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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
You need to have a very specific vision of what you are aiming for. But you have to simultaneously retain an openness to allow serendipity to creep in.
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Original Voice, Weirdly Poetic
Writer-director Rian Johnson redefines film noir with Brick
As the winner of last year’s Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision, writer-director Rian Johnson’s feature film debut, Brick, can easily be added to that lofty list of truly unique voices in cinema. MM spoke with Johnson about the language of film, the Sundance experience and being happy that his film is not for everyone.
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Extraordinary People
Writer-director Bronwen Hughes gets real with Stander
After trying her hand at kid’s films (Harriet the Spy) and romantic comedies (Forces of Nature), Steven Spielberg protégé Bronwen Hughes now has a number of true stories on her development slate, the first of which will be this August’s Stander, starring Thomas Jane. Like Hughes herself, the character at the center of her latest picture is not easily definable: Andre Stander was a celebrated cop who also happened to be one of the country’s most notorious bank robbers. In an interview with MM, Hughes spoke about that memorable meeting with Spielberg and why for her, interesting real people beat interesting fictional characters any day.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
When a script is ready, I commit to it. That's one of the problems with me. I usually develop my own material, and it takes a while, so therefore I am not directing as much as other people. And it's frustrating. You want to be working as much as possible, but I can only do the things I get passionate about.
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Batman and Kramer
The writer-director behind The Cooler arrives on the scene
Wayne Kramer is making his moviemaking
dreams a reality. After two indie features-Blazeland (which he calls "an
epic of misfortune unto itself") and Crossing Over-Wayne Kramer
is making a name (and career) for himself with The Cooler, a gritty
tale of the Las Vegas underworld starring William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin,
Maria Bello and Ron Livingston. On the eve of the film's release, Kramer
spoke with MM about his goals as a moviemaker, being a
collaborator and what it's like to go up against Alec Baldwin.
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The Power of “Warts and All” Moviemaking
Taylor Hackford takes on Ray Charles and Jamie Foxx
Early Oscar buzz may be the Holy Grail for most directors, but Taylor Hackford isn’t your average Hollywood helmer. Working in and out of the system for more than 25 years now, he’s more concerned with knowing that audiences will finally get to see Ray, a film 15 years in the making.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Trust your script. It's easy to fall in love with something that's "set funny." Trust the document that made you want to make the film, even if you wrote it yourself.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Say something that isn't just a platitude; something that really is meaningful.
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Second Chances
Writer-director Laurie Collyer explores her past in Sherrybaby
After coping with the loss of childhood friends from overdoses and prison, writer-director Laurie Collyer let out her aggression the only way she knew how-through movies. Gaining recognition for her gritty documentary Nuyorican Dream in 1999, Collyer quickly began work on her first screenplay, Sherrybaby, to explore the deep-seeded issues of her past.
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In True Indie Fashion
Editor-turned-director Curtiss Clayton strikes out on his own with Daniel "Lemony Snicket" Handler's script, Rick
You'd think that after 20 years in the business, making movies would only get easier. But as editor-turned-director Curtiss Clayton discovered with his directorial debut, the dark dramedy Rick, all the experience in the world cannot protect you from The Laws of Indie Moviemaking.
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Make Them Laugh-Then Make Them Think
Director Jason Reitman says Thank You For Smoking
Since its premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, Jason Reitman’s Thank You For Smoking has been acquiring the kind of overwhelming buzz that is often associated with great moviemaking success stories. MM recently spoke with Reitman about perseverance, his father Ivan’s good name and the harsh reality check that is IMDB.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I found that when you think you're done editing you can always cut out another 20 minutes (as long as your film is not 90 minutes when you first get that feeling).
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Auteur Seeks Complex Character
Writer-Director David Jacobson tackles complex characters in Down in the Valley
First gaining attention with 2002’s Dahmer, a brilliant character study depicting the life of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, writer-director David Jacobson secured his position as a new and important voice in independent cinema with three Independent Spirit Award nominations. Now, with Down in the Valley, Jacobson is crossing character lines once again. Jacobson spoke with MM about working why test screenings do more harm than good and the joy that lies in writing characters that cannot be easily pinned down.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Soundstages are more reliable than Mother Nature.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If you can shed your ego and get other people to help you, you all benefit more in the end. I think that could be applied to anything in life. But the good thing as the director is that you get so much of the credit in the end anyway.
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Master of the Universe
Director Frank Coraci has the world in the palm of his hand
Curtiz and Bogart. Kurosawa and Mifune. Herzog and Kinski. Scorsese and De Niro. Coraci and Sandler? College buddies Frank Coraci and Adam Sandler may not be aiming to make the next Casablanca, but there’s no denying the magic that exists in their collaborations. Of the five feature films that Coraci has directed, Sandler has starred in three of them—including The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy—and together they’ve brought in close to a half billion dollars at the box office.
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The Color of Forbidden Fruit
Chen Kaige lights up the screen with The Promise
Longtime fans of Asian cinema might be jarred by director Chen Kaige's radical stylistic turn with The Promise. But they shouldn't be surprised. Having endured China's Cultural Revolution during his youth, the director is no stranger to abrupt cultural shifts, violent social upheaval and the need for adaptation.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
If you want to learn what kind of a filmmaker you are then trust your artistic instincts first, commercial instincts second and parents' instincts last. If you want to make a lot of money, reverse these.
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The Director who Defies Audience Expectations
An Interview with Brad Anderson
Leave it to writer/director Brad Anderson to defy audience expectations. Though he's often been pigeonholed as 'the romantic-comedy guy' following the success of his first two features, The Darien Gap (1995) and his breakthrough hit, Next Stop Wonderland (1998), he's changing that rep with his latest two films. First up is the psychological thriller Session 9, followed closely by the romance with a sci-fi twist, Happy Accidents. Here, Anderson talks with MM about his conscious decision to cross genres and why he's looking forward to making a studio film.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
I like to direct each scene knowing it's part of a much bigger fabric.
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Prolific Aussie Helmer Beresford takes on Bride of The Wind
Film chronicles story of woman with a most extraordinary range of love affairs of any woman in history
After 30 years of moviemaking and almost as many features to his credit, Australian director Bruce Beresford is far from a household name in the US. With a handful of classics under his belt-Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies, Crimes of the Heart, Driving Miss Daisy, Black Robe-he typifies the seasoned journeyman for whom good work is its own reward.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
Story is my guideline. I know the improv has to hit certain points. There will be a few things in a scene that [the actors' have got to hit in order for my entire story to work into a two-hour movie.
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Catching Lightning In a Bottle
A Conversation with Frank Oz
Frank Oz's success as a director comes from a passion for building believable characters, a quality that is evidenced in his latest film, the star-studded heist flick, The Score.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
They don't want freedom. They sometimes complain and say 'You are telling me exactly what I have to do!' but they love it. They love it when the part is laid out for them, and they don't have to make those kinds of decisions. You can't get an actor to do something that is beyond his range, so you have to be aware of the range of the actor and, if necessary, alter the part to suit the actor.
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Mythology and Moviemaking
A Conversation with John Boorman
Like the tropical nightmares of Joseph Conrad, the films of John Boorman lead us down rivers-real and imagined-into the heart of what ails us, and the quest for a remedy. Boorman's latest picture, The Tailor of Panama, adapted from the novel by John Le Carre, takes us back to the wasteland-this one of the tropical, urban variety.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
There is no greater thing than to keep learning, and you do that when you have the opportunity to work with the most creative people in the world, as you do in the movie business.
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James Gray Goes the Distance
An Interview with James Gray
We haven't heard much from director James Gray since he wowed us with his directorial debut, Little Odessa. This month, James Gray is back with an all-new film and an all-star cast including Faye Dunaway, Ellen Burstyn and Mark Wahlberg in The Yards.
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Ang Lee: Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
What does auteur mean? One who repeats himself?
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Ang Lee is Changing the Rules
An Interview with Ang Lee
Having enchanted us for a decade with a string of lyrical, exquisitely-crafted domestic dramas, including Sense and Sensibility, Eat Drink Man Woman and The Ice Storm, Ang Lee is one international director who has certainly found success with American audiences.
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E. Elias Merhige’s Power of Unflinching Belief
An Interview with E. Elias Merhige
Though his latest film, Shadow of the Vampire, deals with the undead, director E. Elias Merhige knows that it's the living he depends on for much of his success. Found out how Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe and Joan Rivers have all made a difference in his life.
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Reviews: Ed Wood Have Been Proud
Tim Burton, who gave the horror genre a “Leave it to Beaver” twist with Frankenweenie, made Paul Reubens a role model in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and added a hint of menace to Batman, has moved beyond TV-land inspirations to make a movie about a moviemaker. With Ed Wood, Burton has created a weirdly loving portrait of a man often mentioned as the worst director of all time.
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Carty Talkington Hits the Mark with Love and a .45
In Love and a .45, writer-director Carty Talkington has created a stylized, darkly comedic journey through the contemporary American landscape of murder, media, music, controlled substances and unbridled love. Fast-paced and infused with a refreshingly twisted take on pop culture, the film lures the viewer in with its peculiar charm before springing a plot and tone shift that at once stuns and captivates. Filled with unexpected strong performances and a rollicking musicality that often runs counterpoint to the dramatic mood, the film hardly plays like a directorial debut.
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Fresh Director Boaz Yakin Proves You Can Make it Sans the Hype
Fresh is a knockout of a first film. Well-crafted and poetically paced, it is a movie so simple and straightforward in storyline that it feels like a completely “fresh” approach to moviemaking. So how did director Boaz Yakin do it? Where did it all begin?
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In My Japanese Cousin, The Talent’s in the Music
Maria Garguilo finds the Seattle scene a source of fledgling actors and cheap labor for her first feature, The Year of My Japanese Cousin.
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MM Notebook
At the risk of sounding irritatingly cheerleaderesque, this month I had a notion to devote my few hundred words of spout-off space to the public’s receptiveness to independent moviemaking in this country. There is just no question that independent moviemaking in America is entering a Golden Age of sorts, and that the public, the general moviegoing and TV-watching audiences, are responsible for it. Maybe it’s because more viewers today are moviemakers themselves.
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