Twitch: Interviews

Interview: V/H/S/2 Cinematographer Abdul Dermawan Habir Talks SAFE HAVEN

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:30:00 -0500

With the release of V/H/S/2 on VOD, I believe the film has gained the broader audience it deserves, and most who have already watched it will agree that Safe Haven, directed by Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto, is the best segment, if not the only reason to watch V/H/S/2. I'm here in Indonesia and got the chance to sit down and talk a little bit about Safe Haven with its Director of Photography, Abdul Dermawan Habir, who goes by the nickname Gerry.TWITCH: So tell us how it feels working with directors Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto? It's kinda hard to believe, cause the opportunity just came. Originally it was supposed to be Gunnar Nimpuno (DP of the Mo Brothers' upcoming Killers), but I don't know, it's...

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Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Talk THIS IS THE END

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:00:30 -0500

I sat down last week as part of a round table discussion with directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, discussing what I hope will be one of the great film successes of the summer. This is the End is one of the funniest, smartest films I've seen in some time, a beautiful collision of slacker comedy mixed with insightful skewering of a celebrity-obsessed culture. When TMZ, Twitter and other 24/7 celebrity coverage makes us believe we know these actors like they are our friends, or that we know them intimately from the characters that they play, it's easy to fall prey to making broad assumptions about the people behind the mask. That said, Seth Rogen in particular is pretty darned Rogen-y in person -...

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Kurosawa Kiyoshi Spills Details On His SciFi Picture REAL

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:30:40 -0500

Director Kurosawa Kiyoshi has been a force in Japanese cinema since the release of Cure in 1997 and the subsequent international success that followed. Following his breakout film Kurosawa made something of a name for himself within the J-horror genre with the likes of Pulse and Retribution before making what is perhaps his most critically successful film, Tokyo Sonata, which won the Jury prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2008.Real is Kurosawa's first feature film since that Cannes success, although he did also direct TV miniseries Penance, which toured the Venice and Toronto festivals in the interim, a pretty unique honour for a TV series. Based on the novel A Perfect Day for Plesiosaur, Real tells the story of a man...

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Listen to Nick Offerman Talk Bacon, His Status As An American Hero, And THE KINGS OF SUMMER

Thu, 30 May 2013 12:31:12 -0500

Thanks be mostly to his mustachioed alter ego Ron Swanson on TV's Parks and Recreation (not to mention the fact that in real life he's a master woodworker), Nick Offerman has amassed a great American male mythos. Nay, THE great American male. Like Grizzly Adams and Ernest Hemingway all rolled into one, Offerman is now at the forefront of both the comedy and the pop culture, and seen as an icon of both. I recently sat down with Offerman ... well, I was sitting and can only assume that wherever he was on the other end of the line, he too was seated to discuss his latest film The Kings of Summer, a nostalgia-infused coming-of-age tale that stands to be a king of summer movies...

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Interview: Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley

Mon, 27 May 2013 11:00:41 -0500

The 60th Sydney Film Festival is opening next week, and I have had the opportunity to talk to the Festival Director, Mr Nashen Moodley. Twitch: Mr Moodley, congratulations on your second year acting as the Festival Director of the Sydney Film Festival, and thank you very much for chatting with Twitch. NM: Thanks a lot. It's a great pleasure to chat with you. Looking at the Sydney Film Festival's incredible line-up this year, I can see films that are crowd-pleasers and others that seem challenging or even perhaps confronting. As the Festival Director, how interested are you in the audience response, and what means do you have to help you gauge that?I'm extremely interested in the audience response! I don't expect or want everyone to love every film...

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Interview: Twitch Talks to HANGOVER III's Ken Jeong

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:02 -0500

Ken Jeong may often play a lunatic on both big and small screen, but in person it's quite disarming to see just how calm and considerate he comes across. While he got his big screen start in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, Jeong's real breakthrough was taking a small-on-paper role of Chow in the first Hangover film and ratcheting things up many, many notches from the character on the page. Between Chow and his Señor Chang / Kevin role on Community, Jeong has established himself as a fearless, unique comedic actor unafraid to throw himself completely into the characters he plays.The third Hangover film provides an epic, worthy finale for the Wolf Pack, with Ken Jeong's Chow again stealing the show in his inimitable way....

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Exclusive: Author Jake Adelstein Dishes Some Dirt On TOKYO VICE Movie

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:00:52 -0500

Jake Adelstein has had quite an extraordinary life, as told in his book "Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter On The Police Beat in Japan" which chronicles his time as crime reporter for the famous newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. In addition to the fascinating and bizarre world of crime in Japan, Jake became heavily involved with the Yakuza to the point where his life and family were threatened. Having also spoken to Jake after reading his fantastic book (one of my favorite non-fiction novels), I was ecstatic to hear recent news that it was being made into a feature film with Daniel Radcliffe playing him as a younger man. Jake recently gave me some time to answer a few quick questions about the anticipated project.TWITCH: Who expressed...

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A Heroic Misfit: Filmmaker Trent Harris Talks Hollywood, Sean Penn, Mitt Romney, and Much More

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:00:01 -0500

When I heard that Trent Harris, one of America's premier cult directors, of such films as Rubin and Ed, Plan 10 from Outer Space and The Beaver Trilogy would be in New York for his traveling mini-retro, I couldn't help but feeling giddy like a little kid on his first day of school. I was an awkward kid, both growing up in Korea and later here in the US. So the outsiders, heroic misfits, if you will, in Harris's films, however over the top and ridiculous they are, always have a special place in my heart.In person, I found Harris easygoing, guileless and incredibly open. The following interview is an excerpt from our hour-long lunch conversation: we talked about everything from his tumultuous career ("career...

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Interview: Director Jason Mann On His Deliciously Dark DELICACY

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:00:00 -0500

If there is a lesson to be derived from Jason Mann's whimsically morbid short film Delicacy it is to expect the unexpected... and to relish it.Premiering last fall at the Telluride Film Festival, I saw Jason's film during this year's Tribeca. For those of you out there that may be attending the Newport Beach Film Festival, it plays tomorrow evening in the shorts block Shorts With A Twist.Delightful and dark in its humor, Delicacy follows Avery, a food connoisseur of the highest order, and his dutiful chef Jonathan as they hunt for "the meat of meats". I found the short to be an absolute standout in Tribeca's shorts programming because it created a whole world and a truly immersive experience in just ten minutes. This...

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Hot Docs 2013 Interview: TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE Director Ric Esther Bienstock

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:00:11 -0500

Ric Esther Bienstock's documentary about human organ trafficking is both beautifully made and refreshingly sophisticated. I spoke with the Emmy Award winning director as her film is set to make its local debut at Toronto's Hot Docs festival.What I adored about your film was the whole notion that it opened up questions for debate without ever coming across as polemical. How important that was to you when you tackled a subject matter like this? Well, it was imperative. I mean, you nailed it - I started out thinking it was going to be a very black and white issue and issue, the story of exploitation, a story that we kind of read in the media and that we've seen before in other films. As...

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'We Search For Our Own Paradise But We All Fail': Ulrich Seidl Interview

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:00:09 -0500

The Film Society of Lincoln Center hosts Ulrich Seidl, controverisial Austrian director of Dog Days, Import/Export and now the Paradise Trilogy, in a special Film Comment Selects series. It's a rare occasion to watch Love, Faith and Hope, back to back to back, the way they were intended. The screenings are on April 26-27 (with Paradise: Love getting a separate week run). Our interview took place at the posh Austrian Cultural Forum building in mid-town in the sunny afternoon. Mild mannered and personable, Seidl doesn't really give you any impression that he is the director of those depravity filled, human misery films. *I had to share my time slot with the esteemed film writer Oleg Sulkin in prodding Seidl, the other Austrian provocateur (Oleg and...

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IFFR 2013: A Talk With Richard Raaphorst About FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY. Part 2 of 2: Shooting Zombots!

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:04:00 -0500

Back in January, Frankenstein's Army had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. A few hours before the official world premiere, I was allowed to interview director Richard Raaphorst. The first part of that interview can be found here and covered the long road from the lamented Worst Case Scenario project to the current film. Here is the second part, which will focus more on filming Frankenstein's Army itself. Mild spoilers ahead, but nothing too bad. No deaths at least... Twitch: You had an amazing location, an abandoned mine, to shoot most of the film in. Last year I visited the set near Prague, in the Czech Republic, in... what was the name of that place again? Richard Raaphorst: That was in the...

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IFFR 2013: A Talk With Richard Raaphorst About FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY. Part 1 of 2: Getting Started...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:00:27 -0500

The long-awaited (and long-covered) film Frankenstein's Army is currently touring film festivals worldwide. This month it was shown at the IMAGINE Festival in Amsterdam and Tribeca in New York, and it had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, back in January. Last year I visited the set in the Czech Republic and was very much taken with what I saw. Therefore it was with great anticipation that I awaited the press premiere. After that, and literally a few hours before the official world premiere, I was able to get a few minutes with director Richard Raaphorst, who was at that time excited enough to walk on the ceiling... Twitch: First of all, thank you for taking the time to talk with me,...

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Interview: MOLLY MAXWELL Director Sara St. Onge

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:00:10 -0500

Here at Twitch I've had the opportunity to do a number of long form interviews with the likes of Guillermo Del Toro and Bill Paxton, well established filmmakers that when given the opportunity to properly express themselves outside of simple soundbytes have fascinating things to say about cinema. I thought I'd try something of similar scope with a filmmaker unfamiliar to most. I sat down with director Sara St. Onge over hot drinks to chat at length about her first feature, Molly Maxwell. The film is charming, provocative, and quite well done, a far cry from the glossiness of High School films that traditional Hollywood spits out. At its core is the story of a young girl who falls for one of her teachers,...

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Interview: Sebastian Junger On The Life Of A Combat Reporter

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:00:11 -0500

Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington is a documentary about a well-regarded combat reporter who died in a rocket attack by the Gaddafi troops in Misrata, Libya, in 2011. It is directed by his friend and colleague Sebastian Junger. A few years back, they made an award-winning documentary together, Restrepo, while embedded with a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's deadly Korengal Valley. I got a chance to sit down with Junger this past week. Perhaps best known for his best-selling book, The Perfect Storm, Junger exudes masculinity and charisma as he speaks freely about his friend, war and dangers of combat reporting.Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington...

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Derek Cianfrance Talks True Violence, Ryan Gosling's Dreams, and THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 13:00:00 -0500

I first had the pleasure of meeting Derek Cianfrance at Sundance 2010, where he premiered his feature debut Blue Valentine, a heart-wrenching and poignant look at the beginning and end of love featuring milestone performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. A casual conversation about the film at a Park City-area Starbucks (yes, the one where Tarantino infamously punched a paparazzi) turned into an hour-long discussion as emotionally raw as its subject matter. Now Cianfrance returns with The Place Beyond the Pines, a triptych saga finely woven with themes of regret, redemption, and the choices we make echoing through generations. The film also rejoins Cianfrance and Gosling, a pair of cinematic twins in director/actor form if ever there were a duo. Cianfrance and I also...

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Interview: Talking THE COLONY With Kevin Zegers and Director Jeff Renfroe

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:00:09 -0500

Just over a year ago, I found myself flown to Northern Ontario to visit the set of an ambitious Canadian-produced post-apocalyptic thriller starring Kevin Zegers, Bill Paxton and Laurence Fishburne. The trip to The Colony set was memorable for several reasons, from the epic interview I got to conduct with a slighty amped Paxton, to finding that Fishburne didn't really want to talk, as he (and his small entourage) had just got of the plane. Plus, we got to have our own sense of real-life drama when the weather turned bad while underground, forcing our plane to need late night repairs and having us held up in a small town hotel bar.I assume this is the way I'll handle the weatherpocalypse when it finally comes,...

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Legendary Film Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum Talks The Future Of Filmgoing

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:00:00 -0500

Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has been one of the most essential, unmistakable voices on the cinema landscape for several decades. He's written for virtually all of the major film publications, including Sight & Sound, Film Comment, and Film Quarterly, as well as The Village Voice before his retirement in 2008 when he was the principal film critic for The Chicago Reader. Among numerous other things, Rosenbaum became known as one of the greatest proponents of seeking out World Cinema, well beyond what we are fed through the entertainment pipeline, "art house" or otherwise. His opinions are always sharp, his pool of knowledge exceptionally deep, and range of experience something of a marvel. He's been lauded by everyone from Roger Ebert to Jean-Luc Godard as one of America's...

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Interview: Shane Carruth Talks UPSTREAM COLOR

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:00:00 -0500

Interviewing Shane Carruth is just as complex as watching his movies, and rightfully so. After his feature film Primer released, he gained all kinds of buzz and had movie geeks (and large studios) foaming at the mouth. Instead of giving in to the Hollywood system, he vanished, and didn't return until nine years later with his sophomore followup, Upstream Color, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. I interviewed Carruth at Sundance, but held off on posting to coincide with the film's release. Twitch's Festivals Editor Ryland Aldrich also spoke to the man while at Sundance, but they discussed the numbers game (i.e., distribution) - give it a read. It calculates what the self-distribution process is like. Below is my...

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SXSW 2013 Interview: Twitch Talks to the Mooninites Behind LUNARCY!

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:00:37 -0500

Lunarcy! is a charming and humorous story of four eccentrics who've dedicated their entire lives to the Moon. We've got Christopher Carson, the young founder of the Luna Project and a supporter of abandoning Earth forever in favor of a new lunar colony, Dennis Hope, president of the Galactic Government and the official owner of the Moon, Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the Moon and the world's leading astronaut painter, and Peter Kokh, space advocate and editor of the Moon Miner's Manifesto. Ahead of Lunarcy!'s SXSW premiere, we spoke with lead character Christopher Carson, director Simon Ennis and producer Jonas Bell Pasht about the dreaming big and finding the right crater to call home. Twitch: How did this film come together?...

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Interview: Hosoda Mamoru Talks WOLF CHILDREN, The Magic Of Hand-Drawn Animation And Parenting

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:35:54 -0500

Anime director Hosoda Mamoru hardly needs an introduction around these parts. Heck, our enthusiasm for his Summer Wars is just about legendary. Still considered a bit of an young upstart in his native Japan when compared to the old-guard animators, he is nonetheless a master animator. Hosoda recently visited New York with his new film Wolf Children, which is playing the New York International Children's Film Festival. Our pal The Lady Miz Diva was nice enough to pass along the following interview with Hosoda-san wherein he talks about his process, hand-drawn animation, parenting and his new animation studio -- Enjoy! The Lady Miz Diva: Congratulations on winning the Japanese Academy Award in animation for WOLF CHILDREN. You're three for three in that category, with...

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Interview: Park Chan-Wook Talks STOKER

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:30:17 -0500

Park Chan-wook needs no introduction to any longtime Twitch reader or fan of 21st century Korean cinema. With Stoker, his first English-language film, it is very likely that his star will shine even brighter and higher for even more of the world to see. Our friend in NYC The Lady Miz Diva was fortunate enough to sit down for a 1:1 with Director Park wherein they discussed Westerns, Josh Brolin, oh, and yes, they got really deep into the story of Stoker, so I've gone ahead and added spoiler tags for those that don't want the movie ruined. So with that, Park Chan-wook! The Lady Miz Diva: STOKER is one of your most visually beautiful films. Did having your longtime collaborator, cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon working...

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Interview: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel on LEVIATHAN and the Possibilities of Cinema

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:00:01 -0500

Leviathan, a stunning piece of audio-visual whatsit shot on tiny HD cameras on a fishing vessel, made a splash last year at various film festivals, including Locarno, TIFF, NYFF and this year's Forum section of Berlinale. The film's receiving a theatrical release in New York starting on Friday, March 1. I got a chance to talk briefly with its directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel at the office of U.S. distributor The Cinema Guild. Fiercely intelligent and academic, yet very passionate about their filmmaking, Castaing-Taylor and Paravel responded lengthily to everything I threw at them, even though our interview took place in the latter part of their press day and Paravel was still reeling from jet-lag, having returned from the Berlinale just the day before. I...

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Exclusive: Roman Coppola Talks CHARLES SWAN, Breakups, And Wes Anderson

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:01:05 -0500

I had the pleasure a few weeks ago of chatting with Roman Coppola, writer/director of the irritatingly titled A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swann III. This is the first feature from Coppola sitting in the director's chair since 2001's CQ, but he's certainly kept busy, working on the second unit on family productions -- his sister's Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, his father's Tetro and Youth Without Youth -- as well as helping write and second unit direct more than one project with Wes Anderson. It's Anderson's quirky style that is most hearkened by this film, yet, as I mentioned in my review, it lacks the kind of coherence and sense of satisfaction one gets from Anderson's playful pieces. Still, there's a...

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We Are All The Same: Abbas Kiarostami Interview

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:01:11 -0500

In my short career as a film journalist/blogger, I have been lucky enough to interview some of my idols over the years -- Claire Denis, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Michael Haneke and John Sayles among them. But no one (not even Haneke!) made me as nervous as I was when I sat down for a round table interview with the master Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami at last year's New York Film Festival. What could you possibly ask an artist who is infinitely wiser than you (not that others aren't), whose films leave you with awe and admiration, who seems to have figured out what life is about?Having spent all day answering questions, Kiarostami looked tired behind those dark glasses (he has light sensitivity issues). And, unfortunately, our...

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Romance And The Eating Habits Of Gorillas: Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough And Nicholas Sparks Talk SAFE HAVEN

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:01:09 -0500

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of moderating a Q&A with Safe Haven stars Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough, along with author Nicholas Sparks, when they stopped in Dallas. The next day I sat down with Duhamel and Hough to chat about the film one on one, without a crowd of crying teenage girls and book worms (for the record, it was a pretty fun Q&A). Watch the interview below to see the pair discuss why the film was a challenge they were both willing to take on at this point in their careers. And to see me and Duhamel nerd out when his costar unknowingly references Transformers -- a moment we most definitely did not let her get by with. Oh, and...

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Exclusive Interview: Horror Pundit and Acclaimed Artist Julian Hoeber

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:00:01 -0500

Visual artist Julian Hoeber has a flair for the dramatic. His busy hands range from painting, sculpturing (see the terrifyingly awesome image above), photography, installations, a "freestanding structure based on the architecture of 'gravitational mystery spots," filmmaker, and now, horror documentarian. In his latest piece, entitled Where is the Money?, Hoeber dissects the horror genre, from when it (perhaps) began with Gustav Courbet's painting Burial at Ornans, to lo-fi grindhouse films in the early 70s all the way up to today's big-budget blockbusters. Using various clips from Freaks, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, Scream, House of the Devil, and more, U.S. radio correspondent Barbara Bogaev narrates Hoeber's 13-minute short on poverty and violence through horror filmmaking from the early stages. Recently, Twitch chatted with Hoeber...

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Sundance 2013 Interview: Shane Carruth on Control and the Self-Distribution of UPSTREAM COLOR

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:40:59 -0500

One of the most buzzed about titles at this year's Sundance Film Fest was Shane Carruth's enigmatic competition drama Upstream Color. While the merits and puzzles of the film will be debated for some time to come (you can read Eric D. Snider's review here), one of the most interesting elements of the film is Shane Carruth's pre-festival announcement that he would self-distribute the film through his ERBP banner. In the high stakes slot machine that is independent cinema, being accepted to Sundance (especially in competition) is usually seen as getting 4 out of 5 cherries with the last wheel still spinning. So there were quite a few raised eyebrows when Carruth announced the decision to forego his chances of selling the film to a...

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WARM BODIES: Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer Talk Zombies, Respecting Rules, and Then Breaking Them

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:15:07 -0500

We've seen zombies walk, run, jump, and fight sharks, but we've never seen one fall in love with a human...that is, until now! Written and directed by Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane), Warm Bodies stars Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, A Single Man, About a Boy) and Teresa Palmer (Take Me Home Tonight, I Am Number Four, Wish You Were Here). The film is a fresh "Beauty and the Beast" meets "Romeo & Juliet" take on the decaying genre. You know, if Romeo had to fight the urge to eat the beauty's brains as he fell head over heels for her. I sat down with Hoult and Palmer to discuss the film's unconventional approach to the genre, how it...

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Slamdance 2013 Interview: The Filmmakers Talk The Festival Experience

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:00:00 -0500

In the final hours of the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival a group of filmmakers and I confiscated the Gallery screening room at Treasure Mountain Inn, made an impromptu circle and tossed a chair in the middle for my digital recorder and iPhone. We then settled in for a spirited talk on all things Slamdance. Joining me were Harry Patramanis and Eleni Asvesta, director and producer of the minimalist thriller Fynbos, Kimberly Culotta, cinematographer for Kate Mark's short film Pearl Was Here, Jan Eilhardt and Sanna Akehurst, the filmmakers behind the dazzling The Court Of Shards, J.R. Hughto director of the LA noir Diamond on Vinyl, from the New York noir Joy de V. director Nadia Szold and editor Kristen Swanbeck, the directing/writing/producing pair behind the...

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Jason Eisener Talks THE ABCs OF DEATH

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:00:27 -0500

With massive horror anthology project The ABCs Of Death now available on VOD with a limited theatrical release coming March 8th, twenty six different websites had the chance to sit down and chat with each of the twenty six directors. Here at Twitch we landed Hobo With A Shotgun helmer Jason Eisener who, while under instructions not to spill any specific details regarding his piece delivered a typically fun conversation with the bearded Canuck.Twitch: How did you get involved with the ABCs project? When did you find out what your letter would be?I was approached when I was in the middle of touring with Hobo With a Shotgun, I received an email from Tim League, who said he was working on a strange little anthology...

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Sundance 2013: S-VHS Interview with Directors Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener and Adam Wingard and Producer Roxanne Benjamin

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:00:00 -0500

After the premier of S-VHS, the horror film anthology sequel to last year's V/H/S, I was able to get in a few quick questions with some of the filmmakers behind this impressive, multi-national collaboration. I saw V/H/S here last year and really liked it. As is rarely the case with sequels though, it felt to me like you really stepped it up and improved on the concept with S-VHS. It really felt tight, and while some of the pieces in the anthology last year stood out to me as being stronger than others, in S-VHS every segment felt just as strong as the last. Adam Wingard: The main thing we learned from V/H/S is that a found footage anthology film should not be two...

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Sundance 2013 Interview: WRONG COPS with Quentin Dupieux, Mark Burnham, Steve Litte, Arden Myrin and Eric Wareheim

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:00:36 -0500

The day after Quentin Dupieux unveiled the first half of Wrong Cops, his follow up to Wrong, I had the opportunity to sit down with Quentin and the cast to discuss this wonderfully wacky work in progress. The cast memebers present were Mark Burnham (Wrong), Steve Little (Eastbound & Down) Arden Myrin (MADtv) and Eric Wareheim (Tim and Eric Awesome Show). You have a production style that is very run and gun. Minimal lighting, rigging, etc. This makes for a very fast paced shoot and energetic atmosphere, but along with the many benefits, there are also some compromises. Quentin Dupieux: Unfortunately, that's the only way I know. When I started making short films when I was 15, I was dealing with this. I have a...

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Interview: John Hyams on UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING and Diplomacy in Action Cinema

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:18:43 -0500

The fourth official entry in the franchise, and the second to be directed by John Hyams, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning comes to Blu-ray, DVD and Home Cinema options in the US this week. Scott Adkins stars opposite series stalwarts Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren and it is a pulse-pounding action spectacular that blew the roof of the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas last September when it debuted at Fantastic Fest 2012. [You can read my review here]. This week I was lucky enough to chat to writer-director John Hyams about his experiences making the film and working in the action genre at a time when the beefcake heroes of old are hanging up their gloves, guns and grenades.Twitch - Day of Reckoning is your...

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Interview With Ray Harryhausen: Master of the Majick's Author Mike Hankin And Publisher Ernest Farino Hails The Coming Of VOLUME ONE!

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:00:00 -0500

The opportunity to interview the author and publisher of the Ray Harryhausen - Master of the Majicks series was not something I took lightly. I've waited nervously for each volume, knowing that in the high stakes world of publishing a lot of different things can derail even the best projects. If completed, this huge three-book set would easily be the most comprehensive look ever offered at Ray Harryhausen and his career and, as they have been published out of sequence, the upcoming Volume One would be the last one. Volumes Two and Three were amazing but are long since sold out and routinely go for prohibitive prices on the secondary market. To miss out on Volume One would be simply unthinkable. Well Ray Harryhausen - Master...

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Sundance 2013 Interview: Six Questions with PIT STOP Co-Writer/Director Yen Tan

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:00:11 -0500

Last month, we premiered the first poster for Yen Tan's Pit Stop, which is is having its world premiere at Sundance today. Yesterday, our fearless leader, Todd Brown, posted the first clip for the film. To complete this trifecta of awesome, I interviewed Tan to give you, our precious readers, more insight on his film. Pit Stop was co-written by David Lowery (his movie Ain't Them Bodies Saints is also playing at Sundance). Yen is a visionary and I encourage you to watch his film if you are in Park City. Enjoy six quick and dirty questions for Yen.The film centers around broken romance and the hope of finding a connection with someone. What about these themes do you find fascinating?I find these themes fascinating because...

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Slamdance 2013 Interview: Director J.R. Hughto & Star Sonja Kinski Talk DIAMOND ON VINYL

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:00:37 -0500

J.R. Hughto's second feature Diamond On Vinyl premiered today at Slamdance. In my review I called the film a "SoCal-set Noir that effortlessly weaves genre into a naturalistic story of a man who is just trying to gain some semblance of a normal life." I then surmised that "at it's core the film challenges and uproots the perceptions and roles deemed fit for society, giving us an intimate, ultimately empathetic, but no less easy to handle character study." Just prior to the fest's start I was able to chat with both Hughto and star Sonja Kinski on the unique relationship in the film between Henry, a voyeuristic audiophile, and Kinski's Charlie, a young photographer. When Henry's fiancee, Beth, leaves him, Charlie steps in as a...

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Gorber's Epic Guillermo del Toro Interview, Part 5: On THE HOBBIT, PACIFIC RIM and HAUNTED MANSION

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:00:10 -0500

Scheduled to last a mere 15 minutes, the famously loquacious and erudite filmmaker spent 90 minutes at our roundtable discussion. In this, the final segment of our five-part series, we discuss The Hobbit, the "used-universe" aesthetic of Pacific Rim, and his still pending Haunted Mansion project.Be sure to check out the previous four parts!Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4Since we've got the extra time, I do have to ask you what you thought of THE HOBBIT. I haven't seen it. Between Mama, Rise of the Guardians and Pacific Rim, I'm seeing it in the next week. Since it was broached, when I interviewed Richard Armitage and Peter Jackson when they were at Butt-Numb-A-Thon, I asked them specifically how much Guillermo...

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Gorber's Epic Guillermo del Toro Interview, Part 4: On "Foreign Films" and the Nature of the Remake

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:00:14 -0500

Scheduled to last a mere 15 minutes, the famously loquacious and erudite filmmaker spent 90 minutes at our roundtable discussion. In this, the fourth of our five part series, he talked about his role of language in shaping the reception of a film and what he thinks about so-called "remakes."Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5Please Note: There may be spoilers below for Mama and other works.I'm going to ask a really complicated question. Please. Not about Frenzy! [laughs] I'm fascinated by films like MAMA because I think in some ways, while financially they wouldn't do as well, I think critically they would do better if they were in Spanish. It's funny, when we started, I wanted the movie [to be] in Spanish....

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Gorber's Epic Guillermo del Toro Interview, Part 3: On LUTHER, Casting MAMA, and Music in Film

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:00:28 -0500

Scheduled to last a mere 15 minutes, the famously loquacious and erudite filmmaker spent 90 minutes at our roundtable discussion. In this, the third part of our five part series, he talked about the British television show Luther, on the casting of the film Mama, and a discussion about the use of music in filmClick for Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5Please Note: There may be spoilers below for Mama and other works.The British Television show LUTHER seems to be the sort of keystone of your current and future projects! Yeah, in many ways. You got the show's star Idris Elba in PACIFIC RIM, you got the show creator Neil Cross as a writer for MAMA, you got your next project... [interrupts]...And Neil...

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Gorber's Epic Guillermo del Toro Interview, Part 2: On Producing and Building a Canon of Work

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:00:11 -0500

Scheduled to last a mere 15 minutes, the famously loquacious and erudite filmmaker spent 90 minutes at our roundtable discussion. In this, the second part of our five part series, he talked about his role as a producer, and just what it meant to have a film with his name attached.Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5Please Note: There may be spoilers below for Mama and other works.There's the whole notion of what constitutes a "Guillermo Del Toro film", serving as short form for describing a particular type of film... A little bit. Look, not all of the them are good, but not all of them are bad. I tell you what, if you get an Orphanage and a Mama... I...

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Gorber's Epic Guillermo del Toro Interview, Part 1 of 5: Toronto, Hitchcock, Short Films and More

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:00:00 -0500

When I received notice that Guillermo del Toro would be back in town to talk about his latest project, Mama, I scoffed when it showed that we were to be granted 15 minutes for a roundtable. GDT is one of the world's great conversationalists, and I knew that we'd quickly burn up a quarter of an hour before we even got started. I wasn't prepared, however, for how generous with his time del Toro proved to be. It's one of life's great pleasures to engage with an artist with the wit and generosity of spirit that GDT exhibits, and he never seems to be playing any particular angle, just genuinely pleased to be discussing some of his favourite things.With a conversation running a full 90...

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Interview: Giovanni Ribisi on GANGSTER SQUAD

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 12:00:15 -0500

Gangster Squad has had a bit of a rough time of it, getting caught up in events well outside its control. Originally scheduled to be released last September, it was delayed due to the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Not only is GS a Warner release like The Dark Knight Rises, with sensitivities for the studio already high, but there was a sequence where an audience became fodder at a gun battle in the famed Mann's Chinese theatre. The delay allowed the filmmakers to revisit that sequence, resulting in what I think was one of the better moments of the film. Still, the fact that the LA junket took place around the same time as the recent gun violence in Connecticut meant that once again...

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Slamdance 2013 Interview: The Programmers Talk The Nuts & Bolts Of Festival Building

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:00:00 -0500

In preparation for my first visit to Park City, Utah next week I was able to sit down for a conference call with three veteran players of the Slamdance Film Festival. Co-founder Peter Baxter has been heavily involved with the development of the festival since its inception in 1995, while programmers Josh Mandel and Drea Clark first came to Slamdance as filmmakers with films playing in competition. There is your first clue as to what makes Slamdance so unique. Slamdance is truly a festival by filmmakers for filmmakers; one that utilizes a potent blend of anarchy and democracy to create a world class film showcase. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. So sit back, get comfy and let's dig into the story of...

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Jaume Balaguero Talks SLEEP TIGHT

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:00:11 -0500

Sitting at the helm of eight features plus assorted shorts and television projects over the past thirteen years and moving ably between English and Spanish language projects, director Jaume Balaguero has steadily built himself a reputation as one of the finest, most consistent directors of genre cinema on the globe. His work on the [REC] franchise pushed his popularity to a new level but before getting to work on the fourth and final installment of the series Balaguero took time out for something quite different - a dark thriller titled Sleep Tight. And with Sleep Tight poised to release on DVD and BluRay January 8th we had the chance to ask the man a handful of questions via email.Read the complete interview below and check...

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Interview: Miguel Gomes Talks TABU And The State Of Portuguese Cinema

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 13:00:00 -0500

Tabu, a film that playfully evokes the golden age of silent cinema, took home the FIPRESCI Jury Prize and Alfred Baeur Prize for Artistic Innovation at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Its director, Miguel Gomes, along with Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira and other notable filmmakers working today in Portugal, is the driving force behind Portuguese cinema's opposition to the economically strapped government's austerity measure that cut funding for its small but vibrant film industry. The subject dominated our brief conversation at this year's New York Film Festival. As a great admirer of Portuguese cinema, his insights on the matter were very informative and helpful to understand the state of their struggle.Twitch: Seeing your last film, OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST and now TABU, I...

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"I Don't Think Film Can Give Answers": Nina Hoss Talks BARBARA

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:00:00 -0500

In Barbara, her fifth collaboration with director Christian Petzold, Nina Hoss stars as a doctor in East Germany circa 1980, who, after several repeated attempts to escape to the west, is banished to a rural pediatric hospital. Her continued plans of escape come into doubt when she befriends the hospital's handsome head surgeon, André (played by Ronald Zehrfeld) and Stella (Jansa Fritzi Baur), a troubled patient from a hard labor camp. In a career full of beguiling performances, Hoss' turn as Barbara is nothing short of astounding. Quiet and steadfast in her resolve, in many ways Barbara recalls a classic movie heroine. Hoss further extends to Barbara a humane beauty that is ever so nuanced and mesmerizing to watch. If Barbara offers us anything it reminds us...

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Quentin Tarantino Talks Race And Violence In DJANGO UNCHAINED

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:05:10 -0500

Quentin Tarantino is, to put it mildly, a talkative fellow. So when presented with the opportunity to join in on a four person round table interview with him to discuss the upcoming Django Unchained I knew that I - and the rest of the journos present - weren't going to get the chance to ask a whole lot of questions. But I also knew that the answers to what questions we did slip in would be good ones and so, of course, I said yes. And the loquacious writer-director did not disappoint. Read on for his comments on hating his characters, race, violence and the MPAA.I was reading the Playboy interview you did recently and you were talking about how Calvin Candie is the first...

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Love, Dignity, and Death: Michael Haneke Talks AMOUR

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:00:13 -0500

Austrian film director Michael Haneke took home the coveted Palme d'Or at Cannes for the second time after his The White Ribbon in 2009 and swept the year-end European film awards with his austere, devastating film Amour. I got a chance to attend a roundtable interview with the director at this year's New York Film Festival. As the interview unfolded in the Executive Room at the Trump International Hotel, where myself and six other journalists were served with 'Donald Trump approved bottled water,' my expectations were met -- Haneke outright avoided many pointed questions we asked and when he did answer, they were very concise and to the point. But also, there was a lot of laughter to be found in the room. This mild...

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'I Envision All These Great Small Movies in the Ruins of Hollywood': Christian Petzold Interview

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:00:13 -0500

Christian Petzold's fantastic new film Barbara opens in the US on December 21, after garnering critical acclaim; Petzold won the Best Director award at Berlin International Film Festival this year and the film is the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. It was exciting to talk to one of the key figures in new German cinema at NYFF this past September.Twitch: I have to admit that I wasn't really familiar with new German cinema until recently. My idea of German cinema always has been that of the 60s and 70s by directors like Schlendörff, Fassbinder and Wenders.Christian Petzold: That's also my experience. That's the time I was brought up. Back then we never went to see a German film in theaters. When we...

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