"We were heading for insolvency." IFC Films has unveiled the trailer for a documentary titled Framing John DeLorean, which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival before it opens in theaters this summer. From the doc directors of The Atomic States of America, Batman & Bill, and 11/8/16, this film is a bit of a hybrid doc + feature, combining archival footage and interviews with fun recreation footage starring Alec Baldwin as the infamous John DeLorean. He was more than just the man who created the iconin car (from Back to the Future), John DeLorean was also a con man, drug trafficker, and womanizer. The film "covers the enigmatic automaker’s rise to stardom and shocking fall from grace. Interviews with [his] colleagues, employees, lawyers, friends and family who knew him best are interspersed with dramatized vignettes." The small cast also includes Morena Baccarin, Josh Charles, Dean Winters, and Michael Rispoli. There is an actual feature film about John, titled Driven coming up, but this doc looks wildly fascinating anyway.
Here's the first trailer for Don Argott & Sheena M. Joyce's doc Framing John DeLorean, from YouTube:
Money, power, politics, drugs, scandal, and fast cars. The incredible story of John DeLorean is the stuff of a Hollywood screenwriter's dreams. But who was the real John DeLorean? To some, he was a renegade visionary who revolutionized the automobile industry. To others, he was the ultimate con man. For the first time, this film recounts the extraordinary life and legend of the controversial automaker, tracing his meteoric rise through the ranks of General Motors, his obsessive quest to build a sports car that would conquer the world, and his shocking fall from grace on charges of cocaine trafficking. Interweaving a treasure trove of archival footage with dramatic vignettes starring Alec Baldwin, Framing John DeLorean is a gripping look at a man who gambled everything in his pursuit of the American Dream.Framing John DeLorean is co-directed by doc filmmakers Don Argott (Rock School, The Art of the Steal, Last Days Here, As the Palaces Burn) & Sheena M. Joyce, both of whom directed the docs The Atomic States of America, Batman & Bill, and 11/8/16 together previously. This is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival next month. IFC will then release Framing John DeLorean in select theaters + on VOD starting June 7th this summer.
"This is more than just a friendship, it's an alliance. An invincible alliance." Fox Searchlight has debuted the full-length official trailer for Tolkien, the biopic film about beloved author J.R.R. Tolkien (in full: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien), who grew up in both South Africa and Birmingham, England. This trailer follows a brief teaser last month, and the film opens this summer. Nicholas Hoult stars as Tolkien, focusing on his formative years at Pembroke College and as a soldier in World War I, and how those events influenced his work. The full cast includes Lily Collins as his great love Edith Bratt, along with Colm Meaney, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Tom Glynn-Carney, Craig Roberts, Laura Donnelly, Genevieve O'Reilly, Pam Ferris, and Derek Jacobi. This is a tremendous trailer, playing up the profoundness of his writing (and his Lord of the Rings stories). Maybe I'm just a sucker for this kind of filmmaking, but I'm all for this.
Here's the full-length official trailer for Dome Karukoski's Tolkien, direct from Searchlight's YouTube:
You can still watch the short teaser trailer for Karukoski's Tolkienhere, to see the original reveal again.
Tolkien explores the formative early years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the “fellowship” apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels.Tolkien is directed by Cyprus-Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski, director of the films Beauty and the Bastard, The Home of Dark Butterflies, Forbidden Fruit, Lapland Odyssey, Heart of a Lion, The Grump, and Tom of Finland previously. The screenplay is written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. This hasn't be set to premiere at any film festivals or otherwise yet. Fox Searchlight will release Karukoski's Tolkien in select theaters starting May 10th, 2019 this summer. Who's interested?
"That sense of mortal fear is what the quintessence of horror is about." A trailer has launched for an indie doc titled In Search of Darkness, described as the "definitive 80s horror documentary" that is "bringing the Horror community together to celebrate the most iconic era in cinema history." Directed by journalist / cinephile David A. Weiner, the doc is an exploration of '80s horror movies through the perspective of the actors, directors, producers, and SFX craftspeople who made them, and their impact on cinema. Featuring interviews with people including Keith David, Joe Dante, Heather Langenkamp, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Greg Nicotero, Bill Moseley, Kane Hodder, Sean S. Cunningham, and many others. There are quite a few cinema history, and specifically horror, documentaries being made. This one looks like it'd be a great double feature with Horror Noire, which was released quite recently as well. Enjoy.
Here's the official promo trailer for David A. Weiner's doc In Search of Darkness, direct from Vimeo:
"Hearts pounding, palms sweaty, muscles tense; that thrill of creeping dread was matched only by the satisfaction of knowing the person in the next seat was even more terrified." For the first time in Horror history, In Search of Darkness is bringing together ‘80s icons, modern horror greats, and popular horror influencers to create the most complete retrospective documentary of the genre ever made. Featuring 40+ interviews filmed and more than 100 hours of incredible material.In Search of Darkness is directed by movie geek David A. Weiner, making his feature directorial debut on this film. Previously he worked as a production assistant on a few Hollywood movies in the 1990s before becoming a journalist. The film is being financed on Indiegogo leading up to its completion and release later this year. No official release date is set yet, but it's expected to arrive sometime this summer. For more, visit Indiegogo or follow @80sHorrorDoc.
"Have no fear!" Signature Entertainment in the UK has debuted an official trailer for a Russian historical action epic titled Furious, which originally opened in Russia in late 2017 but is only now arriving in the UK. Formerly titled Legend of Kolovrat (or Легенда о Коловрате), the visually stunning film is based on the extraordinary real-life events surrounding the Mongol capture of the Russian city of Ryazan in the 13th century. An amnesiac soldier by the name of Evpatii Kolovrat vows to get his revenge on the Mongol army that ransacked his village. This stars Ilya Malakov as Kolovrat, along with Aleksey Serebryakov, Aleksandr Ilin, Yuliya Khlynina, Andrey Burkovskiy, Igor Savochkin, Polina Chernyshova, Timofey Tribuntsev, and Aleksandr Tsoy. This looks heavily inspired by the visuals of Zhang Yimou, with very vibrant colors in the midst of epic landscapes and massive battles. I'll admit I'm curious about it.
Here's the official UK trailer (+ two posters) for Fayziev & Shurkhovetskiy's Furious, direct from YouTube:
As the Mongol hordes begin ransacking Russia, the invaders pillage and burn down the cities, flooding Russian soil with blood, until a Ryazan takes up arms to defend his people. Kolovrat leads a detachment of several hundred brave souls to avenge his love, his people, and his homeland. A breath-taking story of courage, endurance and self-sacrifice for the sake of one's country. The legendary story of Kolvorat the Furious.Furious, originally titled Legend of Kolovrat (or Легенда о Коловрате), is co-directed by Russian filmmakers Dzhanik Fayziev (Kammi, The Turkish Gambit, August Eighth) & Ivan Shurkhovetskiy (second unit director on Stalingrad). The screenplay is written by Dmitriy Raevskiy, Evgeniy Raevskiy, and Sergei Udakov. This originally opened in Russia in late 2017, though is just now getting released in English-language countries. Furious will be released in UK cinemas + on VOD this spring. Anyone want to see this?
Do you folks remember the band Polyphonic Spree? They were quite popular back in the early 2000s and had too many members to count. You might have seen them in an episode of Scrubs. Anyway, their shtick involved dressing up in white robes and singing really upbeat, catchy, sun-filled pop songs that put smiles on people’s faces. All they wanted to do was make the world a cheerful place, but if you saw them without understanding the context, you may have mistaken them for a crazy cult.
Well, A24 has unveiled the first unsettling trailer for Ari Aster’s hotly anticipated horror flick, Midsommar, and it shows what that band could have been if they actually were sinister cultists. Here, everyone is dressed in white gowns, their surroundings are tranquil and bright, sunny colors are everywhere. Smiling faces greet us, but those people are not to be trusted. The movie has all the makings of a modern folk horror classic if it lives up to the potential of the teaser.
Brace yourself for some nightmare fuel and watch the trailer for yourself:
I like what this movie is selling. We know that it’s about some out of town tourists who visit a remote Swedish village and get mixed up with the local residents. As the trailer shows us, they’re celebrating a festival that only comes around once every 90 years, where things promise to get “pretty crazy.” It makes the Fyre Festival look like a trip to Disneyland.
Stories like this are the bread and butter of folk-tinged terror, but Aster’s brand of fright fare has its own unique vibe that gets under the skin. Hereditary has already shown us that he knows how to create a creepy cinematic cult, but they were mostly relegated to the background in that movie. In Midsommar, we’ll be spending a lot of time with a wacky sect.
The first shot is very soothing to look at. Who doesn’t love a summer’s day with the sun smiling at the world from the sky? Right from the get-go, though, something doesn’t feel right. The tone is all out of wack and disquieting, which makes the pleasant visuals not seem so friendly after all.
A bird’s eye shot shows us some cars driving down a road that’s surrounded by pretty woodland. If the history of horror cinema has taught us anything, however, it’s that the city is the safest place to be. No road in the heart of nature leads to a place where survival is guaranteed.
Dani (Florence Pugh) makes her way into the festival and observes her surroundings. She looks slightly taken aback, but she’s soaking it all in. Little does she know that she’s about to witness all kinds of strange shenanigans later on.
Joined by a group of fellow visitors, our protagonist makes her way into the camp. All seems fine. Of course, now we’re asking ourselves how many of these foolish mortals are going to make it out alive. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say only some of them will. And that’s me being optimistic.
Meet Ula (Liv Mjönes), who greets her victim with a courteous “Hi.” She also serves as the trailer’s narrator and goes on to discuss how the victim is unable to speak or move as a result of the potent concoction she’s been given. We don’t know what her plans are for whoever she’s talking to, or why she insists on them being defenseless, but they aren’t going anywhere.
Do you ever get that feeling that everyone is watching you? That’s what’s going on here. Whatever the purpose is for the walk down this aisle remains unclear. Judging by the looks on those people’s faces, though, it’s important. What’s the significance of that plant up ahead? Is it even significant? We do not know. But everyone is all dressed up for this occasion, and you know it’s going to be a memorable day.
If people in this horror haven weren’t so messed up, then their community would actually be quite a nice place to live. Even the carriages are covered in flowers. I appreciate their enthusiasm for agriculture and the way they decorate their surroundings in nature’s awesome splendor.
We don’t know what this cult believes in, but nature plays an essential part in their way of life. The etchings on the walls depict water, fire, and earth. There’s also a clear connection between nature and death here, which makes me think that this festival is all about giving back to Mother Nature with blood offerings.
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the genius of cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski. When this movie is released, you can expect to see plenty of shots on the One Perfect Shot Twitter feed. This scene is also pure folk horror; a group of people, holding hands, dancing around a circle is like something from The Wicker Man. Here we see a quirkiness on display that’s quite reminiscent of the 1973 classic as well. That said, it’s difficult to watch any folk horror movie without being reminded of Wicker Man in some way.
Cut to a mysterious girl (Julia Ragnarsson) standing amid a crowd of passers-by. She’s caught someone’s glance, but we don’t know who yet. She also appears to be one of the locals if her choice of clothing is anything to go by. Little else is known, but this moment in the trailer indicates that she has an important part to play.
Jack Reynor‘s character sniffs some smoke-filled concoction. Perhaps this is how the villagers make their victims’ bodies become temporarily paralyzed? Or maybe it’s just some herbal remedy that eases stress after a long day. Who knows. The scene seems friendly enough at first glance, but there’s probably some sinister act at play here.
Say hello to Will Poulter‘s character, who’s wandering around looking lost and suspicious. Of course, the most striking image here is the canopy in the background, which looks like it’s full of secrets. Do we even want to know what happens in there? I think we do. Regardless of what horrors await within its yellow walls, this is another stunning shot.
William Jackson‘s character looks like he’s just learned something eye-opening. Let’s not forget that spending time amongst cults can also be a learning experience. Maybe he’s been converted to their belief system, but we can only speculate. However, whenever you see an elderly wise man holding a book, it’s safe to assume that some kind of wisdom is being shared.
Granny is on the loose.
Cut to the festivities beginning and the proverbial poop about to hit the fan. Still, everyone is singing, smiling, and having a good time in their own twisted way. This is very discomforting, but it’s nothing compared to what’s about to transpire…
Take this headless man for instance, whose bloody handprints cover some kind of symbol. Well, isn’t this trailer just full of surprises? It’s also nice to know that this movie will contain some of the disturbing violence that made Hereditary so memorable. Aster isn’t afraid to take the viewer on a violent, uncomfortable journey.
Let’s not forget that this story takes place in the countryside during summer, which means there’s a high pollen count and lots of wasps. This woman is probably experiencing an allergic reaction to something. We’re at that point in the trailer now where it’s essentially just a montage of disturbing imagery assaulting our senses. What it lacks in coherency it more than makes up for in nightmare-inducing thrills.
Earlier on, we saw murals depicting people carrying torches. Here, the villagers seem to be following some of the instructions depicted in the drawings. A ritual is in motion, but who’s going to end up being set aflame?
Someone has realized that coming to this festival was a mistake. Sure, they can run. But where will they go?
Two creepy figures make their way towards the action. Once again, that yellow canopy is in the background teasing us with its secrets.
Again, this trailer really understands the power of disturbing imagery as a selling point. In the space of a second, we see someone’s guts followed by someone else trying to fly off a cliff. Whoever said that this festival gets pretty crazy wasn’t lying. Personally, I wish these moments were left out of the trailer as they’ve spoiled some of the demented treats this movie has in store for us. Still, I get the impression that this is only a taste of what’s to come.
The trailer ends on an ambiguous note with the sounds of crying and moaning coming from a building. Whatever is happening inside has caught the interest of our protagonist, who peeks through the door as any normal person would. But if her final expression is anything to go by, she’s going to come to regret her decision. All in all, though, this is a fitting end to a trailer that has left us with more questions than answers. Needless to say, Midsommar has our attention.
Captain Marvel is what I refer to as a “brand-name superhero.” The character’s origin can be traced all the way back to when Shazam’s original name trademark expired at DC Comics back in the 1960s and Stan Lee swiped it for Marvel, for obvious reasons. As such, when it comes to Captain Marvel, the name usually tends to be the most important thing. Indeed, it was the whole reason the character was created, and as such, sometimes Captain Marvel feels like a walking advertisement for the entire comic book brand.
It follows, then, that Captain Marvel’s powers aren’t particularly evident on first impression. Superman is, eh, super, Batman is obsessed with bats, Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider. But what does Captain Marvel do, anyway? Captain a vessel? Be marvelous? Presumably, these things are part of the package, but Captain Marvel’s powers are bit more nuanced than that.
The original Captain Marvel was actually a man with the extremely obvious and somewhat cringy name Mar-Vell. A non-blue member of the Kree race, he came to the planet Earth for very Mass Effect reasons: apparently, our planet happens to be very close to a space-warp of some sort. He proceeded to impersonate a recently deceased senator for his secret identity and his base super-strength (because the Kree home planet has higher gravity, of course) led him to become a sort of store-brand Superman.
But we don’t care about Mar-Vell, precisely because he’s boring. Today we’re going to be focusing on Carol Danvers, the protagonist of the upcoming Captain Marvel film (portrayed by Brie Larson). Carol is decidedly more interesting and badass than Mar-Vell, and her backstory work as an Air Force officer put her in contact with a number of other Marvel characters, like our Oscar-winning buddy Logan and Ben Grimm.
Carol gets her first taste of meta-humanity through a very Dr. Manhattan-type event, where some science thing explodes and gives her superpowers. This event, which doesn’t seem to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe version’s backstory, grants her fairly generic Kree powers — the kind Mar-Vell had, including super-strength and all the bonus features that come with it, like toughness and stamina. Additionally, she has her own variation on Spidey senses and resistance to poison thanks to her mixed Kree/human DNA (which is either a result of the aforementioned science thing explosion or part of her base genetic makeup, depending on how far back you go into comics history). With this basic powerset, Carol Danvers became Ms. Marvel, a Kree warrior who was almost like Danvers’ inner Hulk; Ms. Marvel had a different personality from Carol and joined the Avengers in 1978, serving as their second official female member, next to Wasp.
Jen Bartel / Marvel Comics
Carol’s 1977 solo title, Ms. Marvel, set her up as a distinctly feminist hero, although it must be said that this was 1970s feminism written by men. As such, there was some controversy surrounding what was done with the character in the 80s. Ms. Marvel was subject to some serious Killing Joke treatment in The Avengers #200, where she was kidnapped and raped. The supposed feminist-ness of the Ms. Marvel character was brought into question, with her more broadly and overt feminist leanings contrasted against things like the events of that infamous comic book issue and her costume, which was obviously designed by a dude. The public reaction to these developments led to some major retcons, and after some adventures with the X-Men, Ms. Marvel became Binary.
As Binary, Carol got a major power upgrade. Her transformation into the new hero was the result of some Brood experiments that linked her with a “white hole,” which gave her some really insane and potent capabilities. These Binary powers definitely appear to be part of the MCU Captain Marvel’s moves, and will likely tie into how she saves the day in Avengers: End Game as they give her power over heat, electromagnetism, gravity, and the ability to travel faster than light (i.e., the time-travel power that Samuel L. Jackson accidentally spoiled) and survive in a vacuum. This makes her an ideal “space-hero,” since she doesn’t need to find a ship every time she wants to hop planets, and if Star Wars has taught us anything, I would hope it would be that light-speed travel is pretty important for being in space.
In 1992, the Avengers characters got a major crossover titled Operation: Galactic Storm, which involved the earthling Avengers getting involved in some space politics. I can’t imagine that Avengers: End Game won’t be adapting some elements of this crossover, and Carol Danvers as Binary plays a huge part in this storyline. Carol fell out of popularity in the 90s, but the New Millennium brought her back as a key player in Marvel Comics, first in 2005’s House of M crossover, when she first took on the Captain Marvel hero name, and later in the 2008 Secret Invasion storyline, which is where the Skrulls that our movie Captain Marvel is set to fight come out to play.
But it was the July 2012 Captain Marvel soft-reboot, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, that really cemented the Captain Marvel that we’re going to see in theaters. Along with a new haircut and a better costume, Danvers got to keep access to her Binary powers, albeit on a smaller scale than when she was an X-Person. For those of you not keeping track, at this point our girl Carol has: super-strength and attendant secondary powers can blast stuff with anime-style stellar energy and absorb the same, and has FTL flight and resistance to a lack of atmosphere. Even Thor was winded after being blasted out into the vacuum of space in Infinity War. Captain Marvel is not hindered by such petty concerns like breathing.
DeConnick was the first woman to be a regular writer for Captain Marvel, which is… strange, for a supposedly feminist series and character, but she absolutely killed it, and the Carol Danvers of the new millennium is perhaps the best known Captain Marvel, with the most consistent characterization and well-defined power set. She’s even got the power to go Super-Saiyan and regain her full Binary powers with exposure to enough energy. When Feige and other Marvel insiders talk about how she’s one of the most powerful MCU heroes, they’re probably not kidding; she’s gone toe-to-toe with the Hulk in comics before, and she’s in a smaller weight class to boot.
Beyond that, Carol Danvers is effectively the go-between for Earth and Space in Marvel canon, so her presence serves as a vital link in the chain that ties all these movies together, and I for one am excited to see her kick some Skrull butt in Captain Marvel, which drops on the 8th.
In the late 1990s, Adam McKay made a name for himself as a writer for Saturday Night Live and got a start behind the camera directing shorts for the show. After leaving SNL, McKay teamed up with good friend Will Ferrell and made some of the most successful comedies of the 2000s, including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers. The duo also launched the comedy video website Funny or Die in 2007.
By 2015, McKay made significant steps towards branching out in terms of genre, co-writing the screenplay for Ant-Man and bringing Michael Lewis’s bestselling breakdown of the United States housing bubble to the big screen in The Big Short. In 2018, he returned again to politically charged recent history with the Dick Cheney biopic Vice. McKay has tackled everything from superheroes to the financial crisis, and he’s learned a whole lot about filmmaking along the way. Here are six of his best tips:
Take a Two-Gear Approach
In 2015, McKay received a nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film at the Directors Guild of America Awards for The Big Short. As such, he and fellow nominees Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Tom McCarthy, George Miller, and Ridley Scott had a lengthy roundtable discussion as part of the annual DGA Meet the Nominees Symposium in February 2016. In the discussion, McKay addressed The Big Short‘s notably innovative and daring editing, elaborating on a “two-gear” approach that also serves as excellent advice for other filmmakers:
“Half of directing is hiring really great people, and we got Hank Corwin, who’s an amazing editor. So early on, when I met with him, I told him—I said, ‘Go to town […] just try what you want to try.’ And he was like, ‘Really? I’m not going to get fired?’ And I was like, ‘No, no, go for it.’ So I would come in every week and look at some rough-cut scenes he had and they were really exciting. And some of them I knew went too far, but I didn’t say anything at that point. So I started the first half of our editing process almost like a hippie teacher from the 1970s who refused to give out grades, and everyone’s cool, and then what happens is we start to get the movie, the movie starts to come into shape, and then I become like Otto Preminger. […] I’m counting frames. […] So it was really two gears. The one gear was like, exploration, we brought our composer in really early […] everything was open, we tried everything; and then the second gear is ‘Now let’s make a movie.'”
You can watch the full roundtable discussion below; the featured quote starts at 2:28:07:
“Every single hundredth of a second is gold. Every choice you make within those two hours should have thought behind it. […] My editor sometimes laughs at me when I do the three, four frame thing. And he said to me at the end, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever done a movie that’s this tight!’ Every fucking moment, we’re going to attack. We’re not going to waste time, we don’t want energy lacking. There has to be information, some character, something visual, something always has to be alive.”
Adam McKay directs a scene for ‘Anchorman’ (DreamWorks LLC)
Use the Fairytale Test
In an interview with the Adobe-run website 99U in December 2015, McKay described a technique he uses to help tell if a story idea is worth turning into a movie: condensing it into a fairytale (adapting plot points to castles and princesses as necessary) and telling it to his youngest daughter as a bedtime story. Even if you do not have a small child to entertain, the filmmaker makes a compelling case for trying out this technique at home:
“I do it to see where the holes are, where the momentum is and to see if pieces don’t flow in a story. I think of it as zooming in on a map on a computer. I’m zooming into the story in its most raw form and making sure the weight-bearing beams, the six or seven storytelling points, are there. Because sometimes you can jump into an outline and later realize that you’re missing an entire piece of the story. If I can tell it as a five-minute story to a child, I at least have my basic building blocks.”
McKay with Sam Rockwell and Christian Bale on the set of ‘Vice.’ (Credit: Matt Kennedy / Annapurna Pictures)
A Day of Shooting is all About Your First Shot
In March 2015, McKay was the featured guest on ‘Slate’s “Working” podcast, in which individuals from a variety of fields break down their day-to-day routines. The filmmaker discussed the three different hats he wears — writer, producer, and director — and the different working styles he adapts accordingly. When it comes to directing and being on set, he gave the following advice (beginning at 23:29):
“A day of shooting is all about the first shot. Because once you get that, you’ve got your momentum. […] And then you’ve got momentum. Then you’re going, ‘Okay, we need to get the other side of that coverage’ — now the lighting setups are getting less because you’ve kind of done your master lighting setup for this location and now you start to move a little bit and, you know, you’re just shooting and shooting and thinking and giving notes […] lighting, setup, shoot, is kind of the pattern of the day.”
McKay on the set of ‘Anchorman 2’ (Paramount Pictures)
Changing Tone is Key
McKay participated in the filmmaking video interview series DP/30 back in December 2015, and shared the following great advice about crafting a dynamic story in a world where genre boundaries are quickly disintegrating:
“I talk about movies in terms of energy, and not in a sort of crystal, New Age way, but just, as far as, ‘What is it doing to me as an audience member?’ Whether I’m laughing or not, to me it’s all about the rhythms of energy and changing tones. And there’s a time to really push and there’s a time where […] you know, you don’t want to be pushed the entire time. You want things to be funny sometimes, joyful sometimes, jeopardy sometimes. That change in tone, as we’re seeing genres break down more and more — I don’t think the genres really hold any more — those changes in tone become key to screenwriting and directing.”
You can watch the full interview below:
Test Screenings are Hell (But Worth It)
In a January 2019 interview with journalist and filmmaker Adam Curtis for The Guardian, the two directors discuss the ordeal of test screenings. Although McKay uses many rounds of test screenings as part of his editing process, he admitted that early test screenings especially can be a rough time. Nonetheless, he makes the case that the pain is worth it in the end:
“You’re naked. You’re really naked. It’s like you’re going out to dinner and, before your date has arrived, you’ve opened up the door of the bathroom, and you’re completely naked and still combing your hair. That’s really what you’re doing, and it’s almost always disastrous, but I find the pain very helpful. I can take the punch in the mouth. It just keeps us honest.”
What We Learned
Generally speaking, people like to put things into boxes. Into particular roles — director, editor, writer, cinematographer, the list goes on — or categories: drama, comedy, romance, science-fiction, and so forth. Admittedly, all of these labels indicate different things, possess different definitions and connotations. However, as McKay notes, genre conventions are so established at this point that they’re getting a little old. As demonstrated by his dynamic and evolving career as a filmmaker, creatively crossing borders and blurring boundaries is more important than ever in making inventive, engaging films.
"Wild forest, birds, trees, and wind." This short film is going to give you some serious chills. Blackwood is a new horror short film from Australia, made by production studio The Pixel Kitchen based in Melbourne, written and directed by filmmaker Andrew Montague. The short follows a sound recordist named Nikki, who tries to discover the source of a mysterious sound whilst she is out recording on location in a forest. Just watch without knowing anything else. Starring Danielle Butlin as Nikki. This is a clever concept for a short, and it's an impressively scary film, pulling off some real chills without much. This is definitely worth a watch. Also a reminder - Blackwood is a sound driven horror film, so headphones are highly recommended.
Description via YouTube: "Nikki, a sound recordist, picks up a strange sound whilst filming on location in a forest. After a disturbing encounter, she wakes up alone, confused and filthy in her house. Her only chance at finding out what happened to her, lies within her sound recorder." Blackwood is written and directed by filmmaker Andrew Montague. Made by production studio Pixel (official website), based in Melbourne, Australia. The short is produced by Haley Polacik, featuring cinematography by David Guest, and music + sound design by Nick Van Cuylenburg from White Owl Sound. For more updates from The Pixel Kitchen, follow their Facebook page. For more info on the short, visit the YouTube page. For more shorts, click here.
"Do you have any idea how loud you're being right now?" Level Film out of Canada has debuted the first trailer for an indie drama titled Firecrackers, the feature debut of Canadian writer/director Jasmin Mozaffari. This premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and stopped by a number of international festivals including Zurich, Hamburg, São Paulo, and Stockholm. Michaela Kurimsky & Karena Evans star as Lou & Chantal, best friends, who plan to get out of their isolated, run-down town and move to a city far, far away. When Chantal's possessive ex violates her during a night of partying, the girls decide to exact their revenge on him. The more Lou fights tooth-and-nail to save her friendship and hold onto her dreams, the more she spins out of control as she begins to realize that freedom comes at a cost. The cast includes Callum Thompson, David Kingston, Tamara LeClair, Scott Cleland, and Dylan Mask. See below.
Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Jasmin Mozaffari's Firecrackers, direct from YouTube:
Lou (Michaela Kurimsky) and her best friend Chantal (Karena Evans) plan to get out of their isolated, run-down town and move to a city far, far away. When Chantal's unstable and possessive ex violates her during a night of partying, the girls decide to exact their revenge on him through a night of vandalism and debauchery. The consequences of their actions are devastating, threatening the girls' chances of ever leaving. The more Lou fights tooth-and-nail to save her friendship and hold onto her dreams, the more she spins out of control as she begins to realize that freedom will come at a high cost.Firecrackers is both written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Jasmin Mozaffari, making her feature directorial debut after a number of short films previously. This premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and also played at the Vancouver, Zurich, Hamburg, São Paulo, and Stockholm Film Festivals. Level Film will open Mozaffari's Firecrackers in Canadian theaters starting on March 29th later this month. Who wants to watch this film?
Here's the first official US trailer (+ poster) for Pella KÃ¥german & Hugo Lilja's Aniara, from YouTube:
Synopsis from TIFF: Based on a prescient epic poem by Swedish Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson, Pella KÃ¥german and Hugo Lilja's astounding and eerie Aniara charts the fate of the human race after they have destroyed the planet. One of several ships launched into space to start anew on Mars, Aniara is designed to meet the needs of a species that has just consumed its birthplace: it's a giant shopping mall. (It may be the best use of mall-as-metaphor since George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead.) When an accident knocks the ship off course and disables its steering, the likelihood that these once-sanguine colonizers will ever reach their destination gradually begins to shrink.Aniara is co-directed by Swedish filmmakers Pella KÃ¥german and Hugo Lilja, both making their feature directorial debut after a number of short films and other projects previously. The screenplay is also by KÃ¥german & Lilja, based on Harry Martinson's poem. This premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year (read our review). Magnolia will release KÃ¥german & Lilja's Aniara in select US theaters starting sometime this summer. Follow @AniaraFilm. Who's intrigued?
