How Composer Alexandre Desplat Put a “Dada-istic” Spin on “The French Dispatch”

Wes Anderson’s dollhouse-perfect motion pictures radiate an unmistakable sensibility brought to life by a remarkably consistent team of below-the-line talent. His last four movies featured contributions from the same production designer (Adam Stockhausen), the same cinematographer (Robert Yeoman), the same music supervisor (Randall Poster), the same costume designer (Milena Canonero ), and, crucially, the same composer: Alexandre Desplat. An eleven-time Oscar nominee and winner of two Academy Awards, Desplat teamed with Anderson on Fantastic Mr.

“Red Notice” Writer/Director Rawson Marshall Thurber on Re-Teaming With The Rock

In Red Notice, now streaming on Netflix in tandem with its theatrical run, a top FBI profiler (Dwayne Johnson) and a career criminal (Ryan Reynolds) find themselves unlikely partners to thwart a high-stakes heist and the alluring art thief (Gal Godot) at the center of it all. Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodge Ball, The Millers) wrote and directed the action-comedy, which reunites him with Johnson after the two worked together previously on Central Intelligence and Skyscraper.

“Last Night in Soho” Costume Designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux’s Sinisterly Swinging Style

At the beginning of Edgar Wright’s thriller Last Night in Soho, budding fashion student Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is living with her grandmother (Rita Tushingham) in Cornwall, wearing clothes she made herself and experiencing visions of her dead mother (Aimee Cassettari), a situation she and her grandmother seem to agree is just a part of who she is. But an acceptance to the London College of Fashion pulls her away to city life,

“Belfast” Editor Úna Ní Dhonghaíle on Cutting Kenneth Branagh’s Deeply Personal Film

Úna Ní Dhonghaíle, the Dublin-based editor for Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, which Focus Features released November 12, had just attended the film’s premiere in the Northern Ireland capital the day before speaking with The Credits.

“In London, people laughed more. The Belfast audience laughed too, but it wasn’t as loud,” she says. “After the screening, I spoke with a man who said he enjoyed it but it was very emotional because he was also crying.”

Ní Dhonghaíle understood the feeling.

“Belfast” Writer/Director Kenneth Branagh’s Riveting Return to his Childhood

Writer/director Kenneth Branagh has mined his childhood experiences in Belfast to create a riveting, sumptuous film. Belfast (opening November 12), which is shot in black and white, captures a time in the summer of 1969 directly following the first riots in the northern part of the city often cited as the beginning of the Troubles. Branagh and his family were in the thick of it, and the film is shot from his perspective through the 9-year-old character Buddy,

Director Eva Husson on Capturing Grief & Trauma in “Mothering Sunday”

Loss and grief permeate Mothering Sunday, a class-crossed romance set in 1924 England as it reels from the collective trauma of the Great War. Director Eva Husson says the movie’s somber mood matched that of the cast and crew since the film was shot in 2020 between pandemic lockdowns.

“I think all of us felt deeply connected to the emotions of the story. It had an effect on us. We were going through the pandemic so it was surreal how close it mirrored the sense of grief in our lives,

DP Edu Grau on Using Light & Shadow to Play With Skin Tone in “Passing”

Set in 1920s Harlem and based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel of the same name, Passing, actress Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut tracks the relationship of two light-skinned Black women, Irene and Clare, who’ve taken opposite paths toward safety and recognition. Former childhood acquaintances, a chance run-in reveals the women’s abiding interest in one another, and as they reinsert themselves into each other’s lives, the differences between Irene and Clare take their toll on the stability each woman had achieved.

“Spencer” Director Pablo Larraín on the Horror & Humanity in His Princess Diana Movie

Director Pablo Larraín did not set out to make a horror movie with Spencer. But his unconventional portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart), set over Christmas weekend in the early 1990s as her marriage to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) is unraveling along with her psychological state, offers an eerie interpretation of the British royal’s turbulent inner world.

“It’s not that I wanted to make a horror movie. I wanted to make a movie from her perspective and the difficulties she was facing,” says Larraín in a Zoom interview the day before Neon released Spencer in theaters.

“Spencer” Screenwriter on Getting Inside Princess Diana’s Headspace

Spencer (opened on Friday, November 5) casts Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, rumored to be “cracking up” when she reluctantly joins the royal family in an enormous countryside manor for a tense Christmas holiday. The movie, directed by Pablo Larrain, describes itself as a “Fable from a true tragedy.” To that end, screenwriter Steven Knight used facts gleaned from the 1991 gathering to devise a fervid psychodrama that takes place largely inside Diana’s head.

“Last Night in Soho” Screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns on Writing a Terrifying Time-Travel Tale

It was producer-director-writer Sam Mendes who introduced writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns to director-writer-producer Edgar Wright. “He thought we’d be very good friends. We’ve got a quite similar sense of humor and a passion for filmmaking,” says Wilson-Cairns, who knew Mendes from working on the Showtime series Penny Dreadful and went on to co-write with him the Oscar- and Writers Guild of America-nominated original screenplay for the WWI drama 1917.

“The Harder They Fall” Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. on Reimagining the Wild West

In The Harder They Fall, now streaming on Netflix, director Jeymes Samuel (who also co-wrote and scored the film) revisits the deserts, saloons, and lonely train cars of the Old West. Taking names if not the exact stories of real people from the region’s history, the film follows Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) as he searches for Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), a villain’s villain who opens the film by murdering Nat’s parents and carving a cross into the young Nat’s (Anthony Naylor Jr.) forehead.

Mixing History & Modernity in the Costumes of “The Harder They Fall”

The Harder They Fall, Netflix’s addition to the world of Westerns from director-writer Jeymes Samuel, is not a monochromatic throwback set on the dusty frontier. Honoring the names of historical characters like Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz) while leaving most of their actual histories behind, the film is centered around a complicated, fictional rivalry between two outlaw gangs seeking revenge and vying for control of a frontier town called Redwood.

Halloween Treat: How Cinematographers James Kniest & Toby Oliver Capture Horror

It’s that time of year where people gather around screens to watch stories that convey the vivid glow of the season, and the unforgettable gatherings they bring.

Yuletide lights? Hanukkah latke feeds? A Secret Santa party? No, think more along the lines of glinting blood, the glow from a flaming church with vampires huddled inside, or a town’s lynch mob futilely pursuing a supernaturally charged serial killer.

Welcome to the sights and sounds of Halloween.

“American Crime Story: Impeachment” Editor Chris A. Peterson, ACE on Telling Linda & Monica’s Story

American Crime Story: Impeachment is the third limited series in what has become one of TV’s most ambitious franchises. The first season, subtitled The People v. O.J. Simpson, dealt with the most sensational criminal trial in American history, and managed, in ten episodes, to make millions of viewers take a fresh look at the main players involved, especially prosecutor Marcia Clark (played by Sarah Paulson). Season two, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, 

How “The French Dispatch” Sound Team Immerses You in Wes Anderson’s World

When it comes to a Wes Anderson film what unequivocally stands out is the whimsical aesthetics. A potpourri of artistic detail perfectly placed as if each shot was its own painting. The French Dispatch, which chronicles the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional French city, is no different. But what immerses us in this uniquely French allegory is the soundscape, led by production sound mixer Jean-Paul Mugel and supervising sound editors/re-recording mixers Wayne Lemmer and Christopher Scarabosio.

How “Dune” Editor Joe Walker Utilized Artificial Intelligence, Hans Zimmer, & Human Vulnerability to Shape Film

For Joe Walker, editing Dune was finding a resonating balance between the epic nature of the story and the intimacy of the characters’ journey.

In director Denis Villeneuve’s adaption of the iconic science-fiction novel by Frank Herbert, viewers are taken on a coming of age story set thousands of years in the future where a natural resource called “Spice” is currency and those who oversee its production own the keys to space travel and commerce.

“Dune” Hair & Makeup Department Head Donald Mowat’s Delightful & Disturbing Designs

With the highly anticipated release of Dune in theaters and on HBO Max here at a long last, fans will finally see director Denis Villeneuve’s vision of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel come to life. Dune is about the intergalactic power struggle between House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and the Fremen. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), his father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are asked to travel across the galaxy to govern from Arrakis,

“Dune” Editor Joe Walker on Cutting Denis Villeneuve’s Sweeping Epic

Last week in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, UK-raised editor Joe Walker had just finished cutting a TV commercial down to thirty seconds when he took a break to discuss Dune (opening Oct. 22), which clocks in at two hours and thirty-five minutes. “But come on,” Walker laughs. “It feels like thirty seconds.” In 1984, David Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel failed to translate on the big screen—Villeneuve has solved the Dune riddle and delivered something astonishing.

“Halloween Kills” Makeup Effects Designer Christopher Nelson on Michael’s Mask & More

Christopher Nelson wants Michael Myers aficionados to know they’re in store for a very happy Halloween. The Oscar-winning (Suicide Squad), Emmy-winning (American Horror Story) makeup effects designer has pulled out all the tricks to assure that Halloween Kills, which was released on October 15, is a bloody treat.

“I’m such a huge, huge fan of the original, Nelson says. “Halloween 1978 was such a pivotal movie for me as a cinema lover,

How The “Dopesick” Creative Team is Shining a Light on the Opioid Crisis

Hulu’s new limited series Dopesick is about the origins of the national opioid epidemic. No matter what you think you know, Dopesick will open your eyes to a new level of brazen overreach and hubris on the part of Big Pharma. The series, which stars Micheal Keaton, examines ways in which the drug company Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family made billions by introducing the highly addictive drug OxyContin, leading to an unprecedented nationwide struggle with opioid addiction.