May 5, 2008

Bruce McDonald directs Academy Award nominated it-girl Ellen Page in the explosive TRACEY FRAGMENTS. The film follows Page as an emotionally unstable teenager navigating through a dangerous urban metropolis in search of her missing younger brother. Creatively edited in split-screen style, some have called this surreal story a modern day CATCHER IN THE RYE – McDonald takes a second to elaborate on that as well as some of our other questions below. THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS opens May 9 at the Village East Cinema.

Q: Did you have Ellen Page in mind to play Tracey before officially beginning the casting process?
A: We auditioned many actresses. Ellen was always on the radar. We met in person and discussed our mutual admiration for Patti Smith and the search was over.

Q: Do you think the success of JUNO will help draw new Ellen fans to the this film?
A: JUNOâ??s success will definitely draw new audiences of Ellen Page admirers to The Tracey Fragments much in the same way Rolling Stones fans herded toward Jean Luc Goddard when Godard made 1+1 Symphony For The Devil in 1968.

Q: How would you describe Tracey as a character?
A: She is whip smart, moody and romantic, she tends to exaggeraate everything which is a nice way to say sheâ??s a bit of a liar. Tracey is Patti Smith at 15 years old.

Q: Maureen Medved, who wrote the original novel, also wrote the screenplay â?? was she quick to jump on board? What was her opinion about turning the novel into a film?
A: I optioned the novel by sending Maureen my cowboy boots in the mail â?? express â?? Toronto to Vancouver. The boots secured the deal and Maureen hesitated not for a moment on writing the screenplay. She had a very clear plan for the adaptation from novel to screen. She knew which large chunks of the novel to leave aside. Maureen has seen every film ever made â?? except for Crash (II), Far from the Madding Crowd and Ang Leeâ??s first movie. She understood that the book and the movie are completely different mediums and the best adaptations are often quite different from the original source.

Q: It seems like there have been a lot of films recently that focus on teenagers dealing with very serious, adult-like problems (JUNO, PARANOID PARK)â?¦ THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS is no exceptionâ?¦ do you think this reflects at all on the state of the youth, or what it might actually mean to be fifteen?
A: Yes. These are all films made by people who listen well, who are trying to receive and channel that teenage world rather than trying to create the usual â?? and rather entertaining teenage worlds of Frankie Avalon, Josie and the Pussycats, The Brady Bunch, John Hughes movies, Hanna Montana or Britney Spears. Tracey has a lot more in common with Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye than she does with Hermione or Harry of the Harry Potter franchise.

Q: Why did you choose the band Broken Social Scene to score the film?
A: They are my favorite band. I love their music.

Q: What are you hoping audiences take from the story?
A: I hope the audiences take some hope from the story and some deeper respect for the wild and crazy- beautiful struggle of what it is to be fifteen.

April 29, 2008

The Tracey Fragments, starring JUNO’s Ellen Page, opens May 9th at the Village East Cinema. Check out the trailer below.

[QUICKTIME http://www.angelikablog.com/_Content/traceyfragments.mov 320 257]

April 9, 2008

THE VISITOR’S writer/director Thomas McCarthy (THE STATION AGENT) and star Richard Jenkins stopped by the Angelika Dallas, rounding out our recent press tour and giving us some inside info about the making of their upcoming film. Watch the video below.

[QUICKTIME http://www.angelikablog.com/_Content/thevisitor.mov 320 257]

THE VISITOR opens at the Angelika Dallas & Plano on Friday, May 2.

April 7, 2008

SNOW ANGELS writer/director David Gordon Green and star Sam Rockwell stop by the Angelika couch for a quick interview. Watch below.

[QUICKTIME http://www.angelikablog.com/_Content/snowangels.mov 320 257]

Catch SNOW ANGELS now at the Angelika Dallas.

Young @ Heart is a senior citizen’s choir group. They have been described as “old fogies singin’ songs”, but they aren’t singing Mary Had a Little Lamb. Tackling Kid Rock, Coldplay, The Clash, The Ramones and some choice disco, these folks are not the grandparents next door.

Two lovely choir members, Dora B. Morrow and Jack Schnepp, choral director Bob Cilman and the film’s director Stephen Walker, stopped off at the Angelika Dallas during a press tour to answer a few of our questions. Watch what they had to say below.

[QUICKTIME http://www.angelikablog.com/_Content/youngatheart.mov 320 257]

YOUNG@HEART opens at the Angelika Dallas & Plano on Friday, April 18. Seriously, don’t miss it.

 

The hormones just about drip off the screen in WATER LILIES (NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES), a sexually charged story about teenage French girls coming of age and wrestling, both literally and figuratively, with hetero and homosexual urges. Set amid an all-girls synchronized water ballet group, the film abounds in locker room and shower scenes populated by pubescent girls in various states of undress. Dirty old (and young) men and lesbians of every stripe will be the enthusiastic audience for this ravishing, painfully perceptive depiction of sexual awakenings among the young and the horny.

WATER LILIES, directed by Céline Sciamma, opens at the Angelika Houston and the Angelika Dallas on Friday, June 27.

March 28, 2008

The Angelika Film Center & Café at The Shops at Legacy celebrates its third year in operation as North Texasâ?? most upscale and stylish boutique cinema devoted to independent and specialty film. The Angelikaâ??s elegant interior, comfortable auditoriums featuring leather seating, and uncompromising standards of service make the Angelika Plano the cinema of choice for even the most discriminating filmgoers.

 

Originally hesitant to open an Angelika in a suburb, as its other locations are located in major metropolitan centers such as New York Cityâ??s fashionable Soho district, Ellen Cotter, Chief Operating Officer of Angelika Film Center & Café, was soon convinced that the sophisticated demographic in Plano and Collin County, together with a first class mixed use development, would create the perfect setting for an Angelika. â??The Shops at Legacy offers our guests a similar all-inclusive environment of shopping, award-winning restaurants, and exciting lounges and entertainment options that normally are only found in big cities,â? says Cotter, â??The Shops at Legacy was a natural choice for the Angelikaâ??s fourth location.â? Cotter says that filmgoers this season will be pleasantly surprised with the unique lineup of films scheduled for 2008. Some of the upcoming features include Smart People starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Page, Priceless starring Audrey Tautou, The Life Before Her Eyes starring Uma Thurman, Then She Found Me starring Colin Firth, among other exciting upcoming titles.

 

Terry Welch, General Manager of the Angelika, along with cinema industry veteran Tim Taylor, who is Vice President of the company, say to look for a new and improved café menu with an expansive new selection of fine wines along with enticing new appetizers and light fare coming soon.

 

Ideal for any social or business gathering, the Angelika Film Center & Café is the perfect venue to host a special event. The Angelika offers state of the art technical equipment, a dedicated event planner and a professional and courteous staff to ensure that any meeting or event is a success.

 

For more information, please visit www.angelikafilmcenter.com.

March 26, 2008

 

 

Q: How did you become involved in the production side of CHAPTER 27? Were you cast in the role first, or were you involved in production from the beginning?

A: It all happened simultaneously. It was an unique opportunity to participate in a different way. But my main focus was the definitely the role. Secondary was helping, if I could, to bring the directors vision to life. The producers were very kind to let me apprentice, in a way, throughout the process.

Q: You obviously put on a lot of weight for your role as Mark David Chapman. Was that a difficult decision to make? Why did you choose not to just wear a â??fatsuitâ??

A: It wasn’t a difficult decision at all. I would say the difficulty came after the decision was made. It was important to take on the physical challenges of this transformational experience as well as the psychological/emotional. The weight helped indicate many things about the character for me. Although it was a very important and obvious part of the process it was still just one part of the overall journey. And one that I am definitely very happy to be finished with.

Q: You also adopted a sort of whiny, southern accent for the role. Did you have to watch footage of Mark David Chapman to really take on his persona accurately?

A: His voice was very specific. Jarrett and I spent a lot of time discussing his voice and the importance of including it in the performance. I spend most days for months listening to archival tapes and interviews of his voice. Also while in Decatur, Georgia I found someone who had a very similar accent. That proved invaluable.

Yes, archival footage was very important and very helpful. It taught me a lot about who he was. I studied everything I could about his behavior from the inside to the out.

Q: Why do you think CHAPTER 27 documented only the weekend before John Lennonâ??s murder as opposed to delving further into MDCâ??s life or psyche?

A: Probably best to ask director Jarrett Schaefer about this but he had a very specific vision for the film which I thought was incredibly interesting and non-traditional.

CHAPTER 27 opens this Friday, March 28 at the Angelika New York. Leto will be attending the 8:00pm and 10:20pm shows on both Friday, 3/28 and Saturday, 3/29. Don’t miss it!

March 7, 2008

PARANOID PARK, the new movie from the always compelling Gus Van Sant, has been garnering critical acclaim since it first made the festival rounds. New York Times critic Manohla Dargis continued the trend right before opening day with a categorically exceptional review in which she called Van Sant’s work, “…a haunting, voluptuously beautiful portrait of a teenage boy…”.
Click here to read the full review,
and here to see an exclusive interview with cast member Taylor Momsen.

PARANOID PARK opens tonight, March 7 @ the Angelika New York.

March 5, 2008

 

GIRLS ROCK!, opening this Friday, March 7 @ the Village East Cinema, is a rousing documentary about the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Portland, OR where girls ages 8 to 18 receive music lessons and life lessons of empowerment from a dedicated group of feminist indie rockers.

Director Arne Johnson answered a few of our questions about the making of the film below.

Q: What inspired you to make the documentary?
A: Well, I first heard about the camp through Sleater Kinney, the members of whom have taught at the camp various years. Carrie Brownstein, in fact, runs the assemblies every year and co-wrote the camp theme song. The thought of these indie rock goddesses mucking about in a warehouse in Portland teaching 8 year old windmills and stuff was intriguing, to say the least! The movie that we ended up with, however, was inspired by the stories girls told us as we traveled around the country, interviewing them before they went to camp. We learned that the camp doesn’t just teach musicianship, but takes on a host of issues and inspirations that clog the landscape of girlhood in the current century. When we saw how the camp gently provided a place for these girls to be whoever they wanted to be, and how powerful an effect this had on their lives, the movie became a mission.

Q: How did you first hear about the camp?
A: As I mentioned above, it was through Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney. I went to see her speak about art and music, and someone in the audience asked her if she thought rock n roll was dead. She had just come from teaching at the camp, and lit into a speech about how inspiring it was that it gave me chills. I immediately called Shane and we started the process of making the film almost instantaneously.

Q: Did any one particular girls’ story stick out most for you?
A: You know, they all resonate for me in different ways at different times. Especially while editing, we would get very deeply into the material and at different times feel like any one of the girls was the heart of the film. Just speaking for me personally, I probably relate most to Laura. Her struggle to be ok with being an articulate, verbal person with tastes that don’t jibe up with her surroundings particularly touches me because I sorta went through similar stuff. Though, of course, it’s very different for a boy. It’s one of the amazing things that happened through this film is that though it’s a lot about gender and what’s particularly happening to girls, the heart of the movie is about things anyone can relate to…the harshly enforced borders of gender harm us all.

Q: Do you have a background in music?
A: Neither of us do, really. We formed a band just after high school called The Fish Cats, but it lasted all of three rehearsals. Shane has had a little more actual music education than I, he’s been working his way through Piano Man on the piano for a while, but we both play around. I can play songs and sing along on guitar, and I love to do so, despite what my lack of fans might might say!

Q: How do you like making a documentary with kids…do you think they are more honest?
A: I don’t know if I would say they’re more honest. Maybe more direct? For instance, we had a whole set of thoughts about how were going to shoot, deep philosophical musings about the distance between camera and subject, etc. But the moment you bring a camera into a room full of nine year olds, that’s all going out the window! They don’t play the metaphysical game, they want to see the camera, look at the microphones, kick you in the foot, whatever. And then suddenly they completely forget you are there. So, I would say that it was great for us to make a doc about kids as our first feature because it immediately taught us that the best doc-making technique is to be a human being. Now we have the same approach with adults too.

Q: In todays fame and celebrity obsessed society, do you think there is anything dangerous about young girls wanting to become rock stars?
A: Well, at the camp they don’t exactly encourage girls to be rock stars. They’re talking about using music as an avenue to self-expression and community building. The career of Sleater Kinney is a perfect example of that…despite bigger label offers and critics calling them the greatest rock band of the ’90s, they stayed on Kill Rock Stars for all their albums, before recording their last album on a bigger but still indie Sub Pop. They made music, made a living at it, had great experiences, inspired people, all without immersing in the whirlpool you’re alluding too. So, yes, it’s always dangerous to do anything ambitious and performance oriented, but there’s no reason you have to be a passive participant. We were inspired by that ethos with our film. We signed with a smaller, but well-respected and successful distributor before showing it to any bigger company. We chose our sales agent based on trust rather than who had the biggest deals. There are all kinds of pitfalls, but if you go into it knowing who you want to be, you don’t have to fall into any of them. The camp tries to give the girls a map so they can find their way.

Don’t forget – GIRLS ROCK! opens this Friday, 3/7 @ the Village East Cinema