Nothing like starting the week off with a trip to Santa Monica's historic Aero Theatre for an early screening of The Neon Demon! Directed and co-written by Nicolas Winding Refn of The Pusher, Bronson and Drive fame, The Neon Demon has to be the most "what the f*ck" movie I've seen in a long time but is very interesting to watch and gorgeously shot. It's also got the best soundtrack I've heard in a while courtesy of Drive and Only God Forgives composer Cliff Martinez who provides a synth laced The Thing meets Blade Runner blend of creepiness and vast atmosphere. Since the flick hasn't hit theaters yet, I'll just say that TND is a bit of a fairy tale meets nightmare take on the young woman moving to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune gone weird, violent and freaky. Elle Fanning plays Jesse, an aspiring model who quickly becomes the favorite of several revered figures in the industry, much to the chagrin of local talent vying for their big break. As he did with Drive, Refn shoots Los Angeles in ways you've never seen, showing off scenic view points, seedy motels and classic dives throughout. Jena Malone, Christina Hendricks, Abbey Lee, Alessandro Nivola and a funny yet sh!t bag Keanu Reeves round out the cast. The Neon Demon definitely isn't for everyone but if you're into weird, experimental flicks or Refn in general, I think you'll like it.
After the film, Refn and his frequent collaborator Martinez took to the stage, spoiler free:
- Refn wanted to tell a tale of beauty and narcissism, fleshed out the script with female playwrights well known and not Mary Laws and Polly Stenham.
- Shoots chronologically for most part. Gave script to James Bond writers Robert Wade and Neal Purvis for suggestions.
- Props to Jena Malone for going to great depths to find her character early on which changed arc later on. - Elle Fanning impressed him but he was hesitant since she was so young. Some people are just born with it, believes Fanning and Gosling are of the ilk.
- Makes movies very inexpensively to tell the stories he wants. Shoots quickly and uses familiar locations in new ways to save time and money.
- Sees Hollywood studios as a well oiled machine that is redundant but the machine pays well, pays for 90% of the industry and for films like his.
- Views directing as inspiring others while taking credit.
- Martinez jokes that Refn shoots totally different movies than are scripted, usually taking out lots of dialog. He's waiting for the day Refn makes a silent film.
- Martinez recalls many 3:00 AM Skype calls with a chipper and coffee sipping Refn.
- Amazon Studios got involved after an associate from Drive wanted to see the film, flew to Copenhagen for a screening and made lucrative offer after.
- Theatrical is still a big part of the film experience but streaming will let movies live on forever.
- Sees digital as the revolution that lets people create.
More was talked about but hey, see the movie and we'll chat more. Until then, queue the soundtrack.
Leave it to The Alamo Drafthouse to put on an epic sneak preview of one of my most anticipated flicks of the summer, The Nice Guys! Yes, this screening took place a couple of weeks ago but I've been frigging busy, ok? I believe a press embargo is still in place but let's just say that the Shane Black directed and co-written tale of a private eye (Gosling) and bruiser (Crowe) investigating a missing persons case involving a soft core porn star with implications of government cover ups is a great time at the movies. Part comedy, pulp noir novel, buddy flick, action movie and physical gags, The Nice Guys is a fun and R rated time at the movies with a couple of well known actors who share fantastic chemistry. Gosling and Black were first announced then joined by Crowe and super producer Joel Silver. A few highlights from the Q&A:
- Russell Crowe needs more EQ in his microphone to sound heroic.
- Black wrote the script with writing partner Anthony Bagarozzi back in 2001, went from modern times to 70's in between and Joel Silver championed film the entire journey.
- Took so long as Black would work on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, go uncredited on Iron Man then be drafted to write and direct Iron Man III.
- Gosling signed on as Black jumped on a plane to Russell Crowe's home in Australia to pitch the Oscar winner. Crowe saw a list of contemplated co-stars and thought it didn't fit into his view of what the film would and could be. As an actor, Crowe chooses projects by narrative and character and was prepared to cook Black a steak, make him a cocktail then turn the movie down.
- Black showed up, doesn't drink anymore as he's "allergic to alcohol, I break out in handcuffs", then told Crowe that Gosling had signed on leading Crowe to agree.
- Film was shot in Georgia and Los Angeles, it was cold in Georgia.
- Gosling would crack Crowe up constantly leading Silver to chide them one night when they had shut down Sunset Boulevard. Which is pretty expensive apparently. - Asked about stunts, Crowe responded classically something along the lines of, "I'm an old man that has given his life to cinema, whatever I have left, is yours". While Gosling's stunt double had been stabbed fully in the chest on the set of Fury but reported to set ready to go, the star stepped up and decided to fall through a window in his place.
- Crowe is all about social media and Tweeted during the sometimes awkward Q&A as the moderator tried to find questions from Alamo's Twitter.
- Warner Brothers wants Crowe and Gosling to be more engaging on social media as they open against Angry Birds, Gosling stated they were the angriest birds you'd ever see.
On and on it went, the panel was totally hilarious and seemingly didn't give a f*ck. Crowe dominated with his intelligent yet kind of @$$hole that knows he's an @$$hole personality. Black we've seen in person before who is just as witty and funny as you could ask for from a writer-director. Gosling was generally kind of quiet but weirdcool while Silver chimed in appropriately to give you a little behind the scenes of filmmaking. A terrific night and I hope you check out the movie.
Besides Captain America: Civil War, Shane Black's 70's set buddy action-comedy The Nice Guys is my most anticipated summer flick. Now thanks to our friends at The American Cinematheque and Alamo Drafthouse, you can win tickets to a sneak preview of the film this Wednesday, May 4th at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood! Writer/director Shane Black along with co-star Ryan Gosling are scheduled to attend for Q&A! Co-written by Anthony Bagarozzi, The Nice Guys finds Ryan Gosling as down on his luck Hollywood private eye Holland March as he teams up with hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to investigate a missing persons case and death of a porn star before uncovering a wide reaching conspiracy. The trailers are terrific with a mix of laughs and violence while Gosling and Crowe's chemistry looks like a winner. The duo have been participating in a series of hilarious couples therapy skits to promote the film which hits theaters on Friday, May 20th.
This is a members screening with no tickets being sold. The Cinematheque holds exclusive early screenings frequently so sign up and support cinema on the big screen as it's meant to be seen.
*All tickets have been claimed, thank you for the enthusiastic response* For your chance to win tickets to Wednesday's 7:00 PM show, e-mail Dammaged Goods, winners will be notified by Wednesday morning with tickets left at the box office.
Shane Black burst onto the 80's cinematic scene scripting 1987's classic Lethal Weapon and co-starring with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator the same year. From there Black became Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter for the likes of The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. In 2005, he wrote and directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang co-starring Robert Downey Jr., who drafted Black to do some uncredited work on 2008's Iron Man before taking the reins for part III in 2013. Ryan Gosling has been performing for the camera since childhood, starting as a Mouseketeer before seguing into stints on Breaker High and Young Hercules. 2001's The Believer put him on the map as an actor before The Notebook made him into a meme and heartthrob. Subsequent roles in edgier and quirky fare like Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, personal favorite Drive and recent awards contender The Big Short have provided both critical and box office success. Plus he seems like a funny guy so should be a good Q&A.
- Elle Fanning impressed him but he was hesitant since she was so young. Some people are just born with it, believes Fanning and Gosling are of the ilk.
