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Derek Cianfrance Convinced Bradley Cooper Not To Drop Out Of ‘Place Beyond The Pines’; His DP Nearly Died On Set & More

  • By Edward Davis
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  • April 2, 2013 1:01 PM
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  • 1 Comment
Interviews
“I’m full of epic stories,” the loquacious Derek Cianfrance told Vanity Fair recently. And it’s true. We sat down with the director and co-writer behind “The Place Beyond The Pines,” and Cianfrance was indeed, full of amazing stories. He told us in the part of our interview we ran yesterday that that he had to pare down a 158 page script to 120 pages to earn his financing. So, did the filmmaker do a rewrite? Nope. He increased the margins as far as they would go and then selected the smallest font possible and got down to 120 pages. The financiers didn’t notice and he got his green light. Crafty, right?
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More: Derek Cianfrance, Bradley Cooper, The Place Beyond The Pines, Sean Bobbitt

'Upstream Color' Director Shane Carruth Reveals Details On Next Project 'The Modern Ocean,' His Work On 'Looper' & More

  • By Jessica Kiang
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  • April 1, 2013 4:02 PM
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  • 5 Comments
Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
Interviews
Psychotropic, romantic and beautiful like a scary dream, Shane Carruth’s long-awaited follow-up to "Primer," the self-distributed "Upstream Color" comes to theaters this Friday. Though it will undoubtedly divide, it has already, in its way, conquered many who've seen it: our reviewer in Sundance was little short of enraptured by the film, and this writer wholeheartedly agrees after seeing it at the Berlin International Film Festival. There are very few films that have the power to stay with you, buzzing and humming below the surface of your consciousness, for days after you see them, but the strains of "Upstream Color" remain with us still.
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More: Shane Carruth, Upstream Color, Berlin International Film Festival, Interview, Looper, The Modern Ocean

Derek Cianfrance Talks About His Epic Drama 'The Place Beyond The Pines' & Almost Making Two Movies Out Of 'Blue Valentine'

  • By Edward Davis
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  • April 1, 2013 3:20 PM
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  • 3 Comments
Place Beyond The Pines, Derek Cianfrance, Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper
Interviews
Filmmaker Derek Cianfrance took twelve years to make his sophomore effort, "Blue Valentine." A searing relationship drama about husbands and wives starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, it quickly put the almost-forgotten director – who made his feature debut with 1998's still unreleased "Brother Tied" and had turned to documentaries in that time – firmly back on the cinematic map. His follow-up, "The Place Beyond The Pines" arrived a relatively quick two years later, but was six years in the making and Cianfrance actually had Gosling on board before 'Valentine' had even begun shooting.
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More: Derek Cianfrance, Ryan Gosling, The Place Beyond The Pines, Blue Valentine, Interviews, Interview

Interview: Director Andrew Niccol Talks Humor In ‘The Host,’ Franchise Expectations & Separating The Film From ‘Twilight’

  • By Charlie Schmidlin
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  • March 26, 2013 12:01 PM
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  • 1 Comment
Interviews
From 1997’s “Gattaca” to his more recent Justin Timberlake-led actioner “In Time,” director Andrew Niccol has made a habit of taking unique, conceptual sci-fi ideas and attempting them on a Hollywood stage. His latest film, an adaptation of author Stephenie Meyer’s “The Host” aims to do that as well; however, unlike those past efforts, he now has to deal with both a massive fanbase and a central love triangle.
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More: Interviews, Andrew Niccol, The Host

Interview: ‘Croods’ Directors Kirk DeMicco & Chris Sanders Talk The Differences Between DreamWorks And Pixar, Working With Roger Deakins & More

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • March 25, 2013 11:59 AM
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  • 0 Comments
Interviews
This weekend, DreamWorks Animation’s new feature “The Croods” was unleashed in theaters nationwide. A zippy, prehistoric-set riff on the family-road-trip comedy, it features a clan of cavemen (and, it should be noted, cavewomen) who are forced to evolve after cataclysmic events threaten their way of life. It’s easily one of the most visually inventive and genuinely heartfelt movies to come out of DreamWorks Animation, and we were lucky enough to speak to Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, co-directors of “The Croods,” about the development of the movie, the differences between DreamWorks Animation and Pixar, who their favorite cinematic cavemen are, how Guillermo del Toro and Roger Deakins helped, and why they utilized Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” in the score.
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More: The Croods, Chris Sanders, Kirk de Micco, Interviews, DreamWorks Animation, Guillermo del Toro, Roger Deakins

Harmony Korine Talks 'Spring Breakers', Narrative Freedom & Why The ATL Twins Make America Great

  • By Erik McClanahan
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  • March 20, 2013 2:05 PM
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  • 13 Comments
Interviews
After opening in New York and Los Angeles last Friday, this weekend, U.S. audiences will get to see the latest fucked-up cinematic opus from enfant terrible Harmony Korine. "Spring Breakers," featuring James Franco alongside an unlikely young cast including Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson, tells the story of four bored college coeds (the aforementioned three actresses plus Rachel Korine, the director's wife) who rob a restaurant to fund a booze-and-drug-fueled trip to Florida, only to fall in with Franco’s Alien, a rapper and gangster who loves spring break (calling it "the American dream") almost as much as he loves the four females leads, and their brazen acceptance of the criminal lifestyle.
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More: Harmony Korine, James Franco, ATL Twins, Spring Breakers, Interviews

Antoine Fuqua And The Cast Of 'Olympus Has Fallen' Discuss The Bumps & Bruises Of Action Filmmaking

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • March 20, 2013 10:58 AM
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  • 0 Comments
Interviews
This weekend, Washington D.C. gets pulverized in “Olympus Has Fallen,” and director Antoine Fuqua wouldn’t have it any other way. The man in charge of this star-studded production boasted during press day of the glee he took in demolishing a national landmark, designed as a set in Shreveport, Louisiana. He looked forward every day to, “Tearing it up, shooting it up, making it real.”
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More: Olympus Has Fallen, Antoine Fuqua, Gerard Butler, Angela Bassett

Park Chan-wook Talks Differences Between Korean & American Films, How 'Stoker' Fits In With His Filmography & More

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • March 19, 2013 7:00 PM
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  • 0 Comments
Interviews
If there is one movie that has caused unending debate around The Playlist water-cooler, it's Park Chan-wook's English-language debut "Stoker." First screened at Sundance and making its slow creep across the country now, it's a twisty, unerringly perverse riff on Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt," wherein a mysterious Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) comes to visit his long lost family following his brother's equally mysterious demise. Mia Wasikowska plays the young daughter of the deceased, and an admirably batty Nicole Kidman is the new widow. We got to sit down with director Park and discuss what made "Stoker" so appealing as his first English language movie, how he decided on the composers for the film, and where the film fits in with his filmography.
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More: Stoker, Chan-wook Park, Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, Interviews

Saoirse Ronan's Irish Accent Will Be Heard For 'Grand Budapest Hotel,' Talks Ryan Gosling's "Stylized" 'How To Catch A Monster' & More

  • By Charlie Schmidlin
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  • March 18, 2013 10:59 AM
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  • 6 Comments
Interviews
This month's tentpole adaptation, “The Host,” stands to bring Saoirse Ronan to a new level of exposure, but for fans of the actress looking beyond Stephenie Meyer's creation, there's plenty of promising projects soon to come: she's nabbed lead roles in both Wes Anderson's latest, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, “How To Catch A Monster.” Recently, we got the opportunity to chat with her about each of them, as well as her upcoming role in director Kevin Macdonald's latest effort "How I Live Now."
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More: Saoirse Ronan, The Grand Budapest Hotel, How I Live Now, How To Catch A Monster, Ryan Gosling, Wes Anderson, The Host

Interview: Eddie Pepitone Talks Deconstructionist Comedy, The Seven Stages to Accepting Yourself Onscreen, & Saying Yes To 'The Bitter Buddha'

  • By Katie Walsh
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  • March 17, 2013 8:32 AM
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  • 0 Comments
Interviews
Eddie Pepitone is a comic’s comic, a deconstructionist stand-up comic with a scream like no other, who’s willing to put everyone, most often himself, under the microscope. Pepitone gets that treatment in the documentary film "The Bitter Buddha," directed by Steven Feinartz. It’s an engaging portrait of this man and an instant classic film about comedy that will be fascinating to comedy nerds and mainstream audiences alike. In our review, we said the film is 'a portrait of an interesting and endearing misanthrope,' and we got a chance to talk to the man himself on the day of his film’s premiere at the Cinema Village in New York City.
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More: Interviews, Interview

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