Interviews
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Interview: Amat Escalante and the brutality of ‘Heli’
Director Amat Escalante’s third feature, Heli (2013), has been the subject of much discussion since it received its world premiere at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Featuring more than one scene of brutal violence, it’s been described variously as a portrait of modern Mexico, a tender love story and a blatant attempt to shock squeamish…
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Interview: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ cast
Directed by filmmaking brothers Anthony and Joe Russo and newly released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D here in the UK, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) is the latest Phase Two instalment in Marvel’s ever-expanding cinematic universe. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (Chris Evans), is now found adjusting to life after being on ice…
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Interview: Richard Ayoade talks ‘The Double’
After rightly drawing critical approval for his debut feature – an invigorating adaptation of Joe Dunthorne’s novel Submarine, British comic-cum-filmmaker Richard Ayoade returns with second feature The Double (2013), taking as its source Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s dark, pre-Kafka novella but repositioning its nineteenth-century action to a more updated, if not wholly identifiable, moment and place in…
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Interview: David Gordon Green on Southern noir ‘Joe’
David Gordon Green is that rarest of directors – unpredictable and eclectic. He’s directed gripping arthouse dramas like his debut George Washington (2000), stoner comedies like Pineapple Express (2008) and the historical spoof Your Highness (2011) – which America’s Salon Magazine somewhat hastily suggested might be the worst film ever made. In time, the latter…
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Interview: Jonathan Glazer delves ‘Under the Skin’
When Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin (2013) was given its world premiere at last year’s 70th Venice Film Festival, the UK director was hoping for a powerful reaction and he duly got one. As part of the audience started to boo, a larger section cheered and applauded. Glazer’s films often provoke extreme responses amongst audiences…
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Interview: Joanna Hogg unravels ‘Exhibition’
Exhibition (2013), the latest film from British auteur Joanna Hogg, is a mysterious work that poses provocative questions about how we relate to the people and spaces around us. While most of the industry is mired in what director Mike Figgis once called “kitsch ‘n’ sink”, Hogg is making original, formally adventurous works that burrows…
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Interview: Alain Guiraudie, ‘Stranger by the Lake’
Since it first premièred at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake (L’inconnu du lac) has gone on to garner both audience and critical acclaim in its native France and further abroad. Appearing in the Un Certain Regard strand on the Croisette, Stranger bagged its helmsman the Best Director Award as…
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Interview: Brie Larson chats ‘Short Term 12’
Next Monday (10 March) sees the release of Destin Daniel Cretton’s directorial debut Short Term 12 (2013) on DVD and Blu-ray, courtesy of Verve Pictures. Once an outside bet for a late Academy Awards run, the film unfortunately missed out on an Oscar nomination, particularly for its outstanding star performer, Brie Larson. Perhaps best known to…
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Interview: Xan Cassavetes on ‘Kiss of the Damned’
Xan Cassavetes’ debut feature, Kiss of the Damned (2012) – released this week in the UK on both DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment – is a wonderfully flamboyant vampire film that manages to successfully combine genre tribute with arthouse aspirations. It’s a cineliterate horror triumph that’s full of smart riffs on the way…
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Interview: Edgar Wright talks ‘The World’s End’
Having migrated from the small to the big screen following the sleeper success of cult TV show Spaced, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have amassed an enormous army of fervent fans thanks to their high concept – and very British – ‘Cornetto trilogy’, consisting of rom-zom-com Shaun of the Dead (2004), buddy cop…