Yes, kids, everybody’s favorite transplanted Brits are back with the fourth episode of their Twitch Podcast. In this episode Broken and Devil’s Chair writer-director duo Simon Boyes and Adam Mason deliver lots of naughty words! Samantha Fox! A brush with the law! The UK age of consent! Answers to listener questions and a discussion of Swarez’ gender! Onwards!
The chance to sit down and talk with Erol Morris was without a doubt one of the most exciting opportunities I’ve had this year. His new film, Standard Operating Procedure looks at the importance of photographs in establishing what we know about Abu Ghraib and what is still hidden outside the frame. Featuring interviews with most of the major American military players SOP quite literally stuns. The horrors of Abu Ghraib in photograph form threaten to overtake the larger truths even when those truths are contextualized by eyewitness testimony. Who is responsible, what if anything is likely to be done to enact needed change? And why should the average person care?
Three other journalists and I spent about half an hour with the veteran documentarian and the results of that multi-person interview are offered here.
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Chen Shi-Zheng is a China-born, New York-based director, choreographer, singer, and actor. As a child in Changsha, Hunan during the Cultural Revolution, he was taken under the wing of traditional funeral singers, who were among some of the great masters of Chinese opera. He became a leading young opera actor, performing until his mid-20s in many productions throughout China, and simultaneously recorded albums of folksongs and contemporary pop music. He emigrated to the United States in 1987, and was soon tapped by Meredith Monk for a principal role in Atlas for Houston Grand Opera. This began a crossover career in which he explores his own artistic expression that transcends an East/West divide and erases the boundaries between music, theatre, dance and film. In 2000, Mr. Chen was awarded the title ”Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Ministry of Culture.
In 1999, his landmark 19-hour production of The Peony Pavilion was hailed as one of the most important theatrical events of the 20th century. Mr. Chen’s current projects include The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan with music by Stewart Wallace slated for the 2008 San Francisco Opera. Dark Matter, his first feature film, was the closing night film at the 2007 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, where he and I had the chance to sit down and discuss the film. Although Mr. Chen has an expressive command of English, it is not always exact and, therefore, I have paraphrased his statements for conversational flow.
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Our sincere thanks to Dang Ngoc Quang who recently had the chance to interview Charlie Nguyen - director of The Rebel and producer of the upcoming Monk on Fire which reunites the Rebel team - for a Vietnamese language magazine. Dang dropped us a line and asked if we’d care for an English translation of the interview and, of course, we said yes. The Rebel is a very strong martial arts drama that has won stacks of positive press on the festival circuit - and here at Twitch - and is soon to arrive on DVD from Dragon Dynasty, while Monk on Fire - to be directed by The Rebel‘s Dustin Nguyen is one of our more anticipated pictures of the coming year. Loads of good stuff in this one, so dive right in!
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If you haven’t checked it out already head on over to Kaiju Shakedown and read excerpts of an interview Grady did with Chilean martial artist Marko Zaror. We’re quite fond of his two movies Kiltro and Mirage Man and you should be to. Head on over and read Marko Zaror on Bruce Lee.
It’s the Twitch Grindhouse double bill action! First up is this exclusive interview with Death Proof star Sydney Tamiia Poitier aka Jungle Julia. Followed up by Ardvark’s review of the mega spectacular Japanese DVD boxset (read here).
Now-a-days you can find Mrs. Poitier on the new Knight Rider TV show as Carrie. Previous to this she became an instant cult icon in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof where she played the kickass and most badass of recent movie characters - Jungle Julia! Mrs. Poitier is a sparkling actress of the Classic Hollywood mold with the badass chops of a Linda Hamilton. She inhabits roles with a deeply immersive acting style that she parlays into smooth performances marked by her hard to miss ever present charm.
Read on for the Twitch Jungle Julia Interview...Miike’s Django, Death Proof, Alamo Drafthouse stories, exclusive Twitch image gallery and more after the link jump!
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After drilling the dentist, I relinquished Jenkins to his next journalist while I walked across the hall to speak with The Visitor‘s writer-director, Tom McCarthy, a strikingly energetic and goodlooking man with a bright smile that helped me take root in the moment. He apologized for the interviews running a bit late. It was his fault. Hurrying down from his suite, he spilled coffee all over himself and had to rush back to his room to change.
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Michael Guillén: Mr. Tom, The Visitor is a wonderful film. Congratulations on following up on the beloved Station Agent with yet another film that audiences are relating to so well.
Tom McCarthy: Thank you very much.
Guillén: You wrote the script with Richard Jenkins in mind? What did you see in Richard?
McCarthy: First and foremost, knowing I was going to have four main actors, with three of them being non-American actors, or at least not very familiar to American audiences—Danai actually has dual citizenship with Zimbabwe and America—I felt like I needed a guy who could really not tip the scale. To throw a big Hollywood star in that role—although there are many wonderful actors—didn’t feel right to me. There were many things but that’s where it started. I thought, “Who could I get for this role who could disappear into it and who will represent an everyman? And an everyman that possibly is an extraordinary?” I started combing through a very short list of American character actors who I felt could fill that need and I just very quickly settled on Richard. I felt he was right in many ways.
We were working in L.A. together—well, not together, we were working on separate movies but we were both in L.A.—and we sat down and had dinner. By the end of that conversation, it felt right and I knew I was going to write the script for him. A year later I handed him the script.
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I’ve already lathered praise on Tom McCarthy’s sophomore feature The Visitor, which has opened up theatrically nationwide. I had the chance to talk with lead actor Richard Jenkins as he was being shuttled around on press junket between journalists. Just before he got to me, he turned to where I was waiting and quipped, “The dentist will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.”
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Ever wonder what it’s like to be a film maker struggling to make it in Hollywood? Wonder no further! The writing / directing tandem of Brit horror film makers Adam Mason and Simon Boyes (Broken, The Devil’s Chair, Blood River return with the second installment of their regular podcast!
For his next film, Chrysalis director Julien Leclercq will tackle the real terrorist story of Air France Flight 8969 (Wiki). This promises to be an even harder hitting film than Chrysalis, which is really saying something given its many bone crunching and thrilling sequences. I know me and Todd around these parts are huge fans of Mr. Leclercq and you can bet in the coming days ahead we will be all over covering this film for you. I had the chance of catching up with him at 2008 AFI Dallas the day after I had the privilege of introducing the film and doing a Q&A afterwards.
Now here is Julien Leclercq himself to tell the Twitch readership about his next film! And note when I asked him if Alain Figlarz would be a part of it, he said, ”Yes, absolutely! He will be stunt coordinator for the choreography of the fights and as an actor because it’s a SWAT Team!” Mr. Figlarz for those not familiar worked on the action in Brotherhood of the Wolf and lately has grown quite the cult action status having established the action/fighting style that was used in the first Bourne movie and has now been copied around quite a bit. Alain Figlarz and Julien Leclercq‘s collaboration on Chrysalis seemed to be a perfect harmony of cinematic vision, blending in as one voice. That they are buckling up now to make an even more intense ride… I can only say this film can’t get here soon enough!
Julien Leclercq: My next film will be shooting at the end of this year in October, November and December. It’s about a famous terrorist attack and will be told from the point of view of the GIGN (Wiki), which is like a French SWAT Team.
In France we don’t have the mentality to make a film like Batman or Superman. We won’t make a French actor like Vincent Cassel or any famous French actor be in a superhero role with a superhero costume on the tower in Paris. It’s a joke for us and we don’t make that. We really don’t have comic books in Europe or Paris.
For me I want to make a war film with a heroic point of view. I think the guys of GIGN, a French SWAT Team, would be a real hero for the French audiences. It’s cool, famous and it’s an amazing story about 200 Argentinean with 4 terrorists in their flight on the airport of Marseille, which is on the French Riviera. Two days of real terrorist attacks!
We have about 25 action scenes at the end of the movie. It’s going to be very technical and tactical. I think it’s going to be fresh for the French audiences. It’s a French movie because it will be like Chrysalis.
More from Julien Leclercq after the link bump.
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This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.
I had the privilege of catching the World Premiere of Harman Hussin’s Road to Mecca recently at the Singapore International Film Festival, and had the opportunity to discuss some of the issues that were touched upon during his road trip. Slight spoilers ahead in the interview as we discuss some key moments, so tread with caution if you please!
Stefan: As you noted in the movie, Singapore to Mecca takes about 9 hours by plane. What made you decide to embark on the road less travelled, especially since with limited funds, and on a tight budget. Were you at any time persuaded or discouraged not to go the unconventional way?
Harman Hussin: Like I said during the first screening, “it is my dream - when you see it you’ll believe it”. It’s a dream to pass through this land with an open heart.
I would say there were plenty of indirect discouragements and also of course there were encouragements as well – some of these discouraging and encouraging words are there in the documentary. However, I was never discouraged by those words, but I got to admit it really took a lot of my energies – though in fact it kept me going.
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What the ... wasn’t the next film from Doomsday director Neil Marshall supposed to be the horror western Sacrilege? Why, yes it was and yes it is. But Marshall, busy man that he is, is also preparing another project which he refers to as a dream project for him. Imagine a serial-influenced action adventure a la Raiders of the Lost Ark but with the humor stripped out and a Die Hard approach to the violence. That’s Eagle’s Nest and Marshall just shared the details of it in a video interview with our friends Belgian website KWeb. Hit the link below to check it out.
This year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF), into its 21st edition, runs from 4th to 14th April, and features an unprecedented 13 local feature films and documentaries in a Singapore Panorama section.
So far we’ve gone through a series of interviews with directors. Now we have someone taking on the producer’s role in a feature film shot in Cambodia. Lionel Chok’s name will be familiar to some who’s been following the prolific director’s works both on film and on the stage, and I’ve got the privilege of interrupting his busy schedule for this short interview session.
Stefan: Hi Lionel, you have quite a list of accomplishments and have been involved in various film related projects, ranging from short films to conducting workshops for aspiring filmmakers, and even organizing festivals. What made you decide to take on a producer’s role for To Speak?
Lionel Chok: Thank you Stefan… Actually I like to challenge myself and take on many hats. To actually only write/direct/produce in anyone medium - to me - would only mean that I’m limiting myself. There are so many stories requiring different mediums, and there’s so much one can do in various capacities: why not teach someone, who has a good story to tell, how to make films, or why not organize a different sort of a festival for others to open their minds and possibilities?
As such, I was open to taking on various things in different capacities, and as a result, find myself growing diversely and immensely. The producer’s role for To Speak happened by chance.
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Big thanks to Domeniko and his Belgian website Kweb for passing along a brand new video interview he conducted - in English - with Korean director Bong Joon-Ho. Alas, they fail to talk about my magnificence in hot pants but among the topics covered are the upcoming sequel to The Host and Bong’s upcoming adaptation of French graphic novel Le Transperceneige AKA Snow Train, which Oldboy‘s Park Chan-Wook will be producing. Loads of good stuff in there, so get to it!
I’ve long felt that Grace Lee’s American Zombie and J.T. Petty’s S&Man would be the perfect doublebill date, primarily because they’re both refreshingly honest about being false documentaries morphing into the horror genre. As I’ve already written, horror movies are once again the rage; but, curiously the really good ones are now called documentaries.
I caught American Zombie when it played the 2007 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and spoke briefly with Grace Lee at that time. The film opened theatrically in Los Angeles this past weekend, with no immediate prospects in view for a Bay Area screening. I was holding off on posting my interview until the film appeared Bayside; but, consider it might be more important to advance its Los Angeles premiere in hopes firing that booster engine propels it to San Francisco.
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