We talk to ReFocus Film series founder Jeff Wright - who screens the coal black comedy See You Next Tuesday at 9pm on Thursday, August 29th for free with a director and star Q&A at Toronto's Revue Cinema - to talk about he formation of the series, his booking process, his amazement at how series alums have seen their careers take off in recent years, why the series is free, the film that got away from him, and, of course, his most recent selection.
We talked to the creative team behind the haunting new Canadian indie The Oxbow Cure, Calvin Thomas and Yonah Lewis, about getting the most out of a 22 page script, uncooperative weather, casting for a movie that only has one character on screen the entire time, populating the crew with other filmmakers, and crafting an ending that changes the direction of the movie that came before it.
Author SF Said talks about writing for young people, the wonders of stars, Pixar, Rio Bravo and space adventures in his new book Phoenix.
Dork Shelf sits down with writer-director Edgar Wright and actor Nick Frost to talk about their trilogy capping comedy The World's End, working with Simon and everyone they have grown close to one last time, what separates this effort from the recent glut of “manchild” moves, how nostalgia for music is a trademark of stunted adolescents, what their next plans together might be like if they ever happen, the one awkward thing that Frost always seems to have to do on his wife’s birthday, and why Wright has changed his opinion on Bad Boys 2 (somewhat).
We sit down with the three male leads in the big screen adaptation of Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, and Kevin Zegers - to talk about the hard work they’ve been putting in, their anxiety to do right by the material, how they first never even knew if anyone would be interested in them being a part of the franchise, and why the books and the film seem to resonate so strongly with teens and adults.
We sit down with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones director Harald Zwart about managing fan expectations, why blockbuster movies are so long these days, getting off to a fast start with author Cassandra Clare's series of bestsellers, crafting a strong female heroine, and that one time he stopped production to wake up the book’s author in the middle of the night with a question about a single word choice.
Dork Shelf talks to filmmakers Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall about their work on the documentary Call Me Kuchu where they look at efforts in Uganda tried to make homosexuality punishable by imprisonment and death and those who stood in opposition to the government. It's an incredibly story with a lot of parallels to what's currently happening in Russia.
We talk to horror movie icon Danielle Harris about her return to battle against Victor Crowley in Hatchet III and her directorial debut with the dark comedy Among Friends. We talk about her struggles as a working actor, why she's at peace with the horror genre now, how the future of her acting career led her into directing, and how she pushes actors as a director in ways she always wished she was pushed.
We talk to 11-year old Chilean actress Santi Ahumada about her starring role in the independent drama Thursday Till Sunday and how she didn't know she was making a film at first and what it's like spending long hours filming mostly in a single car.
We talk to writer-director Christopher MacBride and actor Aaron Poole about crafting the paranoid Canadian made thriller The Conspiracy about blending real conspiracy theories within the frameworks of both an old school thriller and a found footage film, how the internet’s wealth of information shaped the film, how conspiracy theories are like religions, playing characters searching for the truth, a general mistrust of people in suits, and [REDACTED].
Dork Shelf catches up with character actor James Badge Dale, who can be caught in The Lone Ranger, World War Z, and Iron Man 3, about his latest Gore Verbinski directed, Johnny Depp starring effort, the feel and scale of dressing up for a period western, Lone Ranger's incredible stunt work, never getting recognized in public thanks to constantly changing facial hair, what it’s like to work with so little down time, his dorky love for a certain game involving multi-sided dies, and if there are any childhood fantasies he has left to fulfil.
We talk to the Oscar winning writing team behind The Descendants - Nat Faxon andCommunity actor Jim Rash - about their directorial debut, The Way, Way Back, the deeply personal journey to get it made, what it takes to craft a believable coming of age story, and looking back on the real life inspirations, themes, and moments that made the film what it is.
We talk to Unfinished Song director Paul Andrew Williams about making the jump from hardcore British thrillers to crowd pleasers about old people singing, working with Terence Stamp, and finding just the right music for the right occasion (which sometimes happens to be Motorhead).
We talk to the documentarian behind The Secret Disco Revolution, Jamie Kastner, about the evolution of disco, why “Good Times” might be a secretly ironic protest anthem, the occasionally brusque nature of The Village People, and the challenges faced in crafting an alternate take on an established history.
Dork Shelf talks with the one and only Billy Crystal about returning to school as Mike Wazowski in Disney Pixar's Monsters University and how the themes of his recent film still pertain to his life today, what his grandkids think of the him, what scares him, how his university days differed from his younger, more diminutive altar ego, what serves as a source of friendship and strength to him, and much, much more
