April 26, 2012

Tribeca Review: Deadfall

Antiheros can be a blast to watch on screen; there’s just enough heart to them to get you on their side, but at the same time, they’re deplorably ruthless. So is the case with Eric Bana’s Addison in Deadfall and on top of having him whip your perception around incessantly, there are a number of other lives at stake, making the situation wildly unpredictable and unnerving.

Bana and Olivia Wilde are Addison and Liza, a brother and sister that just wrapped a successful casino robbery. While trying to make their escape to Canada, their getaway car crashes, leaving their driver dead and Addison and Liza no choice, but to evade the police by foot.

They split up, Addison heading into the woods and Liza taking the road. Lucky for Liza, as a blizzard sets in, she comes across Jay (Charlie Hunnam), an ex-con heading home for Thanksgiving, and hitches a ride to a nearby hotel and bar to wait out the storm. Unfortunately for Addison, he’s stuck in the woods and the local police are hot on his trail.

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April 26, 2012

Tribeca Interview: Deadfall Director Stefan Ruzowitzky and Star Eric Bana

Who likes standing outside in the snow and freezing cold for hours on end? No one, but having material like Zach Dean’s screenplay for Deadfall and collaborators like director Stefan Ruzowitzky, Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson and Kate Mara certainly helps.

Bana and Wilde lead as Addison and Liza, siblings who just pulled off a casino heist. However, while making off with their loot, they get into a car crash leaving them no choice, but to escape on foot. They split up, Addison heading into the woods and Liza taking the road where she hitches a ride with Jay (Hunnam). While she’s all comfy cozy at a local bar and motel, Addison is out battling subzero temperatures and the local cops for his freedom and life.

As Deadfall just made its big debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, Ruzowitzky and Bana were in town to discuss the project. We run through everything from getting into Addison’s head to working with a powerhouse ensemble cast to working on the more physically demanding moments and more. Give it a watch for yourself in the video below.

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April 25, 2012

Tribeca Interview: Sleepless Night Director Frédéric Jardin

How about a feature film involving a cop running frantically through a packed nightclub, music booming, and vicious fights and scuffles breaking out all over the place? Oh, and an in-motion car battle, too. Sounds like a blast right? Of course, but it also sounds like quite the challenge for director Frédéric Jardin.

Sleepless Night tells the story of Vincent (Tomer Sisley), a cop taking part in a drug heist that goes horribly wrong. Vincent gets the coke, but in the process, the enemy learns his identity. Shortly after, Vincent finds out his son has been kidnapped and the only way to get him back is to head over to Marciano’s (Serge Riaboukine) nightclub and return the drugs. Trouble is, a pair of Internal Affairs officers is onto him and when they spot Vincent in the nightclub, they complicate what could have been an easy handoff.

It’s been a little while since Jardin directed a feature film, but he’s certainly back in full force. Jardin was in town to celebrate Sleepless Night’s New York premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and took the time to sit down and chat about the process of bringing the story to life. We’ve got intimate shooting techniques, multi-country locations, sets packed full of extras and more. Check it all out in the video interview below.

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April 25, 2012

Tribeca Interview: Sleepless Night’s Tomer Sisley

You know what it says on Sleepless Night’s IMDb page? “Action” and “Thriller.” Still, the film’s star, Tomer Sisley, notes that it was the tragedy of the story that drew him to the project and, regardless of the film’s classifications, there really is only one big fight scene in the movie, even though I beg to differ.

Sisley leads as Vincent, a police officer who’s involved in a drug heist gone wrong. Vincent and his colleague manage to make it out with the stash, but not before one of their enemies catches a glimpse of Vincent’s face. Shortly after, Vincent finds out that his son has been abducted and a vicious thug is eager to take his life should Vincent not return the drugs.

In honor of Sleepless Night’s debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, Sisley was on hand in New York to talk about making the film. We run through everything from Sisley’s action experience, to shooting the action-packed kitchen scene, the action in the nightclub and more. Can you find the keyword? But seriously, even though I’d still dub Sleepless Night an action film, Sisley makes a very good point and it’s the intensely honest portrayal of Vincent’s heartbreaking predicament that really makes the film stand out. Hear all about it in the video interview below.

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April 25, 2012

Tribeca Interview: Struck By Lightning Director Brian Dannelly

Not that there’s anything wrong with the cast of Glee, but when you get a pitch that goes, “A kid from Glee wrote a script and I want you to read it,” Saved! director Brian Dannelly’s skepticism was certainly justifiable. After reading Chris Colfer’s Struck By Lightning, Dannelly was certain nobody would make this movie – nobody except for him.

Colfer stars as Carson, the editor of the school paper, the head of the writing club and a resident of the bottom of the social ladder. He’s determined to ditch his tiny hometown and unmotivated peers, and move to the big city to become the editor of The New Yorker. But before living the dream, Caron’s got to get into Northwestern University and before he can do that, he’s got to make himself stand out. Too many wannabe journalists are editors of their high school paper, so Carson’s got to do something different; he wants to start up a school literary magazine. Trouble is, he can’t even get his newspaper staff to submit articles, so there’s no way he can get enough of the student body to participate in order to put together a sizable magazine. Good thing for blackmail!

Even though Carson can be totally unlikeable and happens to die in the beginning of the film, Dannelly found it quite appealing that Struck By Lightning was far more about the experience rather than the goal. With that in mind, Dannelly hit the ground running, tapping into his high school movie knowhow, assembling a top-notch cast with the ability to improvise, devising his shooting strategy and, ultimately, bringing Struck By Lightning to the Tribeca Film Festival. Hear all about it for yourself in the video interview below.

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April 25, 2012

Tribeca Interview: Free Samples’ Jocelin Donahue

Jocelin Donahue’s been actively building her resume since taking on a handful of shorts in 2006 and 2007, but for me, seeing her lead The House of the Devil really put her on the map as someone to keep an eye on. Sure enough, ever since The House of the Devil made its big debut at the Tribeca Film Festival back in April of 2009, Donahue has continued to add to her repertoire and now she returns to Tribeca to celebrate the release of her latest, Free Samples.

Jess Weixler stars as Jillian, a law school dropout who enjoys drinking and pissing people off in her free time – which is most of the time. When her best friend begs her to operate her ice cream truck for the day so she can tend to family matters, Jillian reluctantly agrees and takes to the truck to dish out free samples. Donahue steps in as Paula, an old law school friend who happens to be in the mood for some ice cream and is shocked to find Jillian as her server. Paula may be able to get around accepting her free sample, but her mere presence sends personal secrets bubbling to the surface.

In honor of Free Samples’ big debut, Donahue sat down to talk about working on the film, how she got involved, what it’s like being part of such a big ensemble, her hopes and plans for the future and much more. Catch it all in the video interview below.

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April 25, 2012

‘The Hunger Games’ Countdown: Everything You Need to Know About ‘Catching Fire’

You’ve got until November 22, 2013 to finish reading Catching Fire before the big release, but don’t you want to be in-the-know when it comes to all the pre-production madness? We’ve just about wrapped direction selection (Francis Lawrence nabbed that gig), casting will be next, and before you know it we’ll likely start getting glimpses of the set! Regardless of how much you love and how many times you’ve seen The Hunger Games, there are a bunch of things you’ll have to know about Catching Fire in order to truly appreciate all the pre-release hype.

(Spoiler Alert: This article is spoiler-free, but if you’re the type of person who likes everything to be a surprise, read this after reading Catching Fire.)

The Hunger Games Schedule

As you saw in The Hunger Games, it’s pretty hot and arid in District 12 during Reaping time. After the tributes are selected, they’re whisked right off to the Capitol and, mere weeks later, are thrown into the games. Therefore, the Hunger Games are a summertime event for Panem. But, of course, the whole point of the Hunger Games is to remind the districts of and punish them for the rebellion. There’s no way President Snow would let that be a mere once-a-year deal. In Catching Fire, we find out that there’s much more to the Hunger Games than the Games itself.

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