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'Hanna' Star Saoirse Ronan on Fairy-Tale Acting and Killer Training

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Apr 8th 2011 5:00PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Features, Hot Topic, New Releases, Cinematical

In the movies at least, it seems as if violent killers are getting younger every day. Following in the footsteps of Chloe Moretz's Hit Girl in 'Kick-Ass,' Saoirse Ronan plays the title character in 'Hanna,' Joe Wright's new film about a teenage girl who's been trained since birth to take out targets -- and she's every bit as good as her predecessor. Cinematical sat down with Ronan, the Oscar-nominated young star of films like 'Atonement' and 'City of Ember,' and talked about the challenges of bringing to life a character who's an unusual combination of lethal force and fascinating naiveté.
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'Hanna' Director Joe Wright on First-Time Action and the Genius of the Chemical Brothers

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Apr 8th 2011 4:00PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Hot Topic, New Releases, Cinematical

Before 'Hanna,' Joe Wright was probably best known for his period dramas, and could easily have carved out a comfortable niche buttoning up beautiful actresses like Keira Knightley in too-tight clothing and putting them through the paces of anachronistic romances. But his new film reunites him with his other 'Atonement' star, Saoirse Ronan. This time, though, instead of ruining lives, she simply ends them, playing a pre-teen hitwoman who leaves a trail of bodies in her wake as she races to reunite with her retired-agent father (played by Eric Bana).

Cinematical sat down with Wright as the director discussed creating fairy-tale imagery, chatted about his collaboration with electronic music luminaries the Chemical Brothers and offered some insights into the unspoken and unrevealed stories beneath the film's stylish surface.
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Exclusive: Danny McBride on Playing a Stoner Prince in 'Your Highness'

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Apr 6th 2011 4:00PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, New Releases, Cinematical

If you judged Danny McBride only by the characters he plays, you might think the comedian is a bully and a jerk. From 'Eastbound and Down' to 'Pineapple Express' to 'Due Date,' this is a guy who really seems to enjoy pushing the buttons of his fellow performers. In his latest film, David Gordon Green's new comedy 'Your Highness,' he does that a little bit with his audience as well, taking the template of a fantasy film and transplanting hilariously modern reactions onto its sorcery and swordplay.

Cinematical sat down with McBride at the Los Angeles press day for 'Your Highness,' where the actor was in terrific spirits as he talked about the film. In addition to discussing the development of this oddball project, he talked about defining the family dynamic between himself and his on-screen brother, played by James Franco, and offered a glimpse at a few of the ideas they feared might push the film too far.
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Shelf Life: 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence'

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Apr 5th 2011 5:00PM
Filed under: DVDs, Columns, Sci-Fi, Cinematical, Blu-ray DVDs

Stanley Kubrick is my all-time favorite filmmaker. Discovering his films while I was in college, I was immediately struck by their singularity, and I subsequently developed an obsession with his chilly, elegant aesthetic, not to mention the artistry and, yes, emotion that lies beneath it. And not that I was expecting to sit down with him at a round table and shoot the sh*t, but it's one of my greater professional (and personal) regrets that I wasn't working as a critic or film journalist when he passed away in 1999.

In any case, in 2001 I was thrilled to hear that Steven Spielberg decided to pick up 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence,' Kubrick's long-gestating adaptation of Brian Aldiss's 'Super-Toys Last All Summer Long,' and complete it as a tribute to the filmmaker. At the time, I really liked almost all of it, and I was subsequently first in line to buy the film on DVD. But this week Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing the film on Blu-ray, and with its 10th anniversary looming, it seemed like the right time to revisit the film.
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Shelf Life: Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Mar 29th 2011 9:00PM
Filed under: Hot Topic, Columns, Cinematical, Blu-ray DVDs

I've been waiting for 'Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair' to come out on DVD, Blu-ray -- hell, even Betamax since the day I saw Vol. 1. Not to be a total cliché, but Quentin Tarantino was a galvanizing force in my transformation from movie lover to true cinephile, and the prospect of pouring over even more little details in his puree of pop culture influences and inspirations has excited me since the day I knew such a version of the film existed. All of which is why the announcement that Tarantino would be hosting a run of 'The Whole Bloody Affair' at the New Beverly Cinema, the Los Angeles repertory house he rescued from being shuttered, felt like an especially exciting turn of events, not the least of which because its release (in any format) started to feel like it might never happen.

Mind you, the cut that Tarantino premiered at Cannes – and is being shown at the New Beverly through April 7 via the same print – features slightly different content in both volumes, which probably means that I'm not actually "revisiting" the same film that I saw in 2003 and '04. But the question that nevertheless remains is whether 'Kill Bill,' in any incarnation, has the same energy, the same impact as it once did. And so, 'The Whole Bloody Affair' is the subject of this week's "Shelf Life."
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Top Film Events of the Week: 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' & 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Mar 28th 2011 9:15PM
Filed under: Columns, Horror, Cinematical, This Week in Movies

Sunday, March 27, marked the stateside premiere of Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair,' an extended cut of the film which the writer-director premiered at the Cannes Film Festival a few years ago. The film continues its Los Angeles run until April 7, so make sure you high tail it over to the New Beverly Cinema to check out one of the most amazing and highly-anticipated theatrical events of the year. Other than that, however, this week is surprisingly light on high-profile movie-related events, at least in cities like Chicago and New York, although Austin and Los Angeles make a typically fine showing.

But before we get to our list of picks for the week ending April 3, we would like to remind you to please leave comments and send in emails with any suggestions you may have for events, screenings, or other opportunities film fans may have to share with others in their celebration of the medium. Also, when and if you attend any of the events listed below, please let us know about your experiences, and let the organizers know where you found out about it!
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'Sucker Punch' Review: Zack Snyder's First Misfire

By Todd Gilchrist (Subscribe to Todd Gilchrist's posts), Posted Mar 24th 2011 6:30PM
Filed under: Hot Topic, Reviews, New Releases, Sci-Fi, Cinematical

Zack Snyder's 'Sucker Punch' is the cinematic equivalent of Max Fischer, the main character of Wes Anderson's 'Rushmore:' it may be in all of these really awesome and interesting after-school clubs, but it's barely passing its regular classes. As a longtime fan of Snyder, I was excited to see a completely self-generated project after four of them which were derived from existing works, but the film exemplifies both the director's strengths and weaknesses: as a visual stylist, his proficiency is almost incomparable, but he really seems to need an existing story, or at least story structure, to use as a foundation upon which to build those movie moments. A work of unsurpassed style but frivolous substance, 'Sucker Punch' is Zack Snyder's first misfire and ultimately, and for fans, unfortunately, just not a great film.

The film stars Emily Browning ('The Uninvited') as Baby Doll, a young woman committed to a mental institution after assaulting her stepfather with a pistol. Although she's watched closely by the administrator, Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac), and his resident psychiatrist, Dr. Gorski (Carla Gugino), Baby Doll soon meets fellow inmates Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), and Amber (Jamie Chung), and forms a tenuous friendship as their world transforms from an insane asylum into a brothel where they're the main attraction. But when Baby Doll discovers that the High Roller (Jon Hamm) is coming in five days to perform a lobotomy/ take her innocence, the five of them hatch a plan with the help of the Wise Man (Scott Glenn) to acquire a series of items which in theory should help her escape to freedom.
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