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.
Last night, The Crest Theater in Westwood hosted a press screening of The Weinstein Company and Quentin Tarantino's latest opus, The Hateful Eight. In attendance were several movie critic types from internet, TV and OG Leonard Maltin himself. Much has been made about the production of Eight that was shot on 70mm film to harken back to the good ol' days in the 60's where going to the movies was an event. People dressed up, received programs and the films included beginning overtures as well as an intermission. If I remember correctly, the ultra wide scope was an effort to draw audiences to the theater instead of watching programs on their rinky dink televisions at home. The road show angle faded and 70mm became obsolete as the cinematic landscape changed as it always does. Last year, noted film fan Christopher Nolan unveiled his space epic Interstellar at less a dozen theaters still equipped with 70mm projection equipment. Tarantino and The Weinstein's are upping the ante by outfitting 100 plus theaters with 70mm projection. To make it more of a special event, shows in 70 include extra footage too boot.
From the opening credits last night, something was amiss. The bold font of OVERTURE was fine but underneath it, a silhouette of a horse and carriage kept throbbing in and out of focus. People murmured and complained to the PR staff who had no explanation. Generally a tech run happens during the day to make sure the picture and sound are up to par. Nolan personally checked out several theaters to make sure Interstellar was being presented the way he intended while Michael Mann did the same at The Egyptian for a repertory screening of The Last of the Mohicans, heck, Dolph Lundgren did a tech check when they hosted the Skin Trade premiere. Why this didn't happen on this night for this movie, who knows. Apparently some viewers were more upset than others and berated the PR staff leading to a swap to a Digital Print after the intermission. The result? The Hateful Eight looked a lot cleaner and more detailed. While the picture was crisper, I felt the sound lost a bit of impact though. After the film, the crowd exited still grumbling about the technical issues while I made an effort to thank the PR and theater staff because at the end of the day, shit happens, it's just a movie after all.
Now on the one hand, the evening could be seen as a disaster. After all this is a press screening meant to promote a throwback experiment turned event. This was the night meant to build an ally of armies to take back a piece of the business and show what film could do for future generations. Tarantino is a huge proponent of film and runs The New Beverly basically to preserve the medium. But if you can't even get it to work at a "special" event for a special event, what chance does the film have for general viewings multiple times a day? At a screening in New York recently, the projector broke down leading to a 60 minute impromptu Q&A with attending stars Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins and crew while a gear was replaced. Looks like dusting off a buried for 40 years technology for one film and one filmmaker needed more time to work out the kinks.
On the other hand, watching the film in a room full of critics made me realize something, I love movies but hate critics. I've always been vocal about critics being parasites who wouldn't exist without someone else's work. If there's no movie, they have nothing to talk/complain about, simple logic. They see everything early and for free yet they're ungrateful and demanding. It's not like they're creating something or putting themselves out there to be "judged". What was that quote from Theodore Roosevelt about the man in the arena? Something about giving him credit for striving to do the deeds while critics point out stumbles without knowing victory or defeat themselves? Or in this case they're jockeying for Facebook Likes and covering the same mainstream, Marvel movie news that a million other folks are. It's kind of like a barnacle that hitch hikes on a whale then complains there isn't enough plankton around. Go find your own plankton on your own steam then, pal.
There was no energy in the room, dead as dodos. I can only imagine how many times an opening night crowd of actual movie lovers would break out into applause during Hateful Eight's 3 hour run time. A person behind me even complained that the film had an intermission! Apparently they'd never seen a film that included one and basically missed the point of how Eight was being presented entirely. While it seemed like plenty of people were upset, even pissed off, I didn't notice anyone leaving. The moral? It's easier to blah blah blah than to do.
This Saturday sees the Hollywood red carpet premiere of Death Valley, a noir style crime thriller set in the harsh desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. What starts out as a drunken wedding run turns into a struggle to survive after a hit and run pits a group of strangers against one another. Directed and co-written by longtime Stunt Coordinator T.J. Scott with a script assist from Brad MacPherson, Valley stars Katrina Law (Arrow, Spartacus), Lochlyn Munro (Scary Movie), Victoria Pratt (Heartland, Mutant X), Nick E. Tarabay (Longmire, Crash) and Kelly Hu (X-Men 2). The film hits VOD on October 20th, until then check out the sex, sun, booze and betrayal packed trailer:
YouTube Space LA hosted a pretty awesome event last night, an early screening of Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak followed by a chat with the man himself. Taking place next door at the Cinemark Playa Vista and at their space in the campus, del Toro welcomed the audience and reiterated that the film is not a horror flick but a Gothic romance. I honestly didn't know too much about the movie going in but was a big fan of his work on Hellboy and Pacific Rim. The story of Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), a bright young woman with aspirations to be a writer who falls for the dapper yet dark Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). Moving to their decaying manor in rural Europe, Edith tries to play nice with Thomas' foreboding sister Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain) while getting used to the cold and scary Crimson Peak. Named after the red clay that seeps up from underground. Mystery, ghosts, deception, intrigue and blood follows in a very handsomely produced film that's at times beautiful as well as terrifying. Without giving too much away, Peak is hardly your typical Halloween slasher flick but instead more of a character piece that utilizes a bygone era, atmosphere and customs to keep things interesting leading up to a pretty exciting and scary conclusion.
After the film, del Toro sat down to discuss his philosophy of life and filmmaking, spoiler free:
- Believes in two forces, fear and love.
- Passion project that took 7 years to produce. Going for R rating meant a budget reduction of 30-40% but sees budget only as a mindset, not a hindrance.
- Views filmmaking as a table with four legs encompassing costumes, production design, cinematography and directing.
- Wanted costumes built and the set dressed. Every thing you see is planned, designed and created.
- Feels people who like his movies are creative types who appreciate the effort.
- Was originally set up with Emma Stone and Benedict Cumberbatch but losing them was best thing for the project as it was a great experience.
- Movie sets are like any social setting, there's always going to be an asshole.
- Hates conformity or people telling you what you can and can't do. The only reason giant elephants don't pull the stake from the ground is because they weren't strong enough to do so when they were small and still have same mindset.
- Wanted to make a film with strong female characters which shouldn't be an exception given the amount of strong women walking the planet every day.
- Chances of a Hellboy III are highly improbable.
- Trying to be a good person is one of the biggest contributions people can make to the world.
- Always wanted to be a bank robber like Robert DeNiro in Heat. Finds himself casing the joint any time he's cashing a check.
- Directors never have total control, if they did, results wouldn't be any good. Need collaboration.
Much more was discussed, particularly concerning the film but I'm not gonna ruin it for ya. del Toro has always been a funny and warm speaker and seeing him live was fantastic. The guy is extremely intelligent and experienced, citing examples from Jung, the Dao, Stanley Kubrick and oh so many more in a non-elitist way. I'd love to hear him in a conversation with Jean-Claude Van Damme as his roundabout, somewhat spacey views on life always seem to make total sense. Because divorce is a word but love is a feeling...
Between D23 Expo excitement, I was alerted to DailyDead premiering the trailer for Live-Evil, an indie horror flick starring Dammaged Goods favorite Vladimir Kulich. Written and directed by Ari Kirschenbaum, Live-Evil bills itself as Ghostbusters meets Dawn of the Dead as a small college town is besieged by evil spirits on Halloween night and it's up to Sheriff Pete and his deputies to stop them. Kulich (The 13th Warrior, Vikings) stars as Pete complete with beard and shotgun. Candyman's Tony Todd shows up as a priest along with The Walking Dead's Vincent Ward and How I Met Your Mother's Charlene Amoia. The trailer makes the flick outto be a creepy and fun time with some sweet 80's style synth, zombies
wielding machine guns and bazookas with our ragtag band of heroes trying
to save the day. The flick is currently hitting the festival scene, appearing at the North Carolina Film Awards, Horror In the Hills and Diabolique Film Festivals.
Keanu Reeves. The most unlikely movie star of the 90's? I've always liked the guy and his performances in films like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Point Break, Bogus Journey, Speed, The Replacements and The Gift show he's an actor capable of drama, action and comedy. 1999's The Matrix and it's subsequent sequels established him as one of the globe's most recognizable stars but I never got past the first installment and wasn't much of a fan. Since then he's popped up in productions big and small while directing a documentary about film versus digital then again on kung-fu flick Man of Tai Chi which was given a small theatrical release along with Video On Demand. His big budget samurai flick 47 Ronin got lost in the holiday shuffle after a tumultuous production and little critical or fan support. A bit of a recluse and loner, Reeves doesn't seem to be chasing Hollywood leading man status and has been known to give up part of his salary to pay for co-stars and crew.
Lately, Reeves has upped his professional output having replaced Daniel Craig in court room drama The Whole Truth but before then audiences can see him in action film John Wick. Written by Derek Kolstad of Cuba Gooding, Jr., Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren team ups The Package and One in the Chamber and directed by stunt men and 87Eleven founders Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. Stahleski has doubled Reeves in the past and served as Stunt Coordinator and Second Unit Director on films like The Hunger Games, Killer Elite and The Expendables while Leitch has doubled for the likes of Brad Pitt and Jean-Claude Van Damme then served as Stunt and Second Unit maestro on flicks such as The Wolverine, Escape Plan and upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jurassic Park reboots. He also played Terry Bogard in video game adaptation of The King of Fighters, which is cool. 87Eleven is the brainchild of experienced stunt performers looking to design and create safe yet uniquely violent, physical, on screen action. They have a gym by the LAX airport frequented by the likes of Jason Statham, Gerard Butler and Ryan Reynolds while fight film staples and martial artists turned coordinators Larnell Stovall (Ride Along, Undisputed 3) and J.J. "Loco" Perry (Vanishing Son, Warrior) are among the staff.
John Wick is the story of a legendary but retired hitman who is brought back to the violent trade when some Russian gangsters mess with him. Contracts are put on his life and Wick must fend off former friends and foes while tracking down the son of a local mob boss who did him wrong in violent, modern day The Punisher and Taken style. With an impressive supporting cast that includes Adrianne Palicki (G.I. Joe 2), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) and Willem Dafoe (To Live and Die in L.A.) with appearances by Bridget Moynahan (Tom Sellack's Blue Bloods), Ian McShane (Death Race), Kevin Nash (The Punisher), Daniel Bernhardt (Bloodsport 2), John Leguizamo (Executive Decision) and David Patrick Kelly (The Warriors), John Wick might not rewrite the book on action films but looks to provide a moody, stylized, tactical rough and tumble affair that should console any action fan disappointed by the fact that The Expendables III is PG-13.
- 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.
