Get a lesson in astrophysics, mathematical equations and black holes in this fascinating new video for writer/director Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR.
In the featurette Nolan, co-writer Jonathan Nolan, producer Emma Thomas, theoretical physicist/executive producer Kip Thorne, and VFX Supervisor Paul Franklin explain how they went about making for the big screen these regions in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out.
These groundbreaking techniques resulted in surprisingly real findings for the astrophysics community.
Look for our special screening prizepack giveaway early next week.
Here are the reactions from early screenings via Twitter.
Saw ‘Interstellar’ for a second time projected on IMAX film. Truly an magnificent film. Emotional, visually stunning. See it large and loud.
With our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history: traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars.
From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight” films, “Inception”), INTERSTELLAR stars Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”), Oscar winner Anne Hathaway (“Les Miserables”), Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Bill Irwin (“Rachel Getting Married”), Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn (“Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”), and Oscar winner Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules”). The main cast also includes Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy and Topher Grace.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Lynda Obst produced INTERSTELLAR, with Jordan Goldberg, Jake Myers, Kip Thorne and Thomas Tull serving as executive producers.
Nolan’s behind-the-scenes creative team was led by director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema (“Her”), Oscar-nominated production designer Nathan Crowley (“The Dark Knight”), Oscar-nominated editor Lee Smith (“The Dark Knight”), and Oscar-nominated costume designer Mary Zophres (“True Grit”). The score was composed by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer (“The Dark Knight” trilogy, “The Lion King”).
Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures present, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Syncopy/Lynda Obst Productions production, a film by Christopher Nolan, INTERSTELLAR
Summit Entertainment has announced that their upcoming fantasy movie, THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, will open on October 23, 2015.
Starring Vin Diesel, Elijah Wood, Rose Leslie, Michael Caine, the film is from director Breck Eisner (THE CRAZIES- 2010).
Tormented by the loss of his family and cursed with immortal life, the last witch hunter (Vin Diesel) is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history.
Depending on the box office success, Lionsgate is hoping to develop a franchise series based on the character and film.
Diesel has released some behind the scenes photos from THE LAST WITCH HUNTER on his Facebook page.
WHIPLASH has been one of the most talked about films of the year, and with good reason! Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons give incredible performances that leave audiences in awe.
Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is an ambitious young drummer fighting against all odds to be the best. His parents are certainly not on board, yet Andrew will do everything in his power to achieve greatness. While attending a music conservatory on the east coast, Andrew lands a once in a lifetime opportunity to play for Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a professor known for having one of the best jazz ensembles in the country. Andrew soon becomes obsessed with mastering his craft while Terence is dead set on either breaking his spirit or making him the best drummer he can possibly be.
From the first moments of this film it’s clear that there is a lot of talent on the screen. Miles Teller pours his heart and soul into the character of Andrew, and it shows. Almost all of the drumming in the film is Teller, and he spent quite a bit of time on his craft prior to filming. When you see blood on that drum kit, it’s Tellers. That’s what I call dedication. We’ve seen the funny, snarky side of Teller, and a bit of an emotional side, but this is a different ballgame. His characters obsession with becoming the best is a growing constant in thes film, and Teller brings it.
J.K. Simmons is equally talented as the tough-as-nails Terence Fletcher. His ability to switch between compassionate, invested mentor and demon teacher is beyond impressive. The two shine together. It’s like watching an amazing tennis match where the two just keep the ball in play. They work well together.
Director Damien Chazelle creates a world where perfection and fear are a thriving force. Andrew is so driven towards perfection that he is willing to sacrifice everything, including his personal life to achieve it. Despite the abusive nature of his relationship with Terrence, he continues to go back for more because he sees just how much he is improving. It’s almost like a drug… a drug that audiences cannot stop taking! The film poses the question of how far is to far in order to achieve a goal. The answer… as far as it takes if you truly want it. A film about hard work and dedication is a breath of fresh air, as opposed to the instant gratification world that we currently live in.
I cannot say enough good things about this film. If you want to see great actors spar with each other, this is the film for you.
“A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing.” That’s a message on a postcard displayed on the dressing room mirror of Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) in BIRDMAN or (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE). With that phrase in mind, I feel it’s best to simply say, “Go see the movie. Then we can talk about it.” I could leave this review at that considering the film brings into question the role of the critic when an actor, director, or artist puts their heart and soul on the line for his or her art. But just plainly urging you to see the movie is also counter-productive when there is so much love, effort, and ideas pulsating from this work of art. And it is just that. BIRDMAN is a work of art. Don’t take my word for it though, go and see it for yourself. In the meantime, indulge me –even if I am a critic – as I examine some of the deeper meanings behind this film and try to wrap my head around what this “thing” is really about.
Riggan Thompson is attempting to redefine his career through a new Broadway play that he is directing, adapting, and starring in. Years ago he rose to fame after playing a masked superhero named Birdman in a series of films. Since abandoning the series after three films Riggan has fallen on hard times both professionally and in his personal life. Even with the help of Riggan’s manager Jake (a low-key departure for Zach Galifianikis) and a talented crew of Broadway veterans (Edward Norton) and newbies (Naomi Watts), the play begins to run into consecutive problems leading up to its opening night. Adding to the stress, Riggan’s sanity comes into question as he drifts in and out of reality as he sometimes hears the voice of his masked alter ego that he played on-screen many years ago.
BIRDMAN is an incredibly ambitious meta experiment from director Alejandro González Iñárritu that pays off. The complicated camera-work that maneuvers around actors and between scenes is the first and most prominent feature that many will take notice of. That’s certainly not me undermining the expertly choreographed cinematography. It’s a stunning feat to say the least without feeling like a gimmick. In fact, the “single-take” approach works in unison with the hot jazz percussion score that is weaved into several scenes – quite literally actually since the drummer is shown at his kit twice – to form something that more closely resembles a long free-form poem that you might have heard Allen Ginsberg recite in a smoky club in the late 1950’s. The film is presented as a work of art while deconstructing what it means to be a working artist. It’s a huge undertaking to attempt to tell such a story, but Iñárritu handles the challenge with the same ease and energy as GRAVITY cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki lends to the film. BIRDMAN presents the mind of an artist as always racing and at odds with itself. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise if your mind will continue to buzz and hum with the ideas and situations long after this rich and complicated film comes to a close.
The entire cast plays off of the technical energy of the film perfectly and conveys the weight of the material in an acute manner. Edward Norton should come as no surprise to film fans. His presence has always been felt no matter how small of a role he is given. Here is no different. At times he gives the character of Mike a cocky smugness, but then will just as easily follow it up with a scene of brutal vulnerability opposite Riggan’s daughter Sam (Emma Stone) on the theater’s rooftop. A scene early on where he confronts a newspaper critic in a bar practically encouraged me to stand up and applaud in the theater. Of course the loudest praise should go to Michael Keaton. His intensity and multilayered performance will surprise many given his absence from films of this nature as of late. What should come as no surprise though is the amount of awards and honors he will most likely receive come the end of the year.
At some point I began to feel that I wasn’t watching a film starring Michael Keaton… I was watching a film about the world in which Michael Keaton is living in 2014. Questions of identity and art imitating life (and vice versa) are integral to the concept Alejandro González Iñárritu is playing with, but even more so is the intent to present a question for the audience: can we ever look at Michael Keaton and not see Batman? Now more than ever the “superhero” genre or the comic-book film (a term I hate due to its insular look at the medium) makes up a large chunk of our entertainment on television and at the cinema. Just in the past three years, there are now three superhero films in the top ten highest grossing films of all time (THE AVENGERS, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, and IRON MAN 3). BIRDMAN could not have come at a more culturally relevant time. When headlines on national television as well as media bogs focus on whether Ben Affleck will be a suitable Batman or not, you know we are living in a time when the “hero” has gone past being celebrated and has moved into the territory of obsession. People have always connected with Batman and other comic-book heroes due to the ideals they stand for and are willing to defend. What happens though when the hero chooses to abandon the cape and mask and we refuse to accept that? We as impassioned fans are often so fickle that we can turn on the hero in a second. As they explained in Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” In the case of BIRDMAN, I think Iñárritu is asking us if we can ever look at Michael Keaton as the man and not think of him as the masked man. Even more so, if we cannot, does Keaton become a villain in our eyes because he chooses not to be the hero behind the mask?
Guilt becomes a recurring theme in the film. Aside from not giving into public demand by portraying Birdman in a fourth film, Riggan is compelled to make good for his past failures and sees this play as a solution. Though his confidence in the Broadway show comes and goes as the clock ticks away to the curtain rising, it’s still his current artistic expression, which as an artist, it is all you think about. This play is a form of therapy for Riggan to confront his mistakes while simultaneously hoping that it just might be the start of a new life for him. It can be hard for an artist not to get sucked into a tunnel and only think about his or her self. Keaton portrays this inner struggle between his “real” problems and artistic problems to great effect. BIRDMAN shows us how these worlds often collide. No matter how much pain he may have caused by his past mistakes (being an unsupportive father, a cheating husband, etc.), the guilt he now feels, in a sick sort of way, only fuels his desire to succeed all the more. Both Keaton’s and Norton’s character discover that sometimes it’s hard to abandon your real world filled with real problems when you walk out onto the stage.
This is really only a fraction of what is going on in this deep and intelligent film. BIRDMAN is such a complex look at the artistic process that it’s hard to even put into words all that it encompasses. So much of the film is meant to be felt and interrupted by the audience instead of fully spelled out or beaten over our head. Fantastical imagery such as the opening scene where we see Riggan meditating in midair in his dressing room or later when he flings items across the room proves that Riggan doesn’t entirely want to abandon the superhero role since it brought him fame and fortune, but it also serves as a metaphor for how we perceive ourselves versus how the outside world views us.
Much like Keaton’s character, BIRDMAN feels like it’s on the brink of falling apart. Between all the players involved, the many themes at work, and the long breathtaking camera shots, I constantly found myself holding my breath, hoping that all of the pieces didn’t come crashing down. There’s an organized chaos to this darkly comic affair that Iñárritu has carefully assembled. Like the work of action painter Jackson Pollock, there’s so much movement and emotion that makes up this composition – the grand performance that is life – that you can’t help but stare in awe at the majesty of this triumphant and artistic masterpiece.
Overall score: 5 out of 5
BIRDMAN or (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) is now playing in select cities and is showing exclusively in St. Louis at The Tivoli and Plaza Frontenac Theatre.
Although Summer has long passed, it’s not too late for another youth-oriented movie adaptation. So, what is it, another flick based on a popular series of “young adult” novels, or perhaps a “tear-jerker” like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS or IF I STAY? Is it another comic book or classic TV show getting the big screen treatment? Nope, this is based on a game. But not a video or computer game like the Lara Croft franchise or the recent NEED FOR SPEED. It’s an “old school” board game, one that’s been around for ages. The box office sinking of BATTLESHIP has not deterred the folks at Hasbro Films (an off-shoot of the toy empire). After all, GI Joe and those Transformers are still raking in the bucks. Plus THE LEGO MOVIE’s success will spawn a trio of spin-offs. Oh, and there’s a chance of cross-over money from the ravenous fright flick fans, since this game supposedly contacts the netherworld. Switch off the lamps, light up the candles, and enter the world of OUIJA.
It begins with a flashback to a pre-teen girls’ slumber party as a pretty lil’ blonde gives her BFF, along with the theatre audience, the rules of the game. Flash ahead years later and the ladies are about to finish up high school when tragedy strikes. That BFF, Laine (Olivia Cooke) is shattered by her loss. She must know why this happened and so she gets out, of course, that dusty old ouija board. Since she can’t do this alone, Laine recruits her beau Trevor (Daren Kagasoff), her rebelleous kid sister Sarah (Ana Coto), the deceased’s beau Pete (Douglas Smith), and mutual pal, diner waitress Isabelle (Bianca Santos). Needless to say, they get much more than they bargained for when all matter of weird stuff starts happening. Laine realizes that they opened a portal that has allowed an evil force into our dimension, a force that targets the five friends. Is there any way they can stop this entity and send it back before its vengeance is unleashed upon them all?
First time feature director Stiles White (a veteran special effects artist), working from the screenplay he co-wrote with Juliet Snowden, pummels the film with every PG-13 “spookshow” cliché we’ve seen again and again. Characters pop into frame with exploding music beats while others emerge from the shadows silently for no good reason other than to try to make the heroine and audience jump. The spirits are a variation of the pale, stringy-haired wild wraiths so common since THE RING from a dozen years ago. And they’re intent on offing the cast as if this were a kids’ cable channel FINAL DESTINATION. There’s none of the inventive, infectious energy that made THE CONJURING an unexpected multiplex thrill ride. Cooke leads the good-looking cast through the motions while glowering as if she was fretting over exams (much as her role in THE QUIET ONES or on TV’s “Bates Motel”). The whole cast is interchangeable, as if they were plucked from the latest CW prime time show or a soft drink commercial all running around a generic West coast town. At least Coto gets a mild punk/goth look (a ripped shirt!) along with a “grrril” snarl. We do get a couple of supporting turns from two screen vets. One’s from a current popular horror franchise, another’s a fave film teen witch. These ladies are the only adults to make an impression, the rest are invisible and ineffectual (Laine and Sarah’s single Pop skips out early on a business trip). During a brief scene in which Laine meets a school counselor we almost expect his dialogue to be replaced by the saxophone “waa-waa” of the adults in the Peanuts animated TV cartoons. The film will work for its intended audiences as young girls will bury their faces in their boyfriends’ shoulders (and to be fair, both will spring from their seats a few times), but for those of us who have been to more than a couple of movie haunted houses, it is a real slog. Do they have to play the game in the dead of night? Why not enjoy a potluck lunch before opening the window to begin the summoning? Sorry, logic’s got no place here. Instead of heading to theatres, OUIJA would be better off gathering dust with the other games
Principal photography has commenced on the highly anticipated motion picture THE 5TH WAVE, Columbia Pictures’ adaptation of the bestselling young adult novel. The action-adventure film is directed by J Blakeson, with a screenplay by Susannah Grant, based on the book by Rick Yancey. The producers are Tobey Maguire, Graham King, Lynn Harris, and Matthew Plouffe. Denis O’Sullivan and Richard Middleton are the executive producers.
Slated for domestic release on January 29, 2016, THE 5TH WAVE stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Cassie, Nick Robinson as Ben Parishaka “Zombie,” Ron Livingston as Dad/Oliver, Maggie Siff as Mom/Lisa, Alex Roe as Evan Walker, Maika Monroe as Ringer, Zackary Arthur as Sam, and Liev Schreiber as Vosch.
In THE 5TH WAVE, set in the present day, four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, 16-year-old Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal 5th wave, Cassie meets a young man who may become her final hope.
Throughout photography, fans will have unrivaled access to the production, including a wealth of behind-the-scenes photos, interaction with cast and crew, and on-set updates via social media. “One of the ways Rick Yancey made The 5th Wave so special is that it feels like it’s happening right now – and the characters react as teenagers today would react,” said Dwight Caines, president, Theatrical Marketing for Sony Pictures. “To stay faithful to that, we are making sure fans are on the inside from Day One.”
Blakeson’s production team includes Enrique Chediak as the Director of Photography, Jon Billington as the Production Designer, Paul Rubell as the Editor, and Sharen Davis as the Costume Designer.
The 5th Wave is a phenomenon in young adult literature, with 21 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers list, nearly 300,000 hardcover units sold, and 80,000 e-books sold. The novel, which has also had tremendous crossover appeal with adults, was honored with the 2014 Red House Children’s Book Award in the UK. The second book in Yancey’s planned trilogy, The Infinite Sea, was published last month.
Hannah Minghella and Andrea Giannetti will oversee the project for the studio.
Moviegoers can stay up-to-date on all things 5th Wave by following the movie and interacting on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @5thWaveMovie.
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMAs) announced the performers for the 5th Annual HMMAs to be held at The Fonda Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday, November 4, 2014. Comprised of this year’s nominees, each performance will be world premiered at the HMMAs. Tickets for the show are available at www.hmmawards.org.
2014 HMMA Performers
Gregg Alexander – “Lost Stars” from Begin Again
Grammy winning singer/songwriter/producer Gregg Alexander will perform for the first time in 15 years. This will be the former New Radicals frontman’s first performance since the group disbanded following their international hit “You Get What You Give.” “Lost Stars” is performed in Begin Again by Keira Knightley and Adam Levine. The song was also included as bonus track on Maroon 5’s latest album “V.”
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman Score LIVE
Four-time Grammy winning drummer Antonio Sanchez will open the 2014 HMMAs with a special drum performance from Birdman. Sanchez’s will play his critically acclaimed drum score live to a scene from the film. Sanchez, the reigning ‘Best Jazz Drummer’ on Modern Drummer’s Readers Poll’s reigning ‘Best Jazz Drummer,’ is in the midst of a worldwide tour with Pat Metheny.
Gwendolyn Sanford, Brandon Jay, & Scott Doherty – Orange is the New Black Music Suite
Sanford, Jay, and Doherty will perform their original music from the critically acclaimed Netflix show. The trio also provided the score for Jenji Kohan’s previous show, Showtime’s Weeds.
Presenters at the 2014 HMMAs include Emmy nominated music director/producer/composer Rickey Minor and Oscar nominated singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop. Minor will introduce Education Through Music – Los Angeles and discuss the importance of music education in schools.
Hosts include Oscar nominated actor and star of Inherent Vice Eric Roberts, former Matchbox 20 member Adam Gaynor, acclaimed Director/Writer/Producer Andy Fickman (Parental Guidance, She’s the Man) and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Verdine White. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Education Through Music – Los Angeles (ETMLA).
“Rhythm is everything in cinema,” says director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Making the unique choice for the BIRDMAN soundtrack, Iñárritu went with an almost total drum score by four-time Grammy Award winner Antonio Sanchez.
Sanchez is considered by many critics and musicians alike to be one of the most prominent drummers, bandleaders and composers of his generation.
Sanchez will open the 2014 Hollywood Music in Media Awards with a special drum performance from BIRDMAN. Held at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday, November 4, Sanchez will play his critically acclaimed drum score live to a scene from the film.
BIRDMAN or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.
Like all of Iñárritu’s films, BIRDMAN takes an acute look at the human existence as seen through the characters, anchored by Riggan (Michael Keaton), but it walks a tonal tightrope between comedy and pathos, illusion and reality, allowing for multiple interpretations.
Starring Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts, BIRDMAN’s filmmaking team includes director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, (GRAVITY), production designer Kevin Thompson (MICHAEL CLAYTON), edited by Douglas Crise (BABEL) and Stephen Mirrione (AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY), and costume designer Albert Wolsky (REVOLUTIONARY ROAD).
Born in Mexico City, Antonio Sanchez started playing drums at the age of five and began performing professionally in his teens. Sanchez pursued a degree in classical piano at the National Conservatory in Mexico, and in 1993, he moved to Boston to enroll at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in Jazz Studies. Since his move to New York City in 1999 Sanchez has become one of the most sought after drummers in the international jazz scene. Sanchez is the reigning ‘Best Jazz Drummer’ on Modern Drummer’s Readers Poll’s reigning ‘Best Jazz Drummer’.
He has been the drummer of choice for twenty-time Grammy winner Pat Metheny and has been part of virtually every project the famed guitarist has put together since 2000. They’ve recorded eight albums together, and three of them have been awarded the Grammy. The Pat Metheny Unity Group is presently touring Japan, China, Australia and Singapore and will wrap up in New York in early December.
WAMG caught up with the percussionist, via the phone, in Shanghai as he was preparing to make his way to Australia for the next part of the tour with Metheny.
During our discussion, Sanchez explained his collaboration with Iñárritu on BIRDMAN and how the rhythm of the drums is tethered to Riggan’s journey towards self-discovery.
WAMG: Your score is amazing and the film is brilliant.
Antonio Sanchez: Oh thanks. I still can’t wait to see the film.
WAMG: The viewer follows Riggan and Birdman. Iñárritu has said, “Birdman is Riggan’s super ego, and from Birdman’s perspective, Riggan has lost his mind by doing this play that is clearly beneath them. From Riggan’s perspective, it’s Birdman that has lost his mind. From the perspective of the era, both are irrelevant.”
Your drum score is woven throughout the film. How much of it did you compose prior to shooting?
AS: When Alejandro first contacted me in January of last year, he sent me the script right away and I read it. It would be the equivalent if I sent somebody charts of music that hasn’t been finished. I’m not a film director seeing it already done, so it was like a completely different experience. When I read the script, it was a great script, but I needed a little more information.
Alejandro started talking to me, telling me about the characters, giving more information about the backstory. What we did is when they started shooting the film in New York, we got together in the studio and did a bunch of demos. My first instinct was to compose rhythmic themes for each character so every time you see Riggan come on the screen, you hear a certain beat or vibe.
When I showed that to Alejandro, he said that’s exactly what he didn’t want. “I want something completely spontaneous,” he said. “Very improvised. You’re a Jazz drummer, so I want you to do your thing.”
When we got together in the studio again he would explain the scene. “Riggan is in his dressing room and he gets up and his mind is boiling already. He opens the door to his dressing room and starts walking down this long hallway. He then turns the corner and he’s having all these crazy thoughts and goes to the stagedoor and waits there for a second. He opens the stagedoor and he goes on the stage. How would you play?”
I was thinking, okay, I’ll figure something out. But I told him I wanted him to sit in front of me while I’m playing and to raise his hand every time he sees Riggan doing something. Imagine the whole scene and every time I see your hand, that means he’s going onto the next part of the scene. So I would change what I played according to that and that’s what we did for a bunch of scenes. This way he could get the timing in his mind.
Once we did that, we took it and put it to the film.
WAMG: Was the film edited to your drum score or vice versa?
AS: It was a little bit of back and forth. They spliced up what I had done and they edited onto the film once it was in a rough cut shape. I then came to Los Angeles, saw and heard what they did. We got another studio in Los Angeles and I did another whole pass of more or less the same thing that I had done, but now looking at the movie as I was drumming. Alejandro was there giving me a lot of pointers. For instance, “when Riggan says this word, stop playing,” he would say.
I’ve been improvising my whole life, but I’ve never really had to do it to an image – especially a moving image. It was very interesting. Getting into Alejandro’s head and seeing how his mind works was fascinating.
WAMG: The rhythm of the drums is the movie’s heart, despite what’s going on with Michael Keaton’s character.
AS: Yes, that’s exactly Alejandro first told me when he contacted me. “I want the whole thing to be about the drums and the rhythm and Riggan’s unhealthy mind,” he said. “I want you to show that with the drums.”
Another really cool thing that we did was to overdub a bunch of drum tracks, especially towards the end when Riggan starts getting really bad. We did a lot of music and put it together so it sounds really chaotic and horrifying in a way.
WAMG: There’s a cacophony of brushes and sticks and snares throughout. For percussionists reading, what did you use?
AS: I brought the whole kit and caboodle for this. I used a lot of different cymbals, as well as various different drum sizes. I played with sticks, mallets and rods. I used my hands.
Another thing we did was to give the drums a gritty, dirty sound. When we did those first tracks in New York, the drums sounded really clean. Since the film takes place around this Broadway theatre, Alejandro wanted it to sound dirty and gritty. I had to prepare the drums with different drum heads so they would sound old. I detuned them so they would sound flappy, so when I hit them, it would sound like they hadn’t been played in years.
WAMG: There are also some interesting classical pieces, along with the songs, that are mixed in with your score. It’s a nice ebb and flow between the two. Were you in on that?
AS: Alejandro told me both would be in there. The soundtrack CD was released not too long ago and the whole thing is just drums and classical music. I don’t think there’s ever been a record like that ever in the history of soundtracks.
I was listening to it from end to end and it’s really interesting how it flows.
WAMG: Your tracks reminded me of John Bonham, Art Blakey, and Buddy Rich. Who influenced you and who are your favorite drummers?
AS: You mentioned some of my main guys. Those were a big influence on me growing up. Ringo Starr was my first influence as was Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones. I was a rocker at heart as a kid.
I started playing along to the records of The Police. I love The Police – especially Stewart Copeland. Rush’s Neil Peart – he was also one of my guys.
Then I started getting more into Jazz. Tony Williams, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes. You have to listen to everything. I came more through the backdoor into Jazz because I started Rock first. I have a pretty wide variety of things that I can do as a drummer. I’ve listened to so many other types of music – besides drums and played it too – in Mexico and in The States. It was very useful to have all those tools when we started working on the film.
WAMG: Do you hope to work on more film scores in the future?
AS: This was my first soundtrack. It was not my on my radar to do a film score at all. Alejandro just happened to want to do this and I was very into the idea. If another score happens in one shape or form, that’ll be great but I have my other career as a band leader and musician. Right now I’m in Shanghai doing this Asian tour and were going onto Australia. Next year I’m putting out my own solo records and working a lot with my band. If in the midst of it all, another film score happens, that’d be great.
This chilling prequel, set before the haunting of the Lambert family, reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl (Stefanie Scott) who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.
The film’s cast includes Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, and Leigh Whannell.
INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 opens in theaters May 29, 2015.
Check out INTO THE WOODS on four exclusive Entertainment Weekly Holiday Preview covers with the inside feature they call “An exclusive look at this winter’s most wickedly beautiful film” which includes interviews with the filmmakers and cast as well as photos.
EW.com debuts the featurette “A look inside INTO THE WOODS” with additional interviews and new film footage.
INTO THE WOODS is a modern twist on several of the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests.
This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), all tied together by an original story involving a Baker and his Wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the Witch (Meryl Streep), who has put a curse on them.
Rob Marshall, the acclaimed filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning musical “Chicago” and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” directs the film, which is based on the Tony-winning original musical by James Lapine, who also penned the screenplay, and legendary composer Stephen Sondheim, who provides the music and lyrics.
Produced by John DeLuca, Marshall, “Wicked” producer Marc Platt and Callum McDougall, INTO THE WOODS opens in theaters December 25, 2014.
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