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Interview - Author Aaron Blabey on 'The Bad Guys'
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
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The Bad Guys is an animated feature with a timely release in Australia to align with the Easter school holidays. I recently had the chance to speak with Australian author Aaron Blabey about his much-loved books being adapted for the big screen…
Matt: I’m sure it’s something a lot of authors think about when writing books. Was there a point where you thought The Bad Guys could make a good movie or TV show?
Aaron: The DNA was always in there but when I wrote the first book, I hadn’t had any real commercial success. It was beyond a flight of fantasy at the time but then, a part of me went “you know what… I love movies so much and I’m going to deliberately write something that is my version of movie except in book form.” Everyone picked up on that instantly, including movie studios, which is why there was so much interest so suddenly.
Matt: So how does it work? How do they contact you and say “we want to buy the rights to your books”?
Aaron: We had heard whisperings that a couple of studios were interested. The book had done well very quickly in American schools so word had got around that way. I flew across and had the strangest week of my life and the end of 2016 and met the heads of all the studios. A number of them were aggressively pursuing it. Dreamworks kept rising to the top of being the obvious choice.
When my eldest was little, Kung Fu Panda had just been released and I always felt the tone of that was perfect. It was what I was hoping to achieve with this.
Matt: Do you give up full creative control once you sign the rights over or are there things you still get a say over when the script is being written and the film being made?
Aaron: That can certainly happen but I had a deal as an executive producer so I’ve been across each draft of the screenplay, each cut of the movie, and each major discussion about the film. If the studio decides to go rogue there’s not much you can do about it but Dreamworks have been sensational from the start and incredibly inclusive and respective to the point of almost being reverent about the source material.
Two of the major gags from the trailer are directly from the book. It blows my mind that gags I came up with 8 years ago are now suddenly everywhere. It’s the most wonderful thing.
Matt: With an animated film I guess you see parts of it being put together but when did you finally get to see the finished product?
Aaron: I’ve seen the whole thing in various forms many, many times but because of COVID-19, I haven’t been able to travel back and forth to the United States and so I’ve been watching it all on my laptop with “property of Dreamworks – do not copy – do not copy” written all over it.
It was a couple of weeks ago when I got to sit in a cinema with a small audience and see it on the big screen. It was pretty sensational. It’s only just been finished with the final sound mix and that added a whole other layer to it given movies in many ways are 50-50 between sound and visuals. I’m not very good at pretending to like things if I don’t… but I think they’ve hit this out of the park.
Matt: Did you get to take family and friends along to that screening?
Aaron: No, that’s happening this coming weekend. I went down to Melbourne to do some media but the actual Australian premiere will be in Sydney. That’s where my family will see it for the first time. My two boys made a conscious choice to not see it until it was fully done which is impressive for a couple of kids. I kept telling them how it was changing and evolving and shifting and they said “we just want to see the movie” so were happy to wait.
Matt: The animation is top-notch and the voice cast have been well chosen. Do you have a favourite character from the movie? One that translates best from your books?
Aaron: It’s really hard to choose which is a great situation to be in. I feel like they’ve nailed all of them. My personal favourite, because it’s always been my favourite character, is Mr Snake. He’s the most troubled by the situation they’re in and, in many ways, he’s the centre of the book series. If my book series was Star Wars, he’d be Anakin Skywalker on his Darth Vader journey. He’s that guy. I love what they’ve done with him but the whole cast is extraordinary.
Matt: The same question I have about the movie also applies to the books – how do you get in the head of 6-year- old or 9-year-old and know the best way to target a story towards them?
Aaron: I have to time travel now because my kids have grown up but at the time, it was about what would make my two kids laugh and what would hold their attention and make them want to know what comes next. That was it really. That then opened a whole bunch of doors about what would have worked for me at that age and that’s what led me to muck around with the iconography of stuff from older age groups. That’s how I end up doing a mash-up which I’ve described as Tarantino for kids from the start of the book series.
Matt: Your books are already very popular. Do you hope this will spur even further interest in them?
Aaron: That’s the big question. I dread to think. All on our own, we’ve sold 30 million books across 8 years. It’s significant this giant movie is about to drop but who knows? It’s a win either way.
Matt: If this movie is a big success as we hope, is there a chance we’ll see further movies? Do Dreamworks have the rights to that as well?
Aaron: Yeah, they’re in the whole way. Yes, it will entirely depend on the response to the first one but if it is popular, I’m sure you’ll see a bunch of them.
Interview - Kelvin Harrison Jr on 'Cyrano'
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Cyrano, a new musical from director Joe Wright, is released this week in Australian cinemas. I recently spoke to one of the film’s stars, Kelvin Harrison Jr, about the project…
Matt: What interested you most about the role of Christian when you first heard about it?
Kelvin: I got an email saying Joe Wright wanted to meet me and I was like “huh, that’s an email I don’t get every day. I’m interested. What’s he want to talk about?” I finally had a Zoom call with him and he said they were going to do an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. I told him I’d never heard of it. He then sent me the screenplay, I read it and I fell it love with those three characters, especially Christian. I gave him my interpretation, did a self-tape, and then next thing you know, I was in Scilly.
Matt: Christian is an interesting character. He’s a nice person and a well-intentioned person but that’s not to say he’s not a deceitful person. How did you approach that with Joe Wright in working out how to portray the character?
Kelvin: One of the things I loved about Christian is that he came into this with so much innocence and sincerity. He’s a very trusting young man. What he gets mixed up in is not necessarily having the confidence or the understanding of how this particular community works and entrusts his relationship with Roxanne in Cyrano. I think Joe wanted to keep him kind of naïve and innocent. That’s why he almost falls into this trap of deceit and it’s not that he was out to fool the girl he loved.
Matt: We saw you work with a vocal coach and sing on screen last year with The High Note. Did it feel more comfortable this time around or was it a different beast as a full-blown musical?
Kelvin: It was different. The High Note was cool because you feel like a real pop star. You go into the studio and you work with big producers like Darkchild who’s worked with Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson and you go do a music video recording on set. With Cyrano, we’re singing live, and we’re dancing, and the music is so much more intimate in so many different ways, and the lyrics are so profound. It feels like you’re doing a proper musical but you’re doing it all day with many different takes.
Matt: Singing on set, as opposed to in a recording studio, seems to becoming more common and that’s the approach director Joe Wright used here. Was it easy to embrace?
Kelvin: I think it’s more natural. With pre-recording, it’s like a safety blanket for actors so they don’t have to worry about how they sound on set because they’re not proper Broadway singers… but I also think it’s unnatural to lip-sync to your voice that you recorded three months ago. You may not be feeling the same way and you don’t even know if it’s going to sound right in that location.
Matt: There are some beautiful locations used as part of the production. What can you tell us about the Sicilian town of Noto?
Kelvin: It’s beautiful. They invited us into their home in the middle of the pandemic. They were so hospitable. They fed us, the gave us a good time, they had street musicians playing, we had dinners and stuff like that. It was just nice to be in this world that felt kind of fantastical and supported this Cyrano space we existed in. You could walk down the street and see Ragueneau’s Bakery, Roxanne’s apartment, and De Guiche’s house. It help us immerse ourselves in this fantastical space that Joe Wright created.
Matt: This film was shot last year during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Did it have a big impact on the shoot and perhaps what you could and couldn’t do off-screen?
Kelvin: It was a proper lockdown where we had to quarantine and everyone was wearing masks. I think the biggest difference for performers is that so much of our job is about connection and relating to the crew and talking to the other cast members. When you had red zones, yellow zones and green zones, it was a little more isolating but at the same time, any obstacle can be a gift because it forces you to make the most out of the moments you have. When those masks come off, you’re really hungry for meaningful connections with your cast and crew.
Matt: I read an interview with Joe Wright where he spoke about shooting war scenes near at active volcano, Mount Etna, which did erupt during the shoot. Were you there for that?
Kelvin: Oh yeah. Mount Etna gave us trouble from day one. As soon as we decided to shoot up there, Mount Etna was like “ah, I don’t know about that, fellas.” We were in a hotel a little bit away from the volcano but on the third day, I remember looking outside the window and seeing it spout out lava. We were like “are we working today?”
Matt: This is a love story but of the cast, you seem to spend the most time alongside Cyrano, played by the Peter Dinklage. You’re both terrific and so how did you bring the best out in each other?
Kelvin: Pete is just a great dude. He’s a professional and he’s one of the most brilliant actors of our generation. It’s such a gift to work with him. We just kept the banter going. Early on I said “Pete, how do I stay in your good graces?” and he said “just keep laughing at my jokes.” Easy enough!
Matt: With any period-piece movie, one of the fun parts are the costumes and we see you here wearing baggy clothes with big puffy sleeves. Are the clothes actually comfortable?
Kelvin: It’s cool at the fitting. I had a sword and cool boots and beautiful shirts. And then on day 15, you kind of go “my back hurts” from how heavy it all is. You’ve also got 5 people dressing you every day because it’s so detailed. I respect the craft.
Matt: You were in my neck of the woods recently shooting Elvis under the guidance of director Baz Luhrmann. What can you tell us about it?
Kelvin: I love Australia. It was beautiful. I finished this movie, did my quarantine, and dropped in there. I got out the day after New Years’ and I cried because I was so glad you guys followed the COVID rules and I could go outside to restaurants and eat like a normal person. Elvis is going to be sick. Baz is Baz. Baz is an event in one person. You know his films are going to be a spectacle and exciting. The cast is incredible and I had such a great time making that movie. I know everyone is going to love it.
Interview - 11-year-old Jude Hill on 'Belfast'
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
There’s been much hype about Kenneth Branagh’s new film, Belfast, since it won the Audience Award at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival. I recently had the chance to speak with the film’s 11-year-old star, Jude Hill, about his first movie role…
Matt: I believe this is your first ever movie. How did you find out about it and get the chance to audition?
Jude: I do speech and drama lessons on Wednesdays and my teacher saw it somewhere and decided to put me forward for it. I sent through the initial self-tape and then did about 6-7 call backs after that. The casting process was quite intense at times but I’m glad I waited.
Matt: Do you have an acting coach you work with as part of the movie?
Jude: No, I didn’t. I think my acting coach was my mum because every night, she’d go over the lines with me and that really helped me learn them.
Matt: What was the hardest part of making the movie? Was it memorising the lines or was there other stuff which was difficult too?
Jude: I think the hardest part of the movie was saying so many good things about Tottenham Hotspur. It was very hard saying those lines.
Matt: (laughs) So who do you support then?
Jude: I’m a massive Liverpool supporter.
Matt: The film is set in 1969 – a major part of Ireland’s history in the early years of The Troubles. Was it something you needed to learn about as part of the movie?
Jude: I decided to go onto YouTube and search up documentaries about the time. I wanted to get in the head of someone during The Troubles. I also watched TV shows. It was a very hard time for Ireland but the film Belfast gives The Troubles the justice it deserves.
Matt: You’re working alongside some great actors and I particularly loved the scenes you shared with Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds. Did they each you a few things?
Jude: Oh, definitely. Every single day I’d ask them questions and they always gave the answers. The thing about Ciaran and Judi… as soon as they walk into the room, the entire room starts smiling. They’re like a beacon of happiness and I’m glad I got to work with them.
Matt: And you get to work with Kenneth Branagh as well who is a terrific director. What was he like?
Jude: Kenneth Branagh was probably the nicest man you’ll ever meet. He sat me down during the audition process and talked about his childhood and what he would have done in all of those scenes and what happened to him as a child. Belfast is seen through Kenneth Branagh’s 9-year-old self’s eyes and I think it’s portrayed beautifully and the script writing is on point.
Matt: Did you go off the script the whole time or did you get to do a little bit of improv and have a little bit of fun with what you might have wanted to say?
Jude: With a lot of the bigger scenes, there was more room for improv. Ken loved it when we all did improv because it was quite funny at times. One of the funniest lines that wasn’t in the script was done by Judi Dench when Buddy and Granny are watching A Christmas Carol play and she says “who wears jeans that size” and we had to do a couple of takes because we all couldn’t stop laughing.
Matt: The film was shot over a year ago. What’s it like looking back and watching yourself on screen?
Jude: Every time I see the trailer, I remember seeing it through my own eyes when filming each scene. I find that really cool but it’s also kind of weird seeing myself on the TV and on posters. I’m just going with the flow and taking it all in my strides.
Matt: What was it like when you got to show the film to your family and friends?
Jude: My friends are going to see it tonight with each other. My family saw it at the Belfast International Film Festival and wow, that night… there were no words to describe it. Everyone was just happy and it was so heartfelt and emotional. I think we needed that little bit of reassurance from all the Belfast people that we were doing it right.
Matt: Awards season is coming up in the United States with Belfast already nominated at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Will you be travelling there for some of the awards?
Jude: Hopefully but as I’m a kid, I can’t be vaccinated yet. It’s very iffy but I really do hope I get to go over.
Matt: How are you finding the PR side of things? Do you enjoy doing interviews and talking about the film?
Jude: I love it. I love talking to people like you and spreading the story of Belfast around. I just enjoy talking. Full stop. I like making people smile.
Matt: What’s the plan going forward? More acting?
Jude: Definitely. No doubt about it.
Matt: Any projects you’re looking at?
Jude: I’m done two projects since Belfast actually. One was a film called Mandrake and I was playing the main character’s son. The second was Magpie Murders where I play a murder victim.
Matt: (laughs) Well you’ve got a lot of experience already with a wide variety of roles from the sounds of it. For the moment, we can enjoy your wonderful performance in Belfast. Jude, thank you so much for speaking with us.
Jude: Thank you very much.
Brisbane Film Critics Select 'Nine Days' As Best Of 2021
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Since 2011, I have been pulling together a list of the best movies of the year according to the Brisbane-based critics who I run into regularly at preview screenings. Films to have topped prior year lists have been Drive in 2011, Argo in 2012, Gravity in 2013, Boyhood in 2014, Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015, La La Land in 2016, Get Out in 2017, The Favourite in 2018, Parasite in 2019 and Nomadland in 2020.
To come up with an overall top 10, I’ve used a simple points system and applied it to the list of each critic. It is as follows:
- 3 points for the top film on each list.
- 2 points for the films ranked between 2nd and 5th on each list.
- 1 point for the films ranked between 6th and 10th on each list.
If two films finished on the same score, the film that appeared on the greater number of top 10 lists is ranked higher (as an indication of wider approval). If that's the same, it goes to an average of the individual rankings of each film.
The 10 list includes movies released in Australian cinemas and also those made available on streaming platforms.
We often see a clear stand out but that wasn't the case this year. Votes were spread evenly around. Edging out the competiton to claim the top spot was Edson Oda's drama Nine Days, It's nominated for best first feature at the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards.
Three films, covering a mix of genres, finished just two votes behind and featured on at least 50% of the lists - Jane Campion's moving drama The Power of the Dog, Paul Thomas Anderson's coming-of-age romantic comedy Licorice Pizza, and Denis Villeneuve's blockbuster sci-fi epic Dune. The highest ranked non-English language film, The Worst Person in the World, was just one vote further behind.
Australia was represented on the list with the AACTA Award winning Nitram. It's been a big year for documentaries with The Sparks Brothers proving popular. Other films to round out the list this year were The Father, The French Dispatch, The Green Knight and French Exit.
It’s another terrific list of films and all are worth hunting down on streaming services if you missed them in cinemas.
On that note, here are the top 10 movies of 2021 according to Brisbane critics…
Brisbane Film Critics - Top 10 of 2021
1. Nine Days
2. The Power of the Dog
3. Dune
4. Licorice Pizza
5. The Worst Person in the World
6. Nitram
7. The Father
8 The French Dispatch
9. The Sparks Brothers
10 (tie). The Green Knight
10 (tie). French Exit
You can view a table of all the votes and final scores by clicking here.
A big thanks to all who submitted their lists. If you're a Brisbane critic would like to contribute in future years, please reach out to me on social media.
You can check out information on all the Brisbane critics (along with their choices for the best and worst of 2021) below.
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Matthew Toomey | Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Riders of Justice |
| 2. | West Side Story |
| 3. | The Father |
| 4. | The Sparks Brothers |
| 5. | Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn |
| 6. | Collective |
| 7. | The Truffle Hunters |
| 8. | The Dry |
| 9. | The Worst Person in the World |
| 10. | The Power of the Dog |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| The Dry | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Dreambuilders | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Sparks Brothers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Music | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Mortal Kombat | |
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Sarah Ward | Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | The Power of the Dog |
| 2. | First Cow |
| 3. | Licorice Pizza |
| 4. | Promising Young Woman |
| 5. | The Green Knight |
| 6. | Annette |
| 7. | Nitram |
| 8. | The Worst Person in the World |
| 9. | Titane |
| 10. | The Sparks Brothers |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Nitram | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Raya and the Last Dragon | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Sparks Brothers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Music | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Wrath of Man | |
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Garry Williams| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Don't Look Up |
| 2. | A Hero |
| 3. | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 4. | Promising Young Woman |
| 5. | The Sparks Brothers |
| 6. | The French Dispatch |
| 7. | The Power of the Dog |
| 8. | No Time to Die |
| 9. | Dune |
| 10. | Collective |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| High Ground | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Sing 2 | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Sparks Brothers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Love You Like That | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Fast and Furious 9 | |
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Peter Gray| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Nine Days |
| 2. | The Worst Person in the World |
| 3. | Titane |
| 4. | French Exit |
| 5. | Summer of Soul |
| 6. | Licorice Pizza |
| 7. | The Power of the Dog |
| 8. | The Father |
| 9. | Nitram |
| 10. | Shiva Baby |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Nitram | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Luca | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Summer of Soul | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Home Sweet Home Alone | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar | |
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Ella Donald| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | The World to Come |
| 2. | Shiva Baby |
| 3. | Passing |
| 4. | The Worst Person in the World |
| 5. | West Side Story |
| 6. | Beanpole |
| 7. | Dune |
| 8. | The Matrix Resurrections |
| 9. | Venom: Let There Be Carnage |
| 10. | Another Round |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Tall Poppy: A Skater's Story | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| The Mitchells vs the Machines | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Witches of the Orient | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Don't Look Up | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Tick.... Tick... Boom! | |
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David Edwards| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | The French Dispatch |
| 2. | Licorice Pizza |
| 3. | Dune |
| 4. | First Cow |
| 5. | High Ground |
| 6. | Ammonite |
| 7. | French Exit |
| 8. | Lapsis |
| 9. | Black Widow |
| 10. | The Truffle Hunters |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| High Ground | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Encanto | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Truffle Hunters | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Rebecca Ferguson (Dune) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Cranston Academy: Monster Zone | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| News of the World | |
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Rob Hudson| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Nine Days |
| 2. | Riders of Justice |
| 3. | Coda |
| 4. | Nitram |
| 5. | Summer of Soul |
| 6. | The Mitchells vs the Machines |
| 7. | The Dry |
| 8. | The Power of the Dog |
| 9. | The French Dispatch |
| 10. | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| The Dry | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Mitchells vs the Machines | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Summer of Soul | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Caleb Landry Jones (Nitram) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Tom and Jerry | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Cruella | |
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Baz McAlister| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Pig |
| 2. | The Suicide Squad |
| 3. | Last Night in Soho |
| 4. | In the Heights |
| 5. | The Green Knight |
| 6. | Malignant |
| 7. | Werewolves Within |
| 8. | The Dig |
| 9. | No Time to Die |
| 10. | Riders of Justice |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Nitram | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Luca | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Sparks Brothers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Nicolas Cage (Pig) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Old | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Gunpowder Milkshake | |
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Nick L'Barrow| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Nine Days |
| 2. | A Quiet Place: Part II |
| 3. | Titane |
| 4. | Nitram |
| 5. | The Worst Person in the World |
| 6. | CODA |
| 7. | Last Night in Soho |
| 8. | The Power of the Dog |
| 9. | The Sparks Brothers |
| 10. | The Mitchells vs the Machines |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Nitram | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| The Mitchells vs the Machines | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| The Sparks Brothers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Caleb Landry Jones (Nitram) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Cosmic Sin | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Jungle Cruise | |
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Shayne Grieve| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | Dune |
| 2. | The Green Knight |
| 3. | Minari |
| 4. | Licorice Pizza |
| 5. | Inside |
| 6. | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
| 7. | The Father |
| 8. | The French Dispatch |
| 9. | Nitram |
| 10. | The Power of the Dog |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Nitram | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Raya and the Last Dragon | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| n/a | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) and Youn Yuh-jung (Minari) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Space Jam 2: A New Legacy | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Zach Snyder's Justice League | |
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Jacob Richardson| Top 10 Films: | |
| 1. | French Exit |
| 2. | Licorice Pizza |
| 3. | Dune |
| 4. | Nine Days |
| 5. | The Father |
| 6. | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 7. | In the Heights |
| 8. | Ron's Gone Wrong |
| 9. | Zola |
| 10. | Pig |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| The Dry | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Ron's Gone Wrong | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Anthony Hopkins (The Father) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| My Salinger Year | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Free Guy and The Dig | |
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