Many of cinema’s hard men are notorious softies in real life. Ray Winstone may well be one of those, even if he admits to not looking particularly approachable.
“My wife always says to me, ‘Why do you look like you’re going to kill someone when you walk into a room?'” he tells Variety. “But I don’t mean to!”
Winstone’s long-standing status as the go-to man to depict violent approach-with-caution individuals or British mob bosses continues to serve him, however, as “The Gentleman” — Guy Ritchie’s eight-part Netflix spinoff of his 2019 gangster comedy feature of the same name — proves. In the series, awash in the classic Ritchie mix of guns, drugs, violence, aristocrats, boxing and tweed, Winstone stars as a gangland patriarch and head of a massive weed-growing empire. Because of course he does — who else would you cast as an elder statesman than the actor...
“My wife always says to me, ‘Why do you look like you’re going to kill someone when you walk into a room?'” he tells Variety. “But I don’t mean to!”
Winstone’s long-standing status as the go-to man to depict violent approach-with-caution individuals or British mob bosses continues to serve him, however, as “The Gentleman” — Guy Ritchie’s eight-part Netflix spinoff of his 2019 gangster comedy feature of the same name — proves. In the series, awash in the classic Ritchie mix of guns, drugs, violence, aristocrats, boxing and tweed, Winstone stars as a gangland patriarch and head of a massive weed-growing empire. Because of course he does — who else would you cast as an elder statesman than the actor...
- 3/8/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
’Beautiful Minds’ is inspired by the real-life experiences of co-director Alexandre Jollien who was born with cerebral palsy but overcame his disabilities to study philosophy
Elle Driver has launched sales on Bernard Campan and Alexandre Jollien’s pioneering French comedy-drama Beautiful Minds, about a workaholic funeral director and a solitary vegetable delivery man and philosopher born with cerebral palsy, who embark on a road trip in a hearse.
It is inspired by the real-life experiences of Jollien who was born with cerebral palsy but overcame his disabilities to study philosophy and become became a major thinker and spiritual teacher, who has written several best-selling books.
Elle Driver has launched sales on Bernard Campan and Alexandre Jollien’s pioneering French comedy-drama Beautiful Minds, about a workaholic funeral director and a solitary vegetable delivery man and philosopher born with cerebral palsy, who embark on a road trip in a hearse.
It is inspired by the real-life experiences of Jollien who was born with cerebral palsy but overcame his disabilities to study philosophy and become became a major thinker and spiritual teacher, who has written several best-selling books.
- 3/3/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Tonya Harding has made headlines for years — first for her Olympic-level figure skating and then for her connection to an assault engineered by her ex-husband and others against her rival, Nancy Kerrigan.
The real-life, weirder-than-fiction saga is returning to the spotlight with I, Tonya, opening in select theaters on Friday, with Harding herself making a surprise appearance at the Los Angeles premiere Tuesday evening.
Starring Margot Robbie as Harding, the retelling of her rise and fall will put figure skating back in the national conversation only months before the sport gets perhaps its biggest showcase, at the Winter Olympics.
“It...
The real-life, weirder-than-fiction saga is returning to the spotlight with I, Tonya, opening in select theaters on Friday, with Harding herself making a surprise appearance at the Los Angeles premiere Tuesday evening.
Starring Margot Robbie as Harding, the retelling of her rise and fall will put figure skating back in the national conversation only months before the sport gets perhaps its biggest showcase, at the Winter Olympics.
“It...
- 12/6/2017
- by Adam Carlson
- PEOPLE.com
Most Hollywood couples have no problem being in the public eye, but Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk — who are reportedly newly engaged — are happy keeping their three-year romance on the down-low.
Although the actress first met the Glee co-creator when she guest-starred on the show back in 2010, the duo have been dating since August 2014 after Paltrow split from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin after 11 years of marriage.
Instead of flaunting their relationship on the red carpet or flooding social media with cute selfies, the couple flew under the radar when they started dating. However, they have remained by each other’s sides,...
Although the actress first met the Glee co-creator when she guest-starred on the show back in 2010, the duo have been dating since August 2014 after Paltrow split from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin after 11 years of marriage.
Instead of flaunting their relationship on the red carpet or flooding social media with cute selfies, the couple flew under the radar when they started dating. However, they have remained by each other’s sides,...
- 11/21/2017
- by Stephanie Petit
- PEOPLE.com
After the wildly popular trilogy of Batman films directed by Christopher Nolan ended in 2012, it took DC and Warner Bros. a few more years than expected to find its next big hit with both audiences and critics. Finally, this year they got it with Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman. That summer blockbuster managed to balance the darker tendencies of the DC Extended Universe with a hopeful tone evinced by its sincere lead character (Gal Gadot), who was able to draw out the heroics in the men around her fighting in the very grim World War I. So it's not surprising...
- 11/16/2017
- by Josh Spiegel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dee Rees is a tall woman of fierce charisma. She’s the kind of director who talks fast, ideas coming so quickly that those less inclined can barely keep up. And yet her output has been slow: After Focus Features snapped up her breakout 2011 feature debut “Pariah” at Sundance, it was four years before HBO Film’s Emmy and DGA-award-winning 2015 biopic “Bessie.”
“There’s an assumption that men who do small personal movies can leap to deliver larger things,” said “Bessie” producer Shelby Stone. “It’s much harder for women.”
Finally, we get to see Rees fulfill her promise with “Mudbound,” a Sundance triumph that set the 2017 festival sales record with its $12.5 million sale to Netflix, and opened AFI Fest November 9 after wowing crowds at seven film festivals.
When Rees received the Sundance Next Fest Vanguard Award in August, her presenter, “Pariah” star Kim Wayans, said it best: “The introverted,...
“There’s an assumption that men who do small personal movies can leap to deliver larger things,” said “Bessie” producer Shelby Stone. “It’s much harder for women.”
Finally, we get to see Rees fulfill her promise with “Mudbound,” a Sundance triumph that set the 2017 festival sales record with its $12.5 million sale to Netflix, and opened AFI Fest November 9 after wowing crowds at seven film festivals.
When Rees received the Sundance Next Fest Vanguard Award in August, her presenter, “Pariah” star Kim Wayans, said it best: “The introverted,...
- 11/13/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Dee Rees is a tall woman of fierce charisma. She’s the kind of director who talks fast, ideas coming so quickly that those less inclined can barely keep up. And yet her output has been slow: After Focus Features snapped up her breakout 2011 feature debut “Pariah” at Sundance, it was four years before HBO Film’s Emmy and DGA-award-winning 2015 biopic “Bessie.”
“There’s an assumption that men who do small personal movies can leap to deliver larger things,” said “Bessie” producer Shelby Stone. “It’s much harder for women.”
Finally, we get to see Rees fulfill her promise with “Mudbound,” a Sundance triumph that set the 2017 festival sales record with its $12.5 million sale to Netflix, and opened AFI Fest November 9 after wowing crowds at seven film festivals.
When Rees received the Sundance Next Fest Vanguard Award in August, her presenter, “Pariah” star Kim Wayans, said it best: “The introverted,...
“There’s an assumption that men who do small personal movies can leap to deliver larger things,” said “Bessie” producer Shelby Stone. “It’s much harder for women.”
Finally, we get to see Rees fulfill her promise with “Mudbound,” a Sundance triumph that set the 2017 festival sales record with its $12.5 million sale to Netflix, and opened AFI Fest November 9 after wowing crowds at seven film festivals.
When Rees received the Sundance Next Fest Vanguard Award in August, her presenter, “Pariah” star Kim Wayans, said it best: “The introverted,...
- 11/13/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Colleen Cappon’s senior year of college was different than most. While she lived in an apartment with her friends, stayed up late doing homework and went to parties on campus, the then 21-year-old had another side of her life that made her very different from the average college student.
Every other weekend, she left school to drive two hours from campus to her hometown of Watertown, New York, where she would undergo chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer.
Just weeks before Cappon began her senior year at the State University of New York at Cortland in 2007, she was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer.
Every other weekend, she left school to drive two hours from campus to her hometown of Watertown, New York, where she would undergo chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer.
Just weeks before Cappon began her senior year at the State University of New York at Cortland in 2007, she was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer.
- 11/8/2017
- by Diana Pearl
- PEOPLE.com
From cult faves to the subjects of a Broadway musical and starry HBO movie, Big Edie and Little Edie, the kin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who lived in scandalous bohemian squalor in an oceanfront East Hampton estate, have become indelible pop-culture figures. But even if you're the completist who's seen the 2006 follow-up to the 1975 documentary classic Grey Gardens, you've never seen the mother-daughter duo quite as they're revealed in That Summer.
Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson, whose masterful touch with found footage made The Black Power Mix Tape 1967–1975 a powerful historical chronicle, again delves into...
Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson, whose masterful touch with found footage made The Black Power Mix Tape 1967–1975 a powerful historical chronicle, again delves into...
- 9/20/2017
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
That summer relationship that started over “Despacito?” Justin is thoughtfully planning ahead for your breakup.
- 8/17/2017
- by Halle Kiefer
- Vulture
Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson directs project with Sfi backing.
Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975) is working on the feature documentary That Summer, centred on artist Peter Beard and his family of friends, who formed an enormously influential and vibrant creative community in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s.
The film includes extraordinary footage from a project Beard initiated with Lee Radziwill about her relatives, the Beales of Grey Gardens, predating by years their depiction in the landmark Albert Maysles film Grey Gardens.
Andy Warhol also features in That Summer, and shot some of the newly unearthed footage, as did director Jonas Mekas, with additional cinematography by Maysles and Vincent Fremont.
Olsson and Swedish production company Story join production companies Louverture Films, Thunderbolt Ranch and Final Cut for Real on the project. Tobias Janson, Joslyn Barnes, Nejma Beard and Signe Byrge Sørensen serve as producers, with Beard serving as executive producer alongside Andrea Barron...
Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975) is working on the feature documentary That Summer, centred on artist Peter Beard and his family of friends, who formed an enormously influential and vibrant creative community in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s.
The film includes extraordinary footage from a project Beard initiated with Lee Radziwill about her relatives, the Beales of Grey Gardens, predating by years their depiction in the landmark Albert Maysles film Grey Gardens.
Andy Warhol also features in That Summer, and shot some of the newly unearthed footage, as did director Jonas Mekas, with additional cinematography by Maysles and Vincent Fremont.
Olsson and Swedish production company Story join production companies Louverture Films, Thunderbolt Ranch and Final Cut for Real on the project. Tobias Janson, Joslyn Barnes, Nejma Beard and Signe Byrge Sørensen serve as producers, with Beard serving as executive producer alongside Andrea Barron...
- 6/21/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson is directing project with Sfi backing.
Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape) is working on feature documentary That Summer, which will include long-lost archive footage of the stars of the Maysles brothers’ 1975 doc Grey Gardens,
Olsson is reviving a project first initiated by artist Peter Beard, which chronicles his family of friends and creative collaborators in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s.
Beard set up the project with Lee Radziwill, a relative of eccentric duo Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Eddie), who were depicted in Grey Gardens and its 2006 follow-up The Beales Of Grey Gardens, which featured previously unused footage shot by the Maysles.
Andy Warhol also features in That Summer, and shot some of the newly-unearthed footage, as did director Jonas Mekas, with additional cinematography by Albert Maysles and Vincent Fremont.
Olsson and Swedish production company Story have rights to use footage.
The film is...
Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape) is working on feature documentary That Summer, which will include long-lost archive footage of the stars of the Maysles brothers’ 1975 doc Grey Gardens,
Olsson is reviving a project first initiated by artist Peter Beard, which chronicles his family of friends and creative collaborators in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s.
Beard set up the project with Lee Radziwill, a relative of eccentric duo Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Eddie), who were depicted in Grey Gardens and its 2006 follow-up The Beales Of Grey Gardens, which featured previously unused footage shot by the Maysles.
Andy Warhol also features in That Summer, and shot some of the newly-unearthed footage, as did director Jonas Mekas, with additional cinematography by Albert Maysles and Vincent Fremont.
Olsson and Swedish production company Story have rights to use footage.
The film is...
- 6/21/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson is directing project with Sfi backing.
Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape) is working on feature documentary That Summer, which will include long-lost archive footage of the stars of the Maysles brothers’ 1975 doc Grey Gardens,
Olsson is reviving a project first initiated by artist Peter Beard, which chronicles his family of friends and creative collaborators in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s.
Beard set up the project with Lee Radziwill, a relative of eccentric duo Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Eddie), who were depicted in Grey Gardens and...
Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape) is working on feature documentary That Summer, which will include long-lost archive footage of the stars of the Maysles brothers’ 1975 doc Grey Gardens,
Olsson is reviving a project first initiated by artist Peter Beard, which chronicles his family of friends and creative collaborators in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s.
Beard set up the project with Lee Radziwill, a relative of eccentric duo Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Eddie), who were depicted in Grey Gardens and...
- 6/21/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Jaws © 1975 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
“Boys, oh boys… I think he’s come back for his noon feeding.” – Matt Hooper
On June 20, 1975 a thriller from a relatively unknown filmmaker was unleashed on unsuspecting theatre goers. That summer saw the birth of the blockbuster, the likes of which had never been seen before in cinemas.
Shark films are seemingly all the rage now. Last year was The Shallows, 1999 was the super fun Deep Blue Sea, this past weekend was the release of 47 Meters Down and in 2018 comes the intriguing Meg from Warner Bros. Pictures.
The science fiction action thriller Meg, directed by Jon Turteltaub, stars Jason Statham (“Spy,” “Furious 7,” “The Expendables” films) and Chinese actress Li Bingbing and is slated for release on March 2, 2018.
A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies...
“Boys, oh boys… I think he’s come back for his noon feeding.” – Matt Hooper
On June 20, 1975 a thriller from a relatively unknown filmmaker was unleashed on unsuspecting theatre goers. That summer saw the birth of the blockbuster, the likes of which had never been seen before in cinemas.
Shark films are seemingly all the rage now. Last year was The Shallows, 1999 was the super fun Deep Blue Sea, this past weekend was the release of 47 Meters Down and in 2018 comes the intriguing Meg from Warner Bros. Pictures.
The science fiction action thriller Meg, directed by Jon Turteltaub, stars Jason Statham (“Spy,” “Furious 7,” “The Expendables” films) and Chinese actress Li Bingbing and is slated for release on March 2, 2018.
A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies...
- 6/20/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Mubi is showing Shengze Zhu's Another Year (2016) as part of a collaboration with the Film Society of Lincoln Center for their Art of the Real festival. The film is playing April 30 - May 30, 2017 in most countries around the world.How does a person change little by little throughout a year? And how is one’s life shaped by the trivial things and subtle moments that one experiences? It could be the person who sits beside you on the train, or an advertisement that you see on your way to the grocery store… The idea of making Another Year is to examine the accumulated power of mundane happenings, and to reveal how the mundane could appear mysterious and beautiful with the passage of time.I first met this three-generation family in the summer of 2012 in Wuhan, China. Wuhan is my hometown, and is the capital city of Hubei Province, as...
- 4/28/2017
- MUBI
Before I began writing professionally about horror, I will be the first to admit I was a total stick in the mud. It wasn’t 100% my fault, but I was one of those people who had to have everything planned perfectly, and was always happy to bend over backwards to make sure I was living up to society’s expectations of who I should be, particularly close family members. I was living in this neat little box of a life, and honestly, it was destroying me from the inside, each and every single day.
Then, along came Hot Fuzz, and I realized that life doesn’t have to be so perfect, and that it’s okay to embrace who you are, even if it is a bit unconventional, because regardless of what anyone else thinks, just love what you love and never let anyone tell differently. I was finally ready...
Then, along came Hot Fuzz, and I realized that life doesn’t have to be so perfect, and that it’s okay to embrace who you are, even if it is a bit unconventional, because regardless of what anyone else thinks, just love what you love and never let anyone tell differently. I was finally ready...
- 4/21/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Summer camp can be the time of your life, but for one cabin of bunkmates, it will be a time that will haunt their lives forever in James Newman's Odd Man Out. The recent release from the author of The Wicked takes readers back to a sinister summer in 1989, and we have an excerpt from the coming-of-age horror novel for Daily Dead readers to check out right now.
Read the Odd Man Out excerpt below, and to learn more about Newman's written works, visit his Amazon page.
Odd Man Out synopsis: "Welcome To The Black Mountain Camp For Boys!
Summer,1989. It is a time for splashing in the lake and exploring the wilderness, for nine teenagers to bond together and create friendships that could last the rest of their lives.
But among this group there is a young man with a secret--a secret that,in this time and place,...
Read the Odd Man Out excerpt below, and to learn more about Newman's written works, visit his Amazon page.
Odd Man Out synopsis: "Welcome To The Black Mountain Camp For Boys!
Summer,1989. It is a time for splashing in the lake and exploring the wilderness, for nine teenagers to bond together and create friendships that could last the rest of their lives.
But among this group there is a young man with a secret--a secret that,in this time and place,...
- 3/6/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
More than three decades after Jerry O’Connell made his big-screen debut in the classic coming-of-age film Stand By Me, the experience is forever stamped on the actor’s memory.
Speaking with People and Entertainment Weekly‘s Editorial Director Jess Cagle for the latest edition of The Jess Cagle Interview, the 42-year-old actor opened up how starring in the iconic movie at age 11 has had a lasting impact on him to this very day.
“That experience was one of the best experiences of my life,” said O’Connell. “That summer was maybe the best summer of my life!”
“River Phoenix,...
Speaking with People and Entertainment Weekly‘s Editorial Director Jess Cagle for the latest edition of The Jess Cagle Interview, the 42-year-old actor opened up how starring in the iconic movie at age 11 has had a lasting impact on him to this very day.
“That experience was one of the best experiences of my life,” said O’Connell. “That summer was maybe the best summer of my life!”
“River Phoenix,...
- 2/16/2017
- by Aurelie Corinthios
- PEOPLE.com
The lines have officially been blurred.
On Jan. 12, news broke that Paula Patton had filed legal documents asking to limit ex-husband Robin Thicke‘s joint custody of their 6-year-old son, Julian, accusing Thicke of physical abuse. Thicke denied committing any abuse in a court filing, and on Thursday an L.A. judge denied Patton’s request, according to a source close to the situation.
The former couple divorced in 2015 after eight years of marriage, and until now appeared to have kept things amicable. But their new dispute brought to light several contentious issues, with Patton, 41, claiming concern over alleged drinking and drug use by Thicke,...
On Jan. 12, news broke that Paula Patton had filed legal documents asking to limit ex-husband Robin Thicke‘s joint custody of their 6-year-old son, Julian, accusing Thicke of physical abuse. Thicke denied committing any abuse in a court filing, and on Thursday an L.A. judge denied Patton’s request, according to a source close to the situation.
The former couple divorced in 2015 after eight years of marriage, and until now appeared to have kept things amicable. But their new dispute brought to light several contentious issues, with Patton, 41, claiming concern over alleged drinking and drug use by Thicke,...
- 1/27/2017
- by Kate Hogan
- PEOPLE.com
Dreamy, Electric Trailer For Sundance Winner ‘All These Sleepless Nights’ Brings That Summer Feeling
As the rest of us wallow in our envy as our peers jet to the annual Sundance Film Festival, it’s good to take a moment and reflect on some of the films of Sundance past. One in particular, “All These Sleepless Nights” has made its trailer debut after having premiered in Sundance in 2016. The studio The Orchard has picked up the World Cinema Directing award winner for a spring release and the trailer offers up a greater idea of the atmosphere to expect.
Continue reading Dreamy, Electric Trailer For Sundance Winner ‘All These Sleepless Nights’ Brings That Summer Feeling at The Playlist.
Continue reading Dreamy, Electric Trailer For Sundance Winner ‘All These Sleepless Nights’ Brings That Summer Feeling at The Playlist.
- 1/23/2017
- by Ally Johnson
- The Playlist
The summer I turned eighteen, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease she would succumb to two years later. That summer, I also discovered my then-boyfriend had another girlfriend. I was spending the last summer of my “childhood”… Continue Reading →...
- 9/26/2016
- by Aramide A. Tinubu
- ShadowAndAct
Many of Anthony Ervin's competitors were just learning to read and write the last time he won a gold medal, at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, before he abruptly retired - but they know how to spell his name now. On Sunday, Ervin anchored the qualifying leg that put the U.S. in position to win gold in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, earning him his first medal since he was a teenager. This Thursday he will compete in the 50-meter freestyle - the shortest, fastest race in aquatics. Few would have expected that Ervin - at 35, the oldest American man...
- 8/11/2016
- by Kurt Pitzer, @pitzerkurt
- PEOPLE.com
NBC’s primetime Saturday coverage of the first official day of competition at the Rio summer Olympics averaged 19.5 million total viewers and a 5.5 demo rating, dominating the night while down 32 percent from Night 1 of the 2012 London games (which drew 28.7 mil).
RelatedOlympics 2016: What Was Your Favorite Moment From Day 1 of the Rio Games?
That summer-vs-summer slide is on par with Friday’s opening ceremony broadcast, which was down 35 percent from London’s own kick-off gala, drawing 26.5 million viewers (the event’s smallest audience since the 2004 summer games).
RelatedRatings: Olympics Opening Ceremony Down 35 Percent From London 2012
The 2012 London games set numerous viewership records,...
RelatedOlympics 2016: What Was Your Favorite Moment From Day 1 of the Rio Games?
That summer-vs-summer slide is on par with Friday’s opening ceremony broadcast, which was down 35 percent from London’s own kick-off gala, drawing 26.5 million viewers (the event’s smallest audience since the 2004 summer games).
RelatedRatings: Olympics Opening Ceremony Down 35 Percent From London 2012
The 2012 London games set numerous viewership records,...
- 8/7/2016
- TVLine.com
Reviewed by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com
I remember it like it was yesterday. Matter of fact, I probably remember it more vividly than I did the actual day before today. Because what I’m speaking of was a pivotal moment for me. It was 1981, and it just happened to be the only family vacation that me and my parents went ever went on. I didn’t have a dysfunctional childhood by any means, my parents just didn’t like going anywhere. They pioneered the concept of the modern staycation long before it was a broadly understood term in our lexicon. We ended up at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and we were staying in an actual old school “Devil’s Reject’s” style hotel.
What I mean is that it was longer than it was high and all the room entrances were on the outside of the building. They also had cable TV.
I remember it like it was yesterday. Matter of fact, I probably remember it more vividly than I did the actual day before today. Because what I’m speaking of was a pivotal moment for me. It was 1981, and it just happened to be the only family vacation that me and my parents went ever went on. I didn’t have a dysfunctional childhood by any means, my parents just didn’t like going anywhere. They pioneered the concept of the modern staycation long before it was a broadly understood term in our lexicon. We ended up at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and we were staying in an actual old school “Devil’s Reject’s” style hotel.
What I mean is that it was longer than it was high and all the room entrances were on the outside of the building. They also had cable TV.
- 7/14/2016
- by admin
- MoreHorror
Congrats, you made it! That summer vacay you've been saving for is finally upon you. You're all but set to go until you realize that you have nothing new and exciting to wear on your trip. You're conflicted because you feel guilty about spending even more money on an outfit that you will only wear once on said trip. It's vacation, after all, so you should let loose (even at the mall). But just because you're on the hunt for some new duds, it doesn't mean that you have to be wasteful. For a list of vacation buys that are worth splurging on, follow the leads of celebs like Vanessa Hudgens and Candice Swanepoel, who understand the value of smart shopping. To shop...
- 5/14/2016
- E! Online
The Carmichael Show's Tiffany Haddish was just 9 years old when her entire life was turned upside down.
Her mother was in a car accident and suffered brain damage after her head went through the windshield of her car.
"She was never the same after that," Haddish tells People. "She wasn't normal anymore."
As the oldest sibling, Haddish became the caretaker for her two sisters and two brothers.
"I was basically a 10-year-old mom," she says. "I was feeding them and dressing them. I was taking care of everybody."
That included her mother.
"I was suddenly having to teach her how to tie her shoes,...
Her mother was in a car accident and suffered brain damage after her head went through the windshield of her car.
"She was never the same after that," Haddish tells People. "She wasn't normal anymore."
As the oldest sibling, Haddish became the caretaker for her two sisters and two brothers.
"I was basically a 10-year-old mom," she says. "I was feeding them and dressing them. I was taking care of everybody."
That included her mother.
"I was suddenly having to teach her how to tie her shoes,...
- 4/22/2016
- by Patrick Gomez, @PatrickGomezLA
- People.com - TV Watch
The Carmichael Show's Tiffany Haddish was just 9 years old when her entire life was turned upside down. Her mother was in a car accident and suffered brain damage after her head went through the windshield of her car. "She was never the same after that," Haddish tells People. "She wasn't normal anymore." As the oldest sibling, Haddish became the caretaker for her two sisters and two brothers. "I was basically a 10-year-old mom," she says. "I was feeding them and dressing them. I was taking care of everybody." That included her mother. "I was suddenly having to teach her how to tie her shoes,...
- 4/22/2016
- by Patrick Gomez, @PatrickGomezLA
- PEOPLE.com
The Carmichael Show's Tiffany Haddish was just 9 years old when her entire life was turned upside down. Her mother was in a car accident and suffered brain damage after her head went through the windshield of her car. "She was never the same after that," Haddish tells People. "She wasn't normal anymore." As the oldest sibling, Haddish became the caretaker for her two sisters and two brothers. "I was basically a 10-year-old mom," she says. "I was feeding them and dressing them. I was taking care of everybody." That included her mother. "I was suddenly having to teach her how to tie her shoes,...
- 4/22/2016
- by Patrick Gomez, @PatrickGomezLA
- PEOPLE.com
Ethan Hawke Remembers Working with River Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman: 'It's Been a Hard Loss'
Ethan Hawke says he regrets feeling competitive with River Phoenix. Hawke and Phoenix famously costarred in the 1985 film Explorers, and as two young actors they often found themselves going after the same movie roles. After losing a part in Stand by Me to Phoenix, Hawke struggled to get his footing in Hollywood while Phoenix went on to earn an Oscar nomination for 1988's Running on Empty. The actor admits he was "so jealous" of Phoenix's rising fame. "It was really hurting my life," Hawke, 45, said of the jealousy while speaking at the Austin Film Society on Thursday night. "Stand by Me...
- 2/19/2016
- by Jodi Guglielmi and Kristen O'Brien
- PEOPLE.com
Ethan Hawke Remembers Working with River Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman: 'It's Been a Hard Loss'
Ethan Hawke says he regrets feeling competitive with River Phoenix. Hawke and Phoenix famously costarred in the 1985 film Explorers, and as two young actors they often found themselves going after the same movie roles. After losing a part in Stand by Me to Phoenix, Hawke struggled to get his footing in Hollywood while Phoenix went on to earn an Oscar nomination for 1988's Running on Empty. The actor admits he was "so jealous" of Phoenix's rising fame. "It was really hurting my life," Hawke, 45, said of the jealousy while speaking at the Austin Film Society on Thursday night. "Stand by Me...
- 2/19/2016
- by Jodi Guglielmi and Kristen O'Brien
- PEOPLE.com
During the summer of 2014, Melissa Mays had no clue why her hair started falling out and her back and muscles ached. Then one night, she had a seizure in her sleep. Mays did know one thing about her symptoms: They began after Flint, Michigan's water supply was switched from the Detroit River to the Flint River in April of that year. That summer, she also ran a bath for her niece and immediately noticed the color of the water coming out of her bathtub faucet was "pure yellow." "It just kept on getting worse and worse over time," Mays tells People.
- 1/28/2016
- by Caitlin Keating, @caitkeating
- PEOPLE.com
During the summer of 2014, Melissa Mays had no clue why her hair started falling out and her back and muscles ached. Then one night, she had a seizure in her sleep. Mays did know one thing about her symptoms: They began after Flint, Michigan's water supply was switched from the Detroit River to the Flint River in April of that year. That summer, she also ran a bath for her niece and immediately noticed the color of the water coming out of her bathtub faucet was "pure yellow." "It just kept on getting worse and worse over time," Mays tells People.
- 1/28/2016
- by Caitlin Keating, @caitkeating
- PEOPLE.com
Los Angeles (AP) — Natalie Cole, the Grammy-winning daughter of Nat "King" Cole who carried on her late father's musical legacy and, through technology, shared a duet with him on "Unforgettable," has died. She was 65.
Natalie died Thursday evening at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles due to compilations from ongoing health issues, her family said in a statement.
"Natalie fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived ... with dignity, strength and honor. Our beloved Mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain Unforgettable in our hearts forever," read the statement from her son Robert Yancy and sisters Timolin and Casey Cole.
Cole had battled drug problems and hepatitis that forced her to undergo a kidney transplant in May 2009. Cole's older sister, Carol "Cookie" Cole, died the day she received the transplant. Their brother, Nat Kelly Cole, died in 1995.
Natalie Cole was inspired by her dad at an early...
Natalie died Thursday evening at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles due to compilations from ongoing health issues, her family said in a statement.
"Natalie fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived ... with dignity, strength and honor. Our beloved Mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain Unforgettable in our hearts forever," read the statement from her son Robert Yancy and sisters Timolin and Casey Cole.
Cole had battled drug problems and hepatitis that forced her to undergo a kidney transplant in May 2009. Cole's older sister, Carol "Cookie" Cole, died the day she received the transplant. Their brother, Nat Kelly Cole, died in 1995.
Natalie Cole was inspired by her dad at an early...
- 1/1/2016
- by The Associated Press
- Moviefone
[Brightcove "4673406482001"] We've made it past the holidays and are now sitting on the very end of 2015, hopeful for the new year and all the possibilities it will bring. However, there are decisions we can make to ensure that this new year is a good year. Let's start by putting to rest some of the annoying stuff we didn't need in 2015. 1. The man bunIs 2015 going to be remembered as the year a handful of guys decided to pile their hair on top of their head with reckless disregard for whether they had long enough locks to even attempt such a hairstyle? And...
- 12/28/2015
- by Drew Mackie, @drewgmackie
- PEOPLE.com
The Secret Circle
Showcase Inventory
Developed by Andrew Miller
Based on The Secret Circle novel by L.J. Smith
Produced by Outerbanks Entertainment, Alloy Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television
Aired on The CW for 1 season (22 episodes) from September 15, 2011 – May 10, 2012
Cast
Britt Robertson as Cassie Blake
Thomas Dekker as Adam Conant
Phoebe Tonkin as Faye Chamberlain
Shelly Hennig as Diane Meade
Jessica Parker Kennedy as Melissa Glaser
Louis Hunter as Nick Armstrong
Chris Zylka as Jake Armstrong
Show Premise
After the untimely demise of her mother, Cassie Blake decides to move to her parents’ hometown, Chance Harbor, to live with her estranged grandmother. There she hopes to learn about her roots and solve the mystery of why her mother ran away from the town in the first place. After meeting the townspeople, she quickly learns that she is a hereditary member of a community of witches. As it so happens,...
Showcase Inventory
Developed by Andrew Miller
Based on The Secret Circle novel by L.J. Smith
Produced by Outerbanks Entertainment, Alloy Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television
Aired on The CW for 1 season (22 episodes) from September 15, 2011 – May 10, 2012
Cast
Britt Robertson as Cassie Blake
Thomas Dekker as Adam Conant
Phoebe Tonkin as Faye Chamberlain
Shelly Hennig as Diane Meade
Jessica Parker Kennedy as Melissa Glaser
Louis Hunter as Nick Armstrong
Chris Zylka as Jake Armstrong
Show Premise
After the untimely demise of her mother, Cassie Blake decides to move to her parents’ hometown, Chance Harbor, to live with her estranged grandmother. There she hopes to learn about her roots and solve the mystery of why her mother ran away from the town in the first place. After meeting the townspeople, she quickly learns that she is a hereditary member of a community of witches. As it so happens,...
- 10/10/2015
- by Jean Pierre Diez
- SoundOnSight
This summer has been an exciting one for TV fans. Halt and Catch Fire found a new gear by embracing its feminine side, Rectify somehow managed to top its incredible first two seasons, and Hannibal aired its most experimental and bold arcs yet. Several of the freshman comedies that made 2014 a banner year for the genre returned in fine form and Mr. Robot and UnREAL burst onto the scene, while the fascinating Sense8 flew under the radar. Fans of the criminally under-watched Halt and Catch Fire, Rectify, and Hannibal were likely unsurprised by their growth and creativity, but for many, this has been a summer of discovery.
@ChelseaKH13 no. My sister keeps telling me to watch it but I would have to start with the pilot & I don’t have the time to catch up
— Clarissa (@clarissa373) August 9, 2015
It’s been difficult if not impossible to keep up with the...
@ChelseaKH13 no. My sister keeps telling me to watch it but I would have to start with the pilot & I don’t have the time to catch up
— Clarissa (@clarissa373) August 9, 2015
It’s been difficult if not impossible to keep up with the...
- 9/1/2015
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
Release dates confirmed for The Dark Tower, Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, The Magnificent Seven, Passengers and more...
Sony has released a raft of release dates for some of its upcoming movies through until 2019 overnight, one or two of which we've dealt in a bit more detail in different stories. But the collection of new films has some interesting highlights amongst it, so here's what's coming and when.
The remake of The Magnificent Seven, starring Denzel Washington and directed by Antoine Fuqua, is due on September 23rd 2016. Ambitious sci-fi film Passengers meanwhile, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, is due on December 21st 2016, four days before the studio releases its Jumanji remake.
Moving to January 13th 2017, and finally, the first film of Stephen King's The Dark Tower has been confirmed for that date.
Fast forward to March 17th 2017, and that's when we'll see Edgar Wright's first new movie since The World's End,...
Sony has released a raft of release dates for some of its upcoming movies through until 2019 overnight, one or two of which we've dealt in a bit more detail in different stories. But the collection of new films has some interesting highlights amongst it, so here's what's coming and when.
The remake of The Magnificent Seven, starring Denzel Washington and directed by Antoine Fuqua, is due on September 23rd 2016. Ambitious sci-fi film Passengers meanwhile, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, is due on December 21st 2016, four days before the studio releases its Jumanji remake.
Moving to January 13th 2017, and finally, the first film of Stephen King's The Dark Tower has been confirmed for that date.
Fast forward to March 17th 2017, and that's when we'll see Edgar Wright's first new movie since The World's End,...
- 8/6/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
It was the summer of 1995. Bill Clinton was president, Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York, and Oj Simpson was on trial. That summer’s youth-oriented movies included Pixar's first movie Toy Story, the Disney musical Pocahontas — and Kids, in which wayward, stoned teens fuck each other senseless and head-stomp random strangers.
It might be hard to remember just how notorious Larry Clark's indie-skater odysey was. The movie grossed a modest $7 million at the box office that summer — a wild success when you account for the fact that it...
It might be hard to remember just how notorious Larry Clark's indie-skater odysey was. The movie grossed a modest $7 million at the box office that summer — a wild success when you account for the fact that it...
- 7/16/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Weakened by chemotherapy, Rachel (Olivia Cooke) sits quietly next to Greg (Thomas Mann) in one of many masterfully nuanced scenes in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl." Hoping to lighten the solemn mood of the moment, and as the only defense mechanism he has mastered, our protagonist appeals to humor. It momentarily works. and a smile is briefly drawn on the dying girl's face. But soon she complaints that the very act of laughing causes her pain. That which is meant to be a source of joy is quickly transformed into anguish. Pleasure and hurt, for a moment, as one, but eternally part of a fascinating continuum.
We are all a joke away from hysterical laughter and a moment removed from devastating despair. In between these extremes is where most of life happens, and where most of "Me and Earl" occurs as well. To survive "the best of times and the worst of times" we have to walk the rest of the road that connects them and separates in fluctuating patterns
Laughter can turn to tears and sadness can be channeled through comedy. It's the ups and downs, the successes and failures, our horrible mistakes and our ability for redemption, the things we did and those we didn't, the regrets and the memories, all building blocks of a longer experience that resembles just what Rachel is feeling.
And while Greg is on his way to learn that, Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon already knows a few things about the bittersweet journey, one that has had no short cuts and has been 25 years in the making. Tainted by personal loss but coated with determination, or in Spanish determinación, every step has revolved about cinema and and a love for it that only the greats can exude.
I felt head over heels for "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" at an 8:30 Am screening that I almost didn't make. I wasn't in the best of shapes to sit through a film. Hungover, sleep deprived, and barely standing after almost ten intense days of Sundance. The film played and I was skeptical, but it took mere minutes for it to lure me into it's magic. About 100 minutes later a big part of the theater, myself included, wept in the dark. We had laughed, we had felt for Greg, had had a riot with Earl (Rj Cyler), rooted for Rachel, and at last we cried. We, had, in the length of what seemed like just a movie about teenage filmmakers and a heroine with leukemia, lived.
It was difficult to tell anyone if what I had watched was a comedy or a drama. I was stunned. It was laughing and then hurting, like falling and getting back up again, and it was about movies, and love, but not romantic love, but a purer one. It was about friendship and being afraid of it. It was about growing up and about compassion. It was about me, and about the woman three rows in front, and about the programmers who picked it, and about that Hollywood buyer who surely saw it and lost composure. I needed to know who was behind this and why I couldn't take a certain non-verbal scene and Brian Eno's music out of my head.
See, when you write about film you see tons of them. You get to see some great ones, some forgettable ones, and some you wish you could forget. But it had been a long time since a film caught me by surprise this way. It took me back to a midday screening in 2002 at a theater in Mexico City, where I watched a little French film titled "Amelie" for the first time. At 13, I was elated. Though Jeunet's film is extremely different from Gomez-Relon's Sundance champ, that feeling of having witnessed something special and beaming with passion was the same.
Soon after, during my first interview with the filmmaker from Laredo, Texas, I would learn that his love for his deceased father was the most potent fuel to make this project, and not only to make it, but to make it his own even if he hadn't penned the screenplay. That fact is testament to a talent forged out relentless and aggressive strives to learn from and work with the best. From Scorsese, one of cinema's greatest, to recent Oscar-winner Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu.
During that initial interview the focus was, of course, the film that would go on to win big at the prestigious festival. Months later, just after the trailer was released, I had the chance to see the film once again at the Fox lot. I needed to know if here in L.A., away from the Park City hype, the film would still be as much of revelation for me. In a tiny screening room accompanied by only 3 other people, I found myself discovering new things in each frame, but again reacting as strongly, both in laughter and tears, as the first time around.
For the Los Angeles press day my exchanges with Alfonso were limited as I was part of a round table with a handful of other eager journalist, but I was just as impressed with his sincere answers. June 12th came around, and I flooded my social media with pieces about the film: a review, an interview with Jesse Andrews, and my first chat with the filmmaker published in Spanish. It was my mission to make anyone that wasn't yet aware of the film, nit just aware, but excited to see it. Championing films is occasionally part of the job, but I was, and still am, under this film's spell in a much more personal manner.
Last weekend the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (Nalip) Media Summit came around, and among the numerous panels focused on the Latino presence in audiovisual media in the U.S, there was one that included Gomez-Rejon entitled "A Filmmaker's Guide." I had no doubt that he would be insightful and eloquent during this conversation, and he was. Still, I felt like I needed to use the opportunity to write something not specifically about "Me and Earl," but rather on the journey to it and the person behind this film that had shaken me.
Friday, immediately following his panel with Lucas Smith from Endgame Entertainment and Tilane Jones from Affrm, I got a chance to talk one-on-one once again with the director. He recognized me from our previous encounters along the way, and was, not surprisingly, incredibly friendly, personable and humble. We ended the conversation speaking in Spanish, which he speaks not only fluently but perfectly, and I left the W Hotel with a new kind of inspiration and even more reasons to champion the film, which, honest to God, I rewatched that same night with a friend who hadn't experienced it.
For those who are still reading, please excuse the length of this introduction, but as my personal journey with the film continues, I felt compelled to explain why this interview felt crucial. The film, like few, keeps unfolding itself to me even now.
"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" is now playing across the U.S
Aguilar: Often times interviews happen prior to the film’s release, but “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is out there now. How are you doing now that the film is in theaters for more people to see?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: The work isn't over. There is "Jurassic World," " Inside Out," and "Ted 2," so we just have to survive. We are a little movie. The work isn't over and that's why I’m glad we are talking about it because we still have to remind people that it’s out there. We need to remind young teenagers that there is another movie to watch. We need to keep the dialogue going or we are going to be forgotten.
Aguilar: The panel you were a part of was about the filmmaker's journey. Tell me about the beginning of your journey. Was it a crazy idea to want to be a filmmaker being from a small town?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yes, it was crazy but I was determined. When I was 12 I decided that I was going to be a director, that's a long time ago. Then when I got to New York I was vey, very shy. Incredibly introverted. I showed up to Nyu two weeks early for orientation, and our cafeteria wasn't opened in my residence hall, which was Weinstein, and you had to cross the park to get to this other place called Hayden Hall. I was terrified.
You are that new kid, no one is talking to you because you are so shy, and the idea of walking through the cafeteria was terrifying. Is like the shot in [“Me and Earl”], that's exactly the feeling. You had to cross Washington Square Park to get to the other place. As I was walking I saw they were shooting “Sesame Street” in the park, and I never made it to the cafeteria. I stayed there all day until the line producer called me over and asked me for my information. I told her who I was and she put me to work. Stopping people, like traffic. Two days later she asked me back for a music video, and the next week another music video. So before school started I already had three Pa credits. That's how I started and I kept using those credits to get more work, and more work, and more work.
Aguilar: At home, was your decision to become a filmmaker something that everyone was Ok with? I feel that perhaps for someone coming from a Latino background filmmaking can sometimes seem like a farfetched idea. I speak from experience.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: They were of course nervous because it was such a new idea to become a filmmaker. Even though my father was a physician, they always encouraged the arts. Both of my parents always exposed us to the arts. We would go to museums or the theater in San Antonio, Mexico City, or Nuevo Laredo. There were a lot of cultural events on the Mexican side, the Texas side not so much. But Nuevo Laredo always had cultural events: opera, ballet, and music. My uncle was a composer and my dad was always reciting poetry. My dad only became a physician because when he was on his way to sing at the radio station, while his sister played the piano, he was hit by a streetcar. It sent him to the hospital for a year or a year and a half. That changed his life because he was deeply mentored by a doctor. That changed him, but he was always still an artist.
My older brother became a musician, so there goes one, and then my sister becomes a fine artist –a sculptor and eventually a chef. Now she has a company called artbites.net, where she teaches art history with hands-on cooking classes. We are all two years apart, so every two years my parents got hit with something. By the time I said I was going to be an artist they had softened a little bit because my brother and sister had kind of paved the way. But I was still the hope that maybe I would be the doctor. Then I told them that I knew I wanted to be a director, and that not only did I know I wanted to be a director, but I knew exactly what school I wanted to go to, and that I was so determined, I was going to apply for early admission and if I got in that was it.
I got in and I was off. They saw that I was determined. By the time I came home for Christmas after the first semester I had already worked on a handful of productions, I was already getting paid to storyboard short films, and I was P.A.’ing in a film that went on to win at Sundance called "In the Soup." They saw how aggressive I was. By senior year I was already working for Scorsese. I was very determined.
Aguilar: That's an amazing journey.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: But the thing is that I was still the shy kid who had no friends at Nyu. When I made my shorts all my friends were in production outside of school, and they were all older because I was driving trucks, I was craft service, or I was storyboarding. I was very comfortable in a set, I was not comfortable walking into a classroom or walking into a cafeteria. It was quite terrifying, to this day [Laughs]. I sweat before I go to one of these things, but production; forget about it, I love it.
Aguilar: I think my cinematic epiphany happened when I was around 12 or 13 and I watched Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amelie." I grew up watching lots of film, but that one blew me away and I knew film was the one thing that I wanted to be involved with forever. What film was it for you?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: There were like one, two, three, maybe four sequential films. The first movie that I became obsessed with was Richard Donner’s "Superman," but then the big moments were after -this is the early 80's on the border so it was the beginning of the VHS revolution. My older brother was into music so all the movie knowledge I got was through my friend's older brothers. One of them lent me a copy of "Apocalypse Now," so that was a big deal.
Then I started to watch all the movies I could on VHS, but when I discovered "Mean Streets" that's the one that changed me forever. I had seen "Raging Bull," I'd seen "After Hours, " and I'd seen a few other things by [Martin Scorsese], and then I found my way back to "Mean Streets." I remember looking at the box. It was white with a gun and all this stuff. That's when I realized how personal it was. As a fine artist I was drawn to composition and technique. I would count the cuts. Like the scene where the keys are thrown out the window, and you can count those 7 cuts. I enjoyed the craft, but "Mean Streets" was also very personal. I was really startled by how much it was about me even though I was from a completely different world. That was the first time I had seen Catholicism or catholic iconography being documented in a very contemporary way and I was questioning things.
That led to his work becoming an obsession. I revisited all his movies and I realized where he went to school, and that's where I went. The summer before I went to Nyu - I had already been accepted, - I was very nervous because I was 17 from a small town. Everyone was scared for me. That summer "Do the Right Thing" came out and I saw it. I was in Corpus Christi where my parents bought a place on the beach in the 60s. My mom still has it, which has always been like a refuge. The best investment anyone ever made. [Laughs] If you needed a getaway it was right there. Every summer we would go there, and I would go to the movies by myself, first feature, and I saw "Do the Right Thing" and that was huge. He had also gone to Nyu, so then I felt comforted, "I'm going to the right place."
Aguilar: The eternal debate between film school or no film school? You went to film school and also learned a lot p.a.'ing for the greats. What's your take?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It's hard for me to tell you about film school because in film school in 1990 there is no internet. Nyu Film School was the way to learn about film, to be exposed to film, to go to repertory houses, to be exposed to New York and see films. I would go to the library and see one, two or three movies a day. You have YouTube now, but in this library they had little tiny TVs with a headset and you could pick what to watch from thousands of movies. That's how you would learn film history. To me film school was film history because there weren't a lot of books out there that I had access to. Except Scorsese on Scorsese, the first edition.
Aguilar: It's in the movie. Greg has it in his room.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It's in the movie! It was a big thing for me because I was trying to watch every movie he referenced. Nyu was good for me in that regard. It was also good for me because it throws you in a competitive atmosphere. That's when you know what you are made of, because you might be intimidated by people's attitudes and looks - they have their fucking hats and their manicured things, and the hair - and then when their movies don't work or they don’t have a vision, you are less intimidated as opposed to...
Suddenly we were interrupted by someone from Nalip who asked me to go with him to do some photo session or something of the sort. I thought he was kidding until we realized he thought I was Alfonso, who was, of course, the one that had to go get some photos taken. The confusion was funny and strange, and after it was decided that the request could wait, we continued.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Where were we?
Aguilar: Film school, you were telling me about Nyu and why was it good for you.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Oh yeah, that's film school in 1990. I don't know what it’s like today because you have access to everything now. It's crazy! You can watch anything on YouTube. But I still think that being thrown in a very competitive environment where you really have to see what you are made of - certainly when you come out of nowhere - was god for me. Then there are the relationships you make. All of the friends I made in grad school are the closest ones that I have now. But back then I made maybe one or two good friends at Nyu and a very strong relationship with my teacher David Irving, who really, really mentored me. He is the one that went to the cutting room even on this one. He came out here for the premiere and for the one out here. But I think film school is important, I don't know. What do you think?
Aguilar: I think sometimes it's mostly a matter of financial constraints.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: I took out loans and I think I finally finished paying them off like two years ago. But it gave me the opportunity to be surrounded by these people. It's a very realistic microcosm or a mini reality of what the industry is like, because you are up against these people that can be sometimes very intimidating, very Loud, very type A, and I'm not the opposite, but ultimately is only the work that matters and you get to know different people. That process is very hard sometimes when you fail over and over again, then there is the part when you succeed and what that feels like. But more than anything going there allowed be to work in New York City in production, that’s what really made me.
Aguilar: Did being Latino ever play a role or were there other Latinos going to film school with you? Or maybe it was never anything that concerned you?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: The thing is that I don't remember. Because I grew up in a Mexican environment, in the Texas side but it was like Mexico. It was an environment where we only spoke Spanish. We weren't allowed to speak English. My parents were very protective of being from the border but not forgetting Spanish or English and turning it into “Spanglish,” or becoming a different culture. They were very, very protective, but it was a very small border, we would practically just cross the street and it was Mexico. All of my family is on the Mexican side, my grandparents, my cousins, and half my friends, because I went to school on this side and that was one half, but the other half was in Mexico. It was half on both sides.
I was never a minority, I was there and then I went to New York. So you are never aware that you are less or more than anything else. I just went there because I wanted to be a director. That's it. I just wanted to make movies, but I never though about, "How am I being perceived because of my culture or my skin?" It never occurred to me. Sometimes you are reminded of that elsewhere. I made a couple of commercials in Mexico City and there, when they know I'm from the border they think less of me or they say something about me being less. It's funny but that's the only town I've felt discrimination.
Aguilar: I'm from Mexico City. Apologies, I think I know what type of people you are referring to. [Laughs]
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: From Mexico City? Well they say things like "Chicano" or other things like that, and that's quite hurtful because they say it in a very derogatory way. And Chicano is not my culture. That's "a" culture from the border, and they have a way of dismissing everyone from the border. There are Mexicans, there are Texans, there are Mexican-Americans, there are Chicanos, there are all these things that happen in the border and that’s what makes it such an interesting environment.
I was at a dinner party in Mexico City once, and they said, "Any Mexican that's from the United States is Chicano," they made this very broad generalization and they were talking me down. I got into a very heated argument because when you are from [the border] it never happens, but outside of that there are those random experiences that I've had later in my life. I was only driven to be the best and it was very disheartening sometimes that it took me so long to start getting my voice heard. That certainly started with television, but it was never because of where I came from, it was because people saw something in me.
Aguilar: Would you ever make a film in Spanish or with Latino characters?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yes! I want to. I'm developing like two of them right now. One of them is mainly in English but it takes place on the border so there are like three languages: Spanish, Spanglish, and English.
Aguilar: It's interesting that you list Spanglish as a language on it's own.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: There are different levels of Spanglish [Laughs]. The border is very interesting because there are so many levels of so many different kinds of languages that are spoken. You have Texans that speak better Spanish than Mexican-Americans, and you have Mexicans that Never learned English who are prospering or who are millionaires on the Texas side. It's so complicated and it's very unique. But I was always raised appreciating all of it and recognizing why my parents fought so hard to maintain our language at home. It defines you, but because you are in the border you always have to redefine who you are to anyone outside of the border. It’s so complex.
Aguilar: In your experience, what's the level of creative freedom in TV compared to film? What did you learn working on TV that helped you once you started making feature films?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: in both of them I'm always liked experimenting. TV is so fast. "American Horror Story," and "Glee" as well actually, but "American Horror Story" really allows you to experiment because the camera is very much a character, and you set a look and a tone, and you keep pushing it. I think you only fail Ryan Murphy if you don't push it enough or if you just do it easy and move on.
He really likes it when you are trying to come up with the images. As a director who loves the camera you learn a lot. When you make these movies - both "Town" and "Earl," which are small movies, I think "Town" was 25 days and "Earl" was 23 days - you have to know how far you and push it and what is the right thing for them. Both of them are, in some ways, celebrating movies. "Town" is about a town defined by a movie, and I like that. It's really fun and we intercut the movie and all that. With all it's flaws, I did the best I could and I think I was somewhat intimidated by the system. But it was the best I could have done.
"Me and Earl" is about a young filmmaker in control of the movie. He is telling you a story and he is seducing you into this story. He is telling you, "This is what high school feels like" and he is very aggressive, but he starts to learn to pay attention and he starts to lose control. Then the movie becomes quite quiet and somewhat handheld. I think TV gave
They were TV shows that were very unconventional, like "How am I going to interpret this musical sequence in 'Glee'?" And if you can make the day, you can do whatever you want. That's how Ryan has it. In "American Horror Story" I had these fever-dream-sequences or nightmare sequences, if I could make the day, then I could do whatever I wanted. That's the kind of atmosphere they create, so then you take that with you and you learn, "How far can I push it on 'Earl' before I have to bring it back into total stillness?" That was the lesson, and TV gives you that opportunity
Aguilar: What was the first thing that came to mind when you found out you were on the cover of Filmmaker Magazine? And also that you are the first ever Latino filmmaker on that cover.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: I thought it was a joke. Some friends of mine, from Texas actually, told me about it. They sent me a link to a website that a photo of it but I though that somebody had photo-shopped it. I asked Fox and the publicist on the movie about it, and they didn’t know either because it was never supposed to be a cover story. It was only going to be an article. They looked into it and they verified it was real [Laughs].
I guess at the very last minute Filmmaker decided to make it a cover story without letting anyone know, so it was a shocked for all of us. It’s so flattering. It’s amazing. I can’t believe it. And it’s also one of the worst pictures in history. It was taken at Sundance, the day before we premiered on a Saturday, I hadn’t slept in three days, and I had a fever. I remember taking that picture for, I don’t know probably Getty or I don’t know whom it was for. I look 100 years old, with the biggest bags under my eyes, but I’ll take it. [Laughs]. But I didn’t know that I was one of the first Latinos on the cover.
Aguilar: As far as I know you are the first and only so far.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It doesn't make any sense
Aguilar: Was this your first cover ever?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yeah!
Aguilar: Did you buy or asked for a hundred copies to send to everyone you know?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: [Laughs] No, but it was funny because when we were on the press tour, every time we’d go to a new train station, Thomas, Olivia, Rj, and I -like if we went from Washington to Philly or Philly to New York - we would always meet a representative from Fox and then they’ll take us through the day.
But Thomas had this habit of the second we’d walk down to the train station he’ll pull out a copy of Filmmaker Magazine and hold it up to make it easier for the representative to find us. It was very funny. It was mostly him trying to embarrass me. [Laughs].
Aguilar: Now that you mention Thomas, filmmaking is very personal for his character, Greg. He uses films to express his love for those around him and to relate to them very uniquely. Was this part of what attracted you to the film?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yes it did, because I saw it as an opportunity to make a personal film as well. Just like he was making a film and trying to find his voice, I was trying to do the same. He was making a film for Rachel, and I, very secretly at first, was making a film for my father. That became a very public thing after I dedicated it to him, and it started a whole new round of questions about him that I wasn’t prepared for. I started to talk about it, and the more I talked about it the more alive he was. He is everywhere now, just like Rachel is everywhere. I’ve been living the lesson of the movie. That’s what attracted me to the film, because I identified with Greg and I wanted to take his journey. It was very personal for me.
Aguilar: At what point in the process did you decide to dedicate the film to your father? It must have made an already emotional film even more emotional for you.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It was a very private thing, not a lot of people new why I was making it. At the very last minute I wanted to add a dedication to my father, but I wanted to bury at the end of the film. Just to put it very quietly and privately at the end of the credits. Then my producer Jeremy Dawson said,” Make it the first credit,” and I said, “Are you sure?” He said, “Yes! Make it the first credit.”
The language, “For my father,” I took from Scorsese’s film “The Age of Innocence, “ which he dedicated to his father. It says “For my father.” When I saw that in 1993, I thought, “I hope I’m never in that position.” Then here I am. I wasn’t prepared to talk about it at Sundance. It caught me off guard. It was hard during the first few interviews, then you get used it.
Aguilar: Has the film premiered in Laredo?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Wednesday July 1st
Aguilar: Are you prepared for the experience of watching the film in your hometown?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: I’m trying to go but I’m still doing some press here. We are doing an event on the 16th of July there, so I think I’m going to take a week off and hang out there. We are trying to raise money to save this beautiful art deco movie theater called The Plaza, which is a movie theater downtown Laredo. It’s a beautiful building that’s been abandoned and we are trying to renovate it. We are starting a new campaign to restore it and hopefully make it a venue for independent film and maybe a local festival. They are starting that campaign with a screening of “Me and Earl” and I’m very excited. It’s quite humbling.
Aguilar: Is perseverance the most important quality to make it and to stay focused even when it took several years to start making features?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It is perseverance, but it's not always easy. I'd lost my way over time but I realized that I want to tell personal stories. What I did with "Me and Earl" was to do something personal with it, what I was feeling. That allows your voice to be heard. Like Greg's little movie within the movie, I felt like I was coming into my own.
It's been really invigorating, but it's been a process. Some people have been lucky to find it very early. I took my own path and it led to this, as long as I try to not forget that and not to get seduces by other things for the wrong reasons I’ll Ok. Yeah, maybe is perseverance and listening to that voice inside so you don't get seduced by other things.
For a period of time, for like a year, I had written something with a friend of mine that was very specific and hysterical. Then all of a sudden we were seduced by chasing writing jobs because of the money and other reasons, and these projects were all this broad comedies. We spent a year taking meetings until we realized, "We'll always lose those jobs to the people that do those jobs well." Like the talking parrot movie or the talking dog movie. We had something very specific and lost a year of our lives. I haven't done that in directing, but at some point I knew that it was time to go from television to more personal filmmaking, and then in the future come back to TV but overseeing projects and doing pilots, and expressing myself that way.
Our time had come to and end, and I couldn’t help but shyly asked if he would sign my “Me and Earl” poster, which I had been dragging around the city like a treasure. Alfonso kindly agreed and signed it Spanish, which made it all the more special. While truly grateful I wish I would had mentioned how I discovered Scorsese watching a Spanish-dubbed version of “Taxi Driver” on Mexican television, or how mad I was when I couldn’t get in to see “The Last Temptation of Christ” when it finally opened in Mexico City after being banned for over 15 years – I was to young to see it according to the theater - and many other anecdotes I’m sure he would understand. But there could always be another interview.
It’s clear to me that a film this personal could only come from someone that loves film so deeply. A cinephile in the director’s chair is the perfect scenario for brilliance and honesty. Can’t wait to see what comes next, as I’m sure Alfonso Gomez-Rejon will keep on making cine con el corazón.
We are all a joke away from hysterical laughter and a moment removed from devastating despair. In between these extremes is where most of life happens, and where most of "Me and Earl" occurs as well. To survive "the best of times and the worst of times" we have to walk the rest of the road that connects them and separates in fluctuating patterns
Laughter can turn to tears and sadness can be channeled through comedy. It's the ups and downs, the successes and failures, our horrible mistakes and our ability for redemption, the things we did and those we didn't, the regrets and the memories, all building blocks of a longer experience that resembles just what Rachel is feeling.
And while Greg is on his way to learn that, Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon already knows a few things about the bittersweet journey, one that has had no short cuts and has been 25 years in the making. Tainted by personal loss but coated with determination, or in Spanish determinación, every step has revolved about cinema and and a love for it that only the greats can exude.
I felt head over heels for "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" at an 8:30 Am screening that I almost didn't make. I wasn't in the best of shapes to sit through a film. Hungover, sleep deprived, and barely standing after almost ten intense days of Sundance. The film played and I was skeptical, but it took mere minutes for it to lure me into it's magic. About 100 minutes later a big part of the theater, myself included, wept in the dark. We had laughed, we had felt for Greg, had had a riot with Earl (Rj Cyler), rooted for Rachel, and at last we cried. We, had, in the length of what seemed like just a movie about teenage filmmakers and a heroine with leukemia, lived.
It was difficult to tell anyone if what I had watched was a comedy or a drama. I was stunned. It was laughing and then hurting, like falling and getting back up again, and it was about movies, and love, but not romantic love, but a purer one. It was about friendship and being afraid of it. It was about growing up and about compassion. It was about me, and about the woman three rows in front, and about the programmers who picked it, and about that Hollywood buyer who surely saw it and lost composure. I needed to know who was behind this and why I couldn't take a certain non-verbal scene and Brian Eno's music out of my head.
See, when you write about film you see tons of them. You get to see some great ones, some forgettable ones, and some you wish you could forget. But it had been a long time since a film caught me by surprise this way. It took me back to a midday screening in 2002 at a theater in Mexico City, where I watched a little French film titled "Amelie" for the first time. At 13, I was elated. Though Jeunet's film is extremely different from Gomez-Relon's Sundance champ, that feeling of having witnessed something special and beaming with passion was the same.
Soon after, during my first interview with the filmmaker from Laredo, Texas, I would learn that his love for his deceased father was the most potent fuel to make this project, and not only to make it, but to make it his own even if he hadn't penned the screenplay. That fact is testament to a talent forged out relentless and aggressive strives to learn from and work with the best. From Scorsese, one of cinema's greatest, to recent Oscar-winner Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu.
During that initial interview the focus was, of course, the film that would go on to win big at the prestigious festival. Months later, just after the trailer was released, I had the chance to see the film once again at the Fox lot. I needed to know if here in L.A., away from the Park City hype, the film would still be as much of revelation for me. In a tiny screening room accompanied by only 3 other people, I found myself discovering new things in each frame, but again reacting as strongly, both in laughter and tears, as the first time around.
For the Los Angeles press day my exchanges with Alfonso were limited as I was part of a round table with a handful of other eager journalist, but I was just as impressed with his sincere answers. June 12th came around, and I flooded my social media with pieces about the film: a review, an interview with Jesse Andrews, and my first chat with the filmmaker published in Spanish. It was my mission to make anyone that wasn't yet aware of the film, nit just aware, but excited to see it. Championing films is occasionally part of the job, but I was, and still am, under this film's spell in a much more personal manner.
Last weekend the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (Nalip) Media Summit came around, and among the numerous panels focused on the Latino presence in audiovisual media in the U.S, there was one that included Gomez-Rejon entitled "A Filmmaker's Guide." I had no doubt that he would be insightful and eloquent during this conversation, and he was. Still, I felt like I needed to use the opportunity to write something not specifically about "Me and Earl," but rather on the journey to it and the person behind this film that had shaken me.
Friday, immediately following his panel with Lucas Smith from Endgame Entertainment and Tilane Jones from Affrm, I got a chance to talk one-on-one once again with the director. He recognized me from our previous encounters along the way, and was, not surprisingly, incredibly friendly, personable and humble. We ended the conversation speaking in Spanish, which he speaks not only fluently but perfectly, and I left the W Hotel with a new kind of inspiration and even more reasons to champion the film, which, honest to God, I rewatched that same night with a friend who hadn't experienced it.
For those who are still reading, please excuse the length of this introduction, but as my personal journey with the film continues, I felt compelled to explain why this interview felt crucial. The film, like few, keeps unfolding itself to me even now.
"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" is now playing across the U.S
Aguilar: Often times interviews happen prior to the film’s release, but “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is out there now. How are you doing now that the film is in theaters for more people to see?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: The work isn't over. There is "Jurassic World," " Inside Out," and "Ted 2," so we just have to survive. We are a little movie. The work isn't over and that's why I’m glad we are talking about it because we still have to remind people that it’s out there. We need to remind young teenagers that there is another movie to watch. We need to keep the dialogue going or we are going to be forgotten.
Aguilar: The panel you were a part of was about the filmmaker's journey. Tell me about the beginning of your journey. Was it a crazy idea to want to be a filmmaker being from a small town?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yes, it was crazy but I was determined. When I was 12 I decided that I was going to be a director, that's a long time ago. Then when I got to New York I was vey, very shy. Incredibly introverted. I showed up to Nyu two weeks early for orientation, and our cafeteria wasn't opened in my residence hall, which was Weinstein, and you had to cross the park to get to this other place called Hayden Hall. I was terrified.
You are that new kid, no one is talking to you because you are so shy, and the idea of walking through the cafeteria was terrifying. Is like the shot in [“Me and Earl”], that's exactly the feeling. You had to cross Washington Square Park to get to the other place. As I was walking I saw they were shooting “Sesame Street” in the park, and I never made it to the cafeteria. I stayed there all day until the line producer called me over and asked me for my information. I told her who I was and she put me to work. Stopping people, like traffic. Two days later she asked me back for a music video, and the next week another music video. So before school started I already had three Pa credits. That's how I started and I kept using those credits to get more work, and more work, and more work.
Aguilar: At home, was your decision to become a filmmaker something that everyone was Ok with? I feel that perhaps for someone coming from a Latino background filmmaking can sometimes seem like a farfetched idea. I speak from experience.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: They were of course nervous because it was such a new idea to become a filmmaker. Even though my father was a physician, they always encouraged the arts. Both of my parents always exposed us to the arts. We would go to museums or the theater in San Antonio, Mexico City, or Nuevo Laredo. There were a lot of cultural events on the Mexican side, the Texas side not so much. But Nuevo Laredo always had cultural events: opera, ballet, and music. My uncle was a composer and my dad was always reciting poetry. My dad only became a physician because when he was on his way to sing at the radio station, while his sister played the piano, he was hit by a streetcar. It sent him to the hospital for a year or a year and a half. That changed his life because he was deeply mentored by a doctor. That changed him, but he was always still an artist.
My older brother became a musician, so there goes one, and then my sister becomes a fine artist –a sculptor and eventually a chef. Now she has a company called artbites.net, where she teaches art history with hands-on cooking classes. We are all two years apart, so every two years my parents got hit with something. By the time I said I was going to be an artist they had softened a little bit because my brother and sister had kind of paved the way. But I was still the hope that maybe I would be the doctor. Then I told them that I knew I wanted to be a director, and that not only did I know I wanted to be a director, but I knew exactly what school I wanted to go to, and that I was so determined, I was going to apply for early admission and if I got in that was it.
I got in and I was off. They saw that I was determined. By the time I came home for Christmas after the first semester I had already worked on a handful of productions, I was already getting paid to storyboard short films, and I was P.A.’ing in a film that went on to win at Sundance called "In the Soup." They saw how aggressive I was. By senior year I was already working for Scorsese. I was very determined.
Aguilar: That's an amazing journey.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: But the thing is that I was still the shy kid who had no friends at Nyu. When I made my shorts all my friends were in production outside of school, and they were all older because I was driving trucks, I was craft service, or I was storyboarding. I was very comfortable in a set, I was not comfortable walking into a classroom or walking into a cafeteria. It was quite terrifying, to this day [Laughs]. I sweat before I go to one of these things, but production; forget about it, I love it.
Aguilar: I think my cinematic epiphany happened when I was around 12 or 13 and I watched Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amelie." I grew up watching lots of film, but that one blew me away and I knew film was the one thing that I wanted to be involved with forever. What film was it for you?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: There were like one, two, three, maybe four sequential films. The first movie that I became obsessed with was Richard Donner’s "Superman," but then the big moments were after -this is the early 80's on the border so it was the beginning of the VHS revolution. My older brother was into music so all the movie knowledge I got was through my friend's older brothers. One of them lent me a copy of "Apocalypse Now," so that was a big deal.
Then I started to watch all the movies I could on VHS, but when I discovered "Mean Streets" that's the one that changed me forever. I had seen "Raging Bull," I'd seen "After Hours, " and I'd seen a few other things by [Martin Scorsese], and then I found my way back to "Mean Streets." I remember looking at the box. It was white with a gun and all this stuff. That's when I realized how personal it was. As a fine artist I was drawn to composition and technique. I would count the cuts. Like the scene where the keys are thrown out the window, and you can count those 7 cuts. I enjoyed the craft, but "Mean Streets" was also very personal. I was really startled by how much it was about me even though I was from a completely different world. That was the first time I had seen Catholicism or catholic iconography being documented in a very contemporary way and I was questioning things.
That led to his work becoming an obsession. I revisited all his movies and I realized where he went to school, and that's where I went. The summer before I went to Nyu - I had already been accepted, - I was very nervous because I was 17 from a small town. Everyone was scared for me. That summer "Do the Right Thing" came out and I saw it. I was in Corpus Christi where my parents bought a place on the beach in the 60s. My mom still has it, which has always been like a refuge. The best investment anyone ever made. [Laughs] If you needed a getaway it was right there. Every summer we would go there, and I would go to the movies by myself, first feature, and I saw "Do the Right Thing" and that was huge. He had also gone to Nyu, so then I felt comforted, "I'm going to the right place."
Aguilar: The eternal debate between film school or no film school? You went to film school and also learned a lot p.a.'ing for the greats. What's your take?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It's hard for me to tell you about film school because in film school in 1990 there is no internet. Nyu Film School was the way to learn about film, to be exposed to film, to go to repertory houses, to be exposed to New York and see films. I would go to the library and see one, two or three movies a day. You have YouTube now, but in this library they had little tiny TVs with a headset and you could pick what to watch from thousands of movies. That's how you would learn film history. To me film school was film history because there weren't a lot of books out there that I had access to. Except Scorsese on Scorsese, the first edition.
Aguilar: It's in the movie. Greg has it in his room.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It's in the movie! It was a big thing for me because I was trying to watch every movie he referenced. Nyu was good for me in that regard. It was also good for me because it throws you in a competitive atmosphere. That's when you know what you are made of, because you might be intimidated by people's attitudes and looks - they have their fucking hats and their manicured things, and the hair - and then when their movies don't work or they don’t have a vision, you are less intimidated as opposed to...
Suddenly we were interrupted by someone from Nalip who asked me to go with him to do some photo session or something of the sort. I thought he was kidding until we realized he thought I was Alfonso, who was, of course, the one that had to go get some photos taken. The confusion was funny and strange, and after it was decided that the request could wait, we continued.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Where were we?
Aguilar: Film school, you were telling me about Nyu and why was it good for you.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Oh yeah, that's film school in 1990. I don't know what it’s like today because you have access to everything now. It's crazy! You can watch anything on YouTube. But I still think that being thrown in a very competitive environment where you really have to see what you are made of - certainly when you come out of nowhere - was god for me. Then there are the relationships you make. All of the friends I made in grad school are the closest ones that I have now. But back then I made maybe one or two good friends at Nyu and a very strong relationship with my teacher David Irving, who really, really mentored me. He is the one that went to the cutting room even on this one. He came out here for the premiere and for the one out here. But I think film school is important, I don't know. What do you think?
Aguilar: I think sometimes it's mostly a matter of financial constraints.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: I took out loans and I think I finally finished paying them off like two years ago. But it gave me the opportunity to be surrounded by these people. It's a very realistic microcosm or a mini reality of what the industry is like, because you are up against these people that can be sometimes very intimidating, very Loud, very type A, and I'm not the opposite, but ultimately is only the work that matters and you get to know different people. That process is very hard sometimes when you fail over and over again, then there is the part when you succeed and what that feels like. But more than anything going there allowed be to work in New York City in production, that’s what really made me.
Aguilar: Did being Latino ever play a role or were there other Latinos going to film school with you? Or maybe it was never anything that concerned you?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: The thing is that I don't remember. Because I grew up in a Mexican environment, in the Texas side but it was like Mexico. It was an environment where we only spoke Spanish. We weren't allowed to speak English. My parents were very protective of being from the border but not forgetting Spanish or English and turning it into “Spanglish,” or becoming a different culture. They were very, very protective, but it was a very small border, we would practically just cross the street and it was Mexico. All of my family is on the Mexican side, my grandparents, my cousins, and half my friends, because I went to school on this side and that was one half, but the other half was in Mexico. It was half on both sides.
I was never a minority, I was there and then I went to New York. So you are never aware that you are less or more than anything else. I just went there because I wanted to be a director. That's it. I just wanted to make movies, but I never though about, "How am I being perceived because of my culture or my skin?" It never occurred to me. Sometimes you are reminded of that elsewhere. I made a couple of commercials in Mexico City and there, when they know I'm from the border they think less of me or they say something about me being less. It's funny but that's the only town I've felt discrimination.
Aguilar: I'm from Mexico City. Apologies, I think I know what type of people you are referring to. [Laughs]
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: From Mexico City? Well they say things like "Chicano" or other things like that, and that's quite hurtful because they say it in a very derogatory way. And Chicano is not my culture. That's "a" culture from the border, and they have a way of dismissing everyone from the border. There are Mexicans, there are Texans, there are Mexican-Americans, there are Chicanos, there are all these things that happen in the border and that’s what makes it such an interesting environment.
I was at a dinner party in Mexico City once, and they said, "Any Mexican that's from the United States is Chicano," they made this very broad generalization and they were talking me down. I got into a very heated argument because when you are from [the border] it never happens, but outside of that there are those random experiences that I've had later in my life. I was only driven to be the best and it was very disheartening sometimes that it took me so long to start getting my voice heard. That certainly started with television, but it was never because of where I came from, it was because people saw something in me.
Aguilar: Would you ever make a film in Spanish or with Latino characters?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yes! I want to. I'm developing like two of them right now. One of them is mainly in English but it takes place on the border so there are like three languages: Spanish, Spanglish, and English.
Aguilar: It's interesting that you list Spanglish as a language on it's own.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: There are different levels of Spanglish [Laughs]. The border is very interesting because there are so many levels of so many different kinds of languages that are spoken. You have Texans that speak better Spanish than Mexican-Americans, and you have Mexicans that Never learned English who are prospering or who are millionaires on the Texas side. It's so complicated and it's very unique. But I was always raised appreciating all of it and recognizing why my parents fought so hard to maintain our language at home. It defines you, but because you are in the border you always have to redefine who you are to anyone outside of the border. It’s so complex.
Aguilar: In your experience, what's the level of creative freedom in TV compared to film? What did you learn working on TV that helped you once you started making feature films?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: in both of them I'm always liked experimenting. TV is so fast. "American Horror Story," and "Glee" as well actually, but "American Horror Story" really allows you to experiment because the camera is very much a character, and you set a look and a tone, and you keep pushing it. I think you only fail Ryan Murphy if you don't push it enough or if you just do it easy and move on.
He really likes it when you are trying to come up with the images. As a director who loves the camera you learn a lot. When you make these movies - both "Town" and "Earl," which are small movies, I think "Town" was 25 days and "Earl" was 23 days - you have to know how far you and push it and what is the right thing for them. Both of them are, in some ways, celebrating movies. "Town" is about a town defined by a movie, and I like that. It's really fun and we intercut the movie and all that. With all it's flaws, I did the best I could and I think I was somewhat intimidated by the system. But it was the best I could have done.
"Me and Earl" is about a young filmmaker in control of the movie. He is telling you a story and he is seducing you into this story. He is telling you, "This is what high school feels like" and he is very aggressive, but he starts to learn to pay attention and he starts to lose control. Then the movie becomes quite quiet and somewhat handheld. I think TV gave
They were TV shows that were very unconventional, like "How am I going to interpret this musical sequence in 'Glee'?" And if you can make the day, you can do whatever you want. That's how Ryan has it. In "American Horror Story" I had these fever-dream-sequences or nightmare sequences, if I could make the day, then I could do whatever I wanted. That's the kind of atmosphere they create, so then you take that with you and you learn, "How far can I push it on 'Earl' before I have to bring it back into total stillness?" That was the lesson, and TV gives you that opportunity
Aguilar: What was the first thing that came to mind when you found out you were on the cover of Filmmaker Magazine? And also that you are the first ever Latino filmmaker on that cover.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: I thought it was a joke. Some friends of mine, from Texas actually, told me about it. They sent me a link to a website that a photo of it but I though that somebody had photo-shopped it. I asked Fox and the publicist on the movie about it, and they didn’t know either because it was never supposed to be a cover story. It was only going to be an article. They looked into it and they verified it was real [Laughs].
I guess at the very last minute Filmmaker decided to make it a cover story without letting anyone know, so it was a shocked for all of us. It’s so flattering. It’s amazing. I can’t believe it. And it’s also one of the worst pictures in history. It was taken at Sundance, the day before we premiered on a Saturday, I hadn’t slept in three days, and I had a fever. I remember taking that picture for, I don’t know probably Getty or I don’t know whom it was for. I look 100 years old, with the biggest bags under my eyes, but I’ll take it. [Laughs]. But I didn’t know that I was one of the first Latinos on the cover.
Aguilar: As far as I know you are the first and only so far.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It doesn't make any sense
Aguilar: Was this your first cover ever?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yeah!
Aguilar: Did you buy or asked for a hundred copies to send to everyone you know?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: [Laughs] No, but it was funny because when we were on the press tour, every time we’d go to a new train station, Thomas, Olivia, Rj, and I -like if we went from Washington to Philly or Philly to New York - we would always meet a representative from Fox and then they’ll take us through the day.
But Thomas had this habit of the second we’d walk down to the train station he’ll pull out a copy of Filmmaker Magazine and hold it up to make it easier for the representative to find us. It was very funny. It was mostly him trying to embarrass me. [Laughs].
Aguilar: Now that you mention Thomas, filmmaking is very personal for his character, Greg. He uses films to express his love for those around him and to relate to them very uniquely. Was this part of what attracted you to the film?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Yes it did, because I saw it as an opportunity to make a personal film as well. Just like he was making a film and trying to find his voice, I was trying to do the same. He was making a film for Rachel, and I, very secretly at first, was making a film for my father. That became a very public thing after I dedicated it to him, and it started a whole new round of questions about him that I wasn’t prepared for. I started to talk about it, and the more I talked about it the more alive he was. He is everywhere now, just like Rachel is everywhere. I’ve been living the lesson of the movie. That’s what attracted me to the film, because I identified with Greg and I wanted to take his journey. It was very personal for me.
Aguilar: At what point in the process did you decide to dedicate the film to your father? It must have made an already emotional film even more emotional for you.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It was a very private thing, not a lot of people new why I was making it. At the very last minute I wanted to add a dedication to my father, but I wanted to bury at the end of the film. Just to put it very quietly and privately at the end of the credits. Then my producer Jeremy Dawson said,” Make it the first credit,” and I said, “Are you sure?” He said, “Yes! Make it the first credit.”
The language, “For my father,” I took from Scorsese’s film “The Age of Innocence, “ which he dedicated to his father. It says “For my father.” When I saw that in 1993, I thought, “I hope I’m never in that position.” Then here I am. I wasn’t prepared to talk about it at Sundance. It caught me off guard. It was hard during the first few interviews, then you get used it.
Aguilar: Has the film premiered in Laredo?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: Wednesday July 1st
Aguilar: Are you prepared for the experience of watching the film in your hometown?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: I’m trying to go but I’m still doing some press here. We are doing an event on the 16th of July there, so I think I’m going to take a week off and hang out there. We are trying to raise money to save this beautiful art deco movie theater called The Plaza, which is a movie theater downtown Laredo. It’s a beautiful building that’s been abandoned and we are trying to renovate it. We are starting a new campaign to restore it and hopefully make it a venue for independent film and maybe a local festival. They are starting that campaign with a screening of “Me and Earl” and I’m very excited. It’s quite humbling.
Aguilar: Is perseverance the most important quality to make it and to stay focused even when it took several years to start making features?
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon: It is perseverance, but it's not always easy. I'd lost my way over time but I realized that I want to tell personal stories. What I did with "Me and Earl" was to do something personal with it, what I was feeling. That allows your voice to be heard. Like Greg's little movie within the movie, I felt like I was coming into my own.
It's been really invigorating, but it's been a process. Some people have been lucky to find it very early. I took my own path and it led to this, as long as I try to not forget that and not to get seduces by other things for the wrong reasons I’ll Ok. Yeah, maybe is perseverance and listening to that voice inside so you don't get seduced by other things.
For a period of time, for like a year, I had written something with a friend of mine that was very specific and hysterical. Then all of a sudden we were seduced by chasing writing jobs because of the money and other reasons, and these projects were all this broad comedies. We spent a year taking meetings until we realized, "We'll always lose those jobs to the people that do those jobs well." Like the talking parrot movie or the talking dog movie. We had something very specific and lost a year of our lives. I haven't done that in directing, but at some point I knew that it was time to go from television to more personal filmmaking, and then in the future come back to TV but overseeing projects and doing pilots, and expressing myself that way.
Our time had come to and end, and I couldn’t help but shyly asked if he would sign my “Me and Earl” poster, which I had been dragging around the city like a treasure. Alfonso kindly agreed and signed it Spanish, which made it all the more special. While truly grateful I wish I would had mentioned how I discovered Scorsese watching a Spanish-dubbed version of “Taxi Driver” on Mexican television, or how mad I was when I couldn’t get in to see “The Last Temptation of Christ” when it finally opened in Mexico City after being banned for over 15 years – I was to young to see it according to the theater - and many other anecdotes I’m sure he would understand. But there could always be another interview.
It’s clear to me that a film this personal could only come from someone that loves film so deeply. A cinephile in the director’s chair is the perfect scenario for brilliance and honesty. Can’t wait to see what comes next, as I’m sure Alfonso Gomez-Rejon will keep on making cine con el corazón.
- 7/2/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Furious 7 star Michelle Rodriguez talked about losing her longtime friend Paul Walker. After Paul passed away in a car accident in November 2013, Michelle said she "actually went on a bit of a binge." She said, "I went crazy a little bit. I went pretty crazy. A lot of the stuff I did last year I would never do had I been in my right mind." The actress didn't share any specific incidents, but she was likely referring to some headline-making moments from the past year. Michelle was linked to model Cara Delevingne, as the pair were seen together on vacation and making faces courtside at a Knicks game in early 2014. That Summer, she also got close to Zac Efron overseas, where they showed Pda. Michelle explained in this week's interview that she was trying to tune out her feelings. She said, "I...
- 3/24/2015
- by Laura-Marie-Meyers
- Popsugar.com
What do Selma and Friday have in common? Both are heading back to theaters for special occasions. For the former, the recent Best Picture nominee is getting a quick re-release this weekend for the 50th anniversary of historical events seen in the movie. March 21, 1965 is the date Martin Luther King Jr. led the third and complete attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery in support of voting rights. As depicted at the climax of Selma, three days later thousands of protestors descended upon the Alabama capital. That summer, the Voting Rights Act passed through Congress and was signed into law by President Johnson. The re-release is not an excuse for Paramount Pictures to milk some extra money from the anniversary. In fact, tickets for the movie are being offered at a two-for-one...
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- 3/20/2015
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
Ray Winstone is headed to the small screen. The two-time BAFTA nominee (That Summer, Nil by Mouth) has been tapped to star in ABC's biblical drama pilot Of Kings and Prophets, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Read more TV Pilots 2015: The Complete Guide The drama is describedas an epic biblical saga of faith, ambition and betrayal as told through the eyes of a battle-weary king (Winstone), a powerful and resentful prophet and a resourceful young shepherd on a collision course with destiny. Winstone is set for King Saul, the first kind of Israel who is suffering from
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- 3/4/2015
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Terence Chang, Philippe Bober and Naomi Kawase are among the producers of the 30 projects selected for this year’s Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf, March 23-25).
Bober, one of the Europe’s most respected producers and distributors, is teaming up with award-winning Chinese director Lou Ye to produce Riddle from Zhou Hao, whose debut The Night screened at Berlinale 2014.
Chang, the longtime producing partner of John Woo, is co-producing coming-of-age drama That Summer, to be directed by new mainland Chinese talent Zhou Quan. Meanwhile, Kawase is serving as producer on a project to be directed by Cuba’s Carlos Machado Quintela, which is being made in collaboration with the Nara International Film Festival.
The Haf line-up also includes five projects from Hong Kong filmmakers of different generations. Following Doomsday Party, Ho Hong is returning to Haf with suspense drama Lost In Border, while Gilitte Leung is attending for the first time with inspirational sports drama Breathing...
Bober, one of the Europe’s most respected producers and distributors, is teaming up with award-winning Chinese director Lou Ye to produce Riddle from Zhou Hao, whose debut The Night screened at Berlinale 2014.
Chang, the longtime producing partner of John Woo, is co-producing coming-of-age drama That Summer, to be directed by new mainland Chinese talent Zhou Quan. Meanwhile, Kawase is serving as producer on a project to be directed by Cuba’s Carlos Machado Quintela, which is being made in collaboration with the Nara International Film Festival.
The Haf line-up also includes five projects from Hong Kong filmmakers of different generations. Following Doomsday Party, Ho Hong is returning to Haf with suspense drama Lost In Border, while Gilitte Leung is attending for the first time with inspirational sports drama Breathing...
- 2/4/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Like American Sniper's Chris Kyle, Clay Hunt was a Texas-bred sniper who served in Iraq and struggled with the after-effects of war when he returned home. And like Kyle, Hunt found great comfort in helping other veterans cope with their own struggles. But for Hunt, the "other battle" - as many veterans refer to the challenge of transitioning back to civilian life - proved to be too much. In 2011, the decorated former Marine took his own life at age 28. Nearly four years later, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (Sav) Act is set to be brought to the Senate floor late Monday.
- 2/2/2015
- by Michelle Tauber, @michelletauber
- PEOPLE.com
Like American Sniper's Chris Kyle, Clay Hunt was a Texas-bred sniper who served in Iraq and struggled with the after-effects of war when he returned home. And like Kyle, Hunt found great comfort in helping other veterans cope with their own struggles. But for Hunt, the "other battle" - as many veterans refer to the challenge of transitioning back to civilian life - proved to be too much. In 2011, the decorated former Marine took his own life at age 28. Nearly four years later, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (Sav) Act is set to be brought to the Senate floor late Monday.
- 2/2/2015
- by Michelle Tauber, @michelletauber
- PEOPLE.com
25 years ago, I was really beginning to understand both the beauty and the overwhelming burden that my black male body represented. Native Son, Invisible Man, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, To Kill a Mockingbird, Roots, the work of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, etc., were all marinating inside of my 16 year old consciousness. Add to that, Yusef Hawkins, Yusef Salaam and Michael Griffith, all looked like me. I was angry and confused. That summer in ’89, I went to see Do The Right Thing. I saw it three times at a dingy, little theater called The Castle in Irvington, NJ. I cheered. I laughed. I cried. I cried, because I knew then, that at any given moment, it could be...
- 12/4/2014
- by Phill Branch
- ShadowAndAct
Lionsgate hit "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" outpaced everything else, but it dragged behind its predecessors in the series. That summer slump seems to be spilling into the usually vital year-end holiday season. The Top Ten 1. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (Lionsgate) Week 2 - Last weekend #1 $56,875,000 (-53%) in 4,151 theaters (unchanged); PSA (per screen average): $13,702,000; Cumulative: $225,693,000 2. Penguins of Madagascar (20th Century Fox) New - Cinemascore: A-; Criticwire: B-; Metacritic: 53; est. budget: $132 million $25,800,000 in 3,764 theaters; PSA: $6,854; Cumulative: $36,000,000 3. Big Hero 6 (Buena Vista) Week 4 - Last weekend #2 $18,770,000 (-7%) in 3,365 theaters (-285); PSA: $5,578; Cumulative: $167,209,000 4. Interstellar (Paramount) Week 4 - Last weekend #3 $15,800,000 (+3%) in 3,066 theaters (-349); PSA: $5,153; Cumulative: $147,090,000 5. Horrible Bosses 2 (Warner Bros.) New - Cinemascore: B+; Criticwire:...
- 11/30/2014
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Thompson on Hollywood
British star of Sexy Beast and Noah to talk on stage about his screen career.
British tough-guy actor Ray Winstone is to discuss his craft and career at a BAFTA A Life In Pictures event on Oct 5. The event will take place at BAFTA’s headquarters in London’s Piccadilly.
Winstone’s association with BAFTA goes back to 1980 when he was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer for one of his earliest roles in drama That Summer!.
The actor first made an impact in 1977 playing a young offender in the controversial television drama Scum. He went on to star in British cult classics Quadrophenia, Nil By Mouth (for which he received his second BAFTA nomination), The War Zone and Sexy Beast.
The past decade has seen Winstone star in Hollywood blockbusters including The Departed, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Beowolf and more recently Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.
His TV work has included BAFTA-winning Great Expectations, Emmy-winning Henry VIII...
British tough-guy actor Ray Winstone is to discuss his craft and career at a BAFTA A Life In Pictures event on Oct 5. The event will take place at BAFTA’s headquarters in London’s Piccadilly.
Winstone’s association with BAFTA goes back to 1980 when he was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer for one of his earliest roles in drama That Summer!.
The actor first made an impact in 1977 playing a young offender in the controversial television drama Scum. He went on to star in British cult classics Quadrophenia, Nil By Mouth (for which he received his second BAFTA nomination), The War Zone and Sexy Beast.
The past decade has seen Winstone star in Hollywood blockbusters including The Departed, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Beowolf and more recently Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.
His TV work has included BAFTA-winning Great Expectations, Emmy-winning Henry VIII...
- 9/3/2014
- ScreenDaily
Universal has unveiled a trailer for the Jeff Bridges fantasy film Seventh Son, kicking off a five-month marketing challenge for the long-delayed big budget actioner. The Ya book-inspired adventure directed by Sergei Bodrov has been teased now for over a year in fits and starts, suffering numerous setbacks since first getting caught in the Rhythm & Hues VFX bankruptcy last year. That hitch cost Legendary an extra $4.9 million in post effects on the period fantasy adventure, in which Bridges plays a mystical warrior teaching a farmhand (Ben Barnes) to battle creatures, sorcery, and and evil queen Julianne Moore.
Initially set to open on February 22, 2013, Seventh Son was first pushed to October 18, 2013 to accomodate the VFX work. That summer distributor Warner Bros. moved it again to January 17, 2014, and even took it to Comic-Con for a panel and cast Q&A. But when Thomas Tull’s shingle split with the studio it took Seventh Son along to Universal.
Initially set to open on February 22, 2013, Seventh Son was first pushed to October 18, 2013 to accomodate the VFX work. That summer distributor Warner Bros. moved it again to January 17, 2014, and even took it to Comic-Con for a panel and cast Q&A. But when Thomas Tull’s shingle split with the studio it took Seventh Son along to Universal.
- 8/29/2014
- by Jen Yamato
- Deadline
Our continuing look back at some of the biggest summers we've lived through takes us back 15 years to one of the best recent movie seasons overall. In honor of the 2014 summer movie season, Team HitFix will be delivering a mini-series of articles flashing back to key summers from years past. There will be one each month, diving into the marquee events of the era, their impact on the writer and their implications on today's multiplex culture. We continue today with a look back at the summer of 1999. It was the summer I became Moriarty. To be fair, I had been contributing to Ain't It Cool for a little while already by that point, and I had been slowly but surely embracing the potential of the website and the audience that I was reaching. I had already taken a few trips to Austin, including a memorable stay at the third Quentin Tarantino Film Festival,...
- 8/7/2014
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
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