Director Bernard Rose has a variety of films on his resume. He’s directed everything from Immortal Beloved to Anna Karenina to Candyman to Ivans XTC, taking him from large Hollywood films to his own indie efforts, and Mr. Nice falls somewhere inbetween. It’s a film based on the real-world exploits of Howard Marks, a UK folk hero known for importing massive amounts of marijuana into the country.

The film is just as eclectic as its director, who uses several different film stocks, camera, aspect ratios, and a lot of historical stock footage in the movie. We spoke with him at SXSW about the genesis of the film, Rhys Ifans and his portrayal of Marks, and his possible return to horror with his next film. Head on after the break for the full interview.5

Continue reading SXSW Interview: Director Bernard Rose on ‘Mr. Nice’

Permalink | Email this | Comments

My favorite film this year so far is Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer (224 screens). It has received generally favorable reviews and some respectable box office, but I’m not sure how many people love it the way I do. Speaking to other critics about it, I generally hear complaints about the plot, which comes from a novel by Robert Harris. And there’s usually some comment about Polanski’s current situation, under house arrest in Switzerland since September 26 of last year, which — to be frank — has absolutely nothing to do with the film.

What I love about The Ghost Writer is not necessarily its plot, but the way Polanski zeroes in on the movie’s lead character, the unnamed ghost writer played by Ewan McGregor, and uses his visual, physical environment to make things uncomfortable and off-kilter for him. Every frame is set up in such a way to increase paranoia, from big moments like being followed in a car, all the way down to a tiny moment when his bicycle temporarily slips in a gravel driveway; not even his footing is solid.

Filed under: Columns, 400 Screens, 400 Blows

Continue reading 400 Screens, 400 Blows – Polanski’s Ghost

Permalink | Email this | Comments

I knew exactly what I wanted to talk about when I picked Donnie Darko as the next Cinematical Movie Club film. It’s the first-time cinematic anomaly, the super-weird flick that found cult adoration, the one that worked when all the flicks that followed it did not. At all. In retrospect, I’ve always wondered what made Donnie Darko what it became. If it was a some wild stroke of luck, if Richard Kelly sapped up all traces of perfect editorial mojo with his first foray, if the films that came after were too harshly judged because of the fame of the first outing, or if Donnie was the only film that brought it all together in a palatable way.

The reality, of course, is probably a combination of them all…

Filed under: Classics, Fandom, Home Entertainment, Columns

Continue reading Cinematical Movie Club: Donnie Darko

Permalink | Email this | Comments

This week’s definite winner is the trailer for Predators, not because the movie looks awesome (though it does), but because the spot introduces us perfectly to the premise and gets us excited for something that could have very well come off as a cheap cash-grabbing sequel. I almost missed the fact that this installment is set on the Predators’ home planet, but it doesn’t matter. I’m sure later trailers will expose more (maybe too much). All we needed was some bad-ass looking humans (Danny Trejo, Laurence Fishburne — even Adrian Brody seems pretty tough), lots of action involving a variety of weaponry and of course a very minimal showcasing of the alien hunters. I’m far more excited about this movie now than I was prior to viewing the trailer.

Second place goes to the unnecessary but still excellent fourth trailer for Kick-Ass, continuing the sell that this is the must-see movie of the season. Some are telling me they’re confused by the film’s marketing, that it looks too much like a kids’ movie. Maybe, as my girlfriend says, there should be more emphasis in these green band trailers and TV spots that say this cute superhero movie is not for kids. Regardless, everybody from my baby niece to my grandmother seems excited about this one. My niece will just have to wait a little longer to see it than the rest of us.

Filed under: Trailer Trash, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips

Continue reading Trailer Park: ‘Predators’ Kicks You Know What’s Ass

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Any rodeo fans out there? Having been exposed to the culture a little during my trips to Vegas while the Professional Bull Riding circuit was in town. So I was curious to learn a bit more about it from Meredith Danluck who has made a documentary about it having its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival,

Cinematical: The mythos of the cowboy is something suggested during the opening monologue. But what is the idea of the modern cowboy that all these guys are chasing that is either in sync or contradicts the Old West paradigm that we fall in love with as little boys?

MEREDITH: I think these guys arent necessarily “chasing” the idea of the cowboy, but rather are cowboys. Growing up outside of the ranching community, the mythology of the cowboy was propped up mainly by whatever Hollywood dictated; courtesy, pride, strength etc. These guys grew up with those values. I think, like with any archetype, there are evolutions of the characteristics that maybe on the surface seem contradictory. Winning a million dollars might not make sense with our idea of a cowboy, but once you strip away all the superficial layers, the core is the same.

Filed under: SXSW, Interviews

Continue reading SXSW Interview: ‘The Ride’ Director Meredith Danluck

Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s unfortunate that more American audiences aren’t familiar with Australian cinema. The problem isn’t one of apathy or indifference; it’s more a case of access. Many Aussie films never make it to America, meaning only the most devoted cinephiles — who go to extraordinary lengths and cost to import DVDs — get a chance to see them. Luckily, that seems to be changing now and American audiences are about to get a firsthand opportunity to check out some of the best titles coming from the land down under. Here are three that you should keep an eye on.

The Square
Our own Will Goss described Nash Edgerton’s The Square as ” … the blackest comedy rather than the bleakest noir, full of the best punchlines that you’ll never actually hear, as our poor, unfortunate Raymond only endures further and further punishment in the name of his transgressions and aspirations.” Those transgressions include an affair with Carla, whose husband “acquires” a bag of cash. The duo tries to escape, but their plan to take the money and run goes horribly wrong. The Square gets a limited US release on April 9 with the possibility of a wider screening in May.

The Horseman
“Writer/director Steven Kastrissios creates a pulverizing experience … ,” says our Peter Martin — and perhaps more disturbing than the violence in The Horseman is what we are left to wonder. Christian (Peter Marshall) sets out through rural Queensland with a young runaway to uncover the truth behind his daughter’s tragic death. The Horseman will be available on an import Blu-ray on April 6, but US audiences will be able to enjoy the DVD as well, courtesy of Screen Media Ventures on June 15. [hit the jump for details on Van Diemen's Land and trailers]

Filed under: Drama, Horror, Thrillers, Noir, Distribution, Home Entertainment, Trailers and Clips

Continue reading Aussie Watchlist: ‘The Square’, ‘The Horseman’ & ‘Van Diemen’s Land’

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The title of Google Baby is a little misleading — if you went into the movie cold, you’d think it was about something cute. Babies are cute, right? In this documentary, however, babies are a commodity item, and the film examines the new ways that people who can’t have babies themselves are using the latest technology to acquire them. As the introduction points out, in the 1960s birth control innovations made it easy to take childbirth out of sex; the latest surrogacy innovations make it easy to take sex out of childbirth.

The primary focus of Google Baby is on a surrogacy clinic in Gujarat, India. Women are impregnated with someone else’s embryos and carry them to term, and in return earn enough money to send their children to school or to help buy their family a house. The women live in the clinic from the moment of impregnation to birth, although their families may visit occasionally. It’s a very female place — you see the occasional visiting husband or a male doctor in the operating room, but rest of the staff, up to the owner/doctor, tend to be women.

Filed under: Documentary, SXSW, HBO Films

Continue reading SXSW Review: Google Baby

Permalink | Email this | Comments

1. “Alice in Wonderland” ($9.9 million)
2. “The Bounty Hunter” ($7.7 million)
3. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” ($7.4 million)
4. “Repo Men” ($2.2 million)
5. “She’s Out of My League” ($1.9 million)

Moviegoers can’t seem to get enough of the confusing world of “Alice in Wonderland,” as the 3-D fantasy adventure from Disney and director Tim Burton continued to hold onto first place at the box office going into its third weekend in theaters. “Alice” managed $9.9 million on Friday, bringing the feature’s current domestic total to $241.1 million.

Still, “Alice” faced stiffer competition than it did in the past two weeks. Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston’s “The Bounty Hunter” debuted in second place with $7.7 million, while Fox’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” managed a $7.4 million premiere. With such a small gap between the two films, it’s entirely possible that “Wimpy Kid” could outpace Aniston and Butler’s star power before the weekend is over, especially considering the family friendly nature of Saturday and Sunday matinees.

“Repo Men,” a hard R-rated science fiction action film, had a rough debut with only $2.2 million. Despite an impressive cast list including Jude Law, Forest Whitaker and Liev Schreiber, the combined efforts of these actors couldn’t give the long gestating Universal film the results it needed.

Fifth place went to “She’s Out of My League,” last weekend’s newcomer starring Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve. While it’s somewhat surprising that “League” held onto a top five spot over Robert Pattinson’s “Remember Me” or Matt Damon’s “Green Zone,” either one of those films — or perhaps even “Shutter Island” — could sneak into fifth place before Sunday’s conclusion.

Tell us what you think of the box office results in the comments or on Twitter!

I love blues mixed with oranges. I have ever since I watched Jawbreaker for the first time, and was desperately jealous of Julie and her funky bedding. And, lucky me, I’ve been able to enjoy this combination all over the place these days. It’s a popular modern color combination, and has become a beloved contrast in Hollywood’s world of film-tweaking. However, as blogger Into the Abyss points out, it’s overtaking Hollywood.

Abyss writer Todd Miro has shared a pretty excellent account of how this teal-orange phenomenon came to be, and some of mainstream cinema’s worst offenders. He explains how Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? was the first feature to get scanned into a computer and put through a Digital Intermediary (DI) process, which allows filmmakers to control the color of every element in a film. This lead to complimentary color theory (where flesh tones thrive with teal) being implemented in many big-screen flicks, no genre being safe — the horror and gloom of Wolfman, the superhero ways of Iron Man 2, the digital wonder of Tron 2, the retro laughs of Hot Tub Time Machine, and the prize for “one of the worst examples of unchecked teal and orange stupidity” — Transformers 2.

So, keep an eye out next time you pop a disc into a player or hit the cineplex, you may just find yourself drowning in a sea of teal and orange. If you’ve noticed the phenomenon before, what flicks do you find to be the worst offenders?

Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff

Permalink | Email this | Comments

According to her, Cherie Currie is currently living on cloud nine. She has Dakota Fanning playing her in The Runaways, which is all about her early days in rock and roll, and she also rocks artistic carvings with a motorized blade as Chainsaw Chick. That’s a long way since being the young girl who lost her innocence at a very early age. The Runaways exists because of the memoir Neon Angel she wrote, and while the movie doesn’t exactly tell the true story, she’s happy with the results.

We spoke to Cherie at Sundance this year, and she went into detail about an early childhood tragedy that pushed her into the world of rock, what it was like working with Dakota, why she wields a chainsaw, and her real relationship with Joan Jett. Read on for the full interview just after the break.

Filed under: Interviews

Continue reading Interview: Cherie Currie on ‘The Runaways’

Permalink | Email this | Comments