is being terrorized by a parasitic demon who feeds on the weak whilst they sleep: the Night Hag. In order to defeat the dark spirit who was also responsible for her brother’s death, Alice must journey into her own nightmares and confront her childhood demons. Directed by: Jonathan Hopkins Starring: Maggie Q , Kristen Bush , Sam Troughton |
Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game - Trailer
| Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game - Trailer When Dr. Abe Mandelbaum (Martin Landau) moves into the nursing home, Cliffside Manor, with his deteriorating wife Molly, he forms an improbable relationship with gambler and womanizer, Phil Nicoletti (Paul Sorvino). Even though at first Abe feels that moving into the home is the end of the road, he soon realizes that his life is finding a whole new beginning. Abe and Phil's friendship is challenged when a mysterious nurse (Maria Dizzia) claims that her biological father resides in the home. Without children of their own, both Abe and Phil jump at the chance to convince Angela, and themselves, that they are her father. Directed by: Howard L. Weiner Starring: Martin Landau, Paul Sorvino, Maria Dizzia |
Permission - Trailer
| Permission - Trailer A woman on the brink of a marriage proposal is told by a friend that she should date other men before spending the rest of her life with her boyfriend. Directed by: Brian Crano Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Gina Gershon, Jason Sudeikis, Francois Arnaud |
Thoroughbreds - Trailer
| Thoroughbreds - Trailer Childhood friends Lily and Amanda reconnect in suburban Connecticut after years of growing apart. Lily has turned into a polished, upper-class teenager, with a fancy boarding school on her transcript and a coveted internship on her resume; Amanda has developed a sharp wit and her own particular attitude, but all in the process of becoming a social outcast. Though they initially seem completely at odds, the pair bond over Lily's contempt for her oppressive stepfather, Mark, and as their friendship grows, they begin to bring out one another's most destructive tendencies. Their ambitions lead them to hire a local hustler, Tim, and take matters into their own hands to set their lives straight. Directed by: Cory Finley Starring: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks |
Avengers: Infinity War - Trailer
| Avengers: Infinity War - Trailer “Avengers: Infinity War†will hit theaters May 4, 2018, with the second part following on May 3, 2019. Hold onto your hats, True Believers, because Phase 3 of the Cinematic Universe is going to be one wild ride! Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Starring:  |
Crooked House - Trailer
| Crooked House - Trailer In Agatha Christie’s most twisted tale, the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a wealthy patriarch is investigated by spy-turned-private-detective Charles Hayward (Max Irons), who is lured by his former lover to catch her grandfather’s murderer before Scotland Yard exposes dark family secrets. On the sprawling estate, amidst a poisonous atmosphere of bitterness, resentment and jealousy in a truly crooked house, Hayward encounters three generations of the dynasty, including a theater actress (Gillian Anderson), the old man’s widow 50 years his junior (Christina Hendricks), and the family matriarch Lady Edith de Haviland (Glenn Close). Directed by: Gilles Paquet-Brenner Starring: Glenn Close, Terence Stamp, Max Irons, Stefanie Martini, Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks |
The Star - Clip
| The Star - Clip In Sony Pictures Animation's The Star, a small but brave donkey named Bo yearns for a life beyond his daily grind at the village mill. One day he finds the courage to break free, and finally goes on the adventure of his dreams. On his journey, he teams up with Ruth, a loveable sheep who has lost her flock and Dave, a dove with lofty aspirations. Along with three wisecracking camels and some eccentric stable animals, Bo and his new friends follow the Star and become unlikely heroes in the greatest story ever told – the first Christmas. Directed by: Timothy Reckart Starring: Steven Yeun, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly Clarkson, Anthony Anderson, Kristin Chenoweth, Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey |
Love, Simon - Trailer
| Love, Simon - Trailer Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it's a little more complicated: he's yet to tell his family or friends he's gay and he doesn't actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he's fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing. Directed by Greg Berlanti (Dawson's Creek, Brothers & Sisters), written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (This is Us), and based on Becky Albertalli's acclaimed novel, LOVE, SIMON is a funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story about the thrilling ride of finding yourself and falling in love. Directed by: Greg Berlanti Starring: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Tony Hale |
Paddington 2 - Trailer
| Paddington 2 - Trailer While searching for the perfect present for his beloved Aunt Lucy’s hundredth birthday, Paddington sees a unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber’s antique shop, and embarks upon a series of odd jobs to buy it. But when the book is stolen, it’s up to Paddington and the Browns to unmask the thief. Directed by: Paul King Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw |
The Final Year - Trailer
| The Final Year - Trailer THE FINAL YEAR is a unique insiders' account of President Barack Obama's foreign policy team during their last year in office. Featuring unprecedented access inside the White House and State Department, THE FINAL YEAR offers an uncompromising view of the inner workings of the Obama Administration as they prepare to leave power after eight years. Directed by: Greg Barker Starring: Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, John Kerry, Samantha Power, Susan Rice |
November Criminals - Trailer
| November Criminals - Trailer A pair of college-bound friends (Chloë Grace Moretz and Ansel Elgort) find themselves falling for one another, but after the mysterious murder of their classmate, they defy the authorities to uncover the truth. Also stars Academy Award® nominees Catherine Keener (Best Supporting Actress, Capote, 2005) and David Strathairn (Best Actor, Good Night, and Good Luck, 2005). Directed by: Sacha Gervasi Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Ansel Elgort, Catherine Keener, David Strathairn |
The Road Movie - Trailer
| The Road Movie - Trailer A mosaic of asphalt adventures, landscape photography, and some of the craziest .... you’ve ever seen, Dmitrii Kalashnikov’s THE ROAD MOVIE is a stunning compilation of video footage shot exclusively via the deluge of dashboard cameras that populate Russian roads. The epitome of a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it documentary, THE ROAD MOVIE captures a wide range of spectacles through the windshield—including a comet crashing down to Earth, an epic forest fire, and no shortage of angry motorists taking road rage to wholly new and unexpected levels—all accompanied by bemused commentary from unseen and often stoic drivers and passengers. Directed by: Dmitrii Kalashnikov Starring: |
Smallfoot - Trailer
| Smallfoot - Trailer An animated adventure for all ages, with original music and an all-star cast, “Smallfoot†turns the Bigfoot legend upside down when a bright young Yeti finds something he thought didn’t exist—a human. News of this “smallfoot†brings him fame and a chance with the girl of his dreams. It also throws the simple Yeti community into an uproar over what else might be out there in the big world beyond their snowy village, in a rollicking story about friendship, courage and the joy of discovery. Directed by: Karey Kirkpatrick Starring: Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Gina Rodriguez, Danny DeVito, Yara Shahidi, Ely Henry, Jimmy Tatro |
Lady Bird - Clip- Bad Decisions
| Lady Bird - Clip- Bad Decisions In LADY BIRD, writer/director Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine “Lady Bird†McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amidst a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home. Directed by: Greta Gerwig Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet,, Beanie Feldstein, Lois Smith, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Odeya Rush, Jordan Rodrigues |
The Thousand Faces of Dunjia - Trailer
| The Thousand Faces of Dunjia - Trailer With THE THOUSAND FACES OF DUNJIA, legendary director Yuen Wo Ping and writer/producer Tsui Hark breathe new life into the wuxia genre, weaving together fantasy, humor, and breathtaking martial arts action. Dao, a naïve young constable, discovers a secret society with supernatural abilities that has protected mankind for centuries. As he’s drawn into a power struggle within their ranks, they learn that an ancient creature with the power to destroy the world is rising - and it will take all of their powers combined to stop it. Directed by: Yuen Wo Ping Starring: Aarif LEE, Dongyu ZHOU, NI Ni, DA Peng |
Daisy Ridley Is Ready to Leave Rey Behind After ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’
By Sheryl Oh
A new Rolling Stone feature about ‘The Last Jedi’ reveals some shattering news for Rey fans.
According to an interview with Rolling Stone, Daisy Ridley isn’t keen on playing Rey beyond the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi has already felt like a different beast throughout its promotional campaign so far. While it is certainly possible to assume that the film will sport parallels to Empire Strikes Back — in keeping with how The Force Awakens channeled A New Hope — the freshness of the footage revealed for Rian Johnson‘s upcoming addition to the franchise so far looks more promising. All this despite keeping within Skywalker drama. But as a sequel series in general, Episodes VII-IX have always had the challenge of looking at what the future holds.
The Last Jedi will reportedly be one of the last films directly involved with the Skywalker saga if Episode IX director J. J. Abrams has anything to say about that: “‘I do see it that way,’ he says. ‘But the future is in flux.'” This poses big questions about how Lucasfilm plans to move forward, even with the confirmation of Johnson’s new trilogy set in the Star Wars universe.
But something remains crystal clear from the Rolling Stone profile, at least according to Ridley. She has no desire to continue playing Rey after her contract is up upon completion of Episode IX, which is honestly a shame, but completely understandable. Per Ridley:
“No,” she says flatly. “For me, I didn’t really know what I was signing on to. I hadn’t read the script, but from what I could tell, it was really nice people involved, so I was just like, ‘Awesome.’ Now I think I am even luckier than I knew then, to be part of something that feels so like coming home now.”
But, um, doesn’t that sort of sound like a yes? “No,” she says again, smiling a little. “No, no, no. I am really, really excited to do the third thing and round it out, because ultimately, what I was signing on to was three films. So in my head, it’s three films. I think it will feel like the right time to round it out.”
Star Wars has always been about big set pieces, with episodes culminating in consequential, fundamental battles between the forces of good and evil. It makes sense for Ridley to bow out after her run is over, to make way for a new series of stories waiting to unfold. I, for one, have always wondered what potential Star Wars had beyond the Skywalkers’ immediate vicinity. This was one of the reasons the characters of Rogue One worked so well for me, even if the story circled back to A New Hope. The idea of meeting fresh characters who could have completely different backstories was thoroughly exciting. There was a time that Luke, Leia, and Han were thrust into the limelight, brand new characters facing an audience with zero context to fall back on. It might be a great time to explore a reset button of sorts for Star Wars should the core cast of the current trilogy — Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, and Oscar Isaac as Poe — not return.
But Rolling Stone also poses the question of Ridley’s return 30 years later, much like Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford did, to which she replied, “Who knows? I honestly feel like the world may end in the next 30 years, so, if in 30 years we are not living underground in a series of interconnected cells … then sure. Maybe.” But again, it’s like, who knows. Because the thing I thought was so amazing, was people really wanted it. And it was done by people who really love it.”
In this regard, we can easily hope that Rey’s ending need not be tragic or even final. Ridley has given so much to the franchise already with her impeccably effective performance as Rey. Trailers and clips from The Last Jedi all hint towards a further honing of her talents in the role. Hence, the feeling of reading that Rey will be moving on after Episode IX is honestly bittersweet. Nevertheless, the potential of Star Wars, and indeed Ridley’s career as an actress without the franchise, is primed to flourish anyway.
The article Daisy Ridley Is Ready to Leave Rey Behind After ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ appeared first on Film School Rejects.
Anya Taylor-Joy & Olivia Cooke in Full Trailer for Indie 'Thoroughbreds'
"You ever think about just killing him?" Focus Features has debuted the full-length official trailer for the indie dark comedy thriller Thoroughbreds, which first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film is one of Anton Yelchin's other final films, but really stars two young actresses as the leading ladies: Anya Taylor-Joy & Olivia Cooke. These two ladies seem so badass in this. They play two upper-class teen girls in suburban Connecticut who rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. When they get together again, they make plans to take out their stepfather - which they both hate. The full cast includes Paul Sparks, Francie Swift, and Kaili Vernoff. This actually looks like some very dark, devious fun, all about how they try to get rid of their stepfather. Definitely worth a look, have fun here.
Here's the full official trailer (+ poster) for Cory Finley's Thoroughbreds, direct from YouTube:
You can still watch the first teaser trailer for Finley's Thoroughbreds here, to see the original tease.
Childhood friends Lily and Amanda reconnect in suburban Connecticut after years of growing apart. Lily has turned into a polished, upper-class teenager, with a fancy boarding school on her transcript and a coveted internship on her resume; Amanda has developed a sharp wit and her own particular attitude, but all in the process of becoming a social outcast. Though they initially seem completely at odds, the pair bond over Lily's contempt for her oppressive stepfather, Mark, and as their friendship grows, they begin to bring out one another's most destructive tendencies. Their ambitions lead them to hire a local hustler, Tim, and take matters into their own hands to set their lives straight. Thoroughbreds is both written and directed by first-time filmmaker Cory Finley. This first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Focus Features will release Thoroughbreds in theaters starting March 9th, 2018 early next year.
The Rainbow of Xavier Dolan’s Colors
By Jacob Oller
The director has an eye for the flamboyant.
Québécois wunderkind Xavier Dolan has earned recognition for a lot of things. His acting, directing, and writing have all merited awards in the past, but the multi-hyphenate’s most immediately impactful creations are his bold single shots.
Some of this is creative framing (which can sometimes break the fourth wall), some is provocative actor blocking. Undeniably, though, his use of colors is present throughout. Bright primary colors or more contemporary darker tones lend their powers to Dolan’s lens.
Aiding us in seeing this, Corina Tuyama’s color-coded supercut tracks the absolute saturation Dolan is able to attain in some of his scenes. Segmented by color, the video finds cohesion across a diverse filmography and beauty in almost every frame.
The article The Rainbow of Xavier Dolan’s Colors appeared first on Film School Rejects.
Birth, Death, and Dramatization: The Invention of the Modern Documentary
By Jacob Oller
Truth needs a little creativity sometimes.
In the early 1920s, director Robert Flaherty decided to film the incredible and different society of Inuits that he’d stumbled upon. He ruined the first draft, then went back and reshot what later became 1922’s Nanook of the North, a feature-length docudrama that became the controversial catalyst for a documentarian divide along the lines of complete realism.
Some scenes of Flaherty’s film were staged, redone on sets, or otherwise dramatized. Creativity was imposed upon real events rather than inventing them from whole cloth, but there was still a feeling of duplicitousness among some viewers and critics. However you fall in the debate, there’s no denying its impact on the future of documentary. The form has become wide-ranging in its reenactment of events, stories, and ideas – all in the service of truth.
One Hundred Years of Cinema, focusing on the historical impact of Flaherty’s documentary/docudrama/whatever, still levies some well-researched blows at the film’s trickery, making the video essay an entertaining lesson.
The article Birth, Death, and Dramatization: The Invention of the Modern Documentary appeared first on Film School Rejects.
[The Daily] New York Critics Like Lady Bird
[The Daily] Goings On: The Non-Actor, LA Weekly, and More
‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ Slays Its Way Onto Blu-ray with a Jolly Good Collector’s Edition
By Rob Hunter
Christmas comes early as Scream Factory brings a merry murder spree home to glorious HD.
‘Tis the season for holiday movies, and while conversations will surely be held regarding the glorious likes of Die Hard and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang this particular post is going in a different direction. Holiday horror films bring their own unique brand of cheer, and one of the most infamous is coming to Blu-ray next month from the delightfully twisted folks at Scream Factory. Keep reading for a look at the brand new Collector’s Edition of the controversial classic that is 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night.
Young Billy is just a boy when he witnesses a deranged man in a Santa Claus outfit murder his parents, but things go downhill from there when he’s stuck growing up in a nun-run orphanage. The mother superior’s cruelty heightens his already unstable state of mind, and by the time he turns eighteen it appears he’s grown into a normal young man. April Fools! Billy’s (Robert Brian Wilson) still bonkers, and when he’s convinced to play Santa at his local department store the final twig snaps in his fragile mind, and he begins killing all the naughty people in his path.
Director Charles E. Sellier Jr. made four films, and while the other three are mostly unseen by human eyes his Christmas-themed slasher immediately entered into pop culture infamy. Silent Night, Deadly Night caused outrage upon its release as concerned parents and religious groups protested the portrayal of Santa as a maniacal killer. The controversy only fueled interest in the film further, but lost amid all the noise is the truth that the movie is a legit good time for horror fans.
The slasher elements are pretty straightforward, Santa costume aside, with a mix of T&A and bloody kills (most noticeable in the uncut version) delivering familiar but fun beats. We get axes to the neck, hammers to the head, and even a topless Linnea Quigley impaled onto deer antlers. What lifts it above many in the genre fray, though, is its sense of humor. The film avoids obvious punchlines and instead finds laughs in the absurdity of the situations, the overly straight-faced dialogue delivery, and more. It’s no Pieces — of course, nothing is — but it’s a fun watch.
Scream Factory’s new Blu-ray is a two-disc Collector’s Edition with the theatrical cut (79 minutes) on disc one and the unrated cut (85 min) on disc two. Both are sharp-looking HD transfers with the uncut version featuring standard definition inserts of previously excised footage. Extras are numerous and include trailers, a poster/still gallery, and more.
- *NEW* Slay Bells Ring: The Story of Silent Night, Deadly Night [45:51] — Thorough and entertaining documentary about the film’s production featuring interviews with various cast/crew members.
- Oh Deer! Linnea Quigley on Silent Night, Deadly Night [21:50]
- *NEW* Christmas in July: Silent Night, Deadly Night Filming Locations Then and Now [10:00]
- *NEW* Commentary with actor Robert Brian Wilson and producer Scott J. Schneid
- Commentary with writer Michael Hickey, composer Perry Botkin, editor Michael Spence, and producer Scott J. Schneid
- Audio interview with director Charles E. Sellier Jr. [58:11]
- Santa’s Stocking of Outrage [4:31] – Offers a selection of quotes from concerned parents and critics slamming the film for various reasons.
Buy Silent Night, Deadly Night on new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Amazon.
The article ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ Slays Its Way Onto Blu-ray with a Jolly Good Collector’s Edition appeared first on Film School Rejects.
‘The Devil’s Backbone’ Validated as the First Masterpiece from Guillermo del Toro
Sixteen years after its release, The Devil’s Backbone finally gets its due with Matt Zoller Seitz and Simon Abrams’ coffee table tome.
I first saw The Devil’s Backbone at Georgetown’s West End Cinema in the fall of 2001. The “big screen” there was, and still is, little more than a glorified television and its vistas barely stretched beyond my own wingspan. West End has always housed a small crowd, but just months after 9/11 it seemed like no one wanted to go out to the movies and I practically had the place to myself. A family sat in the second row, which basically made them part of the film’s foreground, and I plonked myself in the fifth row next to the concrete pillar that supposedly supported the basement auditorium. This sunken box may be the most claustrophobic setting in all of Washington DC, but it provided an exquisite experience that’s impossible to separate from my enthusiasm for the film itself. Trapped in that cinema I felt like one of those lost boys trying to keep my head down, avoiding the attention of the bully Jacinto, and the specter of “the one who sighs.” Idel too was a kid who collected bugs and got his classic literature through comic books, and did his best to ignore the war brewing just outside his doorstep.
The Devil’s Backbone is a sorrowful dream of a film that I’ve never fully awoken from. Having grown up in the 1980s aligning myself with The Monster Squad, Little Monsters, and Clive Barker’s affection for the Nightbreed, I never wanted to be a part of this grotesque human race. We’re the freaks to be feared, not those that go bump in the night. Ghost stories that make demons out of the spooks are wishful thinking. Guillermo del Toro is our geek champion of the macabre and absolutely understands the true terror of humanity. He uses the dead to remind us not only of our wretched past, but also the never-ending threat we pose to each other. In The Devil’s Backbone, del Toro gives an impassioned plea for the innocent and the lost. If enough of us listen to the sighs of our history, maybe we won’t be doomed to repeat it.
However, the film never got its proper due. Del Toro practically walked off the set of The Devil’s Backbone and right into filming Blade II, which was the necessary step to getting Hellboy financed. From there his fanboy status was triumphantly coronated. When he returned to the Spanish Civil War for the grief-soaked fairy tale, Pan’s Labyrinth, a proper fandom was finally ready to assign labels like “genius” and “masterpiece.” And here I was, this little hipster cineaste chirping, “I loved him first with The Devil’s Backbone.” Someone would inevitably out-cool me with, “Yeah, well, I was there at Cronos.” We’d high-five each other and attend every premiere screening of the next del Toro film, but we were always ready to chime in after the credits, “Gosh, it’s good, but it’s no Devil’s Backbone.” It’s hard to shut up about your first love. What’s the difference between passionate and obnoxious? Sure, we got our Criterion discs with their rad Mike Mignola covers, but that was pretty much the only recognition us OG fans ever got. Until now.
Devil’s Backbone fanatics, you are not alone. Matt Zoller Seitz and Simon Abrams have partnered up in celebration of Guillermo del Toro’s third feature film with their massive new coffee table book. Here are 160 pages of interviews, production art, character bios, storyboards, behind the scenes photos, and deep dive analysis from the cast and crew that crafted the film. This is no mere collection of DVD special features. It’s not just a tribute, or a library addition to impress your friends. This book is concocted with as much love as any other piece of art. Here is a confident proclamation that The Devil’s Backbone belongs next to cinema’s grandest achievements. Sit down, crack it open, pay attention.
“The Devil’s Backbone is director Guillermo del Toro’s first masterpiece. It also marks the moment when del Toro truly became del Toro, a filmmaker who knows popular genres inside and out but is never content just to work within their conventions.”
In the forward, Guillermo del Toro describes the period after making Mimic over at Miramax as a state of limbo. The book hints but never revels in the gory details of his dealings with The Weinsteins. The juicy gossip can be found elsewhere, but the pertinent point is that there was a brick wall he couldn’t quite scale in Hollywood. He describes himself as “too weird for full-on summer fare, too in love with pop culture for the art house world, and too esoteric for hardcore fandom.” He’s a proud weirdo, as worthy of a Basil Gogos painting as Frankenstein’s monster, but could the market support such a portrait?
Seitz and Abrams spend a good chunk of their book setting the scene for the film’s creation. Before The Devil’s Backbone pulled him from oblivion, del Toro was facing the end of a career that had barely begun. In swoops Pedro Almódovar (Talk To Her, All About My Mother) to supply some confidence and much needed funding. Artist saved by artist. Del Toro simultaneously tackled his spook story alongside a Western adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, and as his father’s kidnapping…yes, you read that right…his father’s kidnapping. That mad story is held till the end of the book, but the details of which will not only give you a greater appreciation for the final product, but also a damn good, terrifying laugh.
“If you are a humanistic filmmaker – if you are ultimately in favor of individuals – it comes across in your films. If you see every John Carpenter movie, they are misanthropic meditations, all of them. They are ultimately the work of a very deeply disillusioned but very angry, two-fisted, red-blooded American. He has a feistiness in him that is undomesticated.”
Del Toro enjoys discussing the films of others as much as his own, probably even more so. He’s thrilled to pull you down the rabbit hole of his influences, tittering at the adventurous and repressed sexuality found within the work of Hitchcock and Buñuel, or the rage boiling beneath every frame of Carpenter and Romero. For him, every film is a political statement. Yes, even Blade II. The simple act of where you place a camera to shoot a moment of violence reveals your political leanings. Shall we relish in the blood or recoil? You may have come to The Devil’s Backbone looking for a good fright, but you’ll walk away from the ordeal suffering the ache of regret. Here is a ghost that is sometimes scary, but never evil. The Other is not your enemy, it’s the The Known you have to worry about.
To say that every piece of The Devil’s Backbone is a bite torn from del Toro’s being would be a disservice to the countless others that contributed to the film. We meet them all here in the book: Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz, Javier Navarrete, Luis De La Madrid, Guillermo Navarro, Federico Luppi, Junio Valverde, Fernando Tielve, Marisa Paredes, and an army of others. Seitz and Abrams excel in giving witness to their profound efforts. Yet, not one of these artists would deny that they existed to realize their director’s vision. From the authors to the creators, this book is ultimately an exhaustive and loving appreciation of del Toro’s mad weirdo mind.
The conversation had between Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Zoller Seitz, and Simon Abrams represented within this book is the late night/early A.M. dinner you’ve always dreamed of being invited to but never will be. It’s also a massive validation to the fans who’ve idolized The Devil’s Backbone above all other ghost stories. You can quit being a jerk about your love, here’s all the proof that you’ll ever need.
The article ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ Validated as the First Masterpiece from Guillermo del Toro appeared first on Film School Rejects.
6 Filmmaking Tips From James Franco
The director of ‘The Disaster Artist’ on how not to have a disastrous filmmaking career.
Actor-turned-filmmaker James Franco is such a busy, multitasking multi-hyphenate that we like to joke about him having clones. As far as we know, he does not, and it truly is possible for one person to do all that he accomplishes on camera, behind the camera, on the page, in the classroom, and everywhere else his interests take him. Below are six tips for at least one of those jobs he’s mastered.
Go to Film School
A lot of filmmakers these days recommend skipping film school. You can just go out and make something and learn by doing, they believe. The resources are cheaper and more accessible than ever, after all. But Franco sees benefits in film school, which he attended later in life after making a name as an actor. Now he pays it forward by teaching filmmaking to others.
One important part of the film school process, he says, is showing your work to others and having it evaluated. Here’s a video from 2011 of Franco talking to poet Frank Bidart about why he disagrees that film school has become obsolete:
Challenge Yourself
One of the filmmakers Franco has worked with and been inspired by is Danny Boyle, whose diverse filmography is the basis for this other lesson from the Filmmaker list:
“Good directing comes from a great challenge. What I see in Danny Boyle is somebody who picks subjects that push him, technically and formally, to try new things. So if you look at his body of work, each subject in each film is different. It’s made in a different way, and part of that comes from the subject. So for example, our movie, ‘127 Hours,’ how do you film a man isolated in a canyon and make that feel dynamic? He had to discover it. And a lot of it was discovered as we made it.”
Surround Yourself With Great Collaborators
More than any other area for advice, Franco focuses most on the importance of collaboration. When recommending film school, it’s partly so you can find your gang of future collaborators. When addressing his needs as a director, especially when he’s also acting in the project, he stresses having people he likes and can trust on both sides of the camera. You can’t have an ego or block out constructive suggestions or feedback or act like a tyrant.
In the video below of a recent Q&A following a screening of The Disaster Artist, he says:
“When you act and direct yourself — and I have a show on HBO now too, ‘The Deuce,’ where I play two characters, twins, and direct — you need great producers and collaborators around you. Otherwise, you’re just stuck in that mode of like acting and then running to the monitor and watching… It’s just like, if you have the people around you that you’ve worked with and you trust and everybody’s in sync, that you can all just depend on each other and you could just sort of go play musical chairs and it’s very fluid.”
Watch In the Shadow of Women
Lastly, here’s an easy tip that simply requires watching a movie. Franco used to write a movie column for IndieWire (in collaboration with himself, in the form of someone called “Semaj”), and early last year he recommended Philippe Garrel’s 2015 romantic drama In the Shadow of Women, particularly to anyone becoming a filmmaker:
“I t’s not just the story that is cut down to the essence — it’s the way it’s shot, the dialogue, the acting style, everything is minimalist…Every aspiring filmmaker should watch this film to see how much bang they get out of an economic approach. You don’t need tons of coverage, explosions, guns, or even complicated backstory to make a compelling movie…I’m going to recommend this movie to all my graduate film students. They should all aspire to making a first feature as concise and as powerful as this one.”
What We Learned
If you see The Disaster Artist, you’ll notice that Franco is working with many people he’s worked with time and again over decades. He can not stress enough his reliance on having a comfortable set with friends and trusted collaborators. But he also stresses the importance of working hard, so collaboration isn’t something necessarily to lean on. You have to do this out of a love for the craft and the challenge.
Of course, it also probably doesn’t hurt to be handsome enough to get your foot in the door as a movie star and be inherently organized enough to multitask so much to get everything done you want to do.
Additional research and reporting by Natalie Mokry.
The article 6 Filmmaking Tips From James Franco appeared first on Film School Rejects.
John Waters Reveals His Top 10 Films of 2017 - 'Baby Driver' Takes #1
It's that time again! With the end of the year approaching, everyone begins revealing their own Top 10 best of the year lists. One of our favorite lists that kicks off this time is from filmmaker John Waters' - his Top 10 favorite films from this year. For 2017, Waters has chosen yet another (expected) eclectic mix of films, lead by Edgar Wright's musical action thriller Baby Driver (which is not really an eclectic choice) and ending with the biopic about the Finnish man who introduced kinky leather fashion to the gay world, Tom of Finland (watch the trailer). I always like hearing about Waters' favorites because he has such unique taste. Plus it's a good way to start the discussion about everyone's favorites as we get closer to the end of the year.
We're still waiting for his comments, and will update this post with a few of them once they're released via ArtForum. But for now, here is the list of John Waters' Top 10 Films of 2017:
1. Baby Driver (dir. Edgar Wright)
2. I, Olga Hepnarová (dirs. Petr Kazda, Tomáš Weinreb)
3. The Strange Ones (dirs. Christopher Radcliff, Lauren Wolkstein)
4. Nocturama (dir. Bertrand Bonello)
5. Wonderstruck (dir. Todd Haynes)
6. Graduation (dir. Christian Mungiu)
7. The Wizard of Lies (dir. Barry Levinson)
8. Lady Macbeth (dir. William Oldroyd)
9. Wonder Wheel (dir. Woody Allen)
10. Tom of Finland (dir. Dome Karukoski)
What do you make of Waters' Top 10 list? How many of these has anyone else even seen? As always, his list is full of some of the most oddball picks but nonetheless damn good films. Surprisingly, this year I've only seen three of these (Baby Driver, Graduation, Wonderstruck), I was expecting to be familiar with more of them but - nope. I have actually heard of most of them, and I want to see them at some point. I've heard that Nocturama is damn good, and I've also heard glowing things about Lady Macbeth. I'm not sure how Wonder Wheel made this list, but I honestly still haven't seen it. And if you're curious about I, Olga Hepnarová, it's a feature film about a real Czech woman who in 1973 drove a truck into a group of innocent people in Prague - you can watch the trailer here. As always, it's good to pick at least one of these you haven't seen yet to see.
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