CINEFANTASTIQUE HORROR, FANTASY, & SCIENCE FICTION PODCAST – v1n4: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:41 — 59.2MB)

Dan Persons, Steve Biodrowski, and Lawrence French follow Tim Burton down the rabbit hole, analyzing his live-action redo of the Disney animated classic, ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Is it Burton at his best – or another blunder? Does it surpass the original, or does it fall flat as a knave of hearts? Also on the bill, a look at the weekend’s award winners for horror, fantasy, and science fiction films; plus the usual round-up of exciting news items, upcoming home video releases, and random recommendations.

Well, “next to” the Spirit Awards might be more accurate. We weren’t actually at the ceremonies, but over the past year we’ve been fortunate enough to cover a fair number of the 2010 winners.

So if the acceptance speeches didn’t get anywhere close enough to satisfying your curiosity about how these films came about, click on the players below. We’ve got MIGHTY MOVIE PODCAST interviews with the directors of all these films:

Cassavettes Award: HUMP DAY

Documentary: ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL

Screenplay: (500) DAYS OF SUMMER

Ensemble: A SERIOUS MAN

First Feature/Lead Actor: CRAZY HEART

And come back Friday, when have an interview with the director of the Piaget Producer’s Award winner, THE EXPLODING GIRL

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:31 — 17.1MB)

It’s typical in these circumstances to say, “I don’t know what came over me.” But I do know what came over me: I was going to interview Felix Moeller about his new documentary, HARLAN – IN THE SHADOW OF JEW SUSS — the film about German director Veit Harlan, his infamous, anti-Semitic 1940 creation JEW SUSS, and the repercussions said film and the man himself had on his descendents — when I was informed that one of the film’s subjects, journalist, critic, and Harlan niece Jessica Jacoby, would also be available. I agreed to interview them both, but then ran into a brick wall in my planning: I wished to have a candid discussion with Moeller about how he confronted so difficult a subject, and the presence of Jacoby — a woman who, I figured, had undergone every form of questioning on the subject from polite discussion to accusatory interrogation — threw me a curve. I was left not sure how I could ask the questions I wanted about Harlan’s work, how Moeller got the family to open up about the impact of that legacy, and the restrictions Germany has placed on the public exhibition of the film, without making the woman feel that she had travelled down this road far too many times.

I never came up with a solution for my dilemma — in hindsight, the best approach probably would have been just to ask the frakkin’ questions and let the chips fall where they might — and it shows in my awkward approach to the interview. Nevertheless, Jacoby and Moeller were quite forthcoming in discussing how they tackled the story of one of the darkest chapters of film history, and provided good insight into the creation of a compelling, revelatory, and surprisingly beautiful documentary. Click on the player to hear the interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Every now and then there’s a casting choice that seems predestined, a true chicken/egg situation. A role it’s impossible to believe wasn’t written with a particular actor in mind. Or a case where it seems cosmic forces must have been at play, birthing the perfect star for a role just waiting to make the jump from the page to the big screen.

We certainly had that reaction when we saw the first Alice in Wonderland poster. In the following video feature, our Mighty Movie Geek takes a look at Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter, along with five other stars and the roles they were born to play. We call it the Deppage Factor.

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt: Visit ReelzChannel's YouTube Channel

What’d you think? Did we miss your favorite casting kismet? Drop us a comment below.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 56:08 — 51.4MB)

Dan Persons, Steve Biodrowski, and Lawrence French are back with an in-depth discussion of THE CRAZIES, the new horror-thriller about a small town caught between a rock and a hard place when a bioweapon contaminates the drinking supply, turning the locals into homicidal maniacs and prompting a take-no-prisoners quarantine by the military. It’s based on the 1973 film by George Romero, which is sort of the missing link between NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and DAWN OF THE DEAD (1979).

Also in the podcast: a look at current news in the world of horror, fantasy, and science fiction; a discussion of the upcoming Oscars (2 science fiction films are nominated for Best Picture this year, AVATAR and DISTRICT 9); and a preview of the week’s home video releases (WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, PONYO, 2012, and more).

Click on player above to hear the discussion.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:38 — 20.9MB)

At one point in the new film THE ART OF THE STEAL, one of the people protesting the moving of Dr. Albert Barnes’ art collection (Picasso, Modigliani, Renoir, Cézanne, amongst others) from its home outside Philadelphia into the city proper stands outside the gates of the museum’s eventual home, screaming, “Philistines!” The art world occasionally turns on such clashes of passion, but this level of fervor is particularly striking, and says a lot about a near-century-long struggle between one man’s vision and the acquisitional imperative of the moneyed elite.

THE ART OF THE STEAL traces the history of Dr. Barnes — himself quite wealthy, but also quite progressive when it came to ideas on art, culture, and education — the foundation he formed after the Philly elite initially derided his collection, and how said elite has tried for decades to gain control of that collection, now valued at over $25 billion. They finally succeeded, but not before director Don Argott, producer Sheena M. Joyce, and executive producer Lenny Feinberg (himself a graduate of the Barnes Foundation) managed to trace the manipulation and subterfuge employed to finally win the prize. The film’s a riveting examination of how noble goals can be undone by the most insidious of politics, and how the quest for a literally priceless collection of art can motivate powerful people to circumvent a man’s dying wish.

I got to speak to Argott, Joyce, and Feinberg about the difficulties in portraying the full dimension of this story on the screen, and why a big, shiny, high-profile new museum will not necessarily serve Dr. Barnes’ collection well. Click on the player above to hear the interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:18 — 50.6MB)

In the second installment of Cinefantastique’s new weekly podcast, Dan Persons, Steve Biodrowski, and Lawrence French look at Martin Scorsese’s new horror-thriller, SHUTTER ISLAND, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, and Max Von Sydow. Also: a look at the SHUTTER ISLAND videogame, and other news and reviews.

Click on the player above to hear the show.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:27 — 16.9MB)

Sometimes it feels as if 2010 so far can be summed up as an ongoing quest to avoid discussing AVATAR. (Okay, you want my one-word review? Meh.) Fortunately, a number of filmmakers have stepped up to offer heartening proof that the whole of cinema isn’t henceforth going to be consigned to the twin plagues of Polaroid goggles and half-baked storytelling. Jessica Hausner — previously known for LOVELY RITA and HOTEL — has gone a good deal farther, taking her guests into a world as rarefied as Pandora, but quite, quite real, in LOURDES.

In case you didn’t know, Lourdes is a city in France, site of a purported miracle in the nineteenth century and subsequently the locus for pilgrims hoping that the hand of God will relieve them of their various illnesses and disabilities. Amongst LOURDES, the film’s contemporary group of visitors is Christine (Slyvie Testud), a quadriplegic who’s still open to the possibilities of divine intervention, even if she was far more impressed with Rome. Through her eyes, Hausner stages her story as a dry, ironic comedy — she observes the day-to-day process of nuns, priests, and wait staff serving a steady flow of faithful, and tracks what happens when Christine stands from her wheelchair and starts walking. And she provides no easy answers, content just to watch as a maybe/maybe not miracle subtly shifts the interactions of those who observe it.

Let me say it right now: This is the first of my favorite films of this year. I love the ambivalence of the story; Testud’s quiet, exquisitely sculpted performance; and Hausner’s way of using actual locations and extended takes to let us assess events for ourselves.

Hausner and I got into what it’s like observing the human sea that travels through the real Lourdes, and how a filmmaker molds her story to tread the fine line between blind faith and full-on skepticism. Click on the player above to hear the interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:19 — 39.7MB)

Join Cinefantastique contributors Dan Persons, Lawrence, French, and Steve Biodrowski as they hunt the wild werewolf in the debut episode of the weekly Cinefantastique Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast. This week’s subject is THE WOLFMAN, starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. The film is of course a remake of THE WOLFMAN (1941), starring Lon Chaney Jr., which immortalized the werewolf legend on film.

Click on the player above to hear the discussion.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:02 — 17.5MB)

A tangent here, but stick with me: At the beginning of the animated film, MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMATAS, director Isao Takahata envisions the world of his titular family as an ocean voyage, complete with pounding waves and raging storms, but arriving eventually at a safe port. If the analogy was transferred to OCTOBER COUNTRY, the new documentary by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, the familial vessel would also be facing typhoons, hailstorms, shark-infested waters, and a foggy void where the safe landing should be. And you may as well throw an iceberg in for good measure.

Filmmakers Mosher (whose family is depicted, and who also is a photographer, musician, and writer) and Palmieri do not hedge in their depiction of the upstate N.Y. Mosher family, whose various members have undergone such trials as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and molestation. But they don’t overdramatize events, either, and for all the darkness that’s revealed, there’s also a glimmer of hope in the idea that people can endure all this pain and sorrow and still remain, however tenuously, a family. Letting his camera take its cue from the photo series Mosher did on his clan, Palmieri creates haunting visuals that complement the group’s shadowed history.

Mosher and Palmieri were happy to discuss their concerns in pulling back the veil on one family’s struggles, and how they’re hoping that this one story can bring a new perspective to the challenges facing the working class in today’s U.S. Click on the player above to hear the interview. Read the rest of this entry »