Actress Saoirse Ronan ("Foe") poses for the latest issue of "Harper’s Bazaar" (UK) magazine, wearing Gucci and Cartier, photographed by Agata Pospieszynka:
Ronan is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee, receiving a 'Best Supporting Actress' nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007) and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).
Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and a 'Satellite Award'.
Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) and "Lady Bird (2017).
March 2016, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing 'Abigail Williams'.
Ronan played 'Jo March' in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019), followed by 'Charlotte Murchison' in...
Ronan is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee, receiving a 'Best Supporting Actress' nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007) and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).
Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and a 'Satellite Award'.
Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) and "Lady Bird (2017).
March 2016, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing 'Abigail Williams'.
Ronan played 'Jo March' in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019), followed by 'Charlotte Murchison' in...
- 10/31/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Marlowe is a movie directed by Neil Jordan starirng Liam Neeson. With Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange. It is based on a novel by John Banville.
Marlowe is one of those films that probably shouldn’t have been made, and let me explain why: the main character has all the connotations of a classic that has reached a “sacrosanct” status and is probably the one of the most untouchable characters in the history of cinema, then played by the greatest star in the zenith of the golden age the seventh art – Humphrey Bogart.
About the Movie
Whether it was well-made, brilliant, or even if Orson Welles had directed it, I would have reason to be a bit reticent with this film. And, indeed I am, for the obvious reason that it dares revisit an untouchable classic.
Liam Neeson provides us with a similar role – if not identical – to Bogart’s,...
Marlowe is one of those films that probably shouldn’t have been made, and let me explain why: the main character has all the connotations of a classic that has reached a “sacrosanct” status and is probably the one of the most untouchable characters in the history of cinema, then played by the greatest star in the zenith of the golden age the seventh art – Humphrey Bogart.
About the Movie
Whether it was well-made, brilliant, or even if Orson Welles had directed it, I would have reason to be a bit reticent with this film. And, indeed I am, for the obvious reason that it dares revisit an untouchable classic.
Liam Neeson provides us with a similar role – if not identical – to Bogart’s,...
- 8/10/2023
- by Martin Cid
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Marlowe is a movie directed by Neil Jordan starirng Liam Neeson. With Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange. It is based on a novel by John Banville.
Marlowe is one of those films that probably shouldn’t have been made, and let me explain why: the main character has all the connotations of a classic that has reached a “sacrosanct” status and is probably the one of the most untouchable characters in the history of cinema, then played by the greatest star in the zenith of the golden age the seventh art – Humphrey Bogart.
About the Movie
Whether it was well-made, brilliant, or even if Orson Welles had directed it, I would have reason to be a bit reticent with this film. And, indeed I am, for the obvious reason that it dares revisit an untouchable classic.
Liam Neeson provides us with a similar role – if not identical – to Bogart’s,...
Marlowe is one of those films that probably shouldn’t have been made, and let me explain why: the main character has all the connotations of a classic that has reached a “sacrosanct” status and is probably the one of the most untouchable characters in the history of cinema, then played by the greatest star in the zenith of the golden age the seventh art – Humphrey Bogart.
About the Movie
Whether it was well-made, brilliant, or even if Orson Welles had directed it, I would have reason to be a bit reticent with this film. And, indeed I am, for the obvious reason that it dares revisit an untouchable classic.
Liam Neeson provides us with a similar role – if not identical – to Bogart’s,...
- 8/10/2023
- by Martin Cid
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Take a look at new images of actress Saoirse Ronan, posing for the April 2023 issue of "Document Journal", photographed by Malick Bodian:
Ronan is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee, receiving a 'Best Supporting Actress' nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007) and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).
Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and a 'Satellite Award'.
Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) and "Lady Bird (2017).
March 2016, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing 'Abigail Williams'.
Ronan played 'Jo March' in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019), followed by 'Charlotte Murchison' in...
Ronan is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee, receiving a 'Best Supporting Actress' nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007) and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).
Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and a 'Satellite Award'.
Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) and "Lady Bird (2017).
March 2016, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing 'Abigail Williams'.
Ronan played 'Jo March' in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019), followed by 'Charlotte Murchison' in...
- 4/29/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
This month on Let’s Scare Bryan to Death, we’re sinking our fangs into a vampire tale from director Neil Jordan. But no, I’m not talking about his classic adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. Rather, we are jumping forward almost two decades to 2012, when he revisited the vampire mythos through a mother-daughter lens in Byzantium. Joining me this month is one of the most compelling short horror film directors working today, Izzy Lee. With around two dozen short horror films to her name, Lee always brings a darkly playful, subversive sensibility to her work, and her delightfully demented short Meat Friend is nominated for Best Short at Fangoria’s 2023 Chainsaw Awards. For more information about her films, check out Lee’s website Nihil Noctem Films. You’ll be glad you did.
Lee’s pick this month follows Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother, Clara...
Lee’s pick this month follows Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother, Clara...
- 3/29/2023
- by Bryan Christopher
- DailyDead
Neil Jordan is an Irish film director, screenwriter, and novelist who has achieved international acclaim for his work in both film and literature. His films, which often deal with themes of identity, family, and Irish history, have won numerous awards, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Jordan is renowned for his visual style, which combines elements of fantasy and realism to create unique and powerful images.
About Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist, who has written and directed a number of acclaimed films and television series.
He has directed nine feature films, including The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, The Butcher Boy, Byzantium and Ondine.
He has also wrote for several television series including the BAFTA award-winning The Borgias and the British series, Riviera.
He was born in Sligo, Ireland on February 25th, 1950 and is married to actress Brenda Fricker.
In 2020, he was...
About Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist, who has written and directed a number of acclaimed films and television series.
He has directed nine feature films, including The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, The Butcher Boy, Byzantium and Ondine.
He has also wrote for several television series including the BAFTA award-winning The Borgias and the British series, Riviera.
He was born in Sligo, Ireland on February 25th, 1950 and is married to actress Brenda Fricker.
In 2020, he was...
- 2/10/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
One of the great things about horror movies is that they offer a universal experience. No matter where you go in the world, the same things are considered scary, which is why great horror movies are made all over the world. Today we’re going to be focusing on ones made or produced in Ireland, so if you’re looking for a fright, try one of these out.
The Sleep of Death
The Sleep of Death was released in 1980 and was written and directed by Calvin Floyd. It’s often described as a Swedish-Irish film, thanks to the prevalence of Swedish cast members. The film is based on the 1872 novella The Room in the Dragon Volant and is sometimes called The Inn of the Flying Dragon, in reference to the title of the novella. The story follows a young Englishman called Colonel Gaillard, played by Per Oscarsson, who goes to France to pursue a woman,...
The Sleep of Death
The Sleep of Death was released in 1980 and was written and directed by Calvin Floyd. It’s often described as a Swedish-Irish film, thanks to the prevalence of Swedish cast members. The film is based on the 1872 novella The Room in the Dragon Volant and is sometimes called The Inn of the Flying Dragon, in reference to the title of the novella. The story follows a young Englishman called Colonel Gaillard, played by Per Oscarsson, who goes to France to pursue a woman,...
- 8/19/2022
- by agency
- GlamSham
(Welcome to Year of the Vampire, a series examining the greatest, strangest, and sometimes overlooked vampire movies of all time in honor of "Nosferatu," which turns 100 this year.)
Director Neil Jordan is no stranger to stories of vampires grappling with their immortality and lust for blood; he helmed the adaptation of Anne Rice's gothic melodrama "Interview with the Vampire." He takes a more serious approach to "Byzantium," a grim coming-of-age story based on Moira Buffini's play "A Vampire Story." The chilling film centers on a forever 16-year-old vampire named Eleanor Webb (the captivating Saoirse Ronan) and her young mother, Clara (played by a...
The post Year of the Vampire: Byzantium is a Haunting Coming-of-Age Story With Feminist Fangs appeared first on /Film.
Director Neil Jordan is no stranger to stories of vampires grappling with their immortality and lust for blood; he helmed the adaptation of Anne Rice's gothic melodrama "Interview with the Vampire." He takes a more serious approach to "Byzantium," a grim coming-of-age story based on Moira Buffini's play "A Vampire Story." The chilling film centers on a forever 16-year-old vampire named Eleanor Webb (the captivating Saoirse Ronan) and her young mother, Clara (played by a...
The post Year of the Vampire: Byzantium is a Haunting Coming-of-Age Story With Feminist Fangs appeared first on /Film.
- 2/8/2022
- by Caroline Madden
- Slash Film
Ravishing World War II period piece alert: The new film from director Simon Stone, “The Dig,” is coming to Netflix and some theaters next month. Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes play archaeologists who dig up a surprising discovery that has ramifications for the past, and fate, of Britain.
Here’s Netflix’s official synopsis: “As WWII looms, a wealthy widow (Carey Mulligan) hires an amateur archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain’s past resonate in the face of its uncertain future.”
Along with Mulligan and Fiennes, the cast includes Lily James (star of Netflix period piece “Rebecca”), Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott, Archie Barnes, and Monica Dolan. “The Dig” is based on a book by John Preston, published in 2007 and set in the context of the 1939 Anglo-Saxon ship burial excavation at Sutton Hoo,...
Here’s Netflix’s official synopsis: “As WWII looms, a wealthy widow (Carey Mulligan) hires an amateur archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain’s past resonate in the face of its uncertain future.”
Along with Mulligan and Fiennes, the cast includes Lily James (star of Netflix period piece “Rebecca”), Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott, Archie Barnes, and Monica Dolan. “The Dig” is based on a book by John Preston, published in 2007 and set in the context of the 1939 Anglo-Saxon ship burial excavation at Sutton Hoo,...
- 12/4/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars and filmmakers and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.
Today we celebrate a young actress whose Oscar nominations are outmatched only by her B-Sides! It’s Saoirse Ronan time! The esteemed Bill Graham of The Film Stage Show joins us to discuss the Bronx-born, Ireland-raised starlet. B-Sides include Peter Weir’s The Way Back, Andrew Niccol’s The Host, Neil Jordan’s Byzantium, and Dominic Cooke’s On Chesil Beach.
We dive into the historical accuracies and inaccuracies of The Way Back, the similarities between The Host and The Twilight Saga, the slightly immortality-positive Pov of Byzantium, the narrative structure of On Chesil Beach and Ronan’s penchant for making movies based on books!
We’re also excited to announce a dedicated page for...
Today we celebrate a young actress whose Oscar nominations are outmatched only by her B-Sides! It’s Saoirse Ronan time! The esteemed Bill Graham of The Film Stage Show joins us to discuss the Bronx-born, Ireland-raised starlet. B-Sides include Peter Weir’s The Way Back, Andrew Niccol’s The Host, Neil Jordan’s Byzantium, and Dominic Cooke’s On Chesil Beach.
We dive into the historical accuracies and inaccuracies of The Way Back, the similarities between The Host and The Twilight Saga, the slightly immortality-positive Pov of Byzantium, the narrative structure of On Chesil Beach and Ronan’s penchant for making movies based on books!
We’re also excited to announce a dedicated page for...
- 5/21/2020
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Laurie previously spent more than a decade at Number 9 Films.
UK, Australian and Us production company See-Saw Films has hired UK producer Joanna Laurie.
Working in the London office, Laurie will produce or executive produce select film and TV projects, and will report to See-Saw Films’ joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.
Laurie previously spent more than a decade at Number 9 Films where she served as head of production before becoming an independent producer.
Her producing credits include Gerard Johnson’s Hyena and The Limehouse Golem, starring Bill Nighy. She was associate producer on Number 9 Films co-productions Youth,...
UK, Australian and Us production company See-Saw Films has hired UK producer Joanna Laurie.
Working in the London office, Laurie will produce or executive produce select film and TV projects, and will report to See-Saw Films’ joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.
Laurie previously spent more than a decade at Number 9 Films where she served as head of production before becoming an independent producer.
Her producing credits include Gerard Johnson’s Hyena and The Limehouse Golem, starring Bill Nighy. She was associate producer on Number 9 Films co-productions Youth,...
- 4/14/2020
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Film and TV production company See-Saw Films, whose slate includes Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and Apple TV Plus’s series “Slow Horses,” has announced the appointment of producer Joanna Laurie to the company’s U.K. office.
Based in London and effective immediately, Laurie will act as producer or executive producer on select film and TV projects, reporting to See-Saw’s joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.
Laurie joins See-Saw after over a decade at Number 9 Films, where she served as head of production working alongside Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, before becoming an independent producer. Her producing credits include critically acclaimed “Hyena” by writer-director Gerard Johnson, which opened the Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival, and won the coveted Fantàstic Òrbita prize at Sitges, and “The Limehouse Golem,” written by Jane Goldman, directed by Juan Carlos Medina, and starring Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke.
Based in London and effective immediately, Laurie will act as producer or executive producer on select film and TV projects, reporting to See-Saw’s joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.
Laurie joins See-Saw after over a decade at Number 9 Films, where she served as head of production working alongside Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, before becoming an independent producer. Her producing credits include critically acclaimed “Hyena” by writer-director Gerard Johnson, which opened the Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival, and won the coveted Fantàstic Òrbita prize at Sitges, and “The Limehouse Golem,” written by Jane Goldman, directed by Juan Carlos Medina, and starring Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke.
- 4/14/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Number 9 Films has signed a first-look distribution deal for its films in Japan with Japanese studio Shochiku, the British independent announced Wednesday. As part of the multi-year deal, which will focus on Number 9’s slate of theatrical films, Shochiku will contribute to the production company’s overhead as well as development funding.
The first title to release through Shochiku has yet to be announced. Number 9’s development slate currently includes futuristic drama “The Assessor,” written by Nell Garfath-Cox and David Thomas, and “Mothering Sunday,” an adaptation of Graham Swift’s novel written by Alice Birch. Both projects are expected to go into production early next year and are being backed by the U.K.’s Film4.
Co-founded by Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen (pictured) in 2002, Number 9 Films has produced a roster of acclaimed titles, specialising in female-led stories. Recent projects have included Todd Haynes’ multi-Oscar nominated “Carol,” starring Cate Blanchett...
The first title to release through Shochiku has yet to be announced. Number 9’s development slate currently includes futuristic drama “The Assessor,” written by Nell Garfath-Cox and David Thomas, and “Mothering Sunday,” an adaptation of Graham Swift’s novel written by Alice Birch. Both projects are expected to go into production early next year and are being backed by the U.K.’s Film4.
Co-founded by Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen (pictured) in 2002, Number 9 Films has produced a roster of acclaimed titles, specialising in female-led stories. Recent projects have included Todd Haynes’ multi-Oscar nominated “Carol,” starring Cate Blanchett...
- 8/21/2019
- by Robert Mitchell
- Variety Film + TV
Shazam! tops slow weekend; top new opener is Lionsgate’s Red Joan.
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.30
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Apr 19-21)Total gross to date Week 1 Shazam! (Warner Bros) £976,000 £12m 3 2 Dumbo (Disney) £926,000 £21.6m 4 3 Captain Marvel (Disney) £641,000 £38.1m 7 4 Red Joan (Lionsgate) £430,060 £566,872 1 5 Wonder Park (Paramount) £298,000 £3.1m 2 Warner Bros
The vibrant weather in the UK over the Easter bank holiday weekend spelled bad news for cinemas, with no film taking more than £1m over the Friday-Sunday session and 50%+ drops registered by most of the key holdovers.
For Warner Bros, superhero feature Shazam! dropped 54% this weekend, taking £976,000 for a cume of £12m to date.
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.30
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Apr 19-21)Total gross to date Week 1 Shazam! (Warner Bros) £976,000 £12m 3 2 Dumbo (Disney) £926,000 £21.6m 4 3 Captain Marvel (Disney) £641,000 £38.1m 7 4 Red Joan (Lionsgate) £430,060 £566,872 1 5 Wonder Park (Paramount) £298,000 £3.1m 2 Warner Bros
The vibrant weather in the UK over the Easter bank holiday weekend spelled bad news for cinemas, with no film taking more than £1m over the Friday-Sunday session and 50%+ drops registered by most of the key holdovers.
For Warner Bros, superhero feature Shazam! dropped 54% this weekend, taking £976,000 for a cume of £12m to date.
- 4/23/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
‘Greta’, ’Dragged Across Concrete’ among new titles.
Holdovers look set to dominate the UK box office this weekend, with Trevor Nunn’s spy drama Red Joan amongst the new openers.
Produced by David Parfitt’s Trademark Films, the Lionsgate-distributed feature is led by Judi Dench and 2014 Screen Star of Tomorrow Sophie Cookson, and based on the novel of the same name by Jennie Rooney. Cookson plays Joan Stanley, a Cambridge physics student in 1938 who falls for a young communist; while Dench takes up the character in 2000 when MI5 come to arrest her.
The film will be aiming to top...
Holdovers look set to dominate the UK box office this weekend, with Trevor Nunn’s spy drama Red Joan amongst the new openers.
Produced by David Parfitt’s Trademark Films, the Lionsgate-distributed feature is led by Judi Dench and 2014 Screen Star of Tomorrow Sophie Cookson, and based on the novel of the same name by Jennie Rooney. Cookson plays Joan Stanley, a Cambridge physics student in 1938 who falls for a young communist; while Dench takes up the character in 2000 when MI5 come to arrest her.
The film will be aiming to top...
- 4/19/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Over half-a-decade after his vampire drama Byzantium, Neil Jordan returns to filmmaking with the psychological thriller Greta. In his six-year absence, he created TV series The Borgias, but the prospect of directing Isabelle Huppert as Greta was too good to pass up. The part was redesigned so Greta would become a sophisticated older woman who used her worldliness as means of seduction. Chloë Grace Moretz plays Frances, Greta’s newest victim, and Maika Monroe plays Frances’s roommate Erica who doesn’t trust Greta from the start.
We interviewed Jordan about Huppert’s truthful and therefore believable performance as Greta, working with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey to create an intimate and claustrophobic palette for the story, and how a dream sequence helped him decide this should be his next film.
The Film Stage: At the beginning of the film you think Greta’s a lonely widow, and her tone and demeanor make her appear trustworthy.
We interviewed Jordan about Huppert’s truthful and therefore believable performance as Greta, working with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey to create an intimate and claustrophobic palette for the story, and how a dream sequence helped him decide this should be his next film.
The Film Stage: At the beginning of the film you think Greta’s a lonely widow, and her tone and demeanor make her appear trustworthy.
- 3/8/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Don Kaye Mar 2, 2019
We spoke with the director of The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire about returning to the big screen.
French legend Isabelle Huppert is unleashed in Greta, in which she plays the title character: a desperate, lonely but unfortunately not-all-there woman seeking companionship and finding it, at least initially, with Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz), a waitress who recently moved into her friend’s (Maika Monroe) New York City loft and is grieving the loss of her mother.
When Frances finds Greta’s lost purse on the subway, she dutifully returns it to the woman at her Brooklyn apartment and they strike up a friendship. But the more Frances finds out about Greta, the less she wants to be around her -- a state of affairs that the increasingly unstable Greta will go to any length to change.
Greta is directed by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan, something...
We spoke with the director of The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire about returning to the big screen.
French legend Isabelle Huppert is unleashed in Greta, in which she plays the title character: a desperate, lonely but unfortunately not-all-there woman seeking companionship and finding it, at least initially, with Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz), a waitress who recently moved into her friend’s (Maika Monroe) New York City loft and is grieving the loss of her mother.
When Frances finds Greta’s lost purse on the subway, she dutifully returns it to the woman at her Brooklyn apartment and they strike up a friendship. But the more Frances finds out about Greta, the less she wants to be around her -- a state of affairs that the increasingly unstable Greta will go to any length to change.
Greta is directed by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan, something...
- 3/2/2019
- Den of Geek
It’s fitting that Neil Jordan’s “Greta” had its Toronto International Film Festival world premiere on Thursday at the Ryerson Theatre, because that venue is home to Tiff’s Midnight Madness section devoted to horror, sci-fi and all things genre. And while “Greta” isn’t actually screening in that section of the festival, it’s definitely the midnightiest thing that the Irish director has ever made.
Between the psycho stalker, the “don’t go in the basement!” moment and the sudden shocks that exist solely to make an audience jump, this is Jordan doing fun, schlocky horror, way beyond the high-toned horror he did in “Interview With the Vampire.”
And while the film wallows in the kind of silliness that makes you wonder just what the heck Isabelle Huppert is doing here, by the end it supplies an answer: She’s having fun, dammit, just like the audience at the Ryerson did.
Between the psycho stalker, the “don’t go in the basement!” moment and the sudden shocks that exist solely to make an audience jump, this is Jordan doing fun, schlocky horror, way beyond the high-toned horror he did in “Interview With the Vampire.”
And while the film wallows in the kind of silliness that makes you wonder just what the heck Isabelle Huppert is doing here, by the end it supplies an answer: She’s having fun, dammit, just like the audience at the Ryerson did.
- 2/28/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This Friday will see the release of the horror/thriller Greta, the latest film from director Neil Jordan. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert, the film follows a young girl who becomes the obsession of a lonely woman. To celebrate the release, we’re giving away five pairs of […] The post Contest: Win Tickets to See Greta at Any Mjr Theatres Location in Southeast Michigan appeared first on Dread Central.
- 2/26/2019
- by Jonathan Barkan
- DreadCentral.com
Who on Arrow will get a blast from the past? Will Grey’s Anatomy doc make a big decision? Which Lucifer lady is turning to sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll? What will Roswell flashbacks reveal? Read on for answers to those questions plus teases from other shows.
What more can we expect from Arrow’s Diggle, outside of Argus? –Jenny
You can expect to meet this spring the decorated Army general who served as Dig’s mentor back in the day. Though the gents are now estranged, they meet up again under unexpected circumstances. Speaking of Diggle….
Anything on Arrow’s Connor Hawke?...
What more can we expect from Arrow’s Diggle, outside of Argus? –Jenny
You can expect to meet this spring the decorated Army general who served as Dig’s mentor back in the day. Though the gents are now estranged, they meet up again under unexpected circumstances. Speaking of Diggle….
Anything on Arrow’s Connor Hawke?...
- 2/20/2019
- TVLine.com
Being kind to a stranger sometimes comes with grave consequences, as evidenced in the official trailer for the new thriller Greta, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, and Isabelle Huppert.
Directed by Neil Jordan (Byzantium), Greta will be released in theaters on March 1st from Focus Features. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates, and check out the teaser art and official trailer below.
"A sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends — but Greta’s maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow...
Directed by Neil Jordan (Byzantium), Greta will be released in theaters on March 1st from Focus Features. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates, and check out the teaser art and official trailer below.
"A sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends — but Greta’s maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow...
- 12/20/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
"She's really freaking me out." Focus Features has debuted the first official trailer for an indie thriller titled Greta, the latest feature from Academy Award-winning Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan. This extra creepy suspense thriller premiered at the Toronto Film Festival already, and opens in theaters in March. From the looks, it seems to be like a new mash-up of A Simple Favor and Misery and Gone Girl, with some other unexpected twists thrown in. Isabelle Huppert stars with Chloe Moretz, two people living in New York City who become friends. But Frances soon discovers "nothing in Greta's life is what it seems." The full cast includes Maika Monroe, Parker Sawyers, Zawe Ashton, Stephen Rea, and Colm Feore. This looks very twisted and crazy and totally demented, which might be just what the doctor ordered. Get a peek below. Here's the first official trailer (+ ...
- 12/20/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The new season of Outlander is almost upon us, and that means more sneak peeks and more info trickling out about what we can expect when the show returns on Sunday, Nov. 4. Among the new characters who will debut in the fourth season is Jocasta Cameron, Jamie's aunt who lives in America. If you've seen the promos and recognize the actress playing Jocasta, there's a pretty good reason: Irish actress Maria Doyle Kennedy has had some absolutely indelible roles over the course of her lengthy career.
Doyle Kennedy didn't start her career as an actress - she was a musician first. She joined her first band while in college in the late 1980s and achieved international success both as part of The Black Velvet Band and as a solo artist. During her time with the band, she met her husband, Kieran Kennedy.
In 1991, Doyle Kennedy made her acting debut in the musical dramedy The Commitments.
Doyle Kennedy didn't start her career as an actress - she was a musician first. She joined her first band while in college in the late 1980s and achieved international success both as part of The Black Velvet Band and as a solo artist. During her time with the band, she met her husband, Kieran Kennedy.
In 1991, Doyle Kennedy made her acting debut in the musical dramedy The Commitments.
- 11/3/2018
- by Amanda Prahl
- Popsugar.com
Neil Jordan's psychological thriller Greta has landed a North American rights deal with Focus Features, with a source pegging it at about $4 million.
The movie made its debut Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival and drew immediate interest from prestige distributors.
Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz star in the film about a young woman (Moretz) who befriends a lonely widow (Huppert). Things then take an obsessive and sinister turn.
Jordan (The Crying Game) also wrote the screenplay with Ray Wright. Greta marks Jordan's first film since the vampire movie Byzantium, which starred Saoirse Ronan and made its world ...
The movie made its debut Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival and drew immediate interest from prestige distributors.
Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz star in the film about a young woman (Moretz) who befriends a lonely widow (Huppert). Things then take an obsessive and sinister turn.
Jordan (The Crying Game) also wrote the screenplay with Ray Wright. Greta marks Jordan's first film since the vampire movie Byzantium, which starred Saoirse Ronan and made its world ...
Neil Jordan's psychological thriller Greta has landed a North American rights deal with Focus Features, with a source pegging it at about $4 million.
The movie made its debut Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival and drew immediate interest from prestige distributors.
Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz star in the film about a young woman (Moretz) who befriends a lonely widow (Huppert). Things then take an obsessive and sinister turn.
Jordan (The Crying Game) also wrote the screenplay with Ray Wright. Greta marks Jordan's first film since the vampire movie Byzantium, which starred Saoirse Ronan and made its world ...
The movie made its debut Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival and drew immediate interest from prestige distributors.
Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz star in the film about a young woman (Moretz) who befriends a lonely widow (Huppert). Things then take an obsessive and sinister turn.
Jordan (The Crying Game) also wrote the screenplay with Ray Wright. Greta marks Jordan's first film since the vampire movie Byzantium, which starred Saoirse Ronan and made its world ...
“You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” singer Dusty Springfield will be played by Gemma Arterton in “So Much Love.” The film follows the British soul legend’s journey to Memphis to record her career-defining album, “Dusty in Memphis.” Phyllis Nagy, Oscar-nominated for “Carol,” has written the screenplay and will direct.
Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films will produce. Set in 1968, it follows Springfield as she navigates her way through the politics of both the recording studio and Memphis, experiences that went on to shape her politics, musical influences, and relationship with the music business.
“So Much Love” will be Nagy’s feature directorial debut. The project reunites her with Karlsen and Woolley after they worked together on 2015’s “Carol” and 2005’s “Mrs. Harris.” Arterton is also a regular collaborator with Number 9, having starred in “Their Finest” and “Byzantium.”
“Dusty Springfield has long been a hero of mine – an innovative,...
Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films will produce. Set in 1968, it follows Springfield as she navigates her way through the politics of both the recording studio and Memphis, experiences that went on to shape her politics, musical influences, and relationship with the music business.
“So Much Love” will be Nagy’s feature directorial debut. The project reunites her with Karlsen and Woolley after they worked together on 2015’s “Carol” and 2005’s “Mrs. Harris.” Arterton is also a regular collaborator with Number 9, having starred in “Their Finest” and “Byzantium.”
“Dusty Springfield has long been a hero of mine – an innovative,...
- 9/6/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Their Finest star Gemma Arterton is to play Dusty Springfield in Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy’s directorial debut.
Arterton will star in So Much Love, produced by Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films, that is being launched in Toronto by Rocket Science.
The film, which is set in 1968 at the peak of Springfield’s popularity will follow the Son of a Preacher Man and Just A Little Lovin’ hitmaker as she travels to Memphis, Tennessee to record Dusty in Memphis. It will follow her as she navigates her way through the politics of the recording studio and the city and will also explore her encounter with the music of Motown, her stand against apartheid policies during her aborted South African tour, and her thorny brushes with men in the music industry.
Nagy has written the screenplay and will direct the film, which will be shot in the UK and U.S. in spring 2019.
Arterton will star in So Much Love, produced by Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films, that is being launched in Toronto by Rocket Science.
The film, which is set in 1968 at the peak of Springfield’s popularity will follow the Son of a Preacher Man and Just A Little Lovin’ hitmaker as she travels to Memphis, Tennessee to record Dusty in Memphis. It will follow her as she navigates her way through the politics of the recording studio and the city and will also explore her encounter with the music of Motown, her stand against apartheid policies during her aborted South African tour, and her thorny brushes with men in the music industry.
Nagy has written the screenplay and will direct the film, which will be shot in the UK and U.S. in spring 2019.
- 9/6/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
After highlighting 55 anticipated titles confirmed to arrive in theaters this fall, we now turn our attention to the festival-bound films either without distribution or awaiting a release date. Looking over Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival titles, we’ve rounded up 20 movies — most of which we’ll be checking out over the next few weeks — that we can’t wait to see.
Check out our 20 most-anticipated festival premieres below, and return for our review.
American Dharma (Errol Morris)
We apologize for the triggering image right off the bat in this feature, but as much he doesn’t deserve any more attention, the thought of watching master interviewer Errol Morris interrogate one of America’s most warped minds does have its intrigue. The Fog of War director’s documentary on former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon will premiere at Venice and play at...
Check out our 20 most-anticipated festival premieres below, and return for our review.
American Dharma (Errol Morris)
We apologize for the triggering image right off the bat in this feature, but as much he doesn’t deserve any more attention, the thought of watching master interviewer Errol Morris interrogate one of America’s most warped minds does have its intrigue. The Fog of War director’s documentary on former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon will premiere at Venice and play at...
- 8/27/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Joseph Baxter Nov 14, 2018
Nine Lives, a novelette from the late sci-fi great, Ursula K. Le Guin, is being developed as a movie.
The legacy of the influential sci-fi author, Ursula K. Le Guin, appears to be highly coveted in the immediate aftermath of her death this past January, with live-action adaptation projects continuing to join the queue. While prospects are glistening for a movie adaptation of The Telling, as well as a properly-reverent movie adaptation of Le Guin’s sprawling magnum opus, the Earthsea novels, the latest project is a bit more of an esoteric choice from her works, a 1969 novelette, called Nine Lives.
Nine Lives is expected to commence production in the summer of 2019 with U.K. producers Gavin Humphries (Pin Cushion) of Quark Films and former Sony Pictures International producer Josephine Rose, reports Deadline. Tom Basden will co-write the script with Siri Rodnes, an actress and burgeoning filmmaker,...
Nine Lives, a novelette from the late sci-fi great, Ursula K. Le Guin, is being developed as a movie.
The legacy of the influential sci-fi author, Ursula K. Le Guin, appears to be highly coveted in the immediate aftermath of her death this past January, with live-action adaptation projects continuing to join the queue. While prospects are glistening for a movie adaptation of The Telling, as well as a properly-reverent movie adaptation of Le Guin’s sprawling magnum opus, the Earthsea novels, the latest project is a bit more of an esoteric choice from her works, a 1969 novelette, called Nine Lives.
Nine Lives is expected to commence production in the summer of 2019 with U.K. producers Gavin Humphries (Pin Cushion) of Quark Films and former Sony Pictures International producer Josephine Rose, reports Deadline. Tom Basden will co-write the script with Siri Rodnes, an actress and burgeoning filmmaker,...
- 8/15/2018
- Den of Geek
This striking hand-painted key art for Peter Brunner's latest, takes one of the most interesting visages, that of Caleb Landry Jones, and renders it in hand-painted abstraction, with emotion intact. Many of you are probably familiar with the hard-working actor who has a supporting and starring roles in features as varied as Neil Jordan's Byzantium, David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return, Jordan Peele's Get Out, Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral, Martin McDonough's Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri, Sean Baker's The Florida Project, and Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class. Caleb Landry Jones brings an unsettling edge to any project he is involved in, and the designers (who I have been unable to source) of the To The Night one sheet have an implicit understand of the power...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/29/2018
- Screen Anarchy
This striking hand-painted key art for Peter Brunner's latest, takes one of the most interesting visages, that of Caleb Landry Jones, and renders it in hand-painted abstraction, with emotion intact. Many of you are probably familiar with the hard-working actor who has a supporting and starring roles in features as varied as Neil Jordan's Byzantium, David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return, Jordan Peele's Get Out, Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral, Martin McDonough's Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri, Sean Baker's The Florida Project, and Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class. Caleb Landry Jones brings an unsettling edge to any project he is involved in, and the designers (who I have been unable to source) of the To The Night one sheet have an implicit understand of the power...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/29/2018
- Screen Anarchy
The 13th annual Texas Frightmare Weekend horror convention is about a month away, and the team behind one of the country's best conventions has given ScreenAnarchy a first look at their film festival selections for 2018. In the past, Texas Frightmare Weekend has played host to screenings of films like Neil Jordan's Byzantium, Sushi Typhoon favorites like Helldriver, '80s throwback killers like Kurando Mitsutake's Gun Woman, and many many more exciting projects. This year's lineup is one of their most impressive yet, with a number of features and shorts from all over the world. Filmmakers represented include Miike Takashi with As the Gods Will, Bruno Mattei with Shocking Dark, Claudio Fragasso (who will also be in attendance) with Demons 4, and some exciting indie premieres...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 4/3/2018
- Screen Anarchy
It seems that the range and limits of Saoirse Ronan’s talents know no bounds. She has played just about every type of character from a mysterious vampire in “Byzantium,” to the perfect assassin in “Hanna,” to an American teenager ready to take on the world in Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” and now a timid and sexually repressed newlywed in the upcoming “On Chesil Beach.” Here’s the official synopsis:
Adapted by Ian McEwan from his bestselling novel, the drama centers on a young couple of drastically different backgrounds in the summer of 1962.
Adapted by Ian McEwan from his bestselling novel, the drama centers on a young couple of drastically different backgrounds in the summer of 1962.
- 2/22/2018
- by Erica Bahrenburg
- The Playlist
Underrated 2012 horror film is one of the greatest vampire films ever made
The post In Praise of Neil Jordan’s Byzantium appeared first on ComingSoon.net.
The post In Praise of Neil Jordan’s Byzantium appeared first on ComingSoon.net.
- 10/2/2017
- by Chris Alexander
- Comingsoon.net
Lady Bird is one of the year’s great joys. Greta Gerwig’s debut as a solo writer-director is so wise, so funny, and so remarkably assured that it seems to have flown in out of nowhere. Where did this nearly perfect coming-of-age comedy and emotionally affecting study of youth, social status, and financial malaise come from? The answer has been hiding in plain sight. As an actress, Gerwig has shown inimitable intelligence in films such as Frances Ha and 20th Century Women. She has now moved behind the camera for a 2002-set study of a Sacramento teen’s final year of high school, starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, and Timothée Chalamet, with music by Jon Brion.
Even after mentioning the involvement of such an ensemble of talent, I’m not sure anyone could have anticipated just how strong a film Lady Bird would be, or...
Even after mentioning the involvement of such an ensemble of talent, I’m not sure anyone could have anticipated just how strong a film Lady Bird would be, or...
- 9/10/2017
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
After the one-two punch of The Guest and It Follows, we knew actress Maika Monroe had one hell of a career ahead of her. Monroe subsequently starred in The 5th Wave and Independence Day: Resurgence, and up next she’s working with Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Byzantium)! Deadline reports that Maika Monroe has joined the […]...
- 8/1/2017
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
If you're already having Bates Motel withdrawals and you're going to miss Olivia Cooke's performance as Emma, Rlj Entertainment might have just the cure for what ails you, as they've just acquired the Us rights to The Limehouse Golem, a new serial killer thriller set in London and starring Cooke alongside Bill Nighy.
Keep an eye out for The Limehouse Golem in theaters and on VOD beginning September 8th, and check out the official press release with full details on the film:
Press Release: Los Angeles, June 1, 2017 – Rlj Entertainment (Nasdaq: Rlje) has acquired U.S. rights to the thriller The Limehouse Golem. Based on the novel “Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem” by Peter Ackroyd, the film was written by the acclaimed writer Jane Goldman (Kingsmen, The Woman in Black), directed by Juan Carlos Medina (Painless) and produced by Stephen Woolley (Their Finest, Interview with a Vampire), Joanna Laurie...
Keep an eye out for The Limehouse Golem in theaters and on VOD beginning September 8th, and check out the official press release with full details on the film:
Press Release: Los Angeles, June 1, 2017 – Rlj Entertainment (Nasdaq: Rlje) has acquired U.S. rights to the thriller The Limehouse Golem. Based on the novel “Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem” by Peter Ackroyd, the film was written by the acclaimed writer Jane Goldman (Kingsmen, The Woman in Black), directed by Juan Carlos Medina (Painless) and produced by Stephen Woolley (Their Finest, Interview with a Vampire), Joanna Laurie...
- 6/1/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Author: Linda Marric
The Messenger director David Blair is back with a new gritty British drama staring Timothy Spall and the brilliantly versatile Juno Temple. Written by Roger Hadfield, Away offers its audience a highly ambitious story revolving around themes of loss, guilt and redemption. The film, which is set within the far from glamorous out-of-season surroundings of Blackpool, is a cautionary tale of hope and despair which brings two lost souls together as they try to make sense of the mess in their lives.
Ria (Juno Temple) finds herself in Blackpool after escaping the grips of her abusive pimp boyfriend Dex (Matt Ryan). As luck would have it, she comes across Joseph (Timothy Spall), a man attempting to come to terms with a big tragedy that has brought his world tumbling down. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and must work together to help one another overcome their difficulties.
The Messenger director David Blair is back with a new gritty British drama staring Timothy Spall and the brilliantly versatile Juno Temple. Written by Roger Hadfield, Away offers its audience a highly ambitious story revolving around themes of loss, guilt and redemption. The film, which is set within the far from glamorous out-of-season surroundings of Blackpool, is a cautionary tale of hope and despair which brings two lost souls together as they try to make sense of the mess in their lives.
Ria (Juno Temple) finds herself in Blackpool after escaping the grips of her abusive pimp boyfriend Dex (Matt Ryan). As luck would have it, she comes across Joseph (Timothy Spall), a man attempting to come to terms with a big tragedy that has brought his world tumbling down. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and must work together to help one another overcome their difficulties.
- 5/11/2017
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
There have been many, many movies about World War II, and of course most of them are like Saving Private Ryan, or last year’s Hacksaw Ridge as they focus on the brave heroes who went off to war and found a way not only to survive, but also come home as heroes.
Their Finest, based on Lissa Evans’ 2009 book Their Finest Hour and a Half, instead focuses on the brave women back home who did their part to try to keep spirits up and continue to support the British troops overseas.
In the movie, Gemma Arterton plays Catrin Cole, an ad writer hired to write the female dialogue (or “slop”) for the British Ministry of Information’s propaganda films they release to inspire the people back in England. Working with screenwriter Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin), Catrin finds the story of two twin sisters who borrow their father’s boat...
Their Finest, based on Lissa Evans’ 2009 book Their Finest Hour and a Half, instead focuses on the brave women back home who did their part to try to keep spirits up and continue to support the British troops overseas.
In the movie, Gemma Arterton plays Catrin Cole, an ad writer hired to write the female dialogue (or “slop”) for the British Ministry of Information’s propaganda films they release to inspire the people back in England. Working with screenwriter Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin), Catrin finds the story of two twin sisters who borrow their father’s boat...
- 4/3/2017
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Wil Jones Sep 23, 2016
Gemma Arterton chats to us about The Girl With All The Gifts, Watership Down, and Hansel & Gretel 2...
You might roll your eyes at yet another zombie movie - but The Girl With All The Gifts is genuinely something different. Based on Mike Carey’s critically acclaimed novel, it envisions a future Britain where society has been ravaged by a fungal disease that turns its victims into mindless homicidal cannibals. Where the film gets interesting, though, is that the timeline has reached a point where there is a generation of kids being born with a mutation of the infection, that seemingly lets them regain some of their cognitive functions.
In an underground bunker, a team of scientists led by Glenn Close, attempt to find a cure, and one girl in particular (played by excellent newcomer Sennia Nanua) seems to hold the answer. But after a security breach they...
Gemma Arterton chats to us about The Girl With All The Gifts, Watership Down, and Hansel & Gretel 2...
You might roll your eyes at yet another zombie movie - but The Girl With All The Gifts is genuinely something different. Based on Mike Carey’s critically acclaimed novel, it envisions a future Britain where society has been ravaged by a fungal disease that turns its victims into mindless homicidal cannibals. Where the film gets interesting, though, is that the timeline has reached a point where there is a generation of kids being born with a mutation of the infection, that seemingly lets them regain some of their cognitive functions.
In an underground bunker, a team of scientists led by Glenn Close, attempt to find a cure, and one girl in particular (played by excellent newcomer Sennia Nanua) seems to hold the answer. But after a security breach they...
- 9/21/2016
- Den of Geek
Although it won't hit Netflix until October 7th, The Siege of Jadotville is in selected Irish cinemas now, following a special screening in Dublin's Savoy cinema on Monday night. Already being highly praised by critics, this gripping true story depicts the 1961 siege of a 150-strong Irish Un Company under Commander Patrick Quinlan (Jamie Dornan) by 3,000 Congolese troops led by French and Belgian mercenaries working for mining companies. The cast also includes Mark Strong, Jason O'Mara, Guillaume Canet and Sam Keeley and comes from producer Alan Moloney (Brooklyn, Albert Nobbs, Byzantium), director Richie Smyth and writer Kevin Brodbin. Check out the trailer below and some pics from Tuesday night's special screening, which was attended by cast members and some of the veterans of the siege:...
- 9/21/2016
- by noreply@blogger.com (Martin Macnamara)
- www.themoviebit.com
The Guard and Calvary were two of my favorite films to release in their respective years. Both reel with a jet black sense of humor and western style morality play where various shades of grey face off in cessation. They also happen to be gorgeous, shot by Larry Smith (Gaffer/Chief electrician on Barry Lyndon/The Shining turned Only God Forgives/Bronson D.P) and composed in sickening symmetry. In short, I was ecstastic to meet the man behind it all, and his down to earth, silly, demeanor, ended up putting me at ease. John Michael McDonagh, talks about his third and bleakest feature film: War On Everyone.
Did anything, such as something in the media, provoke the start of War On Everyone?
There was no sort of big initializing point really. I guess having done The Guard with one kind of obnoxious cop, [that] I wanted to double down on that a little bit.
Did anything, such as something in the media, provoke the start of War On Everyone?
There was no sort of big initializing point really. I guess having done The Guard with one kind of obnoxious cop, [that] I wanted to double down on that a little bit.
- 3/22/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
Take a look @ new images of Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan ("Brooklyn") in the latest issue of "Interview" magazine:
The Irish-American actress is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee; receiving Best Supporting Actress nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007), and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).
Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and one 'Satellite Award'.
Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013) and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014).
March 2016, Ronan will make her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing the role of 'Abigail Williams'.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Saoirse Ronan in "Brooklyn"... ...
The Irish-American actress is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee; receiving Best Supporting Actress nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007), and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).
Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and one 'Satellite Award'.
Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013) and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014).
March 2016, Ronan will make her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing the role of 'Abigail Williams'.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Saoirse Ronan in "Brooklyn"... ...
- 2/25/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Welcome to The Best Movie You Never Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine. This week we’ll be looking at Byzantium. The Story: The Players: Director Neil Jordan. Writer/adapter... Read More...
- 2/12/2016
- by Alejandro Stepenberg
- JoBlo.com
Making the journey from Downton to Delhi, Hugh Bonneville is set to star as Lord Mountbatten in the historical drama Viceroy's House. Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride And Prejudice) is directing, with Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon, Lily Travers, Neeraj Kabi, Denzil Smith and Om Puri among the rest of the considerable cast.The film deals with the six months in 1947 during which Mountbatten assumed the post of the last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people as Britain relinquished its colonial hold. "Mountbatten lived upstairs [at the Viceroy's house in Delhi] together with his wife and daughter," reads the press release. "Downstairs lived their 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants. Against this turbulent backdrop, the personal and the political became deeply entwined and a decision was made that reverberates to this day."Chadha co-wrote the screenplay with her husband Paul Mayeda Berges and Moira Buffini (Tamara Drew, Byzantium). Chadha and Berges are also producing along with Deepak Nayar.
- 9/2/2015
- EmpireOnline
It’s almost August and that means Netflix is about to give their content a refresh. Some of the notable titles leaving include: Family Ties: Season 1-7, Unbreakable, and Titanic. So if you haven’t seen some of these titles, plan your nights accordingly. We of course can look forward more than a few new titles including The Hurt Locker, White God (pictured above), and Girl Meets World season 1.
Available August 1
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)
In this animated adventure, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore revel in their new gig at a movie theme park by wandering the grounds after hours. Among the attractions is the spooky Frankenstein’s Castle, where a real mad scientist is bringing the monster to life. But when the boys cross paths with the creature (Frank Welker), they soon learn that appearances can be deceiving, and Frankenstein is more misunderstood than malevolent.
Asylum (2005)
A...
Available August 1
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)
In this animated adventure, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore revel in their new gig at a movie theme park by wandering the grounds after hours. Among the attractions is the spooky Frankenstein’s Castle, where a real mad scientist is bringing the monster to life. But when the boys cross paths with the creature (Frank Welker), they soon learn that appearances can be deceiving, and Frankenstein is more misunderstood than malevolent.
Asylum (2005)
A...
- 7/29/2015
- by Graham McMorrow
- City of Films
One of England’s most exciting filmmakers is tackling his biggest project yet in thriller Free Fire, and today brings word that he’s recruiting some red-hot talents to round out the pic’s cast.
Director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, A Field in England) has tapped Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Sam Riley (Maleficent) and Noah Taylor (Submarine) for supporting roles in the film. The trio join a stacked cast that already boasts Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley and Michael Smiley. Enzo Cilenti and Babou Ceesay also have supporting roles in the pic.
Free Fire centers on a woman (Larson) who sets up an arms deal between two Irishmen (Murphy and Smiley) and members of a gang (including Hammer and Copley). Meeting inside a deserted warehouse, the group initiates the deal, only for a furious firefight to break out when shots go off mid-handoff.
Reynor had a...
Director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, A Field in England) has tapped Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Sam Riley (Maleficent) and Noah Taylor (Submarine) for supporting roles in the film. The trio join a stacked cast that already boasts Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley and Michael Smiley. Enzo Cilenti and Babou Ceesay also have supporting roles in the pic.
Free Fire centers on a woman (Larson) who sets up an arms deal between two Irishmen (Murphy and Smiley) and members of a gang (including Hammer and Copley). Meeting inside a deserted warehouse, the group initiates the deal, only for a furious firefight to break out when shots go off mid-handoff.
Reynor had a...
- 6/10/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
From the streets to the screen, the unbelievable story of Arielle Holmes is a fascinating example of the rare occurrence when cinema and reality blend almost unnoticeably. New York-based filmmaker duo Josh and Benny Safdie followed Holmes story from her days as a heroin addict living destructively to her film debut starring as a version of herself in a film based on a book she wrote about those very experiences. To call it a miraculous story would be to minimize it, because it's even more improbable than it sounds. Once again, reality overpowers fiction.
Enthralled by Holmes, the Safdie brothers decided to make a film about her life and have her star in it, a choice that might seem risky for some but that felt absolutely correct for the filmmaking team. The result is “Heaven Knows What” an exquisitely raw and ferociously truthful film about people lost in a corrosive lifestyle. Drug addiction and emotional dependency go hand in hand as Harley (Arielle Holmes) tries to regain her boyfriend’s love while finding ways to support her habit and stay alive. Humanizing their characters while never condoning or passing judgment, the directors explore the realities of their lives with a documentary-like visual style that is as vivid as it is heart-wrenching.
An accomplishment both in technique and emotional power, “Heaven Knows What” is an eye-opening experience brimming with unflinching truth. We had the chance to talk to the Safdie team about their latest film and how they manage to put so much of the real world into each frame.
Aguilar: Arielle Holmes is evidently the driving force of this incredibly truthful and bold project. At what point in her journey did you meet her? How did you find her and her story and decided to make a film about it?
Josh Safdie: I found Arielle, that’s what happened really. I was doing research in the Diamond District. I was there for like a year and a half and I thought I knew every person who was a part of the fabric of that street, which is 47th between 5th and 6th, in Manhattan, New York.
One day at the end of the workday I went to the subway with my producer Sebastian Bear-McClard and saw Arielle. When I saw her she was dressed in a really nice dress, which I later found out she spent all of her money on, and she appeared clean because she’d washed herself in a public bathroom that morning. She woke up that morning on the steps of a Buddhist church.
At the time she paid for her habit and for her dress moonlighting as a dominatrix at a place called Pandora’s box. I knew none of this when I met her, all I knew was this was a beautiful girl who had real composure to her and who had a real star quality to her. I wanted to try to find a way to put her in this other movie we were trying to do, but when I met up with her to get to know her better, I soon realized that she had a very different life.
It was the one you see in the film, and we didn’t agree to make this movie until months later. I knew her when she attempted to kill herself, it happened in the time span of me getting to know her. I was just trying to hook her up with other jobs and just be her friend, and I eventfully asked her to start writing about her life. I directed the writing and I paid for it. The book is pretty special, she wrote most of it in Apple stores.
Aguilar: Once you were so invested in her story, was it a logical step to have her star in the film?
Benny Safdie: It was logical
Josh Safdie: Yes, we wanted to make the movie because of her.
Aguilar: Did you have any concerns about the fact that she probably had never acted before?
Josh Safdie: No. Never. That’s not unusual for us. She was a star, we just needed to figure out a way to work with her star quality and find her greatest strengths during the rehearsal period. We put her on camera a lot before we started filming to see how she acted with the camera. We actually found that the more regimen we gave her the better she was. If we just turned on the camera and have her improvise it was Ok, but she needed the structure of a script to be even better.
Benny Safdie: She wanted to take her own emotions to another level.
Aguilar: She is incredible in the film. Is this perhaps her first film of many to come?
Josh Safdie: She did another film in the wintertime, a Sci-Fi, and right now she is acting in another one, a big one.
Aguilar: The rest of the cast is also outstanding. Was there a mix of professionals actors and non-actors? They are all so great is impossible to differentiate.
Josh Safdie: Caleb Landry Jones, who plays Ilya, is an actor. He’s been in “X-Men,” “Byzantium,” “Antiviral,” and others, he is a young Hollywood actor who was introduced to me through one of our casting directors Jennifer Venditti. He was by far the most professional. Then there was Eleonore Hendricks who played a very small role as Erica. Buddy Duress, who played Mike, the dealer, was a real revelation to us. He blew us away with his rawness and his energy. He got arrested the day we finished filming the movie and he was in jail for a year, now he is out and he is in an acting class and he is doing pretty great. He was like a street legend, everyone knew him in the streets, and he’d been in and out of jail his whole life. Oddly enough we had a similar upbringing, so I could have easily made the left when he made the left, instead a made a right, and did what I ended doing. Now I think that he will hopefully make the right. Necro, who plays Skully, is a pretty big underground rapper, who I was a big fan of.
Aguilar: The entire cast disappears completely into their roles. It’s hard to even think these are actors playing a part.
Benny Safdie: The goal is to make it seem like nothing has been done.
Josh Safdie: Testament to the success of the film is when people see the film and think Buddy, playing Mike, is the big professional in the movie. Everyone hears “Oh, there is a big actor in the movie,” because Caleb has a real following, but when people see the movie they think Caleb is the non-professional actor and Buddy is the professional. That’s a real testament to Caleb’s performance as well.
Benny Safdie: It’s a matter of complete immersion into the fabric of that world, and accepting it. At the same it’s also about mixing the professionals and the firs-time actors. We use improvisation as a form of getting the people’s language right. We use it as a tool to get the dialogue perfect. It always sound better when it’s coming from someone’s own voice as opposed to from above, from us. If somebody doesn’t feel comfortable saying it a certain way we change it, and then that makes that person more comfortable.
Aguilar: Surely Arielle’s own experiences informed a lot of your choices. Did she ever come to you and say, “This didn’t happen that way” or “This doesn’t sound right”?
Josh Safdie: That’s funny because when she said that, most of the time it was in accordance to whether or not something happened the way it should have in real life, and we had changed it because it needed to be changed so that somebody watching the movie could feel how she felt. But then that actually helped her because when she started understanding the reasoning behind it and it made her acting even better. She realized, “Ok, I can make myself emotional more extreme to get the point across.”
Aguilar: Shooting a film like this in NYC was probably a great challenge. Did you guys shoot inconspicuously or on the fly to get such a realist and raw visual style?
Josh Safdie: No, it was all very structured because we were shooting a lot of our close-ups from a block away. There was not much freedom to the movements of the actors. Some scenes we did like 13 or 14 takes, sometimes we shot scenes twice. We would shoot them and then we would go back to the same location on another day when we had some free time. We would reshoot the scene if after watching the dailies we felt like it wasn’t quite right.
Benny Safdie: In New York you are not allowed to shoot without a permit if you have a tripod. We pretty much shot the whole movie with tripods or Steadicam, and if you have something like that on the street you need to legally have a permit or you’ll get stopped. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without it, so we had to be very regimented with how we shot just based on the equipment we were using. We had that restriction upon us and for the actors, like Josh said, they had to be on their marks perfectly or else we’d miss it.
Aguilar: The constraints are definitley not noticeable, the city feels and the characters feel completely free.
Josh Safdie: We did not block the sidewalks. we allowed the city to exist as the city, we were just using it to our advantage.
Benny Safdie: At some point you let the city live within the frame and let the actors live on their own within that circle, and it all kind of folds into itself.
Aguilar: Tell me about the film’s structure. The way it starts and the way it ends, it feels like an endless cycle in a sense.
Josh Safdie: That’s the cycle of the lifestyle. You kind of can’t get out of it, it’s almost impossible to get out of it. The reality of that lifestyle is that the two ways out are usually prison or death, or you get cast in a movie and you make that movie [Laughs]. Ariel Pink, a great musician who did a song for the movie and who was also in the film at one point, came to the L.A. premier at AFI Fest, and someone asked him about heroin and his reply was, “ You do heroin and get a movie made out of you.” He said it as a joke because he is a cynical guy, but it’s very rare to get out. Breaks don’t usually come, they are few and far between, and there are a lot of people who are stuck in that lifestyle. It takes a lot of courage to get out of it, and a lot of will power. It’s a trap.
Benny Safdie: It’s a physical addiction to the drug, and then there is the mental addiction to this lifestyle that you think you are living.
Aguilar: It is a lifestyle. Even as chaotic as their lives seem, they do have a certain structure and specific patterns and things they have to do to continue living this way.
Benny Safdie: Exactly, it’s just a different structure. It’s not the one that we follow, but it is a structure. We were just talking about the rent that they have to pay, it's only $15, for the tow of them that’s $30 a night, that’s cheap, that’s nothing. But $30 a night, that’s $900 a month, with that money you can find yourself a pretty descent room.
Josh Safdie: That’s without mentioning their habit, which adds to thousands of dollars a year.
Benny Safdie: And also, who would rent a room to somebody like that? At the same time that’s a lot of money that they are raising, that they are earning by having to get up 8:00 to make sure that they make the morning rush.
Aguilar: The music in the film is something that I really enjoyed and that feels cohesive with the story being told, in particular the ominous track that includes the lyrics, “explore the power of the mind.”
Josh Safdie: That’s funny because there are two pieces of music in the movie that are from Arielle’s life, which her boyfriend, the real Ilya, and Arielle turned me on to. It’s hardstyle music, it’s from a very hardcore electronic scene, and it’s by a very famous DJ called Headhunterz. There is also a big movement in Australia called Melbourne shuffle, which is basically like punk and stomp out music, except that it’s hardcore electronic, but it’s also very beautiful and classical. I consider it to be “Invincible music,” it makes you feel like you are invincible when you listen to it, it’s superhero music. The piece of music you mention, we always say that is diagetic because it’s inside of her head, the movie is just hearing what’s inside of her head.
Benny Safdie: When that track comes in it’s very different than when the music is playing in the beginning of the movie. It comes in and it’s so motivated by what’s happening on screen. It might as well be the sound effects from the park, they are interchangeable.
Aguilar: Did you guys look at any other films that depict addiction to see how it has been represented before?
Josh Safdie: No, we looked to that world itself. If we were looking for any inspiration or any way to be guided, we looked to the world and the characters themselves.
Benny Safdie: We knew there were some pitfalls that other films fall into not just by accident but by the nature of making a movie about somebody who loves a drug. We had conversations about how to film the shooting of the drug, and how to shoot the drug in certain ways to avoid glorifying it, or fetishizing it.
Aguilar: On a more specific note, the film premiered in 2014, but for the theatrical release you include a note in the credits dedicating the film to the real life Ilya, who sadly passed away this year. Is what we see in the film Arielle's premonition?
Josh Safdie: In her writings, Arielle mentions she had a vision in which he had died. She thought he was dead, but in reality he wasn’t. He was in a fire, and he survived the fire. The irony is that Ilya died on April 12th this year under different circumstances.
Benny Safdie: It’s very strange.
Aguilar: The way you approach the subject is so truthful and uncompromising, were you ever concern about audiences having an uncomfortable reaction or that it could be perceived as provocative?
Josh Safdie: I never feel uncomfortable, or dark or heavy. I’m actually very excited by everything in the movie because I kind of previewed a little bit of the mindset that the characters have. I never saw the movie as dark. It is what it is.
"Heaven Knows What" is now playing in Los Angeles at the Acrlight Hollywood and in NYC at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema...
Enthralled by Holmes, the Safdie brothers decided to make a film about her life and have her star in it, a choice that might seem risky for some but that felt absolutely correct for the filmmaking team. The result is “Heaven Knows What” an exquisitely raw and ferociously truthful film about people lost in a corrosive lifestyle. Drug addiction and emotional dependency go hand in hand as Harley (Arielle Holmes) tries to regain her boyfriend’s love while finding ways to support her habit and stay alive. Humanizing their characters while never condoning or passing judgment, the directors explore the realities of their lives with a documentary-like visual style that is as vivid as it is heart-wrenching.
An accomplishment both in technique and emotional power, “Heaven Knows What” is an eye-opening experience brimming with unflinching truth. We had the chance to talk to the Safdie team about their latest film and how they manage to put so much of the real world into each frame.
Aguilar: Arielle Holmes is evidently the driving force of this incredibly truthful and bold project. At what point in her journey did you meet her? How did you find her and her story and decided to make a film about it?
Josh Safdie: I found Arielle, that’s what happened really. I was doing research in the Diamond District. I was there for like a year and a half and I thought I knew every person who was a part of the fabric of that street, which is 47th between 5th and 6th, in Manhattan, New York.
One day at the end of the workday I went to the subway with my producer Sebastian Bear-McClard and saw Arielle. When I saw her she was dressed in a really nice dress, which I later found out she spent all of her money on, and she appeared clean because she’d washed herself in a public bathroom that morning. She woke up that morning on the steps of a Buddhist church.
At the time she paid for her habit and for her dress moonlighting as a dominatrix at a place called Pandora’s box. I knew none of this when I met her, all I knew was this was a beautiful girl who had real composure to her and who had a real star quality to her. I wanted to try to find a way to put her in this other movie we were trying to do, but when I met up with her to get to know her better, I soon realized that she had a very different life.
It was the one you see in the film, and we didn’t agree to make this movie until months later. I knew her when she attempted to kill herself, it happened in the time span of me getting to know her. I was just trying to hook her up with other jobs and just be her friend, and I eventfully asked her to start writing about her life. I directed the writing and I paid for it. The book is pretty special, she wrote most of it in Apple stores.
Aguilar: Once you were so invested in her story, was it a logical step to have her star in the film?
Benny Safdie: It was logical
Josh Safdie: Yes, we wanted to make the movie because of her.
Aguilar: Did you have any concerns about the fact that she probably had never acted before?
Josh Safdie: No. Never. That’s not unusual for us. She was a star, we just needed to figure out a way to work with her star quality and find her greatest strengths during the rehearsal period. We put her on camera a lot before we started filming to see how she acted with the camera. We actually found that the more regimen we gave her the better she was. If we just turned on the camera and have her improvise it was Ok, but she needed the structure of a script to be even better.
Benny Safdie: She wanted to take her own emotions to another level.
Aguilar: She is incredible in the film. Is this perhaps her first film of many to come?
Josh Safdie: She did another film in the wintertime, a Sci-Fi, and right now she is acting in another one, a big one.
Aguilar: The rest of the cast is also outstanding. Was there a mix of professionals actors and non-actors? They are all so great is impossible to differentiate.
Josh Safdie: Caleb Landry Jones, who plays Ilya, is an actor. He’s been in “X-Men,” “Byzantium,” “Antiviral,” and others, he is a young Hollywood actor who was introduced to me through one of our casting directors Jennifer Venditti. He was by far the most professional. Then there was Eleonore Hendricks who played a very small role as Erica. Buddy Duress, who played Mike, the dealer, was a real revelation to us. He blew us away with his rawness and his energy. He got arrested the day we finished filming the movie and he was in jail for a year, now he is out and he is in an acting class and he is doing pretty great. He was like a street legend, everyone knew him in the streets, and he’d been in and out of jail his whole life. Oddly enough we had a similar upbringing, so I could have easily made the left when he made the left, instead a made a right, and did what I ended doing. Now I think that he will hopefully make the right. Necro, who plays Skully, is a pretty big underground rapper, who I was a big fan of.
Aguilar: The entire cast disappears completely into their roles. It’s hard to even think these are actors playing a part.
Benny Safdie: The goal is to make it seem like nothing has been done.
Josh Safdie: Testament to the success of the film is when people see the film and think Buddy, playing Mike, is the big professional in the movie. Everyone hears “Oh, there is a big actor in the movie,” because Caleb has a real following, but when people see the movie they think Caleb is the non-professional actor and Buddy is the professional. That’s a real testament to Caleb’s performance as well.
Benny Safdie: It’s a matter of complete immersion into the fabric of that world, and accepting it. At the same it’s also about mixing the professionals and the firs-time actors. We use improvisation as a form of getting the people’s language right. We use it as a tool to get the dialogue perfect. It always sound better when it’s coming from someone’s own voice as opposed to from above, from us. If somebody doesn’t feel comfortable saying it a certain way we change it, and then that makes that person more comfortable.
Aguilar: Surely Arielle’s own experiences informed a lot of your choices. Did she ever come to you and say, “This didn’t happen that way” or “This doesn’t sound right”?
Josh Safdie: That’s funny because when she said that, most of the time it was in accordance to whether or not something happened the way it should have in real life, and we had changed it because it needed to be changed so that somebody watching the movie could feel how she felt. But then that actually helped her because when she started understanding the reasoning behind it and it made her acting even better. She realized, “Ok, I can make myself emotional more extreme to get the point across.”
Aguilar: Shooting a film like this in NYC was probably a great challenge. Did you guys shoot inconspicuously or on the fly to get such a realist and raw visual style?
Josh Safdie: No, it was all very structured because we were shooting a lot of our close-ups from a block away. There was not much freedom to the movements of the actors. Some scenes we did like 13 or 14 takes, sometimes we shot scenes twice. We would shoot them and then we would go back to the same location on another day when we had some free time. We would reshoot the scene if after watching the dailies we felt like it wasn’t quite right.
Benny Safdie: In New York you are not allowed to shoot without a permit if you have a tripod. We pretty much shot the whole movie with tripods or Steadicam, and if you have something like that on the street you need to legally have a permit or you’ll get stopped. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without it, so we had to be very regimented with how we shot just based on the equipment we were using. We had that restriction upon us and for the actors, like Josh said, they had to be on their marks perfectly or else we’d miss it.
Aguilar: The constraints are definitley not noticeable, the city feels and the characters feel completely free.
Josh Safdie: We did not block the sidewalks. we allowed the city to exist as the city, we were just using it to our advantage.
Benny Safdie: At some point you let the city live within the frame and let the actors live on their own within that circle, and it all kind of folds into itself.
Aguilar: Tell me about the film’s structure. The way it starts and the way it ends, it feels like an endless cycle in a sense.
Josh Safdie: That’s the cycle of the lifestyle. You kind of can’t get out of it, it’s almost impossible to get out of it. The reality of that lifestyle is that the two ways out are usually prison or death, or you get cast in a movie and you make that movie [Laughs]. Ariel Pink, a great musician who did a song for the movie and who was also in the film at one point, came to the L.A. premier at AFI Fest, and someone asked him about heroin and his reply was, “ You do heroin and get a movie made out of you.” He said it as a joke because he is a cynical guy, but it’s very rare to get out. Breaks don’t usually come, they are few and far between, and there are a lot of people who are stuck in that lifestyle. It takes a lot of courage to get out of it, and a lot of will power. It’s a trap.
Benny Safdie: It’s a physical addiction to the drug, and then there is the mental addiction to this lifestyle that you think you are living.
Aguilar: It is a lifestyle. Even as chaotic as their lives seem, they do have a certain structure and specific patterns and things they have to do to continue living this way.
Benny Safdie: Exactly, it’s just a different structure. It’s not the one that we follow, but it is a structure. We were just talking about the rent that they have to pay, it's only $15, for the tow of them that’s $30 a night, that’s cheap, that’s nothing. But $30 a night, that’s $900 a month, with that money you can find yourself a pretty descent room.
Josh Safdie: That’s without mentioning their habit, which adds to thousands of dollars a year.
Benny Safdie: And also, who would rent a room to somebody like that? At the same time that’s a lot of money that they are raising, that they are earning by having to get up 8:00 to make sure that they make the morning rush.
Aguilar: The music in the film is something that I really enjoyed and that feels cohesive with the story being told, in particular the ominous track that includes the lyrics, “explore the power of the mind.”
Josh Safdie: That’s funny because there are two pieces of music in the movie that are from Arielle’s life, which her boyfriend, the real Ilya, and Arielle turned me on to. It’s hardstyle music, it’s from a very hardcore electronic scene, and it’s by a very famous DJ called Headhunterz. There is also a big movement in Australia called Melbourne shuffle, which is basically like punk and stomp out music, except that it’s hardcore electronic, but it’s also very beautiful and classical. I consider it to be “Invincible music,” it makes you feel like you are invincible when you listen to it, it’s superhero music. The piece of music you mention, we always say that is diagetic because it’s inside of her head, the movie is just hearing what’s inside of her head.
Benny Safdie: When that track comes in it’s very different than when the music is playing in the beginning of the movie. It comes in and it’s so motivated by what’s happening on screen. It might as well be the sound effects from the park, they are interchangeable.
Aguilar: Did you guys look at any other films that depict addiction to see how it has been represented before?
Josh Safdie: No, we looked to that world itself. If we were looking for any inspiration or any way to be guided, we looked to the world and the characters themselves.
Benny Safdie: We knew there were some pitfalls that other films fall into not just by accident but by the nature of making a movie about somebody who loves a drug. We had conversations about how to film the shooting of the drug, and how to shoot the drug in certain ways to avoid glorifying it, or fetishizing it.
Aguilar: On a more specific note, the film premiered in 2014, but for the theatrical release you include a note in the credits dedicating the film to the real life Ilya, who sadly passed away this year. Is what we see in the film Arielle's premonition?
Josh Safdie: In her writings, Arielle mentions she had a vision in which he had died. She thought he was dead, but in reality he wasn’t. He was in a fire, and he survived the fire. The irony is that Ilya died on April 12th this year under different circumstances.
Benny Safdie: It’s very strange.
Aguilar: The way you approach the subject is so truthful and uncompromising, were you ever concern about audiences having an uncomfortable reaction or that it could be perceived as provocative?
Josh Safdie: I never feel uncomfortable, or dark or heavy. I’m actually very excited by everything in the movie because I kind of previewed a little bit of the mindset that the characters have. I never saw the movie as dark. It is what it is.
"Heaven Knows What" is now playing in Los Angeles at the Acrlight Hollywood and in NYC at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema...
- 5/29/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
“Heaven Knows What is a horrifying and remarkable piece of cinema that feels both alarmingly alive and alien given its subject matter,” wrote Ty Landis in his glowing review from Tiff 2014. This heroin addiction drama from Ben and Joshua Safdie, is the best of its kind since Requiem for a Dream, as it’s described in this new trailer.
Arielle Holmes and Caleb Landry Jones star in a story about an NYC couple battling addiction while taking part in a love affair. Here’s the full synopsis:
Harley loves Ilya. He gives her life purpose, sets her passion ablaze. So when he asks her to prove her love by slitting her wrists, she obliges with only mild hesitation, perhaps because of her other all-consuming love: heroin.
In Heaven Knows What, by celebrated filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie (Lenny Cooke, Daddy Longlegs), Arielle Holmes is Harley in her searing film debut,...
Arielle Holmes and Caleb Landry Jones star in a story about an NYC couple battling addiction while taking part in a love affair. Here’s the full synopsis:
Harley loves Ilya. He gives her life purpose, sets her passion ablaze. So when he asks her to prove her love by slitting her wrists, she obliges with only mild hesitation, perhaps because of her other all-consuming love: heroin.
In Heaven Knows What, by celebrated filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie (Lenny Cooke, Daddy Longlegs), Arielle Holmes is Harley in her searing film debut,...
- 5/13/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Latido Films taking drama starring Barry Keoghan and Klaus Maria Brandauer to the Cannes Marche.
British writer Rebecca Lenckiewicz has joined Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov on drama I Want To Be Like You. It marks Lenckiewicz’s first feature co-writing Oscar-winner Ida with director Pawel Pawlikowski.
Bojanov will shoot the coming-of-age drama this July on location in and around Copenhagen, the UK’s West Midlands and Belgium.
The film has a budget of $2.2m (€2m) and is a production partnership between Toolbox Film in Copenhagen, London’s Film and Music Entertainment, Brussels-based Left Field Ventures and Bulgaria’s Multfilm.
The young cast is led by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who featured in Yann Demmange’s ’71. He more recently appeared in Mammal by Rebecca Daly, Trespass Against Us by Adam Smith, and Norfolk, directed by Martin Radich.
Opposite him in the role of Piri is Danish actor Thure Lindhardt, best known roles in Fast and Furious 6, Angels...
British writer Rebecca Lenckiewicz has joined Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov on drama I Want To Be Like You. It marks Lenckiewicz’s first feature co-writing Oscar-winner Ida with director Pawel Pawlikowski.
Bojanov will shoot the coming-of-age drama this July on location in and around Copenhagen, the UK’s West Midlands and Belgium.
The film has a budget of $2.2m (€2m) and is a production partnership between Toolbox Film in Copenhagen, London’s Film and Music Entertainment, Brussels-based Left Field Ventures and Bulgaria’s Multfilm.
The young cast is led by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who featured in Yann Demmange’s ’71. He more recently appeared in Mammal by Rebecca Daly, Trespass Against Us by Adam Smith, and Norfolk, directed by Martin Radich.
Opposite him in the role of Piri is Danish actor Thure Lindhardt, best known roles in Fast and Furious 6, Angels...
- 5/8/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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