Devon Bostick, whose acting credits include the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” film franchise, recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about the new short film he is producing called “Seasick Sailor.”
In “Seasick Sailor,” which wrapped production last week, Keir Gilchrist plays a teenager who spends his days stocking shelves at the local drugstore – that is, when he is not killing people for a boss that he has never met. Over the course of the story, we see him try to balance the growing responsibilities of this unorthodox job while trying desperately to establish a real connection with someone else like an adjusted young adult.
Question: Audiences know you as an actor but your role in this project is as a producer. What was it about this project that appealed to that side of you?
Answer: My friend Torre [Catalano] wrote it and directed it. He handed me the script and I loved it. I have worked with a bunch of great actors over the years and I had always wanted to put them all together in something. This seemed perfect. So, yeah, I am producing it and I might make a cameo here and there but I was really just trying to get the greatest group together on something that is artistic, has a lot of integrity and is something that we wanted to do.
Q: The cast includes Keir Gilchrist, Martha MacIssac, Emily Osment, Brandon Jay McLaren, Martin Starr and Fran Kranz among many others. How did you get everyone together for this project? And was working around everyone’s schedules at all difficult?
A: The cast that we got for this is wild. And it all happened because everyone is sort of friends. But it is also thanks in part to the connections we have all built up from different people while working on different sets. Yeah, the schedules were tough, but we really want to work with certain people. We just really wanted to get together and work on something that was artistic and different.
Q: So what is your reaction to the producer job after having come out the other side?
A: This is the first time that I am fully producing a project of this size. I have associate produced before but that was not nearly the same amount of responsibility. It is a whirlwind. It is really euphoric to see all of these people come together to try and make these words come alive. Just the thought that everyone came together to do this and it is all coming together is heavenly – but also nerve-racking.
Q: Your talent seems so natural. It almost feels as though the film industry must be in your blood. After all, both of your parents are in the business. So when did the bug bite you, so to speak?
A: I actually joined a theater camp in first grade. I didn’t really have very many friends in this new area and one of my friends asked me to join. So I did that for 5 years and, as I grew older, I found out what my mom did for a living and I was like, “How do I do this for real?” I started working at age 10 and it has been crazy. But I am really blessed and thankful to have my parents in the industry to pass down their wisdom. And now I am doing it on my own.
Q: You know, you are only 21 years old. You have experienced quite a lot of success for someone so young. And now you can add “producer” to your resume. So what drives you? And what is next?
A: I do not really think about age. I am just sort of trying to get as much done before I get old and can’t. I have been writing since 11th grade and have a few features that have almost gotten off the ground. I really want one of my features to come to life. That was one of the reasons we started doing this short film. We got so close, had such a great cast and almost got funding but it fell through. So Torre wrote this in frustration from sort of a dark place about struggling to balance the work that you have to do with the work that you want to do. I would really like to try to work on more things like this – something that I truly believe in – with my friends.
Q: You were spectacular as Rodrick in the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” film franchise. Will we be seeing him again? Please say that there will be a fourth film in the franchise…
A: I have to be honest with you. I do not think so – just because the kids really up over the span of those 3 years. There are a bunch of books and they are all so great but we had that three-picture thing going and once those finished the “wimpy kid” was growing hair under his armpits and his voice dropped to just about where mine is right now. It was very scary to see my movie brother grow up like that this fast. But it was such an amazing experience. I wish that we could have done more but I think that they all grew up very quickly.
Q: Speaking of voices, you have an amazing one as heard with your on-screen band Loded Diper. Do you spend any time singing for a real band of your own?
A: That’s really funny. No, I don’t. But I have always wanted to start a joke one. I always say, “Thank goodness ‘Wimpy Kid’ was a comedy because my singing in that was more humorous than professional.”
Q: Finally, in addition to the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” film franchise, you have also appeared in “Saw IV” and several television series – including “Flashpoint,” “The Listener” and “Rookie Blue.” Do you have a favorite genre to work in?
A: I have always been down to test what I can do and push the limits of my acting. I have always wanted to try new genres and stuff – but I love comedy. I grew up on comedy and I love having a good time and making people laugh. But it is also really nice to switch it around and make people think and feel some darker emotions. I just like doing all kinds of stuff in film and television and making magical stuff happen.
Director Jeremy Kipp Walker recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new alien-folk-duo sci-fi-action-romance-comedy “The History of Future Folk.”
In “The History of Future Folk,” which opens Friday, July 26 exclusively at Harkins Valley Art, Nils d’Aulaire plays a decorated soldier from the planet Hondo who is sent to Earth to wipe out its current inhabitants with a flesh-eating virus. However, shortly after landing, he is enchanted by the mystical human invention known as “music,” abandons his mission to eradicate the human race and launches a one-alien bluegrass act instead.
Question: This movie is based on a real band. For those who have never had the privilege to see these guys perform before, who are they and what do they do?
Answer: These guys are a space alien bluegrass band here in New York City and they had been doing this act for the better part of a decade. It is a hilarious comedy show where they come onstage wearing these red bucket-helmets. It looks ridiculous but then they start playing this beautiful bluegrass music, which is sort of an American-roots style of music but about outer space.
Q: So then you were a fan of these guys before coming aboard this project?
A: Absolutely! They are extremely charming onstage and I thought, “We have to make a movie about these guys!” One of them is an actor on Broadway here in New York but the other is actually a graphic designer and a creative director at an ad agency so he took a big leap of faith and let us make a movie about him. And it turned out great! I hope that people go to see it in the theater. It is a lot of fun to have that shared experience in the movie theater.
Q: Tell me more about that shared experience. What is the theme that you hope to relay to audiences who see this film?
A: I think that, as an overarching theme, there is a lot about the power of music and the universal language of music. Music is infectious. The challenge was to make a film that could be enjoyed by all audiences of all ages. It has got a good heart and I think that that is a kind of filmmaking that is close to my own heart. Nowadays, everything is about the niche audience. But we set out to make a film that was endearing and had the kind of story that could relate to a variety of different people.
Q: Part of what makes it so endearing is its small scale. What is the appeal for you as a filmmaker to work on movies like this that have relatively low budgets as opposed to blockbusters so to speak?
A: At the end the day, film is commerce. It is the exact intersection of art and money. With bigger budgets comes oftentimes diluted stories. You have got a lot more money on the line so everything sort of gets reduced to the lowest common denominator. By doing things on a reduced scale with smaller budgets, it brings up a little more creative opportunity. You do not have as much money on the line so you are able to make more interesting choices along the way.
Q: Finally, what did your experience working on this project teach you about yourself?
A: I have produced several features over the years but this is my first directing endeavor on a feature scale. It is the difference between being a father and an uncle. It was a very humbling experience. I have been on a lot of sets and stood over the shoulders of a lot of directors – many of whom I admire – but it is a completely different process when it is your own baby on the screen. We had a great team, it was a tremendous labor of love and I am extremely excited that critics and audiences have embraced the film but I have definitely gone through the process and am much humbler on the other end.
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, July 23 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a single-setting thriller that takes place entirely within the confines of a car, a dramedy about a man with many children and a new thriller from filmmaker Danny Boyle.
‘Detour’
Neil Hopkins plays a man who, trapped inside his car by a mudslide with no hope of rescue, must defy the odds – battling Mother Nature for his survival. (NR – 87 minutes)
Single-setting thrillers (think elevators ala “Devil” and ski chairlifts ala “Frozen”) are a tough nut to crack. They are even tougher when a single actor is responsible for carrying the entire movie on his shoulders alone (think Ryan Reynolds in “Buried” and James Franco in “127 Hours”). However, writer/director William Dickerson and star Neil Hopkins have done exactly that with “Detour” – and on an indie filmmaker’s production budget no less. The film features all of the claustrophobia, desperation and pure panic that you could possibly want in a motion picture, taking you on an emotional and psychological roller-coaster ride without ever leaving the confines of a car. (Thumbs Up!)
Elle Fanning and Alice Englert play inseparable friends who, while growing up in 1960s London, finds their relationship redefined as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms. (PG-13 – 89 minutes)
Nearly every actor who appears in writer/director Sally Potter’s new drama “Ginger & Rosa” deserves a standing ovation. However, the only standing that anyone is likely to do for the film itself is the kind that is required when walking out. Although it is always nice when a movie transports viewers to another time and place, this particular motion picture’s purpose in doing so gets somewhat lost along the way. However, if watching characters wander around aimlessly while spouting philosophies that were placed between their lips lacking any finesse from the filmmaker whatsoever sounds like fun to you, then – by all means – have at it. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Starbuck’
Patrick Huard plays a perpetual screw up who, having been a habitual sperm donor in his youth, discovers that he is the biological father of 533 children – 142 of whom are trying to force the fertility clinic to reveal the true identity of the prolific donor code-named Starbuck. (R – 109 minutes)
Maybe it is just the “My Name is Earl” withdrawals talking, but “Starbuck” would have been a much better television sitcom than a feature-length film. The small screen format would not only make better use of the serial nature of early scenes in writer/director Ken Scott’s new comedy but would also be more forgiving of some of its absurd aspects. After all, it all seems somewhat silly – not to mention outlandish. Still, in spite of that and a premise that comes across as contrived, one cannot help but surrender to the story’s good-intentioned sweetness and sentimentality. (Thumbs Up!)
‘Trance’
James McAvoy plays a fine art auctioneer who, having teamed up with criminal gang to steal a painting worth millions of dollars, suffers a blow to the head and awakens with no memory of where he has hid it prompting the gang’s leader (Vincent Cassel) to hire a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson). (R – 101 minutes)
So long as you surrender with complete abandon to “Trance,” it will be a surreal cinematic experience unlike any other you have ever had or probably ever will. However, if you hesitate or resist in even the slightest way, the dream will quickly become a nightmare. One’s enjoyment of writer/director Danny Boyle’s new thriller is dependant on the level of faith they have that the psychotic safari will, before all is said and done, make some sort of sense. Fortunately, it does – and in a spectacularly surprising way no less. This movie is intriguing, intense, innovative and especially insane. (Thumbs Up!)
Mark Strong plays an ex-criminal who is forced to return to London when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives his nemesis – a detective (James McAvoy) – one last chance to catch the man he’s always been after. (NR – 99 minutes)
“Welcome to the Punch” is a classic case of style over substance. On the one hand, writer/director Eran Creevy’s new crime thriller certainly looks slick – especially during its action sequences (at least when you can see them as it is a fairly low-lit flick). On the other hand, it has a cookie-cutter-like conventionality that seems to be relying on cliches rather than breaking free from them. It is an extremely empty experience whose sole takeaway is the banausic blast of bullets that results from one generic gunfight after another. Even the usually talented cast appears to be bored. (Thumbs Down!)
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Among the new movies that were released Friday, July 19 in theaters throughout the Valley are a new horror flick from director James Wan, a sequel starring Bruce Willis and an animated adventure about a very fast snail.
‘Broken’
Eloise Laurence plays a young girl whose innocence begins to vanish after bearing witness to a savage beating. Overwhelmed by her experiences, she is drawn into an ethereal chaos from which she may only return through the intense love of those closest to her. Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy co-star. Playing exclusively at the FilmBar. (NR – 90 minutes)
“Broken” is a cinematic exercise in miserablism. If director Rufus Norris’s new drama adapted from Daniel Clay’s novel had some sort of constructive comment about a child’s sudden awareness of this world’s darker aspects, said experience would have at least had meaning. Instead, we must settle for mere feeling transference. In other words, the aforementioned misery is infectious. Granted, we all have our own issues that rear their ugly heads from time to time, but if real life were even remotely this melodramatic with earth-shattering dilemmas flaring up for everyone we know simultaneously, suicides would be a far more common occurrence. (Thumbs Down!)
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play paranormal investigators who work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, they find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives. (R – 112 minutes)
The only viewers who would be impressed with “The Conjuring” are those who do not ordinarily make it a point to see horror flicks. Granted, a pat on the back is owed to New Line Cinema’s marketing department for making director James Wan’s new motion picture look as though it has more credibility than most other movies of its typically derided genre. And although there may be some basis of truth in its tale, the more accurate truth is that all of these things have been done before; and better because they came with an ounce of subtlety – something that Wan employs absolutely none of here. (Thumbs Down!)
Kristen Wiig plays a once-promising New York playwright who uses her skill for drama to stage an elaborate fake suicide as an appeal for his sympathy. When it backfires, when she is put into the custody of her estranged gambling addict mother (Annette Bening) on the Jersey shore. (PG-13 – 103 minutes)
“Girl Most Likely” is the kind of flick that, if viewed at a film festival, might seem adequate enough. But outside of that idealistic setting, it feels flat. That is to say that there is not exactly anything awful about it but there certainly is not anything special about it, either. The new comedy is very shallow, hollow and washed out in spite of its desperate attempts to make its supporting characters as quirky as physically possible. Moreover, star Kristen Wiig’s Imogene is an extremely unlikeable protagonist, preventing us from ever forgiving the film’s overwhelmingly sitcomish sense of humor. (Thumbs Down!)
Brooke Shields, Virginia Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Wanda Sykes and Camryn Manheim play an unlikely group of middle-aged women who challenge the high school girls’ state basketball champs to raise money for a mobile breast cancer screening truck to continue its work. Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5. (R – 99 minutes)
“The Hot Flashes” is a good-natured film about refusing to be sidelined due to one’s age – especially when the incentive is a bit bigger than a championship trophy. Having said that, the new sports comedy plays strictly by the genre’s rules – shot for three-point shot – and thus cannot really be called original much less groundbreaking. Moreover, the scenes on the court are not exactly nail-biting (or even authentic for that matter). But that is why director Susan Seidelman’s motion picture is so universally appealing; it scores with its humongous heart as opposed to its superficial skills. (Thumbs Up!)
Ryan Gosling plays the owner of a Thai boxing club and smuggling ring whose brother is murdered. When his crime lord matriarch (Kristin Scott Thomas) forces him to settle the score with his brother’s killers, the respected criminal figure finds himself in the ultimate showdown. Playing exclusively at Harkins Shea 14. (R – 90 minutes)
“Only God Forgives” is thematically monumental, taking the striking cinematic style of “Drive” – writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn’s previous collaboration with actor Ryan Gosling – and multiplying it by a million. However, unlike that earlier effort, the new arthouse thriller leaves viewers feeling oddly empty, as though they have eaten an exquisite meal of tiny-yet-tasty delicacies only to walk away from the table with their stomach craving something of more solid substance. Nonetheless, it is still worth seeing if – for nothing else – the sheer curiosity factor alone, as its forebodingly deathlike composure will render you unconscious. (Thumbs Up!)
‘R.I.P.D.’
Ryan Reynolds plays a recently slain cop who joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him. Jeff Bridges and Kevin Bacon co-star. (PG-13 – 96 minutes)
Perhaps it is only fitting that “R.I.P.D.” is D.O.A. The new comedic actioner inspired by Peter M. Lenkov’s “Rest in Peace Department” comic book series published by Dark Horse Entertainment is a massive missed opportunity. What could have replicated the clever whimsy of “Men in Black” falls flat on its face as it disregards any real world ramifications and instead operates itself as some sort of kooky cartoon in which blobs of decaying flesh run amok along the sides of Boston’s buildings. By carelessly creating chaos, it comes across as completely ludicrous and essentially loses its entertainment value. (Thumbs Down!)
‘RED 2’
Bruce Willis reprises his role as a retired black-ops CIA agent who reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device. Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Catherine Zeta-Jones also star. (PG-13 – 116 minutes)
Having seen 2010’s “RED” as being more or less a movie operating on a single gimmick that – forgive the pun – gets old very quickly, I was pleasantly surprised to find that its sequel is a slight improvement in that the motion picture prioritizes story over novelty. In fact, “RED 2” may in fact feature too much story, traversing more plot twists in 2 hours than “24” did in an entire season. And while said sudden developments certainly keep viewers on the edge of their seats, they also threaten to wear one down with too much talk and not nearly enough action. (Thumbs Down!)
James Cromwell and Geneviève Bujold play an elderly couple who fight against local authorities in rural New Brunswick to build their final home. Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5. (PG-13 – 102 minutes)
Anchored by a sterling performance from star James Cromwell, “Still Mine” is a deeply affecting motion picture that will both break your heart and genuinely rejuvenate your belief in everlasting love. Writer/director Michael McGowan tells a tale that, based on a true story, demonstrates that life does not fit inside of a box. It is somewhat slow-moving but never the least bit boring as it arrests your emotions from beginning to end, beautifully manifesting what it means to truly treasure another person. Not everyone has the land on which to build a home for someone, but we all certainly have the equipment. (Thumbs Up!)
‘Turbo’
Ryan Reynolds voices an everyday garden snail who, after a freak accident, might just be able to achieve his biggest dream – winning the Indy 500. Other voice talents include Paul Giamatti, Maya Rudolph, Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez and Ken Jeong. (PG – 100 minutes)
Bringing audiences to their feet with cheers and applause more so than any other animated adventure this year – and maybe even any live-action movie as well – “Turbo” is a tremendously entertaining crowd-pleaser of a motion picture. Fueled up with a special blend of humor, heart and excitement and harnessing the power of several potent themes, including dreaming big and seizing the day, the new family flick gets viewers’ engines started in such a way that they are then not so bothered by its far-fetched premise and fairly formulaic execution. (Thumbs Up!)
Actor James Cromwell, whose film credits include “Babe” and “L.A. Confidential,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his role in the new drama “Still Mine.”
In “Still Mine,” which opens Friday, July 19 exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5, Cromwell and Geneviève Bujold play an elderly couple who fight against local authorities in rural New Brunswick to build their final home.
Question: What was it about this project that initially appealed to you and drew you to the role?
Answer: Making a 90-year-old man at my age be believable without any makeup. Dealing with the 900-pound gorilla – dementia and Alzheimer’s – which nobody wants to talk about. And the opportunity to show a resistance to authority without resorting to violence. That just a principled stand against the imposition of government and the overreaching of government has its consequences but that it can be done. And that is how we change the world. That appealed to me.
Q: This is based on a true story. Is Craig Morrison – the man who inspired your character – still alive? And, if so, has he had a chance to see this movie?
A: The man is no longer alive. He died soon after this picture was completed. But he did get to see the picture. And he seemed to be pleased with it. I met him when we were shooting in New Brunswick. He is completely different from me but very impressive. I met him at his house that he built, which is extraordinary because he not only built the house but he sawed the logs and milled them, framed it, poured the foundation and roofed it.
Q: How closely did you study Craig to prepare for this role? In other words, what is your process when it comes to researching the real people you portray in motion pictures?
A: I don’t want to do caricatures. And I have come very close. I have done some historical figures. And I find that when you are too slavishly responsible to presenting an accurate representation of Lyndon B. Johnson that you wind up caricaturing him – because, of course, you are not Lyndon B. Johnson. You have to find something in the character that resonates with who you are and what you believe in. And you have to project that clearly. I have done, in my career, a pretty broad range of characters. But I do not wear makeup. So, basically, if people think that Dudley Smith is different than Farmer Hoggett, it is only because of the nature of how I approach the action of the narrative. And people are not tired of me yet so I guess that it is OK.
Q: What did the opportunity to briefly walk in Craig’s shoes teach you?
A: Craig is far more empathetic, forgiving and accepting than I am. I have those traits in me but I often do not acknowledge them or exercise them. I was reading the new book by Tom Sadyak, who I am very fond of. He is on a spiritual quest and was saying that in his mind there are these two wolves – the dark, egotistical, self-destructive and violent wolf and the compassionate, empathetic, generous and grateful wolf. And he asks, “In your life, which wolf wins?” The answer is the one you feed. So, I think that, for the most part, Craig fed the lighter wolf. And I respect that immensely. And I have that as a goal in my own life.
Q: If viewers come away from this movie with only one theme or idea, what do you hope that would be?
A: Each person, in themselves, is enough. And the only thing that matters are your principles. Those are the things that you cannot live without. And when you lose them, they are really gone and it is a different kind of life. My driver today, bless his heart, was a man from Sri Lanka. They have been fighting for their freedom and for their liberation for many years. He finally got to America and raised a family but his kids know nothing about where he came from or the hardships that he has been through. They know nothing about a religion. So he asks his kids, “What religion are you?” They say, “We are from the religion of do the right thing.” That is a religion that I believe in. Do the right thing.
Q: There is a line that I really like in the movie: “Age is just an abstraction. It is not a straightjacket.” Can you apply that line to the idea that, at least as I have observed, the roles seem to get richer for actors as they get older?
A: When I was younger, the roles – although I had a number of wonderful ones – were less substantial. As I get older, I have a certain amount of gravity to bring. So people now cast me because I have a body of work. I project something. I have always wanted to play a proletariat. I guess that I do not look like proletariat. I guess that I do not sound like a proletariat. But this was really one of the few times that I have had the chance to play an ordinary person. A role is only as rich as you make it. But this is a good role. This is a really good role. It is a wonderful role and I hope that I get a few more.
Q: Finally, still speaking of the richness of roles such as this, how has your life prepared you to play a person with this much passion?
A: I am often criticized by those who know me for having too much passion and being a little on the strident side. My life has been very full – not only in terms of my career but also in my private life. I have a family. I have had marriages – marriages that failed and relationships that worked. I have been through it with my kids. I continue to be a father – and continue to be frustrated as a father. I have been politically active since my early 20s – mostly in radical politics. I have hitchhiked around the world. I have lived a very full life. And that gives me a leg up on somebody who, I suppose, has been less out there and, at a certain point, sort of runs out of things to say. I have never run out of things to say. My wife is smiling at me at this moment. She knows damn well that I never run out of things to say. I have had a full and rich life and I try to bring that – my life and what I have learned – with some humility – because it is just my life – to the work that I do. And people seem to respond to that. The response that I get from a lot of people is, “I like your work.” So, instead of thinking of me as a movie star or as a curiosity, they understand that I am a working man. And they appreciate the job that I do. They see it as a job and they say to me, “Whenever you are in a picture, I see it because I always know that I will like what I see.”
Actress Virginia Madsen, whose film credits include “Sideways” and “A Prairie Home Companion,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about her role in the new sports comedy “The Hot Flashes.”
In “The Hot Flashes” – which opens Friday, July 19 exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5 – Madsen, Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Wanda Sykes and Camryn Manheim play an unlikely group of middle-aged women who challenge the high school girls’ state basketball champs to raise money for a mobile breast cancer screening truck to continue its work.
Question: What was it about this project – and this character in particular – that appealed to you as an actress?
Answer: It really appealed to me working with this incredible group of women. As you know, there are not a lot of movies about women and you might be the only woman in the movie if you get a part in one of them. To work with this cast, I almost said, “Yes” without even reading it. And when I did, I loved the role. I loved that she was kind of the town tramp. She was a lot of fun to play. She was very sassy.
Q: So, then, which of your castmates were you most excited to work with?
A: There is no way that I can answer that question because they were just so incredible. The only person whom I had never met was Wanda. I had worked with Camryn. I had worked with Brooke. I knew Daryl from years ago and just sort of knew her socially; she, of course, worked with my brother on “Kill Bill.” But I had never met Wanda so she was a surprise. And she was wonderful.
Q: What is one surprising thing that playing this character taught you about yourself?
A: I didn’t know how to play basketball. And even though I studied dance for years, was physically fit and was up for the challenge, I felt very self-conscious about playing a sport. I just did not think that I could do it. I was really scared but I found out that I was pretty good at something that I had never done before. I could really do it and that was a huge surprise to me.
Q: So, then, is that to say that there were no stunt doubles used for your scenes on the court?
A: Oh, no! They could not have afforded that! And, really, there is no way that you can have a stunt double in basketball. It is too fast-moving. You cannot just cut to somebody else’s hand shooting the ball. You are always going to see your face. And we were all up for the challenge. We were all strong and in shape. Of course, we had various aches and pains, but we got through it just fine. Obviously you want stunt doubles if you are doing something dangerous. But in a film like this, there was no reason why we could not do it. And, of course, that made the games more realistic and gave [director Susan Seidelman] a lot more freedom in the way that [she] could shoot it.
Q: What, in your opinion, is the theme of this film? In other words, what do you hope is the ultimate takeaway for viewers?
A: Don’t ever let someone discourage you. I think that happens a lot when you are a teenager. People spend a lot of time discouraging teenagers and telling them that they cannot spread their wings and fly. And they start doing it again when you are in your late 40s. People start saying, “Oh, you can’t do that! You can’t dress that way! You must be frightened that you are getting old!” And you say, “No I’m not!” But they discourage you from still having adventures in your life. A friend of mine recently decided to change careers. She retired from her business, moved to another country and people were like, “You can’t do that! You’re 45 years old! What if you fail?” There was so much discouragement. Of course, I told her to go for it. And she made a great success of it because she believed in herself. That is another thing that you can take away from this movie. Believe in yourself against all odds.
Q: Finally, you have several more movies coming down the pipeline. Which of them are you especially excited about sharing with the world?
A: I am pretty excited about these two indie films I made – “The Wilderness of Change” and “Walter.” I think that these two movies are going to be so beautiful. It is going to be a while before they come out so I am probably premature in saying that but I had a really good feeling when I was shooting them. Of course, because of their subject matter, they will probably be film festival fare. But I am realizing that the only places that you can ever seen good movies anymore are film festivals and on the plane. I saw two amazing films on the way here. One of them was “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and the other one was “Lawless.” They were excellent movies. I hope that these movies will have more of a success than the plane.
Director Susan Seidelman, whose film credits include “Desperately Seeking Susan” and “She-Devil,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about her new sports comedy “The Hot Flashes.”
In “The Hot Flashes” – which opens Friday, July 19 exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5 – Brooke Shields, Virginia Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Wanda Sykes and Camryn Manheim play an unlikely group of middle-aged women who challenge the high school girls’ state basketball champs to raise money for a mobile breast cancer screening truck to continue its work.
Question: What was it about this project that initially appealed to you and drew you to the directing chair?
Answer: I got the script around 2008 and the first thing that appealed to me was the title – “The Hot Flashes.” Being a person of a certain age now in my life, I thought that it was about time that somebody made a movie about middle-aged women. There are so many great actresses out there that there are no parts for so I thought that this was a great ensemble for five actresses of a certain age. And I thought that dealing with the issue – in a comedic way – of being middle-aged was something that really is not usually touched on in Hollywood movies.
Q: And how about once you were in that aforementioned directing chair? What about this project excited you most?
A: These women are dealing with not only the personal issues in their life but also the challenge of playing basketball. They are getting their old 1980 high school basketball team back together, resolving all of those issues that we all harbor from high school, challenging the current 18-year-old girls championship team and doing it for a good cause. So, for me, there was something exciting about these women having the physical challenge as well as the emotional challenge of dealing with their own self-esteem and proving their own worth at this stage in their life.
Q: Tell me a few words about each of the members of your cast. Brooke Shields?
A: Really nice person. Elegant and beautiful, but you would not believe how nice she is inside. She is as beautiful inside as she is outside.
Q: Virginia Madsen?
A: Feisty, sexy and sassy.
Q: Daryl Hannah?
A: Sweet and quirky. Daryl is great because she is a little shy and a little goofy. She is not goofy in real life but she is shy in real life. And I think that is something that people do not know about her.
Q: Wanda Sykes?
A: A fireball and funny. She is funny on screen and she is funny when the cameras are not rolling, as well.
Q: Camryn Manheim?
A: Earthy. Down to earth. Solid. Straightforward. Direct. Tells it like it is.
Q: If viewers come away from this movie with only one theme or idea, what do you hope that would be?
A: I think that the takeaway is that the only limitations a person has are the ones that they set for themselves. People often reach a certain stage in their life where they think that they are not appreciated. To me, it is not about age or what you do. It is about inner strength that I think everyone has – no matter what their age. This team does something that they did not think that they could do. And the fact that they succeed at it makes them feel good personally and also does something good for the community.
Q: Finally, what is your message to moviegoers?
A: This is not just a movie for middle-aged women. I hope that men will enjoy it, too, because it is funny. And I hope that younger people enjoy it because everybody hopes to be middle-aged and beyond. I believe that movies about older characters do not have to only be seen by older people. I think that that is one of the sad things about some Hollywood movies. Once an actress reaches a certain age, she suddenly no longer gets to be the leading lady. Working on this movie gave me an opportunity to work with five very unique and very different actresses that are not seen very much on screen in leading roles. That, to me, is a waste of talent because as you get older you get better.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, July 16 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a historical sports drama about Jackie Robinson, an actioner based in a French graphic novel and a remake of a classic horror flick.
‘42’
Chadwick Boseman plays Jackie Robinson who makes history in 1946 when he signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford). (PG-13 – 100 minutes)
Since Jackie Robinson is one of the greatest baseball players of all time, it is only fitting that “42” – a new drama about his world-altering first minor league season – is one of the greatest films about baseball released in recent memory. In a time when movies like “Moneyball” forget to appeal to all audiences and instead cater solely to sports junkies, writer/director Brian Helgeland’s flick is far-reaching. Anchored by an extraordinary performance by a nearly unrecognizable Harrison Ford, this motion pictures possesses the emotional depth necessary to vitalize viewers regardless of their grasp on the game. (Thumbs Up!)
Sylvester Stallone plays a career hitman who enters into an unlikely alliance with a by-the-book detective (Sung Kang) to bring down the ruthless killer of their respective partners. Christian Slater and Jason Momoa also star. (R – 91 minutes)
“Bullet to the Head” is a gravely gritty crime thriller with reverberating sound effects. Having said that, its episodic nature grows old extremely quickly thereby making the film feel like it goes on forever in spite of its somewhat short runtime. Director Walter Hill’s new movie, which is based on Alexis Nolent’s French graphic novel of the same title, cycles through a pattern in which its stars Sylvester Stallone and Sung Kang track down a bad guy, beat him to a bloody pulp, put a bullet in his head and end up pointing their guns at each other. Rinse. Repeat. (Thumbs Down!)
Mark Webber plays a struggling actor who kindles a relationship with a single mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and begins to realize that he can no longer remain in denial about the real-life consequences his choices have on his own son. (NR – 90 minutes)
“The End of Love” may be one of the most incredibly intimate motion pictures you will ever witness, exhibiting – with unparalleled honesty – the deeply emotional bond between a parent and their child. That honesty is due in part to actor Mark Webber co-starring with his own real-life son but also because he, in writing and directing the new drama, used his own challenging childhood experiences as inspiration. Having said that, the project is sometimes even so intimate that it feels more like a home movie than a feature film and has all of the format’s momentum and resolution – or lack thereof. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Erased’
Aaron Eckhart plays an ex-CIA agent who discovers that he and his daughter have been marked for termination as part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy. A dangerous game of cat-and-mouse ensues as he tries to outsmart his hunters and uncover the truth. (R – 104 minutes)
After a first act that delivers all of the excitement, intrigue and unabashed fun of “Taken” and “Unknown,” the new thriller “Erased” eventually tries to imitate entertainment that is more intellectually stimulating. In the process of doing so, the motion picture becomes convoluted, confusing and lackluster while never really feeling very genuine in its efforts to motivate the mental muscle. Star Aaron Eckhart has a decent turn at being an action star and a few exchanges are exhilarating enough to amuse you while watching the movie but as soon as the end credits roll the experience will have been erased from your memory. (Thumbs Down!)
Five friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival. (R – 90 minutes)
It is never a good idea to make a promise as audacious as “the most terrifying movie you will ever experience” on your motion picture’s poster. In doing so, TriStar Pictures has robbed “Evil Dead” – writer/director Fede Alvarez’s update of Sam Raimi’s horror classic – of the opportunity to have praise over its spectacular special effects (all of which are practical as opposed to computer-generated, by the way) sit in the spotlight. Instead, criticism over its distinct lack of scares as a result of its razor-thin story and star Jane Levy’s habitually heinous performance take center stage. (Thumbs Down!)
‘The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure’
Three siblings set out to find five magical golden balloons in time for their friend’s surprise birthday party. With the help and support of many extraordinary new friends whom they meet along the way, the Oogieloves use creative thinking, teamwork and enthusiasm to rescue these one-of-a-kind balloons in time for the big celebration. (G – 88 minutes)
“The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure” leaves viewers longing for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” – the television series starring Paul Reubens that had a similarly interactive spirit but was just as enjoyable for adults as it was for kids. Unlike that aforementioned 80’s gem, the new feature-length film created by Kenn Viselman (the mastermind behind the Teletubbies) is strictly for children – those of preschool-age and below, to be exact. In other words, its target audience is spectacularly small, posing a problem for parents who have multiple kids in various age groups. Then again, that target audience is sure to find the film vibrantly entertaining. (Thumbs Up!)
James Purefoy plays a 16th century killing machine who, after finding his spirituality after an encounter with the Devil’s Reaper (Ian Whyte), embarks on a mission to take down the overload (Samuel Roukin), whose human raiders are ravaging England. (R – 104 minutes)
While watching “Solomon Kane,” one cannot help but expect to see star James Purefoy break character for a moment, turn to the camera and say with a smile, “Just kidding!” prompting the motion picture to drop its gloom and doom tone and finally become fun. Writer/director Michael J. Bassett‘s new fantasy-fueled adventure flick, which is based around the world first imagined by “Conan” creator Robert E. Howard, is simply too solemn to be even remotely entertaining. The set-pieces are spectacular and the atmosphere is astounding but the self-serious story is certain to put viewers to sleep well before the action kicks in. (Thumbs Down!)
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Among the new movies that were released Friday, July 12 in theaters throughout the Valley are a sequel starring Adam Sandler and all of his closest friends, a science-fiction-fueled actioner about aliens and robots and a coming-of-age dramedy set at a water park.
Adam Sandler reprises his role as a man who, after moving his family back to his hometown to be with his friends and their kids, finds out that – between old bullies, new bullies, schizo bus drivers, drunk cops on skis and 400 costumed party crashers – sometimes crazy follows you. Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Space also star. (PG-13 – 101 minutes)
It is safe to say that “Grown Ups” was widely considered to be one of the worst movies of 2010 – if not of all time, too. Therefore, declaring “Grown Ups 2” to be a bit better than its predecessor may be faint praise; but I imagine that, at this point in the downward spiral that is his career, actor Adam Sandler celebrates such small successes. And although the new sequel’s idea of comedy remains as high-brow as being able to burp, sneeze and fart simultaneously, the novelty of seeing so many actors in crazy cameos at least keeps things more interesting this time around. (Thumbs Down!)
Pilou Asbæk and Roland Møller play two crew members of a cargo ship that is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars, a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company (Søren Malling) and the Somali pirates. Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5. (R – 99 minutes)
“A Hijacking” is a movie about a hostage situation in the same way that “Moneyball” is a movie about baseball. That is to say that it is about the business as opposed to the action. And “action” is the keyword here as the new Danish import is sufficiently lacking such – at least in the traditional sense of the word. Granted, corporate conference room negotiations and prolonged exposure to unpleasant conditions are reality-based whereas heroic rescue attempts and retaliation efforts are far more fictional, but one is much more entertaining to watch while the other will likely put you to sleep. (Thumbs Down!)
Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi play two unlikely heroes who, when an alien attack threatens the Earth’s existence, pilot a giant robot to fight off the menace, standing as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse. (PG-13 – 131 minutes)
I have never been so unfortunate to be hit over the head with heavy machinery for more than 2 hours but I imagine that the feeling is similar to the one that you have while watching “Pacific Rim.” There is little more to writer/director Guillermo del Toro’s new science-fiction-fueled actioner than a seemingly endless series of loud sounds as big robots and even bigger aliens go head-to-head and fist-to-fist with one another. And although the special effects are spectacular, what is the point if they are veiled by the pitch-blackness of night time and pouring rain? (Thumbs Down!)
A man searching for his kidnapped wife, a couple of white-supremacist meth heads and a sad-sack Elvis impersonator pawn more than they bargain for at a Southern small-town pawn shop. Stars include Brendan Fraser, Elijah Wood, Vincent D’Onofrio, Thomas Jane, Lukas Haas, Norman Reedus, Matt Dillon and Paul Walker. Playing exclusively at AMC Arizona Center 24. (R – 112 minutes)
The phrase “off-the-wall” does not even begin to describe “Pawn Shop Chronicles.” In fact, there is little that one could actually say that would accurately relay the intensity of the insanity that director Wayne Kramer achieves in his new darkly comedic anthology. The same could be said of the resulting entertainment value, which is – at the very least – through the roof. Accentuated by an all-star cast – many members of which are practically unrecognizable – these three salacious stories will have your head spinning in circles and cause your jaw to punch a hole straight through the floor. (Thumbs Up!)
Choreographer Allison Orr joins city sanitation workers on their daily routes to listen, learn and ultimately to try to convince them to collaborate in a unique dance performance thereby finding beauty and grace in garbage trucks – and in the men and women who pick up our trash. Playing exclusively at the FilmBar. (NR – 65 minutes)
Anyone who identified with the insights shared by Wes Bentley’s Ricky Fitts character in “American Beauty” as he recounted seeing a plastic bag blowing around in the wind will feel as though their heart is going to cave in while watching “Trash Dance.” Filmmaker Andrew Garrison’s new documentary demonstrates to viewers’ delight that beauty is, beyond any doubt, all around us – even in the most seemingly mundane things of everyday life. To see these sanitation engineers smile as they step outside of their comfort zones and bring artistic significance to their work is inspiring, uplifting and entertaining. (Thumbs Up!)
‘V/H/S/2’
While searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his house and find collection of VHS tapes. Upon viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize that there may be dark motives behind the student’s disappearance. Playing exclusively at the FilmBar. (R – 95 minutes)
Less than one year after “V/H/S” was released, we get its aptly titled sequel “V/H/S/2.” And although the new horror anthology remains mostly meaningless with its solitary strength being the ingenuity of its found-footage techniques, the directors this time around have dialed down the unnecessarily shocking nature of each of their shorts and instead simply focus on taking full advantage of their respective gimmicks. None of the four would warrant a feature-length treatment and even wear on their welcome in short-form but all are novel enough to entertain fans of the found-footage genre. (Thumbs Up!)
Liam James plays a teenager who gets a job at a water park and gains some much-needed self-confidence under the guidance of happy-go-lucky water park employee (Sam Rockwell) who approaches life from a fresh new perspective. Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5. (PG-13 – 96 minutes)
“The Way, Way Back” is a coming-of-age crowd-pleasure that is as insightful as it is delightful. Writers/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s comedy will make you laugh out loud with its super sharp sense of humor while simultaneously striking a significant chord with anyone who has ever felt unappreciated, unaccepted or simply uncertain. Sam Rockwell steals the show as a fast-talking, facetious goof-off with a humongous heart but the entire cast – including AnnaSophia Robb, Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Allison Janney – is exemplary. Granted, this film treads familiar ground but rarely is the experience as profoundly relatable and genuinely enjoyable as this. (Thumbs Up!)
Choreographer Allison Orr recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about her new documentary “Trash Dance.”
In “Trash Dance,” which screens 2 p.m. Saturday, July 13 and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 14 exclusively at the FilmBar, Orr joins city sanitation workers on their daily routes to listen, learn and ultimately to try to convince them to collaborate in a unique dance performance thereby finding beauty and grace in garbage trucks – and in the men and women who pick up our trash.
Q: What was the initial spark that lit your interest in this project?
A: I make dances with all types of people and I had long wanted to work with members of our sanitation department. It had been on my dream-list. I was first inspired by the amazing movements that they perform on a regular basis. I am also interested in exploring parts of our community that might be invisible or work behind-the-scenes. I am really interested in getting the chance to talk about those stories and those people. So this was the perfect project for me and at the time that I was getting ready to start working on the creating the dance and beginning my year of immersion getting to know the [sanitation employees], the filmmaker Andrew Garrison approached me and asked if he could come out and watch. That is really where it all started.
Q: If viewers were to walk away from this documentary with only one theme, what do you hope that would be?
A: What I hear people tell me is that it is really about honoring the beauty of labor, the dignity of hard work and the art in our everyday lives. I think that both the film and the performance connect people in a way that they might not have expected. I really had the time of my life and feel like I have friends now for the rest of my life who will do anything for me. I am just so appreciative of their generosity and their willingness to do this with me. There was so much content there for me as an artist to work with. They are such characters and their lives are so rich. It was really just a blast to get to do the whole project.
Q: It seems as though this is far outside of the comfort zone of these sanitation engineers. Was it at all difficult to convince them to to participate this project?
A: I have worked with a pretty wide range of folks – from maintenance men and rollerskaters to traffic cops and gondoliers in Venice. I found this group of people to be the group that got it from the beginning in a way that no other group ever has. I said, “Let’s create an event where we tell the true story about who you are and the true story about your job. How if you don’t show up and go to work today, how the city would come to a standstill. That we depend on of your work but rarely ever take time to stop and say thank you or really recognize the skill in it.” Most people don’t grow up saying that they want to be a garbage man. They know that there are a lot of stereotypes about who they are and why they ended up in this job. So I think that they really saw this as an opportunity.
Q: So then what would you say was your biggest challenge? Was it, perhaps, simply working with people who were not trained performers?
A: We did have a few people involved in the project who were trained performers but the majority of the people were not trained performers. Actually, most of my work in the past 10 years has been with people who are not trained performers. But I would say that the biggest difference was the scale of it all. I had never done a piece this big. This was 16 trash trucks on a tarmac that was bigger than a football field. We had 2,000 people come out to the show and did not have enough space for the other hundreds that were standing at the gate. It was a real learning curve for me to work on something this large – even just learning how to manipulate the machines and logistically how to pull off something at this level.
Q: So then, finally, how did you pull it off?
A: I had a lot of help. There was a big team behind this project. It was not at all just me. It always feels like I am not going to be able to pull it off and I am kind of in that place again. I am actually working on a new project right now with public power workers here in Austin. IIt kind of feels impossible but it’s not. I am really reminded of this beautiful moment in the film when Don Anderson – who was really one of the leaders – says, “We are going to pull this off, Allison. It is going to happen. You have got good people behind you.” I think that the one thing that I really learned is that if you put a great team together, you can do anything. I just keep coming back back to that when I am afraid that this next thing it isn’t going to work. If you have got good people behind you, then you can do the impossible.
Writers/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, whose behind-the-scenes credits include “The Descendants” and collective on-screen credits include “Beerfest” and “Community,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about their new coming-of-age dramedy “The Way, Way Back.”
In “The Way, Way Back,” which opens Friday, July 12 exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5, Liam James plays a teenager who gets a job at a water park and gains some much-needed self-confidence under the guidance of happy-go-lucky water park employee (Sam Rockwell) who approaches life from a fresh new perspective.
Question: Tell me about the inception of this project. In particular, how did you come to direct it?
Nat Faxon: We wrote this about 8 years ago. Shawn Levy was going to direct it and Fox Searchlight was the studio behind it. We came out of the gate pretty quickly. We were casting, we were very exciting and everything was moving very quickly. But not unlike many Hollywood movie tales, it fell apart due to schedules and logistics. Then it went through a few other phases of different studios and directors being on board. We ended up getting it back into our hands a couple of years ago and we decided to direct it ourselves. Having lived with it for so long and wanting the opportunity to see our vision from start to finish really motivated us to be a bit bullish and try to do it on our own.
Question: You won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Descendants.” Was your experience working on that film at all helpful in preparing you for this project?
Jim Rash: I think it was helpful in a lot of ways. I think that, as a writer, you want your script to be ready when you shoot. We had 8 years and, while the core story remained the same, there was an evolution of honing scenes, cutting stuff out, tweaking characters and looking for restraint. We looked for those moments that you can pull back, take some of the wording out and let actions speak louder. I think that adapting [“The Descendants’”] novel, which is all about scaling back and digging deep into the book to find what you need and pull out what you don’t need, was very helpful for us. And Alexander [Payne] has obviously made a career out of making these movies that have small moments that say so much with so little. I think that we took that to heart. We had a lot of stuff like that in [our screenplay for “The Way, Way Back”], but when we started shooting it we realized that we were on a budget and some of our scenes were going to have to be all in one shot. So we did a number of one-shot scenes and, to the benefit of both the movie and our vision, it allowed us to be like we were eavesdropping on these moments.
Question: Speaking of moments, Sam Rockwell has quite a few in this film and arguably steals the show as Owen. How did you come to the decision to cast him?
Nat Faxon: As we were writing it, we had the template of Bill Murray from “Meatballs” in mind. And when we decided to direct it, we thought about who could fit that role now. Sam came to mind almost immediately. He is a very warm and affectionate caring guy and has the ability to be very charismatic and full of life – all of which are qualities that Owen embodies. He brought so much of his personality to the role and elevated it in such a way that it felt exactly right from the very beginning.
Question: On the opposite end of the spectrum is Steve Carell. His performance is excellent but he plays an uncharacteristically unlikeable guy. How did you know that he was right for the role of Trent?
Jim Rash: We wanted to go against type with Trent. Steve came to mind pretty early as someone who has an innate likability, which is a component that we needed to try and have the understanding of why Pam has got blinders on and finds him attractive. What draws her to him is that he cares for her and is affectionate with his friends. He is fun and sociable and all of those things that make him more of this rounded, conflicted, tragic male character. He is this guy who can proclaim that he wants this family and needs to be better but has no follow-through. There is a self-awareness of his faults there and Steve sort of embraced the complexities of and the dangers of being this character. Because we are always wanting our characters to have this arc where they’ll have this moment of evolution and see the errors of their ways. But this is not a character that is meant to do that. That makes him very real. There are people who we all know in our lives that are sort of just stuck in their habits.
Question: A lot about this movie feels real, though. Did either of you draw from any of your own experiences? And what was your essential intention for your protagonist Duncan?
Jim Rash: That first scene of the movie is autobiographical in a sense that, when I was 14 years old, my stepfather had that exact conversation with me while we were in a station wagon on our way to our summer vacation. It was important to us to write Duncan to be an observer we wanted him to be more than just this quirky character who has got this special talent that has not yet been tapped. He really is this introvert who is sort of lost and needs some guidance. His parents are both sort of out of his life in a way and we wanted him to be this sponge of all of the people around him. We wanted him to literally start sitting up straight and gaining this confidence.
Question: Finally, if viewers were to come away from this movie with one idea or theme, what do you hope that might be?
Jim Rash: To me, an ensemble is about taking care of all of these characters because they are all serving a purpose. Duncan is obviously the center of this story but he is affecting all of these people’s lives and I feel like this truly a rite of passage for a numerous amount of characters. To me, it is a movie where everyone can connect to the idea of characters in flux going into that next chapter – whether they choose to or not. It is based on the connections you have with people who you might know for only one summer at a time or see only once a year. Whether or not these characters will be in each other’s lives after this moment, their relationship had an impact on each other. So I think that it is really about the connections we make, the interactions we have, the power of chance meetings and the power of being someone’s support – whether you will be in their life forever or not.
Nat Faxon: Ideally, there is a connection for people who watch this movie. If they are young, they will hopefully see the hope in this situation that everything will work out just fine for this kid. And if they are older and looking back, they will hopefully remember that moment and – whether it was good or bad – how much they grew from it.
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, July 9 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a thriller from Niels Arden Oplev, a science-fiction flick from Stephenie Meyer and a crime drama from Harmony Korine.
Tina Fey plays a Princeton admissions officer who, up for a promotion, takes a professional risk when an alternative school teacher (Paul Rudd) introduces her to a college-bound kid who just might be the son she gave up years ago in a secret adoption. (PG-13 – 100 minutes)
If anyone asks you to see “Admission” with them, swiftly reject their offer. If they then see the new comedy without you and say that it was anything other than a complete waste of their time, immediately deny having ever known them. Tina Fey is utterly unfunny as a character who is socially impaired and ultimately unlikeable while Paul Rudd appears as though he is starring in another movie altogether – a movie that may have actually been worth watching. A scene in which the wannabe freshmen’s fates are decided is kind of compelling but the rest should be renounced. (Thumbs Down!)
Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace star as two strangers who are irresistibly drawn to one another by their mutual desire for revenge. Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper co-star. (R – 118 minutes)
Those viewers who lack patience are likely to give up on “Dead Man Down” long before any action takes place. As a result, they will miss out on some mesmerizing melodrama. On the other hand, they will also avoid being subjected to an onslaught of shadowy shootouts and crazy commotion that occurs in the final fourth of the film. What at first appears to be a slow-burning-but-strikingly-stylized story about love and revenge ultimately proves itself to be pointless preposterousness. The complex relationship between Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace’s characters remains mildly intriguing however it never amounts to anything that would save this nonsensical neo-noir. (Thumbs Down!)
‘The Host’
Saoirse Ronan plays a girl who, when an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about – proving that love can conquer all in a dangerous new world. (PG-13 – 125 minutes)
“The Host” is really, really robotic – which, as it turns out, is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, writer/director Andrew Niccol’s new cinematic adaptation of “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s novel makes for an engrossingly ethereal experience. On the other hand, the sci-fi romance conducts itself without any of the passion that makes for good melodrama – except for a few small scenes that, in aiming to appeal to the same audiences who consider themselves members of either Team Edward or Team Jacob, seem so out of place that they come across as incredibly corny. (Thumbs Down!)
Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Korine and Selena Gomez play best friends whose serendipitous encounter with a rapper (James Franco) promises to provide them with all the thrill and excitement they could hope for and a spring break they will never forget. (R – 92 minutes)
If writer/director Harmony Korine’s intention with his new crime drama “Spring Breakers” was to make viewers feel as though they have been drugged and are experiencing 90 minutes of extremely unpleasant intoxication, he hit that nail square on its head. The movie is artistically incompetent, substituting a structured narrative with something that looks more like a cross between a commercial and a music video. Worst of all, though, Korrine’s project is a direct insult toward young women – exploiting their bodies to pornographic effect and suggesting that the vast majority of them are soulless, money-hungry nymphomaniacs who are completely incapable of self-respecting behavior. (Thumbs Down!)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Among the new movies that were released over the Independence Day 2013 holiday weekend in theaters throughout the Valley are a drama about fangless vampires, a sequel to a 2010 animated adventure and a new western inspired by a classic character.
Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan play mother and daughter vampires seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. As knowledge of their secret spreads, their past catches up on them with deathly consequence. Playing exclusively at Harkins Shea 14. (R – 118 Minutes)
Fear not the fangless vampires in “Byzantium” for their thirst of your blood. (They use sharp thumbnails to puncture their victims before savoring the red juices within.) Instead, fear their innate ability to put you to sleep. “Interview with the Vampire” director Neil Jordan’s new dramatic fantasy flick is certainly stylish with cinematography that will take your breath away, but screenwriter Moira Buffini adapts her stage play “A Vampire Story” with dippy dialogue that makes your eyes roll, a placid pace that makes your eyelids feel increasingly heavy and a convoluted chronology that will make you go absolutely batty. (Thumbs Down!)
Steve Carell once again voices the evil villain Gru, who this time is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal (Benjamin Bratt). Other voice talents include Kristen Wiig, Russell Brand, Ken Jeong and Steve Coogan. (PG – 98 minutes)
“Despicable Me 2” may still not be on the same level as some other recently released animated adventures, but at least it is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. Doing away with the disjointed approach that made 2010’s franchise-opener feel more like a series of loosely connected shorts than a cohesive feature film and amplifying its emotional resonance with a romantic subplot, the new sequel is fun for audiences of all ages. Younger viewers will go mad for the Minions while everyone else will appreciate the themes of overcoming past rejections and being accepted for your true self despite your despicability. (Thumbs Up!)
Sienna Miller and Golshifteh Farahani play a Chicago housewife and a North African immigrant, respectively, who flee to Santa Fe. One wants to achieve her dream of becoming a professional belly dancer while the other is on the run from the police. Playing exclusively at Harkins Valley Art. (R – 106 minutes)
“Just Like a Woman” shows plenty of promise as it features a first act that draws you into its characters’ external – and internal – conflicts and a story that seems as though it could be incredibly inspiring. Unfortunately, as said story progresses, it overgeneralizes just about everything and everyone – especially when it comes to men who, if you were to believe this drama, are all horrible human beings. Needless to say, one could definitely take offense with that (or even develop a complex for that matter). But the larger issue is that such vague notions inhibit the movie’s ability to entertain much less uplift. (Thumbs Down!)
Johnny Depp plays Native American warrior Tonto, who recounts the untold tales that transformed man of the law John Reid (Armie Hammer) into a legend of justice. (PG-13 – 149 minutes)
It is a shame that director Gore Verbinski did not trust enough in the old-fashioned mystique of a masked cowboy and instead chose to turn “The Lone Ranger” into yet another showcase for Johnny Depp’s absurd antics and farcical facial expressions. The new western adventure only momentarily captures the classic property’s spectacular spirit – in its grand finale during which the titular character saves the day on horseback while a reverberating rendition of the “William Tell Overture” plays in the background. It is neither as faithful to the genre as “3:10 to Yuma” nor as groundbreakingly different as “Wild, Wild West.” (Thumbs Down!)
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Among the movies that became available Tuesday, July 2 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a thriller about multiple personality disorder, a drama about illegal immigration and a documentary about the war on drugs.
‘6 Souls’
Julianne Moore plays a doctor who, after her husband’s death, meets a patient (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) with multiple personalities. When she learns that some of said personalities are murder victims she and her loved ones get closer to becoming murder victims themselves. (R – 88 minutes)
It sincerely is a shame that “6 Souls” is not a better movie. After all, it starts out spectacularly and generates a great deal of fascination from its viewers who are certain to be drawn into the exceptionally strange behaviors exhibited by Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s character. However, at about the midway mark, the new thriller goes a little off the rails as it trades psychological scares for supernatural ones thereby becoming pretty preposterous in the process. Having said that, it may still be worth a watch to see Meyers give not one, not two but six Oscar-calibre performances. (Thumbs Down!)
‘The Girl’
Abbie Cornish plays a single mother who, struggling with the loss of her child to Social Services, crosses paths with that of a young girl from Mexico and begins a journey that will change her life – discovering that she is the architect of her own fate and learning what it is that truly defines home. (PG-13 – 95 minutes)
“The Girl” is a timely and touching tale of transformation through tragedy. Writer/director David Riker’s new drama, which is in the same vein as 2007’s “Under the Same Moon” and 2011’s “A Better Life,” tackles the topic of illegal immigration in a way that encourages viewers to consider the outlook of those on the other side of the fence yet never truly takes sides and instead challenges said viewers to come to their own complex conclusions. And while Riker circumvents some inconvenient details along the way and ends on a somewhat contradictory note, star Abbie Cornish’s penetrating performance is worth the price of admission in and of itself. (Thumbs Up!)
Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki examines the war on drugs, exploring the risks that prohibition poses to freedom and the tragedy of addicts being treated as criminals. (NR – 108 minutes)
Although it is merely a brief introduction to a much larger subject, “The House I Live In” jump-starts the controversial conversation – deserving our admiration for that reason alone. Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki does a decent job of demonstrating that there may be much more to the story than simply saying that there are good guys and bad guys. He could have improved upon his project and helped an even greater number of people had he opened the topic up a bit more to include other criminal activities that render offenders as essentially disposable entities but change has to start somewhere. (Thumbs Up!)
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Among the new movies that were released Friday, June 28 in theaters throughout the Valley are a buddy-cop comedy in which Sandra Bullock is partnered up with Melissa McCarthy, a tear-jerker in which Terence Stamp learns how to get in touch with his own emotions and an actioner in which Channing Tatum saves the President of the United States.
Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson play brothers who, struggling to keep their organic blood and bone fertilizer business afloat, stumble upon three travelers stranded on a remote country road and cook up a radical solution to their supply problem. Playing exclusively at Harkins Valley Art. (NR – 91 minutes)
It seems that some businesses will do just about anything to stay afloat. However, as Australian import “100 Bloody Acres” theorizes, one moral lapse leads to another until somebody ends up getting processed alive through a meat grinder. The comedic horror flick features guts and gore galore, all of which is played for absolute authenticity and lots of laughs – albeit extremely dark ones. By fertilizing their first feature film with a cornucopia of clever cracks, a couple of complex characters and an ounce of organic heart, Cameron and Colin Cairnes have harvested a humorously homicidal motion picture. (Thumbs Up!)
Filmmaker Rick Rowley follows investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill as he is pulled into an unexpected journey chasing down the hidden truth behind America’s expanding covert wars. Playing exclusively at Harkins Shea 14. (NR – 87 minutes)
“Dirty Wars” is incredibly intriguing, absolutely alarming and engrossingly eye-opening. It is a genuinely well-made documentary that does a remarkable job of drawing viewers into its investigation, which is actually akin to a real-life mystery – albeit with deeply disquieting consequences. Having said that, even with its oddly dramatized approach, the motion picture will appeal primarily to political-junkies whereas the rest of us will become bored from time to time. Nonetheless, the shocking nature of it all combined with the sheer significance of its subject and the far-reaching motif of fighting for our right to knowledge make for a meritorious movie. (Thumbs Up!)
‘The Heat’
Sandra Bullock plays an uptight FBI agent who is paired with a testy Boston cop (Melissa McCarthy) in order to take down a ruthless drug lord. Neither woman has ever had a partner – or a friend for that matter. (R – 117 minutes)
“The Heat” is so fantastically funny that it should probably be illegal. “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig’s new female-fueled take on the buddy-cop genre makes a perfect pairing of stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, proving that we all need a partner – or, more universally, a friend – in life to balance out our personal imperfections. And while the comedic actioner’s story certainly does not break any molds, its level of hilarity definitely does. The always amusing McCarthy scores some of the largest out-loud laughs this year with her incredibly cantankerous character whose every line will shock and offend. (Thumbs Up!)
Filmmaker Douglas Tirola explores the rebirth of the bartender and the comeback of the cocktail while featuring the world’s most renowned bartenders with access to the most exclusive bars in New York. Screening 5:45 p.m. Sunday, June 30 and 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 1 exclusively at the FilmBar. (NR – 92 minutes)
Much like a night out at an extremely popular and therefore incredibly crowded nightclub, “Hey Bartender” comes across as a bit too chaotic. Filmmaker Douglas Tirola occasionally touches on the very interesting theme in that any aspect of life – including cocktail culture – is capable of being considered an artform. His documentary is delightful when it shines a spotlight on said artform and the stars who bring it to life. But Tirola too often resorts to the less focused and therefore also less insightful theme that speaks to drink’s elusive promise of friendship and love. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Maniac’
Elijah Wood plays the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store whose obsession with a young artist (Nora Arnezeder) escalates until it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion in him to stalk and kill. Playing exclusively at the FilmBar. (NR – 89 minutes)
“Maniac” is a merciless masterpiece of a motion picture. By essentially placing viewers in the driver’s seat for a first-hand look at a psychopath’s vicious actions and savage thoughts, director Franck Khalfoun’s update of the 1980 slasher will shock and disturb you unlike any other horror flick you have ever seen. That is because you do not watch this movie. You experience it. After all, the only thing more unsettling than looking into a killer’s eyes is looking through a killer’s eyes – which, as this film suggests, yields some visions that are less stimulated by reality than they are by neurosis. (Thumbs Up!)
Terence Stamp plays a grumpy pensioner who honors his wife’s passion for performing by joining the unconventional local choir to which she used to belong – a process that helps him build bridges with his estranged son (Christopher Eccleston). Gemma Arterton also stars. Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview 5. (PG-13 – 93 minutes)
Some of “Unfinished Song’s” musical selections seem somewhat misguided – none more so than Salt-n-Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex.” However, if seeing Vanessa Redgrave sing Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” to her cantankerous spouse – so brilliantly played by Terrence Stamp – does not completely break down your emotional barriers, then you very well may need to have your heart checked for you probably do not even have one. Granted, the new dramedy is very gimmicky, manipulative and mostly predictable, but it is impossible to remain unmoved by its story of everlasting devotion and the essentiality of an optimistic outlook on life. (Thumbs Up!)
Channing Tatum plays a Capitol policeman who, while on a tour of the White House with his young daughter, springs into action to save his child and protect the president (Jamie Foxx) from a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders. (PG-13 – 137 minutes)
Only five words are needed to review “White House Down” – “Olympus Has Fallen” was better. It was more explosive, it was more exciting and it did not star Joey King. The young actress’s role in the film – a character who, wise beyond her years, saves the day despite her small stature – is the perfect example of what is wrong with director Roland Emmerich’s new actioner. There is entirely too much dependence on light-hearted comedy. Granted, with a script as silly as the one that James Vanderbilt provides for this motion picture, it almost has to have some element of self-awareness. But the stakes here are simply too great to scoff at. (Thumbs Down!)
Director Franck Khalfoun, whose film credits include “P2,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new horror flick “Maniac.”
In “Maniac,” which opens Friday, June 28 exclusively at the FilmBar, Elijah Wood plays the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store whose obsession with a young artist (Nora Arnezeder) escalates until it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion in him to stalk and kill.
Q: What was the spark that initially lit up your interest in this project? And were you familiar with the 1980 film on which this was based before signing on to direct it?
A: When I saw the original “Maniac,” I never forgot it. So when [producers] Alexandre Aja and Thomas Langmann approached me about a remake, I instantly remembered it. I felt so much empathy and so felt so bad for this horrific person. And that had never left me. It really left a mark on me. So when they had mentioned the movie to me, I was obviously interested in it. But I also knew that doing a remake is a really dangerous idea these days. I knew that I had to do something special or else the genre audience would really lay into me and it would be hard.
Q: Speaking of doing something special, I assume that you are referring to the fact that the film is entirely in the first-person point of view of the killer. What was your thought process behind that?
A: Primarily, the idea was to come up with a new way of telling the story and to do something little bit more daring. It is such as challenge to remake a movie – especially one that is so loved and has such a huge audience. The genre audience is picky and loves to dissect films and filmmakers so I knew that if we didn’t come up with something fresh and original, I would have a hard time selling them on this remake. When you are doing a remake, you want to try and portray the essence of the film in a new way. There are a lot of horror movies that have shots of unsuspecting victims seen from the point of view of the killer. Those are always terrifying. And it seemed like the timing was right with so many found footage movies and first-person shooter games. The audience is more conditioned and more ready to accept a movie shot in this manner and it had really never been done before so I went out on a limb to see if we could pull it off.
Q: I certainly believe that you did exactly that. But was it challenging?
A: It is challenging because it strips away all the techniques that you needed to make a suspenseful film. Making a suspenseful movie is about stretching time and coverage – feet walking, a hand touching the door, someone slowly approaching. All of that was stripped away because I was always in one point of view. The other thing is, when you can no longer be with the unsuspecting victim, it is hard to create a sense of, “Where’s the killer?” You always know where the killer is. So, it technically stripped out a lot of the cinematic tools that I needed to create suspense. Instead, the suspense had to come from elsewhere. So, yeah, it was a challenge. But it is a lot more fun to work on something challenging that it is to just cover a scene.
Q: Tell me about Elijah Wood. What was your thought process behind casting him as the killer? After all, he is not the most typical choice for such a role.
A: Alix Taylor, one of our producers, knew him and remembered that he was a genre fan. In the original, it is a very big, imposing, monstrous kind of character. But I was intrigued when Elijah’s name came up because I think that, for me, the scarier people are always the normal, unsuspecting people. I think that it terrifies people to think that perhaps their next door neighbor is a rapist, a killer, a pedophile or whatever. And Elijah has these very kind eyes. He has this image of being a nice guy. I thought that the idea of using him as a serial killer would be terrifying. And it touches you because it creates a kind of empathy that I wanted to recreate in this movie which I had for the original character. If this guy is stuck and cannot control himself or keep himself from killing, then you are going to feel bad for him.
Q: Finally, if moviegoers were to walk away from this film with one theme or message, what do you hope that would be?
A: That is always a difficult question when you ask that of a slasher or serial killer movie. The fear is that what you take away from it is to be scared of everyone around you because they all might be killers. That is initially what you might take away from this but that is a really sad thing to put out there. But I think what you can take away from this is that there is mental illness and neglect out there. If you are not careful with the people around you and if you do not love your children, it is possible that they will not have the skills necessary to go through life in a positive way and end up hurting others. Ultimately, I think that it is about being kind to one another. That may sound like a funny thing to say about a movie like “Maniac” but that is what I would like people to take away from it. Be attentive. Be caring. I hope that people are entertained by the shock value of the film and pure thrill of it but I also hope that, in the end, they leave feeling, “I’m going to love people.”
Writers/directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about their new comedic horror flick “100 Bloody Acres.”
In “100 Bloody Acres,” which opens Friday, June 28 exclusively at Harkins Valley Art, Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson play brothers who, struggling to keep their organic blood and bone fertilizer business afloat, stumble upon three travelers stranded on a remote country road and cook up a radical solution to their supply problem.
Q: This is too funny to be a straight-forward horror flick but too gory to be a straight-forward comedy. Can you tell me about how you achieved the right balance between the two genres?
A: We are big genre fans. We love horror films. In fact, when we started working on this project, we had hoped that it would be this really hardcore, intense horror film. But, along the process, jokes started to find their way into the script. While we love horror films, we also love great entertainment. So we just set out to make a really entertaining film. It has certainly got a lot of horror elements but we kind of fell in love with these characters. And I guess that our sense of humor found its way into the fabric of the film. It is really just about taking people on a ride and, at the same time, exploring all of these dysfunctional relationships that we developed in the story.
Q: Speaking of said dysfunctional relationships, it seems that there is a theme surrounding that subject that this film adheres to. Granted, this is a movie with the primary intention to entertain but what is the bigger picture that you hope viewers will take away from it?
A: One of our original taglines was, “Relationships can be bloody hard work.” I think that it is essentially a relationship movie and – despite all of the horror, ugliness and gore – I think that the film has a lot of heart and explores familial dysfunction, which we know all too well. When you finish a film, you sit back and think, “There are some layers to this and there might be some deeper meaning to it.” Relationships do take a lot of work and constant vigilance. And, I do not want to sound pretentious, but I think that it also explores the human condition. We all – or most of us anyway – are basically trying to get through life doing the right thing. But sometimes – whether you are running a business, trying to get ahead in some field or trying to forge a relationship – you have to make some compromises or make not necessarily the most moral decisions. But, ultimately, you are just trying to do the right thing.
Q: Even though it does not look it, this is your first feature-length film. What can you say about your experience getting this project off the ground?
A: It was one surprise after another. We started writing it about 10 years ago. It is pretty difficult to get a movie made in Australia. We rely heavily on government assistance as there is not a whole lot of private investment. It is even harder to get a genre film – particularly a horror film – made. So there were a lot of challenges along the way. We only started to make a breakthrough when we got a very well-credentialed producer on board by the name of Julie Ryan who has got a great reputation. She has been producing films for the last 10-15 years and is very well-regarded in the independent movie scene over here. She optioned the script about 3 years ago and said, “We are going to be making this next year.” We said, “Yeah right!” But she was true to her word. We started shooting early last year and once that got underway I think that it was just one success after another.
Q: There are some pretty spectacular special effects in this film. Break down the fourth wall for me. And why did you opt for practical effects as opposed to CGI?
A: I do not want to give too much away but the big set piece features a full-body prosthetic which comes to this grizzly end. We had a really great prosthetic artist working on the film by the name of Justin Dix, who is a film director in his own right now. But he has been doing special effects for the last 20 years and has had the opportunity to work on big shows like the “Star Wars” prequels which were shot here in Sydney. So he is very experienced – and he also came very cheap so we totally exploited that. Anyway, the intention was always to go practical. It is not like we have any philosophical opposition to CGI but that is just what we grew up with. And that is what we like. And I think that is always more fun for the actors and even the crew. It just makes shooting a lot more exciting and keeps you on your game. I think that there is just something about the artistry of special makeup effects that I have always been a huge fan of. I have been buying Fangoria Magazine since I was 8 years old. I am a bit of a student of makeup effects. So, for me, it was always going to be practical.
Q: Finally, what is next for you two?
A: We developed a really great relationship with Julie and she has optioned another script of ours which is called “They Shoot Hostages, Don’t They?” We are very close to finishing a draft of that. In fact, we have a deadline this afternoon to get a draft of that in to her. We received little bit of development funding to work on that and, in the next month or so, will get it out to potential financiers and cast. With our fingers crossed, we might be shooting that early next year. It goes it a slightly different direction [than “100 Bloody Acres”]. There is plenty of violence and, again, there are a lot of bodies being torn apart. But it is more of a crime-caper comedy.
Director Rick Rowley recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new documentary “Dirty Wars.”
In “Dirty Wars,” which opens Friday, June 28 exclusively at Harkins Shea 14, Rowley follows investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill as he is pulled into an unexpected journey chasing down the hidden truth behind America’s expanding covert wars.
Q: Before we dig a bit deeper into this subject, let’s start out with something light. How did you and Jeremy conceive this documentary? Can you give me some general background?
A: I had known Jeremy for over a decade. We had worked together very closely since the Iraq war, which we were both covering. We were both covering the war in Afghanistan and we were seeing this process of the conventional war being eclipsed by a covert war. So the two of us decided that we were going to make a film just about Afghanistan but we really had no idea how far this was going to spiral beyond our original plan.
Q: I imagine that there were many roadblocks along the way to uncovering the truth and exposing these secrets. Of course, you share some of said roadblocks in the film. But can you give me a general rundown of them?
A: There is a whole array of roadblocks in the U.S. and overseas. The first one – the obvious one is disembedding from the military. It is made incredibly attractive to stay embedded as a reporter. Your life is made very easy by the military. You are picked up at the airport by an armored convoy, you are fed and housed by the military and every morning the public affairs officer presents you with a dossier full of stories with photographs, soundbites and video clips. You just pick a story, file it and go to lunch. To disembed from that means telling your editor, “I am not going to file stories for 6 weeks and I’m going to be spending a lot of money hiring Afghans to take incredible risks to work with me. And I am going to be taking incredible risks myself. At the end of that time, I might come up with a story and I might not.”
Q: And what other roadblocks were you and Jeremy confronted with after disembedding from the military?
A: Once you are outside, every single day you are feeling out the edges of your life and making calculations about how far it safe to go. There are security obstacles, there are bureaucratic obstacles and then when you are trying to confirm things on the west side, there is a whole myriad of other obstacles. An incredible effort has been spent to prevent the American people from knowing these very carefully guarded secrets. [On top of all of that], Jeremy and I had to build enough trust with our sources so that they would share their stories with us and choose to speak out. We were confronted with obstacles all along the way.
Q: Has there been any backlash now that the film – and therefore the truth and secrets – have come out?
A: What is so remarkable to me is that the backlash hasn’t happened. The film has been embraced and there are a lot of people on inside the military and inside the CIA who have shared their critiques of the global war on terror. It is creating more enemies that it is killing. It is a tactic without a strategy. We are very worried about the way that it is undermining civil liberties back home in the U.S.
Q: And, at least in your opinion, why has there not been any backlash? After all, it seems like there would be given the sensitivity of this subject.
A: I think that part of the reason it hasn’t happened is that there has been a sea change in American public opinion recently. When we started this film, nobody was talking about drones, kill lists or domestic spying. Within just the last few months, those discussions have worked their way from the fringes of American culture onto the editorial pages of “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post.” Twelve years into the war on terror, we are finally beginning to have a national discussion about what it is doing to the world around us and what it is doing to change us as a people as well.
Q: If moviegoers were to walk away from this film with one theme or message, what do you hope that would be?
A: That they have a right to know. We are not political pundits. We are not politicians. We do not have a partisan ax to grind. We do not have a 12-point program for reforming America’s war overseas. We just know that there are dozens of wars being fought in our name but without our knowledge. These wars have been fought in the shadows with very little public knowledge and essentially no congressional oversight for over a decade. The purpose of the film is to take this war out of the shadows and into the light so the American people can begin to have a national discussion about what kind of country we want to be and how this war is going to be fought in the future.
Q: Finally, sum up your experience working on this documentary for me. What is your greatest takeaway?
A: It was a harrowing 3 years. There was a moment in Somalia when Jeremy and I felt totally pointless and empty. The thing that brought us through was the trust that all the families we had filmed that had put in us. When we began knocking on doors of houses in Afghanistan, we were the first Americans these people had seen since American soldiers kicked their doors in and killed their families. They invited us in and shared their painful stories with us because they deeply believed in the power of their stories. They thought that if their stories could be shared with the American people that it would matter, that it would be significant in some way. They trusted us – two military-aged men from the same country as the soldiers who had come into their homes – with their stories and trusted us to do everything in our power to bring their stories home. So we had to – no matter how hopeless and empty we felt at those low moments. We had to bring their stories home.
Filmmaker Douglas Tirola recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new documentary “Hey Bartender.”
In “Hey Bartender,” which will screen 5:45 p.m. Sunday, June 30 and 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 1 exclusively at the FilmBar, Tirola explores the rebirth of the bartender and the comeback of the cocktail while featuring the world’s most renowned bartenders with access to the most exclusive bars in New York.
Q: What was the spark that initially lit up your interest in this subject?
A: I worked at a bar when I was younger. That experience … was a positive one for me and one I remember well. Originally I wanted to make a movie about corner bars and that whole community of corner bars. But what I found out when I started to research is that it is not a great time in the history of the life of the corner bar. People are more interested in what’s new than what’s being part of that “Cheers”-like community. I think that when you are growing up, you go to eat with your parents and see guys in the bar area and say, “Those guys seem like they are part of a community with the bartender.” And you strive to be part of something like that someday. But now, the people who see that when they were younger come back from college to their hometown and say, “These losers have been sitting here in the same spot for 10 years. Get a life!” So it wasn’t the right time to tell that story. So I fell upon a place in New York called “Employees Only” a few blocks from my apartment. It is arguably the world’s most successful cocktail bar. I walked in there and immediately knew, “This could be a movie! This is a story that people really don’t know in terms of the renaissance of the bartender and of the contemporary cocktail!”
Q: You begin your film with the following quote from journalist Pete Hamill: “The culture of drink endures because it offers so many rewards … above all the elusive promise of friendship and love.” Can you please describe the significance of said quote as it pertains to your movie?
A: A cocktail bar is a place where you go for refuge. You go to dream, you go to fall in love, you go to morne, you go to create moments. As much as this movie is about the art of the cocktail, it is also about this special place. It is also about the bartender – not just a mixologist, who makes drinks, but the bartender who provides all of these other hospitalities, services and friendships. When you go to a restaurant, somebody seats you, somebody else takes your order, somebody behind this wall who you cannot see makes your food, some other guy brings it out and then one of the people you met before brings you the check. Even when it is nice, it is still somewhat impersonal. I think that, in a world where things are increasingly less personal, this idea where you sit down at one of these cocktail bars and [the bartender] says, ‘So what do you like to drink?’ and … he makes it right there in front of you is a really intimate interaction. Not to sound like the cynical filmmaker, but … it is unbelievable how much you do not deal with people so much anymore. Everything is automated. So the idea of this thing happening right in front you with your bartender is a very special interaction today.
Q: So then, in your opinion, what are the qualities and characteristics of a good bartender?
A: Making a good drink is very important. But most people can be taught how to make a good drink. I think that what separates someone from being a good bartender in terms of the science and technical drink-making and being a bartender that everybody remembers … is the service. It is what they call being a Sage – a person who at any moment knows what everybody’s needs are at that bar. Whether they need to be spoken to, whether they need to be left alone, whether they are looking to be introduced to somebody. Somebody who understands that you walk into a bar for that special moment when the music is right, the atmosphere is right and the crowd is right. It is like you are walking onto the set of your own movie and everything there is there to support that moment for you. The bartender is not the star of the show but maybe he is the supporting character. There is something incredibly special about walking into a place where the bartender remembers your name, that you have been there before and your favorite drink. It is one of those small little bursts you get as you go through life that makes you feel good. And part of the reason that it makes you feel good is that there is this thought that, “This is somebody who deals with hundreds if not thousands of people a year. So if they remember me and treat me like I am a good guy then that must mean something because it goes against the unspoken judgment of all of the other people I deal with.”
Q: Finally, after having made this movie, would you say that bartenders are born or are they made?
A: I think that it is a little bit of both. I would equate it to being an athlete. There are some people who have a God-given talent to be great athletes. But the people who really become great athletes are those … who work on it, finds a mentor and is taught by them. That is a theme in the movie. There is a limit to the knowledge that is in cocktail recipe books. The rest of it is learned on the job or before the bar opens. It is passed down from bartender to bartender as a sort of tradition. It really comes down to how you treat people I think that there are people who are born to work in a situation where they interact with people. There are some people who gravitate to other jobs … where they do not have to deal with other people. Then there are people who work at the DMV. As a matter of fact, it would be great if bartenders worked at the DMV. It would probably be a really fun place to go.
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, June 25 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a thriller in which Halle Berry plays a 911 operator, a comedy in which Steve Carell plays a magician and a drama in which Dermot Mulroney plays a rambler.
‘The Call’
Halle Berry plays a veteran 911 operator who, upon taking a life-altering call from a teenage girl (Abigail Breslin) who has just been abducted, realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl’s life. (R – 94 minutes)
It is no coincidence that “The Call” falls apart precisely at the point that the phone’s connection is lost. After spending an hour building some of the most spectacular suspense that we have seen this year, screenwriter Richard D’Ovidio – seemingly having written himself into a corner – simply gives up and starts dialing random numbers in search of a competent conclusion. Instead, all he finds is sheer stupidity as the story essentially hangs up on any sensibility whatsoever. Granted, it is silly from the start but nothing will prepare you for the farce of a finale. (Thumbs Up!)
‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’
Steve Carell plays a magician who splits from his longtime stage partner (Steve Buscemi) after a guerrilla street magician (Jim Carrey) steals their thunder. By spending some time with his boyhood idol (Alan Arkin), he looks to remember what made him love magic in the first place. (PG-13 – 100 minutes)
“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” is definitely fun but it is far from magical. The movie’s strengths lie squarely with its likeable cast members – namely Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi and Jim Carrey, any one of whom would be more than enough to entertain an audience. Therefore, seeing all three in the same place is trick worth watching in and of itself. However, the material – though it starts strong and finishes fabulously – meanders in the middle and does not provide the motion picture’s three shining stars the right resources to transform this amusing magic wand into a boisterous bouquet of flowers. (Thumbs Up!)
Filmmakers Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush investigate incidents of hunger experienced by millions of Americans as well as proposed solutions to the problem. (PG – 84 minutes)
“A Place at the Table” is certain to turn the stomachs of its viewers, who are bound to become enraged over the injustice faced by millions of Americans who either do not have enough to eat or are unable to afford the type of food that leads to a long and healthy life. Filmmakers Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush’s new documentary succeeds in setting a fire under the seats of its viewers by both tugging at their heartstrings with tales of tragedy and engaging their brains with food for thought. The film’s fascination factor falls in the second half but its subject is still too significant to slight. (Thumbs Up!)
Dermot Mulroney plays a solitary man who, upon his release from prison, embarks on a mysterious journey en route to reconnecting with his long-lost brother during which he unearths a multitude of bizarre and wickedly depraved slices of Americana. (R – 97 minutes)
“The Rambler” is sure to make sense to some people. However, I am hoping that I never have the misfortune of meeting any of them as they are almost certain to be so deeply deranged that they pose a danger to anyone and everyone within their general vicinity. The new dark dramedy is mildly intriguing as it takes a mystifying look inside the mind of a man who is clearly a very disturbed individual. And, if taken sequence-by-sequence, some may even call it kind of creative. However, as a whole, it is nothing but an incredibly incoherent collection of complete craziness. (Thumbs Down!)
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Among the new movies released Friday, June 21 are an animated adventure about monsters seeking college degrees, a drama about a woman looking for love and an actioner about humanity searching for an antidote to a zombie apocalypse.
Toby Jones plays a technician who works on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film. His nightmarish task slowly takes over his psyche, driving him to confront his own past. Playing exclusively at the FilmBar. (NR – 94 minutes)
Theories surrounding how horror movies affect the people who watch them have often been bandied about. Therefore, the theme of how horror movies affect the people who make them is certainly fascinating fodder that is worth materializing in a motion picture. However, one would expect such an effort to effect a bit more substance than is exhibited in “Berberian Sound Studio.” The new thriller offers up nothing but a bunch of unsettling sounds and intrusive images that alone do not add up to much. Devoid of a coherent narrative, this flick takes viewers down a tedious rabbit-hole toward ultimate nonsense. (Thumbs Down!)
Filmmaker Alex Winter explores the downloading revolution – the kids that created it, the bands and businesses that were affected by it and its impact on the world at large. Screening 10 p.m. Saturday, June 22 exclusively at the FilmBar. (NR – 106 minutes)
Anyone who grew up during the dawn of filesharing will find “Downloaded” to be a fantastically fascinating feature film. The new documentary coherently communicates the story of Napster’s unforeseen rise and inevitable fall in a way that is both educational and entertaining. Having said that, it spends too much time detailing the nuts and bolts of the ordeal and stops short of discussing the situation’s broader implications. Acknowledging that the recording industry’s ignorance in attaching itself to an antiquated business model is only a precursor to the bigger theme that you can shut down a site but you cannot shut down an idea. (Thumbs Up!)
‘Evocateur: The Morton Downey, Jr. Movie’
Filmmakers dissect the mind and motivation of television’s most notorious agitator Morton Downey, Jr. – a man who tore apart the traditional talk format by turning debate of current issues into a gladiator pit. Playing exclusively at the FilmBar. (R – 90 minutes)
Near the end of “Evocateur: The Morton Downey, Jr. Movie,” someone sums up talk show host Morton Downey, Jr.’s legacy as “Passion plays on television – even if it is an act.” Folks flocked to Downey’s short run in show business because we, as a society, are drawn to drama like moths to a flame. Granted, much like said moths, we are essentially burning ourselves alive by doing so, but one cannot deny the entertainment value of sheer lunacy. The same can be said for Downey’s documentary. Oh, and – of course – there is also some enrichment to seeing how reality television’s spin got its start. (Thumbs Up!)
Harriet MacMasters-Green plays a single mother who moves into a new house with her daughter. Soon after the young girl has her first baby tooth fall off, a chilling obsession begins and an apparition haunts her sleep. Playing exclusively at Harkins Valley Art. (NR – 84 minutes)
For some strange reason, filmmakers are intent upon turning the Tooth Fairy into a horror movie villain. You would think that they would have learned their lesson after “Darkness Falls” was castigated as the worst motion picture of 2003. However, a mere 10 years later we have “The Haunting of Helena” – a flick that fares a bit better but still fails to justify its own existence with anything that could actually be classified as frightening. Aside from a few creatively creepy sequences and a clever twist near the end, the film is overwrought with boredom and bad acting. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret’
Tania Raymonde plays the aspiring photographer who was recently found guilty of killing her former lover after he was found nude in his home shower with a slit throat, 27 additional stab wounds and a bullet to the head. Airing 5 p.m. Saturday, June 22 on Lifetime. (NR – 88 minutes)
Say what you will about convicted killer Jodi Arias but her antics, which range from the atrocious to the absurd, sure have entertainment value. The new made-for-television Lifetime movie “Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret” exploits said entertainment value to extraordinary effect. Anyone who has followed what has essentially evolved into a never-ending three-ring circus of a court case will be completely captivated. Granted, it spends too much time on the events leading up to the fateful moment and rushes through the fallout but the incomparable curiosity factor alone fuels one’s fascination with this titillating feature film that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. (Thumbs Up!)
Billy Crystal and John Goodman once again voice Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan, two mismatched monsters who are now inseparable. But that was not always the case as shown in this story about their experience in college where they overcame their differences and became the best of friends. (G – 110 minutes)
Everyone grows up thinking that if you work at something hard enough, you can accomplish anything. The harsh reality of the situation, though, is that some talents simply cannot be taught. Leave it to Pixar to – not only produce a prequel that is better than its predecessor – but also break that aforementioned agonizing news to children with “Monsters University.” However, the invaluable life lesson is less scary with a lot of humor, a little heart and the concessions culminated in “Monsters, Inc.” that there are multiple paths to every dream and our shortcomings lead us to find our strengths that then help us change the world. (Thumbs Up!)
Brad Pitt plays a United Nations employee who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. (PG-13 – 116 minutes)
“World War Z” has absolutely no right to call itself an action flick. It is far too boring to be that. It also has no right to call itself a zombie film because the genre implies that there will be blood. But in the new motion picture from director Marc Forster – who has more experience making meaningful movies than big-budget blockbusters – there is about as much red stuff as you would find under your average Band-Aid. And to top it all off, the living seem strangely unaffected by their slaughterous surroundings and therefore look more lifeless than their undead counterparts. (Thumbs Down!)
Filmmaker Alex Winter recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new documentary “Downloaded.”
In “Downloaded, which screens 10 p.m. Saturday, June 22 exclusively at the FilmBar, Winter explores the downloading revolution – the kids that created it, the bands and businesses that were affected by it and its impact on the world at large.
Q: Making a documentary takes a lot of time and effort. What was the initial spark that lit your interest in making a movie about this subject and devoting that aforementioned time and effort to it?
A: I was really into Napster when it showed up. I was doing a lot of effects-driven directing work at that time. I still do but, in those days, doing effects-driven directing work meant you were one step beyond two tin cans and a piece of string. It is hard to describe if you were not around or old enough to be online in those days just how slow and unstable it was to do anything online. It was such a revolutionary jump forward. It kind of blew all of us away. I was really absorbed into the global community aspect of it. There had never been a functional global community online. There had never been a way to move media around online quickly and efficiently and discover new bands and discover new artists. So that sort of blew me away. And shortly after being blown away, I thought, “Is this legal?” I really got caught up in the story of this brilliant invention that was absolutely going to contribute to the global changes that occurred around that time and brought us to where we are today – a world that is still very divided and heated around these issues. I think that, in some ways, it is still too soon to tell the Napster story because people are only now getting their heads around the significance of these issues that were raised partly by that company.
Q: You mentioned that the world is still very divided and heated around these issues. Did the complexity of said issues interest you most about this subject or was there something else that you found even more fascinating?
A: I have done an enormous amount of research about the issues, the ethics and the laws. I had been working on this story on and off for about 10 years. I really knew the details of it extremely deeply. But what always interested me, more than anything else, was the human drama of it. You may hate [these young men] for what they did but they were brilliant. And they continue to be brilliant. They have all gone on to do great things because they are really smart. But it was an extremely traumatic and explosive experience for them. They were entering a world that was completely unmapped and uncharted. They had no backup, no precedent and very little support. They still, on some level, have no support. But now they have so much money that they probably do not care so much. But I found them very compelling from a human, emotional standpoint. I was very eager to tell their story. Whether you like Napster or not, it is an extremely interesting rise and fall of a company.
Q: From that emotional standpoint to which you referred, what did you discover that you, as the filmmaker, hope viewers understand after having watched this documentary?
A: These kids really wanted to connect the world via music. That really was their vision. It was not to create a stealing site. Because they were unable to create a monetizable business for their company, they went broke and went out of business. So it was hardly their endgame. I think that there are a lot of correlations between that, WikiLeaks and some of the other things that have gone on recently where people really wanted to do things that are outside of the law or just where things currently stand in our society. And that is creating a lot of confusion and contention.
Q: Finally, it seems that there is so much more to talk about when it comes to this subject. Are you at all interested in re-visiting it with a follow-up film?
A: I do not know right now. If I did, I probably would not do it for about 10 years. I think that we are really knee-deep in a quagmire at the moment and I do not see us not getting out of it soon. I think that it is probably going to take about 5 to 10 years, unfortunately, before we have a properly monetizable system that works with the pre-existing music and movie industries that compensates artists accurately and gives consumers what they want in a high-quality level with an experience that is convenient. I really thought that in 2004, when I really started working on the Napster story in earnest, that all of these issues were going to be long gone by the end of that decade. Now we are getting into the middle of the following decade and it is so much further away from being resolved. And it is getting worse and more fractious every day. I would love to take a look at and examine the digital revolution and the cultural revolution in about 5 to 10 years.
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, June 18 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are an animated adventure about a living corpse, a sequel to a horror flick produced by Eli Roth and a comedy starring more A-list actors than you can shake a stick at..
Justin Chon plays a straight-A college student whose best friends (Skylar Astin and Miles Teller) surprise him with a visit for his 21st birthday. What was supposed to be one beer becomes a night of humiliation, overindulgence and utter debauchery. (R – 93 minutes)
“21 & Over,” a new comedy written and directed by “The Hangover” screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, is exactly what one would expect it to be – “The Hangover” for the college crowd. And although it is true that seeing three middle-aged men make the most massive mistakes of their lives is much more amusing than seeing three 21-year-olds make complete donkeys of themselves (as they so often do), Lucas and Moore have conceived some situations that are simply so absurd that you cannot help but let loose and have a fun time. It really should come with one of those “do not try this at home” warnings,” though. (Thumbs Up!)
‘The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse’
Lee Perkins voices a soulful zombie who fights to keep the dead from rising up from their graves and feasting on the flesh of the living. (R – 98 minutes)
It will not take too long before “The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse” finds its way to the bottom of the bargain bin at your local retail store. You would do best not to dig it back up because the new animated adaptation of Ken Haeser and Buz Hasson’s cult comic “The Living Corpse Exhumed” looks less like a bona fide feature film than it does a series of narrative segments from a video game strung together. The source material seems to have promise – perhaps as a live-action tongue-in-cheek comedy ala “Warm Bodies” – but this half-hearted iteration is D.O.A. (Thumbs Down!)
Nicholas Hoult plays a young farmhand who unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Fighting for a kingdom, its people and the love of a brave princess, the farmhand comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend. (PG-13 – 100 minutes)
“Jack the Giant Slayer” has enormous excitement, a humongous heart and abundant adventure. Director Bryan Singer’s new live-action re-telling of “Jack and the Beanstalk” succeeds in its efforts to entertain audiences of all ages by simply not straying too far from the classic English folktale’s basic premise and merely modifying the minutia to increase credibility and creativity. Unfortunately, the screenwriters do tack on an extra ending in which the proverbial beanstalk sap hits the fan and the giants kick it into “Transformers” madness mode, but most of the movie stays true to the fairy tale’s fundamental function – inciting and inspiriting our imaginations. (Thumbs Up!)
Ashley Bell plays a woman who is found terrified and alone in rural Louisiana. Just as she begins the difficult process of starting a new life, the evil force that once possessed her is back with other, unimaginably horrific plans that mean her last exorcism was just the beginning. (PG-13 – 100 minutes)
In 2011, I not only named writer/director Ed Gass-Donnelly’s incredibly unsettling drama “Small Town Murder Songs” one of the year’s best movies but also called him one of the top filmmakers to watch. Unfortunately, his follow-up film – “The Last Exorcism: Part II” – makes me look ludicrous and makes him seem like a sell-out. The new horror sequel starts strong with a suggestion that the evil that may haunt one’s mind is far more frightening than the evil that may inhabit one’s body. But, before long, it becomes just a humdrum, run-of-the-mill movie about demonic possessions and exorcisms. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Movie 43’
A series of interconnected short films follows a washed-up producer (Dennis Quaid) as he pitches a profane motion picture project to a Hollywood big-wig (Greg Kinnear). Its ensemble cast includes at least 36 recognizable actors and actresses. (R – 90 minutes)
There are some people who might find the prospect of jokes about sexual organs in unusual places, equating defecation as the ultimate expression of love and a game of truth or dare that escalates from blowing out the candles on a blind kid’s birthday cake to undergoing extreme plastic surgery to resemble someone of another ethnicity to be the most sickening scum ever seen on the silver screen. However, anyone who is not afraid to let loose and laugh a little – or, in “Movie 43’s” case, a lot – may not have more fun watching any other film this year. (Thumbs Up!)
‘Quartet’
Maggie Smith plays an eternal diva whose arrival disrupts a home for retired opera singers’ annual concert. (PG-13 – 95 minutes)
“Quartet” – the latest movie that appears to be riding the newly formed wave of entertainment aiming to appeal exclusively to aging audiences – is so sweet and conflict free that it makes “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” look like an extremely complicated and complex motion picture. Granted, one does not want to upset the apple cart of viewers who venture out of their retirement homes on field trips to the picture show too much, but the new drama from director Dustin Hoffman – yes, that Dustin Hoffman in his inaugural effort behind the camera – is in desperate need of more weight. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Stoker’
Mia Wasikowska plays a friendless young woman who becomes increasingly infatuated with her uncle (Matthew Goode) who, having moved in with her and her emotionally unstable mother (Nicole Kidman), may have ulterior motives. (R – 98 minutes)
“Stoker” is a poetically perverse motion picture. The new drama, which was directed by Chan-Wook Park and written by Wentworth Miller – yes, the same Wentworth Miller who starred in FOX’s groundbreaking television series “Prison Break” – breaks down the barriers of abnormality but it does so with literary refinement. In other words, it uses allegories and symbols to tell its story of savagery and strangeness. Having said that, the flick does take a tad too long to get to its explanatory backstory. But when it does, the floodgates are opened so wide that the viewer nearly drowns in its depravity. (Thumbs Up!)
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Writer/director Zal Batmanglij, whose film credits include “Sound of My Voice,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new thriller “The East.”
In “The East,” which opened Friday, June 14 at movie theaters throughout the Valley, Brit Marling plays an operative for an elite private intelligence firm who finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations.
Question: Tell me about the research that you conducted for this film. What did you do and who did you speak with?
Answer: It was not so much that we did research for this movie. We just went on the road in order to explore our own lives. We wanted to have an American adventure – not on the surface of things but in the underworld, to see how people lived different ways of life with more meaning. We saw anarchist farmers, freegan collectives and direct action groups. It was really fun because we let go. And when you let go, adventure rises up to meet you halfway. That was cool and we could not shake that experience so we decide to write a thriller in that setting.
Q: What was the most significant thing that you learned during your experience on the road?
A: As a general rule, nothing is as it seems. When I used to read about things like dumpster diving, it seemed so other. I used to laugh or raise an eyebrow. But when you realize just how much food is wasted, thrown away into dumpsters and headed to a landfill, you think, “How could I have been so naïve to have laughed at that?” It is a real crisis. I don’t think that we share enough information about what is really going on. The environment is being destroyed. We are part of the environment. We are just animals on this planet. So we are being destroyed, too. And I think that people don’t want to talk about it – probably because it is too much close to home these days.
Q: Tell me about the tone of this movie. And, more importantly, how did you achieve said tone?
A: When we were in the East house, I wanted to use as much natural light as possible – like candlelight and torchlight. I also wanted sound to be a part of the landscape so we worked a lot on creating the sound of the East house. It is really alive. You can hear it creak. That makes the house less intimate which then allows the sweetness of the characters toward each other and their intimacy to sort of shine. That house is not necessarily a cozy place. But the way that they interact within the house heightens the intimacy of each scene.
Q: What was your intent for this film – particularly with respect to the way in which it ended?
A: I wanted to make a movie that would reach the broadest amount of people as possible. I wanted this to be a movie that you can catch late at night on cable and it’s not just slickly dark or slickly aggressive. Instead, it is something intimate. I think that intimacy and vulnerability are things that we don’t usually show in movies. And I like to leave a film was some hope. I don’t want to leave the theater feeling nihilism.
Q: Finally, what did this film teach you about yourself?
A: I think that I learned that we are what we do every day and we are who we work with everyday. [The cast and crew] were extraordinary. I loved going to work every day with these people and I realized just how important that is. I felt very lucky to go to work every day with those people and it became a touchstone for me to try and get to be so lucky to work with people like that for all of my future projects.
Actress Brit Marling, whose film credits include “Sound of My Voice” and “Another Earth,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about her new thriller “The East.”
In “The East,” which opened Friday, June 14 at movie theaters throughout the Valley, Marling plays an operative for an elite private intelligence firm who finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations.
Question: Tell me about the research that you conducted for this film. What did you do and who did you speak with?
Answer: A couple of years ago, we spent a summer on the road. We were really interested in learning more about activist movements and direct action groups. We were not doing it as research. We were just living our lives and trying to figure out how we could live an accountable life in a time where there seems to be a real lack of accountability. So we spent that summer on the road and we really moved by it. We learned so much from a lot of young, wildly intelligent and creative people who were finding new ways to live their lives and make them meaningful for themselves.
Q: What was the most significant thing that you learned during your experience on the road?
A: It was an entire change of perspective. We suddenly started to be able to identify more types of trees than brands of jeans or brands of soda. It feels strange that I was ever on the other side of that. There was a time where I could list 20 different denim companies but could not list 20 types of trees. We are living in such a strange time and that experience woke us up to a lot of the things that we had been feeling and suppressing. After something like that, you are just changed and you don’t ever really go back. Your perspective is opened and different. I am very grateful to all of the people who I met on that road for the things that they were willing to teach anyone who was curious, hungry and wanted to know.
Q: So then how – and perhaps more importantly why – did you decide to turn your experience on the road into a movie?
A: When we came back to LA and started making films sort of in the tribal fashion that we had learned to live while on the road, we couldn’t shake the feeling of what had happened that summer. We were still really overwhelmed by it and still trying to make sense of the experience. So we started to write about it and, of course, we thought, “What better way to talk about it and provoke a dialogue than by embedding it into an espionage thriller?”
Q: This movie is not necessarily about a cult, so to speak, but it does share some similarities with your previous project “Sound of My Voice” in that they both deal with tribalism. What interests you in that particular topic?
A: I think that it is a really strange thing that human beings have broken away from nature. We used to live in in concert with the wild. We broke away from that agriculture and came into these extended families. Then we broke away from those extended families and came into these nuclear families. And now we are breaking away from our nuclear families and it is suddenly all about the individual. Having lived a bit that way myself, I can say that it is a really lonely and isolating existence. And with things like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, there is a crisis of alienation. They are deeply afraid of intimacy.
Q: Speaking of “Sound of My Voice,” your character in that – Maggie – was quite unique but you character here – Sarah – seems as though she would be the more complicated of the two to play. Was she?
A: Maggie was such an extrovert. She was just shuffling between different tropes of femininity. One can look at that and say, “That is very difficult.” But at least it’s there on the page. You know the height of the bar that you are trying to jump. Sarah was very different and a challenge because she is not as extroverted. And there are so many layers of deceit. You want the audience to know where she is internally even though she is lying to almost everyone in her life – her handler, her boyfriend, the man in the activist group who she is falling in love with, etc. It was a lot harder to locate her and to find the quiet spaces in which she can really share where she is actually at with people. That was challenging.
Q: So then, finally, what did Sarah teach you about yourself?
A: I think that it has something to do with this kind of resilience that she has even after this whole tumultuous journey that she goes through. She is pulled by the private espionage world and she is pulled by the world of anarchist yet there is something resilient in the center of her that maintains some real sense of identity. At the end, she can find her identity separate from the identity that she formed as a spy and separate from the cover identity that she created for herself. There is something really cool about that.
Among the new movies that were released Friday, June 14 in theaters throughout the Valley are a drama about an anarchist group, a new take on the super-est of all superheroes and a comedy about the end of the world.
‘The East’
Brit Marling plays an operative for an elite private intelligence firm who finds her priorities irrevocably changed after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations. (PG-13 – 116 minutes)
“The East” is the kind of movie that not only entertains you but also makes you think – and not just about the story, which is told with terrific intelligence, but also its very real implications. You will, without a doubt, believe that the system is indeed broken after having seen writer/director Zal Batmanglij’s drama, which was co-written by star Brit Marling. How to go about fixing it, though, is the pinnacle problem as the motion picture proves that it is an exceptionally complex issue. Save for some mid-movie meandering, you are certain to be breathless from beginning to end. (Thumbs Up!)
Henry Cavill plays a man who, having learned that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth, journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. (PG-13 – 143 minutes)
“Man of Steel” is bit too much science-fiction and not nearly enough superhero. Granted, it has certainly got a guy in tights who saves the day – albeit bringing an entire city to ashes in the process. However, said guy seems so alien that his relatability and therefore the integral theme of hope are lost amid a mass of ambiguous action sequences that make Michael Bay’s “Transformers” movies look like low-budget indies. Having said that, director Zack Snyder’s new post-Nolanverse vision of the Last Son of Krypton is definitely dynamic – but this is simply not Superman. (Thumbs Down!)
Andrea Riseborough plays a single mother living in Belfast who is arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London and forced to become an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son’s welfare. Clive Owen and Gillian Anderson also star. (R – 96 minutes)
Despite an initially intriguing premise and a complex performance from actress Andrea Riseborough, “Shadow Dancer” is a mundane and monotonous movie. The new drama based on author Tom Bradby’s novel never picks up the pace enough to deliver viewers any authentic thrills and therefore loses them long before its cushioned climax. If this lifeless effort is any indication, James Marsh – who helmed one of 2011’s greatest motion pictures “Project Nim” – ought to stick to directing documentaries. Even star power in the form of Clive Owen cannot save this snooze-fest of a feature film. (Thumbs Down!)
Steve Oram plays a man who takes his wife (Alice Lowe) on a journey through the British Isles. But before long, litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, conspire to shatter his dreams and send him – along with anyone who rubs him the wrong way – over a very jagged edge. (NR – 88 minutes)
“Sightseers” gives a bad name to the dark comedy genre. Director Ben Wheatley’s new movie, which boasts Edgar Wright – the mind behind “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz” and the upcoming “The World’s End” – as an executive producer, never really serves up any laughs. To make matters worse, its interpretation of the word “dark” is more mean-spirited than merciless and the entire ordeal is essentially a one-trick pony, operating solely on a single gimmick that is never used to its fullest potential and quickly grows old. As a result, the viewer is left with little to do but be bored to death by unlikeable characters. (Thumbs Down!)
While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride are faced with the apocalypse. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. (R – 107 minutes)
“This is the End” feels like one giant inside joke. Fortunately, anyone and everyone who considers themself a movie fan is in on it. Having said that, the new apocalyptic comedy starring just about every actor who has ever appeared in a Judd Apatow production is not nearly as earth-endingly side-splitting as you might expect. Granted, it is outrageous, ostentatious and offensive – often crossing the fine line between amusement and annoyance – but the viewer will have to settle for the simple appreciation of seeing these stars satirize and sully themselves as well as one another. It is incredibly crude but also quite clever. (Thumbs Up!)
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, June 11 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a new take on an old fairy tale, a prequel to a cinematic classic and a dramatic actioner starring Dwayne Johnson.
‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton play vigilantes who, after getting a taste for blood as children, must face an evil far greater than witches – their past. (PG-13 – 100 minutes)
“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” starts off in a fast and furious fashion with practical special effects reminiscent of 80’s disasters such as “The Garbage Pail Kids Movie” and “Howard the Duck,” one-liners that are more likely to make you roll your eyes than laugh and unadulterated violence that forever defiles the basis behind children’s fairy tales. In other words, writer/director Tommy Wirkola’s action-packed fantasy flick begins as a very good bad movie. But, before long, the good goes away as the flick evolves into a strangely sober “Saturday Night Live” skit that overstays its welcome and exhausts its cheesy charm. (Thumbs Down!)
James Franco plays a small-time magician with dubious ethics who arrives in a magical land and must decide if he will be a good man or a great one. Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams also star. (PG – 127 minutes)
Leave it to Hollywood to exploit a classic piece of entertainment and sully its reputation in the process. “Oz the Great and Powerful,” director Sam Raimi’s new fantasy flick inspired by L. Frank Baum’s novels which laid the yellow-brick groundwork for 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz,” may be bright and colorful on the outside but it is a pale – if not totally black and white – comparison to that former film. Foolishly dependent upon flashy computer-generated special effects instead of genuine and honest heart, Disney’s witchcraft may cast a spell over younger viewers but those old enough to know better will see straight through the smoke and mirrors. (Thumbs Down!)
‘Snitch’
Dwayne Johnson plays a father whose teenage son is wrongly accused of a drug distribution crime and is looking at a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years. Desperate and determined to rescue his son at all costs, he makes a deal with the U.S. attorney to work as an undercover informant and infiltrate a drug cartel on a dangerous mission. (PG-13 – 112 minutes)
“Snitch” is successful in its efforts to both provoke the thoughts of its viewers and get them so riled up that they are almost guaranteed to dig their fingernails deep into their armrests for the entire duration of the new dramatic thriller. And holding on tight may be the best tactic, too, as writer/director Ric Roman Waugh exhilarates audiences not with action but with cleverly calculated suspense. Warning: You will not emerge with your nerves unfrayed from this tension, your spirit unbroken by this social injustice or your heart unaffected by this father’s defiant dedication to his son. (Breakthrough!)
‘Wrong’
Jack Plotnick plays a man who, desperate to reunite with his lost dog, embarks on an absurd journey that includes an encounter with an enigmatic pony-tailed guru (William Fichtner) who teaches him how to metaphysically reconnect with his pet. (NR – 94 minutes)
There is one question that will plague your thoughts each and every solitary second while watching “Wrong.” That question is: “Why?” To say that the new comedy from writer/director Quentin Dupieux does not make any sense whatsoever is an unabashed understatement. It is certain to be the most mentally incompetent motion picture that you see all year. However, that pinnacle level of preposterousness is precisely what makes the movie so astonishingly amusing. Having said that, Dupieux does have trouble keeping such a thin story interesting throughout despite a relatively brief runtime – especially compared to his wacky work of genius “Rubber.” (Thumbs Up!)
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Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts recently spoke with Phoenix Movie Examiner about his new comedy “The Kings of Summer.”
In “The Kings of Summer” – which opens Friday, June 7 at movie theaters throughout the Valley – Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso and Moises Arias play three teenage friends who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.
Question: How did you become attached to this project?
Answer: I had made a short film called “Successful Alcoholics” that was at Sundance a couple of years ago. It balanced the really tricky tone of being funny and not being funny. Chris Galletta had written a script for this movie and the people at Big Beach Films were looking for a director. They sent me the script and my response was, “Why are you teasing me right now? This script is amazing! How can you not have a director on board?” I legitimately thought it was a joke. But the job was available and I fell in love with the script so I pitched my [butt] off.
Q: So then once you won the job, was it an easy road from there? And what were your priorities for the project?
A: Well, even when I won the job, it was a movie that people didn’t really want to make. Even though Big Beach loved it, it is not a movie that Hollywood is in the business of making because it is about kids but it is sort of for adults. On paper, this is a movie for nobody. But it is all about the execution. We wanted to ride those highs and lows. We wanted to be grounded enough where we could have stuff that was really goofy but also stuff that was kind of real raw. We have all seen variations of this story so it had to be something that felt fresh. The biggest thing was having a desire to push the envelope and tell the story in a new way.
Q: Speaking of Hollywood, how did the independent nature of the production benefit the film? And
do you think that it would have turned out any differently if it were made within the studio system?
A: We got a lot of freedom. I was able to really go and do my own thing. If I were to go to a studio and say, “I want to combine impressionistic elements and lyrical elements with a little bit of Terrence Malickwith and John Hughes,” they would have probably thought that I was crazy. But, to tell you the truth, I love the studio system and I want to work in it. Good movies do get made there. But I have no idea how this would have turned out in that system. If you work with the right executives and people who believe in it, that is all that matters. But that is a really interesting “what if” to think about. We probably would have just had a bunch of computer generated transforming cars in it.
Q: If there is one scene that stands out in my memory, it would be the one in which two of the kids bang on a large pipeline while the third dances on top of it. How did you happen upon that pipe? And did you know that it was going to be such a pinnacle moment while shooting said scene?
A: I found that pipe on my own one day while scouting. I thought that it was really cool and I wanted to do something there but it didn’t make sense for us to build any of our actual days around it. So, on our first off-day, Chris, my director of photography Ross Riege and I stole a camera, snuck the three kids away from their families and went out into the woods. That was the best day of the entire shoot because it was so pure. It was about kids being kids and teenagers acting like teenagers. It was one of those rare moments when you are watching something on set and you know that this is something special. I wanted the woods to feels warm and lived-in. I wanted the woods to be character in itself yet also be a backdrop to what these kids are going through.
Q: Finally, what did this project teach you? And what is your advice to other filmmakers?
A: Fail boldly and fail bravely. Look, ideally you train yourself well enough in your craft that when a curveball comes you adapt. My favorite part of filmmaking is when things go wrong. I love that moment when [crap] hits the fan because honestly, I think that if you have trained yourself well enough, those are the best things in movies – things that you didn’t plan on shooting that way and everything went wrong so you completely changed it up. I think that those make for the greatest scenes. I love improvising because it allows you to go after what is right in the moment as opposed to what you wrote, what you storyboarded and what is locked in. So fail boldly and fail bravely. You just have to go for it and not be afraid of [screwing] up.
Among the new movies that were released Friday, June 7 in theaters throughout the Valley are a comedy that re-teams “Wedding Crashers” co-stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, a coming-of-age comedy about three teenagers aspiring for freedom from their parents and a thriller set in the not-too-distant future.
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play salesmen who, having seen their careers torpedoed by the digital age, find their way into a coveted internship at Google where they must compete with a group of young, tech-savvy geniuses for a shot at employment. (PG-13 – 119 minutes)
While watching “The Internship,” viewers will undoubtedly be twitching their hands, wishing that they were holding a magical mouse that they could then move to the upper-right-hand corner of the big screen and “X” out of the unbearably unfunny experience. Aside from failing to ever explore the importance of balancing extreme intellect with common sense, the new comedy re-teaming “Wedding Crashers” co-stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson is not nearly entertaining enough to sustain its entirely too long runtime. Add to that several unlikeable secondary characters and a few too many annoying Vaughnologues and you may very well go back to using Yahoo. (Thumbs Down!)
Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso and Moises Arias play three teenage friends who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land. (PG-13 – 93 minutes)
“The Kings of Summer” is, without a doubt, one of the most refreshingly original motion pictures that you will see all year. It is quirky, charming, funny, sophisticated and incredibly creative. Having said that, its premise is somewhat thin with screenwriter Chris Galletta failing to find much for his characters to do once they make their initial escape from commonality. The coming-of-age comedy also features engrossingly eccentric grown-ups (played by Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson) who, of all times, play second-fiddle to the not-all-that-likeable kids. Still, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts extracts a sweet-natured emotional resonance from this teenage tale. (Thumbs Up!)
‘The Prey’
Albert Dupontel plays a convicted bank robber who – upon learning that his recently released former cellmate (Stéphane Debac) is a sadistic serial killer who has now set his sights on his family – must break out of prison, elude police and save his wife and daughter from danger. (R – 102 minutes)
The new “The Fugitive”-esque chase thriller “The Prey” begins with a jailbreak, ends with the perfect storm and only rarely lets up long enough for viewers to catch their breath. The new French import is the rare foreign film that is so much fun that you forget that you are reading subtitles and instead simply succumb to the riveting roller-coaster ride. Moreover, the resulting excitement is elevated even further courtesy of a compelling emotional anchor, thereby engaging not only the audience’s adrenaline but also their hearts. Throw in some intellectually stimulating theories about trust and you have got an entertainment trifecta. (Thumbs Up!)
Over the course of a single night – during the 12 hours every year when Americans can commit any crime without facing consequences – a family is tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home. (R – 85 minutes)
Every so often, a film comes around that redefines a word within the English language and forever burns the new signification into our memory and vocabulary. Said burn has never been more scorching than it is in “The Purge.” The new thriller, which could effectively be categorized as a “what-if white knuckler,” is as thought-provoking as it is hair-raising. Inciting questions about everything from mankind’s necessity for release of pent-up anger to society’s desire for economic equilibrium, this flick features far more substance than most others within its genre while also leaving you unsettled and uncertain about civilization’s foreboding future. (Thumbs Up!)
Filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers by interviewing and interrogating a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting candid yet contradictory answers to the same questions. (PG-13 – 108 minutes)
“Stories We Tell” is an extraordinary experiment in documentary filmmaking. It is – without a doubt – a remarkably intimate motion picture, extracting such deep and honest emotions from its subjects (or, as they are referred to here, storytellers) that viewers cannot help but become completely engrossed in the information that is being explored and eventually exposed. However, filmmaker Sarah Polley’s attempt to make her own family’s yarn resonate with audiences using a hypothesis about the act of storytelling falls somewhat short. “So what’s?” and self-indulgence aside, the movie remains interesting enough in content and in execution to warrant a watch. (Thumbs Up!)
Willa Holland plays a girl who, after her father is killed in a hold-up, visits her relatives in New Mexico where she befriends a young man (Tatanka Means) who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears. (PG-13 – 92 minutes)
At a time when movies targeted to the teen demographic tend to be overwrought with cheesy romance and hokey supernatural elements, “Tiger Eyes” is a breath of fresh air. Writer/director Lawrence Blume adapts his mother Judy’s young adult novel in such a way that retains its rich message about the curative power of connection and adds additional depth to it through the symbolic beauty that is unique to the visual medium. Blume perhaps attempts to pack too much of the experience of approaching adulthood into a single story but this remains a restorative cinematic achievement. (Thumbs Up!)
Writer/director Lawrence Blume, son of best-selling author Judy Blume, recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his cinematic adaptation of his mother’s young adult novel “Tiger Eyes.”
In “Tiger Eyes,” which opened Friday, June 7 at movie theaters throughout the Valley, Willa Holland plays a girl who, after her father is killed in a hold-up, visits her relatives in New Mexico where she befriends a young man (Tatanka Means) who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears.
Q: This is Judy’s first novel to be adapted for the big screen. Why, in your opinion, has it taken so long for a cinematic adaptation of one of her works to come to fruition? Having sold more than 85 million books, it can’t be for lack of public interest.
A: Over the years, many producers have come and gone and screenplays were written and abandoned. It’s the Hollywood process. It’s hard to get things done. And [Judy] is very protective of her novels and didn’t want her fans to be upset if any cinematic adaptations were not done well. She is primarily a novelist, likes to work in her office behind a closed door and didn’t see the need to go running to Hollywood and try to get movies made. She was waiting for the right people to come along. I guess it was just a matter of timing.
Q: So then why was “Tiger Eyes” a good starting point? And what about that book piqued your interest both personally and professionally?
A: I read this novel when [Judy] first finished it. Of all her books, it kind of knocked my socks off partially because, in my mind, I was the character of Davey – a teenager who is torn from their roots in New Jersey and moved to the strange town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. That is what happened to me when my parents divorced. But, in the movie, Davey’s father is killed. It is a totally fictional novel but, thematically and emotionally, it really resonated with me. I was on my way to film school and said kind of jokingly, “I want to make that into a movie someday.” [Judy] and I have talked about it over the years and a couple of years ago some producers from London showed up with money in their pocket and asked, “Do you want to do it?” We both looked at each other and said, “Yes!”
Q: You mentioned that the story’s theme resonated with you. As a filmmaker, what was one theme – above all others – that you wanted to explore in this movie?
A: Thematically, I was working with the transition from childhood to adulthood. In this particular case, when Davey’s father is killed, her mother falls apart and can’t cope so she is sent to live in a place where she doesn’t know anybody. Suddenly, she has to make decisions for herself and figure out her own life. There is nobody there to tell her what to do or guide her through it. It happens to everybody at some point. Everybody eventually discovers that they are an individual with the power to affect their own lives and make it better or not. I was looking at that moment in time and using the drama of the story to try and explore those things.
Q: How closely did you work with your mother on this movie?
A: This was a complete family affair. We wrote the screenplay together, we produced it together, we cast it together and she sat next to me in a chair on the set every single day of production. We have a very close and intimate connection to each other and to the material. It was a great opportunity and a great joy because we don’t live in the same city. Plus, she is 75 years old. She has a ton of energy but she is not getting any younger so we thought, “Why not now?” It really brought us closer and it was a really emotional and wonderful journey that we took in New Mexico.
Q: And how did you two get along as collaborators?
A: We got along amazingly well. I would say that we get along better as collaborators than we would have if I went to visit her for 4 days and we started fighting over how to use a microwave oven or something. I have such tremendous respect for her as an artist, as a writer and as a storyteller. You don’t really have to say very much, though. After selling 85 million books, it’s pretty obvious that she’s good at it. I feel very close to the story and she allowed me an enormous amount of space to make it the way that I wanted to, trusting that the way I was putting it together would work out and fulfill her vision. It was my attempt to bring [Judy’s] work into a new medium with a certain amount of integrity and translate the intimacy that she has with her characters – who are usually speaking in first-person monologues – into dramatic action. Hopefully, her fans will believe that I did that while preserving the quality of the book and say, “There should be more Judy Blume adaptations!”
Q: So then, having said that, are you and/or Judy working on adapting any of her other novels? And, either way, which one would you want to see adapted next?
A: Personally, of the 28 books that she has published, I always felt closest to “Tiger Eyes.” But I have also felt close to “Summer Sisters,” which is also very much from my own experience. I have always wanted to adapt “Summer Sisters” and someday we will. I think that some of the rest of them could make for terrific movies and I have offered to help her in any way that I can to facilitate deals with Hollywood or connect her with good people. But if I was to make another one in a couple of years, aside from helping her in any way that she wants me to or not, I would probably focus on “Summer Sisters.”
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