Best of 2024: “My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself
In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip.
When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,
Best of 2024: “Inside Out 2” Writer Meg LeFauve on the Power of Adolescent Anxiety
*This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. Inside Out 2 co-writer Meg LeFavue, along with scribe Dave Holstein, managed to deliver an immensely satisfying, often surprising sequel to one of the most unique animated films in Pixar’s long, rich history.
Inside Out earned its co-writer Meg LeFauve a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination en route to becoming 2015’s seventh-highest-grossing movie.
“Gladiator II” Screenwriter David Scarpa on the Herculean Task of Writing a Worthy Sequel
It’s been a long time coming, but the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, opens in theaters nationwide on November 22. Starring Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), the iconic Denzel Washington, and original cast member Connie Nielsen, Gladiator II finally came to fruition thanks to the script from David Scarpa, who’d previously penned Scott movies All the Money in the World and Napoleon.
“The Wild Robot” Writer/Director Chris Sanders on Kindness as a Survival Skill
With three Oscar nominations under his belt, animation auteur Chris Sanders knew a good story when he saw it the minute his daughter brought home Peter Brown’s children’s book “The Wild Robot” back in 2016. Sanders, who’d worked on The Lion King and later helmed How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, and The Croods, appreciated the tragi-comic tale centered on robot Roz (voiced in the film by Lupita Nyong’o) after she washes up on the shore of a remote island populated with wild animals.
“My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself
In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip.
When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,
“The Perfect Couple” Showrunner Jenna Lamia on Her Nicole Kidman-led Whodunit on Nantucket
When showrunner Jenna Lamia set out to bring Elin Hilderbrand’s beloved novel The Perfect Couple to life, we were just getting reacquainted with our obsession with mystery and drama. The limited series format, which has seen success in shows like Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, and The White Lotus, ushered in an era of mystery, scandal,
Eye on the Emmys: “True Detective: Night Country” Writer/Director Issa López Delivers a Chilling New Season
*Ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards on September 15, we’re looking back at our interviews with some of this year’s nominees. Issa Lopez notched three nominations this year—for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing (for episode 6.)
Issa López loves to challenge herself. The writer/director, best known for the mystical 2017 feature Tigers Are Not Afraid, believes your comfort zone is the last place to find stories worth telling.
How “Afraid” Writer/Director Chris Weitz Cracked the Artificial Intelligence Code in His First Horror Film
What happens when a charming AI device makes itself indispensable to an unsuspecting family of five? In Chris Weitz‘s new horror film Afraid, the smooth-talking “AIA” aims for nothing short of total domination. The film stars John Cho, who caught his first acting break when Weitz and his brother Paul cast him in their directorial debut, American Pie. Katherine Waterston co-stars as Cho’s wife, with Lukita Maxwell, Wyatt Lindner, and Isaac Bae portraying their kids.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick on Resurrecting Logan
Moviegoers apparently love an underdog, at least when it takes the form of Ryan Reynolds’ Avengers wannabe Wade “Deadpool” Wilson. Deadpool & Wolverine, the biggest R-rated movie of all time, with more than a billion at the global box office, co-stars Hugh Jackman and comes fully loaded with a slew of superheroes newly arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that Disney owns the studio that once controlled the rights to X-Men and other comic book characters.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Co-Writer Zeb Wells on Scripting Marvel’s Raunchiest, Wildest Film Ever
Even if Deadpool & Wolverine hadn’t become the year’s top-grossing movie, self-described comics nerd-turned-screenwriter Zeb Wells would have been thrilled just for the opportunity to furnish Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool character with snarky wise-cracks. Joining Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Wells, who previously penned “Venom: Dark Origin” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” comic books, says, “I was a huge fan of the first two Deadpool movies,
“Fly Me to the Moon” Screenwriter Rose Gilroy Reimagines the Apollo 11 Moon Landing
As we just celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 16, director Greg Berlanti’s latest offering is a stylish, charming Space Race rom-com that salutes the 400,000 people who worked on the program. Starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson (who pulls double duty as producer), Fly Me to the Moon (in theaters now) is based on a story by producer Keenan Flynn and writer Bill Kirstein and crafted by screenwriter Rose Gilroy.
MPA Creator Award Recipient Writer/Director JA Bayona’s Epic Journey
J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow, a reimagining of the real-life 1972 Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes Mountains that caught the world’s attention, is a viscerally astonishing feat of empathetic filmmaking. It was nominated for two Oscars: Best International Feature for Spain and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí, and Montse Ribé), a sweet coda for a filmmaker who returned to his home country of Spain for the majority of the film’s production.
“Space Cadet” Writer/Director Liz Garcia on Crafting Her Cosmic Comedy
It was an article about NASA’s first class of astronaut candidates in which women constituted half the participants that piqued Liz Garcia’s curiosity about the highly competitive candidacy process and ultimately prompted her to write about it. As the writer/director/producer (The Lifeguard, The Sinner) notes in her Director’s Statement, “Once I learned how astonishingly competitive it is to even get to the point that you’re being considered, I knew I wanted to set a movie in that world,
“Fancy Dance” Writer/Director Erica Tremblay on the Power of Indigenous Storytelling
Fans of Lily Gladstone will be happy to know they can see her on the big screen again in Apple’s new release, Fancy Dance. The film centers on Jax (Gladstone) and Roki (newcomer Isabel Deroy-Olson), an Indigenous aunt and niece who live on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation and are dealing with the disappearance of Tawi, Jax’s sister and Roki’s mom. Jax and Roki are hoping they’ll meet up with Tawi at the annual powwow if she’s not found beforehand.
“Inside Out 2” Writer Meg LeFauve on the Power of Adolescent Anxiety
Inside Out earned its co-writer Meg LeFauve a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination en route to becoming 2015’s seventh-highest-grossing movie. Last weekend, Inside Out 2 hit the box office jackpot again. Directed by Kelsey Mann, the Pixar sequel opened with $295 million worldwide by animating the emotional roller coaster experienced by 13-year-old Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) when she enters puberty amid an avalanche of new feelings. Joy (Amy Poehler) tries to maintain a semblance of normality with her sidekicks: Sadness (Phyllis Smith),
“Inside Out 2” Screenwriter Dave Holstein on Anxiety Taking Center Stage
In Inside Out 2 (in theaters June 14), Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) is off to hockey camp in the summer before high school, no longer the little girl we remember from the sensational introduction we got nine years ago in Inside Out. Riley is now a 13-year-old tween in the liminal zone of adolescence, with a host of new emotions presenting themselves for the first time. So when the sirens go off again in the Headquarters of Riley’s brain,
Richard Linklater on the Killer Chemistry in his Romantic Comedy “Hit Man”
In Richard Linklater‘s latest film, an irresistibly sexy romantic comedy that’s also a bit of a noir, a giddy satire on the hitman genre, and a screwball quasi-whodunit, the one constant is a vibe that is decidedly and effusively all Linklater. Glen Powell, a rising star who has been Linklater’s longtime collaborator through a string of roles dating back to 2006’s Fast Food Nation, plays Gary Johnson, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who is as passionate about Nietzsche as he is dispassionate about the affairs of his own life.
Writer/Director Jane Schoenbrun on Their Stunning New Film “I Saw the TV Glow”
While a student at Boston University, writer/director Jane Schoenbrun enjoyed “many formative movie experiences” at the nearby Coolidge Corner Theater. “A fond memory is of a zombie movie and me and all my friends dressing in zombie makeup,” says Schoenbrun. “It was one of the happiest memories of my college experience, and it probably says something about me.”
So it’s a fitting, full circle moment for Schoenbrun when they returned to the historic Boston theater on May 11 as the 2024 recipient of the Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award.
“Challengers” Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on Acing his Zendaya-led Tennis Scorcher
Spoiler Alert: The following article contains spoilers for Challengers.
Back in 2018, playwright and author Justin Kuritzkes was obsessively consuming the world of elite tennis. As the first-time screenwriter conveyed to The Credits, it was better than anything in theaters or on the small screen — tennis was really just that good.
During that year’s U.S. Open match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams,
Game On: Zendaya & Co. Reveal Why “Challengers” Will Be Your New Obsession
From the warm embrace of Call Me By Your Name to the eerie thrill of Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, Challengers, is a culmination of the better parts of all of his earlier work, ending in an explosive (and sweaty) finale.
The film centers on a love triangle, set in the world of high-stakes tennis matches, with three characters who once,
