It’s been a long time coming, but a remake of the 1994 film The Crow (which was based on the comic book series created by James O’Barr) will finally be making its way out into the world on August 23rd, which is when Lionsgate will be giving the film a theatrical release. With that release date swiftly approaching, we figured we should gather together all the information we have on this movie… and here it is, Everything We Know About The Crow Remake:
Development Hell
When the original The Crow was released, it was successful enough to spawn a franchise, with three sequels following over the next eleven years. We got The Crow: City of Angels in 1996, The Crow: Salvation in 2000, and The Crow: Wicked Prayer in 2005, with several other potential sequels (including one that would have been written and directed by Rob Zombie) being developed and scrapped along the way.
Development Hell
When the original The Crow was released, it was successful enough to spawn a franchise, with three sequels following over the next eleven years. We got The Crow: City of Angels in 1996, The Crow: Salvation in 2000, and The Crow: Wicked Prayer in 2005, with several other potential sequels (including one that would have been written and directed by Rob Zombie) being developed and scrapped along the way.
- 4/28/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Fans regularly make film biopics about famous musicians successful, but they also love to nitpick the results. Or to misquote Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division and the subject of a rather good musical biopic (Control), love will tear apart any work of fan service if it screws up the story, paints the subject in too unflattering a light or, worst of all, mangles the music with impersonations that barely rise above the level of karaoke. (Consider, if you dare, Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea.)
On the other hand, there’s also something irksome about biopics that have actors lip sync to the original songs, like Naomi Ackie did for I Wanna Dance With Somebody or, much less successfully, Dennis Quaid in Great Balls of Fire! Especially if that means access to the original recordings or even rights to the songs in the first...
On the other hand, there’s also something irksome about biopics that have actors lip sync to the original songs, like Naomi Ackie did for I Wanna Dance With Somebody or, much less successfully, Dennis Quaid in Great Balls of Fire! Especially if that means access to the original recordings or even rights to the songs in the first...
- 4/9/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs in The CrowPhoto: Larry Horricks for Lionsgate
The Crowhas been resurrected, in both a literal and figurative way. The new trailer depicts the rebirth of Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård), but it’s also the rebirth of the franchise. Brandon Lee played Eric in the 1994 film...
The Crowhas been resurrected, in both a literal and figurative way. The new trailer depicts the rebirth of Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård), but it’s also the rebirth of the franchise. Brandon Lee played Eric in the 1994 film...
- 3/14/2024
- by Mary Kate Carr
- avclub.com
David Fincher’s “The Killer” is taking his shot.
The latest from the filmmaker behind macabre masterpieces like “Seven,” “Zodiac” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” follows an unnamed assassin (Michael Fassbender) after a hit goes wrong. If you screw up at work, maybe you send an apologetic email or try and pretend like it never happened. If you’re the titular killer, you set out on a roaring rampage of revenge, crisscrossing the globe as you attempt to (bloodily) tie up loose ends.
But that’s not to say that you can’t enjoy what you do. And one of the things that makes Fassbender’s murderer stand out is that he makes mix tapes for his assassinations, with a particular fondness for The Smiths, who become the sort of Simon and Garfunkel for the world of “The Killer.”
“I always knew that I wanted to use ‘How Soon is Now?...
The latest from the filmmaker behind macabre masterpieces like “Seven,” “Zodiac” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” follows an unnamed assassin (Michael Fassbender) after a hit goes wrong. If you screw up at work, maybe you send an apologetic email or try and pretend like it never happened. If you’re the titular killer, you set out on a roaring rampage of revenge, crisscrossing the globe as you attempt to (bloodily) tie up loose ends.
But that’s not to say that you can’t enjoy what you do. And one of the things that makes Fassbender’s murderer stand out is that he makes mix tapes for his assassinations, with a particular fondness for The Smiths, who become the sort of Simon and Garfunkel for the world of “The Killer.”
“I always knew that I wanted to use ‘How Soon is Now?...
- 11/1/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
This episode of the Horror TV Shows We Miss video series was Written and Narrated by Niki Minter, Edited by Adam Walton, Produced by John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
It’s not weird that we do this one first, right? Shhhh. We don’t have to actually tell anyone. One of you is going to give me shit, aren’t you? I think if we did do Dark Shadows Og, we’d have to do a whole Dark Shadows week. If you want that please send your love notes to the higher ups. That’s said, let’s crank the Joy Division and take a step into the trashy romance novels of horror soaps, Dark Shadows Revival 91. Yes, we’re adding the 91.
Dark Shadows was such an enormous thing. Just mentioning it brings certain folks out of the coffin to lend a pointy ear. My voyage with...
It’s not weird that we do this one first, right? Shhhh. We don’t have to actually tell anyone. One of you is going to give me shit, aren’t you? I think if we did do Dark Shadows Og, we’d have to do a whole Dark Shadows week. If you want that please send your love notes to the higher ups. That’s said, let’s crank the Joy Division and take a step into the trashy romance novels of horror soaps, Dark Shadows Revival 91. Yes, we’re adding the 91.
Dark Shadows was such an enormous thing. Just mentioning it brings certain folks out of the coffin to lend a pointy ear. My voyage with...
- 9/21/2023
- by Niki Minter
- JoBlo.com
The Smashing Pumpkins are set to embark on a summer tour this year. Last week, the band announced the 26 dates of the World Is a Vampire tour.
Interpol, Stone Temple Pilots and Rival Sons will join the band for select dates.
>Get Smashing Pumpkins Tickets Now!
Billy Corgan, the lead vocalist, said in a press release, “That’s what The World Is A Vampire is about, bringing back that sense of community. If you don’t fit in, you belong here. It’s about having a shared experience and respecting others, but ultimately having fun.”
General on-sale tickets were released on Friday.
>Get Smashing Pumpkins Tickets Now!
The band celebrated the tour by dropping their new song “Spellbinding.” This came after the group released the first two acts of their album Atum earlier this year. The final act will be out on May 5. The Smashing Pumpkins have stated that Atum...
Interpol, Stone Temple Pilots and Rival Sons will join the band for select dates.
>Get Smashing Pumpkins Tickets Now!
Billy Corgan, the lead vocalist, said in a press release, “That’s what The World Is A Vampire is about, bringing back that sense of community. If you don’t fit in, you belong here. It’s about having a shared experience and respecting others, but ultimately having fun.”
General on-sale tickets were released on Friday.
>Get Smashing Pumpkins Tickets Now!
The band celebrated the tour by dropping their new song “Spellbinding.” This came after the group released the first two acts of their album Atum earlier this year. The final act will be out on May 5. The Smashing Pumpkins have stated that Atum...
- 4/5/2023
- by Alex Nguyen
- Uinterview
Exclusive: Burgeoning Toronto-based indie streaming platform HighballTV has announced five original titles it plans to put into production in 2023, with an overall investment of 15.6M.
The new slate consists of Caden Douglas’ genre comedy Mother Father Sister Brother Frank, music documentary Working On The Radio, anthology film The God Of Frogs, Andre Rehal’s crime drama Jin And The Wild Dog and Alice Moran’s comedy film Bash. (scroll down for more details).
The company has raised the slate financing via private investors and loans with the Royal Bank Of Canada and will also tap into the regional film tax incentives.
“We’re looking at being 50:50 between the two types of financing (private financiers and Rbc),” said HighballTV head of production Matthew Campagna. “They really believe in us and our company with its slow, careful organic growth.
“We’ve got the corporate guarantees and the tax returns to back...
The new slate consists of Caden Douglas’ genre comedy Mother Father Sister Brother Frank, music documentary Working On The Radio, anthology film The God Of Frogs, Andre Rehal’s crime drama Jin And The Wild Dog and Alice Moran’s comedy film Bash. (scroll down for more details).
The company has raised the slate financing via private investors and loans with the Royal Bank Of Canada and will also tap into the regional film tax incentives.
“We’re looking at being 50:50 between the two types of financing (private financiers and Rbc),” said HighballTV head of production Matthew Campagna. “They really believe in us and our company with its slow, careful organic growth.
“We’ve got the corporate guarantees and the tax returns to back...
- 2/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
It should hardly come as a surprise that Anton Corbijn would want to make a movie about iconic rock ‘n’ roll looks. Before he began directing feature films with 2007’s striking Joy Division drama “Control,” after all, Corbijn was responsible for quite a few notable rock looks of his own as a design director and rock photographer responsible for U2’s “The Joshua Tree” album cover, among many others.
So when the Dutch photographer-turned-director, whose other films include “The Americans” and “A Most Wanted Man,” turns to rock iconography for the documentary “Squaring the Circle (the story of hipgnosis),” it’s clear that the guy knows what he’s talking about — not that Corbijn himelf does the talking in the film, which had its world premiere on Friday at the Telluride Film Festival.
Instead, he leaves the storytelling to the illustrious likes of Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page,...
So when the Dutch photographer-turned-director, whose other films include “The Americans” and “A Most Wanted Man,” turns to rock iconography for the documentary “Squaring the Circle (the story of hipgnosis),” it’s clear that the guy knows what he’s talking about — not that Corbijn himelf does the talking in the film, which had its world premiere on Friday at the Telluride Film Festival.
Instead, he leaves the storytelling to the illustrious likes of Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page,...
- 9/3/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
J. Mascis: Dinosaur Jr. frontman, guitar god, and now, puzzle master. The rocker announced Wednesday that he has co-founded a subscription puzzle service that jigsaws some of music’s most iconic album covers.
Dubbed Puzzle-Heads, the subscription service will begin later this year with a 1,000-piece puzzle dedicated to David Bowie’s famed The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars cover.
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A post shared by Puzzle Heads...
Dubbed Puzzle-Heads, the subscription service will begin later this year with a 1,000-piece puzzle dedicated to David Bowie’s famed The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars cover.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Puzzle Heads...
- 8/10/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
After making it through the rough time that surrounded Death Cab for Cutie’s last record, Kintsugi – made after frontman Ben Gibbard’s divorce and just before the departure of founding member Chris Walla – the band sounds rejuvenated on Thank You for Today. They’ve added two new members, guitarist Dave Depper and keyboardist Zac Rae, to their lineup and they allowed themselves to take some risks like indulging pop production techniques on the record, which they made with Kintsugi producer Rich Costey.
Right from the start on lead track,...
Right from the start on lead track,...
- 8/17/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Disney’s announcement this week that it's launching a new digital network, and tucking away its former high-profile Maker Studios acquisition, brings to a whimpering end an entire era of multi-channel network mania that gripped media companies just a couple of years ago. Good. It’s time to move to the next stage of the digital-media business, one with promise of a more sustainable future.
Maker was the biggest, brashest, and most expensive of the MCNs to be purchased by a traditional media company in the first half of this decade. Since its acquisition, however, Maker and the McN phenomenon have already become web Ancient History.
As seen in this week’s string of NewFronts presentations by increasingly sophisticated digital-media publishers old and new, it’s time for the industry to take that next step.
Yes, the online advertising business continues to be dominated by Google/YouTube and Facebook (between...
Maker was the biggest, brashest, and most expensive of the MCNs to be purchased by a traditional media company in the first half of this decade. Since its acquisition, however, Maker and the McN phenomenon have already become web Ancient History.
As seen in this week’s string of NewFronts presentations by increasingly sophisticated digital-media publishers old and new, it’s time for the industry to take that next step.
Yes, the online advertising business continues to be dominated by Google/YouTube and Facebook (between...
- 5/5/2017
- by David Bloom
- Tubefilter.com
Chuck Berry’s Chuck, his first album in 38 years, will come out this year. It’s hard to say whether Berry recorded it — with his longtime backing band — knowing that his remaining time was limited, but he did include a dedication to his wife Themetta in the album’s release statement: “My darlin’, I’m growing old! I’ve worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!”
However the record turns out, it will be impossible to listen to it without Berry’s death coloring how we enjoy the music. Given that the...
However the record turns out, it will be impossible to listen to it without Berry’s death coloring how we enjoy the music. Given that the...
- 3/21/2017
- by Alex Heigl
- PEOPLE.com
“Stranger Things” has provided a welcome dose of Steven Spielberg–inflected binge watching for many this weekend, with Netflix’s newest original series gaining favorable reviews for its creepy atmosphere and affectionate ’80s vibe. Courtesy of the show’s Twitter, viewers can now take in one of its most period-appropriate elements: its soundtrack.
Read More: Review: ‘Stranger Things’ is Still Waiting for Something New, To Make It Feel Alive
Familiar hits abound on the Spotify playlist, from Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” to Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night.” Here’s the full tracklist:
The Clash: “Should I Stay or Should I Go” Jefferson Airplane: “She Has Funny Cars” Jefferson Airplane: “White Rabbit” Reagan Youth: “Go Nowhere” Toto: “Africa” The Seeds: “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” Trooper: “Raise a Little Hell” David Bowie: “Heroes” The Bangles: “Hazy Shade of Winter” The Dawn Trophy Orlando:...
Read More: Review: ‘Stranger Things’ is Still Waiting for Something New, To Make It Feel Alive
Familiar hits abound on the Spotify playlist, from Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” to Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night.” Here’s the full tracklist:
The Clash: “Should I Stay or Should I Go” Jefferson Airplane: “She Has Funny Cars” Jefferson Airplane: “White Rabbit” Reagan Youth: “Go Nowhere” Toto: “Africa” The Seeds: “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine” Trooper: “Raise a Little Hell” David Bowie: “Heroes” The Bangles: “Hazy Shade of Winter” The Dawn Trophy Orlando:...
- 7/17/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
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They’ve made some of the best thrillers of the past six years. We list some of the best modern thriller directors currently working...
Director Guillermo del Toro once described suspense as being about the withholding of information: either a character knows something the audience doesn’t know, or the audience knows something the character doesn’t. That’s a deliciously simple way of describing something that some filmmakers often find difficult to achieve: keeping viewers on the edges of their seats.
The best thrillers leave us scanning the screen with anticipation. They invite us to guess what happens next, but then delight in thwarting expectations. We can all name the great thriller filmmakers of the past - Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed, Brian De Palma - but what about the current crop of directors? Here’s our pick of the filmmakers who’ve made some great modern thrillers over the past six years - that is, between the year 2010 and the present.
Jeremy Saulnier - Blue Ruin, Green Room
To think there was once a time when Jeremy Saulnier was seriously quitting the film business.
“To be honest," Saulner told us back in 2014, “Macon and I had really given up on our quest to break into the industry and become legitimate filmmakers. So what we were trying to do with Blue Ruin was archive our 20 year arc and bring it to a close. Really just revisit our stomping grounds and use locations that were near and dear to us and build a narrative out of that.”
Maybe this personal touch explains at least partly why Blue Ruin wound up getting so much attention in Cannes in 2013, signalling not the end of Saulnier and his star Macon Blair’s career, but a brand new chapter. But then again, there’s more than just hand-crafted intimacy in Saulnier’s revenge tale; there’s also its lean, minimal storytelling and the brilliance of its characterisation. Blue Ruin is such an effective thriller because its protagonist is so atypical: sad-eyed, inexperienced with guns, somewhat soft around the edges, Macon Blair’s central character is far from your typical righteous avenger.
Green Room, which emerged in the UK this year, explores a similar clash between very ordinary people and extraordinary violence. A young punk band shout about anarchy and aggression on stage, but they quickly find themselves out of their depth when they’re cornered by a group of bloodthirsty neo-Nazis. In Saulnier’s films, grubby, unseemly locations are matched by often beautiful locked-off shots. Familiar thriller trappings are contrasted by twists of fortune that are often shocking.
Denis Villeneuve - Sicario, Prisoners
Here’s one of those directors who can pack an overwhelming sense of dread in a single image: in Sicario, his searing drug-war thriller from last year, it was the sight of tiny specks of dust falling in the light scything through a window. That single shot proved to be the calm before the storm, as Villeneuve unleashed a salvo of blood-curdling events: an attempted FBI raid on a building gone horribly awry. And this, I think, is the brilliance of Villeneuve’s direction, and why he’s so good at directing thrillers like Sicario or 2013’s superb Prisoners - he understands the rhythm of storytelling, and how scenes of quiet can generate almost unbearable tension.
Another case in point: the highway sequence in Sicario, where Emily Blunt’s FBI agent is stuck in a traffic jam outside one of the most violent cities in the world. Villeneueve makes us feel the stifling heat and the claustrophobia; something nasty’s going to happen, we know that - but it’s the sense of anticipation which makes for such an unforgettable scene.
Prisoners hews closely to the template of a modern mystery thriller, but it’s once again enriched by Villeneuve’s expert pacing and the performances he gets out of his actors. Hugh Jackman’s seldom been better as a father on the hunt for his missing child, while Jake Gyllenhaal mesmerises as a cop scarred by his own private traumas.
Lynne Ramsay - We Need To Talk About Kevin
Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin may be the most effective psychological thriller of recent years. About the difficult relationship between a mother (Tilda Swinton) and her distant, possibly sociopathic son (Ezra Miller), Ramsay’s film is masterfully told from beginning to end - which is impressive, given that the source novel by Lionel Shriver is told via a series of letters. Ramsay takes the raw material from the book and crafts something cinematic and highly disturbing: a study of guilt, sorrow and recrimination. Tension bubbles even in casual conversations around the dinner table. Miller is an eerie, cold-eyed blank. Swinton is peerless. One scene, in which Swinton’s mother comes home in the dead of night, is unforgettable. Here’s hoping Ramsay returns with another feature film very soon.
Morten Tyldum - Headhunters
All kinds of thrillers have emerged from Scandinavia over the past few years, whether on the large or small screen or in book form. Morten Tyldum’s Headhunters is among the very best of them. The fast-paced and deliriously funny story of an art thief who steals a painting from the wrong guy, Headhunters launched Tyldum on an international stage - Alan Turing drama The Imitation Game followed, and the Sony sci-fi film Passengers is up next. It isn’t hard to see why, either: Headhunters shows off Tyldum’s mastery of pace and tone, as his pulp tale hurtles from intense chase scenes to laugh-out-loud black comedy.
Joel Edgerton - The Gift
Granted, Joel Edgerton’s better known as an actor, having turned in some superb performances in the likes of Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty and Warror. But with a single film - The Gift, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in - Edgerton established himself as a thriller filmmaker of real promise. About a successful, happily married couple whose lives are greatly affected by an old face from the husband’s past, The Gift is an engrossing, unsettling movie with superb performances from Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as well as Edgerton.
A riff on the ‘killer in our midst’ thrillers of the 80s and 90s - The Stepfather, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and so on - The Gift is all the more effective because of its restraint. We’re never quite sure who the villain of the piece is, at least at first - and Edgerton’s use of the camera leaves us wrong-footed at every turn. The world arguably needs more thrillers from Joel Edgerton.
If you haven’t seen The Gift yet, we’d urge you to track it down.
David Michod - Animal Kingdom
The criminals at play in this true-life crime thriller are all the more chilling because they’re so mundane - a bunch of low-level thieves, murderers and gangsters who prowl around the rougher parts of Melbourne, Australia. Writer-director David Michod spent years developing Animal Kingdom, and it was worth the effort: it’s an intense, engrossing film, for sure, but it’s also a believable glimpse of the worst of human nature. Ben Mendelsohn and Jacki Weaver play villains of different kinds; the latter a manipulative grandmother who looks over her brood of criminals, the former a spiteful thief. Crafting moments of incredible tension from simple exchanges, Michod launched himself as a formidable talent with this feature debut.
Ben Affleck - The Town, Argo
Affleck’s period drama-thriller Argo won all kinds of awards, but we’d argue his earlier thrillers were equally well made. Gone Baby Gone was a confident debut and an economical adaptation of Dennis LeHane’s novel. The Town, released in 2010, was a heist thriller that made the most of its Boston setting. One of its key scenes - a bank robbery in which the thieves wear a range of bizarre outfits, including a nun’s habit - is masterfully staged. With Affleck capable of teasing out great performances from his actors and staging effective set-pieces, it’s hardly surprising he’s so heavily involved in making at least one Batman movie for Warner - as well as playing the hero behind the mask.
Anton Corbijn - The American, A Most Wanted Man
The quiet, almost meditative tone of Anton Corbijn’s movies mean they aren’t necessarily to everyone’s taste, but they’re visually arresting and almost seductive in their rhythm and attention to detail. Already a celebrated photographer, Corbijn successfully crossed over into filmmaking with Control, an exquisitely-made drama about Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis. Corbijn took a markedly different direction with The American, a thriller about an ageing contract killer (George Clooney) who hides out in a small Italian town west of Rome. Inevitably, trouble eventually comes calling.
Corbijn’s direction remains gripping because he doesn’t give us huge action scenes to puncture the tension. We can sense the capacity for violence coiled up beneath the hitman’s calm exterior, and Corbijn makes sure we only see rare flashes of that toughness - right up until the superbly-staged climax.
A Most Wanted Man, based on the novel by John le Carre, is a similarly astute study of an isolated yet fascinating character - in this instance, the world-weary German intelligence agent Gunther Bachmann, brilliantly played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Tragically, the film proved to be one of the last before Hoffman’s death in 2014.
Paul Greengrass - Green Zone, Captain Phillips
Mention Greengrass’ name, and the director’s frequent use of handheld cameras might immediately spring to mind. But time and again, Greengrass has proved a master of his own personal approach - you only have to look at the muddled, migraine-inducing films of his imitators to see how good a director Greengrass is. Part of the filmmakers’ visual language rather than a gimmick, Greengrass’ camera placement puts the viewer in the middle of the story, whether it’s an amnesiac agent on the run (his Bourne films) or on a hijacked aircraft (the harrowing United 93). While not a huge hit, Green Zone was an intense and intelligent thriller set in occupied Iraq. The acclaimed Captain Phillips, meanwhile, was a perfect showcase for Greengrass’ ability to fuse realism and suspense; the true story of a merchant vessel hijacked by Somali pirates, it is, to quote Greengrass himself, “a contemporary crime story.”
John Hillcoat - Lawless, Triple 9
We can’t help thinking that, with a better marketing push behind it, Triple 9 could have been a much bigger hit when it appeared in cinemas earlier this year. It has a great cast - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Anthony Mackie and Aaron Paul as a group of seasoned thieves, Kate Winslet cast against type as a gangland boss - and its heist plot rattles along like an express train.
Hillcoat seems to have the western genre pulsing through his veins, and he excels at creating worlds that are desolate and all-enveloping, whether his subjects are period pieces (The Proposition, Lawless) or post-apocalyptic dramas (The Road). Triple 9 sees Hillcoat make an urban western that is both classic noir and entirely contemporary; his use of real cops and residents around the film’s Atlanta location give his heightened story a grounding that is believable in the moment. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the scene in which Casey Affleck’s cop breaches a building while hunkered down behind a bullet-proof shield. Hillcoat places us right there in the scene with Affleck and the cops sneaking into the building behind him; we sense the claustrophobia and vulnerability.
Hillcoat explained to us in February that this sequence wasn’t initially written this way in the original script; it changed when the director and his team discovered how real-world cops protect themselves in real-world situations. In Triple 9, research and great filmmaking combine to make an unforgettably intense thriller.
Jim Mickel - Cold In July
Seemingly inspired by such neo-Noir thrillers as Red Rock West and Blood Simple, 2014‘s Cold In July is a genre gem from director Jim Mickle (Stake Land, We Are What We Are). Michael C Hall plays an ordinary guy in 80s America who shoots an intruder who breaks into his home, and becomes drawn into a moody conspiracy that takes in crooked cops, porn and a private eye (who's also keen pig-rearer) played by Don Johnson. Constantly shifting between tones, Mickel’s thriller refuses to stick to genre expectations. In one scene, after Hall shoots the burglar dead, Mickel’s camera lingers over the protagonist as he cleans up the blood and glass. It’s touches like these that make Cold In July far more than a typical thriller.
Mickel’s teaming up with Sylvester Stallone next; we’re intrigued to see what that partnership produces.
Martin Scorsese - Shutter Island
As a filmmaker, Scorsese needs no introduction. As a director of thrillers, he’s in a class of his own: from Taxi Driver via the febrile remake of Cape Fear to the sorely underrated Bringing Out The Dead, his films are full of suspense and the threat of violence. Shutter Island, based on the Dennis LeHane novel of the same name, saw Scorsese plunge eagerly into neo-noir territory. A murder mystery set in a mental institution on the titular Shutter Island, its atmosphere is thick with menace. Like a combination of Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man and Adrian Lyne’s cult classic Jacob’s Ladder, Shutter Island’s one of those stories where we never know who we can trust - even the protagonist, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
David Fincher - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl
After the trial by fire that was Alien 3, David Fincher found his footing in the 90s with such hits as Seven and The Game. In an era where thrillers were in much greater abundance, from the middling to the very good, Seven in particular stood out as a genre classic: smartly written, disturbing, repulsive and yet captivating to look at all at once. Fincher’s affinity for weaving atmospheric thrillers continued into the 2010s, first with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a superb retelling of Stieg Larsson’s book which didn’t quite find the appreciative audience deserved, and Gone Girl, an even better movie which - thankfully - became a hit.
Based on Gillian Flynn’s novel (and adapted by the author herself), Gone Girl is both a gripping thriller and a thoroughly twisted relationship drama. Fincher’s mastery of the genre is all here: his millimetre-perfect composition, seamless touches of CGI and subtle yet effective uses of colour and shadow. While not a straight-up masterpiece like the period thriller Zodiac, Gone Girl is still a glossy, smart and blackly funny yarn in the Hitchcock tradition. If there’s one master of the modern thriller currently working, it has to be Fincher.
See related John Hillcoat interview: Triple 9, crime, fear of comic geniuses Jim Mickle interview: Cold In July, thrillers, Argento Jeremy Saulnier interview: Green Room, John Carpenter Jeremy Saulnier interview: making Blue Ruin & good thrillers Denis Villeneuve interview: Sicario, Kurosawa, sci-fi, ugly poetry Morten Tyldum interview: The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch, Headhunters Paul Greengrass interview: Captain Phillips & crime stories Movies Feature Ryan Lambie thrillers 15 Jun 2016 - 06:11 Cold In July Triple 9 Shutter Island Gone Girl David Fincher Martin Scorsese John Hillcoat Directors thrillers movies...
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They’ve made some of the best thrillers of the past six years. We list some of the best modern thriller directors currently working...
Director Guillermo del Toro once described suspense as being about the withholding of information: either a character knows something the audience doesn’t know, or the audience knows something the character doesn’t. That’s a deliciously simple way of describing something that some filmmakers often find difficult to achieve: keeping viewers on the edges of their seats.
The best thrillers leave us scanning the screen with anticipation. They invite us to guess what happens next, but then delight in thwarting expectations. We can all name the great thriller filmmakers of the past - Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed, Brian De Palma - but what about the current crop of directors? Here’s our pick of the filmmakers who’ve made some great modern thrillers over the past six years - that is, between the year 2010 and the present.
Jeremy Saulnier - Blue Ruin, Green Room
To think there was once a time when Jeremy Saulnier was seriously quitting the film business.
“To be honest," Saulner told us back in 2014, “Macon and I had really given up on our quest to break into the industry and become legitimate filmmakers. So what we were trying to do with Blue Ruin was archive our 20 year arc and bring it to a close. Really just revisit our stomping grounds and use locations that were near and dear to us and build a narrative out of that.”
Maybe this personal touch explains at least partly why Blue Ruin wound up getting so much attention in Cannes in 2013, signalling not the end of Saulnier and his star Macon Blair’s career, but a brand new chapter. But then again, there’s more than just hand-crafted intimacy in Saulnier’s revenge tale; there’s also its lean, minimal storytelling and the brilliance of its characterisation. Blue Ruin is such an effective thriller because its protagonist is so atypical: sad-eyed, inexperienced with guns, somewhat soft around the edges, Macon Blair’s central character is far from your typical righteous avenger.
Green Room, which emerged in the UK this year, explores a similar clash between very ordinary people and extraordinary violence. A young punk band shout about anarchy and aggression on stage, but they quickly find themselves out of their depth when they’re cornered by a group of bloodthirsty neo-Nazis. In Saulnier’s films, grubby, unseemly locations are matched by often beautiful locked-off shots. Familiar thriller trappings are contrasted by twists of fortune that are often shocking.
Denis Villeneuve - Sicario, Prisoners
Here’s one of those directors who can pack an overwhelming sense of dread in a single image: in Sicario, his searing drug-war thriller from last year, it was the sight of tiny specks of dust falling in the light scything through a window. That single shot proved to be the calm before the storm, as Villeneuve unleashed a salvo of blood-curdling events: an attempted FBI raid on a building gone horribly awry. And this, I think, is the brilliance of Villeneuve’s direction, and why he’s so good at directing thrillers like Sicario or 2013’s superb Prisoners - he understands the rhythm of storytelling, and how scenes of quiet can generate almost unbearable tension.
Another case in point: the highway sequence in Sicario, where Emily Blunt’s FBI agent is stuck in a traffic jam outside one of the most violent cities in the world. Villeneueve makes us feel the stifling heat and the claustrophobia; something nasty’s going to happen, we know that - but it’s the sense of anticipation which makes for such an unforgettable scene.
Prisoners hews closely to the template of a modern mystery thriller, but it’s once again enriched by Villeneuve’s expert pacing and the performances he gets out of his actors. Hugh Jackman’s seldom been better as a father on the hunt for his missing child, while Jake Gyllenhaal mesmerises as a cop scarred by his own private traumas.
Lynne Ramsay - We Need To Talk About Kevin
Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin may be the most effective psychological thriller of recent years. About the difficult relationship between a mother (Tilda Swinton) and her distant, possibly sociopathic son (Ezra Miller), Ramsay’s film is masterfully told from beginning to end - which is impressive, given that the source novel by Lionel Shriver is told via a series of letters. Ramsay takes the raw material from the book and crafts something cinematic and highly disturbing: a study of guilt, sorrow and recrimination. Tension bubbles even in casual conversations around the dinner table. Miller is an eerie, cold-eyed blank. Swinton is peerless. One scene, in which Swinton’s mother comes home in the dead of night, is unforgettable. Here’s hoping Ramsay returns with another feature film very soon.
Morten Tyldum - Headhunters
All kinds of thrillers have emerged from Scandinavia over the past few years, whether on the large or small screen or in book form. Morten Tyldum’s Headhunters is among the very best of them. The fast-paced and deliriously funny story of an art thief who steals a painting from the wrong guy, Headhunters launched Tyldum on an international stage - Alan Turing drama The Imitation Game followed, and the Sony sci-fi film Passengers is up next. It isn’t hard to see why, either: Headhunters shows off Tyldum’s mastery of pace and tone, as his pulp tale hurtles from intense chase scenes to laugh-out-loud black comedy.
Joel Edgerton - The Gift
Granted, Joel Edgerton’s better known as an actor, having turned in some superb performances in the likes of Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty and Warror. But with a single film - The Gift, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in - Edgerton established himself as a thriller filmmaker of real promise. About a successful, happily married couple whose lives are greatly affected by an old face from the husband’s past, The Gift is an engrossing, unsettling movie with superb performances from Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as well as Edgerton.
A riff on the ‘killer in our midst’ thrillers of the 80s and 90s - The Stepfather, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and so on - The Gift is all the more effective because of its restraint. We’re never quite sure who the villain of the piece is, at least at first - and Edgerton’s use of the camera leaves us wrong-footed at every turn. The world arguably needs more thrillers from Joel Edgerton.
If you haven’t seen The Gift yet, we’d urge you to track it down.
David Michod - Animal Kingdom
The criminals at play in this true-life crime thriller are all the more chilling because they’re so mundane - a bunch of low-level thieves, murderers and gangsters who prowl around the rougher parts of Melbourne, Australia. Writer-director David Michod spent years developing Animal Kingdom, and it was worth the effort: it’s an intense, engrossing film, for sure, but it’s also a believable glimpse of the worst of human nature. Ben Mendelsohn and Jacki Weaver play villains of different kinds; the latter a manipulative grandmother who looks over her brood of criminals, the former a spiteful thief. Crafting moments of incredible tension from simple exchanges, Michod launched himself as a formidable talent with this feature debut.
Ben Affleck - The Town, Argo
Affleck’s period drama-thriller Argo won all kinds of awards, but we’d argue his earlier thrillers were equally well made. Gone Baby Gone was a confident debut and an economical adaptation of Dennis LeHane’s novel. The Town, released in 2010, was a heist thriller that made the most of its Boston setting. One of its key scenes - a bank robbery in which the thieves wear a range of bizarre outfits, including a nun’s habit - is masterfully staged. With Affleck capable of teasing out great performances from his actors and staging effective set-pieces, it’s hardly surprising he’s so heavily involved in making at least one Batman movie for Warner - as well as playing the hero behind the mask.
Anton Corbijn - The American, A Most Wanted Man
The quiet, almost meditative tone of Anton Corbijn’s movies mean they aren’t necessarily to everyone’s taste, but they’re visually arresting and almost seductive in their rhythm and attention to detail. Already a celebrated photographer, Corbijn successfully crossed over into filmmaking with Control, an exquisitely-made drama about Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis. Corbijn took a markedly different direction with The American, a thriller about an ageing contract killer (George Clooney) who hides out in a small Italian town west of Rome. Inevitably, trouble eventually comes calling.
Corbijn’s direction remains gripping because he doesn’t give us huge action scenes to puncture the tension. We can sense the capacity for violence coiled up beneath the hitman’s calm exterior, and Corbijn makes sure we only see rare flashes of that toughness - right up until the superbly-staged climax.
A Most Wanted Man, based on the novel by John le Carre, is a similarly astute study of an isolated yet fascinating character - in this instance, the world-weary German intelligence agent Gunther Bachmann, brilliantly played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Tragically, the film proved to be one of the last before Hoffman’s death in 2014.
Paul Greengrass - Green Zone, Captain Phillips
Mention Greengrass’ name, and the director’s frequent use of handheld cameras might immediately spring to mind. But time and again, Greengrass has proved a master of his own personal approach - you only have to look at the muddled, migraine-inducing films of his imitators to see how good a director Greengrass is. Part of the filmmakers’ visual language rather than a gimmick, Greengrass’ camera placement puts the viewer in the middle of the story, whether it’s an amnesiac agent on the run (his Bourne films) or on a hijacked aircraft (the harrowing United 93). While not a huge hit, Green Zone was an intense and intelligent thriller set in occupied Iraq. The acclaimed Captain Phillips, meanwhile, was a perfect showcase for Greengrass’ ability to fuse realism and suspense; the true story of a merchant vessel hijacked by Somali pirates, it is, to quote Greengrass himself, “a contemporary crime story.”
John Hillcoat - Lawless, Triple 9
We can’t help thinking that, with a better marketing push behind it, Triple 9 could have been a much bigger hit when it appeared in cinemas earlier this year. It has a great cast - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Anthony Mackie and Aaron Paul as a group of seasoned thieves, Kate Winslet cast against type as a gangland boss - and its heist plot rattles along like an express train.
Hillcoat seems to have the western genre pulsing through his veins, and he excels at creating worlds that are desolate and all-enveloping, whether his subjects are period pieces (The Proposition, Lawless) or post-apocalyptic dramas (The Road). Triple 9 sees Hillcoat make an urban western that is both classic noir and entirely contemporary; his use of real cops and residents around the film’s Atlanta location give his heightened story a grounding that is believable in the moment. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the scene in which Casey Affleck’s cop breaches a building while hunkered down behind a bullet-proof shield. Hillcoat places us right there in the scene with Affleck and the cops sneaking into the building behind him; we sense the claustrophobia and vulnerability.
Hillcoat explained to us in February that this sequence wasn’t initially written this way in the original script; it changed when the director and his team discovered how real-world cops protect themselves in real-world situations. In Triple 9, research and great filmmaking combine to make an unforgettably intense thriller.
Jim Mickel - Cold In July
Seemingly inspired by such neo-Noir thrillers as Red Rock West and Blood Simple, 2014‘s Cold In July is a genre gem from director Jim Mickle (Stake Land, We Are What We Are). Michael C Hall plays an ordinary guy in 80s America who shoots an intruder who breaks into his home, and becomes drawn into a moody conspiracy that takes in crooked cops, porn and a private eye (who's also keen pig-rearer) played by Don Johnson. Constantly shifting between tones, Mickel’s thriller refuses to stick to genre expectations. In one scene, after Hall shoots the burglar dead, Mickel’s camera lingers over the protagonist as he cleans up the blood and glass. It’s touches like these that make Cold In July far more than a typical thriller.
Mickel’s teaming up with Sylvester Stallone next; we’re intrigued to see what that partnership produces.
Martin Scorsese - Shutter Island
As a filmmaker, Scorsese needs no introduction. As a director of thrillers, he’s in a class of his own: from Taxi Driver via the febrile remake of Cape Fear to the sorely underrated Bringing Out The Dead, his films are full of suspense and the threat of violence. Shutter Island, based on the Dennis LeHane novel of the same name, saw Scorsese plunge eagerly into neo-noir territory. A murder mystery set in a mental institution on the titular Shutter Island, its atmosphere is thick with menace. Like a combination of Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man and Adrian Lyne’s cult classic Jacob’s Ladder, Shutter Island’s one of those stories where we never know who we can trust - even the protagonist, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
David Fincher - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl
After the trial by fire that was Alien 3, David Fincher found his footing in the 90s with such hits as Seven and The Game. In an era where thrillers were in much greater abundance, from the middling to the very good, Seven in particular stood out as a genre classic: smartly written, disturbing, repulsive and yet captivating to look at all at once. Fincher’s affinity for weaving atmospheric thrillers continued into the 2010s, first with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a superb retelling of Stieg Larsson’s book which didn’t quite find the appreciative audience deserved, and Gone Girl, an even better movie which - thankfully - became a hit.
Based on Gillian Flynn’s novel (and adapted by the author herself), Gone Girl is both a gripping thriller and a thoroughly twisted relationship drama. Fincher’s mastery of the genre is all here: his millimetre-perfect composition, seamless touches of CGI and subtle yet effective uses of colour and shadow. While not a straight-up masterpiece like the period thriller Zodiac, Gone Girl is still a glossy, smart and blackly funny yarn in the Hitchcock tradition. If there’s one master of the modern thriller currently working, it has to be Fincher.
See related John Hillcoat interview: Triple 9, crime, fear of comic geniuses Jim Mickle interview: Cold In July, thrillers, Argento Jeremy Saulnier interview: Green Room, John Carpenter Jeremy Saulnier interview: making Blue Ruin & good thrillers Denis Villeneuve interview: Sicario, Kurosawa, sci-fi, ugly poetry Morten Tyldum interview: The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch, Headhunters Paul Greengrass interview: Captain Phillips & crime stories Movies Feature Ryan Lambie thrillers 15 Jun 2016 - 06:11 Cold In July Triple 9 Shutter Island Gone Girl David Fincher Martin Scorsese John Hillcoat Directors thrillers movies...
- 6/14/2016
- Den of Geek
A troubling hush seems to follow Anton Corbijn’s fourth and least enthusiastically received Life, a snapshot on the short but intensely felt celebrity of actor James Dean revolving around a famed photo shoot for the titular magazine administered by Dennis Stock. Considering the film stars Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson in the lead roles, the lukewarm reception of the film seems surprising, beginning with a muted response at the premiere at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, where it played as a Special Gala Screening. Based on the film’s marketing and demure DVD release, one would be surprised to note Us distributor Cinedigm collected a titch over one million in box office following a limited theatrical and VOD release in December of 2015.
Following his 2014 John Le Carre adaptation A Man Most Wanted, director Anton Corbijn delves into the life of another desired individual, cherished cinematic icon James Dean with Life.
Following his 2014 John Le Carre adaptation A Man Most Wanted, director Anton Corbijn delves into the life of another desired individual, cherished cinematic icon James Dean with Life.
- 3/8/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
EntertainmentOne
Anton Corbijn may be one of the most unassuming film directors out there. A world-renowned photographer who by his own admission never intended to make the jump into movies, he’s been behind some of the most exciting movies of the past ten years, including Joy Division biopic Control, George Clooney thriller The American, John le Carré adaptation A Most Wanted Man (which featured Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s final lead role) and last year’s incredibly underrated Life, which documents the story behind the iconic photographs of James Dean.
To celebrate the home video release of Life (available in the UK from February 1st) we got a chance to chat with Corbijn about another late icon on film, as well as his recent career move into cinema.
When I interviewed Anton, it was mere hours after the announcement of David Bowie’s passing. He’d worked with the singer...
Anton Corbijn may be one of the most unassuming film directors out there. A world-renowned photographer who by his own admission never intended to make the jump into movies, he’s been behind some of the most exciting movies of the past ten years, including Joy Division biopic Control, George Clooney thriller The American, John le Carré adaptation A Most Wanted Man (which featured Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s final lead role) and last year’s incredibly underrated Life, which documents the story behind the iconic photographs of James Dean.
To celebrate the home video release of Life (available in the UK from February 1st) we got a chance to chat with Corbijn about another late icon on film, as well as his recent career move into cinema.
When I interviewed Anton, it was mere hours after the announcement of David Bowie’s passing. He’d worked with the singer...
- 1/29/2016
- by Alex Leadbeater
- Obsessed with Film
Anton Corbijn is a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to filmmaking. The prolific photographer and music-video director had a whole career before he made his first film, “Control,” a biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, at age 51. Since then, he’s turned in the excellent and stylish genre-hopping films “The American” and “A Most Wanted Man,” and his most recent picture, “Life,” with Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan. In Marrakech serving on the jury for the Marrakech International Film Festival, Corbijn just seemed happy to be there, humble and grateful for the experience. He mentioned that serving on juries was a bit of a film school for him, particularly with this year’s jury President, Francis Ford Coppola. There was also a shout-out to an “off the scale” experience serving on the jury for the Moscow Film Festival with Abel Ferrera, but unfortunately, he didn’t...
- 12/14/2015
- by Katie Walsh
- The Playlist
Or Something Like It: Corbijn Resurrects Dean Without a Cause
Following his 2014 John Le Carre adaptation A Man Most Wanted, director Anton Corbijn delves into the life of another desired individual, cherished cinematic icon James Dean with Life. Focusing on the behind-the-scenes relationship between Dean and photographer Dennis Stock during the creation of a belabored, but eventually fruitful 1955 photo shoot for the titular magazine, Luke Davies’ screenplay falls short of showcasing any kind of notable bond potentially worth documenting.
Two artists come together for what would eventually become a particularly notable moment for them both and Corbijn does a fine job of catching the significance of changing times. Dean exhibits the sort of Beat sensibility that had revived a new generation’s interest in literature the decade prior, and Corbijn catches him just at the cusp of the stardom that would possess the public’s attention. But neither persona manages...
Following his 2014 John Le Carre adaptation A Man Most Wanted, director Anton Corbijn delves into the life of another desired individual, cherished cinematic icon James Dean with Life. Focusing on the behind-the-scenes relationship between Dean and photographer Dennis Stock during the creation of a belabored, but eventually fruitful 1955 photo shoot for the titular magazine, Luke Davies’ screenplay falls short of showcasing any kind of notable bond potentially worth documenting.
Two artists come together for what would eventually become a particularly notable moment for them both and Corbijn does a fine job of catching the significance of changing times. Dean exhibits the sort of Beat sensibility that had revived a new generation’s interest in literature the decade prior, and Corbijn catches him just at the cusp of the stardom that would possess the public’s attention. But neither persona manages...
- 12/4/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
British film-maker Grant Gee has got together with Turkey’s Nobel prize-winning novelist, and the result is a mesmerising, original meditation on love and the city
Having cut his teeth on music videos (and then graduated to the cerebral Joy Division documentary, on which he collaborated with Jon Savage), Grant Gee has reinvented himself as a formidable force in the microgenre of literary travelogues, a space hitherto largely occupied by Patrick Keiller, Andrew Kötting and Iain Sinclair. Gee headed for Suffolk for Patience (After Sebald), a reconstruction and reinvestigation of Wg Sebald’s Rings of Saturn; now he has cast his net much further afield, to Istanbul, and a creative meeting of mind’s with Turkey’s Nobel-prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk.
As with his Sebald film, Gee has here carefully assembled a collage of textual fragments, painterly visuals and mysterious voiceovers. The major difference of course, is that Pamuk is...
Having cut his teeth on music videos (and then graduated to the cerebral Joy Division documentary, on which he collaborated with Jon Savage), Grant Gee has reinvented himself as a formidable force in the microgenre of literary travelogues, a space hitherto largely occupied by Patrick Keiller, Andrew Kötting and Iain Sinclair. Gee headed for Suffolk for Patience (After Sebald), a reconstruction and reinvestigation of Wg Sebald’s Rings of Saturn; now he has cast his net much further afield, to Istanbul, and a creative meeting of mind’s with Turkey’s Nobel-prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk.
As with his Sebald film, Gee has here carefully assembled a collage of textual fragments, painterly visuals and mysterious voiceovers. The major difference of course, is that Pamuk is...
- 9/10/2015
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
For a minute there, it appeared that photographer turned feature film director Anton Corbijn was going to retire. He’d made three terrific indie movies, the black and white Joy Division/Ian Curtis movie “Control,” the awesome Bergman-esque assassin thriller “The American” with George Clooney and the slow-burn war-on-terror thriller “A Most Wanted Man” with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. He’d actually contemplated it for a minute, but apparently after his last feature with Hoffman, Corbijn has found himself more comfortable behind the camera and with more to say (he spoke more about rediscovering his mojo in our interview from last year). Read More: Review: Anton Corbijn's 'Life' Starring Robert Pattinson & Dane DeHaan That’s a boon for us, as his latest, “Life,” features the inspired pair of Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan as two real-life artists. In 1955, ambitious Hollywood photographer Dennis Stock (Pattinson) and the...
- 8/31/2015
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Film Nation
It’s been almost 60-years since James Dean passed away at the tender age of 24, but his legend hasn’t diminished an iota. Still one of the most iconic stars of all time, his status has largely endured due to the sense of tragic mystery he cultivates.
Now film-maker Anton Corbijn and star Dane Dehaan will try to pry back a little of that mystique with Life.
Check out the new trailer for the movie below.
Life focuses on the relationship Dean had with photographer Dennis Stock at the inception point of the actor’s burgeoning fame. Robert Pattinson will depict Stock, with Ben Kingsley and Joel Edgerton rounding out the cast.
Aside from a few prior stills, this is the first proper look we’re getting at DeHaan as Dean. He seems appropriately broody and cleans up nicely to resemble the star, but the heart of the...
It’s been almost 60-years since James Dean passed away at the tender age of 24, but his legend hasn’t diminished an iota. Still one of the most iconic stars of all time, his status has largely endured due to the sense of tragic mystery he cultivates.
Now film-maker Anton Corbijn and star Dane Dehaan will try to pry back a little of that mystique with Life.
Check out the new trailer for the movie below.
Life focuses on the relationship Dean had with photographer Dennis Stock at the inception point of the actor’s burgeoning fame. Robert Pattinson will depict Stock, with Ben Kingsley and Joel Edgerton rounding out the cast.
Aside from a few prior stills, this is the first proper look we’re getting at DeHaan as Dean. He seems appropriately broody and cleans up nicely to resemble the star, but the heart of the...
- 8/12/2015
- by Daniel Kelly
- Obsessed with Film
Four feature films in and photographer-turned-director Anton Corbijn is carving out a very interesting career for himself, mixing the sensibilities of art-house pictures and smart, character-driven dramas that often come with a personal touch. So far, he’s made a movie about ‘70s post-punk band Joy Division and singer Ian Curtis (“Control”), a moody and atmospheric assassin drama (“The American”), a war-on-terror drama (“A Most Wanted Man”) and for his next picture, a biopic about James Dean and the Life magazine photographer that took some of the first, now-iconic, pictures that helped launch his superstardom (our review from the Berlin International Film Festival here). Read More: Watch: First Clip From Anton Corbijn’s ‘Life’ Starring Robert Pattinson & Dane DeHaan, Plus Full Berlin Press Conference Titled simply “Life,” Corbijn brings his well-observed understanding between the photographer and subject in a drama that stars Dane Dehaan as the reluctant star James...
- 8/12/2015
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
The British actor, who takes the screen in Woody Allen’s new film Irrational Man, loves football and Joy Division – enough that he has an Ian Curtis tattoo
Never mind the refined chin line or rakish mid-length brown locks through which Jamie Blackley runs his fingers as he slouches at a 45-degree angle on a banquette in the dimly lit bar of the Carlyle hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. What’s harder to notice is underneath his thin, striped T-shirt: a fist-sized tattoo of the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis leaning on a microphone.
That bit of ink can certainly tell us more about this 24-year-old newcomer, who has a supporting role in Woody Allen’s latest film, Irrational Man, than any of the reviews, which have largely ignored him.
Continue reading...
Never mind the refined chin line or rakish mid-length brown locks through which Jamie Blackley runs his fingers as he slouches at a 45-degree angle on a banquette in the dimly lit bar of the Carlyle hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. What’s harder to notice is underneath his thin, striped T-shirt: a fist-sized tattoo of the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis leaning on a microphone.
That bit of ink can certainly tell us more about this 24-year-old newcomer, who has a supporting role in Woody Allen’s latest film, Irrational Man, than any of the reviews, which have largely ignored him.
Continue reading...
- 7/22/2015
- by Tom Roston
- The Guardian - Film News
Discovering: New Order: Sky Arts, 6.30pm
Documentary following the rise of British rock band New Order after the collapse of Joy Division.
After the suicide of Joy Division's frontman Ian Curtis, the remaining members emerged as New Order. This brought about the release of 'Blue Mondays', which saw the new band placed firmly in the British rock scene.
Cordon: BBC Four, 9pm
Tonight we are treated to a double bill of the Flemish drama series.
Lex (Tom Dewispelaere) is called out to a security breach in the quarantine and ends up being quarantined himself. Meanwhile, Dr Cannaerts (Johan van Assche) smuggles an untested vaccine into Niida.
Transporter: The Series: Channel 5, 9pm
Frank Martin's latest job is far from straightforward when he comes across an old colleague.
Frank (Chris Vance) is hired to transport some illegal substances by Russian gangster Sergei Zarov, however Frank must keep...
Documentary following the rise of British rock band New Order after the collapse of Joy Division.
After the suicide of Joy Division's frontman Ian Curtis, the remaining members emerged as New Order. This brought about the release of 'Blue Mondays', which saw the new band placed firmly in the British rock scene.
Cordon: BBC Four, 9pm
Tonight we are treated to a double bill of the Flemish drama series.
Lex (Tom Dewispelaere) is called out to a security breach in the quarantine and ends up being quarantined himself. Meanwhile, Dr Cannaerts (Johan van Assche) smuggles an untested vaccine into Niida.
Transporter: The Series: Channel 5, 9pm
Frank Martin's latest job is far from straightforward when he comes across an old colleague.
Frank (Chris Vance) is hired to transport some illegal substances by Russian gangster Sergei Zarov, however Frank must keep...
- 7/18/2015
- Digital Spy
Kristen Stewart 'On the Road' dancing, with Garrett Hedlund on the right Down memory lane: Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart 'On the Road' images At the time best known as The Twilight Saga's conflicted human Bella Swan, Kristen Stewart was cast as the exuberant Marylou in Walter Salles' film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's iconic 1950s novel On the Road. Salles had been impressed with Stewart's pre-Twilight work in Sean Penn's Into the Wild. Based on LuAnne Henderson, Kerouac's close buddy Neal Cassady's first wife, Marylou is described as a "beautiful little sharp chick." Apparently, one who also likes to move seductively to the sound of music – as can be attested by the Kristen Stewart picture above, which first came out online in early 2011. Besides Stewart, On the Road also features Garrett Hedlund – at the time best known for Tron: Legacy – as Dean Moriarty,...
- 5/9/2015
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
"Life" stars the always ace Dane DeHaan as James Dean opposite Robert Pattinson, in yet another dramatic turn, as Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock. A budding, and subtly homoerotic, friendship unfolds as the film chronicles the story behind Stock's 1955 photo spread, circa "East of Eden," that put emerging heartthrob Dean on the map—just seven months before his unexpected death at 24. Written by Aussie scribe Luke Davies--who co-adapted his novel "Candy" into the 2006 drug drama starring Heath Ledger--"Life" isn't music video turned filmmaker Corbijn's first tread in biopic territory. His 2007 "Control" plunged into the final days in the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, starring Sam Riley. Corbijn knows how to direct attractive adonises onscreen. But is "Life" worth all the ballyhoo? Based on early Berlinale reviews, rounded up below, critics are tussling over this one. Variety: "More than a standard...
- 2/9/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
If there was a wonderful understated performance recently it belonged to Andrea Suarez Paz who has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award at the prestigious 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards (that’s the one you can get drunk and drop F-Bombs to your hearts content). Her role in the critically acclaimed “Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors” has Andrea nominated alongside Patricia Arquette, Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain and Carmen Ejogo which is nothing less than incredibly impressive for a Mexican born, New York claimed actor. LatinoBuzz wants to be her homie.
LatinoBuzz: What film or actress inspired you to act?
Andrea: There was this amazing lady playing very interesting roles in telenovelas when I was growing up whom I definitely considered a genius. Her name is Margarita Sanz and I was around 5 years old when I became her fan. All the older actresses in telenovelas blew my mind when I was a kid, they call them "first actress" and they are the artists that have been performing in the theater for decades and then they get to be the evil stepmom or the psycho killer in telenovelas. They did powerful work. My mom knew of my affinity for this and took me to see them live on stage whenever they visited our local theater. I once saw one of these women play The Little Prince. To see an older woman play a little boy on stage completely blasted open my perception to what it meant to act. That was it for me.
LatinoBuzz: When you read the script for "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors" what drew you to the character?
Andrea: Well, it was an emotional roller coaster, which is what we as actors pray to get to do. It seemed like an insurmountable challenge - which I'm beginning to learn is what truly sparks me- a fantastic challenge. I was also terribly moved. My son was 9 months at the time, so to picture him away from me was immediately something I wanted to avoid. These were all very good signs that going head first onto this was going to be rough and terrifying. I like that
LatinoBuzz: What kind research did you do for the role?
Andrea: I read a lot on autism, which is surprisingly and annoyingly a huge mystery. There are all kinds of theories as to what causes it, if it might be preventable, how to best treat it. It was very scary to find out that nobody knows for sure and there is not great research being done and the vast majority of research is done privately. This infuriated me, which was a good start. I visited a support group for mothers of children in the spectrum a few times and realized how challenging it is to have a child with special needs and I learned that you have to draw strength from thin air incessantly and keep an unwavering state of deep focus.
I also learned that even though Autism can be frightening and terribly demanding, it also comes with its vast share of superpowers that are unknown to the typical human. A different and astonishing type of mind with a magical glow. So, in the end I also became in love with it and ended up with a healthy mix of emotions. Then I got to hang out with Jesus Sanchez (who plays Ricky in the movie) prior to filming which was a big luxury and we talked a lot and swam in the ocean together and by the time we started shooting I was just so sincerely crazy about this kid who was so smart, so deeply compassionate and had such impeccable morals that I just felt so fortunate to be partners with him. And he was such a fantastic actor! I was a proud mother of my perfect boy by the end.
LatinoBuzz: You are from Mexico, did you ever think that one day you would be living in the greatest city in the world and then one day nominated for an Independent Spirit Award? Do you hope it would inspire that little girl in Monterrey, Mexico?
Andrea: Well, I certainly dreamed about it. And I did at some point in my life begin to work my way here and I knew there were no guarantees. I do hope to inspire, I mean I live off inspiration and its the force that keeps me working, that keeps me creating. its a wonderful feeling to be able to inspire back, to keep that flow going. Being Latina in the Us is something I'm still learning about everyday. I don't feel inherently different in any way from anybody else and It is a feeling I cherish and that has helped me avoid thinking of my ethnicity as a potential obstacle from what i want to achieve. I am a woman and I am from Mexico, that is true. I am an artist, that is also true. When I work, I hope I'm not a woman from Mexico but an artist in body and spirit. I'm also a New Yorker, by the way.
LatinoBuzz: You used to play Punk Rock music. Five best Punk bands ever, Go!
Andrea:
The Clash
The Buzzcocks
Joy Division
Gang of Four
The Mekons
I also consider Neil Young and Bach to be big punks.
LatinoBuzz: The dream role, co-star, director and what's the storyline?
Andrea: I would like to play a passionate revolutionary or an extremely happy person. I adore Sally Hawkins in "Happy Go Lucky." I'm really dying to work with my Mexican peeps: Gonzalez Iñárritu, Cuarón, Del Toro. Maybe I'm the badass lady who rids Mexico of drugs, of oppression and illiteracy.
LatinoBuzz: Given what's happening in Mexico and the world still stands idle, do you find art meaningless or even more meaningful? And how does it make you feel?
Andrea: It makes me feel angry and ashamed and profoundly sad. My parents are big liberals and taught us to never trust a government that rids their people of basic human rights. Growing up, my Mexican town of Monterrey was so safe, we wouldn't lock our cars or our front doors, and that is gone. Monterrey is considered one of the deadliest, most violent places in the nation and I have seen my loved ones be profoundly affected by this horrific shift. There was always a lot of gruesome inequality but, in most towns we had basic security to move freely around. I think art is, unfortunately, sometimes our only shot at communicating our indignation safely and effectively. Before Internet existed, films were my source of real information from the world.
Films made by many artists working together for the love of a common project that they believed in, in which humanity was presented and experienced from a truthful standpoint, with no cop outs. In many points in history (now as well, of course) films and filmmakers have been banned for political reasons- that's how annoying they can be to oppressing systems, how dangerous. Mexico has relied on television for decades to keep the citizens misinformed and in a constant state of stupor. I mean we live in a time where democracy is almost synonymous with oligarchy. Artists have a tremendous purpose in society, which is to continually expose, to continually challenge and to never stop producing. To never stop creating, no matter what.
LatinoBuzz: What would the win at the Independent Spirit Awards mean to you? Who would first person that will come to your mind?
Andrea: It would just be a tremendous recognition of my work. My husband is the first person, because god knows it’s hard to love a struggling actor and he has been a force of nature. My son gave me a new and enhanced shot at life - he is to thank for my whole past, present and future existence.
LatinoBuzz: What's next?
Andrea: Lots of more work! A mystery. As it has always been.
Hang out with Andrea at www.andreasuarezpaz.com
Written by Juan Caceres, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow[At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
LatinoBuzz: What film or actress inspired you to act?
Andrea: There was this amazing lady playing very interesting roles in telenovelas when I was growing up whom I definitely considered a genius. Her name is Margarita Sanz and I was around 5 years old when I became her fan. All the older actresses in telenovelas blew my mind when I was a kid, they call them "first actress" and they are the artists that have been performing in the theater for decades and then they get to be the evil stepmom or the psycho killer in telenovelas. They did powerful work. My mom knew of my affinity for this and took me to see them live on stage whenever they visited our local theater. I once saw one of these women play The Little Prince. To see an older woman play a little boy on stage completely blasted open my perception to what it meant to act. That was it for me.
LatinoBuzz: When you read the script for "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors" what drew you to the character?
Andrea: Well, it was an emotional roller coaster, which is what we as actors pray to get to do. It seemed like an insurmountable challenge - which I'm beginning to learn is what truly sparks me- a fantastic challenge. I was also terribly moved. My son was 9 months at the time, so to picture him away from me was immediately something I wanted to avoid. These were all very good signs that going head first onto this was going to be rough and terrifying. I like that
LatinoBuzz: What kind research did you do for the role?
Andrea: I read a lot on autism, which is surprisingly and annoyingly a huge mystery. There are all kinds of theories as to what causes it, if it might be preventable, how to best treat it. It was very scary to find out that nobody knows for sure and there is not great research being done and the vast majority of research is done privately. This infuriated me, which was a good start. I visited a support group for mothers of children in the spectrum a few times and realized how challenging it is to have a child with special needs and I learned that you have to draw strength from thin air incessantly and keep an unwavering state of deep focus.
I also learned that even though Autism can be frightening and terribly demanding, it also comes with its vast share of superpowers that are unknown to the typical human. A different and astonishing type of mind with a magical glow. So, in the end I also became in love with it and ended up with a healthy mix of emotions. Then I got to hang out with Jesus Sanchez (who plays Ricky in the movie) prior to filming which was a big luxury and we talked a lot and swam in the ocean together and by the time we started shooting I was just so sincerely crazy about this kid who was so smart, so deeply compassionate and had such impeccable morals that I just felt so fortunate to be partners with him. And he was such a fantastic actor! I was a proud mother of my perfect boy by the end.
LatinoBuzz: You are from Mexico, did you ever think that one day you would be living in the greatest city in the world and then one day nominated for an Independent Spirit Award? Do you hope it would inspire that little girl in Monterrey, Mexico?
Andrea: Well, I certainly dreamed about it. And I did at some point in my life begin to work my way here and I knew there were no guarantees. I do hope to inspire, I mean I live off inspiration and its the force that keeps me working, that keeps me creating. its a wonderful feeling to be able to inspire back, to keep that flow going. Being Latina in the Us is something I'm still learning about everyday. I don't feel inherently different in any way from anybody else and It is a feeling I cherish and that has helped me avoid thinking of my ethnicity as a potential obstacle from what i want to achieve. I am a woman and I am from Mexico, that is true. I am an artist, that is also true. When I work, I hope I'm not a woman from Mexico but an artist in body and spirit. I'm also a New Yorker, by the way.
LatinoBuzz: You used to play Punk Rock music. Five best Punk bands ever, Go!
Andrea:
The Clash
The Buzzcocks
Joy Division
Gang of Four
The Mekons
I also consider Neil Young and Bach to be big punks.
LatinoBuzz: The dream role, co-star, director and what's the storyline?
Andrea: I would like to play a passionate revolutionary or an extremely happy person. I adore Sally Hawkins in "Happy Go Lucky." I'm really dying to work with my Mexican peeps: Gonzalez Iñárritu, Cuarón, Del Toro. Maybe I'm the badass lady who rids Mexico of drugs, of oppression and illiteracy.
LatinoBuzz: Given what's happening in Mexico and the world still stands idle, do you find art meaningless or even more meaningful? And how does it make you feel?
Andrea: It makes me feel angry and ashamed and profoundly sad. My parents are big liberals and taught us to never trust a government that rids their people of basic human rights. Growing up, my Mexican town of Monterrey was so safe, we wouldn't lock our cars or our front doors, and that is gone. Monterrey is considered one of the deadliest, most violent places in the nation and I have seen my loved ones be profoundly affected by this horrific shift. There was always a lot of gruesome inequality but, in most towns we had basic security to move freely around. I think art is, unfortunately, sometimes our only shot at communicating our indignation safely and effectively. Before Internet existed, films were my source of real information from the world.
Films made by many artists working together for the love of a common project that they believed in, in which humanity was presented and experienced from a truthful standpoint, with no cop outs. In many points in history (now as well, of course) films and filmmakers have been banned for political reasons- that's how annoying they can be to oppressing systems, how dangerous. Mexico has relied on television for decades to keep the citizens misinformed and in a constant state of stupor. I mean we live in a time where democracy is almost synonymous with oligarchy. Artists have a tremendous purpose in society, which is to continually expose, to continually challenge and to never stop producing. To never stop creating, no matter what.
LatinoBuzz: What would the win at the Independent Spirit Awards mean to you? Who would first person that will come to your mind?
Andrea: It would just be a tremendous recognition of my work. My husband is the first person, because god knows it’s hard to love a struggling actor and he has been a force of nature. My son gave me a new and enhanced shot at life - he is to thank for my whole past, present and future existence.
LatinoBuzz: What's next?
Andrea: Lots of more work! A mystery. As it has always been.
Hang out with Andrea at www.andreasuarezpaz.com
Written by Juan Caceres, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow[At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...
- 12/9/2014
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
The long-awaited Jimi Hendrix biopic All By My Side opens in cinemas today (October 24).
Andre '3000' Benjamin plays the iconic musician in the movie, which depicts Jimi's humble beginnings to becoming possibly the world's greatest guitarist.
This has inspired us to compile our own list of the greatest portrayals of musicians in rock 'n' roll biopics, often going above and beyond mere physical transformation:
1. Andy Serkis as Ian Dury
Andy Serkis was BAFTA nominated for his critically-acclaimed role - played to perfection - as charismatic '70s punk rock singer and songwriter Ian Dury in Mat Whitecross's 2010 biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.
To portray Dury's physical condition - he contracted polio as a child - Serkis lost two stone and built up the muscle mass on the right-hand side of his body so the other side was weaker.
He added: "I had a body wax. It's the most...
Andre '3000' Benjamin plays the iconic musician in the movie, which depicts Jimi's humble beginnings to becoming possibly the world's greatest guitarist.
This has inspired us to compile our own list of the greatest portrayals of musicians in rock 'n' roll biopics, often going above and beyond mere physical transformation:
1. Andy Serkis as Ian Dury
Andy Serkis was BAFTA nominated for his critically-acclaimed role - played to perfection - as charismatic '70s punk rock singer and songwriter Ian Dury in Mat Whitecross's 2010 biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.
To portray Dury's physical condition - he contracted polio as a child - Serkis lost two stone and built up the muscle mass on the right-hand side of his body so the other side was weaker.
He added: "I had a body wax. It's the most...
- 10/24/2014
- Digital Spy
Outsider Art Fair 2014, NYC
Art brut, Naïve art, Outsider art -- the times have changed. Artists no longer have to study and refine their craft in schools of higher learning. They can trust their own instincts, use their own mediums, often mixed and often any found canvas -- street buildings, pieces of wood, any type of paper or board -- to share their muse.
And just as important, because every artist needs a patron, "new" collectors can afford to purchase art that is both relevant and exciting and has real potential to increase in value over the years.
Make no mistake, self-taught artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Henry Darger, Morris Hirshfield, and to a lesser extent even Howard Finster, certainly never get snickers from snobbish art dealers and collectors who might have thumbed their collective noses at these "unskilled" artists just because they lacked formal training. Moreover, with the rise...
Art brut, Naïve art, Outsider art -- the times have changed. Artists no longer have to study and refine their craft in schools of higher learning. They can trust their own instincts, use their own mediums, often mixed and often any found canvas -- street buildings, pieces of wood, any type of paper or board -- to share their muse.
And just as important, because every artist needs a patron, "new" collectors can afford to purchase art that is both relevant and exciting and has real potential to increase in value over the years.
Make no mistake, self-taught artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Henry Darger, Morris Hirshfield, and to a lesser extent even Howard Finster, certainly never get snickers from snobbish art dealers and collectors who might have thumbed their collective noses at these "unskilled" artists just because they lacked formal training. Moreover, with the rise...
- 5/10/2014
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
A biopic about former Smiths frontman Morrissey's life has been announced.
A statement on Manchester-based production company Honlodge Productions' website refers to the film as "a love letter to Steven Patrick Morrissey and the dark satanic mills of Manchester".
The film will tell the story of Morrissey's early life before The Smiths and is currently working under the title Steven.
"The film is more of a portrait than a conventional biopic," director Mark Gill claimed. "It's as much a film for non-Morrissey fans as it is for die-hard devotees."
Both the film's producer Orian Williams and casting director Shaheen Baig worked on the Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis biopic Control.
The biopic is being developed by the Oscar-nominated team behind short film The Voorman Problem.
Work on the film will begin at the end of the year. It is unclear if Morrissey has endorsed the making of the biopic.
A statement on Manchester-based production company Honlodge Productions' website refers to the film as "a love letter to Steven Patrick Morrissey and the dark satanic mills of Manchester".
The film will tell the story of Morrissey's early life before The Smiths and is currently working under the title Steven.
"The film is more of a portrait than a conventional biopic," director Mark Gill claimed. "It's as much a film for non-Morrissey fans as it is for die-hard devotees."
Both the film's producer Orian Williams and casting director Shaheen Baig worked on the Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis biopic Control.
The biopic is being developed by the Oscar-nominated team behind short film The Voorman Problem.
Work on the film will begin at the end of the year. It is unclear if Morrissey has endorsed the making of the biopic.
- 5/8/2014
- Digital Spy
We all love a shiny finished product, but as the old saying goes, there's "a means to an end." For instance, this week's World's Most Beautiful special issue couldn't have come together without a lot of long hours and not-so-glamorous work. The books our staff are reading this weekend offer an inside look at how everything from dog shows to rock stars are made. Share your thoughts on their choices - and let us know what you're reading. Gillian Telling, Staff Writer Her Pick: Show Dog by Josh Dean Full disclosure: The author of this non-fiction book is my husband,...
- 4/24/2014
- PEOPLE.com
It doesn’t seem possible that it was around 30 years ago that A Flock of Seagulls ran so far away or Modern English melted with us, but it was. The story behind those acts, their biggest hits, and dozens of other New Wave acts are captured in all their ‘80s bad hairdo-ed, brightly colored-glory in “Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists And Songs That Defined The 1980s.” Written by Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein, with a forward by Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes and an afterward by Moby, the book examines the New Wave era through the filter of 36 songs associated with the time, such as Gary Numan’s “Cars,” Duran Duran’s “Girls On Film” and The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now.” Each chapter deals with one act and, while not limited to the group’s biggest hit, explores the story behind that tune and the...
- 4/17/2014
- by Melinda Newman
- Hitfix
A few weeks back, we ran a trailer for The Drop, James Gandolfini’s final film. Philip Seymour Hoffman had a handful projects in the can at the time of his passing in early February, two of which premiered barely a week before at Sundance. There’s John Slattery’s directorial debut, God’s Pocket, and Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, the latter of which released its first trailer today. Corbijn caught my eye with the somehow still underseen Joy Division biopic Control, and has since been swept up into Hollywood’s political drama camp, first with The American and now with A Most Wanted Man, which centers on post 9/11 German-American intelligentsia. […]...
- 4/11/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
A few weeks back, we ran a trailer for The Drop, James Gandolfini’s final film. Philip Seymour Hoffman had a handful projects in the can at the time of his passing in early February, two of which premiered barely a week before at Sundance. There’s John Slattery’s directorial debut, God’s Pocket, and Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, the latter of which released its first trailer today. Corbijn caught my eye with the somehow still underseen Joy Division biopic Control, and has since been swept up into Hollywood’s political drama camp, first with The American and now with A Most Wanted Man, which centers on post 9/11 German-American intelligentsia. […]...
- 4/11/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Disney's been teasing us with so many peeks at "Maleficent" lately that we're wondering if we can have too much of a good thing. It seems like just yesterday we caught a glimpse of Maleficent's magnificent wings, and here they are again, flapping most impressively as she calls her fellow outsiders to arms. (Ed. note: It was yesterday.)
The third trailer shows off Angelina Jolie's spooky spell-casting and more of that green fire and smoke Maleficent digs so much. It also hints at how Ms. Maleficent lost her wings and a deeper secret about the evil that men do. Speaking of men, Maleficent's crow Diaval can transform into one, and he's not half bad. (In addition to playing a shape-changing sidekick, Sam Riley played Ian Curtis of Joy Division in 2007's "Control." You can also see him chain smoke his way through "On the Road" with Kristen Stewart.
The third trailer shows off Angelina Jolie's spooky spell-casting and more of that green fire and smoke Maleficent digs so much. It also hints at how Ms. Maleficent lost her wings and a deeper secret about the evil that men do. Speaking of men, Maleficent's crow Diaval can transform into one, and he's not half bad. (In addition to playing a shape-changing sidekick, Sam Riley played Ian Curtis of Joy Division in 2007's "Control." You can also see him chain smoke his way through "On the Road" with Kristen Stewart.
- 3/18/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
With Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell set to play the titular team in Josh Trank's upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, the production is now turning its attention towards the villainy side of things and have reportedly narrowed down the list of potential Dr. Doom actors to just four actors. According to The Wrap, Sam Riley, Eddie Redmayne, Toby Kebbell and Domhnall Gleeson are currently the names that are being bounced around the production offices of The Fantastic Four. Like the previously announced cast, the shortlist isn't packed with A-listers, but instead just really talented young actors. That said, it's understandable if you don't recognize their names, so let's take a closer look at what we've seen from them, shall we? Sam Riley Riley, who hales from England, first got his breakout back in 2007 starring as Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in the music biopic Control,...
- 3/12/2014
- cinemablend.com
Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 6 Feb 2014 - 06:08
Our series of lists devoted to underappreciated films brings us to the year 2007, and another 25 overlooked gems...
For some reason, the number three was a common factor in several blockbuster movies of 2007. The third film in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series (At World's End) dominated the box office, Spider-Man 3 marked Sam Raimi's last entry as director in the series, while Mike Myers went for a hat trick of hits with Shrek The Third.
I Am Legend was the third and most financially successful attempt to bring Richard Matheson's classic novel to the big screen, Rush Hour 3 marked Jackie Chan's last action pairing with Chris Tucker, while Zack Snyder's musky sword-swinger 300 was notable for having the number three in the title.
Iffy attempts at numerology aside, 2007 was also a superb for year for movies in general - particularly underappreciated ones,...
Our series of lists devoted to underappreciated films brings us to the year 2007, and another 25 overlooked gems...
For some reason, the number three was a common factor in several blockbuster movies of 2007. The third film in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series (At World's End) dominated the box office, Spider-Man 3 marked Sam Raimi's last entry as director in the series, while Mike Myers went for a hat trick of hits with Shrek The Third.
I Am Legend was the third and most financially successful attempt to bring Richard Matheson's classic novel to the big screen, Rush Hour 3 marked Jackie Chan's last action pairing with Chris Tucker, while Zack Snyder's musky sword-swinger 300 was notable for having the number three in the title.
Iffy attempts at numerology aside, 2007 was also a superb for year for movies in general - particularly underappreciated ones,...
- 2/4/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Check out the first clip from Anton Corbijn's Sundance thriller, "A Most Wanted Man," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Daniel Bruhl and Robin Wright. From the novel by John le Carre, the film debuted last weekend at Sundance to strong reviews. Paste calls it "extraordinarily gripping," and Hoffman's performance "wonderfully controlled." Here's the synopsis:In A Most Wanted Man, a rogue German counter-terrorism expert, Gunter Bachmann (Academy Award-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman), interrogates human rights lawyer Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams) on the whereabouts of her half-Chechen, half-Russian immigrant client, who may or may not be part a militant jihadist group in post-9/11 Hamburg.A maverick music video director, Corbijn previously directed "The American," also a spy thriller, and Joy Division biopic "Control." Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions will handle the 2014 stateside release.
- 1/23/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Sundance Film Festival kicks off this Thursday night, January 16, 2014 and history tells us that one of your favorite films will premiere there. Last year, we covered the Sundance premieres of “Before Midnight,” “Upstream Color,” “The Way Way Back,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” “We Are What We Are,” and many more. And Chicago Critics Film Festival hits “Stories We Tell,” “The Spectacular Now,” and “The Kings of Summer” premiered in Park City in 2013.
What will make waves this year? What films will cinephiles be talking about for the next ten days? There are dozens of films that have piqued our interest and that we’ll be covering here in daily diaries starting on Friday but here are ten, alphabetically, that already have people buzzing. And the amazing thing is how easy it would have been to choose a completely different ten. (Synopses courtesy of Sundance.)
Boyhood
Photo credit: Sundance...
What will make waves this year? What films will cinephiles be talking about for the next ten days? There are dozens of films that have piqued our interest and that we’ll be covering here in daily diaries starting on Friday but here are ten, alphabetically, that already have people buzzing. And the amazing thing is how easy it would have been to choose a completely different ten. (Synopses courtesy of Sundance.)
Boyhood
Photo credit: Sundance...
- 1/14/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The good thing about Hollywood is it makes terrorists so good-looking that it's easy to have complicated feelings toward them. A Most Wanted Man comes through on that front, when Russian actor Grigoriy Dobrygin shaves off his beard in this international trailer. An adaptation of a John Le Carré novel directed by Anton Corbijn (the Joy Division movie Control, the George Clooney movie The American), it tells the story of a once-tortured half-Russian, half-Chechen immigrant to Hamburg who raises the suspicions of both German and U.S. intelligence, played by an impressive cast, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, and Daniel Bruhl. The film is set to debut at Sundance, with a U.S. release date coming sometime after. Go for the potential terrorist's cheekbones; stay for how Psh says "barracuda" in a German accent.
- 1/3/2014
- by Jesse David Fox
- Vulture
Johan Heldenbergh as Didier with Veerle Baetens as Elise in The Broken Circle Breakdown
Paper Magazine with Sarah Sophie Flicker, Arden Wohl, Dustin Yellin, Alexander Gilkes, and Misha Nonoo hosted an advance screening earlier this week at the Tribeca Film Center for Felix Van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium's submission for the 2014 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards.
I met with Felix Van Groeningen at the Tribeca Grill Loft after party to discuss the evolution from stage play by Kris Kristofferson look-alike Johan Heldenbergh to film and how Anton Corbijn's Control on Joy Division and James Mangold's Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line with Joaquin Phoenix were inspiration but not influence.
Singer / songwriter Sophie Auster, daughter of Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Broken Circle Breakdown won the Panorama Audience Award at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Best Screenplay for a narrative feature...
Paper Magazine with Sarah Sophie Flicker, Arden Wohl, Dustin Yellin, Alexander Gilkes, and Misha Nonoo hosted an advance screening earlier this week at the Tribeca Film Center for Felix Van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium's submission for the 2014 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards.
I met with Felix Van Groeningen at the Tribeca Grill Loft after party to discuss the evolution from stage play by Kris Kristofferson look-alike Johan Heldenbergh to film and how Anton Corbijn's Control on Joy Division and James Mangold's Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line with Joaquin Phoenix were inspiration but not influence.
Singer / songwriter Sophie Auster, daughter of Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Broken Circle Breakdown won the Panorama Audience Award at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Best Screenplay for a narrative feature...
- 11/1/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
London, Sep 8: Actor-singer Sam Riley and his actress-wife Alexandra Maria Lara are set to become parents for the first time.
Riley has confirmed that Lara is expecting the couple's first child, reports contactmusic.com.
"I'm delighted," Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted Riley as saying.
The soon-to-become mother is experiencing a number of pregnancy cravings.
"I could eat so much, burgers and ice cream, you name it," she said.
Riley and Lara met on the sets of the movie "Control", based on the life of Ian Curtis, singer of band Joy Division.
The couple exchanged vows in 2009.
Ians...
Riley has confirmed that Lara is expecting the couple's first child, reports contactmusic.com.
"I'm delighted," Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted Riley as saying.
The soon-to-become mother is experiencing a number of pregnancy cravings.
"I could eat so much, burgers and ice cream, you name it," she said.
Riley and Lara met on the sets of the movie "Control", based on the life of Ian Curtis, singer of band Joy Division.
The couple exchanged vows in 2009.
Ians...
- 9/8/2013
- by Abhijeet Sen
- RealBollywood.com
Twilight actor will play photographer who helped Dean find fame, alongside rising star Dane DeHaan
Robert Pattinson is set to appear in Anton Corbijn's forthcoming James Dean biopic, Life, though not as the tragic 50s star.
The prospect of the Twilight heartthrob taking to the big screen as the most notable male sex symbol of his era might have been guaranteed to set teenage hearts aflutter. But Pattinson has signed on to play Dean's sometime travelling companion, the photographer Dennis Stock, instead. The film star will be portrayed by Chronicle actor Dane DeHaan, who is currently Hollywood hot property after signing up for the next Amazing Spider-Man movie.
Corbijn's film will see the Dutch director taking on another iconic figure who died long before his time, following on from Control, his critically acclaimed 2007 film about the last years of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. The James Dean biopic, titled...
Robert Pattinson is set to appear in Anton Corbijn's forthcoming James Dean biopic, Life, though not as the tragic 50s star.
The prospect of the Twilight heartthrob taking to the big screen as the most notable male sex symbol of his era might have been guaranteed to set teenage hearts aflutter. But Pattinson has signed on to play Dean's sometime travelling companion, the photographer Dennis Stock, instead. The film star will be portrayed by Chronicle actor Dane DeHaan, who is currently Hollywood hot property after signing up for the next Amazing Spider-Man movie.
Corbijn's film will see the Dutch director taking on another iconic figure who died long before his time, following on from Control, his critically acclaimed 2007 film about the last years of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. The James Dean biopic, titled...
- 9/6/2013
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Robert Pattinson ‘Life’: Pattinson to play James Dean photographer and travel companion Dennis Stock Robert Pattinson is keeping himself busy. Pattinson is reportedly going to play Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock in the aptly titled Life, to be directed by Anton Corbijn, himself a photographer. Dane DeHaan is slated to co-star as Stock’s traveling companion and photographic subject James Dean. The screenplay, chronicling the relationship between the young photographer and the Hollywood-legend-to-be, is by Luke Davies. (Photo: Robert Pattinson.) According to The Hollywood Reporter, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, among whose producing credits are Tom Hooper’s Best Picture Academy Award winner The King’s Speech and the Steve McQueen / Michael Fassbender sex addiction drama Shame, will bring Life to life (sorry, I couldn’t resist) via See Saw Films. FilmNation will reportedly be looking for foreign buyers at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival. As per the Reporter, Life...
- 9/6/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Peter Hook, the former bassist for Joy Division and New Order, says there is a stash of master tapes filled with material from the two bands—and if it were up to him, those tapes would be in stores today. Hook is currently in talks to purchase the tapes from Julia Adamson, former member of another British post-punk band The Fall, who said she salvaged the recordings from a trash can at Factory Records. But Hook says the process of releasing this material to the public won’t be easy. “[I’m] at loggerheads with New Order,” the band’s ex-bassist told Pitchfork in...
- 8/29/2013
- Pastemagazine.com
The World's End lands in theaters everywhere on Friday, and the Edgar Wright alien-invasion/drinking comedy featuring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike and Pierce Brosnan draws on a number of cinematic inspirations, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style sci-fi classics to The Big Chill-styled reunion movies. In fact, Wright recently assembled 14 fave influences (several of which are listed below) in a thematic, double-feature screening series at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles to get audiences in the proper frame of mind.
Related Video: The Beginning of 'The World's End' at Comic-Con
The World's End follows a group of friends (including Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan) who embark on an epic 12-pub crawl in their hometown in an effort to complete "The Golden Mile," having fallen short two decades earlier when they were teens in their prime. Back to finish what they started, the reunited...
Related Video: The Beginning of 'The World's End' at Comic-Con
The World's End follows a group of friends (including Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan) who embark on an epic 12-pub crawl in their hometown in an effort to complete "The Golden Mile," having fallen short two decades earlier when they were teens in their prime. Back to finish what they started, the reunited...
- 8/21/2013
- Entertainment Tonight
A former assistant of famed post-punk producer Martin Hannett has allegedly “rescued” a number of recordings by Joy Division, New Order, The Psychedelic Furs, Magazine, and more from his trash, and is now looking to sell them. According to a lengthy post on Julia Adamson’s Facebook page, she somehow managed to get her hands on about 30 boxes of master tapes, presumably while working for the late Hannett in the late ‘80s. (Adamson, formerly known as Julia Nagle, was also a member of The Fall in the late ‘90s.) The tapes were all digitized in 2008 and include tunes ...
- 8/14/2013
- avclub.com
Here's our pick of the actor's greatest scenes – but what would you add to the list?
Currently appearing alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in The World's End, Paddy Considine is equally at home in comedy roles as he is playing dangerous, unhinged characters. It's not for nothing that he's known as Britain's Robert De Niro – and with his 2011 directorial debut Tyrannosaur, he ably demonstrated he's more than just a talented character actor.
Here's five of our favourite Paddy Considine moments, including suggestions from @guardianmusic followers @philgirlworld, @thetomweller, @kinnemaniac, @BassTunedToRed and @ChantelleDusett. But what have we missed? Let us know in the thread below.
1. 24 Hour Party People
Paddy plays Joy Division and New Order manager Rob Gretton in Michael Winterbottom's tribute to Factory Records and the Manchester music scene. In this scene, Rob's less-than-pleased with Tony Wilson's spending on office furniture.
Reading on mobile? Watch the clip on...
Currently appearing alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in The World's End, Paddy Considine is equally at home in comedy roles as he is playing dangerous, unhinged characters. It's not for nothing that he's known as Britain's Robert De Niro – and with his 2011 directorial debut Tyrannosaur, he ably demonstrated he's more than just a talented character actor.
Here's five of our favourite Paddy Considine moments, including suggestions from @guardianmusic followers @philgirlworld, @thetomweller, @kinnemaniac, @BassTunedToRed and @ChantelleDusett. But what have we missed? Let us know in the thread below.
1. 24 Hour Party People
Paddy plays Joy Division and New Order manager Rob Gretton in Michael Winterbottom's tribute to Factory Records and the Manchester music scene. In this scene, Rob's less-than-pleased with Tony Wilson's spending on office furniture.
Reading on mobile? Watch the clip on...
- 7/19/2013
- by Adam Boult
- The Guardian - Film News
This bizarre item came across our radar thanks to the music site Consequence of Sound: a European developer has designed a new video game inspired by the ultimate dark-rock band, Joy Division. For those of you who need a little background, Joy Division is considered by many to be the original Gothic rock group, who formed in the UK in the late '70s and released several hit songs including the classic “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” counter-balancing the punk trend at that time and changing the path of rock music forever. The band's career was cut short in 1980 when frontman Ian Curtis committed suicide, but the other members went on to form another iconic band, New Order. So that's the setup, but now you're probably wondering how the hell this could translate to video game play. Well, UK developer Mighty Box Games believe they have the answer to that.
- 6/5/2013
- by Gregory Burkart
- FEARnet
Herzog's films portray humans as frail creatures caught in the gap between an indifferent nature and a punishing God. Ahead of the UK release of As Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing, which Herzog executive produced, Michael Newton celebrates a unique world view
For a man whose "social network" is his kitchen table, Werner Herzog's image is very present on the internet. You can see him (deceptively edited) discoursing in doom-laden tones concerning the "enormity of the stupidity" of hipsters or Republicans. (Originally he was discussing chickens.) He's there (or rather someone impersonating him is) intoning about the dark intensities of "Where's Waldo". (The clip has had more than a million hits on YouTube.) And, most notably, he can be seen in Les Blank's short film (this time for real) eating his shoe to celebrate the successful completion of Errol Morris's Gates of Heaven (1978). While the shoe boils,...
For a man whose "social network" is his kitchen table, Werner Herzog's image is very present on the internet. You can see him (deceptively edited) discoursing in doom-laden tones concerning the "enormity of the stupidity" of hipsters or Republicans. (Originally he was discussing chickens.) He's there (or rather someone impersonating him is) intoning about the dark intensities of "Where's Waldo". (The clip has had more than a million hits on YouTube.) And, most notably, he can be seen in Les Blank's short film (this time for real) eating his shoe to celebrate the successful completion of Errol Morris's Gates of Heaven (1978). While the shoe boils,...
- 6/1/2013
- by Michael Newton
- The Guardian - Film News
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