Oscar-winning screenwriting partners Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (The Descendants) celebrate their directorial debut with The Way, Way Back, a familiar coming of age story that is sweet, funny and poignant. Teenage angst and the “us versus adults” battle shown from the male perspective are popular themes right now, with film like Mud and Kings of Summer releasing earlier this summer, but as a labor of love project for this filmmaking duo, The Way, Way Back has been a long time coming. It’s a film that manages to be a crowd-pleaser without trying too hard. The title refers to the back seat of a vintage station wagon, where 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James)…
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Interview…’The Way, Way Back’ Writers/Directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
In Fox Searchlight’s The Way, Way Back 14-year-old Duncan is on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and his daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the “Water Wizz” water park. GoSeeTalk got to sit with the Oscar-winning writing/directing/acting duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash to discuss their coming-of-age story and working with such an ensemble cast. Written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash and starring Steve Carell, Liam James, AnnaSophia Robb, Toni Collette and Sam Rockwell, The Way, Way Back will begin its limited release on July 5th. THE WAY, WAY BACK is the funny and poignant coming of age story of 14-year-old Duncan’s (Liam James) summer…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Cameron Crowe Films
This summer we’re bringing back our series of posts dedicated to great directors, starting with Cameron Crowe whose first screenwriting effort, the cult classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, grew out of a book he wrote while posing for one year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California. Since the film’s release in 1982, Crowe has written and directed several hit features and rock documentaries. While best known for his character-driven narratives, centering on couples in love, Crowe’s style has proven successful in creating a variety of roles and narratives. His journalistic background gives Crowe’s storytelling a unique perspective and heightened sense of realism that…
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Remembering 'Sopranos' Star James Gandolfini
Emmy Award-winning actor, James Gandolfini, best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO drama, The Sopranos, died on Wednesday at age 51. Gandolfini’s portrayal of the often conflicted, New Jersey Mafia boss earned him three Emmy Awards for “Best Actor in Drama” during the shows six season run from 1999-2007. In 2007, Entertainment Weekly included Gandolfini in their list of “The 50 Greatest TV Icons” for his ability to take the Mob boss “through rage, self-pity, love, and depression,” in the course of a single episode, calling his portrayal of Tony Soprano “a weekly how-to manual on Greek tragedy.” Gandolfini began his acting career in 1987, starring in several…
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See ‘MAN OF STEEL’ on 35mm Film ONLY at the Texas Theatre in DALLAS, TX
Those of you who have been patiently awaiting the release of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (and who hasn’t?) have probably heard that the film will be shown in 3D. But if you’re looking for something a little more nostalgic to go along with all those childhood memories you hold so dear and the superhero reminiscing you’ve been doing, you’ll be happy to hear that the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff will be projecting the film in 35mm for the remainder of its run, giving residents of the DFW metroplex a chance to see it in a way that would make Christopher Nolan very happy. “It’s rare to have a new summer release that…
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[OCFF Interview]…’Drinking Buddies’ Director Joe Swanberg
Arguably his best film to date, prolific, independent filmmaker, Joe Swanberg, says he worked harder on Drinking Buddies than on any other film. Swanberg says it’s a movie he made with “a deep desire to connect with an audience, and that hasn’t been true of a lot of my movies.” “I’ve had a couple of big changes in the past couple of years in terms of how I make movies and what I want to put out into the world,” says Swanberg. Whose friend and fellow filmmaker, Madeleine Olnek, influenced some of these changes after sharing her philosophy on filmmakers and comedy. “She said to have the ability to make comedies and not…
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[OCFF Interview]….’Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ Director David Lowery
This past weekend Dallas welcomed the 2nd Annual Oak Cliff Film Festival to the neighborhood, and with it, a special double feature event with local filmmaker David Lowery in attendance. Lowery introduced director Robert Altman’s Repertory film, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, followed by a “secret screening” that turned out to be Lowery’s latest feature film, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Go, See, Talk caught up with Lowery in the Press room and quickly chatted about the local film community, his experiences growing up attending film festivals, and his involvement in them now. Lowery, who grew up in Dallas and attended festivals like the USA Film Festival and the Dallas Video Fest when they were…
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[OCFF Interview]…'Medora' Directors Andrew Cohn & Davy Rothbart
This past weekend at the 2nd Annual Oak Cliff Film Festival, Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart’s documentary feature, Medora, about a small town in Indiana, won the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film, which premiered earlier this year at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, follows the lives of the boys who make up the Medora Hornets, the local high school’s basketball team, as they attempt to end their three-year losing streak. The team serves as a symbol to the community, and their hope and determination parallels with that of the town itself, as it fights to stay alive. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Check out the Medora trailer from the film’s…
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G-S-T Review…La Camioneta
Guatemala’s main source of transportation comes from drivers of colorfully painted, refurbished buses known as “camionetas.” These drivers and their decorated buses are responsible for providing the majority of Guatemalans a way to make a living by transporting them to and from work each day. For as long as he can remember, Ermelindo has had a dream of owning one of these buses, and to perform this service that is so essential to the people of Guatemala and their way of life. The documentary feature debut from Mark Kendall (www.markkendall.net), La Camioneta, follows the bus that will eventually serve to fulfill Ermelindo’s long-awaited dream, as it makes it’s way from…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Movies Off the Beaten Path – Round 5
One of the great things about Netflix is the collection of recently debuted independent films. These selections, however, can be hit or miss, so with this installment of “Movies Off the Beaten Path,” we’re bringing you a list of ten independent films worth watching that were released over the last five years – and they are all also currently available on Netflix Instant. How can you go wrong? —————————————————————————————————————————————– Hunger – One of Fassbender’s very best and no one even knows about it…except for the Criterion community of course. It’s also the start of his increasingly brilliant collaboration with Steve McQueen (check out their second film in our review of…
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[DIFF Review]…Sweetwater
Set in the American Old West, Sweetwater is a story of one woman’s vengeance against a religious extremist (Jason Issacs) who claims himself a prophet, and the town that allows him to rule with tyranny. After Sarah’s (January Jones) husband goes missing a chain of events eventually lead her to take justice into her own hands. With a little help from an eccentric sheriff, played by Ed Harris, whose brilliant performance is something everyone will be talking about, she may just get her revenge. The film is set in New Mexico sometime in the 1800s. We are first introduced to Sarah (Jones) and her husband Miguel (Eduardo Noriega), as a…
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[DIFF Review]…Between Us
Between Us deals with the harsh realities that exist in friendships, love marriage and life that are rarely depicted in films. Director Dan Mirvish, co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival, adapted the film from an Off-Broadway play by Joe Hortua. The film revolves around the lives of Carlo (Taye Diggs) and Joel (David Harbour), two friends who first met in art school, and moves between present moments and flashbacks into the past where we are introduced to Joel and his wife Sharyl (Melissa George) as they are hosting Carlo and his new wife Grace (Julie Stiles) at their large home in the Midwest. At this point we learn Joel and…
