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  • TRIGGERED: Alastair Orr Interview

    TRIGGERED: Alastair Orr Interview

    Ahead of the UK premiere of TRIGGERED, his cat-and-mouse slasher, Alastair Orr talks about being inspired by old console games and why he loves working in South Africa.

    We last saw you at FrightFest with FROM A HOUSE ON WILLOW STREET, how’s life been treating you since that time?

    It’s been great. I got married, had a kid, got into massive amounts of debt with Bitcoin – I’ve made a lot of great life decisions since FrightFest 2016.

    How did David D. Jones’ TRIGGERED script end up in your capable hands?

    I was working on a bigger film with David that we couldn’t raise the money for. So he pitched something way cheaper that we could do. It’s eleven characters in the woods, so it seemed super easy on the page, but was quite a nightmare to shoot,

    Was the script really inspired by retro video games from the 1990s?

    Yes, it’s definitely inspired by the old console games where you get to steal time from your opponent, there were a couple out there back in the day. Then to some extant even your Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games had the element where you have to kill your opponent before your time runs out. Things have come full circle now with Battle Royale games like Fortnite, but we wanted to make something with old-school graphics and sound effects and music, so we feel our film is definitely a throwback to our childhoods as opposed to the new wave of these type of games.

    What do you think you brought to the project or was everything very much in place in the final draft?

    David did an awesome job getting it over the finish line and shoot ready. It was only on set when things bombed out that I was able to step in and make decisions on the set. If he was down in South Africa I’m sure he would’ve been right there next to me making those decisions. Script-wise…his original idea was to have you get rewarded with time by doing certain activities like helping your friends out, or getting closer to solving the murder mystery that runs throughout the film. We decided to simplify the gamification a lot once we got closer to shooting.

    Give an insight into how you assembled the cast: what qualities were you mainly looking for?

    We were looking for actors that just wanted to be there and didn’t bring a plethora of demands and attitude. We knew it was going to be a tough shoot so we looked for kids that had a great attitude and were up for anything. We also tried to cast the actors as close to the characters as possible so that we could improves if necessary.

    Just like with your past four movies you edited the movie yourself. Do you direct knowing in your mind how exactly you want to cut it together, or is it a more organic process than that?

    I edit my movies because there isn’t money to hire an editor, so it’s definitely not a control thing.  The editing on Triggered was harder because we had less footage. While we were shooting at night, I would do a rough cut of scenes during the day, so there wasn’t a lot of sleep going on. The pros of editing your own film are that you get to do things your way, but a serious con that worked against me on this one was that some insecurities that festered with me on set made their way in to the edit suite. I had to constantly get reassurances from the producers that this was the right way to go – where as if I had an editor, he/she probably would’ve convinced me straight away that things weren’t as dire as I thought. 

    And just like your past four movies TRIGGERED is once more in the horror thriller fantasy arena. Why is it you gravitate towards the genre?

    These are just the kind of films Ariye (my producing partner) and I want to make. We’re just not drawn to stories that don’t have some kind of genre spin on them

    What was the hardest aspect of making TRIGGERED?

    I know every filmmaker says time and money, but we really were in short supply on both on this. We got so tired of waiting for investors and finding distributors to invest in us that we decided to fund it ourselves. We (Ariye Mahdeb and I) just had to make a film. We shot for fifteen days, four of which were probably completely lost to rain, but the crew and cast never once dropped the ball. Our vests were pretty problematic also, we had to keep bringing our buddies with electrical engineering degrees onto set to keep wiring them and programming them. You really get a sense of who your real friends are when you ask them to come out and help you at midnight on your indie film.

    How is working in South Africa and what do you see as the future for genre filmmakers in the country?

    Working in South Africa is the best. People are so willing to help out and jump on board that you really do get to play with awesome tools even if you don’t have the budget your overseas contemporaries are playing with, and the government really helped us with some funding on this one also. South Africa is really exploding with Genre films now. When I started with my first film in 2010 it really was a lonely club, but now South African genre films are popping up at festivals around the world and guys are making some really awesome stuff. It’s really exciting and a lot of the directors who would usually only make drama films are now seeing how commercial Genre fair is and what an appetite the rest of the world has for it.

    Finally, what’s next?

    We’re busy with a big action movie that was scheduled to shoot this year, but with Covid hitting that doesn’t look likely. It’s a way bigger budget to what I’m used to and I’m loving the freedom a bit of extra money allows. I’m also really digging the way my horror background can tie in with the action scenes and how the two can play nicely together. 

    TRIGGERED is showing online on Friday 28 August, 9.30pm in the Horror Channel screen, as part of the Arrow Video FrightFest August Digital event.

  • Project Power: The BRWC Review

    Project Power: The BRWC Review

    The popularization of the superhero genre has empowered studios to explore avenues outside of the traditionalist Marvel and DC brands. Some craftsmen have elevated the genre’s formula (Upgrade and The Old Guard), while others lack the follow-through to live up to their potential (Brightburn). Netflix’s latest big-budget offering Project Power boasts some intriguing conceits, yet much of these ideals are lost in translation.

    Project Power is set in a world where a mysterious drug called power hits the streets of New Orleans, which gifts its inhabitants a super-powered ability for a short period of time (some powers are superhero-esque, while others ravage a person’s body in vile ways). Robin (Dominique Fishback) is stuck at the bottom of the class structure, pushing power while working alongside police officer Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). When Art (Jamie Foxx) a man hellbent on revenge stumbles into their lives, the three must team up to take down the drug’s creators.

    It helps that Project Power’s uniquely-fitted leads are able to carry the narrative. Up-and-comer Dominique Fishback displays impressive ease as Robin, portraying the dramatic frames with weight while offering a sly charm to liven up the character’s archetype conception. It’s also a joy to watch the continuation of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s comeback tour (he was great in 7500), with the actor’s effervescent charisma continuing to grab my interest (his jokey Clint Eastwood impression had me laughing every time). Jamie Foxx rounds out the trio with assured confidence and instant presence onscreen, as the three often left me wishing their talents were suited for a better movie.

    Utilizing an intriguing high-concept premise, filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman imbue a slick visual edge that amplifies the production. Reteaming with Nerve DOP Michael Simmonds, the team shoot with a sweaty intimacy that fits in tandem with the film’s cop procedural approach to the superhero genre. The freehand camera moves swiftly and with precision, dreaming up a plethora of inventive setpieces that bring some much-needed ingenuity to the table (an action scene shot from the perspective of someone trapped in a pod is particularly impressive). Joost and Schulman may not be marquee names yet, but their promising directors who remain on my radar, developing a distinct sensibility that often enhances familiar trappings.

    While the duo presents a visceral voice on camera, their work still leaves room for refinement. Project Power is desperately lacking a sense of identity on screen, often fluctuating between the grandiose thrills of superhero ventures to the grounded grit of police dramas. I appreciate the notion of trying to marry these two genres together, it just doesn’t translate smoothly onscreen. Joost and Schulman’s lack a deft touch in the handling of the film’s dramatic frames, often drowning out the character’s turmoil with abrasive score choices and overly-stylistic framing.

    Similar to the direction, Mattson’s Tomlin screenplay is equal parts promising and frustrating. Tomlin creates some absorbing zeitgeist conceits, attempting to ruminate on the drug crisis, the disenfranchisement of communities impacted by it, and the abuse of fragile power dynamics – especially by police. What could have been profoundly timely fails to register a strong impression, lacking the nuance or emotional sincerity to touch on grand societal issues. Tomlin also draws his characters in a generic, one-dimensional fashion, strapping them with heavy-handed dialogue that often clumsy overexplains its point (JGL’s character says “we’re not letting suits decide like the last time” in a goofily overt reference to Hurricane Katrina).

    Project Power has the bones of an invigorating reinvention of the superhero genre, yet its delivery never lives up to its heroic aspirations.

  • Work It: Review

    Work It: Review

    An awkward eighteen-year-old girl named Quinn Ackerman (Sabrina Carpenter) achieves near-perfection by sheer hard work. She vows to transform her gawkiness through dance, and refine her skills until she competes at a competition.

    Right from the opening scene of Laura Terruso’s Work It, you can feel the good vibes and happy-go-lucky tone of the movie seeping right out of the screen. It’s an extremely breezy watch with tons of brilliantly choreographed dance sequences that are sure to put a smile on anybody’s face, whether you are heavily into dancing or not.

    This is a coming-of-age story with an interesting premise. We are so used to seeing movies in this genre where a girl or boy is going through some hard times at school and in their personal life and has to overcome their challenges to learn to love who they are, faults and all. This film doesn’t go for that, though. It’s definitely a journey of self-love but it’s so much more than that. Quinn Ackerman is a high achieving student at school that never gets anything less than an A on any sort of school paper.

    Her whole life is basically devoted to studying for various tests and taking several extracurricular courses to ensure that she will be accepted into the university of her dreams – Duke. Her late father attended the school, and as a result, Quinn feels an unbreakable connection to the place. She says that she could definitely look into applying to other colleges or universities such as Yale or Harvard, but feels a deep connection to Duke.

    When she goes to apply though, things don’t go one-hundred percent as planned when the hiring manager starts to find Quinn a tad bit boring. What does Quinn do? She makes up a lie and says that she is a dancer at her school which manages to intrigue the hiring manager. She says that she will be attending the school’s upcoming Work It dance competition, which causes Quinn to think fast and plan on starting her own dance team – the TBDs.

    The journey that Quinn goes on was extremely heart-warming and incredibly fun to watch. What started off as her dancing simply so she could have a chance at being accepted into her dream university eventually turns into a genuine love for the art. She isn’t just dancing to impress people anymore – she actually really loves it. At first, though, she isn’t the best dancer and it’s quite noticeable. That’s when she enlists the help of a former dance choreographer that used to attend her school named Jake Taylor (Jordan Fisher).

    The chemistry that actress Sabrina Carpenter and Jordan Fisher have with one another is some of the best I have seen all year. Really, the whole entire dance group has terrific chemistry. If you were to tell me that these actors actually did have a dance group in real life and were all best friends, I wouldn’t question you for even a second. Carpenter in particular though is remarkable here. I have been championing her work for years and I’m glad that more people are starting to take notice of her with every new project she works on whether it’s a brand new song or a new movie. She truly never disappoints and this is certainly no exception.

    Work It is not one-hundred percent perfect, though. It does suffer from having an unfortunately predictable storyline that the majority of its viewers are going to see coming a mile away. There aren’t many surprises in store and screenwriter Alison Peck doesn’t really do anything to drastically change up the game, but sometimes following a tried-and-true formula isn’t a bad thing. This is a greatly enjoyable movie with tons of cheery, upbeat dance moments with a heartwarming dynamic at its center with its dance group. It may not be the most game-changing coming-of-age tale out there, but it is one that put a massive smile on my face and made me appreciate the art of dancing a whole lot more.

    Work It is an infectiously fun and heartwarming coming-of-age story with a variety of excellently choreographed dance sequences and strong chemistry amongst its cast.

  • Made In Italy: Review

    Made In Italy: Review

    Some projects can elicit a more cathartic experience for actors than others, with Liam Neeson’s latest endeavor Made in Italy being a prime example of a star gravitating towards material that resonates on a deeply intimate level (Neeson stars alongside his own son Micheal Richardson). Despite its stars’ connection to the film’s premise (they lost their respective wife and mother Natasha Richardson back in 2009), Made in Italy fails to register a notable impression.

    Made in Italy follows Jack (Richardson) an art exhibitor whose in the midst of a divorce that threatens to take away his gallery. To buy his gallery back, Jack and his accomplished, yet distant painter father Robert (Neeson) travel to Tuscany to sell the home they inherited from the family’s deceased matriarch. In the process of repairing their former home, the two are confronted by their lingering demons as they try to repair their disconnected relationship.

    Unsurprisingly, Neeson and Richardson make for a compelling pair onscreen. After playing an onslaught of straight-edged action heroes, its refreshing to watch Neeson tap into a damaged persona as a jaded artist. Bringing Robert to life with a gravely aloof charm, Neeson embraces the character’s wry presence while unearthing genuine pains seamlessly. Richardson also offers a strong effort as everyman Jack, infusing the character’s familiar framework with agency and emotional depth. Made in Italy is at its best when it allows its stars to explore the deeply-seated pains behind its premise, with the third act packing some moving instances of reflection and growth for our lead characters.

    Given the actor’s unique perspective on the film’s ruminations, it’s baffling to see how little James D’Arcy’s script engages with its dramatic ideals. Much of the first two acts ignores dramatic beats to fixate on cloying indie cliches, whether that be a thinly-written relationship dynamic or a plethora of forced comedic bits that fail to land (numerous jokes made about the house’s decaying state felt more appropriate for a family comedy.) It doesn’t help that D’Arcy’s directorial debut fails to interject a personable voice to enhance these trappings, relying on a preppy score and passable imagery to begrudgingly push the narrative forward.

    It’s a letdown that Made in Italy’s auspicious nucleus renders a paper-thin exploration of grief and familial detachment. The third act offers glimpses of painful truths, including a confrontational moment between Jack and Robert that sings with honesty and emotional heft. However, D’Arcy’s screenplay ends up feeling too inert to convey the character’s sizable open-wounds, wrapping up its plot threads in a clean fashion that largely betrays the film’s core ideals. It all reads as far too safe, going through the narrative motions rather than intimately digging deep into the character’s turmoil.

    While admittedly pleasant, Made in Italy’s milquetoast delivery severely undercuts its promising set-up.

  • Katy Perry Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Katy Perry Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Katy Perry Edition: Bits & Pieces – Ladj Ly’s explosive directorial debut Les Misérables will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 4 September.  The film premiered in competition to great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival winning the Jury Prize and has been nominated for a variety of awards including a Golden Globe and an Academy Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

    The Descent meets The Exorcist, with a dash of Raiders of the Lost Ark thrown in for good measure, in this suspenseful thrill-ride starring iconic Star Trek legend William Shatner, Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager), Jason Brooks (Star Trek, 2009), Jackie Dallas (Stranger Things) and Michael Yahn (Daredevil). Featuring, according to Nerdly, “absolutely AMAZING creature designs”, buckets of blood, and, of course, Shatner on top form, The Tomb: Devil’s Revenge is B-movie mayhem that delivers demonic thrills and underground chills. 

    Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn tells the story of Yusuf Hawkins, a black teenager who was murdered in 1989 by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Yusuf Hawkins’ death and the official response to it sparked outrage in New York, unleashing a torrent of racial tension and spurring tireless civil rights activism that exposed deep racial prejudices and inequities which continue to plague the country today.

    From Executive Producer Jason Katims, the Netflix series Away is a thrilling, emotional drama on an epic scale that celebrates the incredible advancements humans can achieve and the personal sacrifices they must make along the way.  As American astronaut Emma Green (Hilary Swank) prepares to lead an international crew on the first mission to Mars, she must reconcile her decision to leave behind her husband (Josh Charles) and teenage daughter (Talitha Bateman) when they need her the most. As the crew’s journey into space intensifies, their personal dynamics and the effects of being away from their loved ones back on Earth become increasingly complex. Away shows that sometimes to reach for the stars, we must leave home behind. Created by Andrew Hinderaker, the series is executive produced by showrunner Jessica Goldberg, Jason Katims, Matt Reeves, Andrew Hinderaker, Edward Zwick, Hilary Swank, Adam Kassan and Jeni Mulein.

    Katy Perry Edition: Bits & Pieces – Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing presents LINGUA FRANCA, written, directed and starring Isabel Sandoval. Sandoval’s third feature film, LINGUA FRANCA made history at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival Venice Days program as the first film directed and starring an openly trans woman of color to screen in competition. LINGUA FRANCA will open in select theaters and on Netflix, August 26th.

    David Blech wanted to be remembered for creating an industry that saves millions of lives. Instead, he finds himself $11 million dollars in debt, struggling to keep his family afloat and awaiting a jail sentence. Mental Illness and addiction are the powerful nemeses that threaten to bring down the one-time biotech titan as he races to develop a potential cure for Alzheimer’s Disease that could reverse his fortunes and rebuild his legacy.

    ANONYMOUS KILLERS was conceived by writer and director A.R. Hilton as an indictment of society for its hypocrisies – from its jury system to the death penalty to the American Dream – from the perspective of someone who’s been persecuted by the system.

    IFC Films is proud to present TESLA, Michael Almereyda’s (MARJORIE PRIME; EXPERIMENTER) idiosyncratic portrait of the misunderstood electrical engineering genius Nikolai Tesla (Ethan Hawke). Almereyda’s lifelong obsession with Tesla began as a spec script written in his early twenties for Jerzy Skolimowski, and has evolved using subsequently published material, with the films of Derek Jarman, the novels of Henry James and certain episodes of Drunk History cited as key influences. This freewheeling, deconstructed biopic opened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. IFC Films will release TESLA in theatres and on demand on Friday, August 21.

    Young Wallander is a young, edgy, and modern series that sees Henning Mankell’s iconic detective Kurt Wallander investigate his gripping first case. The story focuses on the formative experiences – professional and personal – faced by Kurt as a recently graduated police officer in his early twenties.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=330PKywSD9Q

    Rising Phoenix tells the extraordinary story of the Paralympic Games. From the rubble of World War II to the third biggest sporting event on the planet, the Paralympics sparked a global movement which continues to change the way the world thinks about disability, diversity & human potential.

    To celebrate the release of BABYTEETH, in cinemas today, Picturehouse Entertainment is pleased to launch a clip from the film for you.

    Katy Perry Edition: Bits & Pieces – Mercedes Kilmer makes her feature film debut alongside her father Val Kilmer, in PAYDIRT, the all-action thriller that gets its UK premiere on 24 August 2020.