Interviews with Speak No Evil director James Watkins and cast members James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, and Scoot McNairy I’ve long appreciated the work of filmmaker James Watkins, and his latest is no exception. Speak No Evil – a remake of the excellent Denmark thriller by the same name (read our review of the Danish film HERE) … Read more
Set in a nondescript working-class suburb of Sweden, “Paradise is Burning” focuses on three sisters whose mother is terminally absent. When the school begins to suspect their mother has taken off (again) a meeting with social services looms. This ticking clock adds tension as the eldest girl Laura (Bianca Delbravo) searches for someone to stand … Read more
A ferociously satisfying update of “First Blood” with a rustic Southern setting, “Rebel Ridge” furthers writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s pattern of trapping his protagonists in tight spots and making them fight their way out, even as it recalibrates the grisly survivalism of “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room,” along with the atmospheric tension of his Alaska-set “Hold … Read more
Because you were working with other people? TP: Yes. We were really thinking about that. It was a great exercise for us. Normally you do everything yourselves. What was it like to give the technical aspects over to other people? JA: That was a wild experience, but it was a wonderful time because it helped … Read more
How did you end up as an editor? Michael Brown: I came into it through a technical background. I was in middle school cooking up VHS tapes, VHS machines together and connecting things in the back and figuring out how the cords worked, the TV and everything, and I really enjoyed the technical aspect of … Read more
As you were working with your editors over the many years that you worked on this film, how did you know this was the moment we wanted to end the film on? NR: I think there were many ways it could end. But, I remember one day in DC, Troy was reviewing footage, messaged us, … Read more
Hunter, your character’s weapon of choice by the film’s end isn’t a gun but a butterfly knife. I love how you play an unconventional “scream queen” in that you have to survive with a lot of restrictions … you really just have your knife, sling, and iPod to fight with. Was there a skill that … Read more
I have an issue with critics overusing the term “minimalism,” including in reference to your film and the filmmakers you just mentioned, because it does often minimize what can be achieved through precise detail. Oftentimes, films that are sparsely plotted are called minimal or are put under the banner of minimalism, but I think, in … Read more
Cuckoo interviews: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, and Jessica Henwick discuss their new horror film, which reaches theatres this weekend Two years have gone by since we heard that production had wrapped on Cuckoo, a new horror film from writer/director Tilman Singer that stars Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), Dan Stevens (The Guest), Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters), Marton Csókás (Freelance), Greta Fernández (Santo), and … Read more
Baldoni has come a long way from being the beefcake beauty on “Jane the Virgin,” where his frequent shirtlessness became part of the show’s appeal. In his TED Talk, he took playful potshots at his own pin-up image and his uncomfortable relationship with those shirtless scenes. But while he’s careful to avoid “It Ends With … Read more