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“It Was a Deeply Loving Set. Very Intimate. Very Small. Lots of Women”: Janet Planet Star Julianne Nicholson, Back To One, Episode 297
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There are few actors more well respected than the preternaturally gifted Julianne Nicholson. Recent notable credits include August: Osage County, Dream Scenario, Mare of Easttown (which won her an Emmy award), and, her latest, playwright Annie Baker’s first film, Janet Planet. In this episode, she talks in-depth about playing Janet in that remarkable film, her elusive preparation process, getting the environment to settle into her body, actually learning how to do acupuncture, why she lets her instinct lead the way, and much more. Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. And if you're enjoying what you are hearing, please subscribe and rate us! Follow Back To One on Instagram.
“This Industry is Crumbling Like a Nature Valley Bar”: Dan Licata on For the Boys
Dan Licata in For the Boys
Dan Licata has come a long way since high school, where he shattered both of his legs by jumping off the roof of a Buffalo church. A ferociously funny comedian, he has written for Saturday Night Live and Joe Pera Talks with You and recently performed stand-up on Late Night with Seth Meyers. His chaotically brilliant new stand-up special For the Boys (available on YouTube) was shot at his high school alma mater in front of a crowd of 15-year-old boys, the perfect audience for his arrested pubescent persona—a blustery Jackass-fueled manchild who desperately wants to connect with the youth but whose cultural references are woefully out of date (he gifts one sullen teen a DVD of Jarhead). It is a… Read more
“It Is Like a Palette Cleanser, In a Way…”: Yorgos Lanthimos on Following Poor Things with the Sardonic Portmanteau Film, Kinds of Kindness
Kinds of Kindness
The organizing principles of portmanteau films are often quite simplistic. A group of directors tackling a particular genre, for example, or films united by geography. An example of the latter is the straightforwardly-titled New York Stories, of which only Martin Scorsese's "Life Lessons" is remembered much these days. Jim Jarmusch has made a few united around theme and setting — Coffee and Cigarettes, where famous actors sit down over a brew and a smoke; Night on Earth, where famous actors take cab rides in production-friendly cities around the world; and Mystery Train, where the stories are linked by a setting (a hotel) within a city (Memphis). The common denominator in such films is usually some form of co-production, or the… Read more
Holding the Chicken: DP Rob Hardy on Civil War
Civil War
In Civil War, the United States has splintered into four clashing factions, but if you’re expecting a treatise on the country’s ideological divide from British writer-director Alex Garland, this is not that movie. America’s dysfunction is secondary to examining the toll on the journalists covering the conflict. The story follows a quartet of correspondents (including jaded photographer Kirsten Dunst and green Cailee Spaeny) as they travel to the war’s front in Washington D.C. in hopes of landing an interview with the embattled president (Nick Offerman). Cinematographer Rob Hardy, who’s lensed all of Garland’s projects since the novelist/screenwriter turned to the director’s chair, spoke to Filmmaker about shooting A24’s most expensive film to date. Filmmaker: Tell me about the logistics of making Civil War.… Read more
Cine Gear Expo 2024: 17 Cameras, LED (and Traditional) Lights, Lenses and Remote Camera Controls We Loved
Every start of summer, the Cine Gear Expo comes to Los Angeles. Initially held on the Paramount lot, the Expo had a short stint at the LA Convention Center for two pandemic years before landing this yearat the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. The movie lot aspect assists greatly with vibes: While its chief competitor, NAB Show—held a few months earlier in the Las Vegas Convention Center—feels like a traditional trade show, at Cine Gear you can peruse the latest lenses as the iconic Animaniacs water tower looms in the distance, just visible behind a camera crane which swings around high above you in demonstration. With the chatter so gear-centric, it’s nice to have visual reminders of what these products… Read more
“Polaroids Were Certainly a Key Touchstone Into This World”: Osgood Perkins on Longlegs
Longlegs
It’s somewhat apt to say that Osgood Perkins owes much of his cinematic success to Satan. His 2015 debut as a writer-director, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, explores the sinister presence of the occult at a Catholic boarding school in Upstate New York. He leaned into a gothic ghost story for his 2016 follow-up, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, eschewing devil worship for a clear nod to novelist Shirley Jackson. Longlegs, his third effort as sole writer and director, veers staunchly back toward Satanism, this time revolving around a series of murders committed by the eponymous killer. Notably, The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Longlegs both share a chilling scene where a character declares, “Hail Satan!” After they invoke the… Read more
“That’s What’s Thrilling about Acting—Recreating Private Moments”: John Early, Back To One, Episode 296
John Early is an actor, comedian, writer, and wearer of many hats. His latest as a comedian and writer is the HBO special Now More Than Ever. His latest as an actor is the independent film Stress Positions. On this episode he talks about how these two projects came about, the differences between the John Early character and himself, the pleasure of working on the series Search Party, why he relishes straight-up acting, the comedy breakthrough he made in his new special, and much more. Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. And if you're enjoying what you are hearing, please subscribe and rate us! Follow Back To One on… Read more
