From Gene Kelly to The Smurfs 2: A Brief History of Live Action & Animation
The Smurfs 2 , out today, is the latest in a long (very long) line of live action/animation films.
Sony Picture’s 3D family comedy centers on the evil wizard Gargamel’s (played in live action by Hank Azaria) most grotesque transformation yet—he’s become a celebrity (we jest). The newly famous Gargamel creates a host of Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties (including Christina Ricci, below, as Vexy), in order to harness that magical Smurf essence he’s coveted forever.
Narrative Darwinsim: House of Cards Showrunner Beau Willimon Gets Creative
Since shooting on House of Cards began just one year ago this month, Netflix’s debut series has been the focus of tremendous buzz and speculation—due in large part to its innovative distribution model, stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, and executive producer and sometimes director David Fincher. But from the very beginning, it’s been 35 year-old showrunner Beau Willimon who has been in charge of completely overhauling the 1990 British miniseries of the same name and turning it into one of television’s most compelling and often prescient pieces of programming.
Workaholic Woody Allen: Five Decades & Counting of Unparalleled Production
In 1966, China became the first nation to synthesize Insulin, Walt Disney died, the first Star Trek episode “The Man Trap” aired, England won the World Cup (they haven’t won one since), and a young director by the name of Woody Allen released his first feature film, What’s Up Tiger Lily?
In the 47-years that have followed, Allen has essentially made a movie a year. He came along right when a slew of young directors were on the make—Steven Spielberg,
Editor Alisa Lepselter Talks Blue Jasmine, Her 15th Woody Allen Collab
After working as an Assistant Editor on movies for the likes of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Nora Ephron, and getting her break cutting Nicole Holofcener's first feature Walking and Talking (1996), Editor Alisa Lepselter, A.C.E. got the job of a lifetime—she cut Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown (1999). Fifteen years later she is on her fifteenth collaboration with Allen for his newest movie, Blue Jasmine,
Comic-Con 2013: Meet Alan Villanueva, Costume Illustrator of Ender’s Game
Alan Villanueva is a costume illustrator who appeared on the Costume Designers Guild panel to talk about the changing world of costume in an era of HD and 3D. His first feature film was Oz the Great and Powerful, where he worked on Michelle Williams’ dress for the early black-and-white scenes, knowing that what she was wearing would have to translate into the color costumes she would wear in Oz.
Comic-Con 2013: In Praise of the Character Actor
In recent years there has been a rise in appreciation of those most special of actors–the character actors. You know them precisely by never really knowing them–you recognize their face, you appreciate their work, but you can rarely recall their name (if you ever knew it in the first place).
Irwin Keyes, character actor extraordinaire, is happy to explain the difference between a supporting actor and a character actor. “It’s not just supporting the lead,”
Comic-Con 2013: A Superhero’s Secret Weapon? Music
Iron Man’s got the Mark 42 armored suit and Wolverine has the claws, but both of these bad boys have something else to help them wow fans time and time again—great music.
Comic-Con started off, if not with a bang, with something better — a grand, sweeping, orchestral superhero movie score. The men who put music behind Marvel characters like Iron Man, Kick-Ass, Wolverine, and The Avengers spoke to the fans about the challenges of finding a musical equivalent to the grand sweep of characters and stunts that are themselves bigger than life.
Talking With DP Jonathan Ingalls About Killer Whale Documentary Blackfish
For the past 10 years, producer, director, and cinematographer Jonathan Ingalls has been making compelling documentary television (MTV’s I Used to be Fat, A&E’s The First 48 and films such as City Lax: An Urban Lacrosse Story.) This week, perhaps his most controversial project, Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, hits theaters in New York and Los Angeles, after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January and making a giant splash.
From Turbo to Monsters University, Actors Relive Juicy Past Roles via Animation
DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo, which opens today, is a veritable who’s who of serious actors lending their voices to a selection of mollusks and another animated characters. Paul Giamatti, Luis Guzmán, Michelle Rodriguez, Richard Jenkins and Samuel L. Jackson are a few of the no joke actors involved in this film about a snail named Theo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of being as fast as his favorite IndyCar driver,
Married Directors Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman Talk Girl Most Likely
A background in documentary filmmaking came in handy for long-time co-directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini when they needed to film a man in a mollusk-inspired exoskeleton on the busy streets of New York City.
“People are really scared off of [filming on a city street] without a lot of crew,” Berman told The Credits. For example, when 2007’s I Am Legend filmed a major sequence on the normally swarming streets of New York,
An Evening With Fruitvale Station Writer/Director Ryan Coogler
Few directors fresh out of film school can boast their first feature-length movie is a likely Oscar contender, but Ryan Coogler could be one of the few with Fruitvale Station. The movie, which Coogler wrote and directed, won the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature and Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic Film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and also won the Avenir Prize – Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Getting Chatty With Gaby Hoffmann About Sebastian Silva’s Crystal Fairy
Anyone who remembers Gaby Hoffmann as the adorable little girl in huge movies like Field of Dreams and Uncle Buck will be riveted by her very grown-up performance in her latest film, a Chile-based road-trip movie directed by Sebastian Silva [of 2009’s Sundance winner The Maid].
Hoffmann plays Crystal Fairy, a hippie who meets Michael Cera’s pleasure-seeking, drug-loving character, Jamie, at a party —
Eastern Influence: Pacific Rim Latest Film to Draw Inspiration From Japan
The early reviews suggest that Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim (which opens this Friday) is nice blend of what you want out of your summer blockbuster—spectacle, suspense and solid storytelling.
Pacific Rim is also a nice blend of the Japanese tradition of Kaiju films (the most famous example being Godzilla) and mecha stories (about robots or machines), popularized in Japanese manga and anime.
Call of the Holly-Wild: Animal Trainer David Meeks
If you’ve ever seen a rhino in a television commercial, his name is Tank and he’s the only working rhino in show business. Maybe you’ve noticed zebras, bears, leopards, African lions, panthers or Siberian tigers in TV ads or on the big screen and wondered how they're train to stand still, lie down, run around or roar on command for the camera?
Many of the animals you see on the big and small screen belong to David Meeks,
An Insider Discussion on Film Scoring
Remembering the director is boss is key to working in the movie industry, according to music professionals.
“You have to yield to the director. You can only have one vision,” long-time movie music editor Dan Carlin told The Credits after a panel discussion on film scoring hosted by the MPAA in Washington, D.C. “That’s what unites a crew that’s putting together a movie.”
Carlin, whose four decades of movie credits as a music editor include The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Bruce Almighty (2003),
Walt Disney Studios Reimagines The Lone Ranger & Breathes Life Into Westerns
“So who was that masked man, anyway?” A question invariably asked at the end of every episode of The Lone Ranger television series. Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski hope to provide a definitive answer to that question with the brand-new film The Lone Ranger, their reinvention of both the Western genre and the titular hero, in theaters today.
John Reid,
Oscar Winners Nat Faxon & Jim Rash on Reading, Writing, & The Way Way Back
After winning an Oscar for their screenplay for The Descendants, the screenwriting duo of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash appeared to have burst onto the scene as a couple of unknowns. In reality the writing and directing team have been on Hollywood filmmakers’ short list since 2007, when their script for The Way Way Back was being read and praised by insiders. The Credits sat down with the old friends and collaborators in advance of their already well reviewed coming-of-age comedy to find out about their process,
How’d They do That? Creating the Presidential Limo in White House Down
White House Down, which opens today starring Jamie Foxx as the President and Channing Tatum as the man who springs into action when the White House is besieged by a paramilitary unit, isn't a gear-head car movie. It’s a pure, fun action flick—a buddy movie where one of the buddies happens to be the leader of the free world. But that didn't stop Columbia Pictures, the studio behind the movie, from obsessing about creating one particular car —
Director Douglas Tirola Serves up the Doc Hey Bartender
In the rollicking documentary Hey Bartender — which opened in select theaters and on iTunes and On Demand on June 7 — director-producer Douglas Tirola chronicles the resurgence of the craft cocktail — and the eclectic, opinionated characters who drink and pour them.
We chatted with Tirola, who has made docs about everything from poker (All In: The Poker Movie) to prison (An Omar Broadway Film) about getting lucky,
The Art of Animatronics: How Old School Movie Magic Compliments CGI
The release of Jurassic Park 3D earlier this year has people talking about more than just the technological update of a classic. For all of its digital wow when Jurassic Park debuted in 1993, the film employed unmatched animatronics and puppetry as well.
The question is, will that movie prove to be the last hurrah for spectacular practical effects? At least one practitioner of the craft admits to having his moments of doubt,
