Around the Web: C-3PO Unmasked, Momentum Continues for Spotlight & Mad Max: Fury Road & More
A quick glance at what we're reading around the web.
In a must read for Star Wars fans, Vulture’s Boris Kachka chats with “Star Wars’ most special effect of all,” Anthony Daniels, the man in the golden droid suit.
Speaking of The Force Awakens, Slashfilm’s Peter Sciretta attended the film’s press conference this past weekend (in which there was no footage shown,
Making Mountains With Everest VFX Supervisor Dadi Einarsson
Everest tells the true story of two groups of climbers who were hit with a deadly blizzard during their 1996 expeditions to scale the world’s highest mountain. We talk to visual effects supervisor Dadi Einarsson about the responsibility of recreating real events and why, being from Iceland, he may just have the edge when it comes to working with snow.
As Everest is shown in 3-D and on IMAX screens,
From Germanic Folklore to Hollywood, the Spooky Arrival of Krampus
With Michael Dougherty’s holiday horror film, Krampus, out this week, the Christmastime demon counter to St. Nicholas finally lands in the U.S. This pre-Christian figure of Germanic folklore, who accompanies jolly old St. Nick into town every December, has until recently been limited to visiting his terrors on Austrian, southern German, and Scandinavian children. Having gotten his green card thanks to Hollywood, American kids will finally be appropriately punished for their sins all year long learn about the dark flip side to presents and reindeer and cookies left out next to the tree.
From Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth to Orson Welles & Joss Whedon: Directors Love the Bard
Finally ready to meet U.S. audiences is Justin Kurzel’s brutal Macbeth, a modern perspective on the Scottish play starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in two of their most visceral and intense roles to date. It opens today, December 4, and as we've written, it's one of the most impressive Shakespeare adaptations in ages. (You can also read our interview with the film's producer, Iain Canning, here.) Though Macbeth is only Kurzel’s second film after his merciless The Snowtown Murders,
Does the new Game of Thrones Teaser Hint at Jon Snow’s Return?
(If you're not caught up on GOT's season five, spoiler alert). Few television shows in history have maybe killed off a main character and received this much scrutiny, doubt, rumor mongering and obsession. We're talking about Game of Thrones' Jon Snow (Kit Harington) of course, who was stabbed (repeatedly) by his fellow Night's Watchmen at the end of last season and whose potential death exploded the internet.
Watch the Sisters: The Farce Awakens Hilarious Star Wras Spoof Trailer
You've got to love this. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the stars of the upcoming Sisters, get in on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens insanity with this loving, hilarious send-up of the film's behind-the-scenes trailer they dropped at this past summer's Comic-Con. Watch them both below to get the full impact of how ingenious Sisters: The Farce Awakens is, especially the business at 20 seconds in of the computer generated model needed…to simulate a man being booted in the groin.
Watch the Thrilling New Batman v Superman Trailer
We shared with you the dark, twisted little 40-second teaser on Monday, and now here's the first official Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer. It's surprisingly funny and totally insanse (in a good way). As always, we'll share the trailer with you first so you can take it all in, then we'll go through it and discuss some of the finer points. Welcome back to Gotham, folks—you're in for a wild ride.
Composing Christmas: Talking the Score of Christmas Eve With Christian Davis
With Thanksgiving neatly in the rearview mirror, the holiday season is officially upon us as it becomes time for holiday cheer and the year’s newest crop of Christmas films. Among them is Mitch Davis’ Christmas Eve, a witty dramedy following the stories of six different groups of strangers trapped inside elevators during a power outage on Christmas Eve. Starring Patrick Stewart, Jon Heder, James Roday and Julianna Guill, Christmas Eve looks to be a funny and cathartic look at life through the lens of the cheery but often stressful holiday season.
The Return of “In-Camera” Effects in Krampus & The Force Awakens
With the technological leaps and bounds that CGI made after the turn of the 21st century, the mid to late aughts brought with it a deluge of films relying heavily on newly discovered and increasingly honed special effects, particularly in genres like sci-fi and horror. But after years of reboots and remakes that sought to improve upon the original like Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and the 2011 retelling of John Carpenter’s The Thing,
Watch the Painstaking Craftsmanship Poured Into Anomalisa
When we saw Anomalisa at the Middleburg Film Festival this past October, we were blown away. Written by Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson, the stop-motion animation was as gorgeously detailed as any we'd ever seen before, and the bittersweet story (this being Kaufman, after all) of a successful but troubled customer service expert, coalesced into a film that stuck with you for hours,
Creed Composer Ludwig Göransson Finds the Beat in Boxing
Ludwig Göransson is a Swedish composer who has scored television series, including New Girl and Community. We spoke with Göransson about using real-life boxing sounds in his score for the new Rocky movie, Creed, co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler, and a whole lot more.
The movie is about an ambitious young boxer who is the son of Rocky’s opponent-turned friend,
If You Can See The Hateful Eight in 70mm, You Should
Back in the day, roughly between 1952 and 1974, select films were given the "roadshow" treatment. This meant that in cities like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, film audiences would go see a film that would include programs, an intermission, and even musical interludes. For the really big films like Gone With the Wind, El Cid, and Ben Hur, the films were a true event, with people dressing up for their big night at the theater,
Revenge at all Costs: Watch the New The Revenant TV Spot
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki don't work on easy films. The Oscar winning filmmakers from last year's Birdman (and for Lubezki, the year before's Gravity) have teamed up once again for the survival epic The Revenant. We've written about this project a few times, and are more than a little bit excited for it's release. Shooting with only natural light, and in conditions as harsh as those depicted in the film,
The Good Dinosaur Animator Kevin O’Hara on Visual Storytelling
What if the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs missed the earth completely and they never became extinct? That’s the question The Good Dinosaur asks as it explores the relationship between an Apatosaurus named Arlo and his human pet/friend. We chat to Pixar animator Kevin O’Hara about how technology has changed the animation game and being inspired in the early days by a meeting with legendary Donald Duck animator Milt Neil.
Victor Frankenstein & Daniel Radcliffe’s Fun Post Potter Career
The original Frankenstein film is an unshakeable classic, and Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein occupies its own top spot in the spoof genre. This week sees the opening of the newest cinematic take on Mary Shelley’s novel, but rather than a remake, director Paul McGuigan’s Victor Frankenstein contributes a new spin by shifting its focus from the title character to Igor Strausman, the mad scientist’s more responsible assistant.
Before Creed, There Was Carl Weathers’ Iconic Performance as his Father, Apollo
Reinvigorating a franchise that most would have considered down for the count, Ryan Coogler’s Creed passes the baton from Rocky Balboa to the next generation with Michael B Jordan’s Adonis Creed, son of Rocky’s amiable nemesis Apollo. This time, finding Sly back in the ring only to train the young man hell bent on restoring his father’s fearless reputation.
While Creed is obviously a finely-tuned beast of the 21st century,
Rocky: From his Humble Beginnings to Creed
It’s been nearly forty years since Rocky Balboa faced his first opponent in the ring. Now after five sequels, three Oscar wins and an onscreen legacy that would be difficult to match, the former champion returns to the big screen as a trainer in the new drama Creed. The reviews have already started pouring in—the critics love this film. To appreciate what director Ryan Coogler and
Industrial Light & Magic’s Ed Kramer Discusses What It Takes To Work in CGI
Ed Kramer is interested in “historically significant moments” for computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the movie industry. It’s no wonder this has become his passion, since as a computer graphics artist or supervisor he has been a part of many of them —from the seamless blend of real and computer generated water in The Perfect Storm to the dynamic cloth simulation of Jar Jar Binks.
Kramer worked at Lucasfilm's Industrial Light + Magic (ILM) for 12 years as Senior Technical Director.
Talking to Carol’s Producers About Their 11-Year Labor of Love
The most lusciously romantic film of the year is Carol, directed by Todd Haynes. It is based on a semiautobiographical novel by Patricia Highsmith, also author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train. She wrote Carol under a pseudonym because it was the story of a lesbian romance. Nearly 40 years after its 1952 publication, she revealed that she was the author.
In an interview,
Want to be an Ape in the War for the Planet of the Apes Film? Here’s How…
This new teaser for the upcoming War for the Planet of the Apes shows director Matt Reeves and performance capture legend and star Andy Serkis asking you if you'd like to be an ape in the upcoming film. Serkis stars as Ceasar, the leader of the ape army, and for the motivated fan, you can enlist in Caesar's campaign and get yourself flown to set to actually play an ape in the film.
