Matt's Blog

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 November 2013

I first attended the Brisbane International Film Festival in 1995 and another year is upon us.  It’s a shame that Richard Moore is no longer around as Festival Director – he was always great to speak with during the Festival and was very passionate about the program.  Richard’s contract wasn’t renewed and I’m yet to meet new Festival Director Jennie Hughes who was appointed earlier this year.

I’m often indifferent when it comes to retrospectives but there are two great ones as part of this year’s BIFF.  The first is a tribute to the films of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant.  Films screening include A Room With A View, Howard’s End and The Remains Of The Day.  I’m hoping to make it along to a few of those screenings.  The second is a homage to director Fred Schepisi.  I first met Fred at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2011 and of the films screenings at BIFF this year, I’d can strongly recommend Six Degrees Of Separation and Last Orders.

Two big films have been chosen to open and close this year’s festival.  Things get started with The Railway Man which was shot here in Queensland and stars Colin Firth.  It closes a week and a half later with 12 Years A Slave – the current frontrunner for the best picture Oscar.  Opening night can be a bit pricey for those who don’t drink ($65 inclusive of the after party) but closing night looks much more attractive with a $35 ticket price including its own after party.  Of all the films screening at BIFF, I think 12 Years A Slave is the one I’m most keen to see.  I should mention that tickets to most general sessions are $18.

The Festival doesn’t officially open until Wednesday, November 13 but there are “curtain raisers” in the lead up.  The Monday night (Nov 11) looks like a tricky choice with two intriguing films on offer – Filth (with James McAvoy) and The Past (the latest from the Oscar winning director of A Separation).

Other films high on my list include Don Jon – written by, directed by and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Only Lovers Left Alive – a vampire romance with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, Labor Day – the latest from Juno director Jason Reitman, All Is Lost – the follow up from the director of Margin Call, and Blue Is The Warmest Colour – the controversial 3-hour lesbian romance which won the top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.  As huge fan of director Xavier Dolan’s last film, Laurence Anyways, I’m also keen to catch Tom At The Farm.

I’ll be away for a few days during the middle of the Festival but you’ll be able to hear my thoughts on the films through Twitter (@icestorm77) and through my weekly radio spot with Spencer Howson on Thursday mornings on 612ABC.  The latest radio ratings were released today and I’m thrilled to see Spencer’s program ranked number 1 in Brisbane by a significant margin.  He is damn good at what he does.

Hopefully I’ll see at the Festival!  This year’s venues include the Palace Centro, Palace Barracks, GOMA, Dendy Portside and the Event Myer Centre.  You can see the whole program at www.biff.com.au.
 

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 October 2013

The latest in the Marvel franchise, Thor: The Dark World, is about to be released in Australian cinemas.  I was thrilled to catch up with star Tom Hiddleston about the movie and his soaring career over the past two years. You can download the full audio of the interview by clicking here.

Matt:  You’d done some theatre and some TV but your career really has taken off since the original Thor was released back in 2011.  How would you describe the last two years?

Tom:  A roller coaster, my friend.  Everything has been beyond my wildest expectations and dreams.  Being Loki has opened up opportunities that I never had before in my life.  It’s no secret that acting is a tough game, certainly at the beginning.  We all start at the bottom and this character has been very kind to me.

Matt:  In a very short period of time, you’ve worked under Kenneth Branagh, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg and Joss Whedon.  From the perspective of an actor, is there a lot you can learn working under these acclaimed directors?

Tom:  Oh yes, absolutely.  Their experience speaks for itself.  Kenneth Branagh has been in front of and behind the camera countless times.  I think Steven Spielberg is possibly the greatest living cinematic artist.  Some people may disagree with me on that but I think he’s a master.  And of course Woody Allen has made a film every year for the past 50 years.

You learn that it is an art form but there’s also an incredible craft to constructing a story and constructing a narrative that is entertaining and moving and engaging and makes people feel connected to the characters.  The particular rigour and discipline of those directors is really inspiring.

Matt:  And while some actors win Oscars, you won the MTV Movie Award earlier in the year for best villain in The Avengers.  We see a lot of stereotypical villains – guys with masks or eastern European accents.  But since you’ve won an award for this – what is the secret to creating a great villain?

Tom:  I couldn’t possibly tell you.  I suppose the secret to playing this particular villain is to try to have as much fun as you can.  I’ve always thought that good villains have a really enjoyable time being villains.  My favourite villains growing up had an elegance, a charm, a playfulness on the surface… even if they were motivated by a tragic, damaged psychology and hatred. 

Matt:  Marvel are very good at keeping their films under wraps.  Plot details are kept very quiet up until the day of release.  Are you contractually bound to keep it a secret and not spill the beans?

Tom:  Absolutely, yes.  It’s in my interests too.  I am the biggest fan of cinema and I go to see everything myself.  I hate it when I know everything before I’ve seen it.  Imagine if you knew what was going to happen in Inception before you see it.  Or someone had spoiled the ending of Memento for you.  Oh wow, I just so happened to have picked two Christopher Nolan films.  Like The Usual Suspects for example.  When I first saw that, I had no idea what was going to happen in the end.

Matt:  Now I haven’t seen Thor: The Dark World yet and I’m not expecting to see it until a day or two prior to its release.  Have you seen the finished product yourself?  Was it everything you thought it was going to be?

Tom:  I have seen it, yes.  It’s bigger, deeper, better, louder, more spectacular, more surprising.  I’m really proud of it.

Matt:  It feels like we’re seeing an increasing number of comic book / super hero movies being released each year.  They’re pulling in plenty of money but do you think we’re reaching a saturation point?  Or do you think the demand is there to see the number increase further?

Tom:  I don’t know.  As long as the films are fresh and have their own integrity, I think it’s absolutely fine.  It just so happens to be the particular genre we’re going through at this time.  I guess we won’t know why until we look back.  It’s funny that when you look back on the 1960s, there were so many Roman epics.  In the 1970s it was all about gangster movies and police thrillers.  In any genre, when it all starts to become formulaic, it’s where I’d be asking questions I suppose.

Matt:  These films have huge budgets – the original Thor was $150m and The Avengers was $220m.  With so much money to spend, I’ve always wondered… what’s the catering like?  Do you get really really really good food?

Tom:  Yes, that’s a good question!  The catering is great.  It’s different every time though.  Thor was shot in Los Angeles, The Avengers was shot in New Mexico and Ohio, and Thor: The Dark World was shot in London and Iceland. 

There were sequences in The Dark World where we were shooting on top of a volcano in Iceland which is four hours from the nearest residence with running water.  We’d get up at 4am and drive in a 4x4 all the way to the top of this mountain where someone from the crew is saying “would like a cup of hot coffee and some scrambled eggs?”  It’s amazing!  Scrambled eggs on top of a volcano at 4am in the morning is not bad.

Matt:  I’ll finish up by asking what’s in the works?  What are we going to see you in next?

Tom:  I’ve got a couple of things coming up.  I hope that a film I made last year with Jim Jarmusch makes it to Australia.  It’s called Only Lovers Left Alive where Tilda Swinton and I play a pair of vampire lovers who live in Detroit and Tangier.  It’s a love story that offers a unique take on the vampire genre.  Then I’m going to do a play in London that will be broadcast live across the world on 30 January 2014.  It’s Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.  In February, I start shooting a Guillermo del Toro film called Crimson Peak which is a gothic horror romance with Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska. 

Matt:  Wow, life is good for Tom Hiddleston!  Thanks for speaking with us this morning.

Tom:  Thanks Matthew.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 21 October 2013

The Australian International Movie Convention (AIMC) wrapped up last week on the Gold Coast.  The event brings together distributors and cinema folk from around the country to showcase the films that will be released over the next 12 months.

It’s an interesting format.  Each distributor is allocated a slot of around 3-4 hours to promote their product.  So you get roughly 2 hours of trailers, clips and speeches followed by a full length feature.  I guess those who don’t like lots of ads and trailers before their movies wouldn’t be too impressed!

The list of films screening at the convention included Captain Phillips, Last Vegas, Philomena, August: Osage County, Enough Said and Dallas Buyer’s Club.  For most of the content, embargoes are in place to prevent reviews and any other comments from being published.  This is partly because some of the films aren’t finished and partly because the studios are looking limit publicity until closer to the date of release.

One of the key guests at this year’s convention was Peter Del Vecho – a producer on the new Disney animated feature, Frozen (to be released in Australia on Boxing Day).  Peter has been in the industry for a while working on such animated flicks as Treasure Planet, Chicken Little, Winnie The Pooh and The Princess & The Frog.

I was lucky enough to spend a few minutes with Peter to chat about Frozen and get his thoughts on the animated film industry…
 

Matt:  I’ve spoken this year with writers, directors and actors but this is the first time I’ve spoken with a producer.  Can you tell us what was involved with your role as a producer on Frozen?

Peter:  My job is to get the director’s vision up on the screen so I’m involved in the creative process right from the beginning and once we decide that we want to move a movie into production.  I work with the director to surround them with the right teams.  That covers staffing up the movie as well as scheduling it out to make sure we meet the release date.  In this case, it was a two and a half year process.  

Matt:  This film, like so many in the animated genre these days, is in 3D.  Is this a fad or is 3D something more permanent within the animated feature industry?

Peter:  Disney is committed to giving audiences the option of seeing our films in either 2D or 3D.  That said, there are a lot of special effects in Frozen that lend themselves to the 3D experience.  There are specific moments like Elsa using her ice powers but also the broader scope of the movie with all the snow.

Matt:  I was reading that the film, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, had been floating around for a while but couldn’t quite get off the ground.  What’s taken so long to get to the point where we are today?

Peter:  Everyone loves the novel The Snow Queen but it’s very symbolic in nature.  It doesn’t naturally translate to the screen very well because you have to have real, believable characters in a real, believable world.  The turning point for us was when we had this character with the ability to create ice and snow and then had a protagonist who happened to be her sister.  By making them royal and giving them a kingdom, it raised the stakes because not only did this person have a relationship with the Snow Queen but she also had a kingdom that she felt responsible to.  It was that sibling connection that helped elevate the story to the point where it was clear that we had something special to bring to the screen.

Matt:  It’s got me thinking.  Are there a lot of projects within Disney at the moment where you’re not sure if they’re going to get off the ground?  

Peter:  We have a very healthy slate of upcoming films.  It’s probably the strongest we’ve had in terms of the number of films in development that look really exciting and promising.  From Tangled to Wreck-It-Ralph and now Frozen, you can feel the studio growing and we feel a lot stronger going forward.

Matt:  We’re here at the Australian International Movie Convention and there’s always a lot of talk about where the industry is going.  More and more people like to download movies to consume in their own home.  Do you see that becoming more frequent or do you still think the big screen experience is going to keep drawing people into cinemas?

Peter:  I personally love the big screen but we’re aware that we have to provide content in many different platforms.  As the world changes, we are going to have to adapt to that.  Clearly, there’s nothing like seeing the movie on the big screen with a big group of people – particularly a comedy where laughter can become infectious.

Matt:  When I grew up, I remember there being only one or two animated features being released every year.  There was normally a big Disney film like Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin or The Lion King.  Now, it’s a much more crowded space.  Does the competition make it tougher for you guys?

Peter:  There is a lot of competition but that’s healthy for the industry.  The fact that a lot of animated movies are being made is a great thing but we still need to try our best to rise above them all.

Matt:  I know there’s the best animated feature category at the Academy Awards that is usually dominated by Pixar and Dreamworks.  A Disney film is yet to win the award so do you have high hopes for Frozen?  Could this be the one?

Peter:  You’re correct that Disney hasn’t won the award yet.  I believe this is a project well worth a nomination and of course, I’d hope that it wins.

Matt:  If I can talk quickly about the cast in Frozen – there’s Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad.  One of the things I noticed is that they all come from a theatrical background.  Is that a coincidence or is something more behind it?

Peter:  I come from a theatre background myself.  The type of person I think works best for animated features is an actor who is willing to improvise and really help push the boundaries of the character.  My experience has been that in a lot of cases, that collaborative process is more prevalent in theatre.  Plus, it was important that whoever we hired did ALL of the voice work – whether it be the dialogue or the music.

Matt:  Before I finish up… do you have any plans to do anything exciting while you’re here in Australia?

Peter:  I did.  Yesterday, I went for a helicopter ride over the Gold Coast and there were some great views.  I couldn’t believe how beautiful the coastline is and how it seems to extend on forever.  You’ve got some spectacular beaches here.

Matt:  And can you tell us what you’ll be working on next?  I’m guessing Frozen has taken up a lot of your time over the past few years.

Peter:  It has been my focus and I’ve promised my family that I’m going to take a little break and spend some time with my kids before they head off to college.  There are plenty of projects in development and so after this film is released, I’ll start to focus on what the next project is.
 

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 October 2013

About Time is out in Australia on October 17 and it is definitely worth a look (you can check out my review here).  I was fortunate enough to speak to rom-com guru Richard Curtis about his new film. You can download the full audio of the interview by clicking here.

Matt:  Romantic comedies are my least favourite genre as I seem to find them so cheesy and formulaic.  But I can think of three that you’ve written that I’m a big fan of – Four Weddings & A Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary and a personal favourite of mine, Notting Hill.  What’s the secret?  How do you come up with a great romantic comedy?

Richard:  Thank you very much indeed for saying that.  I remember once bumping into the American comedian Chris Rock and he said “normally I don’t like these films but I think you’ve put in some ‘man’ jokes”.  I think that’s the answer.  I started as a straight comedy writer doing Black Adder and things like that and so I do try to make them as funny as I can for a wide audience.

Matt:  But I have to be honest – I didn’t like Love Actually.  I know it’s loved by so many people and it’s been seen on free-to-air TV a million times here in Australia.  I realise you get a lot of compliments but do you actually get people who tell you they don’t like a particular film?

Richard:  Oh yes. Particularly critics – they love telling me they don’t like the films (laughs).  On the whole, one of the lucky things in life is that if people are going to be unfriendly, they tend to do it behind your back and so you can wander around without knowing that everyone thinks less of you.  But yes, I do think Love Actually is a film that has split people.

Matt:  There’s a clear message in About Time and it seems to tie back to the lyrics from a Baz Luhrmann song that you mention in the film, “Everybody’s Free”.  Where did your inspiration come from for About Time?

Richard:  It came from a conversation with a friend of mine called Simon.  We were talking about what our perfect day would be.  We said it wouldn’t be flying to Las Vegas and winning a million pounds and then finding out we’d be nominated for an Oscar.  That would be too tense and worrying and full of strangers.

Actually, the perfect day might just be having lunch with your friends, dinner with your family and taking the kids to school.  I wanted to write a film about that but I couldn’t work out how to tell such a simple story.  So I decided to come up with a huge mechanic and introduce time travel through a person who can change everything in his life all the time and then have him still reach the conclusion that relishing a single day is the most important thing you can do.

Matt:  Time travel movies are always tricky because you’re going to have some viewers trying to pick out flaws and say “well that couldn’t happen because of the Butterfly Effect” or “let’s just go back in time and win the lottery”.  Do you have to put a lot of thought into making it “believable” when putting the screenplay together?

Richard:  You really do.  It’s full of complications as to what should be and what shouldn’t be.  It’s incredibly complicated and I’m sure there are some whopping big holes but it’s also a great mechanism for humour.  That’s the thing I really loved about it.  We’ve got quite a few jokes about travelling back in time and fixing romantic and sexual disasters.

Matt:  I like the way in which the two leading characters, Tim and Mary, meet for the first time – in a pitch black restaurant where they can’t see a thing.  Where did that idea come from?  Does such a place exist?

Richard:  There does!  There’s a restaurant called Dans le noir in London and I actually went out to dinner with Rachel McAdams and Domnhall Gleeson and it was a pretty freaky evening.  You really can’t see a thing.  You don’t know if you’re eating strawberry moose or chopped liver.  Also, it’s socially unnerving because you can’t hear a smile.  You’ll say something that you think is funny and it was greeted by total silence.

My motivation was wouldn’t it be lovely if you’d kind of fallen in love with a girl before you’d seen her.  I wanted to give her a big entrance.  Rather than having a pretty girl on the edge of a room, it would be fun to have someone you’ve already gotten to know but haven’t yet seen.  So when you get out of the restaurant, you’re already affected.

Matt:  And what can you tell us about Domhnall Gleeson?  I realise he’s the son of Brendon Gleeson and he’s had a lot of small roles in films but it’s a big step up to take the lead role in a romantic flick alongside Rachel McAdams.

Richard:  I’ve always loved the idea of introducing someone who people don’t know terribly well.  Hugh Grant was relatively unknown when we cast him in Four Weddings & A Funeral.  A lot of the films I love such as Gregory’s Girl and Breaking Away and Diner – these movies were full of young men who people didn’t know.

The great thing about Domnhall is that he has this terrific sense of humour.  He’s done a lot of sketch shows back in Ireland.  It was hard to cast him though because when he first turned up, he had an enormous orange beard because he was in the middle of filming Anna Karenina.  He looked like a serial killer from the Appalachian Mountains.  It took an act of faith to cast him but I think it paid off.

Matt:  I was reading on the internet that there were a few other actors that were being talked about for the female leading role but Rachel McAdams came in pretty late in the process.  Is that right?

Richard:  Yeah.  I’ve asked her to do things before actually.  She’s one of my favourite actresses.  We held back from asking her to do the film initially because she’d done The Time Traveller’s Wife.  I therefore thought she was just going to say no and hurt my feelings.  In the end, we did offer it to her and we got lucky.  She’s really lovely in this film and has to do this complicated job of going from first-time, young girl, romantic figure to a mother of three.  

Matt:  I was thrilled to see the cameo from Richard Griffiths who sadly passed away 6 months ago and I believe it’s the final screen appearance.  How did you get him for that short scene?

Richard:  I worked with him before on The Vicar of Dibley.  It was a really touching day because both Richard Griffiths and Richard E. Grant are in this scene where something goes massively wrong in a theatre.  It was the first time they’d been in a film together since Withnail and I which is one of the great English comedies.  It was a complicated day though because there were three of us called Richard.  So when anyone said “Richard”, all three of us spun to attention.

Matt:  I’m glad that we’re now at the end of another Hollywood summer blockbuster season because I’ve become exhausted by all the sequels and reboots, all the super hero and comic book movies.  Do you have any thoughts on the future of the film industry with so much money being spent these days on films that all seem to be created from the same mould?

Richard:  I actually love some of those films.  There are always people predicting that things are going to get worse but I see a lot of movies I really love at every level.  About Time was very inspired by a film called Like Crazy – a tiny little American movie that was made for about $250,000.  So while some movies are getting more expensive, there are still a lot of beautiful movies being made at the other end.  I’m not too gloomy.

Matt:  Would you love the chance to do a $200m action blockbuster?

Richard:  No.  I’d rather do a $200,000 movie that you make in three weeks.  One of the problems with movies is that they take too long and they’re a lot of hard work.  That’s why I’ve always loved television as the process moves so much faster.

Matt:  I’ll finish up by looking into your own future.  I was reading that you’ve written the screenplay for Trash, the new Stephen Daldry film.  What can you tell us about that?

Richard:  I just got back two days ago from Rio De Janeiro and I hope it’ll be a great film.  Stephen is such an interesting director.  It’s about three kids on a trash heap in Rio De Janeiro who find a wallet that they explodes through society.  It turns out to be at the centre of a scandal.  I think of it as The Bourne Ultimatum only with teenagers in it.

Matt:  Well, we’ve got About Time to satisfy ourselves in the meantime and I think it’s a great film, despite my aversion towards romantic comedies.  Richard Curtis, thank you very much for speaking with us.

Richard:  Well that review sounds a lot better than the dreadful Love Actually so it’s one I’m very happy with (laughs).