“Dune” Review Roundup: A Majestic, Astonishingly Vivid Epic Made for the Big Screen

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Writer/director Denis Villeneuve’s hotly-anticipated Dune made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this past Friday, where it received a seven-minute standing ovation. Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic, based on Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 book, has been on our radar since we first learned he was taking on Herbert’s notoriously dense tome. It was always going to be an immensely challenging adaptation, but one that Villeneuve, fresh off back-to-back sci-fi knockouts with Arrival and Blade Runner: 2049 was ideally suited to take on. The result of Villeneuve’s work, along with his immensely gifted cast and crew, is a sci-fi blockbuster on the grandest scale. Deadline‘s Pete Hammond calls Villeneuve’s adaptation a “spectacular and defining version of the sci-fi cult classic.”

For the uninitiated, Dune takes place largely on the desert planet of Arrakis, rich in the natural resource “spice,” the most sought-after substance in the universe. Spice has the ability to expand human capabilities and lifespans, which makes Arrakis irresistible to invasions from hostile outsiders. This is where Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) steps in. Paul travels to Arrakis, at the behest of his father (Oscar Isaac’s Leo Atreides) where he meets the young woman he’s literally been dreaming about, Chani (Zendaya). Chani is looking for help in saving her planet, and thus Paul Atreides’ hero quest is set. Villeneuve’s film—only the first part of what he intended as a two-parter—boasts intergalactic battles, a sprawling cast, and the talents of some of the best behind-the-scenes people in the business all working in concert to create the kind of film experience that the theater was made for.

With the reviews from Venice now in, we can give you a taste of what critics are saying. Dune hits theaters and HBO Max on October 22. If you can see this movie on a big screen, you should.

Steve Pone, The Wrap: “A formidable cinematic accomplishment, a giant mood piece that can be exhilarating in its dark beauty.”

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times: “Villeneuve draws you into an astonishingly vivid, sometimes plausibly unnerving vision of the future.”

Ben Travis, Empire Magazine: “An absorbing, awe-inspiringly huge adaptation of (half of) Frank Herbert’s novel that will wow existing acolytes, and get newcomers hooked on its Spice-fuelled visions. If Part Two never happens, it’ll be a travesty.”

For more on Dune, check out these stories:

New “Dune” Images Reveal One of the Year’s Most Anticipated Films

Denis Villeneuve Writing Script For “Dune 2” & Zendaya Will Star

Chloé Zhao Has Seen “Dune” And Was “Blown Away”

The Official “Dune” Trailer is Here (And It’s Stunning)

Featured image: Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

Jason Momoa Reveals New Stealth Suit For “Aquaman 2”

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You just had to know that Aquaman would be getting some fresh duds for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Momoa shared the new look on Instagram, where he posed side-by-side shots of the previous suit and his new “stealth suit,” and you’ll notice some big changes.

The first thing you’ll note is the suit’s new color, which eschews the first film’s shimmering green and orange hues to go a bit darker, relying on blacks and blues. The suit’s iconic scaling also seems to have been tweaked—it’s a little less serpentine, now. The stealth suit also includes more plating on the arms and legs, and it owes its name to its new tech-based capabilities of a cephalopod’s ability to camouflage itself. Momoa’s Arthur Curry will be facing even greater tests in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and even a superhero needs the ability to disappear once in a while. Especially when you have to face a super jacked Black Manta.

Traditionally, Aquaman has boasted some of the most colorful looks of any of DC’s superheroes, so this new suit might hold significant clues to the tone of the sequel. We know that Arthur Curry will be facing serious challenges to his sudden rise after he defeated Patrick Wilson’s King Orm in the first film, but plot specifics are being kept way down in the deep for now. We also know that along with Wilson returning as King Orm and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II returning as Black Manta, Amber Heard is back as Mera, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, and Game of Thrones‘ Pilou Asbæk will have some kind of meaty role as a villain.

Check out Aquaman’s new stealth suit here:

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is due in theaters on December 16, 2022.

For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:

Trailer Heaven: 9 of the Year’s Most Exciting Films

Emmy-Nominated “Mare of Easton” Creator Brad Ingelsby on Bringing a Murder Mystery Home

Hacks Editor Jessica Brunetto on Creating Comedic Rhythm

Getting Down to Funny Business With Hacks Creator Lucy Anielleo

Costume Designer Meghan Kasperlik on Capturing the Gritty Essence of Mare of Easttown

New “Dune” Images Reveal One of the Year’s Most Anticipated Films

Featured image: Aquaman (Jason Momoa) in his new steal suit. Courtesy Jason Momoa/Warner Bros.

“The Flight Attendant” Casting Directors on Booking HBO’s High-Flying Series

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The Flight Attendant casting directors John Papsidera, Beth Bowling, and Kim Miscia had to book HBO Max’s hit series long before HBO Max was even a known quantity. Yet these veterans managed to fill The Flight Attendant‘s planeload of superb performers and earned an Emmy nomination for their efforts.

The Flight Attendant‘s cast delivers on the thrills, chills, laughs, and spills—the latter mostly via the drunken shenanigans of Kaley Cuoco’s Cassie Bowden. While Cuoco’s performance has been deservedly praised (she also nabbed an Emmy nomination) as the reckless titular flight attendant with a bevy of personal and professional problems, the series maintains its cruising altitude thanks to a group of actors who rise to the challenge of Cuoco’s performance.

We spoke with Papsidera, Bowling, and Miscia about how they found the right actors for the right roles, and the many hats a casting director must wear, not least of which is that of therapist to the performers who put their hearts and souls into auditions for roles they don’t always get.

What were the early days of casting this series like?

John: What was a benefit was Kaley didn’t only produce it, but she developed the material from the novel. So really from the beginning, they got the tone right. I think that was the big difference-maker in it. Yes, we’re all astounded by Kaley’s transformation in this right and finally being in the limelight to show a lot of different skill sets she has. It’s perfectly suited for her, there’s a bit of drama, a bit of comedy, a bit of slapstick, and a bit of emotion. If you know her, it’s very close—other than the drunkenness—to her own persona. It’s so well suited for her, and I think that was part of the excitement, going on that journey with her. That tone between mystery and intrigue, comedy and drama. That’s the tightrope we all walked.

From a practical standpoint, how did you three divide and conquer your jobs?

Kim: John cast the pilot, and then for season one, Beth and I took over. It was a really seamless transition, John was very helpful, collegial, and gracious with sharing everything with us. Kaley was just so great. I always say leadership culture starts from the top, and Kaley was so respectful and just knows the business. It was so much fun to come in every day for work. Kaley’s reputation proceeds here. And in New York, it was an embarrassment of riches. Once we landed on what the creative team’s vision for the roles was, we were able to cast for the role.

John: I think that’s one difficulty people don’t realize with casting—you’re juggling a lot of opinions, a lot of different points of view, with the reality of the situation. What you can afford, the budget, the medium, all those things have to go into a big mixer that we have to turn into bread somehow. The reality is there’s so many different aspects. Deal making, creativity, matching what’s in a director or producer’s head to an actual person, and getting everyone through that process. It’s always a challenge, some more than others, but this one really gelled. The mission was to find the best people we could who understood comedy and drama, and, to cast a little against the grain than what you’d normally expect.

 

Who in the cast would you say was cast against the grain?

Beth: I think the genre-bending of the show is what makes it so unique, you really can’t compare it to another show. In regards to casting, John was responsible for Rosie Perez, and I think that was such a brilliant piece of casting. I think most people think of her as a stereotype sassy tough New Yorker with a lot of bite. Her character Megan was a little more controlled, a little more refined, yes, she had zingers, but the viewing public got to see a different side to Rosie. Then Nolan Gerard Funk playing the douchey FBI guy, you kind of hate but you kind of like him, and he brought comedic elements to the role. And then Zosia [Mamet] has Cassie’s best friend, she just did such a great job she played this thing where her character had a little bit of sinister business as a lawyer, and she held onto her cards really tightly, but her relationship with Cassie was so important to her character that you got to see a warmth to her she didn’t let people see in everyday life.

PHOTO December 10, 2020 THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT Rosie Perez. Photograph by Colin Hutton
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT. Rosie Perez. Photograph by Colin Hutton
Zosia Mamet. Photograph by Phil Caruso
Zosia Mamet. Photograph by Phil Caruso

John: What’s interesting is everybody gets to play kind of a fringe of themselves. Nobody is just straight exposition. No matter which character, you get to venture into a gray area of their personalities, and shades of gray are great to play for actors.

How do you navigate all the different people who have a say in casting?

Beth: Good question. [Laughs.]

John: It’s a lot of convincing. For me, I try to be the voice of reason. It’s shocking no matter how small or large the group is, and in TV, it tends to be a larger group between executives and showrunners and creatives, and that’s only half of them. In our job, it’s also agents and managers and actors, talking to them creatively as an artist would to give them insight into a role, yet the next phone call you’re talking numbers and business and quotes and what people will and won’t do, and what kind of billing they deserve. It’s wearing a lot of hats, trying to find common ground, and convince people of that common ground. I think what we did collectively was try to have a singular version, and that doesn’t mean there weren’t camps, there are in every project, but sometimes reason prevails and creativity aligns with that. It’s through a lot of hard work, it’s not magic.

Kim: There’s a lot of trying to convince people, and also keep an open mind. You’ll end up casting someone you saw at the beginning of the process, but the creative team needs the context in order to get there.

Beth: I think overall, it really is like being a diplomat. You’re dealing with your creatives, with the studio or network, who might not have the same vision as the creative team. Even though they bought the project that the creative team wrote, pitched, and sold to them, so it’s being a moderator sometimes, getting everybody on the same page. You may have a vulnerable one second, talking budgets the next second. It’s a constant tap dance.

Nolan Gerard Funk, Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet. Photograph by Phil Caruso. Courtesy HBO Max.
Nolan Gerard Funk, Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet. Photograph by Phil Caruso. Courtesy HBO Max.

And it’s also your job to break the bad news to actors when they’re not cast.

Kim: Yes. We break it really gently, don’t we John?

John: We’re all very sensitive to the experience they go through. The heartbreak, and the courage it takes to put your soul on the line every day, it’s tough. It’s not just punching a clock, it’s eviscerating your soul again and again and again, so I think we all try to be sensitive to that. But at the end of the day, one person gets the job and a lot of other people don’t, and it’s tough. It’s not an enviable position to have to tell people you’re stepping on their dreams.

Kim: It’s kind of the worst part of the job. It really is.

John: You’re also telling an agent and manager they’re not making any money. Our job comes with dealing with fear a lot. I feel like most of my day is handling other peoples’ fear, and that takes diplomacy and a soft touch. If you care, I’m sure there are some people who deal with it with a heart of stone, but I don’t try to do that myself.

I guess you can add therapist to one of the hats you wear.

Kim: A hundred percent.

Beth: There are so many variables on why an actor doesn’t get cast, and it’s often not that they weren’t amazing, there are other factors that have nothing to do with their performance, so you have to articulate that so they don’t take it upon their own self-worth. Sometimes it’s not about the best performance, but all these other layers of things. It’s like when you’re decorating your house and move a chair and realize the painting above it no longer works.

For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:

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Denis Villeneuve Writing Script For “Dune 2” & Zendaya Will Star

Featured image: Kaley Cuoco, Rosie Perez. Courtesy HBO Max.

Best of Summer: The Luminous Final Trailer For Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals”

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We’re including the final trailer for Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals” in our “Best of Summer” recap because, well, it’s Chloé Zhao and it’s her first Marvel film. 

And now we finally have our first really good look at Chloé Zhao‘s Eternals. Marvel Studios has just released the final trailer for Zhao’s first MCU film, and it’s unsurprising that it looks ravishing—Zhao has made her name, in part, by creating films that are rich in visual splendor as they are in character depth and nuance. But the final trailer offers more than just a good look, it tells us more about the storyline.

The film is based on a comic series by the legendary Jack Kirby, centering on the titular Eternals, a group of nearly immortal beings who have been tracking the trials and tribulations of us wee Earthlings. These powerful beings have never—until now—really interfered in human affairs. The Thanos snap, in Avengers: Infinity War, eradicating half of life in the universe, certainly got their attention. Then, the sudden repatriation of all of those lost souls in Avengers: Endgame created “the necessary energy for the emergence to begin,” Salma Hayek’s Ajak explains. “How long do we have?” Richard Madden’s Ikaris asks. Her response? Seven days.

Finding out what that emergence is, and why it’s going to force the Eternals into action, is what Eternals is all about. This band of superpowered beings arrived on Earth 7,000 years ago to protect humans from the Deviants. The emergence triggered by the snap-and-repatriation of all those lifeforms is the arrival of those Deviants. This is the reason the Eternals must spring into action now, and it was the lack of Deviant involvement that kept them, on orders from upon high, from helping humanity in the fight against Thanos or any of the other awful wars and catastrophes that have befallen this little blue planet.

So, the stakes in Eternals are massive, and the cast is incredible. Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Barry Keoghan, Kit Harrington, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, and Lia McHugh star.

Check out the trailer below. Eternals hits theaters on November 5.

For more stories on Century Studios, Marvel Studios and what’s streaming or coming to Disney+, check these out:

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The Trailer For “Star Wars: Visions” Reveals Franchise’s First-Ever Anime Films

How Underwater Cinematographer Ian Seabrook Got The Shots in “Jungle Cruise”

“Free Guy” Co-Writer Zak Penn on The Art of the Re-Write

Listen to This Epic Track From The “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Soundtrack

Featured image: “Eternals.” Courtesy Marvel Studios.

Best of Summer: Daniel Craig’s Final Mission as James Bond is Nigh

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Unlike most of our “Best of Summer” series, this is not an interview. But, it is a taste of what’s to come—Daniel Craig’s final mission as James Bond in the upcoming, long-awaited “No Time To Die.”

In the pantheon of iconic movie lines, few have the potency of the three words that make up “Bond, James Bond.” It’s this classic introduction that animates a brand new No Time To Die teaser, the last mission for Daniel Craig as the deathless British superspy in one of the films we’ve been waiting for—and waiting for—since last year.

The teaser gives us a brief, punchy look at co-writer and director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s long-awaited film, the 25th installment in the venerable franchise. No Time To Die finds Bond attempting something he’s never done before—retirement, in this case in Jamaica. It’s been five years since the events in Spectre where Bond tangled with the mastermind Blofeld (Christoph Waltz, back again, this time from a cell), and MI6’s legendary super spy has been nursing his wounds with his preferred tonic of alcohol and stoicism. “After five years of retirement, who has he become?” Fukanaga asked in a No Time To Die teaser from last year. “He’s sort of a wounded animal struggling with his role as a double O. The world’s changed, the rules of engagement aren’t what they used to be. The rules of espionage are darker in this era of asymmetric warfare.“

We know that Bond won’t stay retired for long. He’s gently nudged back into the game by CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright). He’ll be reacquainted with old friends like Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), old enemies like the aforementioned Blofeld (Waltz), and meet new allies like Nomi (Lashana Lynch). The main threat in No Time To Die comes from Safin (Malek), who, according to Fukanaga, will be challenging Bond in a way he’s never dealt with before, and threatening everyone and everything he holds dear.

No Time To Die is due to hit theaters this October. Fukunaga and his writing team (including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, no less) have crafted the longest Bond film of all time, at 2 hours and 43 minutes. That’ll give Daniel Craig plenty of time for a proper, well-earned goodbye.

Check out the teaser below:

For more on No Time To Die, check out these stories:

Listen to the First Episode of The Official “No Time To Die” Podcast

Meet James Bond’s Most Dangerous Adversary Yet

“No Time To Die” Drops Sensational Second Trailer

No Time To Die Writer/Director Cary Fukunaga Pitched an Insane Original Premise

Featured image: James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Paloma (Ana de Armas) in NO TIME TO DIE an EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios film Credit: Nicola Dove. © 2020 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

“Untold: Breaking Point” Creators Examine Tennis Star Mardy Fish’s Battle With Severe Anxiety

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Mardy Fish knows that he and others benefit when he tells his life story. Still, he’s not quite ready to watch someone else tell it for him.

Breaking Point — the latest installment in Netflix’s sports documentary series Untold, which will be released September 7 — recounts Fish’s descent from his perch as the No. 1 American tennis player in 2011 into a years-long battle with severe anxiety disorder. He hasn’t yet watched it.

“I’m going to watch it. I just haven’t come to grips with it yet,” Fish says, adding “I’ve spent years and years trying to get out of that place.”

The Untold series is Chapman and Maclain Way’s unexpected follow-up to their hit 2018 Netflix documentary series Wild, Wild Country. The brothers executive produced Untold and directed two of its five episodes. Breaking Point, in particular, displays the brothers’ knack for tapping into a cultural moment.

The Big Sports Story of summer 2021 that no one saw coming has been the withdrawals of tennis superstar Naomi Osaka and legendary American gymnast Simone Biles from their respective sports’ biggest competitions due to mental health issues (the French Open and Wimbledon for Osaka; the all-around gymnastics event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Biles).

Breaking Point tells a strikingly similar story about Fish, albeit one that took place nearly a decade ago, that especially echoes Osaka’s struggles. Osaka’s anxiety about facing the media while in a brief slump triggered her eventual revelation of her depression. As recounted in Breaking Point, Fish’s first mental health crisis, a panic attack, is triggered by a TV tennis commentator who calls one of his losses “horrendous.” Later that year, another panic attack forces Fish to pull out last-minute from a much-anticipated primetime night match against Roger Federer at the 2012 U.S. Open. Fish fell into a crippling depression and was later diagnosed with severe anxiety disorder.

“You never make these docs thinking that they’re really gonna be timely. You hope that they are, and you hope that they resonate with people. I think that Mardy’s story adds a lot of credence to what [Osaka and Biles] are coming on the record and talking about,” says Chapman Way. “It seems like it’s become a cultural battleground right now. Do we believe these athletes or not? Are they prima donnas? Are they being divas? I hope that Mardy’s story can speak to a lot of people who might not understand the issue that well. Hopefully, it will help people have a better understanding of what these athletes are going through.”

UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021
UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021

Aided by his family and mental health professionals, by 2015, Fish had healed enough to play in the U.S. Open. Although he only won one match, it was a triumphant symbolic victory, made all the more so by the fact that, at the same time, he went public with his story.

“He just kind of disappeared from the world, and no one heard about him for three years and what he was doing. [Then] in 2015, he was kind of one of the first professional athletes to go on record, while still being a professional athlete, about battling these mental health issues. I thought it would make for a fantastic story,” Chapman says. He jokes that they “got brought a lot of cult stories” after Wild, Wild Country. Breaking Point is in fact the project that the Way Brothers pitched to Netflix that led to the Untold.

The Way Brothers didn’t simply recognize a compelling story that could help people – through a quirk of circumstances, they have a deep and lifelong personal connection to American tennis.

The fraternal filmmaking duo grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, and one of their close friends from middle school and high school is American tennis player Sam Querrey. As Querrey climbed into the upper echelons of the sport (as recently as 2019, Querrey reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals), the Brothers became intimately familiar with the world of professional tennis and the intense pressures that tennis players face in an individual sport where no (open) on-court coaching is allowed. Through Querrey, they became friendly with Fish.

In 2018, with Wild, Wild Country wrapped up, the brothers reached out to Fish. The trio began to meet weekly for lunch, and Mardy shared not just the events surrounding his 2012 withdrawal, but his life story and how it led up to that moment.

UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. (L to R) ANDY RODDICK and MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021
UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. (L to R) ANDY RODDICK and MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021

When he began having panic attacks, Fish had no experience with mental health issues, and, like so many professional athletes, had been trained since childhood not to show mental “weakness” and to tough out both physical and mental pain. Throughout Breaking Point, the Way Brothers use a video on mental toughness that used to be shown at tennis academies. It hauntingly advised there was “no way out” on court.

UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021
UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021

“[Fish] is very raw. He is not embarrassed or ashamed or humiliated to open up the curtains and be like, This is what I battled with and here’s how I got through it.” Chapman says. “As a documentary filmmaker, when you have a subject like that, that was when we got really excited to say, This definitely should be documentary.”

Fish was as drawn to the brothers as they were to him. “I knew they had a history of understanding tennis, they had been around the game. We talked about their issues with mental health or people around them. They knew my story extremely well and what I was going through,” Fish says. “One of the only reasons that I wanted to do something like this would have been with them.”

The biggest reason Fish chooses to share his mental health challenges, of course, is to help others: other elite athletes, sports fans, the general public

“I’m a huge sports fan. I didn’t have an athlete to fall back on and go okay, that’s a person who really struggled with mental health – whether it was panic attacks, depression, anxiety – and it took them away from their job for a minute, but they were able to get back and compete at a high level. My goal is to give someone a success story – if it’s one person, phenomenal. If it’s a thousand people even better – to lean on.”

UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021
UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021

The Way Brothers spent three days interviewing Fish. Recounting his darkest days for the camera wasn’t easy. “There was one specific time where I was really deep into the toughest moments of my life, and… Cut! Can we do that again?, or whatever, and I’m just like, guys, I can’t do that again. That was me right there. And they understood that, and they got around it,” Fish says, adding, “They’re really good at what they do.”

Featured image: UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. (L to R) RAFAEL NADAL and MARDY FISH in UNTOLD: BREAKING POINT. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021

For more on big titles on Netflix, check these out:

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Zack Snyder’s “Star Wars” Inspired Sci-Fi Epic “Rebel Moon” Headed to Netflix

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Costume Designer Meghan Kasperlik on Capturing the Gritty Essence of “Mare of Easttown”

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Costume designer Meghan Kasperlik did some serious fieldwork when she was preparing for HBO’s critical hit Mare of Easttown. One of her first research trips? To a Wawa in Coastville near where the series is set. The iconic chain is well known to residents of the greater Philadelphia area and southern New Jersey, and it proved an invaluable point of entry for Kasperlik to get a better sense of how the characters in Easttown would dress.

The gritty crime drama, created by Brad Ingelsby and starring Kate Winslet in a mesmerizing performance as Mare, looks and sounds just right. Winslet’s Mare is a dogged detective with a bevy of personal problems trying to solve one grisly murder while shouldering the psychic and emotional weight of a missing girl, never found, from a year earlier. The series is not only a taut murder mystery, but it’s also a tour de force of location-specific detail. Winslet’s go-for-broke performance was probably most instantly iconic because she had the courage (and the chops) to capture the difficult DelCo drawl, an accent so notoriously difficult to manage most actors don’t even attempt it. When they do try, they often end up sounding a lot like Kate McKinnon and the gang in this outrageously funny SNL sketch.

Yet it wasn’t just Winslet’s shockingly good Philly accent that helped her—and us—momentarily ignore the fact she’s actually a famous British actress who speaks the Queen’s English. It was also her entire look and the way she carried herself. From the messy, unwashed hair to her gait to her perfectly unkempt, unfashionable clothes, Winslet inhabited Mare from the elongated syllables to the elongated T-shirts that don’t really fit. And it was Kasperlik’s job to make sure those ill-fitting clothes fit the character perfectly. Her Emmy nomination speaks to how well she managed that, and not just for Winslet, but for the entire cast.

We spoke to Kasperlik while she was in Budapest (she’s currently working on Marvel’s Moon Knight, an upcoming Disney+ series) about how she found the appropriate attire for the residents of Easttown. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sosie Bacon, Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Sosie Bacon, Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

Let’s start with your initial conversations with creator Brad Ingelsby. How did you prepare for the series, which was clearly going to be very location-specific?

I knew it would be very important to make it as authentic as possible. I have a good friend from Philadelphia, and she was like, ‘You need to get this right.’ The first thing I asked Brad was, ‘If you could go to any bar or restaurant, where would it be?’ He said, ‘Go to Coastville, Delaware County, and go to a Wawa. Just sit at a Wawa.’ I did that and instantly I was like, okay, I get it.

As a native of Bryn Mawr, in Delaware County, and a longtime Wawa patron, I appreciate this sage advice. Was it just the Wawa in Coatsville?

I sat at one in Coatstville, and our studio was in Aston, where Brad is from, so I sat at a Wawa really close to the studio, too. Then a strip mall nearby had an Italian restaurant, so I sat in there and checked things out. We did the show pre-Covid, so I stayed downtown at first, but when I came back I had a house in Ardmore, and that kind of helped me see these other areas. I did the Philly tour.

Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

The series’ tone is set by Kate Winslet’s phenomenal performance in which she looked and sounded like an actual person from the greater Philadelphia area. What kind of conversations did you have with her about Mare’s look?

I had some early conversations with Kate before she got to Philadelphia. I sent her some mood boards and asked her how far she was willing to go with this. She is so stunning in person, she has this glowing, luminous skin, so I was wondering how I was going to make her look damaged, because Mare’s damaged, without it being just a costume. She said she’d totally go as far as necessary, and that she was going to have dark roots and was going to put some texture into her skin. Her hair and makeup artist, Ivana Primorac, is amazing. I couldn’t believe her transformation when she came into the fitting. It was unbelievable, she could instantly sell wearing those clothes.

Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

And those clothes were decidedly functional and rarely flattering?

In the film business, we alter all of the clothing to make it as flattering as possible to the actor’s body. For Mare, I purposely made the t-shirts hit unflattering lengths on the hip. On the jeans, Kate asked if she should gain some weight, but she didn’t have to, we just had to make things look unflattering, like she just picks these clothes up off the floor or off the bed. We made it look like what a real person’s clothes would be, picking them up, smelling them, and saying, ‘Yeah, this is clean enough to wear to work.’

How did you approach the other women in the cast, like Mare’s best friend Lori, played by Julianne Nicholson?

I wanted to give her a lot of local t-shirts, all the characters have them, but maybe she was a teacher at the local high school. Both my parents are retired teachers so I know who these people are. This person wears the nicest sweater and trousers to work, but when she comes home, she’s a mom, so you don’t leave those clothes on, you put on the comfy sweatshirt or the t-shirt with the comfy hoodie. With Julianne, I wanted to put as much texture on the sweaters as possible. Nothing could be new, she had to have had these clothes for a while. Julianne came up with an amazing idea, she said she should wear a sports bra, which is so unflattering, but it so works because it’s about the functionality of her day-to-day. In this type of show, the costumes had to tell the story of who they were without being distracting at all.

Julianne Nicholson, Cameron Mann. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO
Julianne Nicholson, Cameron Mann. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO

How about for Mare’s mom, Helen, played by Jean Smart?

I worked with Jean on Watchmen, where she was much sleeker. She was really excited about Helen’s look because I was like, ‘Jean, these clothes are not going to be flashy, it’s all about comfort.’ When she came in for the fitting, I wanted it to be comfortable but have more color. She should have more life in her than Mare has. As we were getting through the fitting, she felt something was missing, and I agreed. She’s so long and lean, a real glamazon, and she said, ‘I think I need a butt.’ So we gave her a fake butt and fake hips so it would give her a pear shape, and it totally transformed her into this character who was much more homely, a housewife—but—she still cares about her hair. She was also given rosacea. These people are using the drug store face wash. Having the hair set at the beauty parlor, but then having rosacea with the butt and the hip transformed her into Helen.

Jean Smart. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Jean Smart. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, David Denman, Izzy King. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO
Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, David Denman, Izzy King. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO

Then in an entirely different direction, we have Kate’s daughter, Siobhan, played by Angourie Rice, who’s young and much more fashion-forward. 

I wanted to make sure her character wasn’t an Instagram influencer stereotype. I wanted her look to have some grounding in that, but still have a layer of not knowing who she is. In the flashback, she has long hair, and when Angourie came to us she had hair down the middle of her back, so I wondered if she’d ever allow us to shave the side of her head. We did a fitting with the costumes, and I showed the photos to Brad, and he didn’t know yet, but as soon as [hair department head] Shunika Terry cut her hair, Siobhan was born. We went back and tried the exact same clothes on and she was instantly that character now with that hair. And Angourie is really very girly, so it was very phenomenal.

Angourie Rice. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Angourie Rice. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

You said the men were more difficult to dress because they had less distinct jobs, but one man whose job was both distinct and crucial to the series was Detective Zabel, played by Evan Peters.

Zabel was a little bit of a hard one in the beginning. Evan Peters and I had a very different idea of this character. At first, I was going more browns and taupes in his palette, and it was kind of a cool look, kind of odd, nothing you’ve seen in many years. We talked to Brad, who’s a super positive person, and I could tell he wasn’t really feeling it. So I started looking around again at the men. I needed to go look at guys in suits or sport coats, not getting dressed up for a wedding but their day-to-day. I thought that these are guys are getting their suits at Macy’s or Men’s Warehouse. Because Zabel was putting on a persona that he was a bigger star than he really is, he needed to have one step up for a suit from a Macy’s. He would buy two or three and those are the suits he’d always wear, and he wouldn’t wear a tie because he was putting on this persona. As soon as I put him in blues and grays and Evan cut his hair, it made more sense. It’s not that his clothes were expensive, but it was just one step better than everyone else’s.

Evan Peters. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Evan Peters. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

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Featured image: John Douglas Thompson and Kate Winslet. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO

Emmy-Nominated “Mare of Easttown” Creator Brad Ingelsby on Bringing a Murder Mystery Home

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The excitement was high in the Ingelsby house this past July 13. Like many in the television industry, writer/producer Brad Ingelsby and his family were watching this year’s Emmy nominations. He had good reason to tune in. Mare of Easttown, the HBO Max original series Ingelsby had created, had plenty of awards buzz. The series focuses on a somber small-town Pennsylvania detective (Kate Winslet) struggling with a deep personal loss as she works to unravel a murder mystery. Winslet’s mesmerizing, and the series thrills, chills, and reveals are expertly paced. Even rarer, Mare of Easttown stuck the landing with a phenomenal finale.

So it was unsurprising that Mare of Easttown didn’t disappoint on the Emmys front. It finished with 15 nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Winslet, Jean Smart (who plays Mare’s mother, Helen), Julianne Nicholson (Mare’s childhood friend Lori), and Evan Peters (the county detective assigned to help Mare with the case) all received acting nods. Ingelsby scored an Emmy nomination for writing the seven-part series.

Brad Ingelsby on the set of "Mare of Easttown." Courtesy HBO.
Brad Ingelsby on the set of “Mare of Easttown.” Courtesy HBO.

Ingelsby, whose writing credits include the features The Way Back and Run All Night, was obviously thrilled and honored. He adds that his three children, all under the age of ten, were also elated. But they weren’t quite sure why.

“They’re little guys. They haven’t really watched the show,” says Ingelsby during a Zoom interview. “Though they’ve heard me mention Mare around the house a few times because I feel like it was the only thing I mentioned for a couple of years. But they don’t really know what it is. I just told them that it was a good day. The show had gotten recognized and they were happy for that.”

Ingelsby’s children might be among the few who don’t know about Mare of Easttown. Since its debut in April, the series has riveted its audience with richly layered characters, intricate plot twists, emotional highs and lows, and a main character television has never seen before. For Ingelsby, it was the culmination of a journey that began in 2018 with an idea to write about the places he knew from his childhood days in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

“That was kind of the catalyst more than anything,” continues Ingelsby. “Just wanting to return home and write about the people and places and rituals of life in this town and around the town where I grew up.”

Combining a range of communities from the state’s Chester County (where he lived) and Delaware County (where both his parents and grandparents were born), Ingelsby created Easttown, a fictional, blue-collar hamlet (of sorts) where lives are closely intertwined because everyone is either family or grew up together. (The series was filmed in Aston, Pennsylvania, his wife’s hometown, and where her parents still live.)

But Ingelsby knew that to make the idea work, it needed a good story. Joking that his childhood didn’t fit the bill, “not entertaining in any way,” he brought determined detective Mare Sheehan into the world of Eastown and surrounded her with mysteries. Right out of the gate, it’s revealed that Mare has failed to solve the disappearance of a young girl — the daughter of a friend – missing for a year. By the end of the first episode, another young girl, a relative of her closest friend Lori, is found murdered.

Julianne Nicholson, Kate Winslet. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO
Julianne Nicholson, Kate Winslet. Photograph by Sarah Shatz/HBO

Mare’s home life is in shambles. The death of her son, whose emotional issues led to suicide, has shattered her family. Mare has closed out her daughter Siobhan (Angourie Rice). She constantly bickers with her mother Helen (Smart). Mare’s divorced husband Frank (David Denman), who lives in the house directly in the back of hers, has just announced he’s getting remarried. Mare is also taking care of the child her son left behind. But she may lose her grandson, as his mother gets out of rehab and sues for custody.

Sosie Bacon, Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO
Sosie Bacon, Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

“That was really the interesting part to me, creating an ensemble cast of characters. Trying to determine how they were related, how long they’ve known each other, what their experiences together were,” explains Ingelsby. “Especially Mare. There were some things in my own life that were going on that I was exploring in her. I didn’t lose a child. But just dealing with the idea of experiencing something traumatic. How do you react to that regret, that guilt? All those things that Mare is having to confront. And then it was, how does the case reflect that journey inside Mare? The case had to be a way of exploring her own trauma.”

Ingelsby admits that the most challenging aspect of writing Mare of Easttown was keeping all the balls in the air. It was a constant juggling act to gauge where the audience would be emotionally as the story unfolded. Would they want more procedural? Can he turn away from the mystery to explore subplots? Would storylines about Siobhan’s college plans or Mare’s romance with an enigmatic writer (Guy Pearce) who just arrived in town distract too much from the mystery? How dark can the plotline go and what was the right time to lighten things up?

But Ingelsby had an ace in the hole — his lead actress Winslet. He had completed the first two episodes when she signed on to play Mare.

“Kate took it and ran with it. There was definitely a passing of the baton at some point in the process where Kate knew Mare in ways I didn’t,” continues Ingelsby. “She took the nuggets that were in the script and expanded them in ways that I could never have done. That’s a testament to Kate’s ability as an actress but also as  a creative mind to constantly be digging deeper and deeper.”

 

Ingelsby adds that it was Winslet who saw the potential for humor in Mare’s quirky nature. Acutely aware that there needed to be a balance to the heavy subject matter, she realized how important it was to give the audience a needed breather.

But that wasn’t the only way the actress got into the character’s skin. “She crafted so many of the ideas in Mare’s history,” says Ingelsby. “What was her relationship with Lori? Kate was thinking, ‘Well, they must have grown up next to each other and they were best friends from a very young age.’ Why is Mare a cop? ‘Well, her dad was a cop, but also she stood up for the kids in the playground.’”

Kate Winslet, John Douglas Thompson, Joe Tippett. Photo by Sarah Shatz/HBO
Kate Winslet, John Douglas Thompson, Joe Tippett. Photo by Sarah Shatz/HBO

There are many ways to judge the success of Mare of Easttown — critical raves, Emmy nominations, a growing fan base, even talk about a sequel. (Ingelsby is hesitant. The first one is a hard act to follow.) But perhaps the best indicator of Mare of Easttown’s impact on the cultural zeitgeist happened last May when Saturday Night Live parodied it with a sketch that poked fun at the regional peculiarities of Eastern Pennsylvania, particularly its distinctive accents.

“Oh yeah. It’s been played in this house a few times,” Ingelsby responds with a grin when asked about the segment. “I mean, listen, I was flattered. I felt so honored and I can say everyone was. It’s a mark that you’ve made it. At that point, we were like, ‘Wow! Maybe people are watching the show and maybe more people will watch the show.’ It was a lovely moment. Really. I was laughing at it too. It made me laugh.”

 

For more on Mare of Easttown, check out these stories:

How the “Mare of Easttown” Editor Carefully Constructed HBO’s Brilliant Murder Mystery

“Mare of Easttown” & “The Underground Railroad” Hair Department Head Lawrence Davis

Featured image: John Douglas and Kate Winslet. Photograph by Michele K. Short/HBO

“Hacks” Editor Jessica Brunetto on Creating Comedic Rhythm

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Editor Jessica Brunetto has been collaborating with Hacks creator Lucia Aniello for years now. Brunetto worked with Aniello on Time Traveling Bong in 2016, and from there, she jumped into the editing bay for seasons four and five of Broad City (Aniello directed 16 episodes of the critically acclaimed Comedy Central series). So when it was time for Aniello to find an editor for her new series Hacks, Brunetto was her first choice.

Hacks follows the sometimes twisted, perpetually funny relationship between legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and the young, outcast upstart Ava (Hannah Einbinder). Their courtship, as it were, is barbed, biting, and hilarious. The comedic timing on display, not just from Smart and Einbinder, but by a stellar cast that includes seasoned comedic performers like Kaitlin Olson, Megan Stalter, and Paul Downs never flags. Brunetto is a big reason why the series flows so well.

“I said yes without even totally knowing what the show was,” Brunetto says, and who can blame her—Aiello’s comedy instincts are razor sharp. We spoke to Brunetto about how she found Hacks comedic rhythm, how she handles the cast’s brilliant improvisation, and why one scene in particular was the hardest she’s ever cut.

 

Walk us through a day of editing an episode of Hacks.

It’s worth mentioning that editing is often referred to as the invisible art, and I sometimes joke it also means invisible artist, because people often have a hard time understanding what our role is. Essentially we take all of the shot footage—dailies—we watch everything, we organize it all by scenes, and then we break it down and examine it by each shot, sizing close-ups, wide-shots, medium-shots, and we’re basically organizing multiple takes of every performance. We’re looking at it for a few things; for technical reasons, does it look good, does it sound good? But more importantly, I’m tracking the emotions of a scene. It could be comedic, it could be dramatic, whatever it is, I’m compiling what I think are the best performance from the actors and putting those things together.

How difficult is it to cut comedy?

I like to build an interesting rhythm. I think comedy is very much about creating an up-and-down momentum to the scenes, almost as you would compose a piece of music.

 

Can you walk us through a specific sequence in this season to create that musical flow?

A perfect situation to talk about is the opening of the pilot. We start very big and exciting, on a high note, with Jean coming off stage. We’re following her, we hear the crowd cheering her, we hear the band play her off stage. We follow her backstage where all her handlers are, there’s a lot of hustle and bustle that we worked into the sound design, and some additional lines we recorded with Jean after to liven up the walk to her dressing room.

Jean Smart. Photograph by Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max
Jean Smart. Photograph by Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max

This is where we see the empire of Deborah Vance.

That’s where it becomes a bit of a musical montage—she’s going to her QVC show, her photoshoot, all these high-energy things that a comedy legend that has a business arm would do. And we build all that up in the beginning so when she gets home, it becomes really quiet, and you feel how lonely she is. When she’s eating alone at the island in her kitchen, or you see her in this massive bedroom with all her stuff and nothing else, you hear some emotional underscore there, and you hear the humming of these big automatic blinds that close her in, almost like her own tomb. She’s locked herself away from real emotional connections from the rest of the world. All of those things in contrast to the first two minutes of the show really tell you a lot about the character.

Jean Smart. Photograph by Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max
Jean Smart. Photograph by Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max

How did you handle shaping footage when the cast is riffing?

I’m fortunate to have an extensive documentary background, I started my career working with Michael Moore, so I’m not intimidated by unscripted material. I really just try to be fresh eyes for the showrunners and continue to go back to takes that make me laugh every time. I think it’s easy to get the first laugh, it’s really hard to get your 20th laugh. I try to concentrate on where I’m getting the laughs, even on Zoom. It’s like a mini test screening to see what everyone’s responding to.

How do you keep your mind fresh when you’re glued to this material for hours on end?

I have a few tricks that I use. I think going for walks, especially when you’re feeling like you’ve watched it 100 times in the last hour, helps. If it’s not coming to me, I think it’s better to stop for the day and come back to it fresh in the morning. I also find going to watch it in a living room setting and streaming it from my TV gives me a fresh perspective, versus looking at it on the computer. That way I can’t do the thing where I want to make a little change, I have no control so I have to experience it as the audience would. And, a lot of times, I don’t look at the scenes, I just listen to them. If I hear the right rhythm, the right drama, the right sadness, then it feels right. All the picture stuff I can adjust.

Is there a particular sequence that stands out to you that was the toughest nut to crack?

I think the sit-down interview towards the end of the pilot was really the hardest scene. In all my experience, I don’t think I’ve ever had a scene that long. With the characters literally just sitting across from each other, that’s such a huge challenge to keep it interesting. We had the interruption with Kaitlin Olson coming in, but at the end of the day it was Ava and Deborah going toe-to-toe. I felt like that was a good exercise in traditional editing, when to be close with Ava and Deborah, and then when to take a big breath in the middle of the scene with a wide shot. It was also good to remember the opulence in the room, the gold trim everywhere, the vases, all these things you wouldn’t think were interesting but are telling you so much about Deborah. She’s surrounded herself with handlers and stuff, but at the end of the day she’s a very isolated person, and Ava is the first person who lights her up as a comedian. Because that was the hardest scene, I think it was the most rewarding.

L-r: Hannah Einbinder, Jean Smart. Courtesy of HBO Max.
L-r: Hannah Einbinder, Jean Smart. Courtesy of HBO Max.

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Featured image: L-r: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder. Courtesy HBO Max.

Best of Summer: How the “A Quiet Place Part II” Sound Team Turns the Viewer Into Prey

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This interview is part of our “Best of Summer” series. It was originally published on June 1. 

Don’t make a sound. The utterly frightening creatures of A Quiet Place are back in a terrifying sequel thirsty to tear your body apart. In this new chapter, the story picks up right where it left off with the Abbott family having destroyed their home in order to stay alive. Well, almost everyone. The tragic events force Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and Marcus (Noah Jupe) to leave their safety net and look for refuge in a treacherous journey that keeps them guessing what could be lurking around the corner.

Returning to direct is John Krasinksi, who reprises his role as Lee Abbott in a flashback sequence that puts us in the front seat to how the monsters arrived in the first place. Also returning to sonically expand the nightmare are sound supervising editors Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, who were nominated with an Academy Award for the first film.

“With A Quiet Place we worked closely with John creating the sonic logic and rules to things like how loud of a sound would attract these creatures’ attention who are hyper-sensitive to hearing. When we started this film John’s direction was to take all the logic and ideas we established and expand on them,” Aadhal tells The Credits.

Regan (Millicent Simmonds), left, and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) brave the unknown in "A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Regan (Millicent Simmonds), left, and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) brave the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

The hair-raising soundscape starts to churn from the very opening scene where the family is walking down a familiar path that they’ve intentionally covered with sand in order to mute their footsteps. As they reach the end, Evelyn’s first step is captured in a close-up where her foot presses down on a pile of dry leaves–a sound that resonates like a trembling earthquake rumbling beneath you. It’s one of my favorite moments,” notes Aadahl. “To me, it’s a beautiful metaphor I get chills thinking about since that uncomfortable tiny bit of sound is such a big deal emotionally for what this family is going through.”

Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) brave the unknown in "A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) brave the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

The aural journey parallels the family who is constantly on the run and in a state of fear. As the story unfolds, the audience is introduced to new characters like Emmett (played by Cillian Murphy) and different locations.

Emmett (Cillian Murphy) braves the unknown in "A Quiet Place Part II." Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Emmett (Cillian Murphy) braves the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

The sound team treated the new locations in a similar fashion heard in the first film using only realistic elements found in the universe. The tactic leaves a somewhat barren soundscape where only a few insects and crows flying overhead can be heard. This sonic style is what keeps the audience on edge to the slightest of noises.

When the Abbott’s first engage with Emmett they spring a trap he has set to alert him of intruders–one loud enough to stir the monsters. When the creatures start to attack, sound shifts from the surrounding atmosphere to the character experience. “We rack focus away from the environment so we can focus in on the characters’ breaths, footsteps, and the intimate panic of what they’re going through,” explains Aadahl. “We do this a few times in the film and then take license to focus on things as we move into them with our characters. As they come into Emmett’s world, it’s the first time they realize there might be dangers that go beyond the creatures in the world.”

Emily Blunt, left, and John Krasinski on the set of Paramount Pictures' "A Quiet Place Part II." Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Emily Blunt, left, and John Krasinski on the set of Paramount Pictures’ “A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

With Lee no longer in the picture, Regan, who is deaf (Millicent Simmonds is also deaf in real life), steps in to become the hero among the family. The story allowed the team to tap into her perspective, or what director John Krasinski calls “sonic envelopes,” to create unique juxtapositions between picture and sound where you see what’s going on but hear nothing.

Regan (Millicent Simmonds) braves the unknown in "A Quiet Place Part II." Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Regan (Millicent Simmonds) braves the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

“With the sequel, we were able to internalize more of the sound with Regan,” Van der Ryn points out. “We developed the idea of using sonic envelopes in the first film, and because Regan becomes the lead in this film, there’s more opportunity to play with that idea. It becomes such a strong motor to drive the narrative forward and allows us to create this incredible contrast between the craziness that’s happening in the world sonically. When we cut to her perspective, we take the sound out to low, muffled levels or completely remove it when she doesn’t have in her cochlear implant. I think it’s super effective at connecting us on a deeper level with what our characters are experiencing, especially Regan. With her being deaf it puts her in such a vulnerable position, so for an audience to step into that perspective is a powerful thing to be able to experience.”

One scene, in particular, is when Regan wakes up in a train depot and realizes she’s missing her implant. To establish the moment visually, the camera tracks her waking up and then follows her in a wider shot as she walks outside in a state of panic. For sound, the discussion was for how long the scene should be in complete silence. The team experimented with the climactic moment pushing to uncomfortable levels, saying it was the longest period of silence they did between the two movies.

 

“The moment creates this tragic connection with Regan and this real feeling of loss and emptiness,” says Aadahl. “We held onto it as long as we could and it was John’s idea to snap back into the reality perspective when Emmett touches her as she’s kneeling on the ground. It creates this beautiful heartbreaking tender moment.”

The scene wouldn’t have been possible without sound pushing the agenda. “In that scene specifically, sound informed how the picture cut was going to come together,” says Van der Ryn. “When she wakes up in the railroad station we were able to make a couple of cuts to the edit that allows us to stay in complete silence without losing the audience. It’s a good example where on a film where sound is important it becomes this parallel integral process with the picture editing.”

The expanding world also allowed sound to further develop the hideous creatures by expanding their vocabulary and searching vocals, which are based on real-world animals like dolphins, that use echolocation. “We designed new patterns to their calls as they’re tracking their prey for key moments in the film,” Adahl points out.

Mixing in Dolby Atmos, creature sounds were spatially placed 360-degrees around the room where their vocals and clicks could eerily play inside cavernous locations. “We played some scenes with almost no music so the tension really comes from the hunters and the hunted,” says Aadal.

A Quiet Place II is in theaters now.

Featured image: L-r, Marcus (Noah Jupe), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and Evelyn (Emily Blunt) brave the unknown in “A Quiet Place Part II.” Photo by Jonny Cournoyer. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

The Emmy-Nominated “Ted Lasso” Editors on Cutting to the Funny

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Apple’s Ted Lasso is one of the funniest series out right now. But it’s more than the laughs that will keep you watching. The writing is clever, the performances are refreshing, and there’s a depth to the characters that make you even cheer on the ones you hate. Well, maybe not Rupert, played devilishly well by actor Anthony Head.

The series centers on Ted (Jason Sudeikis), a former college football coach who’s been handpicked to coach a pro soccer club in England by new owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), who has taken over the team following a publicized divorce from the aforementioned Rupert.

The pilot episode feels like the soccer version of the film Major League but quickly morphs into its own compelling underdog story. You begin to care more about the people you’re watching than the game they’re playing.

To cut the series, two of the show’s creators, Jason Sudeikis and Bill Lawrence, tapped editors Melissa McCoy and A.J. Catoline, who were both nominated for an Emmy for their work on season one.

In the midst of finalizing the second season, the two sat down with The Credits to talk about the show’s development and what it takes to keep this beloved series on the pitch.

 

Season one has been a huge hit and the second season might even be funnier. Can you share how you found the pace of the show from the start?

A.J. Catoline: We broke up the episodes with Melissa doing the odds and me the evens. By the time Jason [Sudeikis] and Bill [Lawrence] met with us for the first time, we had eight episodes cut. Having that many episodes open we were able to figure out what the show is and plant little seeds in the episodes that pay off later. Working with Bill is like going to a masterclass. He pointed out early on that Jason isn’t going for the obvious laugh, but he’s going for a feeling. He wants the characters to have breaths and leave air for the audience. As an editor in comedy, you’re taught to tell a joke and then quickly get to the next one. With Ted Lasso, we wanted to leave room for the inhales and the exhales.

How helpful was it to split the series with another editor?

Melissa McCoy: It would be a lot for a single editor to do all of them. There’s a ton of footage and then you have visual effects. It’s also a big mental hurdle to get through the episodes. With A.J., we’re able to plant ideas and pay them off later. There’s a lot to juggle so it’s great to have two of us shepherding the episodes and getting them as tight as they can be.

Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in “Ted Lasso” season two, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in “Ted Lasso” season two, now streaming on Apple TV+.

How do you keep the consistency from episode to episode?

Melissa McCoy: We try and watch each other’s cuts, but Jason and Bill are great at keeping the series consistent. We talk so much about tone, how much we want to play with the jokes and pathos. Jason’s notes are very specific and true to the characters. All those things help us congeal our edit. We have such clear leaders on this show shepherding us towards the finish line.

It doesn’t sound like there’s any ego on this show.

Melissa McCoy: There’s not a lot of ego on this show. It’s all hands on deck from the editing team and we all came back for season two stronger and more knowledgeable.

 

What separates Ted Lasso from other comedies is how it balances the struggles each characters faces. How do you navigate those moments?

A.J. Catoline: We realized quickly that the show is about pathos but it’s a show about being vulnerable. For a character like Rebecca [Hannah Waddingham], the pain is coming out sideways. Jason wanted us to be in tune with that and track her. With Rebecca, we are going to look for close-ups and find reactions to build her story arc. Finding them is the easiest part of the job because Hannah is such a great actress there’s no need to look for stolen reactions.

Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​
Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​

Ted is almost like a Ned Flanders of soccer. He rarely says anything negative, but when he does, it has an impact. How do you beat out those moments when he is getting his version of mad?

A.J. Catoline: There are moments in the show like when Ted is taking off his wedding ring in season one, episode six, where you see the pain in his face. Or, when he hustles Rebecca’s ex-husband Rupert at darts season one, episode eight, and says “better manners when I’m holding a dart.” That dart scene is one of the few moments where Ted gets mad.

We try to find these reactions of other characters that bounce back to him, to the root of his pain. In that dart scene, we find out his dad died when he was younger and Rebecca gives him a beautiful reaction. We play off that. It comes instinctively with the show as we are vibing with it, and Jason often times will let us know where the attention needs to go. As an editor, I love that.

Anthony Head and Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​
Anthony Head and Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​

The show does an exceptional job with character arc and building connections. A favorite relationship is between Rebecca and Keeley (Juno Temple). Can you talk about how you created their chemistry?

Melissa McCoy: In season one Rebecca and Keeley’s relationship really starts to form in episode three. When I read the script, I was like, oh my gosh, this is how women’s friendships form. They’re not going to be enemies, they’re going to be friends. The energy the actors give is a lot of it. But I feel that when I am cutting, the music can help add to it too. Everyone is always stepping up and giving all they can because they feel so deeply for it.

Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​
Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​

The relationship between Ted and Rebecca is fantastic too. Thankfully, it’s never played as a will they or won’t they, but as two people who admire and learn from one another. Is it easy to keep that tone in the edit? 

Melissa McCoy: You’re right. They never play that romantic angle. Jason describes it as them being non-romantic soul mates. They really do feel like there’s a connection but not a romantic one. It starts with the writing and the performances and then we follow those beats. They share a lot of respect for each other and are two people who listen and are there for one another through the tough times.

Hannah Waddingham and Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​
Hannah Waddingham and Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​

How do you approach cutting your Emmy-nominated episodes?

Melissa McCoy: Just working on the dailies for “Make Rebecca Great Again” it felt special from the get-go. Jason wrote the script and he had a great vision for it. For the edit, a lot of it was finding the beats for each character and creating the timelines behind the team reactions. There was a lot of buildup and tension leading towards the end and bringing scenes to their max potential because the actors were at the top of their game.

A.J. Catoline: The finale took advantage of having the first eight episodes to rely upon. None of us knew that when Ted said at the beginning of the season that he’s here to coach the team win, lose or tie, that it would pay off later. We had no idea that in episode ten Ted would be rooting for a tie to win.

But with Jason, he’s a magician. He lets you think the trick is one thing but the trick ends up being something else. We then kick it to Marcus Mumford’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” which is a song sung in England for the health care frontline workers and I’ve watched that scene hundreds of times and still cry. That’s the magic of the way it feels and the magic of the writing. And the title of the episode, “The Hope That Kills You,” is beautiful.

Do you have any advice for assistant editors to get noticed?

A.J. Catoline: This show is about mentorship and in season two we promoted our assistant editors Alex Szabo and Francesca Castro to additional editors on episodes. Not only because we were under a release date, but the show is a lot heavier with more going on in season two.

For me, it’s all about a vibe. It’s not a resume thing but I felt a vibe with Alex. If you’re just starting out, stick with it and believe in yourself, and keep cutting. Keep telling stories and keep connecting with people. Doing work through the editor’s guild and ACE will help you make those connections. But above all, stick with it and be patient.

For more on Ted Lasso, check out these interviews:

“Ted Lasso” Casting Director Theo Park on Filling Out AFC Richmond’s Roster

Emmy-Nominee Hannah Waddingham on the Joy of Making “Ted Lasso”

Featured image: Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+.​

Getting Down to Funny Business with “Hacks” Creator Lucia Aniello

Posted on by babrams

Delving into the world of stand-up comedy, Hacks, the HBO Max original series, is an edgy but loving look at comediennes and the struggles they face in the pursuit of laughs.

Jean Smart stars as Deborah Vance, a Las Vegas legend whose decades-old routine is starting to show its age. Hannah Einbinder plays Ava Daniels, a hot, young television writer who finds her career canceled after she posts an inappropriate tweet. Jimmy (Paul W. Downs, who is also one of the series’ creators), their mutual manager, brings the two women together, hoping the pairing will spark both careers. Neither is thrilled. Deborah is incensed at the idea of a kid telling her what’s funny. Ava doesn’t know any of Deborah’s jokes and has no interest in learning them. But as the two join forces, they find mutual respect and realize they may be more alike than they think.

L-r: Hannah Einbinder, Jean Smart. Courtesy of HBO Max.
L-r: Hannah Einbinder, Jean Smart. Courtesy of HBO Max.

Lucia Aniello, who created the series with Downs and Jen Statsky, says the idea for Hacks was spawned during a road trip to Portland, Maine. The trio was on its way to shoot a segment featuring Downs for a Netflix comedy special when the conversation turned, not surprisingly, to comedy.

“We were talking about all these awesome female comedians that we grew up loving that never had the same careers as some of their male counterparts,” Aniello recalls during a Zoom interview. “They forged this path for women in comedy. And so we were like, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a younger woman and an older comedienne?’ Intergenerational disputes would be at the forefront, but it would be about appreciating each other and coming together because they have that shared love language of comedy.”

L-r Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder. Courtesy HBO Max.
L-r: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder. Courtesy HBO Max.

Aniello speaks from experience. Partners in their personal life, Downs and Aniello have been making each other laugh since they first met at an Upright Citizens Brigade improv class years before. Typically, the duo writes their material together and then Downs performs as Aniello directs. A case in point is her big-screen directing debut Rough Night. The 2017 comedy, starring Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon, is based on Aniello and Downs’ screenplay. He plays Peter, the fiancé of Johansson’s character.

Hacks image 1: Lucia Aniello - photo credit: Adam Bricker.
Hacks image 1: Lucia Aniello – photo credit: Adam Bricker.

The couple found a kindred comedy spirit in Statsky while working on the series Broad City as writers/producers. True to their modus operandi, Downs also had a recurring role and Aniello directed multiple episodes, including the pilot.

Aniello credits their synergy for keeping Hacks funny and real. “What we bring depends on the moment. I don’t think there’s a, ‘Oh, that’s the structure guy and that’s the comedy person,’” she says. “At the end of the day, we really like pitching on each other’s jokes and ideas. We like hanging out together. It’s very similar to Deborah and Ava where it’s a love language. And we love collaborating.”

 

In addition to writing and producing Hacks, Aniello directed six of the first season’s episodes. She believes that wearing her writer’s hat first gives her an edge when directing.

“If I’m in the writers’ room, I understand the motivation for why we felt the scene was necessary, the points of view of the characters, and what we’re trying to get out of it,” Aniello explains. “It’s easier for me to understand what we need to support and what can maybe go.”

What Aniello likes best about directing is when the magic happens. She describes it as the moment she’s sure that what she’s watching is going to make the final cut.

Jean Smart. Photograph by Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max
Jean Smart. Photograph by Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max

“You just know it. ‘Ah, that’s on TV,’” continues Aniello. “When you’re like, ‘Oh, wow. We set up this world so this could happen and then it did happen!’ And sometimes it’s better than you even imagined. Those moments are great because that usually means I get to say, ‘Let’s move on. We got it right.’ That’s one of the best feelings. I love it.”

Aniello recalls a scene in the second episode where Deborah drags Ava on a road trip. The car gets a flat tire, stranding them on a Nevada highway. Deborah has a performance that night, so she calls a local news helicopter to pick her up and fly her to the casino. When Ava realizes she’s being left behind to deal with the car, she starts complaining. Deborah silences her with a speech about how their chosen profession is a constant struggle. It never gets easier. It only gets harder.

The helicopter was parked several miles away and its take-off needed to be timed just right. If it arrived too soon, the noise would distract from Deborah’s dialogue — too late and there’s an awkward silence. Aniello anticipated multiple takes, throwing off the whole day’s schedule. The first one didn’t set her mind at ease. The timing was completely off.

So Aniello studied the footage and calculated the beat where she thought the helicopter should begin flying. And then the cameras rolled. “Every single line was perfect. The moment that the helicopter landed was literally perfect,” she remembers. “Everything just magically worked together. We didn’t do another take after that. That’s exactly one of those moments. ‘Oh my God. That’s going to be on TV.’”

Jean Smart. Courtesy HBO Max.
Jean Smart. Courtesy HBO Max.

And then there is directing her longtime partner Downs. “Someone’s gotta do it,” Aniello says jokingly, quickly adding, “No. He’s my favorite performer of all time. Honestly, a big reason I’m a director is to get this kid in pictures because I just think he’s the funniest.”

L-r: Paul W. Downs and Meg Stalter. Courtesy HBO Max.
L-r: Meg Stalter and Paul Downs. Courtesy HBO Max.

When the Emmy nominations were announced in July, Hacks scored 14, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Smart, Einbinder, and Carlo Clemens-Hopkins, who plays Deborah’s buttoned-up assistant Marcus, received nods for their acting. Aniello, Downs, and Statsky were nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Aniello also received a nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. They’re the couple’s first Emmy nods. (Statsky was nominated twice previously as part of The Good Place producing team.)

The day the nominations were announced, Aniello and Downs were in Brimfield, Massachusetts hunting for antiques at the town’s flea market. “We hadn’t actually talked about if we were going to listen or watch or whatever. Then, at the last minute, we thought, ‘Let’s just pop in some earbuds and hear what’s going on,’” she remembers. “We were in the middle of a row of vendors and when we got the comedy series nomination, we did a little yelp. People were like, ‘What’s going on over there?’ We were thrilled. And we did end up buying one thing, so it was a really good day.”

Renewed for its second season, Aniello is thrilled that the response to Hacks has been so positive. “I’m just so grateful. Young, old, black, white, queer, straight, sports guys, truly the most eclectic amount of different people have come out of the woodwork and supported the show,” she says. “So thank you if you’ve seen it. Thank you if you told a friend to watch. And if you haven’t seen it, check it out. What have you got to lose?”

For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:

The Matrix 4 Gets Official Title As Warner Bros. Teases Trailer at CinemaCon

“Succession” Season 3 Premieres This October

Denis Villeneuve Writing Script For “Dune 2” & Zendaya Will Star

An Iconic Batman Returns: Michael Keaton on Picking Up The Cape & Cowl

Featured image: L-r: Hannah Einbinder, Jean Smart. Courtesy of HBO Max.

Trailer Heaven: 9 of the Year’s Most Exciting Films

Posted on by babrams

The last four months of the year are going to be an epic one for movie lovers. From superheroes to cardsharps, from the mean streets of New York to the distant planet of Arrakis, the year will end with a thrilling mix of genres and stories from some of the best filmmakers in the business. (If Candyman hadn’t just been released, it would have made our list—but we’re sticking to films that haven’t premiered yet.) We’ve got films from living legends like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott on the horizon, as well as Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao’s first Marvel movie and Denis Villeneuve’s long-awaited Dune adaptation.

This is a vastly different finale to the year than we had in 2020, of course. Last year, with theaters shuttered and vaccinations still a ways off, there wasn’t a bevy of films like we have now to choose from. So, while things are still hardly back to normal, we did want to celebrate the fact that we do have vaccines and we do have a slew of intriguing movies on the horizon.

So here’s a list of 9 upcoming films, with their trailers, that we’re excited about.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Release date: September 3, 2021

Synopsis: Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

Why we’re excited: Director Destin Daniel Cretton is a rising star, and so, too, is Simu Liu, who plays Marvel’s first-ever Asian superhero, so that’s reason enough. But there are plenty of reasons to be excited for Shang-Chi, including a stellar supporting cast and martial arts-inspired action that promises to offer a different kind of thrill ride, while all still fitting into the larger MCU.

The Card Counter

Release date: September 10, 2021

Synopsis: Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter. Told with Schrader’s trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions, and features riveting performances from stars Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe.

Why we’re excited: Paul Schrader is an excellent filmmaker, and the moment we heard he teamed up with Oscar Isaac for a revenge thriller involving a guy who can count cards is we wanted a seat at the table.

The Many Saints of Newark

Release date: October 1, 2021

Synopsis: The film is set in the explosive 1960s in the era of the Newark riots, when the African-American and Italian communities are often at each other’s throats. But among the gangsters within each group, the dangerous rivalry becomes especially lethal.

Why we’re excited: The Sopranos prequel is in good hands with director Alan Taylor, who won an Emmy for his work directing The Sopranos, and he’s working off a script from The Sopranos creator David Chase and Boardwalk Empire co-executive producer and writer Lawrence Konner.

No Time To Die

Release date: October 8, 2021.

Synopsis: In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Why we’re excited: Daniel Craig’s final mission as James Bond—need we say more? Fine, we will—writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga and the introduction of Lashana Lynch as a new 00 agent.

The Last Duel

Release date: October 15, 2021

Synopsis: The Last Duel is a gripping tale of betrayal and vengeance set against the brutality of 14th century France, directed by visionary filmmaker and four-time Academy Award nominee Ridley Scott.

Why we’re excited: A Ridley Scott movie is always a reason to be excited, especially a big, sweeping historical epic with a stellar cast, and written by the great Nicole Holofcener and, wait for it, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Dune

Release date: October 22, 2021

Synopsis: A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

Why we’re excited: Why wouldn’t we be excited for a writer/director of Denis Villeneuve’s caliber taking on one of the most iconic sci-fi novels of all time and doing so with a cast this good?

The Eternals

Release date: November 5, 2021.

Synopsis: Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again.

Why we’re excited: Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao is one of the most exciting young directors in the business. Seeing what she’ll do with a Marvel-sized budget and a stellar cast is reason enough to put Eternals on our must-see list.

West Side Story

Release date: December 10, 2021

Synopsis: Directed by Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tony Kushner, West Side Story tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City.

Why we’re excited: It’s a Steven Spielberg movie.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Release date: December 17

Synopsis: For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Why we’re excited: The return of Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin and Aflred Molina as Doctor Octopus are two big reasons. Also, director Jon Watts has quietly (for a superhero franchise) crafted a compelling trilogy with Tom Holland ably taking on the role of Peter Parker and No Way Home promises to the biggest, boldest film they’ve made.

Featured image: Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

How “Candyman” Composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe Manipulated Madness Into Music

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It’s hard to believe that someone as soft-spoken as Brooklyn musician Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe could be responsible for the dread-inducing soundscape that underscores the return of cinema’s most horrific throat-slashing boogeyman. And yet, that’s exactly what Lowe has achieved in his score for Candyman (opening Aug. 27). The film, from co-writer/director Nia DaCosta and co-writer/producer Jordan Peele, updates the original 1992 horror movie by tracking artist Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) as he tries to wrap his bee-stung arms around the mysterious re-emergence of the murderous Candyman in Chicago’s newly gentrified Cabrini Green neighborhood.

Co-starring Colman Domingo and Teyonah Parris, Candyman introduces Lowe’s dense, brand of electronic music to mainstream audiences, but he’s been developing his edgy sonic palette for decades starting with art-punk band 90 Day Men. Lowe’s solo records, released under the Lichens moniker, showcase a gift for melding modular synthesizer sounds with his own wordless vocals. Factoring in recent indie film scores and guest appearances on such movies as Sicario and Arrival, producers knew what they were getting when they asked Lowe to compose Candyman.

“Luckily I was given the space to do what I do, which means I’ve been able to create something complex for Candyman that that lives as a character in the landscape of the film, says Lowe, who spent ten months crafting the Candyman score. “Working in real-time with the production, I was able to present a sonic landscape in ways that may influence the intention of a scene and vice versa.”

Speaking from his Brooklyn studio, Robert talks about warping his own voice beyond recognition, explains the film’s signature buzzing bee sound, and describes how he tipped his hat to Philip Glass, composer of the original Candyman theme.

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. Photo by Desdemona Dallas
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. Photo by Desdemona Dallas

Nice work on Candyman, which is both artfully made and also scary as hell.

(Laughs) Thanks.

Let’s begin with the end of this film, where this spooky little melody that’s different from everything that came before plays over the closing credits. How did that theme come about?

“Music Box” is actually a Philip Glass composition from the original 1992 movie which I re-imagined for this film. I was leery of was leaning too deeply into that score because it’s very important that our Candyman has its own identity, its own language within the legacy of this particular piece of folklore. “Music Box” was actually the last thing I performed because I wanted to make sure I established my own voice and built my own world so the score can breathe on its own as more of an organism inside of the film.

 

Aside from the homage to Glass, your work in Candyman has little in common with traditional Hollywood movie music. Instead, you’ve created a soundscape filled with whines, shrieks, whistles, skittering, crunches, rumbles, squawks, buzzsaw sounds, sirens, creaks, shrieks, phantom voices, thunder.

I think those are all fairly accurate descriptors that speak to what one would think of as being in the realm of horror but at the same time, it also speaks to the concept of avant-garde classical music. I’ve tethered myself to working in an aleatoric way where you’re incorporating chance and rolling the dice to discover things that pull you out of your comfort zone. I can then take those components and very intentionally arrange them as compositions.

 

And you rely on the modular synthesizer to create these sounds?

The modular synthesizer, along with the human voice which is, for me, the most personal instrument we have. There are so many variables you can address with the modular synthesizer and it couples really well with the voice.

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. Photo by Desdemona Dallas
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe at work on the modular. Photo by Desdemona Dallas

It sounds like the Candyman score occasionally includes acoustic instruments?

Yes. I like utilizing acoustic instruments but not necessarily in the way they were intended to be played. It’s about coaxing sound from the instruments.

Can you give an example?

I worked with contrabassist/synthesist Matthew Morandi and had him improvise on top of the bridge. In doing so he created sounds you wouldn’t normally associate sonically with a string instrument. I also have an Indian tamboura, which is meant to be plucked with fingers. Instead, I took a violin bow to it and produced a sound more like a hurdy-gurdy.

How did you use your voice as raw material for the score?

The way I play around with my voice has a lot to do with how I position my body and where I sing from. Whether it’s my nasal cavity or throat or diaphragm, I can create sounds that might be akin to a woodwind instrument or a brass instrument. Since I’m not dealing with words, I’m able to create clusters of voices and process them through effects where the listener goes “What is that? I’m not sure…”

 

That uncertainty lends the score a real sense of suspense.

And that’s important because the score is dealing with illusion so I created psycho-acoustics where you don’t know what is real and what is fantasy. I wanted to explore the trauma of black bodies, the legacy of this folklore. In constructing this history of the original Candyman, Daniel Robitaille, it was about going back even farther to think about the slave trade, western Africa, delving into these ideas of polyrhythms and storytelling that were passed down and passed down and passed down. You have a lot of characters dealing with this fear and desire and acceptance and interpretation so I wanted to place that kind of storytelling within the organic space I was creating with the score.

Featured image: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 'Candyman.' Courtesy Universal Pictuers/MGM
Featured image: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in ‘Candyman.’ Courtesy Universal Pictuers/MGM

How did you get brought onto this project in the first place?

I met Nia through [Jordan Peele’s production company] Monkeypaw. They had been following my work and knew what I did so they approached me about the score for Candyman in the very early stages. Once I got the script and read it, we had a few conversations and then I proposed a very clear intention for what I wanted to do. During pre-production, the first thing I sent to Nia was the main theme of the film, which you hear over the opening titles. She already had the sound I intended for this film in her ear before she shot a single scene.

 

That’s rare.

I’m not opposed to working the way that most films are made, where the composer brought in at the eleventh hour and score to picture. But in that [situation] you’re accenting something that already exists, whereas if you’re part of the production from the beginning, then your work is fully integrated into the story.

Let’s talk about the bees. The score sounds like it’s literally buzzing whenever Candyman materializes. How did you design that element of the score?

I did field recordings on location [in Chicago] while they were shooting. I’d walk around these rowhouses in Cabrini Green and record insects, I’d record the wind hitting old electrical boxes outside the buildings, just trying to capture the environment. While I walking around, a fly flew into the microphone of the recorder and this very quick buzz happened, then dissipated. When I got back [home] and went through my library of field recordings, I took that sound, amplified it, then multiplied it to make this long band of really dense buzzing.

You like it when things happen by chance, and this fly just happened to collide with your microphone.

Aleatory compositional technique! The other thing had to do with this idea of microsound, or musique concrète, where you chop up sounds and make them into something else. While I was on set, I had Colman Domingo say “Candyman.” I took that recording of his voice, granularized it, stretched it out, and mangled it until it became a texture that was completely unintelligible as the spoken word of the human voice. I wanted the energy of that word – – the summoning vehicle – – interspersed throughout the score.

You created nearly all of the score yourself but also brought in the Oscar-winning composer Hildur to sing and play the cello?

The only other voice in the score is Hildur. She and I have been close friends and collaborators for many years. We’ve performed together enough to understand that my voice and her voice pair very well together. I’d direct her to sing certain things in a certain register, then maybe I’d do a pass myself and blend the two together. It was a way of expanding the multiplicity of voices that Nia liked to talk about.

 

For more on Candyman, check out these stories:

“Candyman” Review Round-Up: Searing, Strikingly Beautiful, & Savage

New “Candyman” Video Puts The Focus On The Art Behind the Horror

Go Inside “Candyman” With Writer/Director Nia DaCosta and Co-Writer/Producer Jordan Peele

“Candyman” Director Nia DaCosta’s Stirring Juneteenth Message

Featured image: Featured image: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in ‘Candyman.’ Courtesy Universal Pictures/MGM

See Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in First “Spencer” Trailer

Posted on by babrams

The moment we heard director Pablo Larraín was helming a film about Princess Diana starring Kristen Stewart, we were intrigued. Adding to the intrigue was the fact the script was from Peaky Blinds creator Steven Knight, and that the film would focus not on the entire, tragic saga of Princess Di’s marriage, divorce, and death, but a snapshot in time when Diana’s world was starting to unravel. Spencer focuses on just a few days in Princess Di’s life, during Christmas festivities at Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham estate. Neon has just released the first teaser trailer for the film, confirming Spencer as one of this fall’s most compelling releases.

Stewart joins a recent spate of great performers playing the iconic Diana—Emma Corrin played the young Diana in season 4 of The Crown and, taking over for her in the final two seasons is the great Elizabeth Debicki. Stewart, however, is the first American to take on the role, yet she brings some insight into it that perhaps no other performer has to quite the same degree. While obviously different in non-trivial ways, the crushing scrutiny Diana faced as a young woman is something Stewart herself was is no stranger to when you consider what she faced during her Twilight years. 

“Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life,” Stewart said in a statement earlier this year. “It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name: Spencer. It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her.”

Larraín is a top-notch director, and he’s already tackled taking on a larger-than-life woman who dealt with unimaginable circumstances and the bitter klieg lights of fame, fortune, and obsession when he directed Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy. The Spencer trailer packs a wallop without wasting many words, and Stewart looks, and crucially sounds, like she really was made for this role.

Joining Stewart are Jack Farthing as Prince Charles, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, and Sally Hawkins. Spencer will premiere at the 78th Venice Film Festival, then hit theaters on November 5.

Check out the trailer below.

Here’s the official synopsis for Spencer:

The marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles has long since grown cold. Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. But this year, things will be profoundly different. SPENCER is an imagining of what might have happened during those few fateful days.

And here’s the seriously arresting poster:

The official poster for "Spencer." Courtesy Neon.
The official poster for “Spencer.” Courtesy Neon.

For more big titles coming to theaters this year, check out these stories:

“Candyman” Review Round-Up: Searing, Strikingly Beautiful, & Savage

The Matrix 4 Gets Official Title As Warner Bros. Teases Trailer at CinemaCon

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Trailer Reveals Peter Parker’s Strange Trip

Why The Action in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is So Epic

Featured image: Kristen Stewart is Princess Diana in “Spencer.” Courtesy Neon.

“The King’s Man” Red Band Trailer is Bloody Good Fun

Posted on by babrams

You’ll know this is a red band trailer within the first 20-seconds. 20th Century Studios has released a raunchy, rude, and rollicking red band trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man, his long-awaited third installment in his The Kingsman franchise. After some pandemic-related delays, The King’s Man is finally nearing (ish) its premiere date, and the red band trailer will intrigue those of you who were already fans of the irreverent spy franchise and, perhaps, those of you who are new to the game.

The King’s Man will take us back to the beginning, long before Colin Firth’s Harry Hart and Taron Egerton’s Eggsy were mucking it up in her Majesty’s most Secret Service (no, not James Bond’s MI6, the other one). In The King’s Man, Vaughn reveals how the posh, proper, and morally flexible secret service began, set against the backdrop of World War I. “While government’s wait for orders, our people take action,” says Ralph Fiennes Duke of Oxford. He’s not lying!

As was the case in his first two Kingsman movies, Vaughn has held nothing back, it appears. The action is relentless, with the flair for both comedy and gore that he brought to bear on the first two films. While the Bond franchise is plenty action-packed, it nods (a bit, anyway) towards pesky things like gravity. In the previous two films and here, again, in The King’s Man, Vaughn has gleeful fun at cranking up the action, often highly implausible, to 11.

Joining Fiennes are a slew of fine performers, including Matthew Goode, Gemma Arterton, Stanley Tuccio, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Djimon Hounsou, and Daniel Brühl.

Check out the trailer below. The King’s Man hits theaters on December 22.

Here’s the synopsis for The King’s Man:

As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

For more stories on 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios and what’s streaming or coming to Disney+, check these out:

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Watch the Stunning Final Trailer For Marvel’s “Eternals”

Featured image: Ralph Fiennes & Harris Dickinson in ‘The King’s Man.’ Courtesy 20th Century Fox.

“Candyman” Review Round-Up: Searing, Strikingly Beautiful, & Savage

Posted on by babrams

The reviews are in for writer/director Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, and they only further cement DaCosta’s status as one of the rising stars of her generation. “It’s easy to shock viewers with splatter but the old gut-and-run gets awfully boring awfully fast. Far better is the slow creep, the horror that teases and then threatens,” writes The New York Times’s Manohla Dargis. DaCosta’s film teases, threatens, and then some.

DaCosta’s Candyman, co-written with Jordan Peele, is centered on another rising star, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Anthony McCoy, a talented artist on the hunt for inspiration. McCoy’s search leads him and his girlfriend Brianna (If Beale Street Could Talk‘s Teyonah Parris) into a luxury condo in Chicago where the Cabrini towers once stood. It’s here where, decades ago, the legendary Candyman once terrorized people in writer/director Bernard Rose’s 1992 original. McCoy thinks the Candyman’s brutal legend might just be the stuff of artistic gold, and that he can use this dark history to influence his art. Instead, the young artist finds out that the Candyman’s power reaches far beyond mere artistic inspiration, and the budding artist will soon transform in ways he couldn’t have imagined.

With this bit of boilerplate wrapped up, let’s get to the critic’s reactions. Without further ado, your spoiler-free reactions and mini-reviews:

Owen Gleiberman, Variety: “One reason this “Candyman” never feels like a formula slasher film, even during the murders, is that DaCosta stages them with a spurting operatic dread that evokes the grandiloquent sadism of mid-period De Palma.”

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter: “The attention to race, police brutality, community displacement and related issues doesn’t mean the thrills are any less spine-tingling or the bloodletting less ghastly.”

Keith Watson, Slant Magazine: “Candyman doesn’t merely note the connection between fear and remembrance, it also interrogates it from every possible angle.”

David Sexton, New Statesmen: “Candyman is quite a showreel for [director Nia DaCosta’s] talents, making brilliant use of inversion and reflection throughout. Together, Peele and DaCosta have made a definitive Black Lives Matter horror.”

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: “From the opening moments of Nia DaCosta’s gory yet strikingly beautiful and socially relevant “Candyman,” it’s clear we’re in for an especially haunting and just plain entertaining thrill ride.”

Megan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting: “It’s an ambitious and haunting reclamation realized by DaCosta’s bold vision, blending horrors real and supernatural.”

For more on Candyman, check out these stories:

New “Candyman” Video Puts The Focus On The Art Behind the Horror

Go Inside “Candyman” With Writer/Director Nia DaCosta and Co-Writer/Producer Jordan Peele

“Candyman” Director Nia DaCosta’s Stirring Juneteenth Message

Featured image: Featured image: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in ‘Candyman.’ Courtesy Universal Pictuers/MGM

New “Dune” Images Reveal One of the Year’s Most Anticipated Films

Posted on by babrams

Writer/director Denis Villeneuve is already hard at work on the script for Dune 2, while we all patiently await the arrival of the first part of his (we hope) two-part epic. Warner Bros. has revealed a new slew of images from Dune, which is the first attempt at a big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s monumental sci-fi novel since David Lynch gave it a shot—with mixed results—way back in 1984.

The images speak to the sweeping epic that Villeneuve, his cinematographer Greig Fraser, and his cast and crew have created. We see the film’s leads, Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Zendaya’s Chani, Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica, and Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leo Atreides. We also get peeks at some of the other players who will have parts to play in the intergalactic drama, including Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s Dr. Liet Kynes, Jason Momoa’s Duncan Idaho, and Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

Dune is set largely on Arrakis, an arid planet where the natural resource “spice” is so abundant the locals can see it shimmering in the air above the sands. Spice is the most sought-after substance in the universe, with the ability to expand human capabilities and lifespans, making Arrakis irresistible to invasions from hostile outsiders. This is where Paul Atreides’ (Chalamet) steps in. Paul travels to Arrakis, at the behest of his father (Isaac’s Leo Atreides) where he meets a young woman, Chani (Zendaya). Chani is looking for help in saving her planet from those who would conquer it and take the spice for themselves. This hero’s quest makes up the thrust of the first part of Villeneuve’s planned two-parter, tracking Paul’s journey to Arrakis and his defense of Chani and her people. It is, without a doubt, one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year.

Dune hits theaters and HBO Max on October 22.

Check out the images here:

Caption: SHARON DUNCAN-BREWSTER as Dr. Liet Kynes in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: SHARON DUNCAN-BREWSTER as Dr. Liet Kynes in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) REBECCA FERGUSON as Lady Jessica and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) REBECCA FERGUSON as Lady Jessica and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: A battle scene from Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: A battle scene from Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) ZENDAYA as Chani and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) ZENDAYA as Chani and TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: ZENDAYA as Chani in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: ZENDAYA as Chani in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: JASON MOMOA as Duncan Idaho in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: JASON MOMOA as Duncan Idaho in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: STELLAN SKARSGÅRD as Baron Harkonnen in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: STELLAN SKARSGÅRD as Baron Harkonnen in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: OSCAR ISAAC as Duke Leto Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: OSCAR ISAAC as Duke Leto Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: REBECCA FERGUSON as Lady Jessica in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: REBECCA FERGUSON as Lady Jessica in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) JOSH BROLIN as Gurney Halleck in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) JOSH BROLIN as Gurney Halleck in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) JOSH BROLIN as Gurney Halleck, OSCAR ISAAC as Duke Leto Atreides and STEPHEN MCKINLEY HENDERSON as Thufir Hawat in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: (L-r) JOSH BROLIN as Gurney Halleck, OSCAR ISAAC as Duke Leto Atreides and STEPHEN MCKINLEY HENDERSON as Thufir Hawat in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

For more on Dune, check out these stories:

Denis Villeneuve Writing Script For “Dune 2” & Zendaya Will Star

Chloé Zhao Has Seen “Dune” And Was “Blown Away”

The Official “Dune” Trailer is Here (And It’s Stunning)

Featured image: Caption: REBECCA FERGUSON as Lady Jessica in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

The Matrix 4 Gets Official Title As Warner Bros. Teases Trailer at CinemaCon

Posted on by babrams

We are probably very close to see the first trailer for The Matrix 4, which Warner Bros. revealed during their CinemaCon event in Las Vegas but has yet to appear online. As we wait for the goods, we at least now know the film’s title—The Matrix Resurrections.

The Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon highlighted their indisputably epic upcoming slate. Not only did they reveal the first trailer for director Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections (premiering December 22), but they revealed fresh looks at Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (October 22), Matt Reeves’ The Batman (March 4, 2022), Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho, The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, and King Richard, starring Will Smith as the father of Venus and Serena Williams.

Revealing The Matrix Resurrections trailer caused the biggest stir, as there’s been practically zero known about the long-awaited fourth film in the game-changing, culture-defining sci-fi saga, including the actual title. Lana Wachowski directs from a script she co-wrote with David Mitchell (his novel “Cloud Atlas” became a Lana and Lilly Wachowski film), and Aleksander Hemon. Resurrections will be true to its title and resurrect a trio of the original trilogy’s stars—Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Newcomers include Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Telma Hopkins, Eréndira Ibarra, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, and Brian J. Smith.

The trailer opens with Thomas Anderson, better known as Neo (Reeves) in therapy, struggling to tell his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) about what he experienced—he has no memory of The Matrix, but he senses the dreams he has of that time aren’t dreams at all. He eventually runs into a familiar-seeming woman at a coffee shop (Moss), and while there seems to be a connection here, neither can remember who the other is. We also find out that Reeves’ Anderson has to take prescription blue pills, and to make matters even drearier, he can’t figure out why everyone around him is glued to their phones. Back in the Matrix, poor devil.

Then Thomas meets a man (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who hands him a red pill, and voila, this is when the trailer starts to hint at the adventure to come. This miniature synopsis, while accurate, is obviously bare bones. It’ll be more enjoyable when we can actually share the trailer with you, which will think will happen any minute/hour now.

Warner Bros. also showed a sizzle reel for The Batman and highlighted the work of cinematographer Greig Fraser, who also shot Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, which means Fraser has his fingerprints on two of Warner Bros. biggest upcoming films. (His work can also been seen in Disney+’s The Mandalorian, where he won an Emmy for shooting the 7th episode in season one, “The Reckoning.”)

All in all, Warner Bros. presentation revealed that the studio’s slate is chock-a-block with films that really need to be seen on the biggest screen possible, which is precisely what theater owners want to hear. More to the point, starting in 2022, the studio will once again give their films exclusive theatrical windows so that their movies will play in theaters for 45 days before appearing on HBO Max.

For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:

“Succession” Season 3 Premieres This October

Denis Villeneuve Writing Script For “Dune 2” & Zendaya Will Star

An Iconic Batman Returns: Michael Keaton on Picking Up The Cape & Cowl

Chloé Zhao Has Seen “Dune” And Was “Blown Away”

“The Suicide Squad” Production Designer Beth Mickle on Creating Gonzo Sets

Featured image: Carrie-Anne, Moss Laurence Fishburne, and Keanu Reeves standing against brick wall in a scene from the film ‘The Matrix Reloaded’, 2003. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)

An Epic Crossover Awaits as Sony Unveils Their Spider-Man Universe

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It was only last May when Sony Pictures announced that their shared universe of comic book properties would be known as the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, but the acronym SPUMC didn’t quite have the same zing as MCU. But now, having officially jettisoned that name and rebranded with the much smoother Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the studio has signaled that the near future will almost certainly give us the collision between Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Tom Hardy’s Venom folks have been waiting for. And, it puts their most valuable character front-and-center, making it clear that the universe, or should we say the multiverse, revolves around Peter Parker.

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe sure got a big boost when the long-awaited trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home revealed director Jon Watts’ upcoming film, which will find Peter Parker (Tom Holland) enlisting Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)’s help, to disastrous effect. The trailer revealed that when Parker asks Doctor Strange to undo the damage caused by Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhall) in Spider-Man: Far From Home (Mysterio not only revealed Parker’s identity, he framed him for his murder), he ends up conjuring villains from the multiverse. This means that, for the first time ever, Sony’s three Spider-Man franchises will co-exist in the same film. Enter Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin from the very first Spider-Man and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, both starring Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi. Then throw in Jamie Foxx’s Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (starring Garfield), and voila—a single film contains a multiverse of Spider-Man villains and cements Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, simultaneously.

Yet before No Way Home bows on December 17, director Andy Serkis’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters on October 15. The second outing for Tom Hardy’s titular antihero, Let There Be Carnage will feature Woody Harrelson as the lead villain, and looks to be a bit more self-contained than No Way Home, but will still inch us closer to the inevitable crossover between franchises. Then in 2022, Jared Leto stars in director Daniel Espinosa’s Morbius, which premieres on January 28 and will be the third film in the newly minted Spider-Man Universe, with Kraven the Hunter, from director J.C. Chandor and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, is due on January 13, 2023, as the fourth.

Tom Holland’s contract with both Sony and Marvel ends after No Way Home, and one imagines in the new contract, he’ll be moving between Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and the MCU for the foreseeable future. That gives Sony plenty of time to get him in a film with Venom, the two characters being nearly perfect foils for each other, and a chance for Spider-Man and Venom fans to see a matchup that was last attempted in Sam Raimi’s third and final film in the original trilogy, Spider-Man 3 in 2007.

For more upcoming films from Sony Pictures, check out these stories:

Early Reactions to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” Call Jason Reitman’s Film Nostalgia Done Right

First “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Images Reveal Peter Parker’s Multiverse Adventure

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Trailer Reveals Peter Parker’s Strange Trip

Hold Your Breath During This “Don’t Breathe 2” Trailer

A New “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Featurette Reveals Fresh Footage

“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Unleashes Official Trailer

Featured image: Featured image: L-r: Featured image: An image from “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” Courtesy Sony Pictures, Tom Holland is Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Courtesy Sony Pictures.