by Michael Marano
“And that’s where you really see where the problems lie…”
– Duncan Jones
Duncan Jones’s debut feature Moon (2009), a retro-1970s science-fiction/art-house epic that ingeniously managed to hit a lot of the same notes that Kubrick and Tarkovskiy hit despite a miniscule budget and having only one principal character (played by Sam Rockwell), nabbed Jones a BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer and dumptrucks full of other nominations and accolades.
His most recent feature, Source Code (starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright) could be pitched as “Die Hard by way of Quantum Leap served in eight-minute repeating chunks of Groundhog Day.”
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by Ryan Stewart
“There’s much more to the Saw movies than just Jigsaw…” –
– Darren Lynn Bousman
Don’t blame Darren Lynn Bousman for giving me a relatively swift interview – he’s a busy guy. Apart from Saw IV, which he’s currently out doing promotion for, he’s also shooting a film in Toronto called Repo!: The Genetic Opera, and is heavily involved in pre-production for his next film, a remake of the 1981 classic Scanners that will be shooting in Toronto in the coming months.
As if all that isn’t enough, he’s also taking part in preparations for the next Saw film, scheduled to hit theaters in October 2008. He won’t be directing that one, however – three times up to bat is enough. The reigns on Saw V are being handed over to the series’ longtime production designer and second unit director, David Hackl, and how long the gravy train will keep rolling along is anyone’s guess.
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by Ryan Stewart
“There’s no King of Pop, like Michael Jackson, in the punk world.”
– Julien Temple
What would early punk be without its incestuous bickering? It was the initial refusal of Joe Strummer to allow a young Julien Temple into his inner circle in the mid-70s that first pushed the budding filmmaker towards the other great punk originators of the day, The Sex Pistols. That led to the creation of Temple’s two seminal Pistols documentaries, The Great Rock and Roll Swindle (which John Lydon loudly denounced for getting everything wrong) and The Filth and the Fury (made with his involvement and blessing).
When a movie was to be made in the mid-80s about the doomed affair of Sid and Nancy, director Alex Cox chose Strummer to write the film’s theme, much to the shock and chagrin of Lydon. Temple would then go on to record a commentary track for that film, in which he points out everything Cox gets wrong about the Pistols.
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by Fred Topel
“There’ll always be something new. It’s like whack-a-mole.”
– Leigh Whannell
I first met Leigh Whannell as the writer and costar of Saw. I thought it was a really cool indie movie that came out of nowhere. It had a mind-blowing surprise at the end and a theme that really spoke to me. When Whannell wrote two sequels in two years, I really got into depth with him on Jigsaw’s morality. Seven Saws later, and Whannell has written another script for his directing buddy James Wan .
Insidious again deals with themes that are bigger than the immediate story. In the film, parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) find their homes (that’s plural) haunted by spirits. So it’s a ghost story.
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by A.J. Focht
Details are starting to emerge on the follow up to 2009’s J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek reboot. Screenwriter Robert Orci recently took some time at WonderCon to talk about what direction the franchise will likely boldly go, while promoting his upcoming movie Cowboys vs. Aliens.
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by Fred Topel
“It’s rare that you see the daughter killing the mother.”
– Joe Wright
Hanna is the first action movie from director Joe Wright, whose previous credits include Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, and The Soloist.
The film stars Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) in the title role of a teenage assassin, who was raised in isolation and given a military-style training by her mysterious ex-CIA father Erik (Eric Bana). When she re-enters society at 16, secret agents, led by Marissa (Cate Blanchett), come looking for her, and a thrilling cat and mouse chase of sorts ensues. On the road, Hanna meets a traveling family and befriends their daughter Sophie (Jessica Barden). With their help, while in pursuit of her mission, Hanna finds a conscience and comes to question her very being.
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by Fred Topel
“You could say this is a mainstream film if an alien’s saying it”
– Greg Mottola
Our favorite Simon Pegg and Nick Frost projects were directed by Edgar Wright. That’s Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and the BBC series Spaced. While Wright made Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Pegg and Frost wrote a script for the comedy Paul, and Greg Mottola got to direct them.
In Paul, Frost and Pegg play aspiring sci-fi authors and fans who begin a road trip at San Diego Comic-Con. After a montage of Comic-Con adventures, they take to the road again to visit America’s alien sites. Soon they meet a real alien, Paul (Seth Rogen), and have to help him get home.
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