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Source Code: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:00:35 +0000

Visionary director Duncan Jones is back with Source Code a film that maintains the intellect and sophistication of his first work Moon, but this time with whole lot more punch. His latest film somehow manages to appeal to mainstream audiences with pace, action and effects, without losing the details, story and character development that we loved in Moon. Truly it’s the best of both. A number of directors fumble on their second films after having their first film have such an impact. Many people questioned Jones but any doubts that you might have are blown away by the time you’re finished with the opening sequence of Source Code.

Watch out JJ and Nolan, you’ve got some serious competition in town that’s ready to take you on…

The Players:

Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
Original Music by: Chris Bacon
Cinematography by: Don Burgess

The Plot:

I don’t want to tell you. It’s a sci-fi film about two people on a train — that’s really all you need to know.

The Good:

The Pacing: The film begins with a jolt and keeps moving until the credits roll. There was absolutely no time to think about whether or not this film lagged because you’re so involved as to what will happen next. There’s hardly even time for popcorn in this bad-boy!
The Acting: If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that Duncan Jones’ asks a lot of his actors and when cast right he gets a lot out of them. It’s hard to single out any actor because all of them played their roles so well. Some had to cover their emotions, others were more over the top, all of them had a serious set of challenges in front of them and it was nice to see them all put to the test, succeed and give us a real show .
The Twists: I pride myself on predicting the ending of films and I even thought I had this one pegged and then it threw me and I couldn’t have been more pleased. Perhaps it was because I was so engaged in the story or maybe it was because they made great choices — any way you cut it, great twists always come down to great writing and it’s obvious that this film had a great screenplay to set up the rest of the film for success.
Similar to Moon But Different: I can’t get too in-depth on this without giving too much away and I would hate to ruin such a great experience for you, but there are a number of interesting similarities to Moon (which I will write about on a later date when people have had the chance to see the film) that were nice to see back on screen. There wasn’t enough repetition for anyone to feel like Jones was repeating himself, but enough to draw parallels to themes and characters that he obviously enjoys dissecting. Which leads me to…
Why That’s Good: Not enough people saw Moon, so hopefully after they see this film and know that it has some strong, enjoyable parallels it will finally receive the wide audience it always deserved.

The Bad:

Zip, zero. Go see it!

Overall:

Go see this film. You should have seen Moon - if you didn’t, it’s time to experience the brilliance of Duncan Jones; if you did you will not be disappointed with his second film. This is a bigger, more mainstream Duncan Jones film, but it somehow manages to maintain the intellect and sophistication of his first work. It’s not quite as raw (which is something I love) BUT it’s much more accessible without being dumbed down. It’s without a doubt the best sci-fi, action thriller you’ll see this year – very few directors are able to make such a big film and still remember the small details that make film worth loving. Don’t miss it!

Rating: 9.25/10

Source Code played opening night of SXSW March 11th and will be in theaters April 1st!

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

I’m not putting the trailer into this review because there are too many spoilers. If you really need more convincing you can watch the trailer here.

ScreenCrave’s Top 15 Films of 2009

Mali Elfman — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:00:53 +0000

Everyone always complains that there are not enough good movies out there. I always hear, “This year has been especially bad.” If you’re saying that, you’re not opening your eyes, from big blockbusters, to horror films, animations, and independent films, there have been plenty of quality films released this year. Yes there were also the Wolverine‘s and All About Steve‘s trying to to pull you down, but don’t say you weren’t warned!

As I was creating my list, there were so many great films this year that I had to expand my Top 10 to a Top 15 with 15 more honorable mentions. Without further ago here they are…

15. District 9

The cheapest and best blockbuster made this year, with the help of Peter Jackson, Neill Blomkamp and Sharlto Copley surprised everyone with this creative, action packed film that was the perfect mix of brains and brons, and special effects and story.

Interviews: Neill Blomkamp Part 1 and Part 2 | Sharlto Copley Video Interview | Comic-Con: Peter Jackson, Blomkamp, Copley

Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley
Writer: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

14. The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow proves that women can do an action/war film better than any man. Jeremy Renner excels as the lead character in the film and from the locations to the script it succeeds in every way. Definitely one of the most powerful and bad-ass films of the year.

Interviews: Jeremy Renner | Kathryn Bigelow

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty, with special appearances by Guy Pearce, Ralph Feinnes, David Morse, and Evangeline Lilly
Writer: Mark Boal

13. Fantastic Mr. Fox

Aside from the fact that this is probably the most perfect role for George Clooney, Wes Anderson (and others) took an old school style and revived it in this amazing film. Not only is it fun to watch, but it’s also fun to look at from the rich texture to the amazing costumes. It’s clever without being condescending and a great film from start to finish.

Interviews: Wes Anderson, George Clooney, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Anderson, Jarvis Cocker and Wallace Wolodarsky

Director: Wes Anderson
Actors: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman,
Writers: Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach (screenplay), based on a novel by Roald Dahl

12. In the Loop

Probably one of the smartest, funniest, most underrated films of the year. It’s very much a comedy of errors dealing with the US and the UK governments trying to “deal” with war. Somehow it managed to slide under the radar, but I assure you, buy it on DVD and you will not be disappointed.

Director: Armando Iannucci
Actors: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky, Enzo Cilenti, Paul Higgins, Mimi Kennedy
Writers: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche

11. An Education

A simple story, told extremely well. It’s smart, intriguing, and extremely well acted and directed. It’s hard to believe, but for all the buzz this film is getting, it lives up to expectations.

Interviews: Carey Mulligan | Peter Sarsgaard and Dominic Cooper

Director: Lone Scherfig
Actors: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson
Writers: Lynn Barber (memoir) and Nick Hornby (screenplay)

10. The Messenger

Stunningly well acted, one of the best scripts I’ve seen all year, and overall one of the most important and relevant films you can watch. Sadly, it hasn’t received much attention but not because it doesn’t deserve it.

Interviews: Ben Foster | Oren Moverman Video Interview

Director: Oren Moverman
Actors: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton
Writers: Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

9. Thirst

This was the only vampire film that you really needed to see this year. It’s absolutely beautiful and has a story for more than just 13 year-old girls. Ok-bin Kim gives one of my favorite female performances of the year.

Interview: Chan-Wook Park

Director: Chan-Wook Park
Actors: Kang-ho Song and Ok-bin Kim
Writers: Seo-Gyeong Jeong and Chan-wook Park

8. 500 Days of Summer

Finally a romantic comedy for people with brains. Fun, quirky, and will have you strutting out of the theater with Hall & Oates in your head.

Interview: Joseph Gordon-Levitt | 1:1 with Marc Webb

Director: Marc Webb
Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel
Writer: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

7. Up

As if you haven’t heard enough about this film already. It lived up to the hype and if Carl didn’t make you cry and Dug didn’t make you laugh, you have no heart. It’s damn near perfect.

Interviews: Pete Docter

Director: Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson
Actors: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai and Bob Peterson
Writer: Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and Thomas McCarthy

6. The Cove

Beautiful to watch, important, and down right amazing. As I said before in my review “If you don’t see this film you’re a bad person.” Not only is it entertaining to watch but it will move you to do something better with your life. How many films can you say that about?

Interviews: 1:1 with Louie Psihoyos

Director: Louie Psihoyos
Appearances By: Richard O’Barry, Charles Hambleton, Joe Chisholm, Mandy-Rae Cruikshank, Louie Psihoyos
Writer: Mark Monroe

5. Inglourious Basterds

The first 20 minutes of this movie are as close to perfection as it gets. The rest of the film is pretty fucking amazing too (you have to swear when writing anything to do with Tarantino – sorry, it’s the rules!) and Christoph Waltz gives the best performance of the year. Overall the film is a complete triumph, the script is amazing, the acting was phenomenal and they got to kill Hitler!

Interviews: Quentin Tarantino, B.J. Novak, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, and Christoph Waltz.

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Actors: Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Melanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth and B.J. Novak
Writer: Quentin Tarantino

4. Drag Me to Hell

Finally a horror film that will make you laugh and scream simultaneously. Simple, effective and down right entertaining. This is probably the best “film experience” you could have had in a theater all year.

Interview: Sam Raimi

Director: Sam Raimi
Actors: Alison Lohman, Justin Long and Lorna Raver
Writer: Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

3. Up in the Air

Deals with an honest, realistic and depressing subject matter in an uplifting way which actually makes you feel good walking out of the theater without a cheesy “everything will be fine” message. Damn impressive!

Interviews: Jason Reitman | Anna Kendrick | Vera Farmiga | London Film Festival Press Conference

Director: Jason Reitman
Actors: George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga
Writers: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Walter Kirn (novel)

2. Moon

Definitely could be my #1 pick. Director Duncan Jones is a genius and despite it’s minuscule budget, he created one of the best sci-fi films seen since 2001. Sam Rockwell was the perfect man for the job, he’s one of the only actors who you can watch for 90 minutes straight and still find interesting and intriguing.

Interviews: 1:1 with Duncan Jones Part 1 and Part 2

Director: Duncan Jones
Actors: Sam Rockwell and Sam Rockwell, with Kevin Spacey
Writer: Duncan Jones (original story), Nathan Parker (screenplay)

1. Mary and Max

The one none of you have heard of but should have. Sadly it never made it to theaters but you can find it on some movie channels on your TV, on DVD, or maybe (if all goes well) in theaters at some point. It opened the Sundance Film Festival and for good reason, it’s dark, funny, and the most oddly inspiring, intelligent and beautiful film of the year.

Interviews: 1:1 with Adam Elliot

Director: Adam Elliot
Actors: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana
Writer: Adam Elliot

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Pirate Radio | Movie Review | Nick Frost Video Interview | Talulah Riley Interview | Tom Sturridge Interview
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Movie Review | Terry Gilliam Interview
Zombieland | Movie Review | Zombieland Press Conference | Zombieland at Comic-Con
The Informant! | Movie Review
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | Movie Review | Anna Faris Interview | Bill Hader Interview
Taking Woodstock | Movie Review
Branson | Movie Review | Interview with Brent Meeske and Jackson Cash
Julie and Julia | Movie Review
Away We Go | Movie Review | 1:1 with Sam Mendes | John Krasinki | Maya Rudolph
The Hangover | Movie Review
Star Trek | Movie Review | Press Conference 1: Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Leonard Nimoy and Zachery Quinto | Press Conference 2: JJ Abrams | Press Conference 3: Chris Pine, Eric Bana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Clifton Collins
Is Anybody There? | Movie Review
Adventureland | Movie Review | Greg Mottola Interview
The Damned United | Movie Review
Where the Wild Things Are | Movie Review | Spike Jonze and Max Records | Creative Team Video Interview

Disagree with me? Have another film you think should have been on the list? Leave a comment and let me know!

Moon Release Dates

Mali Elfman — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:28:50 +0000

I know I’ve been going on and on about Duncan Jones‘ film Moon and for many of you the film hasn’t even been released anywhere near you. Don’t fret! It’s coming your way within the next few weeks!

Check out the when the film will be coming to your city below…

Playing now:

AMC EMPIRE 25 New York NY NY
LOEWS LINCOLN SQUARE 12 New York NY NY
SUNSHINE CINEMA New York NY NY
CENTURY 15 THEATRES Los Angeles CA
ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD 15 Hollywood CA
TOWN CENTER 5 Encino CA
LAEMMLE’S PLAYHOUSE 7 Pasadena CA
UNIVERSITY TOWN CTR 6 CINEMA

June 19th:

San Francisco Bay Area CA
San Diego CA
Chicago IL
Boston MA

July 3rd:

Phoenix/Scottsdale AZ
Long Beach CA
Detroit MI
Philadelphia PA
Dallas TX
Houston TX
Seattle WA

July 10th:

Anchorage AK
Little Rock AR
Tuscon AZ
Northern CA Expansion CA
Washington DC DC
Denver CO
Greater Florida FL
Honolulu HI
Des Moines IA
Bosie ID
Indianapolis IN
New Orleans LA
Minneapolis MN
Kansas City MO
St. Louis MO
Charlotte NC
Santa Fe & Alberqueque NM
Buffalo NY
Cincinnati OH
Cleveland OH
Oklahoma City OK
Portland OR
Portland ME
Memphis TN
Nashville TN
Knoxville TN
Austin TX
Fort Worth TX
Plano TX
San Antonio TX
Salt Lake City UT
Milwaukee WI
Madsion WI

For more information visit SonyClassics

Source Code: Movie Review (0)
ScreenCrave’s Top 15 Films of 2009 (2)
How Moon was Made (0)
Moon Review (0)
Exclusive Interview with Duncan Jones Part 2 (6)
Exclusive Interview with Duncan Jones Part 1 (7)
New Clip From Moon (13)

How Moon was Made

Mali Elfman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:00:11 +0000

Now that you have had a chance to see Duncan Jones‘ film Moon, starring Sam Rockwell, check out the details behind how he was able to pull off such an extraordinary looking film with such a minuscule budget. Due to his commercial background in special effects, he was able to make the moon come alive without all the fancy equipment other Directors have.

What’s the secret to his success? Nothing more than photoshop, find out more below…

***Note: There are some slight spoilers below. If you’re looking to see the film without knowing how it was made (which I would highly recommend), save this post for after you have seen the film.***

To begin with the landscape shots they had to build a mini-set:

So we used model miniatures, we built a piece of lunar landscape about 30 by 40 feet, not much bigger than this room actually. And we had sort of these Tonka trucks style models that we were dragging across the landscape with fishing line. We had an amazing company called CineSite, and they were able to clean up all of the stuff that I was able to shoot in live action. But it was really that hybrid of shooting as much as I could in camera and then being able to work on top of it afterwards, which really gave us the kind of unique look that I think we’ve got. And allowed us to make something that didn’t feel like a little independent film that was stuck in one sound stage.

How did you create the depth to all of the stars, the moon, the earth and everything else?

Jones: Basically—you ever use photoshop? The nice thing about photoshop is that everything gets broken up into layers, and you can isolate those layers, and when you start thinking that way, when you are working in special effects, all of a sudden all of those things become possible. It’s just a matter of working out—basically imagining a shot in your mind and then working out how to make that shot by breaking it up into separate layers. And then compositing those layers together to create the shot.

So, if you want the moon surface with a satellite gliding over it, you shoot the moon surface first with a little model or with a piece of photography of the moon that you have sort of adjusted and then you shoot your satellite and then you stick your satellite on top of the lunar landscape and all of a sudden you have this nice model of the satellite going around the lunar surface. There are all sorts of ways that you can—that’s really the special effects background and that is what I use to do in commercials for such a long time that makes me think that way, I kind of know how to do that.

See! Anyone can do! Just find yourself $5 million and you’re set!

Further Reading:

Exclusive Duncan Jones Interview Part 1
Exclusive Duncan Jones Interview Part 2
Review of Moon
Clip From Moon
Moon Poster and Trailer

Moon Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:30:44 +0000

Duncan Jones‘ first feature film, Moon, starring Sam Rockwell with the voice Kevin Spacey, hits theaters today, June 12th. If I could recommend any film to you this year, it would be Moon. It gets me excited just thinking about it. It has everything, drama, intensity, visual effects, and most importantly a greater meaning for you to walk away with.

What’s funny is that this film is being released the same weekend as The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 which is the exact opposite film. For however pointless and tiresome Pelham is, Moon is equally as meaningful and intriguing.

Check out the good, the bad, and the plot below…

The Plot:

Sam Bell (Rockwell) works for a company named Lunar, mining Helium 3 from the moon. He’s been a faithful employee with no direct contact with anyone aside from a robot GERTY (Kevin Spacey) on board for three long years. In two weeks, his tour of duty is over and he finally gets to go home to his wife and child and retire for the rest of his life. Just before he’s about to go home, Sam starts seeing and hearing things and begins to not feel well. When a routine extraction goes horribly wrong he discovers that things are not quite as they seem and he’ll have to figure out what’s wrong before his contract expires.

The Good:

Working the Genre: I am the first person to admit that I don’t like Sci-Fi films because in the past decade or so, the terminology and effects over-ride the characters and more often than not, they come off as cheesy. Not in this film. This film is reminiscent of classic Sci-Fi films like 2001, where Sci-Fi was used to ask greater questions. The character study and moral questions that arise in Moon, are really what this film is about. It let’s the Sci-Fi aspect of it be a part of the film, but not the driving force.
The Acting: Basically the only person we see on screen for the entire 97 minutes is Sam Rockwell. Very few actors are interesting enough to watch for that long, luckily Rockwell is one of them. He wins you over immediately with his charm and yet you never know exactly what to expect from him and you are intrigued by him from start to finish.
The Story: Often times when you’re dealing with space travel, hallucination, and Sci-Fi, things tend to get confusing. Although you will have moments when you’re thinking “what the f*ck is going on?” you do so in a good way. He leaves confused just long enough for you to feel a pay off at the end, with the character in the film.
The Ending: Without wrapping things up in a nice little bow, Jones gives a satisfactory conclusion that allows you to walk out of the theater feeling fulfilled and yet still inquisitive.
The Special Effects: Completely believable which to me is completely unbelievable. This film was made for $5 million and yet it could go toe-to-toe with movies with ten times the budget. It’s beautiful to watch.
The Directing: I think Duncan Jones is about to be the new director to watch out for. I could say that he’s shown the potential to make some of the greatest films of all time, but if you ask me, he already has. I think that once Hollywood grabs hold of him he will be the next Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron, you name it. From the story and special effects, to the acting and overall tone, this film is great.

The Bad:

It’s Not Crap: And some of you seem to love crap movies (that’s right, I’m talking to you Paul Blart fans). This is not a pointless action thriller, if you want that go see The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. It makes you think, it questions you, and don’t get me wrong, it is a fun ride, but it’s not stupid slap-stick comedy that will have over the top action and stupid jokes every 30 seconds. It’s a FILM.

Other than that, I honestly have nothing negative to say about this film. I absolutely loved it. I think it caters to a variety of different audience types and although it may not be playing everywhere, it’s definitely finding and driving a few extra miles to.

Rating: 10/10

Exclusive Interview with Duncan Jones Part 2

Mali Elfman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:00:33 +0000

Welcome to part 2 of our exclusive Duncan Jones interview! If you haven’t already read our the the first part of our Duncan Jones interview I would suggest checking it out before reading the following, although it is in no way necessary.

As I’ve already said, Duncan Jones was a pleasure to talk to and his new film Moon starring Sam Rockwell is absolutely amazing and will be in theaters this Friday. The second part of our interview is probably more for you film geeks out there than anyone else, but is equally as interesting.

In this interview we talk about:

Why Sci-fi films have stopped being popular and how Jones is changing that
Sam Rockwell’s contract to be naked on film
Art vs Entertainment
Sam Rockwell almost giving up on two Sams at once
Getting a film made in the UK
Learning how to take criticism: the good and the bad

Check it out now…

In recent years there haven’t been that many successful Sci-Fi films, in fact it seems like the sci-fi audiences are not watching comic-book remakes. Are there room for both in theaters?

Jones: I think there is. I think there are a lot of science fiction films getting made. The problem with the Sci-Fi films getting made right now tend to be quite dumb down compared to the science fiction films that used to get made and they are certainly no where near the cerebral nature of science fiction writing. In literature whether it is Phillip K. Dick, J. G. Ballard, William Gibson, George Orwell—whatever sort of Sci-Fi film you are looking at, it is a hell of a lot more heavy weight. And it is about how human beings are impacted by the future as opposed to the kind of films that get made and called science fiction in big popcorn films.

As far as comic films go, I guess, with Watchmen they tried to make sort of an adult fare in comic book films, I don’t know if it has quite worked yet. I think there is quite a few graphic novels, which people are starting to look at now that more traditional comic book films have done quite well. I still think there is many ways to go as far as doing more grownup content, in that realm as well. It is totally understandable though because it’s generally done by studios and it is usually studios spending a lot of money on something they want to make as safe as possible that is going to most likely going to guarantee a return. So they have to keep their audiences as wide as possible. And by doing that, the necessity, unfortunately of making a film that is very accessible to a guaranteed audience is that you have to hit certain markets, you have to appeal to the adolescent boys, you have to have the special effects, the explosions, and the half-naked women; and all of the things required to make a successful movie.

You have the for a moment!

I do, I have Sam Rockwell named in a shower. That was in his contract, he demands it. [Laughs] And he has to dance as well.

Is a guaranteed audience something that sounds appealing to you as a director? Or do you think of your films as a piece of art that you’re putting out there to the world and if people see it great, if not no biggie?

Jones: I wouldn’t call Moon art. No I don’t think so. I tried to make a film that was entertaining. I mean hopefully it’s a little bit smarter and there is an awful lot of personal stuff in there, but I think it’s smart and personal in a very universal way. You know, it talks about very human issues about what it would be like to meet yourself, you know, about loneliness, you know about relationships and long distance relationships and it talks about things that everyone can kind of understand and relate to. So I think that makes it accessible in some ways.

What would you say if you met yourself?

Jones: I would definitely, if the me of now, met the me who was sort of young, frustrated, angry, the guy at grad school, I’d tell myself to just chill out and relax, it’s all going to be okay.

Everyone always says that you have to be in L.A. to make films, but it has been shown that a lot of great filmmakers are form the U.K. or other great parts around the world. Do you find that a challenge, being from the UK, or does it help being in L.A. now?

Jones: I have to be careful about what I say about the UK film industry. It is at a very closed society. I kind of got this film made, not through traditional channels because of the contacts I had on the commercials side. The UK film industry is very conservative about the films they make. Normally they go for period, the go for romantic comedies, and if it is not, than it is very, very difficult. A little independent science fiction film is not their cup of tea. Now that I have made the film and it seems to be going pretty well all of a sudden they really want to help, but it’s good, I understand that. But as far, if you want to be ambitious in Britain, you really do have to be somewhat ingenious in finding ways to make it appeal or just find independent ways of financing because they are very conserved in the kind of films they make. But I hope that maybe it is starting to change in a way.

Many smaller films decide that it’s better and safer to stay in an indoor, set environment, bu not you. How did you set up some of those outside shots? What made you make that decision knowing how hard it would be?

Jones: Well, that was one of the decisions we made earlier on, and Stuart (my producer) was very supportive of me, and I said, “Look we could make this feature film, we could make an independent film, but wI am not making a feature film that looks like everyone else’s little first independent film, I want to make something that feel like a big film and this is how I think we can do it.” We used model miniatures, we built a piece of lunar landscape about 30 by 40 feet, not much bigger than this room actually. And we had sort of these Tonka trucks style models that we were dragging across the landscape with fishing line. We had an amazing company called CineSite, and they were able to clean up all of the stuff that I was able to shoot in live action.

How did all of the stars, the moon and the earth and everything like that? Because you also start with a wide shot, which couldn’t have been you? Was it?

Jones: Basically—you ever use photoshop?

A little bit.

Jones: The nice thing about photoshop is that everything gets broken up into layers, and you can isolate those layers, and when you start thinking that way, when you are working in special effects, all of a sudden all of those things become possible. It’s just a matter of basically imagining a shot in your mind and then working out how to make that shot by breaking it up into separate layers and then compositing those layers together. There are all sorts of ways that you can—that’s really the special effects background and that is what I use to do in commercials for such a long time that makes me think that way, I kind of know how to do that.

What was one of the hardest things to shoot? Was it going outside or was it two people being one person?

Jones: The hardest was a very difficult special effects shot where there is a shot of the two Sam’s, face to face and they have a physical interaction. One of them helps the other guys with his fly and then puts his hat on. That was something that no one else had really done before and for an independent film to actually be able to push the envelope and the technical level is something that we are very, very proud of. That is shot that no one else really has done.

How long did it take?

Jones: That little sequence was probably about a day shooting just to make that work, and in fact we had to come back to it because it as so complicated we couldn’t make it work the first time. And Sam was getting frustrated because he was trying to stay in character and me demanding all of these technical things from him. What we did was we actually did some other effect shots first, and sort of showed him what the results were going to be, and he was able to go “oh I know what you are doing.” The he felt more comfortable doing it. And then we came back to that sequence and it went really well.

What was your greatest moment on this film?

Jones: I don’t know if I have had it yet. I mean I am proud of it and I think we have done an amazing job, but I am very self-critical, I have always been, and I find it difficult to be happy with anything that I have done. So as far as I am concerned, this is a great first step, I’ve made the film, it seems to be going well, it gets released on June 12th, and I am hoping that perhaps I will feel a little bit more relaxed and happy with things when it is released, and we’ll kind of see if there is an audience out there for it. But I am already sort of getting all flustered and ready to do the next film, hoping I get the chance to do another film, so that is what I am concentrating on now.

So no sense of satisfaction?

I know it’s pathetic isn’t it? [Laughs]

Is it hard for you when you see the film to take a step back and watch your film as an audience member?

Jones: Sometimes I can watch the film, but I still have problems at the start of the film. When you go through the first ten-fifteen minutes of the film; oh I wish I could have done that, but you know, it must be a pretty good film because about 15-25 minutes in I actually get sucked into it and I just kind of watch it and enjoy it. So that’s a good sign. I’m very, very aware of the things that I would of loved to have done, that I didn’t get the chance to do, but I am also aware of the limitations of the time and money that we had, and there are really only a few areas where we could have done things any other way than we did. We kind of stretched and maxed out everything that was possible for the time and money we had.

For young film-makers looking to do what you have done, would you recommend going the commercial route?

Jones: I would certainly say, do commercials. There are some talented guys like Chris Cunningham that are just the most amazing technical directors with the ability to visualize and create things, who should be making feature films and who are never going to. Some get trapped in the money because commercials pay very well and then if you go off and make an independent film like I have, I have just spent the last three years of my life not making commercials and you don’t get paid to not make commercials. And you certainly don’t get paid to make an independent film.

You sort of have to find a way to leave that life style and just do the sacrifice to do feature films and for a lot of people they don’t want to do that. And then there is another crowd of directors who do commercials who are just not that interested. They make amazing visual things and they like doing it, and the like having a new project every sort of month in a half, and working with actors in any sort of deep way doesn’t interest them. And some of them do try to make feature films even though some of them are not particularly interested, and those are the guys that make feature films that maybe are kind of a bit shallow; some of them do sort of big budget ones.

You say that this is your calling-card, but what if this film becomes a huge hit at the box office?

Jones: We’re going to Vegas! I can’t even imagine that, but it would be fantastic. I guess the only thing I would hope that it would give us the kind of films we want to do for the next film and that it would give—it would be wonderful if the actors that I admire all of a sudden were like, you know I wouldn’t mind doing a film with that guy. That would very cool.

Which actors?

Jones: There are people I would like to work with, and people who I have sent my next script to kind of, a little bit, ambitiously, I don’t think they actually end up doing it, but I’ve got to try and if they did it would be amazing.

Are you excited for any upcoming films?

Jones: On the science fiction front I’ve got to see James Cameron Avatar. He’s one of the top sci-fi guys I love and admire everything he does. I’ve heard mixed reviews about it, but I’ve always been a fan of Terry Gilliam so I want to see The Imaginarium.

Do you follow the news online about your film?

Jones: It’s difficult, I can’t help sort of wanting to know if people are seeing it and what they are thinking.

What’s that like?

Jones: So far it’s been okay, I haven’t wanted to kill myself, which is a pretty good reaction. I’m kind of a mad twitter so I’m kind of on the all the time. I’ve been kind of lucky, I’ve built up a group on twitter and I’ve personally been running these sort of really silly competitions online to giveaway Moon posters. I know that Sony is doing everything in hand and they’re taking care of it, but I can’t help myself thinking” what can I do to promote the film, how can I make sure people go see the film.” And I started this twitter thing by doing these competitions.

What is it like hearing the bad/good criticism of people?

Jones: It’s really hard—I’ve developed a really thick skin for my personal life as far as people attacking me, I can deal with that. If people don’t like the film, I always want to immediately defend it, but I think that is something that I am going to have to learn how to deal with. Everyone has his or her own taste and I can’t please everyone and I have to be confident that at least I have made something that I can be proud of. So I guess that I am going to have to learn that, I mean I know about it because obviously my dad’s an artist and he’s had to suffer from severe criticism over the years at times and he is very good with dealing with it so I certainly can learn from him.

Thank you so much for you time!

Thank you!

Go see Duncan Jones new movie Moon, in theaters this Friday, June 12th starring Sam Rockwell.

Exclusive Interview with Duncan Jones Part 1

Mali Elfman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:45:18 +0000

***Update: Duncan Jones Interview Part 2 now available***

First of all, Duncan Jones is my new hero. He took $5 million dollars and made Moon, an amazing sci-fi film starring Sam Rockwell in multiple roles. The film is better than almost anything currently being made for hundreds of millions of dollars. And just to make him that much more amazing, he is a complete sweetheart to talk to.

I showed up late for my interview (I hate LA traffic) and Duncan had already finished his day and although most directors would have been long gone, he was sitting in the press room signing away Moon posters (his contribution to the marketing campaign) and welcomed me despite the time. I was originally scheduled for 15 minutes, but Duncan and I ended up chatting for nearly 45 minutes and if I’m honest the time flew by so fast I didn’t even notice.

Due to our extremely long interview, we’re making this one a two part-er! Check out more below…

In the first interview one we’ll talk about how the following:

How Duncan Jones started in the film industry as a director for commercials
Calling up the big names in film and asking for a helping hand
Getting Clint Mansell to score his film
Tackling the special effects in the performances
Why Sam Rockwell was the man for the role
Asking Sting’s wife for help
Talking about his next film, where he wants to make his Blade Runner

Let’s get to the good stuff…

It is very rare that an independent filmmaker who is starting out says “I want to do Sci-Fi!” And then actually does it. Normally they start out with something that is much easier to do. What made you say, no matter what I am going to do a Sci-Fi film?

Jones: I’ve been working my way to doing my first feature film for about ten years. So I went through the commercials route and some people come from a theatrical background and some people come from a writing background, but I directed commercials. So I had a real comfort with being on a set and in particular working with special effects and because of that background, it became much easier for me to base a first time feature film on a low budget cause I was sort of already knew how to do that. When I said that something was going to cost a certain amount of money, I actually knew what I was talking about. The biggest problem that we were having on the financing front was people with lots of money saying “you need more money to make this film,” and us saying “no this is the first feature film we want to do it at a budget where we sort of prove ourselves at the starting end of making feature films; we can do this for $5 million.” That is where the convincing part between me and Stuart came, we had to convince people with money that we could do it for that budget.

Normally it’s the other way around.

Jones: I’m really glad that we didn’t, it would have been very easy for us to say, ‘You are right, we need more.’ But at the same time it wouldn’t have been the same film and it’s also the wrong move for a first feature film. When we first made this whole idea this was going to be calling card film and it was going to give the opportunity to make my first feature film. But it turned out a lot better, we just couldn’t stop ourselves from going into it, and we are very proud that it turned into something that people wanted to see.

This is a Sc-Fi film that transcends it’s genre, how would you categorize it?

Jones: I think we tried to make a film that was about human beings as opposed to going from one special effects set piece to the next one, which is what a lot of science fiction films these days do. The films that I loved growing up were the science fiction films from the late seventies and early eighties [films], which were more about the people and how they are affected by the environments that they are in. Whether they are sort of futuristic or alien of whatever they are; that was the science fiction that I loved. So that is what we tried to make, the sort of film that felt like those old films.

I was amazed because you referenced all of these old films, but you didn’t reference 2001. When I saw the trailer immediately popped into my head.

Jones: Absolutely! I think that for everyone who does science fiction films that is like the granddaddy of them all. To me that is such a touchstone for everyone and there is a particular similarity between the character of Gerty and HAL from 2001, but other than that I think we were sort of more appealing to those later films because it was like sort of a generation of films that were definitely looking at 2001 and we were looking at those films because that film was like over 40 years ago.

And just like in 2001, the music played a huge part. Was that important to you to have such a strong score?

Jones: Well it was Clint Mansell that usually works with Darren Aronofsky. And I had met him once before and we got on pretty well, but he was going to be way out of our budget range. When it came to sort of doing the offline cut part of the film I kept using bits of his music from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack and all of these pieces of music we were using. I just couldn’t get away from it and Stuart Fenegal (my producer) and I were like, well we can’t afford him, but instead of going through the usual way, I sort of went directly to Clint. And He got so excited about the project and loved what we were trying to do and he said he would find a way to make it work. So, we did it!

How involved were you with the music process. Did you allow him to just go and do his thing?

Jones: It was more about standing back and letting him do his thing because he is very talented. But if there were points where he wasn’t going for the mood that we were going for, or if something wasn’t quite working, I would be there to sort of just give my little two cents and try to steer things whenever I thought they needed steering. But he knew what he wanted to do and it was perfect, very happy with it.

There were a few times, that I noticed that you chose to go with no score, which was silent and beautiful. Was that your choice to leave our Clint’s score? And was it hard telling someone you respect that it is better without music?

Jones: Yeah, it was. Clint is incredibly talented and I asked him to score the film wall-to-wall and he was willing to do that. It was sort of an interesting thing; he was willing to score it wall-to-wall, with the understanding that I was going to be taking some stuff back out. But I wanted to have everything covered and kind of judge the mood of it. So, he basically scored the whole film. And through the quite moments, it was me saying, as much as I love this piece of music, it works better without it. It worked out really well.

What did you see in Sam that made you know that he could literally carry this entire film?

It’s sort of a Rockwell overload. He’s a fantastic actor and I’ve been a fan of his for years. I saw him Charlie’s Angels and I loved him in that. I loved him in Lawn Dogs, The Green Mile, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Galaxy Quest — I mean everything I’ve seen him in, he just steals the scene. I think it is because he is incredibly charismatic, he’s very funny, but he is also very empathetic and you feel for him when he does things. And he has this quirkiness that keeps you watching. And there aren’t many actors who have that magnetism to their performances that even though he had just done a couple of lead roles, I feel he is one of the most underrated American actors. He is incredibly talented and it doesn’t hurt that he is also and incredibly nice guy. And as a first time director I needed to work with someone that I felt comfortable with, and that I could get along with. It was a perfect match; I am so thrilled I got to work with him. He is a really nice and incredible guy.

How did you actually cast him? Did you say I want him?

Jones: I didn’t cast him; I did the film for him. That is why the character is called Sam. We met three years ago to discuss another film, but that one didn’t work out and I knew that I wanted him in my first film so I said, ‘Look if you just please read the next script I write, I’m going to write something just for you.’ I’m sure he was a little unsure if I would get around to doing it, but I did. I left that meeting and that was my priority was to get that script written. And nine months later it was ready for him. One of the reasons why I wanted to call the main character Sam was because it was for him, but also because of what happens in the film; I wanted him to feel uncomfortable reading the film, of actually seeing his own name when he was reading it. I thought it was a good way to immediately put him into this unusual mind set.

What were some of the challenges on set because many times he is acting with himself?

Jones: Yeah, it was a very technical shoot and like you said it was a very small budget and we were doing some very technically ambitious things in it. We had two sources of information basically, on how we did the effect of Sam acting with himself. There are actually a lot of different effects in the film for different things, but for the two Sam effects; there is a film called Dead Ringers that Cronenberg did and it was a criterion edition with the DVD, with a lot of special features in it about how they did that particular effect. So Sam and I both watched that a lot and I watched it in particular for the technical side, and that was sort of a first step.

Then, I also watched Adaptation by Spike Jones and he did a sort of similar effect and I had the good fortune of talking to him about it. One of the pieces of advice that he gave me was “when you are breaking down the film into scenes work out which of the characters is actually driving the scene and film that scene first.” So that is what we did when we were actually shooting the film, we would break down the scene and work out which of the Sam’s was driving the scenes and we would film that one first.

And Sam would have a real sort of freedom at that point and sort of improv a little bit, while he was doing that first take. Then, we would choose a particular take that we liked and Sam would go up into makeup and he’d have a little iPod that we would basically put that take unto while he was getting his makeup on, and then he’d come downstairs and he would wear something called and earwig, which is sort of a speaker in his hear that you cannot see on camera, but we gave him the audio from the take that we had chosen. Because he has a really good sense of rhythm he would be able to time his answers and to sort of correspond to the conversation and we would give him an eye line and that’s how we did it.

Did you have any time to rehearse before shooting?

Jones: We rehearsed for a bit for an Indie film, which is kind of unusual, we had a week of rehearsals before we actually shot the films so we were able to really break down the script and kind of work through all of the improvisational things that he wanted to do, so he had a chance to really feel his way through before we actually shot it and I think that helped a lot.

How did you get Kevin Spacey on board?

Jones: We were very lucky, Stuart and I, with our financing where we were like 90% of the way there, but we still needed this pocket money for our effects and Trudie Steinler who is Sting’s wife became involved, and she basically closed the financing for the film. And getting her on board, she is very supportive, in particular, of the young British directors being British herself. She was able to get the script to Kevin Spacing knowing that I would really love him do the voice. That was what Trudie was able to bring, she is very well connected, very well thought of, and was able to get the script through to him.

He kind of has the perfect voice doesn’t he?

Jones: It’s kind of smooth and at the same time you don’t know if it’s malevolent or not. I knew that I needed that because anyone who is into new Sci-Fi is going to immediately think of HAL from 2001, and rather than trying to void that, I wanted to play with the audiences expectations about what the robot character was going to be and then sort of surprise them and take them a different direction and the great thing about Kevin Spacey’s is that he helps reinforce the new idea in the minds of the audience of what to expect of Gerty.

There are all of these huge movies: Terminator (200 million dollars), Wolverine (150 million dollars), and yet, who spend so much money on special effects and yet you were able to do so much with so little. What do you think about all of these enormous budgets? Would you like to some day want to have that kind of a budget, or do you think that people are just wasting there money on things that are not necessary?

Jones: I think that I would like to have that kind of a budget and I think the reasons for it are it gives you more time and it gives you the opportunity to be more ambitious with what you want to do with the camera and also how a scene works. I wouldn’t want to direct those kinds of scripts. My biggest difference with our film and those kinds of science fiction films is that they are going from one special effect set piece to the next, what we were doing was more of a character study. And I think that is the freedom that you get by doing an Indie film. You can only really do that with a lower budget. So I understand where the conflict is between those two priorities. Maybe there is a sort of a sweet middle ground there, where you can do something with something with like 20 to 40 million and do something which is much more character driven, but still create a sort of visual spectacle around it. That is what I’d like to do.

Is that what is next?

Jones: Hopefully, I’m trying. I want to do my Blade Runner, which is like a future Berlin film, which is like a thriller, but it’s much deeper characters, I think.

Are you writing that?

It’s already written. It is by a guy called Mike Johnson and I. Mike Johnson wrote the Sherlock Holmes script that Guy Richie and Robert Downey Jr. are doing right now. But we went to film school together so way before either of were successful we’d already written this film.

Check out the second part of our exclusive Duncan Jones interview tomorrow on ScreenCrave where we talk about how he almost broke Sam Rockwell, making the special effects look real on a budget, and a whole lot more!

New Clip From Moon

Mali Elfman — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:00:46 +0000

Normally, I don’t like to post clips from films, but I thought some of you might need a little push to get you off your asses to go out and find Duncan Jones‘ upcoming mini-masterpiece Moon starring Sam Rockwell. The film is about Astronaut Sam Bell (Rockwell) who has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet’s power problems. Is he going mad or is something wrong?

This film was made by Jones’ for Rockwell and in the clip below you can see why he is probably one of the only actors that we could look at for 97 minutes straight and still find interesting.

Check out the clip below…

Rockwell does such an amazing job with this role, it’s basically just him on screen and Kevin Spacey’s voice for the entire film and it’s brilliant.

We will have a two part exclusive interview with Jones coming up today and tomorrow so check back in later!

The film comes out this Friday June 12th in select theaters. It might be a little tricky to find but completely worth going out of your way to see!

Check out our exclusive one on one interview with the Director of the film Duncan Jones.

What do you think of the clip? Does it entice you?

Moon Poster and Trailer

sergiosoto — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:45:10 +0000

Wow, this movie looks amazing! You wouldn’t be able to tell from the trailer, but this is actually an indie film directed by a first time director (Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie). The new poster for Moon was revealed today on FirstShowing.net, which is also just as graphically impressive as the trailer. This film has everything going for it: Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke, etc.), Kevin Spacey (voicing the robot), Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler) composing the music, and what looks like some great artistry from Jones. This seriously looks like the next milestone space-movie.

The story itself revolves around (no pun intended) the astronaut Sam Bell, who is almost done serving his 3 year contract on the moon. He discovers a body of someone that appears identical to himself. Confusion, madness, and mayhem ensue!

Moon is is set for a limited release on June 12th.

Check out the new poster and trailer below…

Are you excited to see this film?

Sundance Round-Up: 500 Days of Summer, Moon, Christopher Guest

Krystal Clark — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:00:34 +0000

Sundance is sadly over which means now it’s time for everyone else to find all the amazing films that had their chance to shine at the festival. Check out many of the highlights from the Festival below…

Find out what Sundance debuts were the most marketable, what shouldn’t have gone, and what should have but didn’t sell! [/Film]
Satirical genius Christopher Guest, announced that he may be leaving the film industry and taking one of his most popular characters to Broadway instead. [MTVMoviesBlog]
Check out an interview with Duncan Jones, the writer and director of the sci-fi film Moon, which stars Iron Man 2 co-star Sam Rockwell. [FirstShowing]
View the trailer for 500 Days of Summer. The film has been picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight, and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zooey Deschanel. [ScreenCrave]

Read a review for Adam, the movie about a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism.The film stars Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, and Peter Gallagher. [Cinematical]
Read the review for Mary and Max the opening night animated film, a farewell to Sundance, and the Sundance Award Winners here. [ScreenCrave]

Dakota Fanning to Star in ‘Twilight’ Sequel?

Krystal Clark — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:29:30 +0000

This morning I stumbled across some interesting casting news regarding the new “it” franchise, Twilight. The film’s cast is sprinkled with former child stars who finally got their time to shine with more mature material. Therefore, wouldn’t it’s sequel New Moon be the perfect vehicle for another young lady to begin making her transition into more adult roles? According to EOnline, a source close to the film stated that Dakota Fanning might soon take a bite out of the film, by stepping into the role of “Jane”. Yep, you read that right!

Hudgens Up for Role in ‘New Moon’

Krystal Clark — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:00:40 +0000

Current Disney teen queen, Vanessa Hudgens may be on the right track to shedding her High School Musical image. For starters, Hudgens has been rumored to star in the Twilight sequel New Moon as the werewolf character Leah Clearwater. At first this was all speculation, and people were just tossing around the idea, but now according to MTV,the actress has taken the necessary steps to make the role hers!

MTV ran into Twilight co-star Ashley Greene last night at a Golden Globes after party, and the actress confirmed that Hudgens has indeed auditioned for the role. Greene went on to compliment the actress, by stating ” I think she’d be great.”

Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Leah Clearwater character, she’s a bit of a b*tch. There’s no better way to put it. She’s good friends with Jacob (Taylor Lautner), and as I stated before she’s a werewolf. This could be a good transition for Hudgens, being that the audience demographic of HSM, and Twilight are similar.

Nothing has been officially confirmed on this casting, but I”ll keep my Mickey Mouse ears to the streets!

ScreenCrave.com » moon

Source Code: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 9.25/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

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ScreenCrave’s Top 15 Films of 2009

15. District 9

14. The Hurt Locker

13. Fantastic Mr. Fox

12. In the Loop

11. An Education

10. The Messenger

9. Thirst

8. 500 Days of Summer

7. Up

6. The Cove

5. Inglourious Basterds

4. Drag Me to Hell

3. Up in the Air

2. Moon

1. Mary and Max

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

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Moon Review

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Rating: 10/10

Further Reading:

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Exclusive Interview with Duncan Jones Part 1

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