Month: April 2019

Film News – Tom Hughes Discusses Red Joan

Tom Hughes has starred in a number of British films such as Cemetary Junction and Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and TV shows including Victoria, The Game and Silk. He now has a leading role in Red Joan and, in an interview with Collider, Tom Hughes talked about this spy drama movie.

Red Joan

Here is what Tom Hughes had to say on what it was like to work with someone in Red Joan like Sophie Cookson while also working adjacent to Judi Dench:

“I think Sophie is quite an astounding actor. She was great to work with. (Director) Trevor Nunn has worked with Judi Dench, many, many times, and he found it quite astonishing to direct Sophie. He’d be like, ‘God, it’s just like directing a young Judi.’ Even in their personalities, Sophie has a wicked playfulness, as a human, and she brought a real excitement to the scenes.”

“It was rarely linear and it was rarely obvious, and that was exciting for me. When you’re playing a character like Leo, although he’s definitely had a very dark past, in terms of the pain that he’s gone through, and his anguish and all of that, that velocity has a firecracker element. You need to be with an actor that you can really bounce off, and it was great to have Sophie to work with.”

“Someone asked me, ‘What’s it like to be in a film with Judi Dench, and not be in a film with her?,’ but for me, it was just a real pleasure to meet her and be able to talk to her. Sophie is the one creating the character with Judi, so that pressure fell on her.”

“From the small amount of time that I spent with Judi, she was the most incredibly gracious and kind human being. She gave Sophie that strength. It was exciting actually to know that we were sharing that story with someone like Judi.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

Film News – Gugu Mbatha-Raw On Fast Color

One of the most promising actresses in the entertainment industry is Gugu Mbatha-Raw who has had roles in films such as Miss Sloane and the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. One of the latest movies she has a lead part in is Fast Color and, in an interview with Collider, she had the opportunity to speak about Fast Color.

Fast Color

Here is what Gugu Mbatha-Raw had to say on what her reaction was when Fast Color came her way and what spoke most to her about this indie superhero movie:

“I read the script during the time that I was filming The Cloverfield Paradox. That movie was really intense, and all set in space and all shot on a soundstage, so it was all interiors with a lot of CGI special effects.”

“It was big budget sci-fi. It was a very claustrophobic type of story for my character, so to be able to read something like Fast Color was just so refreshing. It was a very raw, authentic, grounded world, set in the desert. Having been on a soundstage, the idea of being out in a wide open space seemed really appealing.”

“The idea that it was about three generations of women, and that it was focused on these intimate family relationships, was really intriguing to me. And also, the character of Ruth and the opening of the script totally hooked me in.”

“The idea of seeing a woman on the run, who seems to be somewhat wild, in this fight or flight adrenaline zone, where you’re not sure if she’s criminal, what she’s done, who she’s running from, or what she’s running to, I just found her really intriguing, as a character, with the complex and fragile and tough, all at the same time.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

TV News – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau On Jaime Lannister + ‘Game of Thrones’

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is in the privileged position of playing a character in Game of Thrones that has survived from the first episode in Season 1 all the way to the start of Season 8. Playing Jaime Lannister is a role that has made him a star and, in an interview with Variety, he was given the chance to discuss Jaime Lannister and Game of Thrones.

Jaime Lannister

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said this on how he would describe the journey Jaime Lannister has gone on in Game of Thrones:

“Well, he had an eventful eight years, 10 years [counting hiatuses]. I think ‘change’ would be one word. He had to adapt and in many ways rediscover his identity. At the same time there is the core of what’s left of his dedication to his partner in life, Cersei. He says in episode one, ‘The things I do for love,’ and then he does something truly horrific. That is still at his core, I think — that he will do anything for the people close to him.”

Game of Thrones

He also discussed the best and worst things about working on Game of Thrones:

“I think working with an amazing group of people, especially on an experience as strange as this, is the best, and I will miss seeing all of these people. As an actor, I’ve never worked on anything this long. Families have formed on this show.”

“People have gotten married and divorced. Kids have been born. It has been quite something. … And then the worst of ‘Game of Thrones’? I think it was all of the not knowing. The first three seasons I knew where I was going. Then once we got off the books, [executive producers] Dan [D.B. Weiss] and David [Benioff] and the writers had to carve their own way — and of course everyone wanted to know what happened next.”

“So they made the very sensible decision not to tell anyone at all. That was really the worst part. And if that’s the worst part, then it’s not too bad.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

TV News – Showrunner David Mandel On ‘Veep’ Season 7

The seventh and final season of Veep will bring an end to a highly revered television series. The showrunner for this TV show is David Mandel and, in an interview with Collider, he had the opportunity to discuss Season 7 of Veep.

Veep Season 7

Here is what David Mandel had to say on what it felt like when he knew he was doing the final season of Veep:

“It’s strange. The cancer, dare I say, changed everything. Not just the perspective and just obviously what’s important in life, but it also interrupted things and made you go, ‘Oh, right.’ And so, when we came back to the season, the end snuck up on us a little bit more, the second time around, because we were just happy to be back, and happy to have [Julia Louis-Dreyfus] back, and be happy to be doing it.”

“As we were planting the seeds of things to come, in these early episodes, we started thinking about it a little more. And at the very end, it really did sneak up on us. I was a writer for the end of Seinfeld, and I helped, but that wasn’t my idea. I wasn’t the architect, so that’s different than saying, ‘This is how it’s going to end.’ I don’t know. It’s strange.”

“I try to put blinders on, when it comes to what other people want out of it. You’ve just gotta forget that. Because I was a fan for four years of the show, and then I was guy #2 (the second showrunner, after Armando Iannucci left), I get to go, ‘What does me, the fan, want?’ That sometimes gets to influence my writing, in a very fun way, that sometimes maybe being the writer doesn’t.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

Film News – Michael K. Williams Discusses ‘The Public’

Emilio Estevez has not been extremely active in the entertainment industry for quite a while but a film he wrote and directed called The Public is now out in U.S. cinemas. One of the stars of the film is Michael K. Williams and, in an interview with Collider, he was given the chance to speak about this movie.

The Public

Here is what Michael K. Williams said on whether he knew what The Public was all about when he was given the script for it:

“I had no idea what it was, based on the title, The Public. After I read it, for me, it was about redemption. It was a very redeeming story for our homeless community, and it humanized them, in a way that I had never seen before. Then, simultaneously, it reminded me of how important and how vital the public library is to the community. I just fell in love with it. It was a very unique and different look at something that no one is really talking about.”

This film was a passion project for Emilio Estevez and Michael K. Williams had this to say on whether this took on a special meaning for everyone involved:

“Absolutely! Our work hours, every day, were 7pm to 7am because we had to work around the library hours. Because of that, no one was really running back to their trailer, so for 12 hours, we would sit together, take naps together, eat together, and play chess together.”

“No one left the library for 12 hours, until it was time to wrap. That gave me a sense of how the community that goes in there does that. I got a glimpse of how the lives of the people we were portraying in the movie really folds out, over the course of the day, just being at the public library.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

TV News – Iain Glen On Game of Thrones

After waiting since 2017 for Game of Thrones to return, we are just days away from the premiere of Season 8 which will be the final season of this fantasy TV series. One of the cast members who has been a part of this HBO television show since the beginning is Iain Glen who plays Jorah Mormont. In an interview with Collider, Iain Glen had the opportunity to talk about Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones

Here is what Iain Glen had to say on what it has been like to be part of one of the biggest TV shows ever made:

“It’s been fantastic […] I did a head count, and there’s only between 12 or 15, who were in the pilot and every single season. There are not too many of us, which is good, and even less who were a part of every season, through this season [..] It’s been a really joyous journey.”

“It’s now perceived as a massive, global hit, but I remember the days when we thought, ‘What the hell are we doing?!’ We were half-way through the first season thinking, ‘Are we just making a pile of poo?’ […] And then, over the seasons, the belief and faith in it grew, and our faith in ourselves grew. It was probably half-way through Season 3 or 4 that we thought, ‘We’re actually onto something here.’ It’s been an amazing journey to go on.”

“As an actor, every job that you do, you give it your best shot, but you have no idea how it’s gonna get received. So, when you end up with something that is received incredibly well, is universally critically approved of, and is a massive commercial hit, then you better friggin’ enjoy it because it doesn’t get any better.”

“The fact that it’s not just for a film that’s there and gone, but for a drama that’s kept coming back for almost a decade, it’s been a very special time, for us all.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

TV News – Showrunner Joe Pokaski Discusses Cloak and Dagger Season 2

The first episodes in the second season of the Marvel superhero TV show Cloak and Dagger were recently released. This television series has received a lot of praise and it is considered to be a standout comic book show right now. The showrunner for Cloak and Dagger is Joe Pokaski and, in an interview with Collider, he had the chance to discuss Season 2 of Cloak and Dagger.

Cloak and Dagger Season 2

Here is what Joe Pokaski had to say on whether making Season 2 of Cloak and Dagger has been more or perhaps less challenging than the first season:

“It’s a little of both. There are certainly easier parts. Going into the pilot, I did not know what Olivia and Aubrey could do. It was a crapshoot.”

“We had hundreds of people read, and we cast the best two. But having a season under my belt, watching them always exceed my expectations made it easier, in Season 2, because I don’t think there was a moment in the writers’ room where we created a story and said, “Do you think they can pull this off?” It was never a question of whether it was something physically challenging or subtle, or whatever.”

“Origin stories are tough, but you need to pull them off right. Now, we got to take the training wheels off.”

Joe Pokaski also spoke about when he felt the show hit its groove:

“I think we had a really strong pilot. I feel like the big tent poles we always saw with the show were Episode 4 and Episode 7 of Season 1. Episode 4 was our transition […] Once Episodes 8, 9 and 10 came, that was our Act 3. I felt like that’s where I knew the show would always be. Once we got there, we always knew that was gonna be the pace of the series, from there on out.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

Film News – Eva Green On Dumbo + Tim Burton

Eva Green has a had a very good career in the entertainment industry. She is well known for her role as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale and she has also had a consistent working relationship with Tim Burton.

Indeed, she has starred in Tim Burton films like Dark Shadows and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and she continues this collaboration with Dumbo, the live-action remake of the animated Disney classic. In an interview with Collider, she had the opportunity to speak about Dumbo.

Dumbo

Eva Green had this to say on whether starring in Dumbo was an immediate yes or if she had to take some time to think about it:

“I was like, ‘I don’t know how I can say to Tim, ‘Is there a stunt person, or can you use somebody else’s body and put my head on it, digitally, afterwards?’’ I had a whole plan going on in my head. He was like, ‘No, just try it. It could help you to build the character.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll try.’ I was sure that I would never be able to swing up high.”

“That was a great thing, even for my own confidence, to think that you couldn’t do that, but then, actually, you can. It’s all the monkey talk, as they say. It’s just all of those demons in your head. You can overcome your fear.”

Eva Green also spoke about what it is like to work with Tim Burton:

“Of course. He’s a genius. He’s a poet. He’s got a very specific universe, but it’s also such a hard job. There’s always tension on a movie set, most of the time.”

“There’s always a problem, but it’s a beautiful job. There’s a lot of money involved. When you’re on a Tim Burton movie, even though the budget is gigantic and there is pressure, as actors, we don’t feel the pressure, which is wonderful.”

“Tim is like a child. He’s so happy. He deeply loves what he does. It’s so wonderful to see him, just full of joy, really. It’s just nice to not have tension.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

TV News – Cush Jumbo Discusses The Good Fight

In our current climate, a great political TV show and/or film can be a great way to highlight important issues in a dramatically powerful way that resonates with television critics and audiences. The Good Fight, a spin-off/sequel to The Good Wife, may be this show given how well received it has been since its premiere in 2017. Cush Jumbo, who plays Lucca Quinn in this television series, gave an interview to Collider about The Good Fight.

Cush Jumbo

Cush Jumbo said this on what it means to be on a show that features women and people of colour in major roles:

“It’s something that has been significant since we began the spin-off. The very fact that this show is based in an African American law firm has never been done before on television. Diane Lockhart was in the minority, when we began the show in that firm.”

“It was a new direction. And to come to work every day and have all these black background milling around to make our law firm, as an actor of color, that’s a really unusual make-up of a set, so you can’t help but notice it […] As the show has gone on, the Kings have just kept on recruiting the best talent they could.”

“The regular cast that we’ve ended up with is just the regular cast that we’ve ended up with, and it just so happens to reflect society, which I think is incredible […] The Kings’ starting point is always just to have the best actors that they can have. I want to be in the best show on television, and I want to do the best work that I can do.”

“And none of us wants any of that to do with the way we look or who we are, but it also should be commented on and should be talked about because we’re one of the only shows doing it. They’re not all talk. They actually are doing it, so you can’t help but notice it. You can’t help but be proud of it.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.

Film News – J.C. Chandor On Triple Frontier + Netflix

Recently, Ben Affleck spoke about Triple Frontier, a heist film in which he has a starring role in alongside Oscar Isaac. Now, J.C. Chandor, the director of this movie, has given an interview to Collider and he has discussed both Triple Frontier and Netflix.

Triple Frontier

Here is what J.C. Chandor had to say on how Triple Frontier changed as a result of early screenings:

“It got tighter, which I think is so cool. It feathers right back into what you’re talking about. One of the things that Scott Stuber, who’s running this shop, and was my boss on this movie, one of the things he really stressed in a positive way for me was no matter how we’re delivering, this the two hour movie is not dead.”

“It’s such an efficient, beautiful, well-timed – going back to Greek plays, most of them were somewhere between an hour and half and three hours long, in multi-parts. To tell a story over ten hours is fun, and there’s a lot of people doing it right now.”

“Even in your home, as that filmmaker would say, as a TV movie, the two hour time table is something to believe in as a true storytelling technique. I was sort of imagining that I would have a little more freedom and willingness because of Netflix and because of the difference of the movie, to kind of let it wander the way some of my other films had.”

“What I realized in the editing room, especially after the first screening we did, which was a mall in New Jersey, you know 400 people. It was a pretty brutal screening because halfway through it I realized that this is a freaking action, fun, adventure film that’s operating on two levels. It needs to be this tense, fun thrill ride.”

Netflix

J.C. Chandor also spoke about whether he has heard about the whole thing with Netflix and the Oscars and if Netflix films should be eligible for these awards:

“A little bit. I haven’t heard about this latest. These guys gave me a warning that a prominent member in the community has spoken out quite clearly on it […] My career, when I got my first chance to do this, was the first days of this world kind of changing. That movie was released day and date.”

“Would I have loved that movie, for every person to come and get a babysitter and see it in a movie theater, yes. In the last 10 years or whatever, since that filmed played, the world just keeps changing. I think as storytellers, and as an industry, to sort of fully put your head in the sand is not really an option.”

“For 800 bucks you can have a movie screen in your house and have any movie ever made delivered to it. To sort of deny that the market place has shifted, is a fool’s errand, just as an industry. That’s just my personal opinion about where we are.”

Thank you for reading this article! You can find my other articles here at theturnertalks.com as well as my reviews which you can also all find at sp-bx.com.