With new crime thriller The Mason Brothers opening in the U.S. this week Dave Griffiths sat down and chatted to the film’s director Keith Sutliff. Keith chats to us about how difficult it is to act in a movie you are directing and chats about how much he loves heist movies.
You can listen to or download our Keith Sutliff interview right here.
Mel Gibson’s brand new film Hacksaw Ridge is in cinemas this Thursday and Buzz’s Dave Griffiths chats to two of the stars of the film. Dave chats to Firass Dirani and Ben Mingay about what it was like working on a film that many are describing as one of the films of the year.
You can listen to or download our Hacksaw Ridge interviews right here.
We are stoked to premiere the killer new film clip ‘Signals’ from Sunshine Coast’s Fragile Animals!
‘Signals’ is the debut single from the band and we are really digging it. This is the perfect Indie-Rock jam for summertime!
The single will be released tomorrow via iTunes (just in time for Valentines Day!)
Catch them live in Brissy this weekend at Ric’s Bar with Lumens.
Keep an eye on these guys as they will be releasing their debut EP later in 2017!
Nine years after directing the well-received The Great Debators legendary actor Denzel Washington decided to once again sit in the director’s chair to bring award-winning theatre production Fences to the big screen. The result was a film that received a Best Picture Academy Award nomination. It also saw Washington nominated for Best Leading Actor while it picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Viola Davis who plays Washington’s embattled wife in the film.
For Washington this was a passion project and it obvious listening to him talk about the film that he fell in love with this story way back in 2010 when he appeared in the play the film is based on on Broadway. He begins by recounting what it was like to meet with the play’s author – the late August Wilson – for the first time. “I spent a lovely day with him. I flew up to Seattle. It rained all day and he just smoked cigarette after cigarette and he was writing… I don’t know who set it up… but he was writing Gem Of The Ocean and it might have been my agent who suggested that I go up there, but I went up to see him and we just talked all day. He talked about how he writes plays, how he locks the doors, shuts the windows and he basically writes what the characters tell him to write so I guess he was telling me ‘I’m not just writing for you I’m writing what I’m compelled to write’ which was just fine with me. I just remember that day was a lovely day.”
Not many actors get to reprise their role from a theatre production up on the big screen and Washington is only too happy to talk about what the differences were playing Troy on the stage to what it was like bringing the character to film. “I think it only helped that I was able to, I couldn’t imagine trying to do this having not done it on stage first. There was no time to try and figure out who Troy was when we were shooting the movie so to number one know the character and to know that we did a production that worked, you know we got the response from the audience and the accolades and that kind of stuff, so I knew it worked but that also added more pressure because it was like ‘don’t screw it up now.’ But I just knew I had to get the camera in front of the actors and just let them do what they had been doing all along.”
So what did he focus on capturing as director? “The truth!” he exclaims. “The truth. That was it – period. The camera is always going to capture what you are doing so if you are lying and you’re not supposed to be then it is going to catch you doing that. The universal stems from the specific, so everything down to the last button. If it says 2.30 on the clock on the wall then it should say 2.30 on the watch – whether you see it or not.”
As we saw on Oscar night it was the stars around Washington in the cast that also made Fences such an enjoyable film and Washington is not only full of praise for all of them but tells us what it was like to direct them. “You never want to crush an actor,” he explains. “I’ve been on the other side where a director has been like ‘well I think he would do this’ and I’m always like ‘well why don’t you get up here and do it then if that’s what you think?’ There are all kinds of truth, just because I’m the director that doesn’t mean that I know THE truth, I’m there to discover just like everybody else. You know what they say – eighty percent of it is about casting, so get the best and let them do what they do then just see what happens. With Jovan Adepo (who plays Washington’s son) I remember him coming in and I wasn’t hard on the young actors but I wanted to push them around to really see if they could handle it because Jovan and Saniyya Sidney (who plays Washington’s daughter) they had to catch up to the rest of us, especially Jovan, and he was just head-and-shoulder above the rest. He just had this naturalness and honesty in him. He was actually up for a role with Antoine Fuqua (who directed Washington in Training Day) and he said he was the best kid going around and I said ‘well why aren’t you hiring him?’ and he said ‘well I want somebody edgy in my film’ but he was the best actor who had come in and read. Needless to say that gave him a leg up on everybody else.”
While Denzel Washington himself didn’t walk away with an Academy Award for Fences it is a film that is a highlight amongst his acting career, it is a film that reminds audiences that he is also a fine director in his own right as well.
Fences is in cinemas right now.
With brand new Aussie horror film The Marshes premiering at the One Night Of Horror Film Festival in Sydney Dave G decided to sit down and have a chat with director Roger Scott. Roger chats to us about how the idea for The Marshes came into being and how difficult it was to film in marshland.
You can listen to or download our The Marshes interview right here.
Sony Pictures Entertainment have just released the T2: Trainspotting teaser trailer. The film is directed by Danny Boyle and has been adapted from the Irvine Welsh novel, Porno, by John Hodge.
The film also sees the return of key cast members Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner and will be released in Australia during Febuary, 2017.
You can view the T2: Trainspotting trailer below:
Fresh from sell-out screenings at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal and the Melbourne International Film Festival, Irish director Billy O’Brien’s South by Southwest (SXSW) smash hit I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER – based on Dan Wells’ best-selling YA (Young Adult) novel – will now enjoy a limited theatrical release in Australia this spring, with seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane beginning on September 29th, preceded by special event screenings the week prior.
The dark coming-of-age thriller stars Max Records (WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE) as John Wayne Cleaver, a teenager who works in the family funeral home – maybe not the best job for a diagnosed sociopath, but one that becomes an unexpected lifeline when a serial killer begins stalking his wintry mid western town and he must tap his own dark instincts to stop the killer before he strikes again.
Co-starring Christopher Lloyd of BACK TO THE FUTURE fame and Laura Fraser of BREAKING BAD, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER combines stunning performances with a breathtaking visual style, ultra cool indie rock soundtrack and a surprise ending that even devotees of the novel won’t see coming to create one of the coolest, offbeat genre flicks in years – think DEXTER meets DONNIE DARKO and you’re heading in the right direction!
Monster Pictures will be launching its Melbourne and Brisbane seasons with special event screenings, featuring Skype Q+As with director Billy O’Brien and selected members of the cast and crew followed by themed after parties, featuring the ‘Cleaver Family Daiquiri of Death’ a specially concocted pink daiquiri emulating embalmers fluid – a post movie cocktail to die for!
More details on associated promotional activities, including event screenings and an Young Adult short fiction writing contest judged by Dan Wells himself will be posted on www.monsterfest.com.au and associated social media over the coming weeks.
I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER EVENT SCREENING DATES:
New Farm Cinemas, Brisbane:
Event Screening – Thursday September 22, 2016
Tickets: http://newfarmcinemas.com.au/
Lido Cinemas, Melbourne:
Event Screening – Friday September 23, 2016
Tickets: https://www.lidocinemas.com.au/Movie/I-am-Not-A-Serial-Killer
I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER OPENS NATIONALLY ON SEP 29 AT THE FOLLOWING VENUES:
New Farm Cinemas, Brisbane:
Tickets: http://newfarmcinemas.com.au/
Cameo Cinema, Melbourne:
Tickets: https://www.cameocinemas.com.au/Movie/I-am-Not-A-Serial-Killer
Lido Cinemas, Melbourne:
Tickets: https://www.lidocinemas.com.au/Movie/I-am-Not-A-Serial-Killer
Dendy Newtown, Sydney:
Tickets: https://m.dendy.com.au/Movie.aspx?mi=99424665-59e5-40a6-931f-d1acb303a6f0&cinemaId=be0937ef-9ecd-46e0-8824-c3e646d2fdc7
The hilarous new Australian comedy That’s Not My Dog is in cinemas this weekend and Dave Griffiths sat down and had a chat with the director Dean Murphy to find out how the idea came about for the film and how it was put together.
You can listen to our Dean Murphy interview right here.
Listen to “That’s Not My Dog – Dean Murphy Interview” on Spreaker.
Summary: Falling in love is easy, getting out of it is hard. Our hero, Josh finds himself ‘LoveStuck’ between his best friend, his ex-girlfriend and the new girl he is about to move in with. As a lowly clerk working with the public service in Canberra, Josh is used to procrastination, but his fear of con*ict and knack for stretching the truth gets him into trouble with the women that he loves.
Year: 2017
Australian Cinema Release Date: 24th August 2017
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: Australia
Director: Murray Fahey
Screenwriter: N/A
Cast: Rik Brown (Josh), Fenella Edwards (Horatio), Murray Fahey (Polonius), Cathy Hagarty (Cath), Malcolm Irvin (Rosencraztz), Ali Little (Barnardo), Jenny Lovell (Gertude), Heady Manders (Voltemand), Gabby Millgate (Bag Lady Ophelia), Glen Morrison (Laertes), Robert Morrison (Guilderstein), Rama Nicolas (Kate), Emma Reid (Hecuba), Patti Stiles (Trish), Geoff Wallace (Claudius)
Runtime: 73 mins
Classification: TBC
Dave Griffiths:
The Australian film industry has been throwing up some extremely experimental films over the past few years – from one-shot action films through to filmed theatre productions. Well now comes Lovestuck – a completely improvised film from director Murray Fahey (Cubbyhouse, Dags). Not only does the film toss up a story that keeps you guessing but also gives you a look behind the scenes of what goes into making an improvised film at the same time.
The film centres around Josh (Rik Brown – Utopia, Dinner For Three) a man who is struggling with his feelings with three woman – his ex Kate (Rama Nicolas – Little Solider, The Mutant Way), his current girlfriend Cath (Cathy Hagarty – newcomer) and his best friend Trish (Patti Stiles – Neighbours, Stingers). On one disastrous day he meets with Kate to hand back some of her things – which then sets him on a journey to find a pen that she once gave him – while meanwhile Cath and Tess meet for the first time. The result is him having to make a decision about the three woman if he has any chance of moving on at all.
The danger of doing an experimental film like Lovestuck is that sometimes the experiment itself can get in the way of the story or can distract the audience from getting immersed in the film. Strangely, given that the film also shows the audience what is happening behind the scenes at times, neither happens here. The actors at hand – especially Rik Brown – are so good at the improvisation that you forget that you are watching a film that never technically had a script. The scenes flow together well and while there are some scenes that perhaps didn’t need to be there, most of the scenes featuring the main four characters tie in together well and do raise the suspense of who Josh will choose at the end… something that director Murray Fahey let Rik Brown decide as part of the improvisation.
The improvisation of the film does allow for the tone of the film to switch at times which gives Lovestuck a really unique feel. From comedic moments when Josh runs into Cath outside a massage parlour and tries to explain that he didn’t get one of ‘those’ massages right through to more dramatic scenes like Cath and Trish meeting for the first time this is a film that at one moment feels like an episode of Seinfeld one moment and the latest romance drama the next. Even the Hamlet Hip-Hop scene which had the potential of feeling out of place in the film works well because as an audience member you find yourself sitting there thinking ‘do they have the pen or not?’
The key to this film working though was the cast and to Fahey and his casting assistant’s credit they get this 100% right. Rik Brown carries the film throughout and with the tone changes that is no easy feat. From moments of complete awkwardness right through to almost slapstick comedy he delivers each time while Nicolas, Hagarty and Stiles also amazing throughout the film. Not once does there seem to be a moment where they hesitate when they think of what to say next and to be able to deliver improv lines so naturally means they deserve high credit… it is no easy feat.
Lovestuck just shows what you can create when you get together a creative team of people. While an improvised movie sounds like it shouldn’t work this one does to the point where you really do care which decision Josh makes. Worth checking out if you like your cinema a little left of centre.
They shot part of the new action thriller Atomic Blonde in Germany, no doubt filming in some of the same locations that were there during the Cold War. Some money and effort has gone towards featuring retro technology of the time, the actors wear clothes that are suitably stylish for today’s tastes but impossibly evocative of the late 80s, the film’s lighting shows the colours of heroin chic and the soundtrack boasts the songs that were on the radio at the time.
However Atomic Blonde looks like it is set in the 1980s rather than being evocative of the 1980s in the same way that it is like a good spy thriller but it isn’t one. It is all style and no substance but my oh my-what style! A spy film that honours all the tropes, with agents who keep the local bottle-os afloat with their penchant for one particular spirit that always has its logo facing camera, debriefs with staid imperious bureaucrats, and double heck even triple or quadruple crosses. Because why the hell would a double cross be enough?
Ultimately the film is elevated by one Charlize Theron who is at the height of her powers at the moment. Playing Lorraine Broughton of British Intelligence she is sent to Berlin during the dying days of the Cold War following the murder of a Western spy in the city. Her contact in country is David Percivall (James McAvoy) who immediately strikes her as untrustworthy and definitely operating outside of regulations. She also attracts the attention of French agent Delphine Lasalle (Sophia Boutella) and Stasi officer Aleksander Bremovych (Roland Moller) as she attempts to retrieve important information that maybe only Eddie Marsan’s character Spyglass knows enough about. The plot is no Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Broughton’s plight is also all about mood and looks. She’s on a mission to unearth a killer and retrieve something but it quickly matters little.
That’s not to say that all the meandering is meaningless, the cast takes the film seriously enthusing their roles with personalities and contradictions. Theron who trained for months before shooting is at the forefront of some sensational fight scenes, I don’t care what cheating techniques were used if any, this is a physical role and Theron is one of the most physically adept actresses working today. She cuts a powerful figure but not without limitations and vulnerabilities. When the fighting begins we’re with her all the way feeling every hit that forces her to the ground and delighting in every killer move that hand her triumph until the next opponent.
The fact that Theron can give us this as a physical performer and then also speak volumes with a gaze at a dead body is an embarrassment of riches. See if there’s a role for her in a Tinker, Tailor sequel. The rest of the cast is all as good as their reputations would lead you to expect, Jones in particular plays his listening superior Eric Gray as the least poker faced and is all the more effective because of it. Boutella has the right amount of naivety and fire and McAvoy called upon to be many things might have the hardest time but remains committed throughout. It might have been nicer to have him play off Theron more with an emotional connection of questionable authenticity.
Directed by one half of the team that brought you the original John Wick, former stuntman David Leitch has made an action film with flair, long tracking shots that travel through whole buildings following melees that involve meticulous fight choreography that make you feel the blows. Working off a limited budget the film looks very sleek with some great lighting and attention paid to replicating that time period.
This is a lively film that never bores owing perhaps its heightened look and sensibilities to its comic book origins but it is hard to lock onto caring much about the characters who remain mysterious and aloof for the most part. That at times can mean what is happening onscreen is not of much interest until the next fight scene starts. Yet it is fun and it is one more thing too, it is further proof that Charlize Theron is one of the great movie stars of today.