“I’m willing to meet my creator and answer for every shot that I took,” says Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) to a therapist after returning home from serving his country against insurgents and fighting terrorism in Iraq in the dramatic action film American Sniper.
In his 30s, Chris Kyle was no longer satisfied with living the life of a cowboy and was looking for a real purpose in his life. When America was attacked on September 11th, 2001, Chris decided he wanted to defend his country against terrorism and became a Navy SEAL.
While training to become the most lethal sniper in American history, Chris meets Taya (Sienna Miller) at a local bar, and even though she makes it very clear she would “never marry a Navy SEAL,” the two start dating. After graduating from training and becoming a SEAL, and after marrying Taya—yes, he changed her mind—Chris gets called up to serve his first tour in Iraq. His only mission is to protect his brother-in-arms, and Chris becomes so good at it that he sometimes puts himself in with newly trained Marines to help them clear out suspected terrorist nests instead of watching with his sniper rifle from a distance. Chris’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives, and word of his legend as the most lethal sniper becomes known to the enemy as well as his own men. Soon there’s a price on his head, making him the number one target for insurgents.
Serving not one, not two, not three, but four tours in Iraq, the constant danger and stress take a big toll on both Chris and his family. Taya even pleads with him to stop and finally stay home with his family. The problem for Chris is when he’s home with his wife and kids, he can’t seem to let go of the war and feels as though he is letting his brother-in-arms and his country down by not being back out in the war zone watching over the troops with his deadly sniper rifle.
Based on a true story and directed by Clint Eastwood, American Sniper is a powerful, intense war drama that captures masterfully the terror, unbelievable stress and violence that the SEALS and Marines faced in Iraq. Bradley Cooper delivers a gripping, unforgettable performance as Chris Kyle, the deadliest sniper in American history who wanted to serve his country, protect his men, and be a family man. It’s truly the best performance of Cooper’s career and deserving of an Oscar win.
Sienna Miller also delivers her best performance to date as Taya, Kyle’s wife, who at first tries to resist her attraction and feelings for him but eventually falls head-over-heels for the man to the point of being terrified she’ll lose him to the fighting in Iraq. The scene in which she talks on the phone to Chris in Iraq about her pregnancy only to have their conversation interrupted by gunfire (she can hear the yelling and shooting but not her husband’s voice) is both shocking and emotionally gripping.
Clint Eastwood’s directing and pacing is exceptional and is particularly effective in the taut Iraq scenes showing the countless hours of boredom only to be interrupted by explosions and gunfire. There hasn’t been a film done this superbly capturing the horrors, mental strain, and intensity of battle during war since The Hurt Locker.
With riveting battle scenes, a mesmerizing performance by Bradley Cooper, and fantastic production design, American Sniper is simply one of the best films of the year and shouldn’t be missed.
GRADE: A-
American Sniper is rated R for strong and disturbing war violence and language throughout including some sexual references.
Blackhat is and isn’t a Michael Mann film. It sure looks like one, the vibe is all Mann, but the filmmaker’s ability to tell a compelling story amidst super-charged action scenes is completely missing from this thriller set in the world of hackers. There’s actually very little positive about Blackhat to recommend taking in a screening, even for the most diehard of Mann fans.
January’s long been considered the dumping grounds for movies studios have little faith in, and Blackhat is a prime example of what a January film looks like. Somewhere deep inside this illogical attempt at a drama about international cyber crimes is a fantastic idea. Unfortunately, the execution doesn’t do justice to the premise.
The plodding plot follows Chris Hemsworth (Thor) from his confinement in jail because of his computer hacking skills to being furloughed so that he can assist the governments of China and the U.S. in figuring out the mastermind behind a recent meltdown of a silo at a nuclear facility in China. That act of sabotage is followed closely by a run in the price of soy, with even further attacks promised if Hathaway (Hemsworth) can’t track down the hacker launching the attacks. Fortunately, part of the code the cyber criminal’s using was written by Hathaway and his ex-roommate who now works for the Chinese government. What? Yes, it just so happens the authors of the code are the American criminal and the Chinese agent who are now charged with finding the rogue hacker who’s collecting millions and wreaking havoc from stealing their code.
Why a hacker suddenly turns into an action hero in the second half of the movie, and why there seems to be only five people on the planet who care that there’s a hacker at large not only capable of taking down a nuclear facility but actually carrying out the plan is never explained. Also left unanswered is why this guy who’s been locked up in prison and is suddenly sprung by his old friend would turn around and sleep with his friend’s sister within 24 hours of leaving prison. Of course, that brings up the bigger issue of why screenwriter Morgan Davis Foehl felt the need to turn the main female character who’s intelligent, fast on her feet, and an accomplished coder in her own right into a woman who sleeps with a guy she just met before ultimately relegating her to a damsel-in-distress type of character by the time the film ends.
Hemsworth has delivered great performances in films that don’t involve costumed superheroes (Rush, The Cabin in the Woods), so we know he’s able to stretch outside of the action genre. But the role of a Chicago hacker isn’t a smooth fit for Hemsworth. Also completely out of place is Wei Tang who plays the love interest/sister/underutilized code writer. Tang’s accent makes it difficult to understand some of her lines, but the main problem is that she never gets control of the character. Of course, the blame for that also lies in the script and Mann’s direction as the development of her character – from her motivations to her emotional responses – is left dangling in the wind.
By the time we actually meet the villain it’s too little too late. Even the climatic fight sequence is an underwhelming, ridiculous conclusion to this uninspiring film set in this high tech world. Also underwhelming is the film’s color palette, which is all gray and muted, and the overall visual style of the movie can only be described as depressingly drab.
Blackhat takes far too long to wrap up and by the time it does tie a Hollywood bow on the international hunt for the cyber villain, so many leaps in logic have occurred that it’s difficult to take anything about this R-rated action film seriously.
GRADE: D
Blackhat is rated R for violence and some language.
Galavant star Joshua Sasse says he had no idea the ABC series was a musical when he first found out about the project. Fortunately for viewers who’ve embraced Sasse as the sword-wielding hero, he was up to the task of handling composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater’s catchy original songs that populate each half-hour episode.
The ABC limited series airs on Sunday evenings and will be finishing up its first – but hopefully not last – season on Sunday, January 25, 2015.
During the 2015 TCA winter press event, I had the chance to chat with Sasse about the show’s humor, the songs, and what it’s like to joust:
Have you been able to get the Galavant theme out of your head after finishing up the series, or did you even want to?
Joshua Sasse: “No, I’ve suffered as much as everybody else has suffered, if not more so. I was lucky because I had to work on them and then work on a new one and then another new one. They’re catchy, but that’s the whole point.
I was told on iTunes a few days ago that they’re in the top 150 worldwide, and there’s one song in the top 100.”
Was it a musical audition? Did they give you their songs to sing or did you have to come in having prepared something else?
Joshua Sasse: “I didn’t know it was a musical when I auditioned. I read the script and I loved it and thought it was really funny, but I didn’t know it was a musical.”
There were no songs in the script?
Joshua Sasse: “It said there may be a musical number, but it was very rough. I went in and I did the audition, I met Dan [Fogelman] and I met the producers and then I left. I thought that went well, it was on the Disney lot and it was cool. And then they called me up and wanted me to come back and said, ‘Can you prepare a song?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ They said, ‘Well, Alan Menken wants you to sing a song.’ I laughed and said, ‘What are you talking about? No, I’m not preparing a song!’ I said, ‘Look, this is the truth. I’m not going to prepare a song. I’ll do it a cappella. I’ll sing something a cappella. I’ll come in, I’ll sing any song you want.’ So they gave me a list of five songs.'”
What songs did you do?
Joshua Sasse: “I did a song from Into the Woods and a song from Camelot. The thing is is when I went in, the ABC studios is next to a graveyard – across the road from a graveyard – and I was standing there and I thought I’m so lucky to do what I do what I do first of all, and I just thought life is so transient I just shed my nerves and I just went in and had fun. That was it. Dan came and said, ‘Hey, I’m glad you’re,’ and I said, ‘Do you know what, man? I just want to have fun with this. I just want to have fun with you. Me and Dan got on really well, and that’s just all continued.”
There’s talk of continuing this since it’s going so well.
Joshua Sasse: “We’ve been talking about season two since the middle of season one. We are having ‘semi-conversations.’ Me and Dan, we’ve talked about our ideas and Dan’s talked about where he feels like it should/would/could go. There has been I can’t even tell you how much interest. The amount of people who’ve been saying we want to be a part of the show… Think of some musical legends, that’s all that I can say. And I mean musical legends. Living legends. Seriously, I couldn’t believe it. A couple of names came up and I was just like, ‘Wow!’ It’s amazing that like Ricky [Gervais] and Hugh [Bonneville] and Al [Yankovic] wanted to be a part of the show. A lot of others said they did and we couldn’t fit them in. I’m psyched.”
Narrow it down – British musical legends?
Joshua Sasse: “American.”
Was the style of humor easy for you to grasp right away?
Joshua Sasse: “Well, I think the style of humor on the show is sort of my style of humor. Because when they were casting for the part, however goofy he is wasn’t meant to be goofy. It’s whatever my style of comedy is – I don’t know what to call it. English sarcasm is English sarcasm, but that’s why the casting process was so important because my style of humor on its own isn’t enough. It had to balance with Tim [Omundson’s] because they’re two different worlds. So me and Tim were living together while we were filming and we’d talk about how dry we would go with this scene and how slapstick we would go with another, or how sarcastic. We sort of parlayed between the two.”
Did you have to learn horseback riding and jousting?
Joshua Sasse: “I’ve been riding since I was a kid. Jousting, if you put the time in, as long as you’ve got upper body strength you’re okay.”
And he didn’t have to be good at it.
Joshua Sasse: “The funny thing was is that for that scene I didn’t, but the training that went into it I was up at 4 in the morning with it. Those things are heavy as hell. They’re like 60 pounds and you’re charging along with that in one arm while holding a horse with the other. It’s hard because if you drop the joust, if that drops into the ground while you’re on a horse it will flip you. It will take the legs out from under you and it’ll flip you and your head will hit the horse’s neck and you’ll tumble underneath the horse. It’s not a joke.”
Revolution‘s Billy Burke and House of Cards‘ Kristen Connolly have signed on to the cast of CBS’ upcoming drama series, Zoo. Burke and Connolly join a cast that includes James Wolk, Nora Arnezeder, and Nonso Anozie, with Brad Anderson (Forever, Fringe) on board to direct.
Zoo, based on James Patterson’s bestselling book, is scheduled to air this summer. Patterson is executive producing along with Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, James Mangold, Cathy Konrad, Bill Robinson, Leopoldo Gout, and Steve Bowen.
Here’s the scoop on the Zoo characters, courtesy of CBS:
Zoo is a global thriller about a wave of violent animal attacks against humans sweeping the planet. James Wolk will play Jackson Oz, a young, renegade American zoologist who spends his days running safaris in the wilds of Africa when he begins noticing the strange behavior of the animals. As the assaults become more cunning, coordinated and ferocious, he is thrust into the race to unlock the mystery of the pandemic before there’s no place left for people to hide.
Connolly will play Jamie, a passionate young journalist intent on uncovering the story behind the mysterious animal behavior she’s been tracking. Burke has been cast as Mitch, an off-kilter animal veterinarian who prefers the simple company of animals to navigating the complexities of humans.
Michael Keaton as “Riggan” in BIRDMAN. (Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Michael Keaton made history by winning three awards at the 2015 Critics Choice Movie Awards while The LEGO Movie, Gone Girl, Life Itself, and Birdman each won awards in categories Academy voters failed to even nominate them in. Keaton, Kevin Costner, Julianne Moore, and Jessica Chastain delivered the best speeches of the entire awards season, and Judd Apatow spent his time announcing the Best Director winners by running down the list of what not to do in order to earn a nomination. And Michael Strahan spent the night changing costumes and trying to convince actors and producers to hire him in the next films.
Meanwhile, Birdman was the evening’s big winner with seven, Boyhood earned four Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and The Grand Budapest Hotel picked up three awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association voters.
Critics Choice Movie Awards Winners:
BEST PICTURE
Birdman WINNER: Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash
BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler WINNER: Michael Keaton – Birdman
David Oyelowo – Selma
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything WINNER: Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher WINNER: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
WINNER: Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent
Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie
Noah Wiseman – The Babadook
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
WINNER: Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Selma
BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman
Angelina Jolie – Unbroken WINNER: Richard Linklater – Boyhood
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Birdman – Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Unbroken – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
Wild – Nick Hornby
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Interstellar – Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins
BEST ART DIRECTION
Birdman – Kevin Thompson/Production Designer, George DeTitta Jr./Set Decorator WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Inherent Vice – David Crank/Production Designer, Amy Wells/Set Decorator
Interstellar – Nathan Crowley/Production Designer, Gary Fettis/Set Decorator
Into the Woods – Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Snowpiercer – Ondrej Nekvasil/Production Designer, Beatrice Brentnerova/Set Decorator
BEST EDITING
WINNER: Birdman – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
Gone Girl – Kirk Baxter
Interstellar – Lee Smith
Whiplash – Tom Cross
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard
Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Foxcatcher WINNER: Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Maleficent
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
WINNER: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2 WINNER: The LEGO Movie
BEST ACTION MOVIE
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury WINNER: Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
WINNER: Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Tom Cruise – Edge of Tomorrow
Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt – Fury
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
WINNER: Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley – Divergent
BEST COMEDY
Birdman WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jon Favreau – Chef
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel WINNER: Michael Keaton – Birdman
Bill Murray – St. Vincent
Chris Rock – Top Five
Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent WINNER: Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes WINNER: Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
WINNER: Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days in Vietnam WINNER: Life Itself
The Overnighters
BEST SONG
Big Eyes – Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes
Everything Is Awesome – Jo Li and the Lonely Island – The Lego Movie WINNER: Glory – Common/John Legend – Selma
Lost Stars – Keira Knightley – Begin Again
Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl WINNER: Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar
Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, and author Veronica Roth discuss the second film in the Divergent franchise, Insurgent, in this new behind-the-scenes video. While the first film set up the characters, this second film is much more action-intense according to the cast of the sci-fi thriller.
Directed by Robert Schwentke, The Divergent Series: Insurgent also features Naomi Watts, Ashley Judd, Mekhi Phifer, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, and Jai Courtney.
Insurgent opens in theaters on March 20, 2015.
The Plot:
The Divergent Series: Insurgent raises the stakes for Tris as she searches for allies and answers in the ruins of a futuristic Chicago. Tris (Woodley) and Four (James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite. Racing against time, they must find out what Tris’s family sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Haunted by her past choices but desperate to protect the ones she loves, Tris, with Four at her side, faces one impossible challenge after another as they unlock the truth about the past and ultimately the future of their world.
Manpreet Bachu, Ukweli Roach, Merritt Patterson, William Moseley, Lydia Rose Bewley, Jake Maskall, Sophie Colquhoun, Hatty Preston, Elizabeth Hurley, Oliver Milburn, Vincent Regan, Alexandra Park, and Tom Austen in ‘The Royals’ (Photo by Frank W. Ockenfels 3 / E! Entertainment)
E! has a lot of faith in their first original series The Royals, giving the drama a season two renewal before season one even airs. The hour-long drama was created by Mark Schwahn and stars Elizabeth Hurley, Vincent Regan, William Moseley, and Alexandra Park as members of a fictional royal family.
Season one will debut on March 15, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT.
Filming will take place on season two in London this spring.
“To renew this freshman series before its highly anticipated first season premiere underscores E!’s commitment to the scripted genre and our confidence and support of this groundbreaking and rule-breaking original series,” stated Jeff Olde, Executive Vice President, Original Programming & Development, E! “We’re thrilled to have Universal Cable Productions joining Lionsgate as a co-producing partner as we announce a second season pick-up for this scandalously fun series.’”
“We’re very proud that E! chose The Royals as its first original scripted series and delighted about this early season two pick-up,” added Kevin Beggs, Chairman, Lionsgate Television Group. “The cast and creative team are exceptional and E! has been a tremendous partner in supporting the creative direction of the series from day one.”
The Plot:
Love, hate, lust, and revenge are taken to a delightfully decadent new level in this 60-minute drama series that goes inside a world where power is everything, limits do not exist, and trust is a luxury that no one can afford. Season two will go even deeper behind the pomp and ceremony where scandal continues to lurk, and all is fair in love and royalty.
Poster for ‘Get Hard’ (Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures)
The new trailer for the comedy movie Get Hard features Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, a monkey, and a screwdriver protruding from Ferrell’s head. The R-rated comedy marks the feature film directorial debut of screenwriter Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and also stars Tip “T.I.” Harris, Alison Brie, and Craig T. Nelson.
Get Hard opens in theaters on March 27, 2015.
The Plot:
When millionaire hedge fund manager James (Will Ferrell) is nailed for fraud and bound for a stretch in San Quentin, the judge gives him 30 days to get his affairs in order. Desperate, he turns to Darnell (Kevin Hart) to prep him for a life behind bars. But despite James’ one-percenter assumptions, Darnell is a hard-working small business owner who has never received a parking ticket, let alone been to prison. Together, the two men do whatever it takes for James to “get hard” and, in the process, discover how wrong they were about a lot of things – including each other.
Lacey Chabert stars in ‘All of My Heart’ (Photo Credit: Copyright 2014 Crown Media United States LLC / Photographer: Katie Yu)
Hallmark Channel is well known for its romantic movies and this coming Valentine’s Day the network will be debuting another sweet love story with All of My Heart. The movie, which will debut on Saturday, February 14th at 8pm ET/PT, stars Lacey Chabert, Brennan Elliott, and Ed Asner, and while at the 2015 TCA winter press event, I had the chance to briefly chat with Chabert about her latest Hallmark Channel project.
What’s the story about?
Lacey Chabert: “I inherit a house and inherit half of the house with Brennan Elliott – his character. At first we don’t get along but opposites attract, and before you know it, we’re not only dividing this house but also falling in love.”
Are you a regular when it comes to Hallmark’s movies now?
Lacey Chabert: “Yeah, I’ve done four or five. They’re always lovely to me and they’re wonderful to work for. I appreciate that their programing is geared toward families.”
So how does that work? Once you do one, do they keep asking you back?
Lacey Chabert: “They’ve been very generous to me and asked me back on numerous occasions for different films. I’ve always loved working for them because you know you’re going to work on a set that’s just a really pleasant environment, and on material that’s very family-friendly. They’re very collaborative so they’re open to your opinion and your input. It’s really a lovely environment.”
Since you’ve been involved in four, have you felt the phenomenon of Hallmark movies that fans get obsessed about and can’t wait for the next one?
Lacey Chabert: “Yeah. I mean, yes, in tweeting. Exactly. When the movies air I hear from my fans I think more than for anything else I do. I think it’s because their movies really connect with the heart. And the movies are always centered around family and values, I always feel proud to be a part of them.”
Do you watch much television yourself? What are your favorites?
Lacey Chabert: “I do. I watch Hallmark and I just watched this past weekend The Newsroom and Homeland and The Affair. And I watch The Big Bang Theory.”
Frank Marshall (Photo by Eric Charbonneau / WireImage)
Executive producer Frank Marshall and director Alex Gibney were given unprecedented access to Frank Sinatra’s family and archives for the four-hour two-part documentary Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All airing this year on HBO. The documentary will feature never before seen photos and footage of Ol’ Blue Eyes as well as new interviews with family and friends of the legendary singer and star of dozens of feature films.
During HBO’s TCA winter press day, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Frank Marshall about his personal connection to the Sinatra legacy. Marshall’s resume as a director includes Arachnophobia, Congo, and Eight Below, and as a producer his credits include such blockbusters as the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Gremlins, and the Bourne film franchises as well as Poltergeist, Goonies, and The Sixth Sense. And in addition to the Sinatra documentary, he’s currently working on the new addition to the Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World.
Snagging a few minutes of his time at the TCAs along with another journalist, I was able to get the latest info on some of his many projects including the Sinatra documentary, next Bourne film, and the possibility of another Goonies and Indiana Jones movies.
Interview with Frank Marshall:
We’ve heard that Disney has suggested rebooting Indiana Jones, now that they own the franchise. Is that true and are you still involved with that?
Frank Marshall: “You’d have to ask my wife (Kathleen Kennedy). [Laughing] They haven’t come to me yet.”
Does Harrison Ford still want to do one more?
Frank Marshall: “I don’t know. You’d have to ask her. She just worked with him on that other little franchise (Star Wars). I don’t know. I’m too busy with Jurassic and Bourne and [Sinatra: All or Nothing at All]. This has been unbelievable. The most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
They said your father was in the band. Did you talk about that in the film?
Frank Marshall: “He played guitar. No, we don’t talk about it in the movie. It’s just one of my connections to this.”
Did your father talk about it a lot?
Frank Marshall: “Oh, yeah. In the ’50s when I was growing up, yeah. It was incredible. My dad was a session guitar player and he played on four of the sessions at Capitol Records. He played in the MGM orchestra in a couple of the movies that Frank was in. And so I’ve always been a Sinatra fan since then. It’s one of the things that sort of inspired me to take this on. I think it’s something that also might have endeared me to Nancy and Tina and Frank Jr is that our dads worked together. Not many people can say that and so it’s been really a labor of love for me, and extraordinarily great.”
Are they giving new audio interviews for this, even though it’s not on camera?
Frank Marshall: “Yes. We didn’t shoot talking heads on camera, but they did new audio interviews.”
Do you find documentary producing a very different skill than big project blockbusters?
Frank Marshall: “Oh yeah. It’s completely different because when I’m doing a movie, I know what we’re doing the next day. When we’re doing a doc, things change all the time. All the time you go this direction, that direction. It’s very refreshing for me. […] It’s kind of refreshing for me to just have a free-for-all with, ‘Try this. Try that. Oh, we need that? Let’s do this.’ It’s much different than having a script and having a schedule and knowing what you’re shooting every day.”
When there’s music rights involved, do you have contacts that can put you at an advantage to make those affordable?
Frank Marshall: “Yeah, I do. I think that a lot of these rights holders if you can show them that you’re doing a classy project and a project that’s meaningful and respectful to the artists, that yes I can call those people and get them to talk to me. Also, Sinatra made a lot of movies so I can go to the people I know at the studios and say, ‘We’re doing a movie. It’s good for you, too, because people will see your movie.’ So, yeah, I have an opportunity to make a lot of connections that a lot of other producers probably don’t.”
Do you actually get a bit nervous about approaching a film like this where you don’t know where it’s going to end up?
Frank Marshall: “Yeah, but you just keep working. This is the fifth or sixth doc that I’ve done; I’ve directed a couple for ESPN. It’s exciting because you keep going, you keep saying, ‘How do we make it better? What can we change here?’ I mean, I just find it completely different than my day job.”
But at the same time do you find you have to set yourself a stop point because it could just keep going?
Frank Marshall: “Oh yeah. I have a little unit in our office where there’s an editor there. I’m in and out and we have these other projects. But I could sit there all day and play. It’s my sandbox.”
You’ve got Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass back for another Bourne movie. Does Jeremy Renner still have a role in that franchise?
Frank Marshall: “In the franchise, yes.”
How big of a challenge was it to get Matt and Paul back together, since it sounded like that was not going to happen?
Frank Marshall: “It was really the challenge of finding the story. If you look back five or six years ago when we were maybe going on, we just didn’t have a story. It’s taken this long for us to come up with a story that everybody responded to. Now, we’re moving forward.”
Are there plans for Damon and Renner’s characters to eventually meet and have a movie together?
Frank Marshall: “We don’t have plans for that. You never know. I never say never. But that’s not the plan. They’re on separate tracks.”
Was it really about Paul Greengrass saying yes? Matt Damon sounded like he was game if he could get Paul back as director.
Frank Marshall: “No, it was about both of them responding to a story idea. Now, we’re off and we’re going to go write the script and make it.”
Last year, Richard Donner started generating some real buzz about Goonies 2. Is there real heat behind that now?
Frank Marshall: “It’s in discussion. Yeah, he’s talked to us about it, and we’ve talked to him. Again, what’s the story? It’s all about we don’t just do sequels to do them; the story has to be good.”
So, there isn’t a new script?
Frank Marshall: “Not yet.”
But he wants one?
Frank Marshall: “Yeah, he’s saying, ‘Okay, who’s got an idea? Who’s got an idea?’”
Obviously, it doesn’t matter how big the fan base is if there isn’t an idea.
Frank Marshall: “Yeah, that’s very important. You don’t want to disappoint the fans by just doing a schlocky movie. You want to do a real legitimate movie. It’s not going to be a sequel. In the Amblin spirit of Goonies, that’s what has to be.”
Is that why it took some time to get to Jurassic World?
Frank Marshall: “That’s one of the reasons, yeah. It was about story. Story, story, story.”
People expect so much more now.
Frank Marshall: “They do. I believe that the audience wants to discover the movie in the movie theater. I don’t care what you say, with all of the leaks, I think it’s a spoiler. You want to see Star Wars like you saw Star Wars the first time when you had no idea, or Back to the Future or Goonies or Bourne. You don’t want to know what’s going to happen.”
Jurassic Park was one of those films because you saved the big reveal of the dinosaur for the movie, but that was such a technological breakthrough. Is there another breakthrough you can make on the fourth film?
Frank Marshall: “Not technologic but you’re right, everybody has seen the dinosaur now so it can’t be about that. We have to have a good story.”
