What is the biggest ethical concern for documentary today? Yes, it's a BIG question. But it's worth trying to answer even if it's not easy to do so. Ethics are such a big deal in documentary discourse, probably the toughest topic to wrap our heads around, or come to many conclusions about. Panels and lectures on documentary ethics can be found at nearly every film festival and conference, and sometimes they occur at more random times and places, too. And none of these discussions ever finish with definite resolutions.
Last week I attended one of these irregular events, one hosted byThe New York Film/Video Counciland titled"Crossing the Line? A conversation on ethics and documentary film."P.O.V.'s Yance Ford moderated the talk, which featured filmmakers Albert Maysles ('Grey Gardens'), Tia Lessin ('Trouble the Water'), Stephanie Wang-Breal ('I Love You, Mommy') and Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman ('Catfish') talking about dilemmas involving underage subjects, hidden cameras and representations of character.
While it would be nice for you readers if I just transcribed that conversation, it wouldn't be fair to the NYFVC, so instead I opened a very vague ethics question of my own to filmmakers and writers to see what kind of discussion I could generate as a supplement to the panel, which I'll still try to quote where appropriate.
Let me begin by saying I'm somewhat surprised at how uniform many of the responses I received were, especially given how diverse the answers tomy last Doc Talk questionwere. Basically the most important ethical concern for the majority of people can be boiled down to what a well known director, who requested anonymity, replied:"arguments are fine; propaganda is not."
This documentary filmmaker clarifies that the issue isn't about objectivity,"which is ridiculous and impossible,"but rather"theneed to be fairand to embrace the contradictions of everyday life"without distorting the truth.
Blogger Landon Palmer, ofFilm School Rejects, also recognizes a problem with the term"documentary objectivity,"claiming,"I'm not sure what that's supposed to look like."As did many others polled on the topic, Palmer sees no reason for nonfiction films to be taken as works of journalism.
"I think documentarians shouldembody a perspective, own it, and argue it well,"he says, citing'Inside Job'as a film that succeeds at this."Having a purpose, a thesis, and a perspective on a given issue does not make a documentary a deceptive work of propaganda. That said, especially if the work is political, documentaries should make compelling and thorough arguments, which means knowing the opposition to one's argument and treating it fairly with solid counter-argumentation and no misrepresentation."
Filmmaker Robert Greene agrees that documentary as journalism"is a flawed, limited thing,"even while admitting that thelegal controversywith'Crude'is a serious issue and highlighting'Restrepo'as a great example of the"new journalism"documentary."I don't want my films called 'journalism,' he says."There's too many decisions made for story and cinematic purposes in the best nonfiction films for them to be considered 'journalism.' And thank god for that."
Greene, whose excellent verite film about his half-sister,'Katiwith an I,'opens in NYC this Friday, concludes that above all"you have to tell the truth, even if it takes manipulation, editing and 'directing' to get you there."
How much manipulation is okay, though? With any doc,UGOfilm critic Jordan Hoffman wants to know"just how much story-tinkering did the documentarians have in capturing the material?There needs to be transparency."
This line of questioning is, of course, always directed towards one director in particular."I find myself wishing that documentarians like Michael Moore wouldlet the evidence speak for itself, without the self-conscious interjection of the author/filmmaker,"professes writer Drew Morton, who contributes toPajibaandThe Playlist."I realize that documentaries are narratives that are constructed by a person or a team but, like the most convincing arguments, evidence tends to hold a more persuasive place than style or rhetoric."
Moore has long been accused of intentionally manipulating facts for his rhetoric and storytelling, as have others, like recent Oscar-winner Josh Fox ('Gasland'). And some believe this is a very big problem."A documentary filmmaker who knowingly presents false information as the truth hurts the entire genre,"argues documentary filmmaker James Dirschberger ('Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer')."Because we're privileged to live in an age of abundant information, finding the information isn't the hard part;our burden is fact checking."
"I think misleading an audience will always be dangerous ground with documentary, agreesFrontline Clubprogrammer and documentary blogger Charlotte Cook, ofThe Documentary Blog."There will always be the debate about degrees of truth within the medium, and it's a great debate to have. {But} when audiences really begin to doubt documentary and not trust filmmakers, we lose a huge amount of what makes the impact of documentary so powerful."
Hoffman references'Exit Through the Gift Shop'as a film that requires less transparency than most documentaries because that's its point, while publicist and blogger Brian Geldin (akaThe Film Panel Notetaker) welcomes works like 'Exit' and 'Catfish' yet is concerned with the responsibility they may have to their audience.
"If I could borrow the line, 'imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production' from this year's new Heterodox Award at the Cinema Eye Honors, then I would have to say that I am more than thrilled to see filmmakers mixing narrative and documentary to craft original new stories,"he stresses."However, I feel there may be ethical implications if one doesn'tclearly state up front whether what they're showing is real or not real."
Sometimes determining what's real or not can be tricky for the filmmakers themselves, and not always in ways that fact checking will even help. Michael Barnett, who helmed the recent Slamdance hit'Superheroes,'offers an example where he fortunately was able to not only realize a subject was being dishonest for the sake of notoriety but also to make an additional ethical decision as a result.
"We knew that a subject we thought could carry the film was lying to seem more exceptional somehow,"he explains (not about the figure pictured above)."It was not my job to tell this subject how or what to show us. My job was simply todocument his version of the truth, so that is what we did. After getting back to the edit, we knew that if we used the footage, it would make the film more entertaining and extraordinary, but it would not be truthful. So in the end, we decided not to use the footage."
Others see the greater issue being in how honest and upfront filmmakers are with their subjects, particularly in an age where people are more willing and anxious to be in front of a camera and can easily be exploited as a result."In order to deliver his point of view the documentary filmmaker is often using people as protagonists,"notes'Plastic Planet'director Werner Boote."As films might harm their protagonists or lead to collateral damage, the documentary filmmaker needs to measure those effects with the benefit the film will generate for the public. He needs tocarefully choose who he is using and for which purpose and which damage might occur to them."
Similar to the points about documentaries needing to maintain truth as a priority in nonfiction storytelling, filmmakers should also maintain respect for their subjects' true identity even when these people are being molded to a narrative."I recognize that some docs hinge on getting access to antagonists,"says Basil Tsiokos, a programming associate for the Sundance Film Festival's documentary feature sections (also a writer atindieWIREand his blogWhat (Not) to Doc),"so some deception might be part of gaining that access. It's a bit tricky, but as a general rule documentary filmmakers should endeavor toneither take advantage of nor belittle their subjects, without whom they wouldn't have much of a film."
FilmmakerRyan Fergusonadds that being upfront with subjects regarding intent and adhering to the idea of informed consent is a"really dicey issue."He brings up 'Catfish' as a doc that outraged him for this very reason, yet acknowledges how tough it must have been for the guys in that situation.
"From the filmmaker's perspective, that conversation can be difficult because you don't want to scare your participant away,"he says,"but you also need to make them aware of the possible ramifications of their decision to go in front of the camera. They need to understand that you will be doing your best to accurately represent what they said and did, and thatthere's a difference between 'accurate representation' and objective truth. I feel pretty lucky that I haven't told a story with a bad guy in it yet. I haven't had to ask anyone to participate that I also know is going to be portrayed in unflattering light in my film. That would be {another} difficult conversation to have."
At the NYFVC panel, Schulman confronted the critics who see 'Catfish' as a kind of freak show."You can't really concern yourself with whether or not everyone's going to believe {your subject} is being treated fairly,"he argued."You just have totrust your own moral instinct. Editing a documentary, you can make them seem like any type of person you want; they can be evil, altruistic, absolutely anything. So you just trust that you present a fair portrait of them. Even with my own character, there were probably more negative moments of myself than positive because it made sense for the story. It runs the gamut how people respond to {Angela} and it always seems a projection of their own personal issues. It's different for every viewer, so having thought about all that, she would have been the flattest character ever created."
Maysles, who went so far as to quote reviews of 'Grey Gardens' and unpublished rebuttals from the Beales, offered this insight on the issue:"Most important is the possibility, probability andhope that behind the eye of the cameraman is a poet, somebody who's sensitive to the feelings of the people being filmed. The kind of person who, immediately looking at them for the first time, seeing through their eyes, you can say, 'I trust that person.'"
Then there is the matter of how close filmmakers get to their subjects.'Enemies of the People'director Rob Lemkin claims,"due to the eternal presence of your film or material on the internet, the biggest problem isthe unending relationship between filmmaker and subject(with its associated responsibilities)."
The hard part about the relationship concern is that while some objective filmmakers see it best to sever ties with subjects after filming, it's not an easy break if you've spent the proper amount of time getting close enough to people to gain the appropriate amount of trust. This applies most to documentaries about children, such as the in-production film'The Anderson Monarchs,'about an inner-city girls' soccer team.
"When working with minors its important that their parents and guardians are very involved from the start of the project, even at the research stages,"says that film's director, Eugene Martin."Children are constantly being exploited for commercial purposes and so many parents are very wary of filmmakers. As a parent of three children, I am right there with them! I would have to think long and hard about letting people film my children. It's hard to know if they have good intentions, unless the maker happens to be a major artist with a great track record. I findthe more transparent and open a dialogue you can establish the betterthe filmmaking outcomes as well."
What's the procedure for kids where the consenting power is hard to define? This is something that came up during the NYFVC panel, as Wang-Breal has been struggling with ethical concerns while documenting adoption stories, like that of her last film, Wo Ai Ni Mommy ('I Love You, Mommy') and her next."I'm working on a new film about foster care,"she told the crowd,"and I'm again faced with the dilemma of how I portray a child, because some of these kids are ages 2 to 4. I'm trying new styles to see if I can have a child present physically before their case is resolved."
In the case of the young subject of 'I Love You, Mommy,' Wang-Breal addressed the post-filming relationship issue raised by Lemkin."I filmed Faith at this extremely transformational period of her life, and I'mstill engaged with her. And I hope that just being involved with her life until whatever age that I can help her understand what we went through, what we did, and {later} discuss it."
Martin tells me that"staying true to oneself"is the primary ethic to adhere to, while also producing emotionally uplifting stories, since reality TV is there to bring us down.Screen Rant's Kofi Outlaw might disagree with him, as he believes"being objective and not slantingor manipulating the documentary in order to cater to the film market"is key.
Also chiming in from Screen Rant, Vic Holtreman likewise brings it back to objectivity and"true journalistic intent,"contrary to the points made elsewhere."Seems to me that today documentaries all start out with some definite agenda and set out to bolster that view, whatever it may be,"he complains. Instead filmmakers need"tobe as neutral as possible and allow viewers to reach their own conclusions."
Still, the great ethical concern is back to what's communicated to the audience, whether subjectively or objectively, and not in a pandering fashion."The entire act of making a film, documentary or otherwise, is about taking an ethical stand in the world,"according to filmmaker Audrey Ewell ('Until the Light Takes Us'), who asks the following question of herself when making a documentary:"Am I, and the ideas I amplify with film,contributing to people's ability to think critically, to build lives around a more complex understanding of the hidden mechanisms that shape our world?
Critical thinking can be stimulated with films that aren't exactly transparent, however, and in fact unbelievable documentaries are obviously the most misleading, warranting additional exercising of the mind in ways that are unnecessary and unfair. Pajiba's Dustin Rowles urges the importance for full disclosure of who is behind your film.
"As with any film with an agenda,"he says,"it's important to know who is pushing it(and adjust our cynicism accordingly). The doc'What the Bleep Do We Know?'is actually a good example. I don't think it was widely known until after it had been released that a film about 'quantum physics and consciousness' was funded and directed by people associated with Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. And those people are f*%ing crazy. (Full disclosure: My father taught at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, and he was f*%king crazy.)"
Now it's your turn to offer an answer and/or continue the discussion. What do you think is the most important ethical concern for documentary today?
четверг, 31 марта 2011 г.
Doc Talk: What's the Most Important Ethical Concern for Documentary Today?
среда, 30 марта 2011 г.
'Twilight' With Zombies to Pair Teresa Palmer With Nicholas Hoult
Palmer faced a few recent setbacks with collapsed casting. However, earlier this year she starred in the not-so-loved'I am Number Four,'leaving a lasting impression on fans as the badass alien, Number Six. She's also been attached to some bigger-name projects, including Oliver Stone's'Savages.'If she joins Levine, she'll be a lead player -- the daughter of a military leader who tries to make peace between zombies and humans.
Hoult will appear in this summer's'X-Men: First Class'as Beast, and beastie he shall remain tackling the role of a zombie named R, who begins a relationship with Palmer's character after slaughtering her boyfriend. Oops. Their friendship has the potential to transform his flesh-eating ways (for shame).
Production is expected to start this summer, probably after Hoult wraps up'Jack the Giant Killer.'Is this the right move for the actress, and more importantly, how do you feel about the 'Twilight' angle? Marion's book has gotten some positive reviews so far, leading us to believe there's more than just sappy romance at play. In an interview with our own Todd Gilchrist, Palmerstated,"... Unfortunately when you play the love-interest role, it's like a lot of the action and a lot of the cool stuff gets to go to the guys because you're usually the damsel in distress and they usually come in and swoop in as your hero and you fall in love with them because of that."Is she in for more of the same with 'Warm Bodies?'
вторник, 29 марта 2011 г.
Today on indieWIRE: 'The Tree of Life' Gets UK Release Ahead of Cannes& More
Today on indieWIRE:'The Tree of Life'jumped the gun,'Midnight in Paris'trailer hits,'The Interrupters'gets bought, and more.
- Turns outTerrence Malickhas a soft spot for the Brits. It was long rumored that his latest,'The Tree of Life,'would premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But today,news hitthat the hyped film will in fact first premiere in the UK on May 4, a week ahead of the French event.
- In further'The Tree of Life'news,a brand new poster made its big reveal today,along with some gorgeous stills from the drama.
- While'The Tree of Life'isn't yet confirmed for Cannes,Woody Allen'slatest romp,'Midnight in Paris,'is opening the festival. Clickhereto watch the just released trailer.
- Over at Caryn James' blog,James on screenS,the critic raved aboutNeil Jordan'sminiseries'The Borgias,'starringJeremy Irons,but was cold on'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,'currently playing on Broadway withDaniel Radcliffeas its star.
- indieWIRE'sEric Kohn,meanwhile, offered his takes on two indies hitting theaters this week:Michaelangelo Frammartino's'Le Quattro Volte'andQuentin Dupieux's oddball killer-tire flick'Rubber.'
- The 40th edition of New Director/New Films is in full swing at the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of the Lincoln Center in New York.Women and Hollywoodsat down with the director of'Belle Epine,'who's in town for the event, whileindieWIREposted its final two interviewsof its annual Meet the ND/NF Filmmaker series.
- Another New York-based film event, the Tribeca Film Festival, turns 10 this year.Today the festival announced its closing night film,Edward Burns' 'Newlyweds.'
- And in acquisition news, Joonas Berghäll's and Mika Hotakainen's Finnish documentary'Stream of Life'got picked up by PBS for U.S. broadcast, whilethe Cinema Guild nabbedSteve James' acclaimed documentary'The Interrupters'for U.S. release.
понедельник, 28 марта 2011 г.
Amy Adams to Play Lois Lane in Zack Snyder's 'Superman'
So far Zack Snyder's 'Superman' movie is known as being the film that likes to break big casting news on Sunday. Not long after the final box office numbers for the weekend revealed a second place finish for Snyder's 'Sucker Punch,' the director phoned actressAmy Adamsfrom Paris to let her know she had been chosen to play Lois Lane in his upcoming 'Superman' movie, due in theaters in December 2012.
On choosing Adams to play one of the most iconic love interests in superhero history, Snyder told theLA Times,"It goes back to what I've said about Superman and making him really understandable for today. What's important to us is making him relevant and real and making him empathetic to today's audience so that we understand the decisions he makes. That applies to Lois as well. She has to be in the same universe as him {in tone and substance}."
Adams joins a cast that includes Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, as well as Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Kent's adoptive parents here on earth. The hunt is still on for the film's villains, rumored to be the trio of Zod, Ursa and Non, who last battled Superman on the big screen in 'Superman II.' Actors who are rumored for those roles as of now include Edgar Ramirez and Michael Shannon.
Do you think Amy Adams is a good choice for Lois Lane? Sound off below.
воскресенье, 27 марта 2011 г.
The Weinstein Co. Launch Videogame Label -- Five Games We Want to Play
Bob and Harvey Weinstein have made quite a career for themselves in the movie industry. Back in '79 they founded Miramax films, then in 1993 gave birth to genre imprint Dimension. 2005 saw them launch their new label, The Weinstein Company. Having pretty much done everything they can in the movie biz, the brothers today announced their newest venture: a move into the videogame arena.
Their new company is TWC Games, a"label that will utilize The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films' strong and recognizable properties, and work with external partners to develop and publish video games for mobile, social, and console platforms."
Games based on movies (and vice versa) are rarely good, but the Weinstein library does feature a few interesting properties that could make compelling games. Who wouldn't want to play a game based on the Colin Firth drama 'A Single Man?' What about an action shooter based on'The King's Speech?'Take that, stuttering! Those ideas are brimming with potential.
Joking aside, we spent the afternoon combing through the Weinstein library and came up with a few properties that actuallycouldmake decent videogames. Hit the jump for our choices.
First on the list is the underperforming Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double feature'Grindhouse.'Tarantino's 'Death Proof' would be the harder film to adapt, but the idea of playing a voloptuous babe trying to escape from the clutches of Stuntman Mike seems like an idea that would meld the typical driving title with a survival horror game component. With the right developer, it could maybe work.
Rodriguez's 'Planet Terror' is a much easier adaptation. A film about a zombie outbreak where a girl with a gun leg takes on the undead is practically money in the bank. Japanese game developers have been making crazy games like this for years ('Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad' and even 'Bayonetta' spring to mind) and this would fit right in. It's a film ready to be turned into a 3rdperson shooter where the player guides Rose McGowan on her quest to save her small Texas town. The potential here is limitless.
Next up, how about a videogame version of Cormac McCarthy's'The Road?'People are always complaining about the quality of writing in videogames (and rightfully so– most game narratives are pretty juvenile), so why not adapt something written by a master writer like McCarthy? This action game would allow players to jump into Viggo Mortensen's shoes as he tries to keep himself and his son alive in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Think 'Fallout 3' and you're on the right page. This could make another great action game– players would kill cannibals or use stealth to get around them, forage food, and try to complete their journey without becoming some savage's dinner.
Survival horror games are a big deal, and the Weinsteins could really make waves in this market. Back when the original Nintendo ruled the roost, LJN gave us some terrible games based on 'Friday the 13th' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.' Since then, we really haven't seen any bigscreen horror icons on a console. What could possibly be better than a game version of'Halloween?'Most fans prefer the original to the Rob Zombie remakes, but no one says they have to adapt those stories– they can write entirely new tales (minus the rednecks, one would hope) with Michael running rampant.
Keeping the horror theme going, we think it would be great to finally play a game based on Clive Barker's'Hellraiser'universe. Barker's no stranger to the game world, having released titles like 'Undying' and 'Jericho' to the PC and the various consoles, so it seems like a no-brainer to get Pinhead and the Cenobites into a videogame. Like 'Halloween,' it's probably better that developers just use the characters and jettison the stories (because everything after 'Hellraiser 2: Hellbound' has been awful), but we could see a 'Dante's Inferno' styled game where a character is charged with going inside the Lament Configuration to confront Pinhead and crew on their home turf. Some of us would pay to play that game right now.
Last, but certainly not least, is'Inglourious Basterds.'Tarantino's World War II movie would be different enough to stand apart from the pack in the crowded WWII game market, and would surely have both game fanatics and film geeks interested in checking it out. Developers would have their work cut out for them when it came to transitioning this title from the screen to the console, but in the right hands it could be pretty exciting.
And there you have it. Five games from the Weinstein vaults that should be top priorities for their new videogame venture. What films or other Weinstein properties would you adapt?
суббота, 26 марта 2011 г.
Actors We Miss: Robert Culp
Just over a year ago, on March 10, 2010, actorRobert Culppassed away after a fall outside Runyon Canyon Park. He was 79 years old.
Culp's death was one of those gut-punch news moments. Though he was no longer a prominent part of the cinematic or television landscape, and was at an age where news like this was to be expected, it seemed unreal. We were used to the actor always being there -- not as an imposing, larger-than-life celebrity, but as the subtly magnetic, distinctively voiced uncle you take for granted and always count on. Boasting a career spanning 57 years, and ending only with his death, it seemed like he could never leave.
Though he didn't make a distinct name for himself until 1965, Culp's career began with television back in 1953, delving into the death of Socrates. Only a handful of years later, his career as a life-long law man began, playing Hoby Gilman in Sam Peckinpah's television series,'Trackdown.'
He played the law role more straight-faced and serious back then, but that work led Culp to bring the character to 'Zane Grey Theater,' and after more Western gigs and bit parts his break-out role as Kelly Robinson in 'I Spy.' The ground-breaking show ripped Bill Cosby out of the comedy circuit and made history -- it was the first American TV show to feature a black actor, made Cosby the first black man to win a Lead Actor Emmy (he earned three back-to-back) and brought Cosby leading fame. And Culp was the charismatically silent support.
It wasn't a breakout in the traditional sense, a show leading the actor to a myriad of leading roles and lasting fame. Instead, the '60s series solidified him with a life just out of the spotlight. He was the appreciated, but under-recognized backbone, something that would follow Culp through the rest of his career.
Normal for today's times but pretty rare back then, Culp had begun writing some of his own work right in the beginning with 'Trackdown,' and he earned himself an Emmy nomination for his pen work on 'I Spy' (not to mention the three consecutive acting nominations he lost to Cosby).
A few years after the end of the popular series, he even tried his hand at directing cinematic features, grabbing Cosby for a more serious bite of crime --'Hickey& Boggs.'AsShadow and Actexplains, the film"was barely released or even noticed when it came out in 1972. Since then however, it's grown in stature and now hailed as something of a lost gem of a film that deserves to be rediscovered."(And luckily that same piece notes that it will play through April on MGM HD movie channel.)
As the support -- of the law and his fellow actors -- Culp indelibly impacted the form from 'I Spy' to the '80s wonder of 'The Greatest American Hero.' Ah, Bill Maxwell, the short-tempered and snarky FBI agent who turned a ridiculous idea into a belovedly goofy series with actual heart. Culp's big screen work wasn't much different, whether he played the corrupt mayor taken down by Timothy Hutton and Kim Cattrall in 'Turk 182!' or the president in 'The Pelican Brief.'
Even his biggest cinematic achievement -- the four-time Oscar nominated Paul Mazursky film'Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice'-- followed suit. Though it did, for an all-too-brief moment, allow Culp to play a character outside his usual wheelhouse (filmmaker Bob Sanders), it was yet another piece of great, leading support that ushered his fame to his co-stars (both Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon were awarded Oscar nominations for their work). Nevertheless, Culp's performance imbued the free-love-living filmmaker with more than just ridiculous '60s pulp. Bob easily flew from serious to ridiculous, from swingingly hip man to insecure husband to knowledgeable man.
In speaking about his recently deceased friend,Bill Cosby said:"His contribution in 'I Spy' was very valuable -- in terms of civil rights, in terms of this country, the United States of America. He played a wonderful part, and never asked a question."Perhaps it was this heart that made Culp's impact so notable for his fans -- there was never a sense of overtaking his co-stars, though he certainly had the charisma to follow through.
Instead, Culp was simply the un-crowned king of the sarcastically smart bravado -- something a certainEddie Murphy could never dream of imbuing. Though he's no longer around, and never a truly celebrated leading man of the big screen, he can be seen everywhere -- in every aggravated law man Hollywood throws at us,every older man snarkingover the annoyingly young new blood.
With 163 projects and almost as many characters on his resume, Robert Culp carved a place into our hearts, and he is deeply missed.
пятница, 25 марта 2011 г.
Today on indieWIRE: 'Mildred Pierce' Gets Raves, 'Sucker Punch' Gets Boos& More
Today on indieWIRE,Todd Haynes'first foray into TV land gets a glowing review,'Sucker Punch'gets one to the gut,'The King's Speech'is made kid-friendly, and more.
- HBO's epic,Kate Winslet-starring miniseries'Mildred Pierce'earned rave reviews from critic Caryn James on herJames on screenSblog."For what awards are worth, Winslet seems sure to win the Emmy; it's hard to imagine a more gripping or nuanced performance,"James wrote. TheTodd Haynes('Far From Heaven') directed miniseries premieres Sunday on HBO.
- Things aren't quite so bright inAnne Thompson's roundup of early reviews forZack Snyder's action-packed'Sucker Punch.'Chief among the haters is Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel, who wrote,"Snyder rounded up five of the most buxom young actresses in the biz, women who give five of the flattest performances ever in a humorless quest fantasy about Pussycat Doll inmates trying to escape from an insane asylum."Ouch!
- Speaking of'Sucker Punch,'starEmily Browningopened up to The Playlistabout working with Snyder and how much preparation went into the physically grueling shoot.
- For those of you who wanted to bring your kiddies to the R-rated'The King's Speech,'fear not.The Playlist reported todaythat a PG-13 cut of the Oscar-crowned film will make its way to theaters on April Fools Day.
- French filmmaker Francois Ozon's latest Gallic confection,'Potiche,'hits select cinemas Friday. In anticipation of the film's release,indieWIRE sat down with the'8 Women'directorto talk about working with the venerableCatherine Deneuveand what he has planned next for his loyal followers.
- The 40th edition of New Directors/New Films, co-produced by the Film Society of the Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, got off to a rousing start last night with the New York premiere of the star-studded'Margin Call.'Two directors with films in this year's event,Paddy Considine('Tyrannosaur') andGoran Hugo Olsson('The Black Power Mixtape'), sat down with indieWIRE todish on making it into the festival.
- Yesterday the web grieved over the passing ofElizabeth Taylor. Todaythe independent filmmaking world mourned the loss of documentary pioneerRichard Leacock, who passed away at the age of 89.
среда, 23 марта 2011 г.
Paul W. S. Anderson Talks 'Resident Evil,' Video Games, 3D and 'The Three Musketeers'
-- Paul W.S. Anderson
Welcome to part two of Cinematical's interview with Paul W. S. Anderson (here's part one)! After'Shopping'got the attention of Hollywood industry types, Anderson kicked off his mainstream career with'Mortal Kombat.'From there, his path led him towards bigger and even more sci-fi/action-infused flicks like'Event Horizon'and, of course, the'Resident Evil'movies based on theCapcomvideo games. Here he discusses the evolution of the franchise, 3D versus 2D and his upcoming 3D action period piece,'The Three Musketeers.'
The 'Resident Evil' movies are interesting because the first one started out as a more straight horror movie like the video games, but the other ones have a different feeling to them. What made you decide to take it in a more science fiction direction?
There have always been a lot of science fiction elements in the original source material, in theResident Evilgames themselves. Even though the first game is set in a decaying gothic mansion, you discover beneath the gothic mansion is this high-tech research laboratory where something terrible has gone wrong, so it was a kind of mix of the science fiction and the gothic elements that really interested me in 'Resident Evil.' Then the games again, they have a lot of kind of high-tech weaponry in them, they have a lot of bio-engineering in them; that's all part of the, these science-fiction ideas are all part of the DNA of the video game so we were kind of staying true to the game in one regard. The reason why the movies changed and continue to change is that I personally believe that if a franchise is to survive and to grow, you can't just deliver the same movie over and over again.
Looking at the history of the films, I'm very influenced by looking at the'Alien'franchise, whereJames Camerondelivered a fantastic sequel toRidley Scott'smovie, and Ridley Scott's movie is really, you know, the original 'Alien' is like a flawless film. It's just a work of genius, and forced with following that up, I mean, how do you do that? If you try and make another kind of chamber piece horror movie, you just do the same but to lesser effect. What was genius with the 'Alien' franchise is the way the second movie built upon the first movie... It kept {the} horror, {the} scary elements, but then added more action and opened up the scope of the film and delivered a slightly different kind of film. It was still an alien movie, but it was a different kind of alien movie. And that worked incredibly successfully, and that's really what we've been trying to do all along with the 'Resident Evil' franchise is to kind of keep the original fan base but also keep them engaged and not feel like we're delivering the same kind of horror movie over and over and over again, because people get that tired of that.
I think that's one of the things that the game has done incredibly well. The game has mutated and evolved. It has a lot more action elements than it ever used to, and I think that the fact that, again, the game is changing keeps it fresh and keeps it exciting and keeps its audience, whereas there are other video game franchises that have kind of withered on the wine because they've been too repetitious.Tomb Raiderwould be a perfect example for me. I used to play those games, and then I got bored with them because it was the same stuff with a slightly different background, and I got bored of it. They never made the conceptual jumps that the 'Resident Evil' video game franchise made and that we have been trying to make with the movie franchise as well.
Video gamers can be a harsh fan base. Do you ever have the desire to make a 'Resident Evil' movie that really closely based on the game, if only to placate them?
I think it's hard to -- how do you make something that's so closely based on the game other than you kind of make an animated movie and you do exactly one of the games? And games are different {than} movies... A lot of it is gameplay and that kind of involvement in it. It's less about story and character and action sequences because you're actually part of it. You get different enjoyment out of a video game than you do out of a movie, and they're both fantastic but they're not the same medium. Sometimes they look like are, but you can't just take a video game and, word for word and set for set and blow by blow, transpose it into a movie. That would not be a good movie. There have been movies that have felt that they should do that.
The last reel of'Doom'was entirely a first-person point of view; you couldn't get more like the game. It was like someone had filmed the game, right? It didn't make that a good movie, and it didn't make it a successful movie, and it didn't make it a successful franchise, either. We have deviated from the games but also tried to stay true to them as well, and I think, while some fans complain about that, there are plenty of fans who go watch the movies. I mean, the movies are very successful, and I think the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say, and the fact that we've made so many and people have paid to go see them and then bought the DVDs show that people really do enjoy them.
You're a proponent in 3D in media, as evidenced by your keynote last year at the 3D Gaming Summit. What have you learned over the years about what works and what doesn't, especially in terms of later transferring it to be watched on your home TV, and how are you using that knowledge for projects like'The Three Musketeers?'
I think the difference between 3D and 2D is highly overrated. I think a good, entertaining movie that's shot in 3D can pretty much be transposed directly into 2D, and it really don't make much difference, to be honest. The last two movies I've made have been in 3D, but I've watched them both in 2D a lot, and I still think they work great as movies. You know, the action scenes in 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' are still super-cool and super-entertaining and the scary scenes are super-scary in 2D as well as in 3D. I think they're slightly better in 3D, but I don't think a movie that's shot as a movie falls apart when you make it 2D.
I think you have to shoot a 3D movie correctly for it to work in 3D. So I think you can take a 3D movie and make it 2D and it doesn't make it a bad movie. I think you can shoot a 2D movie and try and turn it into a 3D movie, and you absolutely can make a terrible movie, because I think most of these 3D conversions are awful. Because you need to shoot a movie in 3D and know that it's going to be 3D while you're shooting it and make a bunch of creative decisions that help support that. You can't just take a two-dimensional film and make a 3D film and expect it to be good. It's a flawed technology, the conversion process, and also it's like, it's not a two-way street. You can take a 3D movie and then just take the right eye and make it a 2D film and you don't lose any quality. You can't just create 3D out of 2D and expect it to stand up with something that's shot in 3D.
What about 'The Three Musketeers' and that era lends itself to 3D? How are you going to use it different than it's been used before?
Well, it's never really been used in a big period movie before. I mean, 3D has tended to be for animated films and for a lot of science fiction and horror movies. There hasn't really been a movie that's shot in big historic locations with thousands of extras and horses and sword fights, so it's going to be radically different and very, very exciting. And I think where 3D is very strong is that it's a very immersive medium, you know, and that's as a filmmaker what you really want to do, is you want to immerse your audience in a story, and especially if you want to immerse them in a world they've never been in before, whether it's the world of Pandora or whether it's the kind of underground lairs of the Umbrella Corporation in 'Resident Evil' or, indeed, 17thcentury Paris. I mean, it's an environment you've never been to before, and it's a strange and fascinating environment, and I think 3D really helps immerse the audience in it. So it's very exiting, and the movie looks unbelievably beautiful.
The footage that I saw onEntertainment TonightofOrlando Bloom-- he looks really wild, and he mentions that he rides in an airship. Is there going to have a little bit of a steampunk influence?
A little bit. I think steampunk you kind of associate with more of a Victorian vibe, but it definitely has a kind of technological influence that is in advance of the period it's set in. But the story is exactly the story of 'The Three Musketeers.' You know, D'Artagnan wanting to go to Paris {to} become a musketeer, accidentally meeting The Three Musketeers, challenging them to a duel; the Richelieu plotting against the King and Queen by having the Queen's diamonds stolen; the Musketeers having to go to London to go and retrieve the diamonds and then return to Paris before the ball, which is being thrown where, you know, the Queen would be embarrassed because she doesn't have the jewelry -- that is the story of our movie, it's just we tell it in a slightly different way. There is this slightly technological aspect to it, but it's not -- airships? It's not that historically inaccurate, to be honest. We're only about a hundred years out.
Andrew Davieshas written quite a few BBC movies and series. Does having him onboard lend a certain authenticity to it?
He's a very good adapter of historical material. I couldn't think of anyone better in the world. He's adapted so many literary masterpieces, and so many fun books, as well. His work is always fun, and that's the thing about it.The Three Musketeerswas an entertainment, and I think because, especially in Europe, it's something that's taught in schools, I think people forget {Dumas} was writing an entertainment. It was serialized, and you had weekly cliffhangers, and in many ways, I think he would approve of what we've done with the story. We've just contemporized it a little bit.
Having a strong female lead seems like a theme throughout your work. Is that incidental? What as a storyteller and a director attracts you to putting strong women in action films front and center -- and they don't get killed off! They're sexy, but they're not super-sexualized. They're just going in there and kicking ass.
{laughs} Well, listen. I love action, and I love women, so it's a very easy combination I mean, what's not to like about it? It's also, it's a little different, especially when I started making movies, no one wanted to see action movies with a female lead. They just didn't. There was a kind of law that I heard kind of reiterated many times in Hollywood, is that female-led action movies don't work, and I think we've proved that wrong time and time again.Jean-Luc Godardonce said,"All you need to make a great movie is a girl and a gun."And that's definitely my approach to filmmaking.
Speaking of Godard, do you see yourself as an auteur? Your movies are totally recognizable as your work in a way that's more obvious than with other blockbuster directors.
I've read a lot of copies ofCahiers du CinémaorSight and Soundin England, and I personally don't subscribe to the auteur theory. I mean, I think it's a bit silly to kind of boil down the efforts of 300 people and try and make it all the vision of one man or woman. It's just movies aren't made that way, and I think it's a silly way to regard films and a very elitist way to regard films. Movies are a team effort, and the director obviously has a huge control {over} that, but so does the writer, and sometimes they're the same person and sometimes they're not. I think I definitely have my interests as a filmmaker, though, and you see those reflected in the movies that I make. You know, I like strong female characters; quite often I like contained settings; I like long pullback shots.
I can't remember who it was now, probably some other French filmmaker, said that there two kinds of filmmakers -- there were farmers and miners. Farmers every year would grow different crop in their fields, right? One year it would be wheat; the next, it would be corn, so those are the directors that go make a comedy and they go make a drama and they go make a horror movie. And then there are those who are miners, and all they're interested in is gold. They just dig on one seam, and I guess I'm a miner. I have my bandwidth of interests, and I kind of stick with them. Also, I think if my movies sometimes... are recognizable as being my films, a lot of that is because I tend to work with a cadre of people again and again. The team we made 'Resident Evil' with, we then made 'The Three Musketeers' with. I work with the same DP a lot; I work with the same editor a lot, and I think it's the combination of all those people's work that can sometimes make things have a unity to them.
Will 'The Three Musketeers' feel sort of video game-y?
No, I think it's a swashbuckling, rollicking entertainment. And 'The Musketeers,' it's a classic story of friendship and of romance, and I think it will have a lot of aspects that people aren't that familiar with in my work. It's the first time I've worked from a screenplay that Andrew Davies has been involved in and he definitely has different interests than I do, and that's why we hired him to write the screenplay, was that Andrew, he's got a very kind of romantic edge to him, and that's very much what 'The Musketeers' is about. So it's definitely a modern movie, not in its setting, but in the way it's been shot. It's not your father's 'Three Musketeers,' that's for sure, so it's going to feel very different, but I think it's a little bit of a departure for me, which is exciting.
вторник, 22 марта 2011 г.
'Akira' Finally Coming to Life: Script Sent Out to Actors
According toDeadline,a rewrite by Steve Kloves was sent to director Albert Hughes, and the script has been sent out to two sets of actors for the two main characters: Tetsuo Shima (to Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy) and Shôtarô Kaneda (to Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix).
The film -- which has its story transposed from Japan to a New Manhattan -- is scheduled for an August start. The studio acquired the rights some two years ago in a seven-figure deal.
'Akira' was first adapted for the screen in 1988 as an animated feature by Otomo, who also directed.
понедельник, 21 марта 2011 г.
'Limitless' Leapfrogs 'Lincoln Lawyer': Box Office Report March 18 - 20
If you could tap into all your unused brain power, likeBradley Cooperdoes in'Limitless,'maybe you could have predicted who would win the box office crown during this tricky weekend. Virtually no one predicted that Cooper's pharmaceutical thriller would come out on top, but in fact, 'Limitless' debuted at No. 1, beating the expected winner (last week'stopper,'Battle: Los Angeles') and two other new releases.
After 'Battle: Los Angeles' (and perhaps'Rango'), the three newcomers ('Limitless,''The Lincoln Lawyer,'and'Paul') were expected to compete in a tight race, each opening with 2,700-2,800 playdates and projected sales of $11 to $16 million. But 'Limitless' pulled ahead of the others with an estimated opening of $19.0 million, thanks largely to positive reviews and broad appeal. (Distributor Relativity said 60 percent of the audience was over 25 and that viewers were about evenly split between men and women.) Sci-fi genre competition from fellow newcomer 'Paul' and holdovers 'Battle: Los Angeles' and'The Adjustment Bureau'didn't seem to have much impact.
'Rango' was second, holding up well in its third week with an estimated take of $15.3 million, down just 32 percent from last week. Without having to face any serious competition for the family audience this week, the cartoon talking-animal western brought its total earnings to $92.6 million. It should cross $100 million later this week.
'Battle' fell to third place with an estimated $14.6 million, down 59 percent from last weekend's debut. Apparently, most of the viewers who were interested in the alien-invasion action movie had already seen it the first weekend, with few of those viewers recommending it to others. The movie's 10-day total stands at $60.6 million; a $100 million take is probably not in the cards.
'The Lincoln Lawyer' had a solid fourth-place premiere with an estimated $13.4 million. TheMatthew McConaugheyvehicle was the best-reviewed film of the three newcomers, and it also benefited from a special discount ticket program involving Groupon and Fandango that resulted in pre-sales of 200,000 tickets. Thecourtroom dramaplayed especially well with older audiences; distributor Lionsgate reported that 85 percent of the viewers were over 25.
'Paul' also did surprisingly well among older audiences, debuting at No. 5 with an estimated $13.2 million. The stranded-alien comedy had obvious appeal for the fanboy crowd, but it also drew an audience made up primarily of viewers over 25 (58 percent, according to distributor Universal). The movie had already earned $41.3 million overseas, but that $13.2 million represents the best U.S. opening ever for the British comedy duo ofSimon PeggandNick Frostof 'Shaun of the Dead' fame.
The full top 10:
1. 'Limitless,'$19.0 million (2,756 screens),new release
2.'Rango,'$15.3 million (3,843), $92.6 million total
3.'Battle: Los Angeles,'$14.6 million (3,417), $60.6 milliion
4. 'The Lincoln Lawyer,'$13.4 million (2,707),new release
5.'Paul,'$13.2 million (2,802),new release
6.'Red Riding Hood,'$7.3 million (3,030), $26.0 million
7.'The Adjustment Bureau,'$5.9 million (2,660), $48.8 million
8.'Mars Needs Moms,'$5.3 million (3,117), $15.4 million
9.'Beastly,'$3.3 million (1,810), $22.2 million
10.'Hall Pass,'$2.6 million (1,905), $39.6 million
•Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.
воскресенье, 20 марта 2011 г.
'Attack the Block' Director Joe Cornish on How to Make an Original Alien Invasion Movie
Who the hell is Joe Cornish and what is'Attack the Block'?
It's easy to imagine that's what most people have been wondering since 'Attack the Block' was met with almost unanimous adoration following its world premiere at SXSW less than a week ago. Those familiar with Cornish's work on British TV and radio may have been more familiar with the special blend of bemused horror in store, but for the most part no one had any idea what to expect from this Edgar Wright-produced movie about an inner city gang who fight off an alien invasion.
And that's the way it should be. There's no reason to know the film's plot intricacies going in. Just go in knowing that this is not your standard alien invasion movie out of Hollywood. This isn't a megabudget movie filled with name actors and huge explosions. This is a beast of a film all its own.
So don't worry, nothing in the below interview with Joe Cornish is spoilery. We don't talk plot or specific moments in the film, we just talk about tone, intent, and the kind of movies that, to use Cornish's own words,"blow your tits off."
Approaching a well-tread genre like this, did you make a checklist of things you didn't want to do? Or did you just write what you wanted and see what came up?
I'm like 40, so I've had a while to think about it. Like you, I'm a film fan. Film to me is what sports is to other people. I love to be opinionated and argue and wrestle with stuff and tussle with my friends. So like anyone I have a set of values and opinions that I did apply to this.
And being British, there's this constant thing of... Okay, we share this common language with America, which has evolved this incredibly sophisticated movie industry. And Britain occasionally hits one out of the park, but we don't seem able to turn things over on an industrial level with quite the consistency that America does. So that's always been a debate in Britain; what are the Americans doing right that we can do.
Obviously there are a lot of brilliant filmmakers in Britain, but a lot of them don't tend to stay in Britain. So yeah, absolutely I formulated a whole set of opinions and yeah, subconsciously and consciously I definitely did. It's something I wanted to do since I was like 13, like everybody else. I've always fantasized about doing it.
The films I love are high-concept, low-budget movies. Directors who, for their first film, go"I'm going to do something a little too big, but I'm going to try to do it in a resourceful, clever way."Like 'Terminator,' like an early Besson movie, like 'Duel, like 'THX1138.' I'm going to bite off a little bit more than I can chew– I'm talking about those films, the ones I aspire to– and for everything they lack in production values that's equaled or surpassed by authorship or invention or resourcefulness.
For me, a high-concept, low-budget film is cooler and more rewarding than a high-concept, high-budget film. They've had to try harder to get there, do you know what I mean? It's like animation. You can feel the love that's gone into every frame, which you sometimes can't with cynical, big budget things.
Was this a project you had attempted in any way to get off the ground in America? Or was it completely home grown?
No, it didn't occur to me. Obviously working with Edgar Wright with Marvel on 'Ant Man,' they're amazing to work with; I was extremely lucky to work with Edgar and Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on 'Tin-Tin,' so working with those guys has made me comfortable {in America}. But before that stuff happened, Hollywood seemed kind of terrifying to me. But in Britain I had a television career and a radio career and was known in a much smaller circle, so that to me was a cozy, comforting place to make my first film.
I've spoken to other British directors, like Christopher Smith, who feel the same way, that it can be such a bother to work in the LA system that if you can make a movie in Britain, why wouldn't you?
It's a question of authority, I think. It's easier to get a little bit of authority in Britain. Jeepers creepers, in America it's a whole different ball game.
Well between 'Attack the Block' and 'Heartless' we've got two recent genre films that do deal with the youth of Britain becoming monsters or behaving like monsters. Is that a widespread paranoia in Britain? In 'Heartless' it's more literal that they're becoming demons, which is why I like that your film shows that these are people too and that they have the heart to even be good people.
I haven't seen 'Heartless,' but my film is– and it's not necessary to know this to enjoy the film– but it is a reaction to brilliantly crafted, brilliantly made, but to me slightly dubious morally, films that demonize children.
'The Children'?
That's a nice movie. I like that movie. I like 'Village of the Damned,' I love 'Who Could Kill a Child?' I'm not saying that's a bad trope, but some filmmakers have demonized inner city, poor kids.
It seems like more of a reaction to the older generation looking down on the younger generation.
It is. It's pretty straight forward. I don't think it's a particularly innovative idea to suggest there might be good in a person who has done something bad. My hero is an anti-hero, but he's a hero who realizes the error of ways and redeems himself to a degree. I'm not expecting people to sympathize with him, but I am asking that they empathize a little. Anti-hero per se is not a new thing. They go back to Jimmy Cagney in 'Public Enemy' or Bonnie and Clyde or Snake Plisken, for me those are interesting characters.
As a movie goer, I think there's too much onus on making your character lovable and sympathetic in the first act. I dig movies where it's a little bit ambiguous.
That's one of the things I love most about 'Attack the Block.' It doesn't make you comfortable with these characters.
I was excited to switch it. One of the things that made me excited about writing it was to start with this Michael Winner, Abel Ferrara kind of scenario of the lone female and then the mugging and then she just runs away and you're stuck with the kid that did it. For me that's exciting, but I know for a lot of people it'll be weird,"Oh, f**k those kids!"But as a film lover and someone who is looking for inspiration, that was the thing that made me excited; the challenge of turning it around. I thought,"Now here's a story!"
Since it's been gestating for so long in your brain, was it always a straight to the event approach?
I just love movies that are about action and kinetics and motion. I used to spend a lot of time in college, at film school, stoned and watching soap operas and I used to try and think,"What is the difference between this soap opera and a movie."And one of the things I thought was that a good movie you cannot not watch. With TV, even good TV, you can go make a cup of coffee and still be able to hear the dialogue. But a good movie, for me as a fan, if you look away you might miss it. So I wanted to make a movie that was about dialogue and not make a film that was about expositional dialogue.
I wanted to make a film that was short. I love 'Evil Dead 2,' I love 'Terminator' 2 and 1, 'Duel'-- they're all about kinetics and chase movies, basically, and Britain doesn't make a lot of them, so I wanted to give it a go.
I love that you understand music is a big part of that, and that it needs to fit the tone and not just be orchestral because that's what others do, so you brought in Basement Jaxx.
They worked with a guy called Steve Price who was the music supervisor on 'Scott Pilgrim' and works a lot with Edgar, he worked on the 'Lord of the Rings' films. He's a brilliant music editor, but this was his first score and he worked with Simon and Felix from Basement Jaxx.
Since this is your first film and you worked with a creative dream team it probably doesn't apply, but since it seems many more popular musicians are now getting into scoring movies, do you think that's more acceptable now? That no one raises an eyebrow if you opt away from traditional composers?
Again, that's the nice thing about making a film in Britain. Once you've raised the money people care and they give you notes and stuff, but they had confidence in my instincts. I studied a lot of John Carpenter and have learned a lot about scores since making this film. It happens late in the process and massively affects the tone. So, historically, if you read a lot about film you'll hear about directors firing composers, switching out scores and making big changes. Quentin Tarantino doesn't use a composer because he wonders why he needs someone else's music to define his film, so he scores from his own record collection.
It's a thing filmmakers have strong opinions about and now I understand why. It comes in at the eleventh hour and it can affect your whole film. It's interesting because Carpenter famously wrote his own scores because he wasn't happy with the composed score."It's part of my movie, my authorship, it's too important not to do it myself."
So, yeah, we studied Carpenter; Basement Jaxx and Steve Price studied Carpenter and they just kind of nailed it, luckily. Steve helped them– he worked with Beck and all those bands on 'Scott Pilgrim,' so he's great on corralling crazy pop musicians into the tight schedule of the film.
How long was the schedule? It kind of came out of nowhere, coming from someone who writes about movies for a living, that's a great thing.
Well I like that. As I said last night, that's how movies used to be. When I saw 'Predator' I had no idea it was an alien. I saw it in Paris subtitled and I had no idea, I thought it was a war movie. And he pays that creature out so slowly; the sound, the blood, the laser sight, the cloaking device, the wrist, the jaw. You don't see the whole thing until the end and it blew my tits off and you just don't get that anymore.
Though, this wasn't by design, I just thought no one was interested. I mean, who am I? I'm nobody and my connection is with Edgar, that's the best I've got in America. My work in England isn't known over here. It wasn't premeditated, but it's a lucky symptom of not being known here that I can lead with the film and the film can come out of nowhere. Not that it will just yet since it doesn't have distribution...
суббота, 19 марта 2011 г.
Cinematical Originals: From Aliens to Lincoln Lawyers
Zip out for the weekend before our great Friday night content? Miss a day of movie coverage? Check here every Friday afternoon for all the great original content Cinematical published over the last week and play catch up!
Reviews
'Mars Needs Moms' Review: Laughs Are Also in Short Supply
William Goss ventured into the latest Zemeckis mo-cap adventure and surmised:"As a purely technical exercise, 'Moms' boasts remarkably immersive environments and well-rendered textures, par for the course from the ImageMovers crew. Alas, all these pixels are in service of eerie character design for the humans and Martians alike."
'Paul' SXSW Review: Funny and Sweet Fan Boy Pandering
Todd Gilchrist reviews the latest Pegg/Frost flick and is torn between the references and the lack of deeper meaning:"'Paul' is a film that seems to too often pander to genre fandom without finding deeper meaning beneath it, or maybe more accurately, celebrates the people who share our affection for nerdy stuff but neglects to provide a meaningful reason why we should feel it in the first place."
'The Lincoln Lawyer' Review: A Film That Offers a Thrilling But Bumpy Ride
Jenni Miller reviews McConaughey's latest. Though the script manages to be"both fairly convoluted and incredibly simple in hindsight, and suffers from several false endings,"the film"is an enjoyable thriller buoyed by the unrelenting charisma of McConaughey."
Also check out ourfull coverage of SXSW-- reviews, interviews and more.
Original Columns
Adventures in B-Movie Land #6: 'Night Train to Terror'
Jacob Hall hops on the train and says it's worse than"bad"--"To call 'Night Train to Terror' a bad film would be doing it a disservice. It's the worst film. In terms of production quality and such obvious behind-the-scenes greed, there is no better example of the film industry at its nadir than this nightmare."
Top 5 Blu-ray Picks of the Week: 'The Fighter,' 'BMX Bandits'
Of 'BMX,' Peter Martin writes:"There's no way this Australian flick should deliver as much entertainment value as it does, but director Brian Trenchard-Smith ramps up the primary colors and delirious action, with the bonus of teenage Nicole Kidman, showing the assured confidence of a star."
Girls on Film: It Took a Century to Get 'Jane Eyre' Right
Monika Bartyzel digs into the many cinematic incarnations of 'Jane Eyre' and determines:"Fukunaga's version allows Jane Eyre to soar back to the heights Brontë crafted, in a way that could reinvigorate and inform future period pieces, if it finds success."
The Week In Geek: A Chat with 'My Sucky Teen Romance' Director Emily Hagins
John Gholson chats with Hagins about her latest and how it"comes from things in my life, not the romance necessarily, but the convention is based on this convention I go to every Summer (CONvergence), and my friends from that convention are flying down to see the movie.
Framed: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Alison Nastasi tackles the iconic frame from 'E.T.,' noting:"Normally I'd try to explain how a frame was crafted and composed, but here it matters very little. The beauty of this image transcends any kind of outlined explanation. It's one of those unexpected moments where the impossible moon that illuminates their journey, John Williams' sweeping score and the look of awe and excitement we feel transports us to that mythical, captivating space in cinema where anything can happen."
Doc Talk: How Could Documentary Cinema Change for the Better?
Christopher Campbell hits the streets, or the fests, to talk to doc fans about what the format needs to change."The thing is, there are so many kinds of non-fiction films and so many kinds of doc enthusiasts that we all have very different answers for the following question: what one thing could change for the better for documentaries?"
OriginalFeatures
Military Experts Weigh in on 'Battle: Los Angeles'
Todd Gilchrist talks to some experts on the authenticity of the new film:"I think 'Battle: LA' did depict a situation that happened very quickly. It was almost like what happened at Pearl Harbor -- we didn't really expect it and then the attack came and there was all kinds of panic; even the military didn't know how to react that quickly."
Stars in Rewind: Vintage John Goodman Commercial 'Hits You Just Right'
Alison Nastasi digs through old commercials to share a look at actor John Goodman in the '70s, and muses:"If only someone could convince Goodman to do a slap-happy Skin Bracer commercial as Walter from 'The Big Lebowski' -- he would totally tear that thing up."
Scenes We Love: 'Shaun of the Dead'
Marina Zogbi raves about her favorite 'Shaun' scene, where they break into the Winchester, and writes:"Accusations are hurled, hilariously irrelevant -- but rom-com perfect -- dialogue ensues, as do zombie-flick chestnuts ("She's not your mum anymore!"), and, to top it all off, there's a tender moment between Shaun and Liz that enables him to do the unthinkable. It's a fantastic scene from the movie that still defines the ever-proliferating zombie-humor genre."
2011 Miami International Film Festival Wrap-Up
Christopher Campbell hits the Miami film fest and calls 'Small Town Murder Songs'"the best fiction film I saw in Miami, hands down. What's lacking in (unneeded) narrative depth is made up for in a great cast of character actors, led by the underrated and overtly understated Peter Stormare, and a brilliantly invigorating tone that's somehow both subtle and overpowering, the latter mostly the result of the very prominent gospel-march soundtrack by Bruce Peninsula (who are like a wonderful blend of Tom Waits and Arcade Fire)."
Their Best Role: Kurt Russell in 'Big Trouble in Little China'
Though he's played many tough men, Marina Zogbi thinks Kurt Russell's best role is 'Big Trouble' because"Russell channels John Wayne's drawl, stomps around in tight, faded jeans and knee-high boots like a deranged Snake Plissken, and proves himself as deft with physical comedy as with the fast, funny dialogue."
Cinematical Seven: Most Memorable Irish-American Cops
Sharon Knolle hits the police force for St. Patrick's Day, and writes of Dirty Harry:"We'd call him a 'textbook' maverick cop, except Dirty Harry never does anything by the book. Harry answers to a higher power and it sure as hell isn't his bosses, but his own unyielding sense of right and wrong.
'Paul' Director Gred Mottola on Making the Geekiest Alien Movie Ever
Todd Gilchrist chats with the director, who wonders:"it is a very high-concept movie, and it's certainly the most high-concept thing I've ever worked on. So there may be hope for us that people will say, oh, that's a funny idea, meeting an alien and the alien turns out to be kind of just this dude -- that seems funny. Will they show up for it? I don't think anyone has any idea."
Matthew McConaughey on The Smooth-Talking 'Lincoln Lawyer'
Jenni Miller chats with the 'Lincoln' star, who says of the project:"they don't make a lot of these movies any more. They're hard to get made. They're hard to make good, and they're not making as many of them. It's a classic legal thriller, but this one's got a very modern-day pulp {feeling} to it, the killer soundtrack, and again, it's on the streets of L.A., so it's not your granddad's law movie."
пятница, 18 марта 2011 г.
Doc Talk: How Could Documentary Cinema Change for the Better?
One of these days someone's going to make a documentary about all the problems with documentary. It will probably have to be longer than (1452 minute-long)'Grandmother Martha'and might, unlike'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,'actually be more self-reflexive than the average modern doc. While we wait for such a film, lets get the ball rolling on the discussion.
Yes, it is true that we've just hadone of the best years for documentary ever. But that doesn't mean there aren't also more negative issues for the mode than ever before. The thing is, there are so many kinds of non-fiction films and so many kinds of doc enthusiasts that we all have very different answers for the following question: what one thing could change for the better for documentaries?
I've spent the past week at the Miami International Film Festival (read my wrap-up) and am currently at South by Southwest seeing docs both great and not so great, and running into extremely divergent doc fans and filmmakers. Most were totally stumped by the broad question at hand, so I've also opened it up to people not in my vicinity, such as on Twitter and a Facebook group for documentary lovers. And now, of course, I'm opening it up to you.
A number of people I asked, including/Film's Peter Sciretta and 'Greatest Movie Ever Sold' producer Keith Calder, say docs in general just need to bemore entertaining. Relative but focused on another aspect, blogger and consultant Basil Tsiokos -- hisWhat (Not) to Doc blogregularly addresses bad trends in and common problems with the mode -- saysit's the stigma against docs that needs changing, so more people understand that these filmscanbe entertaining. That going to see them isn't like going to school."That's one of the reasons'Catfish'was marketed as a reality thriller as opposed to a documentary,"he says.
Is it the job of distributors and marketers to get us past the misconceptions, or the filmmakers themselves to aim for more easily and appealingly sold genre classifications? Should film writers who appreciate docs work harder to build a bigger audience for non-fiction cinema in general as opposed to only hyping individual works?Pajiba's Drew Morton believes"increased awareness is ideal,"and the movie blogs (he recognized my work here as an example -- but I'm starting to see more and more doc love from the other blogs, too) can be instrumental in that.
Could Kevin Smith also be an influence? FilmmakerRyan Fergusonoffers up the idea of atouring distribution modelsimilar to what's being done for Smith's'Red State.'This would give audiences outside film festivals a chance to become more engaged with the subject matter through Q&A discussions, making documentary moviegoing more of an event. And tours would particularly be suited well for shorts exhibition (Ferguson makes documentary shorts, by the way). While not a touring program, I would add that more cities could instead do with a weekly series like NYC'sStranger Than Fiction, which showcases new and old films, all with special guests and post-screening talks.
One filmmaker and fan of the mode sees home viewing models as having a greater opportunity for involvement.Spencer Snyggbrings up the idea of"value added programming,"which could allow people to interact with cable or online platforms, clicking links when prompted, having access to other significant footage that didn't fit the finished film, at the moment they might have been included ("branches"he calls them). He sees a cost issue for the filmmaker/distributor. I see potential for doc-makers like Snygg to find influence in user-generated films (like'11/4/08'and'Life in a Day'), even if it's all their own material being employed.
Other fans merely stated that they'd like to seemore documentaries available in commercial theaters, acknowledging sadly that it's unlikely when their fiction competitors do better business. FilmmakerRobert Greeneis more detailed than some in his suggestion for a better model for theatrical distribution."There are films made for theaters, yet we never see them there,"he complained."A small but loyal audience wants them there."And VOD and online platforms are great for exposure, but their awareness still feeds off theatrical release. Greene cites boutique distributor Factory 25 and small venues like NYC'sMaysles Cinema(where Green's 'Kati with an I' opens April 8) andreRun Gastropub Theateras being helpful in this change forgetting"theatrical"docs appropriately screened in theaters.
Though not directly an answer to this question, Morgan Spurlock's response at Sundance to Moviefone's poll askingWhat Hollywood Needs to Change in 2011fits here."I would havemore studios financing documentary films,"he said."I think they have the ability to popularize docs even more, to get them into theaters."Another company that should get into financing docs isNetflix, according to Pajiba's Dustin Rowles, since"most of the movie-watching public will end up seeing them {on Netflix Instant} anyway. It'd be a relatively inexpensive way for the service to create exclusive content,"to compete with Amazon and others.
Interestingly enough, Thom Powers, the man behind the Stranger Than Fiction series, did not see what he's doing for theatrical distribution as the primary form of change for the mode. He thinks the most important thing right now would be for independent filmmakers to organize in order to"tofight corporate legal pressureslike what Chevron applied to Joe Berlinger over'Crude.'"He says it's a big topic, one he's been discussing a lot lately, and it's by far the heaviest issue raised during this poll.
Simpler responses to the question include specific suggestions, some a matter of taste, such as wantingless dependency on talking-head interviews(this is Sciretta's primary pet peeve),less bell-and-whistle motion graphics(Cinematical's own Wiliam Goss agrees with this one) andless"Ira Glass faux-ironic style voice-over narration(Rowles). FilmmakerScott Leamonraises the necessary show-don't-tell issue, complaining that"visual integrityrarely compliments the quality of the narrative."UGO's Jordan Hoffman would like to see a tighter market, stating,"Not every artist, musician, architect and political figure needs a feature length documentary, even if they did march for civil rights."
The same could be said for causes.Rightwing Film Geekblogger Victor Morton wantsfewer"illustrated essays"where a cause and its righteous interests are the only reason for the film's existence. Likewise, Tsiokos says there are too many docs where the personal journey of making the doc is the only true reason for its existence. He'd like to see more new filmmakersseek objective consultantsto help shape their films, the result of which might curb this problem of people making docs that end up more about themselves than the issue or story at hand.
If you agree or disagree with any of the answers I received or have suggestions for change of your own, comment below. And let's figure out ways to make an already great mode of cinema even greater. Or, if you're likeThe Playlist's Drew Taylor and think documentary isjust fine as it isright now, I'd love to see comments stating that this question doesn't even need to be asked.
