Best Actor 2017

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Festivals, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

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Denzel Washington is the modern day Cary Grant.  He carries himself with grace and dignity.  He is charming, affable, and is one of the few cinematic icons that is worthy of that title.

Denzel was honored at the 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival, receiving the Maltin Modern Master Award with a two-hour question and answer with Leonard Maltin.  It was incredibly joyous to listen to Denzel speak about everything from SAINT ELSEWHERE to FENCES.

He was very candid, yet gracious when he spoke about himself and his early career.  He frequently lauded the late Bruce Paltrow, producer of SAINT ELSEWHERE, who released him early from his television contract so he could star in A SOLDIER’S STORY and CRY FREEDOM.  He spoke in a very fond and sentimental way about Paltrow, attributing to his generosity that allowed Denzel to become the star he is today.

Denzel spent a lot of time talking about his childhood and how he accidentally found his calling as an actor.  He spoke about how he was continuously told he was a natural on stage and how that led to his ego being inflated. He learned early on that his natural talent as an actor could only get him so far, so he constantly studied and practiced his craft.

He spoke about his relationship with Spike Lee and how no one in Hollywood had employed and birthed more black actors and crew in Hollywood at the time. Denzel’s son now works for Lee as an assistant, and Denzel’s son told his father that Spike truly has earned his name.  He credits Lee with forcing him to become the actor he is today, that no one had pushed him and challenged him as much as Spike did.

Denzel just won best actor at the Screen Actors Guild, and he is poised as the front-runner heading into the Academy Awards at the end of the month.  Executive Director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Roger Durling, called Denzel’s turn in the film the pinnacle of his career.  Durling is correct, Denzel is a marvel in the film, and he knows when to yield the screen to other performers in the film.  His subtlety in the film allowed Viola Davis to outshine Denzel, in his most Denzel performance.
Denzel is one of the few actors left in Hollywood that not only draws the masses to the theatre, but he also is the epitome of a role model. To say that Denzel is one of the greatest actors ever does not do him justice.  He is more than an actor, he’s more than a director; Denzel Washington is an iconic titan.

STAR WARS POWERCAST EPISODE VI: Let’s Discuss Carrie Fisher and CGI Recreation

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast, Star Wars

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Join Frank and Tim as they bring you yet another amazing STAR WARS POWERCAST.  This time, we discuss the passing of Carrie Fisher and how Lucasfilm/Disney should handle the role of Princess Leia in Episode 9.  We also discuss what we think is going to happen, the newly announced title for Episode 8 THE LAST JEDI, and whether or not Disney should CGI reconstruct Carrie Fisher for Epsidoe 9.

DON SIEGEL’S DIRTY HARRY — A MINI REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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Don Siegel wasn’t too concerned with how people responded to his work. He made the kinds of movies he wanted to make, while clearly loving to provoke a visceral response from his audience. There are still a number of efforts I need to see from this filmmaker, but one thing’s for certain – Dirty Harry will always rock the house. I love Bruce Surtees’s stark cinematography in this film, and Lalo Schiffrin’s score is one for the ages. Clint in quite possibly the most iconic role of his legendary career, and it’s no surprise that John Milius did work on this ultra-ass-kicking film. And it’ll always tickle me to no end that Terrence Malick was paid for some writing services on this long-in-development project (more of his ideas would be used in Magnum Force). A critical firestorm at the time of its release, Dirty Harry would become a scandalous box-office smash, forever changing the landscape of the cop film.

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NORMAN JEWISON’S IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT — A MINI REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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In the Heat of the Night is a tremendous film, still incendiary and thought provoking some 50 years later (the film was released theatrically on August 2, 1967). Directed by the underappreciated Norman Jewison, a filmmaker who made social commentary his stock in trade in terms of his cinematic storytelling, the film’s sharp, Oscar-winning screenplay was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from John Ball’s original novel, and centers on a police investigation in Mississippi that involves race relations, murder, corruption, and procedural elements which would come to define the modern television landscape in the years which would follow. And it certainly serves as a genre precursor to more light hearted, tonally-mixed efforts like Busting, Freebie & the Bean, and Lethal Weapon, but In the Heat of the Night is a decidedly more serious affair by a large measure. Sidney Poitier’s landmark performance was a true door-buster, while Rod Steiger’s Oscar-winning work is easily some of his best. Haskell Wexler’s superb cinematography made terrific use of real locations and stark, shadowy light, while future director Hal Ashby won an Oscar for his well-paced and judicious editing. I’ve yet to see the two sequels, They Call Me Mister Tibbs and The Organization, that were released after In the Heat of the Night became a huge success; neither seemed to replicate the original’s box office performance or critical response. In the Heat of the Night is available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Making mashed potatoes with Walken: An Interview with Andrew Bryniarski by Kent Hill

by Kent Hill, posted in Interviews
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You might not know his name, but you’ve certainly seen his movies.

Andrew Bryniarski is a high-octane actor. His explosive and memorable performances stay with you. He is full-tilt, funny and furious. He has worked with an impressive array of Hollywood’s ‘big hitters’ like Tim Burton, Oliver Stone, John McTiernan, Michael Bay and John Singleton. He has starred alongside Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, Raul Julia, Richard Lynch and Scooby Doo. He is beaten the shit out of Superman and made out with his girlfriend. Now if that is not an impressive resume, I don’t know what is.

All I can say is, I have done a number of interviews, but this one was a BLAST! Andy I feel has more great stories in him, only a few of which he was able to share over the couple of conversations we had. I would love this guy to sit down and write a ‘tell-all.’ The things that he has done, the places he has been, his experiences as a guy who was plucked out of obscurity and propelled from there to a Hollywood career that has spanned three decades, and has seen him do everything from sacking quarterbacks to wielding chainsaws, in that old Texas-massacre kinda way. It’s a tome that would be utterly enthralling.

The same enthusiasm that Andy applies to his work is apparent in his personality and his perspective. I get the impression there is no half-way with this man, and though it might seem that he has drifted from one grand adventure to another, there is a relentless dedication beneath the surface bravado that has been the catalyst behind his success.

It is always my intention to transcribe my interviews as, at times, the quality of the recording is not that great. But this is one of those times where you have to hear it from the man himself. No one does Andrew Bryniarski better than Andrew Bryniarski, unless of course it’s Andrew Bryniarski doing Christopher Walken (which I promise you’ll love.)

On that point, Andy sent me a message the day after our initial chat, saying that he had forgotten a line in his anecdote regarding Walken. It reads as follows:

Walken’s father was a baker and during the depression, there was a flour shortage so they used sawdust so they got ‘the rickets.’ By the time Chris Walken came along they had flour, so he was taller than his father. But Andy – he had orange juice.

It doesn’t make sense I know. But take note of the missing line (above here underlined) and listen to the incomparable Andrew Bryniarski tell it in his ‘awesome’ Christopher Walken voice…

Remembering Flight of the Navigator with Randal Kleiser by Kent Hill

by Kent Hill, posted in Interviews
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I was still a boy, and there was no such thing as a multiplex in sight the night I saw Flight of the Navigator.

I remember what was then the Russell Street theatre. A relatively new cinema built as its aged counterpart, The Strand, had slipped into disrepair. I remember the smell of the new carpet mixing with the popcorn, how the place always seemed packed, as two lines of movie-goers had to snake around both sides of the block to line up.

But it was a quiet Friday night when I went with my Mum to see Randal Kleiser’s new movie. From the poster, which was all you had to go on back in those days, it looked like one heck of a ride. Another boy meets an alien movie in the wake of the monumental achievement that was E.T. But let’s not descend into comparisons,  such is the way of the industry. Like Dante’s Explorers, Flight of the Navigator is an ingenious blending of many great elements. It begins as a movie about a family, about two brothers. Then we fall into a time travel story that sees our hero transported eight years into a future where he is presumed to be dead. This is further compounded by the fact that he has not aged a day. Thus the testing begins, a search for the heart of the mystery. The testing reveals the hero’s head is filled alien information and that he had been selected as a specimen to study on a far-flung planet in a distant galaxy. The boy is then taken by NASA scientists to be scrutinized further. This is where the boy meets alien story begins and our hero takes off inside a spacecraft in an adventure, not only to help the alien return home, but to once more, travel back in time and get home himself.

That’s a fairly vague overview I know. But I always take into account that there may yet be someone out there that has not seen the movie. That being the chase, I have no desire to spoil it for them.

After I saw the movie I wanted to write Randal Kleiser a letter, which I did, telling him what a marvelous movie I thought he’d made. I did not know where to send it, so my Dad looked up the address of Walt Disney Pictures and we mailed it together.

I know now Mr. Kleiser never got my letter, because thirty years later I got to call him on the phone and tell him just that – what a marvelous movie I thought and still think Flight of the Navigator is.

I hope you’ll enjoy our interview  you dumb dork! Buttface! Scuz-bucket! Ha-ha!

P.S. –

If you would like further information on the Nina Foch DVD or course please follow this link: http://www.ninafochproject.com/

The Opening Night of the 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Festivals, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival opened last night with the cathartic and uplifting documentary CHARGED: THE EDUARDO GARCIA STORY.  Eduardo was shocked with 2400 volts of electricity that cost him am arm, ribs, and nearly his life.  The film is an inspiring story of resilience, passion, and the eternal flame of the human spirit.

Executive Director of the festival, the ever so dashing Roger Durling, introduced the film in a candid and heartfelt speech.  He spoke about the power of film, how it can not only inspire us, but also save our lives.  Durling then went on to speak about how he is not only an immigrant, but also an American.

He spoke passionately and proudly of how the festival is showcasing films from fifty different countries and how cinema and the arts are so powerful, they can deconstruct walls.

CHARGED is a fascinating film, and marks the second time in the festivals thirty-two years that it has opened with a documentary.  Coming up, Denzel Washington will be receiving the Leonard Maltin Modern Masters Award, celebrating Washington’s career right as he comes off his Screen Actors Guild award for FENCES, poising himself as the front runner in the Best Actor race.

There is much, much more to be excited about at this years festival.  Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone will be awarded Friday.  In total, sixteen actors who have been nominated this year for an Academy Award will be hosted.  Stay tuned for our SBIFF podcast that will feature red carpet interviews!

ROB BOWMAN’S REIGN OF FIRE — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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I’m picky when it comes to fantasy movies. Very picky. I’m not a fan of LOTR or any of its seemingly endless derivatives. But while not perfect, I’ve always had a HUGE soft spot for Rob Bowman’s Reign of Fire, which sports a genre-popping screenplay by Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka, and Matthew Greenberg that had some fun with a wild premise. Extremely enjoyable on a blunt-force level, I still wish it had been rated-R, and it definitely needed more tanks, helicopters, and few more scenes with multiple dragons tearing shit up, as those AMAZING one-sheets had promised. However, what was delivered was still a total blast of fabulous looking B-movie fun, and the numerous, high-grade action scenes have an in-camera integrity and an honest sense of weight to them. The CGI dragons were definitely some of the best that I’ve seen in any movie – why do older special effects look so much better than a lot of the stuff that we’ve seen on screen in the last couple of years?

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There’s tons of yelling, grunting, and sweating with macho behavior galore from an almost impossibly beefy cast. You got Christian Bale pre-Batman, Matthew McConaughey before his McConaissance, ex-Bond girl Izabella Scorupco looking way hot, and Gerard Butler rather effectively playing third fiddle. The production value on this movie was just massive, and I loved the desolate, post-apocalyptic wasteland production design by Wolf Kroeger (Casualties of War, The 13th Warrior) and the bleached and scorched cinematography by the great Adrian Biddle, who shot Thelma & Louise and 1492: Conquest of Paradise for Ridley Scott, among many other fabulous credits. Bowman, a veteran of television’s The X-Files and helmer of the theatrical spin-off The X-Files: Fight the Future, really used the widescreen space with authority in this movie; there’s an aesthetic muscularity to the entire film that I’ve always noticed on many repeat viewings. This is a very solid, unpretentious B-movie made with a slick visual panache that might’ve been better had it gone even more berserk with the larger battle scenes. But back in 2002, this movie must’ve cost a mint.

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The Year was 2016, and Warner Brothers Dared to Be Different.

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Editorial, Film Review

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With recent news of Ben Affleck’s directorial departure from the tentatively titled, THE BATMAN, the state of the DC cinematic universe is a bit uncertain, personally, I have full faith in Snyder and company because I think a lot remains to be seen.  One thing is for certain; the rabid echo chamber is loud as ever.  There are a lot of people who HATE the DC films.  Hate them with a fiery passion.  Hated them before they came out, and once the films came out, they acted as if someone set their Facebook page on fire.

In 2016, Warner Brothers took a huge gamble.  They set out to make films for adults, in their own way.  Sure, they had a lot of catching up to do in regards to the near flawless template that Marvel created, but Warner Brothers made a clear decision; they were making films by adults for adults.  Batman was a blood lusting killer.  Harley Quinn was the epitome of over-sexualization.  Jared Leto took the Joker to an almost unrecognizable level.  Jesse Eisenberg played the anti Lex Luthor.  Both films were so anti-PC, it was a cinematic revelation.

Perhaps there is some trouble at DC, but then again, maybe there isn’t.  The internet has birthed an overpopulated mass of film websites (PTS included) that are a constant trove of clickbait headlines (PTS NOT included).  It seems as if every day for the past year, the state of the DC universe was on the verge of collapsing.  The second JUSTICE LEAGUE film was canceled.  SUICIDE SQUAD 2 isn’t happening.  Early word is WONDER WOMAN is as big of a “mess” as the previous two films.  If there’s one thing I can tell you that I know for certain, no one really knows what’s going on other than the executives at WB/DC.

Here’s the bottom line.  BvS and especially SUICIDE SQUAD made a ton of money.  Sure, BvS underperformed a bit, but it still made a lot of money.  And both films made A LOT more money than the second and third installments of Marvel’s cinematic universe.  Worldwide, SUICIDE SQUAD made 746.6 million dollars, and that was WITHOUT opening in China, which is the biggest market next to America.  SUICIDE SQUAD was a flat-out hit, and Warner Brothers were so happy with it, they signed Margot Robbie to an exclusive deal, which includes the pseudo follow up Harley Quinn film directed by David Ayer.  Will Smith is getting his own Deadshot film, there will be an official sequel to SUICIDE SQUAD at some point, and the FLASH and AQUAMAN films are in the pipeline.

DC Films does not want to be Marvel Studios.  They want to be better, and they still can be.  They have the two most valuable superhero properties; Batman and Superman.  There could be any number of reasons why Ben Affleck decided not to direct THE BATMAN.  It could be the underperformance of LIVE BY NIGHT, it could be that he doesn’t feel comfortable directing a CGI-heavy film, or it could be something completely plausible that will surely be silenced by whatever website decides the real reason is.  Basically, it does not matter.  Ben Affleck is still the Batman, and he still developed the script and is still producing the picture.  If I had to venture a guess as to what’s going on with Affleck is that he’s struggling with whether he wants to be a movie star or an auteur, because realistically, he cannot be both.

 

 

 

A chat with filmmaker Jack Perez: An interview by Nate Hill

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

 

Excited to bring you my latest interview, with filmmaker Jack Perez. Jack is responsible for one of the coolest, most unique indie films of the 1990’s, La Cucaracha. Starring genre icons Eric Roberts and Joaquim De Almeida and featuring an early career turn from Michael Pena, it’s a film like no other, a severely underrated south of the border morality play with shades of everything from Peckinpah to Walter Hill, a style all its own and a script that is genuinely one of a kind. The film has just been remastered for streaming release on Amazon prime, and I have included a link to the new trailer here, it’s  not a film to be missed. Enjoy! 

Nate: What led you to filmmaking? Was it something you always knew you wanted to do, or did you fall into it?
Jack: I got into it very young, one of those Super 8 kids who borrowed the family camera and drafted my sister into doing homemade monster movies. My father was a movie nut, and our primary mode of communication was watching old films together, so that’s what started it.  
Nate: Who are some filmmakers that you would say influenced your work, or you are a huge fan of and have looked up to?
Jack: Peckinpah definitely, probably above all others. His work was personal and mythical and expressionistic and truthful. And totally alive! Scorsese, of course – his mastery of the medium also melded with a powerful personal vision. Robert Aldrich, who did such a great range of work: VERA CRUZ and THE DIRTY DOZEN and KISS ME DEADLY. Altman and Polanski. Hitchcock and Hawks. Wyler and Wilder. Again, my father is the one who first introduced me to the classics, so by the time I went to film school I was pretty well saturated and ready to look at European cinema and cool experimental work (like Maya Deren!).
Nate: If you could have the rights to any novel/graphic novel series to undertake as your dream project, what would it be?

Jack: I don’t know if it could be done, or even should be done (probably not), but Dan Clowe’s LIKE A VELVET GLOVE CAST IN IRON. Overwhelmingly striking.
Nate: La Cucaracha: How did the idea come about, and did the end result look anything like what you first started out with on paper?
Jack: My writing partner, Jim McManus, and I were very much into Peckinpah at the time, and the whole idea of gringos getting into trouble south of border was very much on our minds. BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA was a huge influence, but we were also enamored with THE WAGES OF FEAR and TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE and RIDE THE PINK HORSE. The south-of-the-border noir is kind of a mini-genre unto itself and we wanted to use that as a backdrop for a new kind of story. Something more character-driven and personal. Actually, Jim’s original concept – the one that set the whole thing in motion – was that the Walter Poole character would literally roll into town in his wheelchair at the climax, guns blazing ala Rooster Cogburn, and go down in a hail of bullets. An nifty idea. Of course, by the time we actually got to the end of the screenplay that ultimately resulted, that kind of hyperbolic nihilistic ending didn’t fit anymore.  Also I had intended to shoot it on location in Mexico and use the actual landscape and real people as part of the film’s fabric. But budgetary considerations brought us to the backlot of Universal, and the result was a Mexico much more mythical than intended (which I have to say, I kind of preferred in the end because it allowed for a more expressionistic look overall).
Nate: Working with Eric Roberts: you can honestly claim that you have directed him in what is, for me at least, in the top three greatest performances he’s ever given. How was the working relationship? What is he like? Do you guys keep in contact?
Jack: It was great working with Eric, and we’ve remained close over the years – him and his wife, Eliza. Eric works a lot, but I think he came to see LA CUCARACHA as an opportunity to really create a character, and show dimensions and vulnerabilities that he sometimes doesn’t get a chance to play. He knew I was deadly serious about making this picture the best it could be and, to his credit, attacked the role accordingly. He was a joy and a lot of fun to hang out with. Great sense of humor and loves animals (as I do).
Nate: Working with Joaquim De Almeida: a criminally underrated actor who rarely gets to show his true range and versatility. How was it working with him, especially in his intense and emotional scene near the end of the film? You can also claim to have seen probably the best and most truthful work he has ever done. 
Jack: I totally agree. A great actor – like Eric – sometimes limited to roles that don’t show what he’s truly capable of. Here, he went for it as well. In fact on the day we shot the Sunday Schoolroom scene, where he tests Walter’s character and actually steps on his head – he had a huge, complex 2-page monologue that, when he finished – the crew literally jumped to its feet and broke out in applause. Ive never seen that happen on any set. He was also a real gentleman, bright, warm and thoughtful. And unafraid. The scene at the end that you mentioned required him to be emotionally naked, and he went there.
Nate: How did the remastered version of La Cucaracha come about? To be honest it’s nice to see it now widely available, I searched for it for nearly five years before finally finding a second hand DVD, being blown away and wondering why it wasn’t on every shelf of every store out there.. Did Amazon approach you for this?
Jack: I pushed for it. I too was bummed it was sorta out of circulation. Certainly not in HD or in the proper aspect ratio (the DVD release cropped the the original 1.85 image). So I approached Renascent Films, who had acquired the streaming rights, and asked if they would pursue it. Thankfully they agreed and I set about tracking down the 35mm negative, which was no longer in the original lab and wound up – through a corporate buyout – in the vaults of Technicolor. We did the telecine there and I’m happy with the results and genuinely excited it’s out there on Amazon Prime.
Nate: What’s life like for you these days? Any upcoming projects, film or otherwise, that you are excited for and would like to speak about?
Jack: I’m always going after the next project. The more personal the better. Though to make ends meet or just for the quick junkie filmmaking fix, I’ll do a TV project or a genre pic for hire. But the real joy is doing work that is personally necessary, ideally in an environment where not too many people fuck with you. That limits you to the world of independent financing. Anyway, we’re close to raising the bucks for a female-driven action-thriller I wrote called SHOTGUN WEDDING. I’ve wanted to do it for years and am I’m psyched for that!
Nate: Thank you so much for you r time, Jack, it’s been an honour and I’m very much looking forward to seeing La Cucaracha once again remastered!