Yes, it’s a promotional featurette produced by The Weinstein Company, but this video of the great costume designer Sandy Powell talking about designing Carol is illuminating. Powell discusses conceiving clothing for both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara while keeping in mind what their sartorial choices illuminate about their characters. Also, her comment about costuming for the period — that the “look” of a decade doesn’t really kick in until halfway through as people are stuck in the fashions of the previous decade — is spot on.
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 10, 2016Here’s the last group of titles to be added to SXSW’s slate. All the midnight features are here, as well as are new titles for the other slates, including the much-expanded “Festival Favorites” section. FEATURES MIDNIGHTERS Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious. Carnage Park Director/Screenwriter: Mickey Keating The year is 1978. A team of wannabe crooks botch a small-town bank heist and flee with their hostage deep into the California desert, where they find themselves in a harrowing fight for survival against a psychotic ex-military sniper. Cast: Ashley […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 9, 2016“How’s the high life?” Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) is asked. “Prone to fits of narcissism, mania and power failure,” he replies. This new UK trailer for Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise establishes the woozily dystopic tone. (No, Portishead’s much-discussed cover of ABBA’s “SOS” isn’t in it.) “High-Rise begins at the end, with Tom Middleston amidst ruin and bloodstains, roasting the leg of a dog on a spit, so when his character Dr. Robert Laing first moves into the building, we already know where things are headed,” Whitney Mallett wrote from last year’s TIFF. “Sex, violence, and retro-modernism are everywhere, even […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 9, 2016In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? As the screenwriter as well as director of Sophie and the Rising Run, I didn’t believe there […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 5, 2016Kevin B. Lee has been considering the candidates in the major Oscar categories. In this video essay, he breaks down the styles of the five candidates (The Hateful Eight, Sicario, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Carol). The sound’s off as Lee narrates, but he also recommends watching the video silently to focus more on the cinematography. Pressed for time? You can read his essay here.
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2016Is Andrei Tarkovsky a dominant influence for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant? Misha Petrick makes the case in this split-screen video, with The Revenant on the left and a broad swath of Tarkovsky’s films for comparison on the right.
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2016There will be late additions, but the bulk of this year’s SXSW feature film slate has been unveiled. From the festival, here’s the rundown section by section. Obvious highlights: world premieres of Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some and Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, Joel Potrykus’ follow-up to Buzzard, and a documentary about the making of Smokey and the Bandit from Jesse Moss (The Overnighters). NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION Ten world premieres; ten unique ways to celebrate the art of storytelling. Selected from 1,443 narrative feature submissions in 2016. The Arbalest Director/Screenwriter: Adam Pinney The inventor of the world’s greatest toy reflects on his decade-long obsession with a woman […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2016In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? For me, starting with a story, I like there to be a strong theme or idea at […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2016In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? For me Goat is a narrative investigation of masculinity. This isn’t a secret, but it certainly is an […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2016In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? My “hidden” motivation. You could say that I’ve tried to make a political film, hidden within a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2016