Matt's Blog

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 10 December 2012

Wreck-It-Ralph is one of the year’s best animated features with a terrific underlying concept.  You can check out my review by clicking here.  While he was recently in Australia, I had a chat with writer-director Rich Moore, who started his career on The Simpsons, to talk about the film…

You can down a quick 2 minute audio extract by clicking here.

Matt:  “You were involved in the early days of The Simpsons, one of my favourite shows of all time, and now you’ve stepped up to the plate with this animated feature, Wreck-It-Ralph.  What sort of changes in technology have you seen in animation over that time?  Has it become easier or harder for you?

Rich:  “I don’t know if it’s easier or harder but it’s very different.  When I started on The Simpsons and began my career back in 1989, the show was being animated on paper, photocopied onto cell and then painted.  It’s the same way they made Snow White back in 1937.

A lot of shows now, like The Simpsons, are drawn on a computer.  They’re composited in a computer, there are no cells and there is no paint.  It’s very, very different but… the goal is still the same – to tell a great story with great characters that takes place in a world that we believe in.

Once I got to know the animators at Disney who were computer-generated animators, we started to speak the same language and it was a simple transition for me to go from a show like The Simpsons to a film like Wreck-It-Ralph.”

Matt:  “Let’s talk about Wreck-It-Ralph.  It’s such a great concept for a movie with all these video game villains finally standing up for themselves.  Where did this idea come from?”

Rich:  “I am someone who always loved playing games.  I started playing arcade games back when I was a kid.  When I started at Disney, I had heard that they had always thought about making a movie about video game characters.  This concept had existed in different shapes and forms for about 20 years.  No one had been able to crack a story for the idea.

I jumped at the chance to be able to develop something around that concept because my love for that medium and form of entertainment.  What I didn’t want to do what to do was make a movie about video games that was all based on action and adventure.  I wanted there to be a very solid character at the core of the movie and a very solid dilemma with this character in his mind.

So I fell in love with this idea of taking a very simple character from an old game and putting a complex dilemma in his mind.  What I was trying to get at was – what’s the meaning of life?  Here the character is programmed to do one thing day-in, day-out.  What if he didn’t like that?  What if he wasn’t feeling fulfilled?

That simple concept of taking a Donkey Kong-esque guy and saddling him with this very profound existential crisis and setting it all in a video game world was the genesis of the idea.”

Matt:  “How did the copyright work with all of these characters?  Was it easy getting the rights from all the game manufacturers to get everyone you wanted?”

Rich:  “It was simpler that you might think.  We were told in the beginning that it might be very difficult but I knew going in that if we were going to make a movie about video games and the history of video games that I really wanted real game characters in it.

So I never tried to limit myself.  I approached developing the movie as if we had them.  When the time came to actually meet with the game companies, Clark Spencer (the film’s producer) and myself met them face-to-face and we would pitch the movie to them and describe how we would use their characters in the film.

For the most part, people were very receptive.  Movies like Roger Rabbit and Toy Story have demonstrated what a movie like this can be.  They were eager to be a part of it.  We formed real partnerships with these game companies where we didn’t just use their characters but had them involved in making sure that their characters were represented correctly.  We gave them approval over script pages, over design, over rough animations and I think it gave us really great performances from those characters that fans of those games have recognised as being authentic.”

Matt:  “Moving to the movies, there’s a great cast here with John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman and Jane Lynch amongst others.  How much time did you have to spend finding the right voices for these characters?”

Rich:  “For a lot of the characters, before we even picked up a pencil and deciding what these worlds would look like, the writer Phil Johnston and I worked for 9 months developing these characters.  Both of us like to work with these characters first – as if we’re going from the inside out.

We were very clear-minded in who these characters were, what their personalities were like and who we wanted to play them.  We were able to then go into the process with a clear vision on who we wanted to cast.

We did something a little unusual for a Disney or Pixar film in that we did a table read for the first draft of the script with a lot of the people who we wanted to play the characters.  We did this up at Pixar and it was in that moment, once people heard these actors playing these characters for the first time, that we had a clear vision about what this movie was going to be.

Matt:  One of the challenges of an animated feature is something that can entertain both adults and kids.  As a writer of this film as well, how do you know when you have that balance right?”

Rich:  “That’s a good question.  It’s something that comes with trial and error.  What you’re describing is a type of entertainment that I’ve loved all my life.  I’m talking about comedy movies and television shows that I could enjoy, my siblings could enjoy and my parents could enjoy.  There’s something very special about those things where I felt like I was part of a bigger experience watching a show or movie.

I’ve always attempted to strive for that in my own career.  I think The Simpsons was very much that type of show where we appealed to children, young people and adults.  It was a really important factor of the show to Matt Groening that we were not excluding anyone from our audience – we had something for everyone.

Knowing when the balance is tricky.  We remade this movie 7 times while it was in production, in a rough form.  There are times when you watch it and you’ll watch it with your colleagues and other directors and you get a clear sense that the version played “a little young”.  It feels like we’re insulting the intelligence of the adults.  We need to “age it up” a little bit.  Sometimes you’ll feel that a section is “too adult” and that we’re talking down to kids.  We then try to make it more inclusive.

Having done it for a long time and trusting the opinions of my colleagues and friends, I ultimately get to a point where I feel like I’ve struck that balance.

  

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 December 2012

  

I’m back after my travels to North Korea and China!  I’ve been busily catching up on movies and have seen a total of 9 in the past 4 days.

 

Since I’ve had so many people asking, I thought I’d use this week’s blog to talk about my trip to North Korea.  It’s a country that so few people get to visit and I found it fascinating.

 

You can check out more photos on my Facbeook page by clicking here.

 

You can also listen to a podcast of myself and Jake (who I was traveling with) on ABC Radio where we discussed our holiday with Scott Spark.  Just click here.

 

Here are a few observations from my trip…

 

 

They Are As Interested In Us As We Are In Them

 

I was traveling with a friend of mine (the insightful Jake Araullo) and it was just the two of us on the tour.  You can do larger groups but we had arranged a private tour.  It’s actually not that expensive – roughly $2,000 for the 4 nights including the flight from Beijing to Pyongyang and all accommodation and meals.

 

The benefit of the private tour is that we were able to spend a lot of time interacting with our two guides – one male and one female.  We had a few long bus rides and we were able to build trust and ask a questions.  For example, we found out that they learned their English not from a teacher but from watching Western movies and reading Western books.  They have access to this as part of their university education.  We spent a solid hour at one point going through our favourite films.

 

What surprised me was that they were just as interested in us as we were in them.  North Koreans aren’t allowed to travel overseas and the guides were quick to ask about Australia.  They also wanted to know how the world perceived North Korea and what drove us to visit.

 

On the last day, we visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea.  Through the help of a translator, I had a Captain in the North Korean army ask about my life back home and my thoughts on the United States and Barrack Obama.  It was a great conversation!

 

Interacting with our tour guide and showing out interest in North Korean history.

With my two tour guides at Mount Myohyang.

 

 

Standing In An Seemingly Endless Corridor

 

The International Friendship Exhibition is a ridiculously large museum that is housed in two buildings on Mount Myohyang (about two hours from Pyongyang).  The museums house every gift that has been given to North Korea by a world leader, company representative or foreign dignitary.  There’s a “leader board” in the main display room which shows that the current number of gifts exceeds 111,000.

 

I wasn’t able to take any photos inside but the place is huge!  On entering the exhibition, I had to place a cover over my shoes and bow in front of a statue of Kim Il-Sung.  We then had a welcoming guide show us a sample of the rooms.  At one point, I was standing in a corridor that stretched 400m with huge wooden doors all the way along.

 

Part of me is impressed that they have a way of displaying all the beautiful gifts.  I can’t think of another place in the world like it.  On the flip side, it does seem somewhat self-promoting.  It’s as if they’re engaged in a contest to say “hey look, I have more gifts than you!”

 

With our special guide to show us around the International Friendship Exhibition.

Jake tries to open the huge front doors at the International Friendship Exhibition.

 

 

No, I Didn’t Visit A Nuclear Site Or Labour Camp

 

The terms nuclear launch sites and labour camps are often thrown around when talking about North Korea.  Both exist but I didn’t visit them and nor would I be allowed to.

 

People have made comments to me along the lines of “you realise you only visited the really nice parts of North Korea and didn’t see all the poverty and hardship”.  That’s true… but isn’t that how overseas travel usually works?  If I’m going to Paris, do I ask my tour guide to see the slums and prisons?  Or do I ask to see the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Moulin Rouge?

 

North Korea does have food and power shortages.  When we were travelling at night, we passed 30+ storey apartment buildings with no lights on.  Our guides were happy to admit that yes, they do have power shortages in winter and the power is shared around as a result.

 

The view from our hotel room (38 stories up) and looking out towards downtown Pyongyang.

Hanging out in a Pyongyang bowling alley.

 

 

Kim Il-Sung And Kim Jong-Il Are Gods

 

The idolisation of former leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il is incredible.  The billboards on the streets don’t feature advertising.  Rather, they have huge paintings of these two guys which highlight their power and achievements.  That’s not to mention the photos that appear in all major buildings and the giant bronze statues that can be found across the country.

 

The Mansudae Grand Monument is located in central Pyongyang and features a 60m bronze statue of both Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il.  Jake and I were required to buy flowers which we placed at the foot of the statue.  We then had to stand in a line with our guides and bow.  A security guard noticed that Jake was chewing gum and asked that he remove it from his mouth while paying his respects.

 

We were told during our trip that Kim Il-Sung wrote over 50,000 books and seemed to be responsible for every major development in North Korea.  I knew this wasn’t true and it left me wondering if the North Korean people had similar doubts, even if they didn’t express them.  I couldn’t quite get a sense of this from my guides.

 

That said, even if the North Koreas do treat their leaders as gods, is that such a bad thing?  Isn’t that what all major religions are about?  Raised as a Catholic, apparently God created the universe and he sent his son down 2,000 years ago who had the capability of turning water into wine.  I’m not dissing religion but rather trying to highlight the fact that as humans, we like to use a gods and religion as a way of shaping our lives.

 

To try a different tact, the Queen Of England appears on every bank note and stamp in the United Kingdom.  Her photo can be found hanging in numerous buildings.  She’s not democratically elected, she lives in a palace in the middle of London and she’s a person that many people look up to.  I realise she’s a lot friendlier than Kim Jong-Un (at least I think) but again, idolising a leader isn’t exactly new in our world.  The difference is that North Korea does it on a much bigger scale.

 

Paying my respects at the 60m bronze statues at the Mansudae Grand Monument.

One of the many murals that can be found on the streets of Pyongyang.

 

 

Gasp! Shock! Horror! Some People Are Happy

 

When you walk the streets of Pyongyang, you’ll find that people look happy.  I spent an hour in a packed bowling alley playing alongside a bunch of youngsters having fun.  I drove past the newly opened ice-skating rink and roller-blading park where people were queuing up to get in.  I passed through small towns where kids were playing on the street.

 

The world gets a very negative picture of North Korea but that’s because of their leadership.  That doesn’t mean that everyone in the country walks around in dark clothing with their heads down.  They’re not all depressed about the wonderful world outside of their borders that they aren’t able to enjoy.

 

Part of this could be the fact that they don’t realise what they’re missing out on… but still, many people seem ok with their life in North Korea.  They have a strong family focus and not all of them want to travel overseas or read the latest Twilight novel.  I always find it amusing that only 30% of Americans own a passport – many of them are content to stay within the realm of their home country.

 

While getting a tour of the Concrete Wall that separates North and South Korea, I met a 59-year-old Colonel in the North Korean army.  He told me that the retirement age was 60 and he was looking forward to his upcoming retirement.  His plan was to go fishing each day and spend time with his two grandchildren.  I also found it interesting that women can get 1-2 years paid maternity leave if they have a baby.

 

 

 

Kids playing in the street in the town of Kaesong.

Talking to a Colonel in the North Korean army about his life.

 

 

What’s Twitter?

 

I hinted at it above but one of the huge downsides of living in North Korea is their limited access to world news.  They have 3 television channels and combined, they show just 30 minutes of “international news” on a weekly basis (which I’m sure is biased).  I read an English version of The Pyongyang Times on the plane and it had plenty of stories showing how bad life was in South Korea.

 

At the hotel, we had access to a 24-hour BBC news station (which was great to watch in the evening) but this was only available in certain rooms – i.e. those rooms with international guests.  Our tour guides stayed on a lower floor and only had the regular channels.

 

They have a mobile phone network but it only operates within the country.  Tourists can’t bring in their own phones (or any other device with GPS capabilities) so I had to leave my iPhone with a friend in Beijing.  It’s a strange sensation to feel so isolated.

 

There’s no internet either.  There’s an “intranet” but I don’t think you’ll be finding too much information on it about the Western world.  When Jake and I mentioned the term “Twitter”, our guides responded with a blank stare of confusion.

 

Reading the latest copy of The Pyongyang Times on the plane.

Jake trying to use the latest laptop (which apparently was invented by Kim Jong-Il).

 

 

There’s No Traffic!

 

Most people get around Pyongyang via buses and the picturesque subway system.  As a result, there are very few cars on the road and it’s easy to get around.  There’s certainly no peak hour rush.

 

There’s a catch though.  The roads are in dreadful condition.  It’s as if they were built 20 years ago and not a single ounce of maintenance work has been performed.  They’re lumpy, they’re bumpy and there are huge potholes.  Sleeping on the mini-bus was impossible as it felt like we were riding a horse!

 

We had some lengthy drives on our mini-bus and our skilled driver had to keep a close eye on the road the entire time.  We often drove on the wrong side of the road (don’t worry, there’s no traffic) just because of the smoother surface.  He well and truly earned his salary over the 5 days.

 

I've been on safer roads (please note this bridge has no guard rails).

A look at one of the lavish subway stations.

 

 

Alice In Wonderland

 

Late one afternoon, we visited the Mangyongdae School Children’s Palace in central Pyongyang.  I said to Jake at the time that it felt like we had gone down the rabbit hole and were part of Alice In Wonderland.

 

We were escorted around the school by an over-excited 14-year-old girl and as we entered each room, the kids would drop everything and put on a musical show for us.  Some of the children couldn’t have been much older than 7 or 8 but they were extremely talented.  They spend hours after school each day perfecting their musical instruments.  It culminated with a 45 minute show where some of the best students performed on a stage in front of all the tourists.

 

Rightly or wrongly, this highlights the strong work ethic that exists not only in North Korea but in other Asian countries.  These kids have been identified as “gifted” and they spend hours after school each day perfecting their talents.  Some might believe that these kids have no life and that they’re missing out on a fun childhood.  Others might see an opposite view and be impressed that these children are showing such dedication at a young age.

 

It’s left me with plenty to think about.  Do Australian kids have a strong enough work ethic today?  Is there a risk that our country will drop a few rungs in the world order if other countries place a greater emphasis on education?

 

Watching kids play the accordian at the Mangyongdae School Children’s Palace.

The finale of a 45-minute show at the Mangyongdae School Children’s Palace.

 

 

North Korea Has A Film Industry

 

I spent an hour or so visiting a film studio just outside of Pyongyang and was surprised to learn that North Korea produces about 30 films a year.  That makes it similar to Australia.  No Western movies screen in the country but there's enough home-grown product to play in movie theatres (every major town has one) and be shown on television.

 

As filmmakers can’t travel overseas, the studio had a mix of locations including China, South Korea and Europe.  I strolled around the set for a while and enjoyed a cool coffee shop that was hidden away in one of the buildings.

 

I didn’t get a chance to see any movies while in North Korea (not that it would have helped given they have no English subtitles) but I’d like to be able to track one down and cast my critical eye over it.

 

A beautiful theatre in Pyongyang that is home to operas and theatrical productions.

Standing on the Chinese set at the Pyongyang Film Studio.

 

 

Other Observations

 

A few other quick things that I have to throw in…

 

Mount Myonyang was beautiful and it was fun to trek through the snow covered mountains.  It’s only the second time in my life that I’ve experienced snow.

 

There are food shortages in North Korea but as international guests, we were well fed.  I enjoyed trying some of their local dishes and tasting Kimchi.

 

It was great to visit the site where the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953.  It has inspired me to read more about the Korean War and the involvement of other nations.

 

I got to fly on Air Koryo – the world’s only one star airline.  Based on the taste of the hamburger on the return flight, I can now see why.

 

A snow fight at Mount Myohyang.

We were well fed. There's no doubt about that.

Jake checking out the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North from South.

We're wedding crashers!

Our room at the Yanggakdo Hotel.

This is why Air Koryo is the world's only one-star airline.

 

 

I’ll finish up by recommending North Korea as a great place to visit.  If you’re sick of the same old, same old holiday destinations, I can’t think of a better choice!

  

 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 November 2012

  

Every year in mid-November, I prepare a blog on the season’s major Oscars contenders.  Everyone wants to get their hands on the coveted gold statuette but only one film will be considered “worthy” enough by the Academy.  The winners over the past 5 years have been The Artist, The King’s Speech, The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire and No Country For Old Men.

 

Those new to the Oscars game but wonder how the Oscars are so easy to predict.  The reason is that it’s a race very much run like a election.  Some heavy-handed campaigning is already underway and it’s only going to become more intense over the next few months.  The Academy hosts screenings of many films for its members and the stars/directors turn up to answer questions and put on a good show – to “wow” Academy members even more.

 

There can be between anywhere between 5 and 10 nominations for best picture at the Oscars.  Put simply, if 5% of a Academy members (there are roughly 5,000 of them) give a film their number 1 preference, it’ll earn a best picture nomination.

 

In last year’s blog (see here), I named 10 films (assuming the Academy would nominate that many).  They only nominated 9 and they consisted of my own top 9 predictions.  I also named 3 of the 4 acting winners.  I’ve mentioned this before but I don’t say this to gloat.  There are Oscar pundits who are wiser than myself.  I only make the statement to illustrate the often predictable nature of the awards.

 

Anyway, most Oscar-calibre releases are saved for the end of the year but a few have already been released in cinemas.  These include Argo, The Master, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, The Dark Knight Rises, Moonrise Kingdom and The Sessions.

 

There are heaps of films still to come though and here are those (in order of release) that will have a crack at a best picture slot…

 

Skyfall

Release Date In Australia:  22 November 2012

Director:  Sam Mendes (American Beauty)

Starring:  Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

 

Les Misérables

Release Date In Australia:  26 December 2012

Director:  Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

Starring:  Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France, in which a paroled prisoner named Jean Valjean seeks redemption.

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Release Date In Australia:  26 December 2012

Director:  Peter Jackson (The Lord Of The Rings trilogy)

Starring:  Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving

Plot Overview:  A curious Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, journeys to the Lonely Mountain with a vigorous group of Dwarves to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug.

 

Life Of Pi

Release Date In Australia:  1 January 2013

Director:  Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)

Starring:  Irrfan Khan, Gerard Depardieu, Suraj Sharma, Rafe Spall

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor ... a fearsome Bengal tiger.

 

Hitchcock

Release Date In Australia:  10 January 2013

Director:  Sacha Gervasi (Anvil: The Story Of Anvil)

Starring:  Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  A love story between influential filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho in 1959.

 

Lincoln

Release Date In Australia:  17 January 2013

Director:  Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List)

Starring:  Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.

 

Anna Karenina

Release Date In Australia:  17 January 2013

Director:  Joe Wright (Atonement)

Starring:  Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Set in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.

 

Django Unchained

Release Date In Australia:  24 January 2013

Director:  Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)

Starring:  Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

 

Silver Linings Playbook

Release Date In Australia:  31 January 2013

Director:  David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Starring:  Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

 

Flight

Release Date In Australia:  7 February 2012

Director:  Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling.

 

Zero Dark Thirty

Release Date In Australia:  TBA

Director:  Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Starring:  Jessica Chastain, Mark Duplass, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy SEAL Team 6 in May, 2011.

 

Amour

Release Date In Australia:  TBA

Director:  Michael Haneke (Hidden)

Starring:  Jean-Louis Trintiqnant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested.

 

The buzz is that there are four very strong contenders – Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Les Misérables and Lincoln.

 

Based on everything I’ve read, my tips in order at this stage would be:

 

1. Les Misérables, 2. Argo, 3. Lincoln, 4. Silver Linings Playbook, 5. Zero Dark Thirty, 6. The Master, 7. Life Of Pi, 8. Beasts Of The Southern Wild, 9. Flight, 10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

 

Les Misérables is the only one of the “big 4” that is yet to be seen by any critics (well, not that I know of) but I know Hollywood loves a good musical and the trailer gives it the feel of a gorgeously shot epic.  Argo is the early favourite with bookmakers based on terrific word of mouth from the public and it’ll be interesting to see if it can hang on.

 

For best actor, my pick is Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln.  His major danger is Joaquin Phoenix in The Master but I think the status of Day-Lewis and the fact that he can make history (by becoming the first 3-time best actor winner) will get him the votes required. 

 

For best actress, I’d love to see Quvenzhane Wallis (who was just 6 years old at the time of shooting) get nominated for Beasts Of The Southern Wild.  A win would be truly special.  It’s a wide open race this year but the buzz is with the Hollywood “it” girl, Jenifer Lawrence, for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook.  She can do no wrong at the moment and an Oscar could be her next achievement.

 

For best supporting actor, it’s another wide open race.  Names being tossed around include Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook), Alan Arkin (Argo) and Russell Crowe (Les Miserables).  The thing is that ALL of these people have won before.  Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) is the only non-winner to feature in the markets.  I’d love to see DiCaprio take home an Oscar but I have to lean towards Philip Seymour Hoffman at this stage.

 

For best supporting actress, Anne Hathaway is in the driver’s seat and has my vote.  She has a beautiful voice and seems perfectly cast in Les Misérables.  Names like Helen Hunt, Amy Adams and Sally Field have been thrown into the ring but Hathaway looks the goods.

 

The Oscars will be held on 24 February 2013 with the nominees revealed on 10 January 2013.  We’ll get a better indication of the race though when the nominations for the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards are revealed in mid December.  May the best film win… for once!

 

That’s it from me.  There’ll be no blog from be next week as I’ll be on holidays in North Korea and China.  I’ll miss a few media previews while I’m away (including The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and Les Misérables) but will be catching up quickly on my return.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 October 2012

I can’t quite describe my reaction when I heard that Paul Thomas Anderson was coming to Australia to promote his new film, The Master.  He’s my favourite modern day director and Magnolia (released in Australia in early 2000) is a masterpiece.  On 24 October 2012, I took the day off work and flew to Sydney for a chance to spend 15 minutes with Paul and ask him a few questions.  It was an honour to be in the company of such a gifted filmmaker and here’s what he had to say…

 

You can download an audio extract by clicking here and you can read my review of the film by clicking here.

 

Matt:  The guy standing in front of me is not THE god but he is A god as far as I’m concerned.  He’s the man who brought us Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood and one of the greatest films in the history of cinema, Magnolia.  Mr Paul Thomas Anderson, welcome to Australia.

 

Paul:  Yeah, thank-you.

 

Matt:  Is this your first time in Australia?

 

Paul:  No, it’s the third time.  Boogie Nights we came down for and then I came for a vacation in 1999.

 

Matt:  Now you’re an acclaimed filmmaker with 5 Oscar nominations but I’m curious to know with a film like The Master, how easy is it getting that off the ground?  Getting the funding for it?

 

Paul:  Difficult.  I thought after There Will Be Blood, because it did so well and we hard a lot of hardware that we came away with, that it would be very easy but it’s a miracle anytime you get a film made.  For some reason, getting the cast together for this one was difficult.  They never come together quite how you expect they’re going to come together but they end up being just how they should, if that makes sense.

 

Matt:  The actors you’ve worked with have often gone on and won awards like Tom Cruise, Burt Reynolds and Daniel Day Lewis.  Now here we have both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix being discussed as possible Oscar contenders.  What’s your secret?  How do you drag out these magnificent performances from these already accomplished actors?

 

Paul:  They’re pretty great without me.  You can write a scene really well and do all the other traditional things that get you there but you’d be surprised how much of a contributing factor scheduling can be.  A performance can be like an athletic event.  If you’re asking someone to come in and deliver something, it takes a high degree of concentration and physically takes something out of them.  It’s as small and as incremental as managing hour-to-hour what they’re doing and what they’re up against.

 

Sometimes an actor will go and do a film and the director won’t tell them how many shots they’re going to need to do a scene.  So they have to spend an enormous amount of energy in anticipation of what may be asked of them rather than being clear about how to schedule the day.  It helps you invest in what you’re doing and not just throw a bunch of things at the wall and overcrowd it and get tired and grumpy and sick of making a movie.

 

Matt:  I know you would have been asked about this a lot already but the use of 65mm in this film.  The last time I saw one of those films was Hamlet back in 1996.  Why this particular film?

 

Paul:  Did you see Baraka?

 

Matt:  No, I didn’t.

 

Paul:  You’ve got to see that.  That is a great film that was shot in 65mm.  There’s another film which is a sequel to that called Samsara that is coming out that you should really find.  People talk about Hamlet as the last film and these guys with Baraka have shot more 65mm than anybody else.

 

Anyway, it was a decision about what looked right and what seemed to evoke the period.  It was never like “we’re always going to shoot in 65mm”.  It was more a question of trying to find cameras and lenses that gave some feeling to the film that looked right.  Those were the ones that did it.  It wasn’t a selling point on anything like that.  It was just as simple as finding what looked and felt right to us.

 

Matt:  It’s interesting that one of the themes in Boogie Nights is in the porn industry with film giving way to tape and so now here we are in 2012 with film giving way to digital.

 

Paul:  Yeah, I know.  I feel like Jack Horner in that film!

 

Matt:  So going forward do you have plans to continue to try to use film if at all possible?

 

Paul:  It doesn’t matter.  I’d like to be able to use whatever we need to tell the story and do it right.  The cameras we were using were 30 years old and lenses that were 40 and 50 years old.  We even used lenses that were nearly 100 years old.  But we also used gear that’s brand new.  So I don’t care what it is.  The drag is when things go away because there’s no one to take care of them. 

 

Matt:  So many movies get made around World War II in the 1940s and it feels like it’s a period of history that’s been done to death but this film here is set in the early 1950s in America which I think is an unexplored time in terms of cinema.  Why did you choose this particular era to set this film?

 

Paul:  I don’t know why.  There are obvious reasons like sexy cars and sexy songs and sexy wardrobes… but that’s not why.  It helps though.  There was a thing for me in that my dad was in the war and he came back.  There’s a gravity that brings you to a story and it’s hard to put your finger on why.      

 

Matt:  I saw this film only for the first time yesterday with a friend of mine and we discussed it for about an hour over lunch.  We went in thinking it was going to be referenced to the Church of Scientology and so forth but for us it was really more of a character study.  Joaquin Phoenix’s character seems so aimless, so directionless and he latches onto the Philip Seymour Hoffman character as this father-type figure.  Tell me – are we on the right track?

 

Paul:  That’s exactly the right track!  It’s not big on plot, this film.  There’s not a lot of plot but hopefully we make up for it with an abundance of character. 

 

Matt:  But with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd, what is it about him that keeps drawing him in?  His wife, his kids keep saying to get rid of this guy but he keeps him around, he keeps wanting him there.  What’s drawing him in?

 

Paul:  He wants to fix him.  If he’s proposing that he can make people happy, wouldn’t it be great if he could make this person happy and assimilate into society or into a family.  It’s not just that selfish motivation of using him like a guinea pig or a mantelpiece project.  I think he deeply feels connected to him and excited by him.  It’s like the way any of us are drawn to the deep loves in our lives.  It doesn’t matter why.  You just are.

 

It’s hard to resist that kind of thing despite better judgement or advice from outside people.  They say “you cannot be in this relationship, it’s going to hurt you” but you look at them and say “what do you know?” 

 

Matt:  The sexual themes in the film are interesting.  It seems to be something that Joaquin Phoenix’s character thinks about a lot.  It reaches a point where we’ve got something I never thought I’d see on screen with Amy Adams masturbating Philip Seymour Hoffman in the bathroom.  Why did we go so intimately into the sex lives of these characters?

 

Paul:  Weren’t you happy to see Amy Adams jerk off Phil?  (laughs)

 

Matt:  It was a great scene.

 

Paul:  Well that’s why you do it.  Because it’s a great scene. 

 

Matt:  Let’s talk about the music.  Jon Brion’s work I loved, especially with Magnolia, but here you have Jonny Greenwood who you used on There Will Be Blood.  What were you looking for with the music in this film?

 

Paul:  The films I grew up loving and that made me want to make films had great music.  Music wasn’t the afterthought.  It was clearly a partner with the film like what John Williams did with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and what Bernard Herrmann did with Alfred Hitchcock.  Everything was given equal weight and it kind of moved together.  I just thought that’s what you were supposed to do.

 

Working with Jonny is like having another actor like another Joaquin or another Phil.  He’s someone who can contribute to the overall experience and draw the audience in.

 

Matt:  We have a change of cinematographer here.  You used Robert Elswit on all your previous films but you’ve brought in Mihai Malaimare Jr here. What was his background?  Why did you get him in for this project?

 

Paul:  I liked the work he did with Coppola.  I don’t know if the films made it down here but they were smaller films that Coppola has been making like Tetro and Youth Without Youth.  They’re real small and experimental and there was a kind of youthfulness to it.  Maybe it was what Coppola was doing but it felt like he was back to being experimental and taking risks and there was some excitement in those films that I felt coming through that made me want to reach out to Mihai and get to know him.  It was great.

 

Matt:  It’s been five years since There Will Be Blood and it was five years before that going back to Punch Drunk Love.  Please tell me we’re not going to wait another five years for something from you.

 

Paul:  I hope not, no.  That was never the idea.  After There Will Be Blood I went to Phil and said I’ve got a great idea.  I’ve got a collection of these pages and let’s make a date and three months from now, go make this film really quickly.  It all went out the window because he had theatre engagements here in Sydney… right down the street actually.  The next year we couldn’t make the film and all that momentum changed and was lost.  At this point for us it’s just trying to find a way to get everyone back together again.

 

Matt:  So sticking with the same ensemble?

 

Paul:  Yeah, the same people behind the scenes as well.  Hopefully it won’t be five years.

 

Matt:  Well The Master is about to be released in Australian cinemas and thank you so much for speaking with me this morning.

 

Paul:  Thanks for coming down.