Tag Archives: the-filmmaker

Pam Grier on Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino, and Her Reign as the Queen of ’70s Action Cinema

Grindhouse icon Pam Grier blazed a trail through the blaxploitation era, was dubbed “the baddest One-Chick Hit-Squad that ever hit town” (a title that remains uncontested four decades later, one might argue), and commanded the screen with a combination of ferocity, empathy, and a look so striking Roger Ebert once described her as an “actress of beautiful face and astonishing form.” Years later, in 1997, Quentin Tarantino paid homage to the work and the woman in Jackie Brown , adapted from Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch , one of the filmmaker’s best and most underrated films and the spark that jump-started a career revival for its stars.

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Pam Grier on Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino, and Her Reign as the Queen of ’70s Action Cinema

Jon M. Chu Promises Gritty G.I. Joe 2 and No 3-D Conversion

As soon as Paramount selected Jon M. Chu ( Step Up 2 the Streets, Step Up 3D, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ) to direct their upcoming G.I. Joe sequel, the filmmaker faced the uphill battle of changing the perception that he was just a dance movie guy. But in a new interview, the helmer goes long on his love for the property, explains his vision for the sequel, corrects Rachel Nichols’ Tweet that certain characters might not return, and vehemently swears that he’d rather make a 2-D film than convert to 3-D in post.

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Jon M. Chu Promises Gritty G.I. Joe 2 and No 3-D Conversion

Is Immortals Helmer Tarsem the Honey Badger of Directors? A Movieline Investigation

New theory: Immortals director Tarsem Singh (excuse us, visionary director Tarsem ) is the honey badger of film directors. In an unprecedented move Saturday in San Francisco, the filmmaker behind such films as The Cell and The Fall stole the hearts and minds of WonderCon attendees away from Cowboys & Aliens helmer Jon Favreau — and mind you, Favreau is so popular that he has his own entrance music (“Back in Black,” natch). So how did visionary director Tarsem bring the house down during the panel for The Immortals , a 300 -styled movie he described as “Caravaggio meets Fight Club ?” Hit the jump for highlights from TarsemCon.

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Is Immortals Helmer Tarsem the Honey Badger of Directors? A Movieline Investigation

Today’s Awards-Season Trading Card Star: Helena Bonham Carter

It’s time once again to return to Movieline’s recently undertaken mission to honor this year’s acting and directing nominees with a tribute that will surely outlive any trophy they could ever hope to receive: one of our daily inaugural Awards-Season Trading Cards. Today, let’s give it up for Best Supporting Actress nominee Helena Bonham Carter!

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Today’s Awards-Season Trading Card Star: Helena Bonham Carter

Defiant David Fincher Reveals Oscar Strategy

“I don’t buy this notion that emotion and sentimentality are the same,” the filmmaker says in a new THR profile. “You won’t see me on Barbara Walters; Oprah, that’s not who I am. I don’t like sentimentality because I don’t like movies that ‘tell’ me — I want to engage in a movie that says, ‘Here it is.’ It’s not a colder point of view; that’s reductive. It’s more adult.” Fair enough! Also: This might be a problem . [ THR ]

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Defiant David Fincher Reveals Oscar Strategy

Big Brother Repulsion Index: Gagging Through the Lady Gaga Shot Trauma

Last night was the annual “Drink Vile Concoctions” competition for Big Brother houseguests, and after throwing back mystery shots, contestants put on their best poker faces and waited for their competitors to guess who had just ingested the nasty clam juice and cupcake-flavored sludge. Per usual, Lane handled the challenge with his characteristic stoicism, Matt whimpered, and Ragan “channeled his Inner Lady Gaga” to guarantee his most over-the-top performance yet. Now let’s see whose behavior last night was more repulsive than the shots they were forced to swill.

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Big Brother Repulsion Index: Gagging Through the Lady Gaga Shot Trauma

The Verge: Callan McAuliffe and Madeline Carroll

In Rob Reiner’s retro family film Flipped , the central, budding romance is handled in a novel way: first we see things from the perspective of aloof junior high schooler Bryce (Callan McAuliffe), and then we replay the same events through the perspective of his not-so-secret admirer, Juli (Madeline Carroll). For this edition of the Verge, then, let’s check in with McAuliffe first (he’s a 15-year-old Australian with a key role in the upcoming action film I Am Number Four ), then hear from Carroll (already a TV and film veteran at the age of 14), two unusually self-possessed young actors.

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The Verge: Callan McAuliffe and Madeline Carroll

Tyler Perry Will Buy, Demolish Your Dream House

A bittersweet story in the Sunday NYT recounted the sale of Dean Gardens, an Atlanta estate known more for its gaudy, tacky, rich-person excesses (and an 18-hole golf course) than anything resembling good taste. Even Tyler Perry can’t stand it; the filmmaker and mogul dropped $7.6 million for the 58-acre sprawl just so can raze the dump and build a new house that is “environmentally friendly and made of concrete.” Especially the closets. [ NYT ]

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Tyler Perry Will Buy, Demolish Your Dream House

Ridley Scott on the Alien Prequel

Still surprised that Ridley Scott intends to direct a prequel to his own film, Alien ? So is he: “I’ve always avoided sequels, unless I felt there was something fresh,” the filmmaker tells MTV. Among his “fresh” concepts for the prequel: the main character will be a woman, the story will lead right up to the first movie, and “there’s a lot of copying [of the other films], dude. There’s a lot of homage. Is that the polite word? Homage? I call it something else.” No, he really said that. [ MTV ]

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Ridley Scott on the Alien Prequel

Inception Breaks Baffling New Ground in Viral Geekdom

We’re a few days removed from Christopher Nolan’s WonderCon testimony and his latest chat with the L.A. Times , neither of which seem to reveal much more than the filmmaker’s aptitude for blowing your effing mind with diversions, distractions and other modes of geek-bait legerdemain. But now it appears that the real brain-cramping spoils belong to those combining WonderCon access, cell-phone technology and free swag into something, well… still totally unintelligible. But cool! I think? Read on and you tell me.

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Inception Breaks Baffling New Ground in Viral Geekdom