Critics agree the clich
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Before IMAX became a way to boost action sequences — Tom Cruise dangling from the tallest building in the world, the Joker’s gang rappelling down from a Gotham City high-rise to rob a bank — the outsized format was primarily the domain of nature films like To the Arctic 3D , which aim to dazzle with large-scale shots of mountains and dolphins and Australia and other impressive-looking things. Forty minutes long and narrated by Meryl Streep , To the Arctic uses spoonfuls of cuteness — featuring walruses and caribou, though polar bears are its primary animal stars — to make its fairly grim environmental message go down a little easier. Directed by Greg MacGillivray, an old hand at IMAX docs, To the Arctic tries to balance out its underlying sense of global warming alarm with spectacular imagery and footage of the far north ecosystem at work. Of course, even when it comes to the most roly poly of polar bear cubs, life at the top of the world isn’t easy, and while the film discreetly leaves the majority of the process of hunting and gobbling down seals off screen, it does include some potentially troubling sequences involving the food sources the male bears turn to when desperate. Polar bears aren’t easy to film — a segment about how would-be cinematographers camouflage remote-controlled cameras in order to get closer shots of the animals shows one bear breaking a device like an enraged celebrity attacking a paparazzo. So when the filmmakers find a family of bears and are able to stick with them for several days, they end up catching a chase across the ice. It’s a mother polar bear and her two cubs who are the heart of To the Arctic , the trio traveling across the diminishing sea ice as the mother searches for food for her offspring in the lean summer months when hunting is more difficult. Survival isn’t a certainty — earlier footage shows a mother swimming for nine days and hundreds of miles in search of meat, her cub not surviving the journey. But in the case of these bears, their most dangerous enemy turns out to be males of their own species, who will eat cubs when they can’t find seals to nosh on. The mother anxiously herds her children across the ice floes, always on the lookout for other bears, though despite her caution one finds them and tries to track them down. (Parents with children and sensitive stoners planning on seeing the film can rest assured there are no scenes of violent polar bear cannibalism.) To the Arctic flutters from place to place, peering in at some Inuit hunters and researchers who dive beneath the ice, then traveling with a pair of scientists tracking caribou migrations before pausing to watch walruses loll in the sun and then jumping to a ship departing from Svalbard. The only thematic ties beyond a shared region are the environmental threats being posed by global warming, which is making it harder to polar bears and walruses to hunt and is wreaking havoc on the caribou migration patterns. The film is marked by a few jarring stylistic touches, like a score that wavers between dramatic instrumentals and Paul McCartney songs (“Mr. Bellamy,” “I’m Carrying” and “Little Willow”) and opening credits that explode into shards of ice that fly at you — narrated by Meryl Streep BOOM! Streep offers her voiceover with nary a sly twinkle, even when delivering lines about the “frisky dance of the northern lights” or urging that “we can help keep the Arctic white.” But it’s the visuals you’re here to see, and they look great on the massive screen in three dimensions, especially in helicopter shots that whirl past waterfalls cascading off of glaciers or travel over the fantastic tundra like there’s an army of orcs to be discovered just over the next bluff. 3-D and IMAX may no longer be new, but in moments like those, they can still summon a sense of awe. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
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REVIEW: To the Arctic 3D Highlights Enviro-Woes, Polar Bear Cubs in Dazzling IMAX
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Director Len Wiseman tells MTV News about Kate Beckinsale going bad and Bryan Cranston’s complex villain. By Kara Warner Colin Farrell in “Total Recall” Photo: Sony Pictures We still have a while to wait for the August 3 release of the new “Total Recall,” but now that we’ve seen and obsessed over the official full-length trailer , we have a better idea of what to expect from Len Wiseman’s re-telling of the classic Philip K. Dick story, as well as how it compares to the 1990 cult favorite starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Paul Verhoeven. In addition to providing MTV News with his expert commentary about the well-received trailer , Wiseman also gave us some in-depth insight into how he’s handled the precedents and expectations set by Verhoeven’s film, how closely the 2012 film sticks to Dick’s original story, as well as what fans can appreciate and expect from stars Colin Farrell and a villainous Kate Beckinsale . MTV : How much fun has incorporating all the new technology been? Wiseman : It’s great. And, I will be honest: It’s a blessing and a curse for me, because I’m so of a school of practical effects and practical stunts. And when you develop a movie like this, which is an entire world you’re creating, you can only build so much, and then you go into your effects world. And actually, there’s a lot of practical elements in here that people assume are CG, because CG is used so often. In the trailer, we did this really complicated shot of Colin doing a fight sequence shootout. The camera is spinning around, it’s 100 percent practical. And it’s funny when I really kicked the “how much time and how expensive” nightmare kind of math in to figure that all out and everything to put in, and what surprised me is a lot of people think that is CG. I think because you maybe don’t immediately process how that’s being done. But it’s funny, because I look at that and go, “That’s actually the shot that’s entirely 100 percent practical.” So I really do find it a blessing and a curse, because I started as a prop guy. I actually started building models initially and then went into the prop department, and I’m so much of a practical mind. But then you get into a point where, “OK, now we have to build a world that is 100 and some odd years in the future.” And your construction budget, that’s a surprise. MTV : How will fans be impressed by Colin’s performance? Wiseman : I think they’re absolutely going to love him. It’s a very different take on the character. It’s much more of the internal struggle that he’s faced with, and he did such a great job with this mystery of his own soul, really. It’s such a mystery, this film. It’s got the action and sci-fi, everything hovering on the perimeter of what makes it feel like a big action film. But in its core, it’s a mystery, and it’s a mystery of himself. And I just think people will be really captivated by following his journey. He really does allow you to be him. So I really think they’ll be excited by him. MTV : What about seeing Kate Beckinsale playing a villain? Wiseman : It’s fun for us as well. She’s never done anything like that. So to be able to have some fun with playing a villain — and she had fun doing it too, because she’s always like, “You have to be so earnest when you’re saving the world. Wow, you can actually just loosen up and just, the bad guys have more fun.” I would love to get, I’ll probably put this out on the DVD, but these girls are just kicking each other’s asses and really brutal. We wanted to attack it. It was just a really vicious brawl, and in between the cuts, they both get so girly. Right on “cut.” There’s plenty of times when Kate actually just nicked Jessica [Biel]’s nose or same thing with Jessica, and they immediately just go from these vicious badass lethal killers to immediately very apologetic and very polite and girly. It’s great to see. MTV : Will we see Mars? Wiseman : We won’t see Mars. And I got to say, it’s one of the things that attracted me to the script, because I really, I along with a lot of other people, I really loved the Verhoeven film. I was very skeptical on just the reboot, just the idea. And until I read the script, with a lot of speculation going, it takes it in such a different direction from that film. Because it didn’t go to Mars, funny enough, is why I was interested. And it’s also just like I said: It plays a little bit into the threat of what the Philip K. Dick story had of, much more of bringing the threat back, really Doug’s mission to save Earth, not Mars. MTV : What can you tell us about getting Bryan Cranston? Wiseman : He’s got one really fun personality. I think a lot of people, if you’ve seen him in his prior TV show, I’m sure, I happened to be introduced to him through films and then “Breaking Bad” as well. I’ve never seen “Malcolm in the Middle,” and I was taken by how fun and charming and funny the guy is. I probably came late to that game. That’s no surprise to anyone else. He really has a balance of evil and charming, which I really like. He plays off great [with Colin]. I wish they actually had more scenes together. It’s a bit of a weird structure, where the villain is kind of split between Kate and Cranston. So when they’re together, though, it’s great. He’s really got a good balance there, where when there’s a pure tendency that a lot of people have to play just very villainous, he has a little bit more passion for what he’s doing, where you actually believe it is the right thing, rather than twirling your mustache a bit too much. It’s Summer Movie Preview Week, and MTV News will be bringing you exclusive interviews, clips and photos for the most anticipated summer movies . Get ready to gorge on inside looks at “The Avengers,” Robert Pattinson’s “Bel Ami,” Kristen Stewart’s “Snow White,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and more! Related Videos Summer Movie Preview 2012 ‘Total Recall’ Trailer Breakdown Related Photos Get Psyched For 2012’s Summer Movies!
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‘Total Recall’ Remake Heads In ‘A Different Direction’ From Original
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Actor’s cameo in Tim Burton’s big-screen adaption of soap opera will be his last onscreen appearance. By John Mitchell Jonathan Frid in 1988 Photo: Getty Images Actor Jonathan Frid, best known as the man who brought vivid life to one of the most iconic undead characters in TV history, vampire Barnabas Collins in the soap opera “Dark Shadows,” died on Friday at the age of 87. He died of natural causes after a fall at his home in Ancaster, Ontario, though his family chose not to release the news until now. Frid was a classically trained stage actor, who began his stage career after a tour with the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London before going to receive a Master of Fine Arts degree in directing from Yale in 1957. His talents were a strange match for “Shadows,” but Frid’s training brought an unexpected subtly to his performance, capturing the imaginations of viewers, including Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, both of whom were rabid fans of “Shadows” when they were young and labored for years to turn the soap into a feature film . Playing a 200-year-old vampire who is unearthed in the late-1960s, Frid’s Barnabas was not a villain but a complex and often sympathetic antihero, who through the soap’s 1966-71 run continued to mourn the loss of his true love while trying to crave his bloodlust and protect his descendents from the evil witches and monsters that plagued their beloved family mansion, Collinwood. The big-screen version of “Shadows” is set to open on May 11 and is easily one of the most anticipated films of the summer. Frid shot a cameo for the film, marking his first film role since 1974’s “Seizure” (Olive Stone’s feature-directing debut). While on set in London, he got to spend time with Depp, who plays Barnabas, and as Frid’s “Shadows” co-star Kathryn Leigh Scott told The Wrap , both Depp and Burton were effusive with their praise for the actor and his most famous character. “Both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton looked at Jonathan and said, ‘We wouldn’t be here without you,’ ” Scott said. After being based in New York City for more than 40 years and working to great acclaim both on and off Broadway, Frid retired to Canada in 1994, though he continued to act, performing one-man shows for charities in both Canada and the U.S., and appearing at “Dark Shadows” conventions, which have only grown in popularity over the years. He reportedly always felt a close connection to “Shadows” fans and maintained a website so they could follow what he was up to. Frid’s cameo in Burton’s “Shadows” will be his last onscreen performance.
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Jonathan Frid, Original Barnabas Collins In ‘Dark Shadows,’ Dead At 87
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Director behind ‘Water for Elephants’ and classic music videos is set to take over for Gary Ross. By Kara Warner Francis Lawrence Photo: Ian Gavan/ Getty Images Just last week, the “Hunger Games” fandom was sent into a bit of a tailspin when director Gary Ross announced he would not direct the film’s sequel , “Catching Fire.” Jaws dropped, heads were scratched and new names were thrown out and analyzed . Now, it appears Francis Lawrence will be stepping into Ross’ shoes to direct the highly anticipated sequel to the record-breaking first film. According to a very brief report from Deadline , Lionsgate has decided to go with Lawrence over “Moneyball” helmer Bennett Miller, the other recently rumored Ross replacement. There is no official word from the studio about the done deal, but by all appearances, they have found their man. For those not familiar with Lawrence’s r
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The Tribeca Film Festival opened Wednesday night with the world premiere of Universal’s The Five-Year Engagement , ushering in 10 days of the festival’s 11th annual event. Initial word from insiders is that this year’s festival lineup is its strongest in years. Days from now, attendees will be buzzing about what works and what doesn’t, but Movieline is offering up a sneak glimpse into many of the films playing in the festival’s narrative and documentary competitions , plus its genre-centered Cinemania section. Ahead of the festival, we reached out to its filmmakers to give quick comments about their films and a peak at their trailers or clips, which Movieline will debut here in the coming days — including exclusive premieres, such as the trailer for The Revisionaries , featured below. Have a look, mark your calendars, and share your thoughts on these and other Tribeca films. The Revisionaries , by director Scott Thurman – U.S. [World Documentary Competition] Synopsis Once every decade, the 15 members of the Texas Board of Education meet in Austin to revise the state’s textbook standards. Led by Don McLeroy, a Young Earth Creationist, Evangelical Christian, and beloved local dentist, the panel will debate and implement controversial new standards related to science, evolution, social studies, and American history that will ultimately go into effect in textbooks adopted by schools across the nation. Challenged by outspoken activist Kathy Miller, as well as Thomas Ratliff, a moderate conservative out to unseat him, McLeroy faces an uphill battle, with the fate of American education itself hanging in the balance. [courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Scott Thurman: The Revisionaries quick pitch : The theory of evolution and a re-write of US history are caught in the crosshairs when an unabashed creationist seeks re-election as chairman of America’s most influential board of education. [The film] is about the rise and fall of a small-town dentist, outspoken young earth creationist, and Chair of the Texas Board of Education during a crucial period in determining high-school textbook content for public schools throughout the entire state, which influences schools across the country. …and why it’s worth checking out at Tribeca : The Revisionaries is a very important and timely film about the politics of education. I hope the creative director at Tribeca, Geoff Gilmore, won’t mind if we mention that he’s stated, “It’s such an intriguing point-of-view with the Christian right-wingers.” In an election year, what could be more important than learning more about a major battleground in the American culture wars? Thoughts about the trailer : I’d like audiences to be more informed about how the Texas Board of Education’s political process occurs, and to better understand the motivation and strategies of a handful of characters with opposing world views involved in that process, which could affect all of our children. Although we don’t advertise any specific action steps, we hope the film motivates audiences throughout the country to become more aware of the public school standards in their own state and understand the importance of participating in state board of education elections. First Winter by writer/director Benjamin Dickinson – U.S. [Tribeca Film Festival World Narrative Competition] Synopsis When winter begins, life is serene for a group of new-age Brooklynites living in a remote country farmhouse. Sex, drugs, yoga, and organic cooking absorb their days, safely tucked away from the stresses of urban life. But when a blackout of apocalyptic proportions strands them with no heat and no electricity during the coldest winter on record, their utopian commune is breached by anxiety and their idyllic harmony begins to lose its tune. As time wears on and the food supply dwindles, power struggles, jealousy, and desire threaten the group’s ability to work together in order to survive. [courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Benjamin Dickinson… First Winter quick pitch : It’s about letting go of what’s unnecessary. …and why it’s worth checking out at Tribeca : It’s a compelling story about Brooklynites with some nice drugs, sex, emotional violence, and jokes in there, and but so that’s just to set you up for what it’s really about, which is love and death. Thoughts about the trailer : I wanted to communicate more than anything the tone of the film, which I think this does nicely. It’s slow and visual and moody. The landscape gradually takes over. Jackpot by director Magnus Martens – Norway [Cinemania section] Synopsis Terrified, bloodied, and clutching a shotgun, Oscar Svendsen awakes and emerges from underneath a dead body. He finds himself in the midst of a crime scene in what used to be a respectable strip joint, surrounded by corpses and staring down the barrel of a gun pointed at him by a detective with the National Criminal Investigation Service. Naturally, Oscar is taken into custody, and during his interrogation he timidly relates a bloody story of betrayal, murder, and a soccer lottery prize that was meant to be shared with three ex-con co-workers. But is this the whole story? [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Magnus Martens… Jackpot quick pitch : Jackpot is a crime-comedy based on an original story by author Jo Nesbø. …and why it’s worth checking out at Tribeca : If you want to see something hilarious from Norway with a memento to Tarantino´s absurd action universe, you better not miss Jackpot . Thoughts about the trailer : The trailer starts as a scary movie with a crime plot and shifts into a comedy. We wanted to communicate that Jackpot has many ingredients from different genres. While We Were Here by director Kat Coiro – U.S. [World Narrative Competition] Synopsis In this tightly crafted relationship drama, Jane (Kate Bosworth) and her husband Leonard (Iddo Goldberg) travel to Naples—where Leonard is playing viola with the local orchestra—hoping to reinvigorate their silently disintegrating marriage and escape a personal tragedy that hangs heavily between them. Jane, left alone most days, wanders the streets listening to tapes she made of interviews with her grandmother, seeking inspiration to finish a book based on the old recordings. Facing writer’s block, she takes a day trip to stunning Ischia, where she meets Caleb (Jamie Blackley), a young American leading a hermetic yet Dionysian life on the island. As the two embark on an unlikely emotional affair, Jane’s carefully constructed world begins to crack open and she faces drastic changes in her life. [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Kat Coiro… While We Were Here quick pitch : Kate Bosworth plays a woman in an unhappy marriage who accompanies her musician husband to the south of Italy where she meets a young, devastatingly handsome man ten years her junior, with whom she embarks on an affair… …and why it’s worth checking out at Tribeca : The setting alone is worth the price of admission. Filmed on location on a little island off the coast of Italy, the movie takes place in grottos, on beaches, off of cliffs, in castles — it’s full-blown location porn. The other draw is the cast. Jamie Blackley is a rising star who shines as Kate Bosworth’s much younger lover, the legendary Claire Bloom narrates and Bosworth taps into a remarkably vulnerable place as a woman at a crossroads. Thoughts about the clip : The clip doesn’t give away any of the tightly wound story but it does transport the viewer to a romantic place and gives a sense of the black and white photography, the stunning location and the original orchestral score. Graceland by director Ron Morales – Philippines [Tribeca Film Festival Cinemania section] Synopsis : Once every decade, the 15 members of the Texas Board of Education meet in Austin to revise the state’s textbook standards. Led by Don McLeroy, a Young Earth Creationist, Evangelical Christian, and beloved local dentist, the panel will debate and implement controversial new standards related to science, evolution, social studies, and American history that will ultimately go into effect in textbooks adopted by schools across the nation. Challenged by outspoken activist Kathy Miller, as well as Thomas Ratliff, a moderate conservative out to unseat him, McLeroy faces an uphill battle, with the fate of American education itself hanging in the balance. [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments from Ron Morales… Graceland quick pitch : Graceland is an intense kidnapping drama that forces its viewers to see the motivations of several characters on several sides of a very dark story. It poses a lot of moral questions, is intensely exhilarating, and takes no prisoners. …and why it’s worth checking out at Tribeca : There’s nothing else like Graceland at Tribeca this year. Its raw ferocity and intense subject matter set it apart from other features, and the fact that it was written and directed by a Filipino now living in Manhattan allows it the exoticism of a foreign film with the heart of a local project. Thoughts about the trailer : The trailer is an extension of the film – calm and intense, with a strong air of concern that hints at the horrors to come. It highlights Arnold Reyes’ bravado performance, which begins calm and subdued, but ultimately throttles the film like a freight train toward it’s unexpected conclusion. Stay tuned for more exclusive festival previews at Movieline, and read all of our Tribeca 2012 coverage here .
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VIDEO: Get to Know 5 Tribeca 2012 Filmmakers (and Their Films)
Making its North American premiere next week at Tribeca , director Chris Kenneally’s digital-cinema study Side By Side has quite a bit going for it: There’s co-producer Keanu Reeves, narrating and leading interviews with an extraordinary range of filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, George Lucas, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, Lars von Trier and numerous others. There’s great technical insight from Oscar-winning cinematographers like Vittorio Storaro, Wally Pfister, Anthony Dod Mantle and Dion Beebe. There’s scene-stealers like Joel Schumacher and shooter Geoff Boyle, who encapsulates the digital age with his trenchant summary, “We’re fucked.” But among all the experts, insights and disclosures herein, there’s one appearance in particular that makes Side by Side worth a look: The Wachowskis. While they’ve made seemingly random news posing for photos with Arianna Huffington and others, I can’t even find the last instance of a bona fide interview with Andy and Lana Wachowski. Roger Ebert talked to them a bit in 2008 , but for a real chat about their work or style, you’d probably have to go back to their Matrix days , when Lana was still Larry and they hadn’t yet settled completely behind their cloak of personal, professional and creative privacy. But there they are onscreen, filling Reeves and Kenneally in regarding the advancement of digital filmmaking and its influence on the Matrix and Speed Racer . And that’s not all. “The delivery system of cinema is going to change, and that’s almost kind of more exciting in a way for me, beside the actual cameras,” Lana says. “This very ancient system of putting a can of film on a truck, driving it to a city, unloading it — that’s being replaced.” And as for the social-media influence on filmgoing, Andy weighs in with his support: “In some way, the virtual experience is more rewarding, because there’s an actual dialogue going on.” There’s more, which you can see either at Tribeca (where Side by Side premieres Apr. 24 ) or when the film arrives in theaters and on VOD this August. All of which leads to the question: How did Kenneally and Reeves even get the two to agree to a sit-down with them? Kenneally sent the back story in a statement to Movieline: We are very fortunate and grateful for all the amazing people who shared their time, insights and knowledge with us for our documentary Side by Side . We were especially fortunate to have been able to interview the Wachowskis since they rarely do interviews. Andy and Lana have had a very successful and close relationship with Keanu, and I believe the reason they agreed to the interview was because of this friendship. The Wachowskis continue to create groundbreaking movies and they are truly pioneers in the use of digital technology. The images they were able to create in the Matrix Trilogy and on Speed Racer pushed the limits of filmmaking art and technology. There are beautiful shots in those films that had never been conceived of before. The Wachowskis were very busy working on their next film Cloud Atlas , which they are directing along with Tom Tykwer, in Berlin, Germany, but they found a few free hours for us one afternoon. Keanu, our producer Justin Szlasa and I flew to Berlin, set up our cameras quickly and got an amazing, insightful and at times hilarious interview. The Wachowskis had a unique, intelligent perspective on image creation, digital technology, editing, archival and couldn’t have been nicer or more welcoming to us. One of the highlights of the Side by Side journey for me was seeing Lana and Andy in the audience at our screening at the Berlin Film Festival. I had the chance to speak to them afterword. They were really happy for us and had a lot of kind words to say about Side by Side . Fantastic. Of course there are plenty of other interviewees and perspectives to catch in Side by Side ; learn more about the film and check out a few clips at its Tribeca Film Festival page . Read all of Movieline’s Tribeca 2012 coverage here . Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
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How the Wachowskis Came to Make a Super-Rare Appearance in New Doc Side by Side
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‘[It] is by far the most emotional of the movies,’ director Barry Sonnenfeld tells MTV News about the third film in the ‘Men in Black’ series. By Josh Wigler Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in “Men in Black 3” Photo: Columbia Pictures The Men in Black are back — but these aren’t the galaxy defenders you remember, not exactly. Yes, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have both returned to their iconic roles of Agents J and K, two of the finest alien investigators the universe has to offer. But J is not the same bright-eyed rookie introduced oh so many years ago; he’s a seasoned veteran now. And don’t even get us started on Agent K, who has changed so much that a whole new actor is stepping in to play him in the upcoming summer action flick! Nearly a full decade has passed since the last “Men in Black” movie was in theaters. But the threequel itself has been a fixture in headlines throughout its production: Between time-traveling tales, a one-two punch from Jones and Josh Brolin, and reported problems with the film’s script, “Men in Black 3” has certainly been on every film geek’s radar. But don’t let all of that confuse you. Director Barry Sonnenfeld tells MTV News that not only is “Men in Black 3” the most “emotional” of the series, it’s also the most “surprising.” In other words, if you think you know what the film is all about, take it from the man himself: You don’t know anything yet. MTV News’ Summer Movie Preview week continues today with an interview with Sonnenfeld, who spoke openly with us about the film’s story, reports and rumors surrounding the production, and how “Men in Black 3” paves the way for a brand-new take on the sci-fi franchise. MTV : A long time has passed since we’ve seen the Men in Black on the big screen. What does it mean to you, bringing them back after so many years? Barry Sonnenfeld : It feels really great. I’ve been on the movie for a little over two years though, so I’m looking forward to some vacation, too. [ Laughs ] It was really rewarding. I’m really excited for people to see the movie. So I guess I’m tired, and happy. MTV : Why return to this universe now after all this time? What made sense to you about exploring the world of “Men in Black” again? Sonnenfeld : I think the important thing is to have a new, different story to tell. We didn’t want another regular caper where some alien just comes down to threaten Earth, and the Men in Black have to solve it. The big idea — and it was actually Will’s idea, while we were shooting “Men in Black 2” one night for an exterior shot. He said to me, “Barry, for ‘Men in Black 3,’ Agent J needs to go back in time to save Tommy Lee Jones’ [character] from some event that’s happened decades earlier. He needs to learn something about Tommy’s character that he didn’t know before.” That was the genesis. Ten years later, we’re about to come out and show the world what that meant. MTV : Time travel is clearly a big element to the story, but there’s more: we’ve seen photos of the typical weird aliens, we’ve seen Josh Brolin as a young Agent K, and we’ve seen Jemaine Clement as this crazy, motorcycle-riding villain. From a distance, we see all these parts, but perhaps we still don’t have the full scope of what your movie’s about. So, tell us: What’s happening this time around? Sonnenfeld : In the first act, Agent J is a bit fed up with how closed K is as a person, how he feels he needs to open up and communicate more, but it’s not happening. K says to J, “You know how I live such a happy life? I don’t ask questions I don’t want to know the answers to.” At the end of the first act, Jemaine’s character, Boris the Animal, breaks out of prison and finds a guy who has a time device. He says he’s going back to 1969 to do something to the man who shot off his arm — because Boris only has half an arm — and of course, that man is Agent K. At the end of that first act, Tommy’s character disappears, and no one remembers that he ever existed… except Agent J, who realizes that someone went back in time and did something to Agent K. So he has to track down who gave Boris the device, and travel back to 1969 with one warning: He has to stay away from his old partner. MTV : Which, of course, he does not listen to. Sonnenfeld : What happens, actually, is he gets arrested by Agent K — now Josh Brolin — in 1969. The second and third act is all about tracking down Boris and Will renewing his friendship with a different K than the K he knows from 40 years in the future. What’s really cool is that J is constantly wondering why this guy who seems sort of open and happy became the sort of curmudgeon that has been his partner for the last 14 years. He makes a discovery about that. So, “Men in Black 3” is by far the most emotional of the movies. It has a really surprising ending. MTV : Everyone is very excited to see Brolin as K. Can you tell us more about his take on Tommy’s character? Sonnenfeld : Yeah, what’s great about the movie is you’ve got two great actors, both Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, playing the same character and being the same character, but being 40 years different in time. So Josh’s challenge was how to not impersonate Tommy, but to be Agent K, you know what I mean? What’s really interesting is that Josh can’t veer away from Tommy so much that you go, “That’s no fun, I miss Tommy.” And he can’t be so much like Tommy that you wonder why he’s so angry in 1969. Will Smith said to me one day, “What’s so interesting about this movie is that Josh Brolin is so good playing Agent K, and Tommy is so good at playing Agent K, that you almost don’t realize there’s two different actors in the role.” MTV : You mentioned that this is the most emotional of the “Men in Black” movies. What’s interesting to me is that the villain this time around is played by someone who is traditionally viewed as a comedian. How does Jemaine’s villain factor into the emotional aspect of this film? Is he more on the comedy side, or can we expect a more dramatic performance? Sonnenfeld : Jemaine delivers a totally villainous performance. If there’s any comedy at all, it’s just through frustration. [ Laughs ] The great thing about Earth is that it can be a frustrating place for aliens. We don’t think clearly, we’re not logical all the time. But Jemaine is not on board this movie for comic relief. His performance is really strong and really villainous. Think about it: If you had not seen the first “Men in Black,” and people had told you that Tommy lee Jones was funny, you wouldn’t have believed it. This is the same thing — no one is trying to be funny. I want my actors to be real. If it’s a funny situation, I want it to be funny. But I don’t want anyone to play to the comedy. Let the audience find the comedy; I don’t want to tell any [of the cast or crew] where it is. So, Jemaine does not deliver a comedic performance. While there are moments of humor that the audience will find funny, Jemaine himself is not being funny, if you get that. MTV : There have been lots of reports about issues with the script and issues with the shoot. Set things straight: Can you give us a sense of your experience making this film? Sonnenfeld : First of all, I don’t know that I’ve ever been on a shoot that wasn’t stressful for the director. I think all movies are stressful in different ways. What was reported on this one was that we took a several-months hiatus to work on the script. As it relates to that, that concept was built into the shooting schedule. We wanted the next movie Will Smith was in after a long time where he wasn’t in movies to be “Men in Black 3.” We also wanted to shoot in New York, which had a tax incentive that was about to expire. It didn’t expire, but we didn’t know it wasn’t going to expire, because New York state legislature had to vote it in again, and we weren’t sure that was going to happen. So we started the movie with a full script and with a really great first act — but the second and third needed work. We built in a two-month hiatus so we could continue working on the script and not need an eight-week reshoot. So that’s what we did. The truth is, the great thing about the movie, is that there was no stress between myself and any of the actors. We all got along very well. You don’t ever want a director and a movie star who see two different movies. But we all were working with the same ideas in mind. We knew the characters, we knew the history, and we were very much in sync. People don’t know this, but the end and plot of the first “Men in Black” was changed after we shot the picture, months and months and months after shooting. We had cut the movie and were ready to mix it and everything. But I took one scene and got a phonetics expert to change what the two aliens were saying — they were speaking English, and we changed it to an alien language, and subtitled what they were saying. That totally changed the plot of the movie. So, we did not have to do that on this movie. We got [the story] right the first time; it just took a long time to get there. The movie is really good, and it looks great. I think it’s going to be fantastic in 3-D, too. MTV : Wrapping up, you talked about how the ending of this film is “surprising.” As much as you can tease, do you view this film as an ending to the “Men in Black” trilogy? Or are there ways to continue the story? Sonnenfeld : The fantastic thing about “Men in Black 3” is that it totally closes out the trilogy, it answers questions that you didn’t even know you should be asking, it leaves you emotionally warm and sad and happy, and it could also reboot the franchise. But I can’t even begin to tell you how to interpret all of that. [ Laughs ] But I would say this: If your interpretation is that “Men in Black 4” will only star the worm guys and Frank the pug, you are wrong. MTV : Hey, I’d pay money to see that movie! Sonnenfeld : Yeah? Well, maybe I’m wrong! [ Laughs ] Just wait. It’s going to be great. Are you excited for the next “Men in Black” movie? Tell us in the comments section below! It’s Summer Movie Preview Week, and MTV News will be bringing you exclusive interviews, clips and photos for the most anticipated summer movies . Get ready to gorge on inside looks at “The Avengers,” Robert Pattinson’s “Bel Ami,” Kristen Stewart’s “Snow White,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and more! Related Videos Summer Movie Preview 2012
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‘Men In Black 3’ Director Promises ‘Surprising Ending’
‘Huntsman’ director Rupert Sanders also discusses the ‘fiendish’ Charlize Theron for MTV News’ Summer Movie Preview Week. By Kara Warner Kristen Stewart in “Snow White and the Huntsman” Photo: Universal Pictures It’s clear from all we’ve seen from the “Snow White and the Huntsman” trailers, photos and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks that this film is a stepping stone for Kristen Stewart in many ways. When MTV News caught up with the film’s director, Rupert Sanders, recently, he explained how everyone involved in the project stepped up their game for this modern take on a medieval story. “Kristen is a very driven, visceral, intuitive actress. From a director’s point of view, it’s great to get into her headspace,” he explained. “We did a lot of work together on the script and character, and she really helped inform me how that character was feeling, which really helped my process getting the character onscreen. Kristen was doing a lot of her stunt work, she was riding horses, she was jumping from high precipices into freezing cold water, she was fighting dwarves — she’s gung-ho. Sanders said Stewart’s co-star Charlize Theron was equally gung-ho with respect to the lengths she went to take her beauty into a dark and horrible place. “[She] becomes fiendish,” Sanders said. “She was willing to get in tubs of black oil, surrounded by dead ravens, and crawl her way out. For a director, what’s great about these two actors is that they will go beyond what you ask of them, and I think it really shows in the performances they’ve given. They’re both very unlike any performance I’ve seen either of them deliver.” The first-time feature director promised that fans will not be disappointed by what they’ll see onscreen when the film opens June 1. “What I’m most proud of is that it’s not a popcorn movie in that respect. It’s big and it’s epic and there’s lots of battle sequences, but it really hits you,” he said. “There’s not a lot of weeping, but it’s a very intense ride. You’re really at the edge of people’s boundaries. There are new ways of seeing action, which I’m excited about. It’s a very modern take on a medieval film but doesn’t feel like we’re trying to do anything trendy or of the minute. It still feels practical.” It’s Summer Movie Preview Week, and MTV News will be bringing you exclusive interviews, clips and photos for the most anticipated summer movies . Get ready to gorge on inside looks at “The Avengers,” Robert Pattinson’s “Bel Ami,” Kristen Stewart’s “Snow White,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and more! Related Videos Summer Movie Preview 2012 Related Photos Get Psyched For 2012’s Summer Movies!
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Kristen Stewart A ‘Gung-Ho’ Action Star In ‘Snow White’
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With a few hours to go before the official Cannes line-up gets announced, we’ve got quite a little treat. Following the exhilarating teaser, a brand spankin’ new trailer for David Cronenberg‘s Cosmopolis is out, which confirms its Cannes debut. Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, the film stars Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon in Broadcasting platform : Allocine Source : The Film Stage Discovery Date : 19/04/2012 07:02 Number of articles : 3
Full-Length Trailer For David Cronenberg’s ‘Cosmopolis’ Confirms Cannes Premiere
Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hot Stuff, TV, Videos
Tagged bennyhollywood, david cronenberg, discovery-date, exhilarating, film, Hollywood, invalid, length-trailer, line-up-gets, official, sarah-gadon, TMZ, video, Youtube
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