Based on Richard Osman’s international bestselling novel of the same name, THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB follows four irrepressible retirees – Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) and Joyce (Celia Imrie) – who spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. When an unexplained death occurs on their own doorstep, their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn as they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands. Directed by Chris Columbus, the film is the latest to be produced through the Netflix and Amblin Entertainment partnership.
See it on Netflix on August 28.
Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren also star in Paramount+’s MOBLAND alongside Tom Hardy. The brilliant crime series is executive produced by Guy Ritchie.
In Netflix’s TUDUM post, the article states the film also features Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes,The Crown), David Tennant (Doctor Who, Inside Man), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Withnail and I) and Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hot Fuzz). Amblin founder Steven Spielberg stopped by the set during production and ran into an old friend — Paul Freeman, who played Belloq, nemesis and “shadowy reflection” of Indiana Jones, in Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Working with such an adept cast, director Columbus aimed to bring out a balance of humor, intrigue, and heart, and the result is a singularly moving, hilarious, edge-of-your-seat adventure. “There’s a wonderful mystery at its core, so mystery fans will be very happy,” he says. “But thematically it’s interesting that we’ve got four elderly people who are living in a retirement community and who are fascinated by death and murder. They are facing their own demise, yet at the same time they are obsessed with studying cold cases. I fell in love thematically with that. It’s comedic, but it’s also very emotional.”
Brand new special shoot images featuring the cast of Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK have been released.
Featuring Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o, Sir Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken and Giancarlo Esposito, each image pairs the actor with their onscreen character, as well as quotes from the actors.
Voiced by Idris Elba, Shere Khan bears the scars of man, which fuel his hatred of humans. Convinced that Mowgli poses a threat, the bengal tiger is determined to rid the jungle of the man-cub. “Shere Khan reigns with fear,” says Elba. “He terrorizes everyone he encounters because he comes from a place of fear.”
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories, “The Jungle Book” is inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, with an approach all its own. “We embrace the mythic qualities of Kipling in the more intense tonal aspects of the film,” says director Jon Favreau, “but we left room for what we remember from the ’67 film, and sought to maintain those charming Disneyesque aspects.”
Filmmakers employed up-to-the-minute technology to tell the story in a contemporary and immersive way, blending live-action performances with stunning CG environments and extraordinary photo-real animal characters that artists stylized to elevate the storytelling. “‘The Jungle Book’ is a universal coming-of-age story that everyone can relate to,” says producer Brigham Taylor. “Walt told the story through traditional cell animation and now we have the technology to actually bring these characters to life, make them photo-real and put a real kid into the environment in a seamless, believable way.
The opportunity to be able to show that with today’s technology was irresistible.” According to Favreau, story is king. “I think films have to offer an emotional experience for the audience,” says the director. “The spectacle won’t mean anything if they’re not engaged emotionally with the characters. Every story needs humanity, emotion and character development, as well as humor—presented in a way that doesn’t betray the stakes of the film. There are white-knuckle moments in the movie when you wonder, ‘What’s going to happen to this kid?’”
The all-star cast includes Bill Murray (“Lost in Translation”) as the voice of Baloo, Ben Kingsley (“Learning to Drive,” “The Walk”) as Bagheera, Idris Elba (“Star Trek Beyond”) as Shere Khan, and Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) as the voice of mother wolf Raksha. Scarlett Johansson (“Avengers: Age of Ultron”) gives life to Kaa, Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) provides the voice of alpha-male wolf Akela, and Christopher Walken (“The Deer Hunter”) lends his iconic voice to King Louie. Newcomer Neel Sethi stars as the film’s only human character, Mowgli. Sethi, 12, was selected from thousands of hopefuls who auditioned as part of an extensive worldwide search.
The characters and stories of “The Jungle Book” have reached people from all parts of the world. Bombay-born, English writer Rudyard Kipling channeled his love of India in 1894’s “The Jungle Book,” following with “The Second Jungle Book” in 1895. Though considered children’s books, the stories—with their lush landscapes and talking animals—sparked interest in young and old alike—often introducing readers to India for the first time. Kipling, who wrote the stories while starting a family in Vermont, published 3 additional books and short-story collections, and ultimately became the highest-paid writer in the world at age 32. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.
“Kipling’s stories follow Joseph Campbell’s ‘hero with a thousand faces’ view of mythic storytelling,” says director Jon Favreau. “You have the rise of the hero—a young boy coming of age in the jungle in this environment with all of these archetypal characters. As a filmmaker I find this as very fertile soil.”
Kipling’s stories have been adapted several times in the 12 decades that followed their publication. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ animated movie, “The Jungle Book,” was overhauled when Walt Disney felt that early drafts, which retained the darker tone of Kipling’s stories, were too serious. Released on Oct. 18, 1967, a year after Disney’s death, the film became a beloved classic. With iconic songs like Terry Gilkyson’s “The Bare Necessities” and the Sherman Brothers’ “I Wanna Be Like You,” the film’s soundtrack still inspires instantaneous humming and toe tapping today. Disney’s “The Jungle Book” was released theatrically two more times, as well as in-home video, DVD and Blu-ray releases, earning fans across generations and rooting Mowgli and his animal friends and foes in hearts around the world.
“The bond between Mowgli and Baloo made a very strong impression on me as a kid,” says Favreau. “It reminded me of my own relationship with my grandfather, who was a big part of my life. I really like that Mowgli is rambunctious, always getting into trouble. He isn’t the standard well-behaved kid, but a bit precocious—a ‘Dennis the Menace’ type. He isn’t intimidated by these big wild animals, in fact, he’s completely at home among them. He’s a tough kid but also very vulnerable emotionally, especially with Baloo.
Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK is in theaters April 15, 2016.
THE JUNGLE BOOK ? WILD WORLD ? Man-cub Mowgli (voice of Neel Sethi), who’s been raised by a family of wolves, embarks on a journey of self-discovery, guided by a panther-turned-mentor Bagheera. Directed by Jon Favreau (?Iron Man?), based on Rudyard Kipling?s timeless stories and featuring state-of the-art technology that immerses audiences in the lush world like never before, Disney?s ?The Jungle Book? hits theaters in stunning 3D and IMAX 3D on April 15, 2016. ?2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Have you seen the trending video of the fish playing fetch that was all over the internet last week? The viral video was courtesy of the new sci-fi thriller SELF/LESS, from Gramercy Pictures.
The movie, which releases on Friday, July 10th, features a fictional science process known as “shedding” which enables consciousness transfer from one person to the body of another, unlocking the key to human immortality.
The studio created a series of Youtube videos showcasing the results of a shedding experiment on animals by the fictional company Phoenix Biogenic, founded by Dr. Albright who’s brilliance created the shedding procedure. Although, shedding is currently a science fiction, it can soon become reality.
The first video, “fish play fetch like a dog”, launched on 6/22. It was viewed by more than 1.4MM people across social media channels in eight days and was picked up by more than 75 viral sites.
The videos lived on a Youtube channel called sillyrabbit1983:
Don’t miss sillyrabbit1983’s newest video featuring a cat feeding a group of baby birds like it’s their mother here.
Adapt to your new physical form in Gramercy Pictures’ SELF/LESS!
The film Ryan Reynolds, Natalie Martinez, Matthew Goode, Victor Garber, Derek Luke, Michelle Dockery, and Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley opens in theaters nationwide Friday, July 10th.
In this provocative psychological science fiction thriller, an extremely wealthy man (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley) dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man (Ryan Reynolds). But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the organization that will kill to protect its cause.
This film has been rated PG-13 (for sequences of violence, some sexuality, and language)
In celebration of the newly released film THE BOXTROLLS, Sir Ben Kingsley sat down with a small group of press to talk about his voice over work, and his new project LEARNING TO DRIVE. Check it out below!
A family event movie from the creators of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.
You haven’t done much voice work before, was that what attracted you to the role? And was it fun playing that kind of character?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : I haven’t done much of this before and I was sent the most beautiful script which rang true. The honest starting point for a family film I think is a very bold, very mature move — orphans. And they go through a struggle. They fight some very dark forces and they achieve their own light, and their own friendship and their own future. To present this as a family film is very refreshing, because I’m sorry to say that I think family films often wipe off the top two generations of the family and say anyone taller than this table won’t like this movie. It’s stupid, because that’s not a family film. But this is and it will have resonance for all the members of the family that see it. I say it’s rooted in truth because I can tell a good script from a bad. My training in my former years… I had no training, sorry. My former years as an actor were with tremendously good writers, one in particular, and therefore the way that this rang true, the way the patterns of human behavior in terms of loneliness, of longing, of care, of nurturing, of loss, of greed, of power, of indifference, they’re all there on the canvas. They’re all beautifully etched. So it was not a great leap for me to say, “Absolutely, yes,” to the script. Then I saw the drawing of the chap and saw that he was very different from me and therefore my voice would have to come from a different place. I’d have to find a voice that resonated from a very different place and would include all those frailties, those inadequacies, those longings, those addictions, delusions, narcissism, vanity. The guy’s a mess, held together by an absolute determination to be admitted into a club that does not want him. Because it’s so perfectly written, any actor would recognize, “Well, that’s the worst thing to do to that guy.” The worst thing you can do to that guy is to say, “You can’t come in,” because sooner or later, he’ll smash the door down. And he does. He demonizes a whole tribe of people who actually have nurtured and looked after an orphan beautifully, who are creative, inventive, loving, bonded. And they create their own civilization by what upper ground throws away. They never steal. They actually just use what is discarded and they make their world out of it. So given that the character was so beautifully presented to me as a portrait artist, my portrayal involved finding a voice that was completely relaxed, not my own. So I invited the recording studio to build a kind of airplane seat. It took five minutes. They had everything in the studio. It took them five minutes. They had everything there — the reclining chair, something to put my feet on. They were great. Moved the microphone, moved the script panel, and I did the whole thing reclining, lying down. It also helped me not to make physical gestures. When we speak, we tend to augment our language with our mannerisms. If I did that, it would perhaps lessen, shrink, what I was giving the animators. If I had to push something with my physical gesture, it means my voice isn’t doing enough. So I was completely still, which I found very, very freeing, as you say. I didn’t impose many limits on myself other than of course the character’s journey and his narrative function in the piece. Tony was mostly in the studio with me in England, not in America, and he helped me a great deal by letting me know that certain vocal mannerisms that I acquired as the character were great gifts to the animator. He said, “The animators will love that. When you do that, they can do all sorts of extraordinary things with it.” So I played with elongating my vowel sounds. I played with putting the letter ‘H’ where it shouldn’t be in a word to try and sound posh. All those little mannerisms, he encouraged me to really make them part of my bit of the portrait. Then the rest of my portrait, which is unprecedented for me, is to say, “And the other department do my body language.” I’ve never done that before. It’s always been me that I delegated the whole lot, because I had to, to the animators, to the guys who work with these people.
Knowing that, once you saw it, what was your impression and what struck you?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : They put something together, a speech that Snatcher gives to his goons, to his stooges, about ambition, how in some people, some creatures are of limited ambition and will be locked in their own small ambitions and world and others are capable of great ambition. And it’s actually politically a horrible speech when you examine it. It’s pretty nasty. I enjoyed very free reign, lying down in the studio, letting this voice come out, and I saw this clip. He’s walking down a flight of stairs and they accompanied one of my words with an amazingly narcissistic gesture of brushing back these awful threads of hair that he has hanging down. And I thought, “I have nothing to worry about. Absolutely everything I’m trying to do is there in that puppet.” Extraordinary exercise really.
I found it interesting that the adults had no redeeming qualities whatsoever and that can be the viewpoint of someone who’s five, six, or seven
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Whether it’s the viewpoint or not, the fact is that if you’re going to offer a story, narrative to the audience about orphans struggling, you have to have a tidal wave against which they have to struggle. It can be indifference. It can be abandonment. It can be incarceration. It can be domineering cruelty. But in the narrative our heroine and hero have to struggle through the darker side of life and I congratulate LAIKA on having the courage to say, “Look boys and girls, it’s not a bowl of cherries.” That is really courageous because I don’t think anything is learned by feel good movies.
Looking at your vast body of work, speaking to the comedic elements of the character.
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Absurd, really.
(con’t): Do you see elements of Richard III?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Absolutely. The wonderful thing about Richard III is in his first soliloquy is in front of the audience and he explains exactly how he’s feeling and how he’s going to behave. He tells them, “Look, I’m mangled and wounded and I’m going to get the crown.” And Snatcher is in a sense, he can’t take rejection. There’s a reason for that, I don’t know the reason. But there’s a reason that he has an utter inability to be rejected. It turns him into a maniac. I saw a splendid version of Richard III ages of ago, and I could see what he was doing, but I could see why. I wasn’t allowed to join into why and really the why in Richard is it hurts to be me. I think there is something about the villains that I’m able to play that isn’t villainous. They’re vulnerable and wounded. I use that with Archibald Snatcher. Richard III and Othello — because he begins the play I’ve just been passed over for promotion and the world will suffer. And it does. At the end of the third act, Othello is responsible for seven deaths.
There’s a theme of transformation and there’s a huge difference between the hero and the villain. The hero just wants to transform into someone who knows who he is and the villain wants to move up the ladder, even though it’s shown very clearly that …
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : He’s allergic to it…
(con’t): And it’s not like kids movies where he’s brought down by the destruction of a machine. He does himself in where he has the choice to turn away. He even seems to know what’s going to happen and he does ti anyway. That’s almost tragic. Did you find that tragic element to it?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : I totally embraced the tragic element of his demise. He’s arc is doomed because of the way he’s been constructed. The way he has arrived, the way the God’s have made him, fashioned him that way. There is, in the script and in my portrait and hopefully in bigger context of the movie, there is that thread of tragedy, absurdity, danger, redemption, reunification, all the threads. I definitely warmed to the wound that will eventually consume him. Cheese is a great metaphor for success or power and power will absolutely corrupt Snatcher. And he has the choice. He thinks by being empowered that he can conquer the addiction. It happens to other people. It won’t happen to me. Bang!
You’ve got a lot of interesting projects coming up, can you talk about some of the ones you’re most excited for people to know about?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : Where do I begin [laughs]. LEARNING TO DRIVE, I’m particularly fond of. ROBOT OVERLOARDS, I’m looking forward to that one. That’s going to the London Film Festival. But, LEARNING TO DRIVE coming to Toronto, I’m excited to see, not how it’s received, how it touches people and attracts them.
You come from different cultures. I’m fascinated by different culture. You have families and grandkids… do they all get together. What does it look like at your house over the holidays?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY : It’s very hard for an actor to answer that because an actor, my pattern of life is so random that there are no such things as Holidays with a capitol H because I could be anywhere in the world and my children appreciate this. And as long as we keep in touch by email and telephone, everything is fine. No one ever says, “But it’s family.” No one ever says that. For me, that’s nonsense. Family is family over the internet, over Skype over telephone. Love is love, you don’t actually have to go through a ritual to prove that you love somebody. They all know dad’s very busy and I’ve looked after them well. They’ve all got homes, thanks to good ole dad. They’re happy, safe and loved.
Inspired by the Rudyard Kipling’s book of the same name, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it was the last to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. The plot follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, as his friends Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear try to convince him into leaving the jungle before the evil tiger Shere Khan arrives.
The early versions of both the screenplay and the soundtrack followed Kipling’s work more closely, with a dramatic, dark, and sinister tone which Disney did not want in his family film, leading to writer Bill Peet and composer Terry Gilkyson being replaced.
The casting employed famous actors and musicians Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders and Louis Prima, as well as Disney regulars such as Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O’Malley and Verna Felton, and the director’s son, Bruce Reitherman, as Mowgli.
The Jungle Book was released on October 18, 1967 to positive reception, with much acclaim to its soundtrack, featuring five songs by the Sherman Brothers and one by Terry Gilkyson, “The Bare Necessities”.
IRON MAN 3 is back, and packed with more excitement than ever! Recently, WAMG was invited to attend the IRON MAN 3 press day where Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Shane Black and Drew Pearce sat down with members of the media for a press conference. Check out some of the highlights below.
Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Shane, with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was a great film… did Robert Downey call you to come onto this and do this with him? And can you talk about what your ambition was for Number Three, specifically?
SHANE BLACK: Yeah. I can only imagine that having worked previously with Robert contributed to him calling me, and asking me aboard this somewhat more ambitious production. But yeah, I had worked briefly with him and sat with him and Favreau during the inception of the first Iron Men, during those early phases. And I was impressed with the project. I was impressed with both of them. And the chance to have a green lit picture where I got to work again with Robert Downey and reunite, and also spend time with Jon Favreau, who gave me endless tips and advice on this thing, was just so – too attractive to pass. Our ambitions were to make sure that we had, in fact, a movie that felt like a worthy successor to the two previous Favreau films. And it’s – and to Marvel’s credit, they allowed us – they said, “We’ve done the Avengers, we made a lot of money. But let’s not do that again right now. Let’s do something different.” And they allowed for a different, sort of stand-alone film, where we got to be more character centric and look basically back to basics at what Tony Stark would do next – what was left to tell of his story. And that was very appealing to me. So to make it more of a thriller and to make it more about Tony and less other-worldly, and sort of just ground it more – that was our intention. I hope we succeeded.
I’m curious about the version what we’ll see in China, and how much new footage there will be in the film, and is it different, because I couldn’t really tell from this movie where something like that would kind of fit into the picture.
SHANE BLACK: Well, we left out the giant dragon. I – you know, I just – I know there’s additional footage.
DREW PEARCE: I think there’s – I think they want, Marvel would like to keep an element of surprise about that. So when the inevitable versions of it feed back to us, you’ll see exactly what it involved. But for the moment, I don’t think we’re allowed to talk about it.
SHANE BLACK: Yeah, the Chinese version will be an interesting surprise. We do know that there’s additional footage that will be available in that version, which I’m sure will filter back here.
Yeah. My question is for Mr. Black. Previously, you’re very well known for your R rated action comedies. With this film, you’re obviously working within the PG 13 rating. Is there anything you thought of that was maybe a little too extreme for this? And how was it giving up your F word?
SHANE BLACK: You know, the F word, tempting as it always is, especially in film environments, was pretty easy because we – I had done a film for kids previously, called The Monster Squad, where we [cheers]- Jesus.
REBECCA HALL: Oh.
SHANE BLACK: Okay.
DREW PEARCE: That’s like a carbon dating test. You’re –
SHANE BLACK: Yeah, it truly is. That’s 1987, folks, and be careful. But then again, how – you were children then. You were all children. I was – I’m – that was ages ago. So coming into this, I had to go back and say, “I remember what it was like when I went to the matinee to stand in line for Empire Strikes Back, or Star Wars, or those types of films, and get excited all over again about that type of adventure – that you could appeal to a family but it was still edgy. You know, I don’t want to – we didn’t want to pander. We didn’t want to make a kiddie film. But we knew very well that we couldn’t, you know, go beyond the boundaries of PG 13.
DREW PEARCE: That’s not to say we didn’t push it a little in the first couple of drafts.
SHANE BLACK: No, there – yeah – Tony only said fuck five times in the first draft.
DREW PEARCE: That is technically true, and we actually had to have a sit down conversation about the fact that you couldn’t say fuck in a PG 13.
SHANE BLACK: But you know, but there was a point when you would write for television, when I was coming up in this business, you would just say fuck anyway, and you would just know that they would take it out later.
DREW PEARCE: That was – that was weirdly the additude.
SHANE BLACK: Yeah.
DREW PEARCE: It’s like –
SHANE BLACK: Yeah.
DREW PEARCE: But everyone’s going to see this, see.
SHANE BLACK: Yeah, so but basically, there was no problem with that. I have no problem with tailoring material to the audience that it’s intended for, as long as you keep the edge – as long as you don’t condescend to that audience, I think that it’s absolutely spot on.
DREW PEARCE: Well, we’ve got a brilliant actors, as well, which helps so much because they can give it the swing and feel of grown-up conversation without necessarily having to hit the F button.
SHANE BLACK: Oh, Rebecca was pretty bad.
DREW PEARCE: Yeah, she was profane. She was truly profane.
This is for Rebecca. Many years ago at junket, I asked you if you could imagine being in a superhero movie. At that point, you seemed kind of amused by the idea. But now here you are with Sir Ben Kingsley. At this point, does everyone end up in a superhero movie, at this point?
REBECCA HALL: Uh, I’m not sure that it’s obligatory, but I think – it’s – it might be getting that way, yeah.
And what inspired you to do this one?
REBECCA HALL: I – well, it was a – you know, it sounds a slightly flippant response, but it was a combination of ‘don’t knock it ‘til you try it’ and this one seems like one that would be very fun to try, and one that I admired – do it – you know, admired – I remember going to see the first Iron Man film and thinking, you know, what an unusual thing that they’re not casting action heroes, they’re casting Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. This must be interesting. And I remember watching it and thinking, you know, there’s – it’s not just about the action sequences and the thrill ride or whatever. It’s also about the repertoire, and the wit, and the dialogue, and there was something of a sort of screwball battle of the sexes comedy going on that I loved. And I thought, you know, that this would be a great thing to be a part of.
Rebecca and Guy, can you talk a little bit more about your – coming to set for the first time, getting used to this sort of Marvel style of movie making. And I think we all get the sense that Robert sort of leads the charge among the acting troupe, and kind of helps set the tone of this – what you’re doing each time out. Can you kind of, well, give us a sense of what it was like to start up in this?
GUY PEARCE: Well, it – I mean, it – I don’t know that – I don’t know that you – you really got a sense of what sort of Marvel moviemaking is like, necessarily. I mean, you know, Shane and Robert, obviously, were sort of leading the charge, as you indicated. And I mean, I guess in the end, lots of films kind of feel the same, once you’re standing there in front of the camera, and you’re just trying to be convincing and do what you need to do, you know. But I think the interesting thing about doing this was that there were two previous films that were, you know, successful and you know, Rebecca and I had seen both of those films and were big fans of them, really admired them. And so it was interesting to sort of step into something that – it already existed. Obviously, working with Robert is something quite specific because he’s, you know, he’s the genius that he is. He’s a lot of fun; he likes to improvise. You’ve really gotta be on your toes. And so you know, but I think every film you do feels very different from the last film that you’ve done. So it didn’t – I didn’t – I didn’t sort of think, “Oh, wow, this whole Marvel universe feels extremely different to anything else that I’ve done.” I mean, obviously, we were really aware of the visual effects, I think, that were going on behind the scenes, you know – they were literally sort of rows of people sitting behind us at the monitors with laptop computers, kind of mocking up versions of what things were gonna look like – which, you know, doesn’t often happen on a two million dollar Australian movie. So that – that was kind of different, you know – you’re aware of the visual effects world that I think will be incorporated later. Yeah.
For Shane – there’s a common theme that runs through a lot of your films, and it’s Christmastime. Lethal Weapon, and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and now Iron Man 3 all set during the holiday season. What is it that you like about putting a movie at Christmastime, and why did you feel that was right for Iron Man 3?
SHANE BLACK: Well, it just sort of evolved, oddly enough, with Iron Man 3, ‘cause I had resisted it. It was Drew who talked me into it, eventually.
DREW PEARCE: If I was gonna go see a Shane Black Iron Man 3 movie, then it had to be at Christmas, although I – but there’s always a reason for it, as well.
SHANE BLACK: Yeah, there has to be – I think it’s a sense of if you’re doing something on an interesting scale that involves an entire universe of characters, and many – one way to unite them is to have them all undergo a common experience. And there is something at Christmas that unites everybody, and you – it just sort of already sets a stage within the stage, that whatever you are, you’re experiencing this world together. And I think that also, it just – there’s something just pleasing about it to me, ever since – I mean, I did Lethal Weapon back in ’87, and we did Christmas, and Joel liked it so much he put Diehard at Christmas. And that had some – there was some fun to that. So look – Yeah, it’s not – you don’t have to do every film that way.
DREW PEARCE: There’s an interesting thing at Christmas, as well, like when you’re telling a story that’s about taking characters apart, it almost has more resonance if you put it at Christmas, and if you’re also telling a story about kind of lonelier characters, as well, then that loneliness is kind of heightened at Christmas, too.
SHANE BLACK: It’s a time of reckoning for a lot of people, where you take stock as to where you’ve been, how you got to where you are now, and the lonely – lonely people are lonelier at Christmas, and you tend to notice things more keenly, more acutely, I think.
DREW PEARCE: Plus, there was a kind of Christmas carol thing that we wanted to bring in for Tony, as well, a certain sense of –
SHANE BLACK: Meeting the Ghost of Christmas Past.
DREW PEARCE: Yeah.
SHANE BLACK: In the sense that Harley is kind of him, as a young boy, just encountering all these different things that come to him, almost like a fever dream, when he’s at his lowest point. I think that was the idea, as well.
DREW PEARCE: So we’ve post-justified putting it at Christmas pretty roundly there.
SHANE BLACK: Yeah.
SHANE BLACK: We could go on.
This question is for Mr. Black. And originally you had said that you didn’t want to use the Mandarin – you identified him as kind of a racist caricature. Is that what kind of led to the Mandarin evolving into what it is now?
SHANE BLACK: It’s part of it. More pertinently, I just thought it was an interesting idea, to try to mix it up so that if you’re gonna do something that involves a terrorist in the modern world, who’s just sort of a villain, who’s just sort of a guy that we’re all afraid of – why not say something about the entire experience of what it would take, for instance, to create a myth that was all things to all people, the true – from elements of traditional historic warfare, like swords and dragons, surrounded itself with icons that were recognizable, like the beard from Fidel Castro and the field cap from, you know, Gadhafi. Why not make an Uber-terrorist and then play with the idea of that – of a corporate world full of think tanks whose assignment, let’s say, was to cobble together the ultimate warfare specialist, and then have that man’s sole unifying characteristic be his undying hatred for America, such that he attracts to him these acolytes and disciples who respond to the myth. We thought that was an interesting idea, regardless of his ethnicity, you know.
Hi. Mr. Black, I was just wondering, did you cut the Chinese version yourself, or how much time you had to put into that. And also, like did you know that it will be only in this special, special edition that when you – you know, the team went to China to show that part; or it was actually an idea that made, you know, later on, that you had to cut it from this U.S. version?
SHANE BLACK: We – there was a sort of idea for the Chinese version, what it would entail in additional footage that I was asked to look at and approve, and I was busy doing the American version while we were simultaneously obtaining footage for the Chinese version. So I got a sense of what was going on, and I was asked to look at and had a chance later to approve the footage. So now we’ve got these two versions. I’m just thrilled that we had the opportunity to work with what is one of the single fastest emerging, you know, box office environments in the world, which is China, where they build theaters so quickly now.
This is for Rebecca and for Guy. You’re stepping into this very well-oiled machine of not only Marvel, but Disney, and the Iron Man world specifically. Did you have any trepidation about coming into this franchise? And what kind of particular special challenges did you meet emotionally and physically in tackling the roles?
REBECCA HALL: Well, there’s trepidation, I think, when you get involved with any job. But I think it would be tremendously egotistical of me to suggest that I was in some way carrying the weight of the franchise. So there wasn’t that kind of fear. It was more – it was more the feeling you get going to an amusement park and going on the scary rides, I think, you know – you know it, it’s exciting. You know what you’re getting – it might be a bit scary, but you know it’s gonna be fun, and you can get off and leave at the end. But it was – yeah, of course, any job is scary, but you tackle the challenges head on, and hope for the best.
GUY PEARCE: Yeah, I think the same, really. I mean, I – you know, you do feel kind of nervous about any film you take on. I didn’t – I think if I feel inspired by a job enough to sort of want to take it on, then any kind of concerns that you have, you’re prepared to sort of face, you know. And I don’t – I don’t – I don’t think I really had any concerns that would have stopped me from doing it. I’m certainly aware that, you know, there are a lot of fans, you know, behind, you know, comic strip films, and obviously these Iron Man films. But you know, I mean, you know you’re in good hands with these guys. And I think ultimately, you just want to make sure you can bring a truth to the character you’re playing. And as far as sort of challenges, I guess, I mean, there was – you know, there’s quite a lot of the green screen stuff – I know for you, that was probably the first time you’d really sort of –
REBECCA HALL: Yeah, first time.
GUY PEARCE: – worked with it. I mean, I’d done a bit of green screen stuff before. And it’s – on some level, it’s actually kind of fun, you know, because you’re relying on your imagination. And I think in this, it actually wasn’t – it wasn’t so extreme that you would – you were trying to imagine a person in front of you that actually wasn’t there or anything like that. But you know, and as I say, you know, you’ve got a visual effects team sort of working away constantly, and they’re sort of showing you previews, you know, of the scene you’re meant to be doing and then how it’s actually meant to look. So I think, again, you’re sort of in really good hands on a visual sense, as well.
This is for Guy Pearce, and Rebecca, you feel free to chime in if you’d like. You sort of see Guy, your character in his first act and his third act, and there’s 13 years of unspoken story in development in there that doesn’t appear on screen. How much of that do you work out? How much of that do you understand, with Shane or with anybody else, as a part of creating the whole character?
GUY PEARCE: Well, I don’t know how to ans–
REBECCA HALL: [INDISCERNIBLE] a sequel.
GUY PEARCE: Yeah, that’s right. It’s in the – or the prequel. I’m not really sure, you know, I mean, we just sort of talked about the development of the company that he’d begun, I suppose, and the effects that extremists had sort of had over that period of time, you know. And you know, we see a couple of clips, obviously, when Tony’s in the television van and he’s seeing sort of moments of Killian, you know, in front of his people, sort of talking to his team, and you sort of see slightly different looks. And you know, you see the kind of progression of his – his look, I guess. So it was just a matter of sort of talking through that, and making sure we kind of understood, you know – for example, also when Gwyneth would have worked for Killian and how long for, etc. But it was, you know, fairly sort of straightforward stuff to understand.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley,Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968.
Touted as the “an on-set blog from the producers of the film,” the official blog for ENDER’S GAME has launched. The sci-fi action pic is one of most anticipated films for next year. The film is based on the novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and stars Harrison Ford, Sir Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Viola Davis. Production on the film began in late February in New Orleans and is being helmed and written by Gavin Hood (X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE).
In the near future, a hostile alien race (Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Fleet (IF) Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite. Ender easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers at Battle School. Ordained by Graff as the IF’s next great hope, Ender is promoted to Command School. Once there, he’s trained by Rackham himself to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and humankind.
The film is produced by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Gigi Pritzker, Linda McDonough, Orson Scott Card, Lynn Hendee, and Robert Chartoff .
From Summit Entertainment, ENDER’S GAME will be in theaters on March 15th, 2013.
Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated 3D adventure, HUGO, was officially released nationwide today. (Check out our review right HERE) Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the NY press junket. Even without the presence of Martin Scorsese, the amount of talent at the press conference was intimidating. Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Asa Butterfield, Sir Ben Kingsley, producers Graham King and John Logan & author Brian Selznick were all in attendance. A lot was covered during the 40-minute event. Here are some of the highlights of what was said…
SACHA BARON COHEN on his character: Well, there is actually, there is a bit of romance between myself and Emily’s character, which is actually the first romantic plot I’ve had that’s not been with a black prostitute or a man. So it was actually my first. We didn’t actually have a kissing scene, but there was a bit of romance in there. So that was a little bit different. And as for the rest, playing an authority figure, well, he’s a bumbling authority figure. And he’s dark, but he does have some beauty and softness underneath him. So a bit like my other characters.
ASA BUTTERFIELD on the difficulties of playing Hugo: Well, Hugo, he’s an orphan and because he’s had to grow up far faster than anyone else his age should have, I found it quite hard to relate to him because of all the hardships he’s gone through in his life. So I just had to come up with false past for him that was similar to mine and relate to him in that way.
CHLOE GRACE MORETZ on her accent: I’d probably say the hardest part about it was I was trying to conquer the accent. That was probably the most challenging thing I had to do as a character…. My brother Trevor and I kind of created the voice, and we worked together on the whole thing really.
EMILY MORTIMER on Martin Scorsese: Hedoesn’t sort of tell you what to do, and guide you through every step of the performance. He just shows you all the people’s movies. He did that on Shelter Island as well. So it’s more like he just helps you to understand the world of the film by showing you other people’s films, which is his inspiration anyway. (One of the films everyone was asked to watch is UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS)
SACHA BARON COHEN on the root of Evil: I mean certainly when I sort of approach the character of the station inspector; I wanted to know why was he so obsessed with chasing children? Was he actually, you know, a classic villain or was there reason for his malice? And, I sat down with John and Martin and we started talking about perhaps he was World War I veteran, and maybe he was injured. So we came up with the idea of the leg brace. Originally, it was a false leg, which the audience wouldn’t have realized until it was going to be the first chase. Then I was going to turn a corner and then my leg was going to fly off and go into camera in 3D. And that was going to be the first big 3D moment. Unfortunately, practically I was made aware that I would have had to kind of strap up my leg for four months in order to do that. So we kind of abandoned that, and I started wearing a leg brace instead.
SIR BEN KINGSLEY on staying in character: I tended to stay in character because so many of many of my major scenes were with Asa. And in order to feed that relationship because action and cut can be shockingly short, that space you have to establish a deep rapport with your fellow actors. So I think I tended to. Also, my shape was so defined as older George. So like it was very difficult for me to snap back into Ben because I mean it just didn’t happen. I just stayed because I was stuck with George.
JOHN LOGAN on film: Brian Selznick’s amazing novel he talks about movies as dreams, as ways to dream, as ways for all of us to dream. I know, when I was a kid growing up, that’s what they were for me because I was asthmatic. I couldn’t go out and play. I have to be in a dark room, and watching movies on TV allowed me to liberate every thought I’d ever had. And when I read Brian’s book for the first time that’s really what struck me more than anything was it was touching the 8-year-old me. And so, for me it was always about how does that damaged child find the place that he belongs?
SIR BEN KINGSLEY on wounded souls: Well, I think the core value of its magic is its fearlessness in putting wounded characters on the screen. That’s a very brave move. It’s not very fashionable. It’s not sugar coated. A wounded man who is totally retired from his life. He almost committed suicide of the spirit, orphan, orphan, a girl who lost her brother in the Battle of the Somme in 1914, a dreadful way to lose a brother, and a chap who lost his leg. Wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded. And I think that’s an incredibly bold move to make in the present context. That’s where the magic comes from. And as Sacha was saying, where’s the wound? Because if there is no wound, the healer has no function and the healer is the youngest person on the screen who pulls all these threads together. But you won’t have an audience empathizing with you if nothing needs comforting. It won’t happen. So I think all of this individually paradoxically nourished that scar inside us in order to make the magic, in order to make him the greatest magician on the screen and make all the magic happen.
EMILY MORTIMER on technology: I was saying yesterday that there is something about Scorsese using the latest 3D technology to push the boundaries of filmmaking in 2012 or 2011 or whatever. To make a film about the very first technology ever used to put magic on the screen over 100 years ago is just so perfect. And somehow you get a sense of every film that was made in between Mêlées and Scorsese.
SACHA BARON COHEN on the use of 3D: If I could just continue that. It felt like here’s the logical extension of filmmaking that if Miller was alive that he definitely would have been using 3D. That was the interesting thing because of the whole debate in cinema at the moment whether 3D is a gimmick or not. Scorsese really showed that it was a logical development of the filmmaking process.
CHLOE GRACE MORETZ on Scorsese: You know, not only did I grow as an actor on this film with Scorsese, I grew in my knowledge of film history, which I’ve always been a history buff. Of course, I walked on the set knowing a little bit about it thinking oh I can have a conversation with him. And then you get into the conversation and he’s like dah-dah-dah-dah. And I’m like, “Okay, I’m not prepared for this.”
SACHA BARON COHEN on collaboration: I think that’s the key about Scorsese that he’s totally collaborative, which I was surprised about. Because I expected him to be some incredible author, which he is an author. But part of his power and part of the reason why his films are that successful and that enduring is the fact that he’s ready to collaborate fully with all his actors.
BRIAN SELZNICK on writing the book: I made this book thinking it could not be filmed because the book at the end of the story, the object of the book itself actually becomes part of the plot. And what happens when you turn the page because a big chunk of the narrative in my book is told with images like a movie. But even so, it’s celebrating movies. It’s really about what happens when you turn the page, and the power of the book itself. So I just imagined it couldn’t be a movie. And like I said, I got the call that Scorsese wanted to make it. And I thought, well, maybe this actually can be a movie. And, I realized I never would have thought of him. Like if someone had asked me, “Who would you imagine directing this movie?” But, of course, the second we hear his name, we all realize there was no one else who could have made this movie. It was if I had sat for 2-1/2 years at my desk during which time in real life I was thinking I was writing something no one would read because it’s a book about French silent movies for children. Which isn’t a guaranteed best seller. You know, but it’s as if I did all of that for Marty.
BRIAN SELZNICK on his cameo: I had the great thrill of being put into the last scene of the movie. I got a line. I think a lot of you saw the movie. I’m sure you’re excited to meet me now because of that. But Sir Ben was incredibly generous with me. I suddenly found myself next to Sir Ben saying my line to Sir Ben. And we spent a lot of the day filming the last tracking shot in the kitchen waiting for the action and to do the three-minute tracking shot again. And the camera never goes into the kitchen, but we would open the cabinet doors and it was fully stocked with food.
SIR BEN KINGSLEY on the sets: It’s a huge gift to us. It constantly fed us. Between takes I used to wander around the station, and the detail was extraordinary. You never left that world, did you? I mean it was so embracing and so sustaining, a huge gift to the actors, all to scale and not a lot of CGI really. I mean compared to what there might have been, very little.
ASA BUTTERFIELD on the sets: And, the working clocks were incredible because they were real. You could actually wind them and they had weights on. And it was just incredible. I mean, as Sir Ben said it was a gift to the actors to work that way.
SACHA BARON COHEN on the film’s target audience: It seems to me that Marty makes films for himself. He is an artist, a true artist and he makes the movie that he wants to see. So my first line in the movie had the word malfeasance in it, which I barely understood. And I said, “Aren’t you worried that some of the children won’t understand this let alone the grown ups?” He said, “No, it’s the right word to use there.” And he’s one of the last remaining artists that is out there. And I think we should respect that. The movie is not focus grouped, and it’s not tailored for a 7-year-old in Iowa or Berlin or anywhere to appreciate it. Marty has made a work of art in the same way that Melies did. So I think that is a beautiful thing and it’s an incredible achievement for a filmmaker still to be able to do that. Thanks to Graham for being able to fund that.
Wow. It seems only yesterday that I was bemoaning having to don the big glasses and watch another film in 3D. It seemed that it was turning into a tired gimmick. It was an extra cost for films that needed an extra push. And then there’s the films converted to 3D after being shot with standard cameras. I couldn’t recall all the 3D movies I’d seen this past year. And then a master shows us how it’s done. Martin Scorsese’s HUGO (based on the children’s book ” The Invention of Hugo Chabret” by Brian Selznick ) truly utilizes the format to its full potential. With most films, I’ve told friends that the 3D wasn’t necessary. With this film I hope people will make the extra effort ( and spend a bit more ) in order to experience it’s eye-popping wonders. A friend was complaining that Scorsese was slumming by stooping to shoot in 3D. I remembered that Alfred Hitchcock shot DIAL M FOR MURDER at the height of the 3D movie craze of the 1950’s ( after the big box office of HOUSE OF WAX and B’WANA DEVIL ). If Hitch could work with the format, why shouldn’t Scorsese get a crack at it? I think movie goers will be glad he did.
At the film’s start we’re high above Paris. The camera swoops into the train station. The year is 1930. We meet a pre-teen boy named Hugo ( Asa Butterfield ). It’s revealed that Hugo worked alongside his inventor father ( Jude Law ) who was the custodian of a large museum. They both attempt to activate a small robot called an automaton. It appears that it writes with pen and ink. Their work comes to a halt when the father is killed and Hugo must live with his lush of an uncle,Claude ( Ray Winstone ) who is the clock maintenance man at the station. When Claude goes missing after a bender, Hugo assumes his duties at the station. As he scrambles to survive while servicing the clocks, Hugo must keep two steps ahead of the determined station inspector ( Sasha Baron Cohen ) and his Doberman. The inspector believes that Hugo is a thieving child of the streets. In his adventures Hugo works with a sullen toy shop owner ( Ben Kingsley ) and befriends the man’s god-daughter Isabelle ( Chloe Grace Moretz ). As the two kids explore the city they soon discover the mystery surrounding her Papa Georges.
This barely scratches the surface of all the wonders of the film. The Paris of 1930 is almost another character in the film. HUGO makes a nice companion piece to Woody Allan’s film from earlier this year MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Both films are meticulous in their recreation of the era and both feature real artists of the time, although there’s more historical cameos in the Allen film. HUGO has yet another cinema brother in the soon to be released THE ARTIST. In one scene Hugo sneaks Isabelle into a cinema where she is dazzled by an American silent film ( kudos to Scorsese for the excellent choice ), while THE ARTIST is a silent film set around the same period in Hollywood. In this film Scorsese is really able to display and share his passion for the history of cinema. While dazzling us with the sumptuous visuals, Scorsese has not neglected the actors. The film rests on the very capable shoulders of young Butterfield, His Hugo is a smart, resourceful, daring young man. Moretz continues to build a great body of film work as Hugo’s sympathetic sidekick ( and perhaps love interest ). Cohen aptly displays his considerable comic skills ( almost a slapstick silent film clown ) as the comic villain . But the inspector’s not all bad. He pines for the train station flower seller ( Emily Mortimer ), but is embarrassed by the brace on his left leg ( a war injury ). Kingsley gives a very moving performance as the toy peddler who is more than he seems, although his interplay with Hugo makes for some great comedy. Bravo to the producers for populating the station with some great veteran actors like Richard Griffiths and the great Christopher Lee as a kindly book seller. The film may be a tad too long for the very young ( some were getting a bit fidgety at the screening ), but older kids will be thrilled by Hugo’s daring escapes and adventures. With HUGO Scorsese has wrapped up a delightful cinema gift to us this holiday season and proves that any movie format can work when an artist with passion is behind the lens.
This weekend I will be attending press conferences for the films HUGO and YOUNG ADULT. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of press conferences. I much prefer 1:1 interviews since I like to have a conversation rather than just ask questions. Plus, I always get the feeling no one cares about the strange questions I come up with. That’s where you come in!
In the comments, post your questions for the cast & crew of either film. Press conferences can get pretty chaotic but I’ll try my best to get some of them answered. Check out the trailers below for some inspiration!
