Editor’s note: The Double Take series has been on hold for a while now, but today marks the return of this two-sided format of perspectives. Here, Bill Graham and Andrew Crump both offer their two cents on the freshly released literary drama, The Words. By Bill Graham: The lesson in The Words isn’t that first-time writer/directors can get in over their heads but that a solid editor might make the difference between a film that gets sidetracked in its own convolution and something worthwhile. The bulk of the narrative plays out with struggling writer Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) trying to make ends meet with his wife Dora (Zoë Saldana) rooting him…
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'Before Midnight' Finishes Filming in Greece
So far this week, I’ve attended a screening of The Words, finished reading Perdido Street Station, begun my Brian De Palma education, and done some philosophical and theological research for an upcoming essay I’m writing on one of my favorite 2012 releases. Meanwhile, over in Messina, Greece, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy polished off Before Midnight after claiming just last week that they were only in the writing phase of the project. How accomplished do I feel now? Regardless, the third installment of the romance between Jesse and Celine is now finished, and First Showing has a statement from the team about their film: “It’s great to be back…
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2012 Fantastic Fest Update – RED DAWN World Premiere/Closing Night Film
Well here’s how a festival takes the fun of a film and stretches it into something fans can appreciate. News from FF HQ is that The Wolverines are infiltrating Fantastic Fest to defend all that is good and American! The world premiere of FilmDistrict’s Red Dawn will close Fantastic Fest, on Thursday, September 27, with stars Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki in attendance. A Korean-invasion-themed party will follow the premiere screening to celebrate the closing night of the festival. If you’re planning to attend you still have time as Fantastic Fest will take place September 20-27 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. Red Dawn stars a Pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth, Josh…
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Sweet Trailer…Barry Levinson's 'The Bay'
Academy Award-Winning director Barry Levinson has some solid hits on his hands and while this may be new territory for him this looks like another solid win. More like a mash up of a handful of genres than a straight-forward fright fest, The Bay plays with found footage/viral horror, zombie-like ghouls, paranoia and more as well as setting the hysteria against a holiday not unlike Jaws. But like a buffet there’s enough going on to please most viewers. Suffice to say we’re sold, but have a look for yourselves… Always great to see an established filmmaker branch out and this looks sure to please. Those of you lucky enough to attend this…
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Ohhh, Look…Reverent Salute To Director Tony Scott
No matter the time, place or cause, it seems that icons of the film world are always gone far too soon. With equal amounts of shock and sadness we we learned that maverick director and visionary Tony Scott was also taken from us. For decades he’s given us memorable films, truly one of a kind stories and a look that really was all his own. In the very touching video below, created by Nick Bosworth of JoBlo compiles this rather heartfelt tribute to Scott. So put on your aviators (to hide the tears) and enjoy this reverent trip down memory lane… “His death affected me deeply as I consider myself to be partly…
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Sweet Trailer…'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters'
While the Damon/Ledger film The Brothers Grimm didn’t fare well with audiences, these days there’s still a fairly large interest in fairy tales and magic; just ask one J.K. Rowling and the hit ABC show “Once Upon A Time”. Anyway, as many properties are finding success with a “dark” or “edgy” spin on things (thank Nolan for that) this looks to follow suit. With a look that recalls an almost Raimi level of campy horror element director Tommy Wirkola asks us to forget all we know about the two helpless kids following their own bread crumb trail…behold, the first trailer for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. My they grow up…
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Off the Netflix Queue…'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
If Jiro Ono, the subject of David Gelb’s documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, hadn’t found his passion in making sushi more than seventy years ago, he very well could have found a lucrative, successful career in life coaching. In his 80s and still working more steadfastly and efficiently than most young men in their 20s, Ono professes early on in the film his belief that one must fall in love with their profession and that hard work is “the key to being regarded honorably”, a sentiment which he expresses directly into the camera. He speaks with a firm but quiet earnestness that nonetheless bears a timbre of erudite command; you…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Nora Ephron Films
For our second installment of posts dedicated to great directors, we’ve chosen to highlight the top five films from the late Nora Ephron. Ephron, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2006 and passed away earlier this summer at the age of 71, was a force of nature. Not only did she bring us classic stories like When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, she was also an accomplished journalist, essayist, playwright, producer, director and novelist. So while we want to highlight her work as a director, arguably one of the best female directors of our time, her accomplishments as a writer in so many forms should be highly noted…
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G-S-T Review…The Possession
Good news, horror fans: The Possession contains fifteen minutes of a solid Sam Raimi flick. There’s bad news, of course, and that’s that those minutes find their home in the climax, which is preceded by a mixed bag of demonic possession tropes brought to us by Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal. The Possession finds itself in an uncomfortable place where it reminds us why Raimi is such a treasure to the horror genre, but for reasons that aren’t necessarily good; when the heavily Raimi-influenced climax outshines the entirety of the rest of Bornedal’s film, it’s something of a disservice to the rest of the picture, a possess-by-numbers yarn inspired by a very real and allegedly…
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G-S-T Review…For a Good Time, Call…
For those of you who grew up in the 1980’s, or were old enough to experience that period of filmmaking, it was a great era for the movie industry. There were so many movies that made us laugh, cry and feel a myriad of other emotions. One genre really stands out during that period; comedy. Not just comedy, but female driven comedies. Goldie Hawn was the queen of comedy films in the 1980’s. Movies like Private Benjamin, Protocol and Overboard were among the many great successes of that period. Post-1980’s we saw a sharp decline as female comedies seemingly faded into the sunset. Three decades later Bridesmaids comes out swinging…