Few filmmakers can put together a hangout movie like Richard Linklater has, and his crowning achievement in that realm is, to this day, 1993’s high school cult classic Dazed and Confused. The movie’s trailer recommended you “watch it with a bud,” but most of us who’ve seen it know that there’s no need; Linklater’s wonderfully funny, charismatic, super cool characters are all the company you could ever want.

Billed as the “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused, Linklater’s latest, Everybody Wants Some, follows its predecessor’s formula to great success, its director’s tools now several times sharper than before. The two films share a general locale with both taking place in Southeast Texas, but while Dazed followed its characters on the last day of high school in the ’70s, the new film takes us to the early ’80s, following a fictional university’s baseball team as they shack up and party on over the long weekend before the start of the fall semester.

Bromance and romance overflow as we watch the boys get acquainted with each other and with the pretty girls scattered around their little college town. Our in is Jake (Blake Jenner), a chipper freshman who’s joining the team as pitcher. When he arrives at the semi-decrepit campus house designated for the team, he’s met with a mixed reaction: the older players don’t take kindly to pitchers, while Jake’s fellow wide-eyed newbies have no problem palling around. The common denominator is the team’s passion for partying, and party they do. By day, they laze about, smoke pot, sit in circles and space out to psychedelic rock records; by night, they’re tearing it up at local clubs and trashing their already-crumbling abode beyond recognition with all-night ragers.

While this may sound like a re-up of Animal House, the film actually skews more toward the arthouse, with Linklater threading some unexpected poignancy underneath all of the (incredibly funny, entertaining) shenanigans. Jake’s more than happy to partake in all the meathead madness, but as we learn more about where he’s from and the people he used to hang out with, it becomes clear that he’s a bit smarter and more compassionate than the lovable lugs he’s bunking up with. Jake’s full personality is brought out when he meets Beverly (Zoey Deutch), a theater major with the proverbial key to his heart. She has a way of stopping him dead in his tracks, and their hot August romance is a showstopper in itself; Jenner and Deutch are that rare onscreen couple who are so easy with each other that you suspect their romance may spill over into the real world.

Enough can’t be said about the rest of the feathery-haired cast as well. Square-jawed Tyler Hoechlin plays team captain McReynolds, whose violent competitive streak is at first repugnant, though his die-hard dedication to the team makes him more endearing as the weekend rolls on. Each of the dozen-or-so housemates has a similar, gradual development to their character that’s facilitated by both the memorable performances and Linklater’s uncanny dialogue, which sounds so natural it’s staggering to learn that absolutely none of it is ad-libbed. Some of the movie’s highlights involve the guys just lounging around, saying stupid stuff. It’s easy, simple viewing on one level, but the artistry lies in the affection that grows for the characters as we spend time with them.

Everyone will walk out of this movie with a favorite character, and the fact that (at my screening, at least) they varied wildly speaks to how great they are. There’s Finn (Glen Powell), the faux-intellectual ladies man; Dale (J. Quinton Johnson), the cool-as-a-cucumber, cultured team veteran; Willoughby (Wyatt Russell), the golden-haired, guru-like stoner with a secret; Beuter (Will Brittain), the cowboy outsider with a needy girlfriend back home. The list goes on, and every one of them is fantastic and hilarious. My favorite is Plummer (Temple Baker), a secondary character who nonetheless makes a big impression with his sleepy-dumb-guy appeal. I had a friend just like him in college (that’s a line you’ll hear a lot of people say walking out of the theater). This was actually Baker’s first acting role, but Linklater’s casting instincts are ridiculously good at this point in his career. The chemistry between the cast members is like butter, which is and always will be the key to hangout movies.

One of the most extraordinary things about Boyhood is that it doesn’t have any sort of forced dramatic agenda. It’s a quality Everybody Wants Some!! shares; there are no big fist fights, shocking betrayals or tearful breakup scenes to be found. There’s emotion running throughout, but it all flows and arises organically, which takes away a lot of the anxiety we’re used to swallowing in coming-of-age tales. This is easy viewing through and through, though that’s not to say it’s shallow. It’s far from it, in fact; living with Linklater’s characters as they explore life, unsupervised, without inhibition, engages the heart and takes you back to a freewheeling, optimistic state of mind and body that many of us let go of a long time ago.

In one of the biggest, baddest episodes of the Way Too Indiecast yet, we welcome two of the best directors in the game as we hear from Richard Linklater about his ’80s college hangout movie Everybody Wants Some!! and are joined by Jeff Nichols, whose sci-fi thriller Midnight Special hits theaters this weekend as well.

WTI’s very own Ananda Dillon chats with Bernard about what she saw of AMC’s new Preacher series at WonderCon this past weekend, and if that wasn’t enough, the Dastardly Dissenter himself, CJ Prince, chimes in to talk about the recent controversy surrounding the Tribeca Film Festival and share his Indie Pick of the Week. Whew! What are you waiting for? Dive into the deep end of this week’s pool of ooey gooey Indiecast goodness!

And if that last sentence grosses you out…um…just hit play and enjoy.

Topics

• Indie Picks (5:18)
• Richard Linklater (18:42)
• Preacher Preview (32:17)
• Tribeca Vaxxed Controversy (51:13)
• Jeff Nichols (1:06:32)

Articles Referenced

• City of Gold Interview
• Fireworks Wednesday Review
• Everybody Wants Some!! Interview
• Midnight Special Interview
• Preacher Preview

Subscribe to the Way Too Indiecast

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Subscribe on Stitcher

With Everybody Wants Some!!, Richard Linklater returns to the youthful hangout vibe of Dazed and Confused, this time focusing on a college baseball team in the ’80s as they party around town on the weekend before school starts. The cast, made up of relative unknowns, has an easy chemistry and flowing dynamic, something Linklater has learned to orchestrate masterfully over his thirty-year career.

The story is inspired by Linklater’s experience as a college athlete in the ’80s when he met teammates who would become lifelong friends. As always, he captures the everyday idiosyncrasies of his characters’ personalities in subtle ways we probably don’t notice, consciously. What is noticeable, though, is how entertaining and surprisingly profound it is to spend time with these brutish baseball-heads as they run wild, unsupervised, in a land where they’re kings, as long as they can keep their eye on the ball.

In a roundtable interview, we spoke to Linklater about Everybody Wants Some!!, which opens this Friday, April 1st.

Did Boyhood‘s success help this movie get made?
This [movie] has an interesting relation to Boyhood on a lot of levels. I conceived them at the same time. I started shooting Boyhood when I started writing and thinking about Everybody Wants Some!!. I started writing notes and I thought, I have this film about growing up, but I also have this college movie. Somewhere in ’05, ’06, I actually wrote the script and tried to get it made. I was having trouble getting it off the ground. Filming the very last scene of Boyhood, I was telling the actors, “I have a college movie…” and it hit me that that movie starts right where this movie is ending. I hadn’t really planned it that way but I thought, that’s perfect. There would be this continuation with a very different character. The success of Boyhood helped me get it made. It did help.

When I was in college, I was a nerd, but all of my friends were like the guys in the movie. So, watching this movie was kind of special for me because it was like hanging out with those guys again. A lot of my other friends never wanted to hang around those guys because they viewed them as stereotypical jocks. I like how your movie captures what’s special about their little sports bubble they live in.
The funniest guys I was ever around were these teammates and roommates in college. Just hilarious. None of them had any comedic aspirations. “I’m going to be a comedian! I’m going to be a writer!” It never crossed any of their minds in that regard—they were just making the best of their situation. I think it’s baseball, too. Football, basketball—they’re really different sports, you know? Baseball has a lot of time around it. You have to be relaxed. In football, there’s no room for humor—you could get killed! You’re just dialed in. It’s like going off to war. If you fuck up, you’re dead. In baseball, you’re relaxed and focused, which is kind of a hard thing to balance. But baseball requires it and the arts require it, and you do better. So if you can be kind of funny on the bench, it’s good for the team. A [baseball] coach will keep a light attitude while a football coach isn’t farting around. Baseball is just different. It’s a different mentality.

There are some parallels you can spot between this movie and Dazed and Confused. The hazing scenes, the character arc of someone entering a new phase of their school life, being dismissed and guided by their more seasoned peers. Did you make any conscious efforts to echo back to Dazed and Confused?
I didn’t have to. I was always very upfront that this was sort of a sequel. If you imagine Mitch’s character, played by Wiley Wiggins, playing better and getting a scholarship, this would be where he’d show up at college. It’s a different guy because I waited so long—Wiley’s, like, 38 years old now. I think I was always upfront about it being, that was my high school, this is my college. It’s a similar kind of ensemble vibe, so that’s as far as that goes. I think the humor, the initiation you mentioned—I think it’s more sophisticated, more psychological. You can’t get any worse than paddling and treating girls like hot dogs. That’s really low. This movie is more subtle. I thought [the connection between the films] would be more subtle and for people who knew the films. But I think they found out that, with a cast of relative unknowns, that that was an appealing aspect. So many people have seen Dazed that it would become a marketing element, which is okay with me because it just so happens to be true. [laughs]

The chemistry between the cast members is great. I’m wondering if you had any bonding sessions with them.
Oh yeah. It was, like, enforced. I have some land outside of Austin. I built a farm and I have a bunkhouse. They lived there. I was like, “Hey! This is your home for the next three weeks.” They all moved in and it was just the most fun work-play environment. They just jumped in, man. Full-force. We’d rehearse scenes and the guys who weren’t in it could go swim or play ball or just have fun. It was work, play. Work, play. In the evening, we’d watch a movie. Something period, something related. We never got off making the best movie we could. I think I’ve gotten better at casting over the years. I’ve learned things.

I think I’ve gotten better at casting over the years. I’ve learned things. In an ensemble environment, the wrong person, the wrong energy, will throw it off. I think, for instance, two guys—Niles and Beuter—are kind of on the outs with the team to a large degree. You could cast weirder actors who are kind of different, but that risks throwing off the vibe. I went to those two actors and went, “I want you to come in and do serious character work.” Juston Street had played some pro ball. I said to him, “What about Niles?” and he said, “I know that guy! Every team has one guy like that.” I said, “Why don’t you play that guy?” He said, “Yeah…I get it.” We had fun. We just went way out there with that guy. Will Brittain, who plays Beuter, he’s a serious, good actor. I think it’s the way the rest of the cast responds to that. They see them come in and do serious character work for technically less likable characters, and it ups their game. It sets a good example. There’s a pecking order to the cast. There are four or five parts that are smaller, four or five lines in the script. It’s about getting those to be additive, to make those real people who wouldn’t be forgotten and round out the ensemble. There’s a pecking order to the cast. There are four or five parts that are smaller, four or five lines in the script. It’s about getting those to be additive, to make those real people who wouldn’t be forgotten and round out the ensemble. The guys with the bigger parts were very generous.

Did the script change at all during those three weeks you were in the bunkhouse?
Yeah. It’s really about me adapting the script to this new cast I have. To me, that’s the crucial creative moment. The chemical magic happens there. That’s where the text, these preconceived ideas, meet real people you’re entrusting to carry the spirit of the movie. It’s important in every film, but with an ensemble, you’re collaging. “I don’t think you would say that. But you would.” I just took his line and gave it to someone else. It helps me as a writer in kind of the way you workshop theater. You have weeks of hearing it and you’re like, “Hmm…” Things I thought would be a running gag in the movie many years ago I just see not achieving liftoff. It’s kind of funny, but not that funny. I notice it’s not becoming what I thought it might, so it just kind of goes away.

It’s a fun process. You’ve got to get it right in the rehearsal. By the time you’re shooting, it’s just kind of an extension. On the day, we’re not filming and letting them do stuff. There’s just no time for that. I feel less secure with that. I don’t understand the idea of improv on camera. Any improv or new ideas, I just call that workshopping. That happens in the rehearsal. People always accuse me: “The whole film’s improvised!” Name one film that that could possibly work. I don’t understand it.

The last time I talked to you, it was with Julie [Delpy] for Before Midnight. You both said one of your favorite things about making that movie was the food.
We were in Greece! [laughs]

What was one of your favorite things about this production?
That’s so funny. Food is like a lot of things—you don’t even remember. Being an American, you don’t remember those things. But in Greece, you remember the food. [My favorite thing for this movie] was the cast. Their energy, their spirit. It was just fun. I’ll always have that. There’s something rewarding about working with young talent. They’re not jaded yet. More veteran actors have been burned in movies where they did what the director said and they don’t like it. “Maybe I shouldn’t listen. How vulnerable should I allow myself to be? Should I protect myself? Keep myself in my range of what I know will work even if it will embarrass me? Even if the film sucks, I’ll be okay. Or should I push myself out there for the movie?” Some actors quit doing that. Some of the best actors in film history quit doing that. I could list a lot of names. There’s something great about young actors who are giving everything of themselves and are there for each other.

[I was also] seeing if I could do it. It’s been a long time [since I’ve done one of these] big, youthful, ensemble things. My daughter just graduated from college, so instead of being the cooler older brother or uncle I was in earlier parts of my career, I’m technically old enough to be their dad! I met their parents the other night and it was like, “Oh! We’re the same age.” I thought I was, like, a little older than the cast. But I’m much older. When I was in college, none of them were near being born at the time. The gap’s getting bigger, but it was fun. I can’t help but think I’m a better director. I’m more confident, I know what I’ve done. It’s experience. You subtly see what goes wrong on other movies. They’re not glaring errors, but they’re things you can improve. You do that on every movie, and you carry that forward to your next opportunity to get it right.

The college atmosphere is so amazing in this film. You have all these little details. You have on character framed so that the graffiti behind them says “eat shit.” Finnegan has the old man pipe he hangs out of his pocket so everyone can see how cool he is. Were those details you knew for the characters and atmosphere as you were writing it or were they being put in during production?
A director’s job is to say yes and no to about 900 things a day. If Glen Powell comes up and says, “Hey, you know…Finn needs a pipe.” It’s up to me to go, “Oh no, Finn would never have a pipe,” or go “Yeah, you know, that’s a good idea.” He’s kind of this faux sophisticated guy in his mind. You’ve got a quick decision to make. You just have to have an instinct for it. That Truffaut film, Day For Night…my favorite line is when he goes, “I get asked questions all day long. Sometimes, I even know the answers.” I’ve found, as a director, [when someone asks] “Do you want the red thing or the blue thing?” you have to go, very definitively, “That one.” Everyone feels someone knows the answers.

Criterion’s confirmed Boyhood for the Criterion Collection. A lot of people are very excited for that. When is that going to be released and what kind of special features can we expect?
I think a little later in the year. We have a ton of behind-the-scenes stuff they have to work with. It’s a uniquely documented process. Photos, video…there are cool things coming. Interviews with the cast members over the years, the kids growing up. It’s always great as a filmmaker working with them. It’s that final little resting place for your movie. With Criterion, you’re good with them forever.

Are the Before films coming this year or next year?
I’m not sure of the release date for those, but I feel good that they’re doing the trilogy and Boyhood.

And someday this one too.
I hope so. When you get into studios, sometimes it’s a deal. I think it can work out. The Before films were from three different entities, so sometimes you have to wrangle those rights and get it all worked out.

I think Temple Baker is amazing.
Three of these guys we drew from college. Temple had played some high school ball. Those smaller parts…I wanted those guys to be athletes. I didn’t want to film around them. I wanted to film around the guys with the bigger parts. I just didn’t want to have to work that hard for the smaller parts. Temple had that raspy voice. I was like, “You’re the ultimate roommate!” He’d never acted, and he’s playing the dumb, drunk guy, but he’s brilliant. He’s way high in his class, aced his LSAT. I’d reference a movie or a book and the rest of the cast [wouldn’t know it,] and I’d be like, “I’m old. Different generation.” But he’d seen every movie, read every book. He sneaks up on you. I could tell similar stories about every guy.

The Dastardly Dissenter returns as CJ teams with Bernard to bring you this week’s show, in which they discuss their favorite “directorial left turns,” which also happens to be the subject of this month’s Way Too Indie staff feature.

Also, incomparable film essayist and filmmaker Mark Rappaport joins the show to talk about his filmography, which you can find right now EXCLUSIVELY on Fandor! Mark’s two latest videos, Debra Paget, For Example and Max, James & Danielle, are available to stream as of TODAY via our friends at Fandor, so don’t waste another second! Subscribe to Fandor now and discover one of the most singular, fascinating filmmakers working today.

Topics

• Indie Picks (3:50)
• Directorial Left Turns (15:23)
• Mark Rappaport (1:07:49)

Articles Referenced

• The Battery Capsule Review
• Altman Review
• Our Favorite Directorial Left Turns

Subscribe to the Way Too Indiecast

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Subscribe on Stitcher

On March 18th, Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special hits theaters. The film, which follows a boy with supernatural abilities getting hunted down by various groups eager to study or exploit him, is a major departure from the rest of Nichols’ filmography. With Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, and Mud, Nichols showed an interest in small, modest-scaled dramas about internal (Take Shelter) and external (Shotgun Stories) battles in the Southern United States. Now, Nichols has elevated himself to a different, bigger stage: Midnight Special is a full-on, big-budget (compared to his earlier films, that is) sci-fi that has already received comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s work.

Nichols is far from the first director to make a film outside their perceived wheelhouse, and in anticipation of Midnight Special’s release, we decided to come up with our favorite examples of directors who made a successful shift into new, exciting territory. Read our eleven picks below, and let us know if you agree, disagree, or think we’re missing any directors who deserve to be on this list.

Favorite Directorial Left Turns

Babe: Pig in the City (George Miller)

Although respectable, George Miller’s post-Mad Max fare—such as The Witches of Eastwick and Lorenzo’s Oil—hardly built on the promise of his influential post-apocalyptic trilogy. In the mid-nineties, Miller’s career took an abrupt change of direction, co-writing and producing the surprise Best Picture nominee Babe (losing out to the far inferior Braveheart). The talking pig was a huge success, and a few years later Miller directed the sequel.

Babe: Pig in the City is far darker in tone than the cozy, bucolic original. Miller pulls out all the stops, creating a trippy atmosphere for his menagerie of chatty creatures, including mice, chimps, pelicans and Mickey Rooney. Ostensibly a family film, it has the bug-eyed intensity of his Nightmare at 20,000 Feet segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie and the baroque imagination of Mad Max: Fury Road. Miller’s lengthy excursion into family film continued with the hit Happy Feet and its sequel, featuring CGI dancing penguins. And just when the scorched landscape of “Mad” Max Rockatansky seemed a distant memory, Miller took another turn onto Fury Road. [Lee]

Bernie (Richard Linklater)

Richard Linklater has always been partial to his home state of Texas, but in his 2011 flick, Bernie, Linklater embraced the east Texas legend of Marjorie “Marge” Nugent’s murder. Linklater’s career is marked with a variety of genres from relatable dramas such as Boyhood and the Before Trilogy to airy comedies like Dazed and Confused, but Bernie served as his only venture into a crime-driven black comedy. Yet, Linklater’s expertise in the understanding of the human condition is manifested in his sympathetic portrayal of Bernie and the often insufferable Marge. Bernie combines many of the elements that make Linklater’s films so beloved, but the presentation is wildly unique. The film combines mockumentary with documentary and comedy with drama in a way that is coherent and captivating. And while Bernie stands out from the rest of Linklater’s work, the quirks present in Bernie are exaggerations of quirks from the rest of Linklater’s filmography, and that is what makes the film such a treat. It’s a departure from the Linklater status quo, but it also represents an artistic evolution and a love letter to rural Texas. [Tanner]

The Big Short (Adam McKay)

The ’60s had the Rat Pack, the ’80s had the Brat Pack, and the ’00s have the Frat Pack, with the likes of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell in its ranks. One of the key architects of the Frat Pack oeuvre is Adam McKay, writer/director of the Anchorman films, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and The Other Guys. You see the pattern. Going off this previous directorial resume, McKay’s doesn’t suggest very much depth. But with his latest effort, The Big Short, he detours from the usual big-laughs-from-little-substance path and takes on material as dense as one can get for a major motion picture: the bursting of the US housing market bubble, and subsequent global economic crisis, that occurred in the mid-2000s. It’s dry, complicated stuff that is plagued by its own jargon-riddled language. McKay (who also co-wrote) presents his smartest humor to date, but also makes the material easy to understand, keeping the film moving at a brisk pace and making brilliant creative decisions—such as fourth wall-breaking and pop-up tutorials conducted by surprise celebrity cameos. The Big Short earned the accolades it received during awards season, and McKay has earned a spot on the list of directors to pay attention to for more than just silly comedies. [Michael]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón)

Alfonso Cuarón wasn’t necessarily a stranger to children’s film when he took on the third Harry Potter franchise film, nor to Warner Brothers. He’d directed 1995’s A Little Princess, also a darker toned tale of a child orphan making their way in the world. So while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban may not have felt like a left turn for him, for those who think of Y Tu Mamá También when they hear his name, the jump from a horny coming-of-age road trip film to a beloved magical series was jolting. But it isn’t really if one thinks about it. Picking up where Chris Columbus left off in the first two films, Cuarón picked the perfect film of the series to take on. This is where Harry’s journey gets remarkably dark, with his family’s past and secrets he was formerly too young to grasp finally get revealed. He has to choose to face the threats that heretofore came looking for him, AND turn 13. Scary stuff. Cuarón gave the film much needed relevancy, having characters wear modern clothing and letting them interact more with the non-magical world. He gave the Harry Potter series the backbone it lacked and a magic that felt more enticing, simultaneously pleasing book fans and pulling in those who’d previously written the series off as kid stuff. Cuarón knows how to get hearts pumping (Gravity) and feelings flowing (Children of Men), and his approach was a huge success for what is now among the top five film franchises in history. [Ananda]

Hugo (Martin Scorsese)

Roger Ebert opened his review of Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film with the line, “Hugo is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made.” As a director who’s known for his gritty gangster films (Goodfellas, The Departed, Gangs of New York), Scorsese threw a curveball at audiences by making a big-budget family film. In his extensive filmography, the director has only made a handful of PG-rated films, and none (that I can recall) featuring young children as lead characters. But the main reason why Hugo marked such a huge departure for Scorsese was that it was filmed in 3D, a medium often thought to be gimmicky, especially for a filmmaker who is such a strong advocate for preserving traditional film. But it’s easy to see why he made Hugo considering it’s a love letter to cinema, featuring storylines involving early pioneers of film like Georges Melies and the Lumiere brothers. Scorsese shows how those directors experimented with special effects during the early years of film, and it suddenly dawns on you why he decided to make Hugo in 3D. And to top it off, he adds a great message about the importance of preserving film. It’s rare that a filmmaker can make a film like this; one that’s so close to their heart, so much different than their previous work, and yet be easily accessible to every age group. Hugo is that film. [Dustin]

Li’l Quinquin (Bruno Dumont)

Early on in his career, Bruno Dumont was labelled as an enfant terrible for several reasons: showing unsimulated sex scenes in his films, using sudden, brutal violence, a rigid form that can drive people mad or put them to sleep, and an ability to generate provocative questions about hot button issues like religion and spirituality. Since 2011, after his underrated Hors Satan flopped with critics and audiences, he underwent a bit of a change. His follow-up, Camille Claudel 1915, starred Juliette Binoche, a surprise given his preference to work with unprofessional actors. But it wasn’t until 2014 that Dumont would make his biggest shift yet with Li’l Quinquin, a TV miniseries about detectives trying to find a serial killer in the French countryside. The series marks Dumont’s first attempt at making an outright comedy, and it works like gangbusters (some sequences in here are so unhinged it’s impossible not to choke from laughter). But the biggest surprise of all was that Li’l Quinquin turned out to be Dumont’s biggest success to date, smashing TV rating records in France and getting renewed for a second season. While it’s a definitely left turn for the director, it’s the furthest thing from a compromise, and Quinquin will hopefully mark the beginning of a new, more exciting phase in Dumont’s career. [C.J.]

Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)

Before the release of the star-studded and fluidly structured Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine wasn’t well-known to general audiences. His filmography had been comprised of works like the deeply strange Gummo, the minimalist but bigger-budgeted Mr. Lonely and the chaotic, dadaist Trash Humpers. Korine wouldn’t go on to direct another film until almost half a decade later, and when he would, he wouldn’t be returning to execute Spring Breakers with the deceptively simple formal qualities of his previous three features. Instead, he hired Benoit Debie (primarily known for his collaborations with Gaspar Noé) as his cinematographer, gathered composer Cliff Martinez and popular dubstep artist Skrillex to work on the score, and cast household celebrities such as James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens & Ashley Benson to co-star alongside his wife, Rachel Korine. The end result is a pure sensory overload, constituted by a rich color palette, a free-flowing camera and editing style, and some of the sharpest social commentary to emerge from the American film scene in years, if not decades. [Eli]

The Straight Story (David Lynch)

David Lynch has cemented himself as one of the most idiosyncratic filmmakers of our time, tainting our eyeballs with visions of severed ears in the grass, people-sized rabbits doing chores, and Dennis Hopper spitting and spluttering like a loon. Lynch’s films are about as weird as they come, but when asked, the director called his G-rated 1999 heartland drama The Straight Story his “most experimental film.” While it sounds strange at first listen, in the context of the nightmarish sprawl that is his larger oeuvre, the assertation rings loud and true. Nearly every aspect of the film is antithetic to the core concepts of his other works: instead of smashing Americana to pieces, he celebrates it; rather than delivering shocks of violence and sex, the movie is squeaky clean and has no artsy tricks up its sleeve. Richard Farnsworth, in his Oscar-nominated final performance, plays Alvin Straight, an aging man who travels 320 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin on his John Deere (only in Lynchian context is this part bit considered “not weird”) to see his dying brother. Lynch’s broodiness is eschewed here, his visual flair instead working in support of a sweeping road story of love and devotion set along the cornfields and foothills of the good ol’ U.S. of A. Surprisingly, the film has Lynch’s fingerprints all over it despite the conventional tone and narrative. For a one-time affair, the wavy-haired madman plays it straight, and it works astonishingly well. [Bernard]

The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)

Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro, is best known for his beautiful depictions of fantasy and ability to bring imaginary worlds to life on screen. Therefore, The Wind Rises comes as an unusual project from the Japanese animator, acting as a realistic piece of fiction whilst enfolding historical events into its narrative. It’s a fictional biography of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Japanese Zero fighter plane in World War II, and yet it focuses mostly on Jiro’s dreams of flying, rather than the grim realities of his creations. From its terrifying rendering of the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 to its frequent references to Japan’s involvement in the Second World War, the film is never unaware of its exact place in history. However, The Wind Rises never allows this history to overshadow its message about inventions and possibilities. All the more interesting is the film’s place as Miyazaki’s final feature film, inevitably creating a parallel between himself and the young Jiro, both of whom are artists at their core; men with creative aspirations, but whose works are bound to be consumed in ways they did not intend. Reviews suggest that The Wind Rises is not critical enough of a man who designed machines for war, and yet Miyazaki’s films—often considered children’s tales—have always had a moral message. It seems his final film is a reminder that, once a creation leaves its author’s hands, its fate is as much our responsibility as it is theirs. [Pavi]

The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)

Prior to 2008, Darren Aronofsky had established a consistently heady, kaleidoscopic aesthetic in his work. From the Lynchian surrealism of Pi to the hyperkinetic chaos and visceral impact of Requiem for a Dream to the ambitious, centuries-spanning spiritual epic that was The Fountain, one might’ve thought they had him pegged down as a filmmaker. However, while The Wrestler certainly carries a few subtle hallmarks of Aronofsky’s style and thematic interests, it’s a more stripped-down, genuinely gritty picture than anything the director has attempted before (or since).

A tale of has-beens and former glory is concentrated in the figure of Randy “the Ram” Robinson, a once-famous professional wrestler who has fallen into obscurity. He lives in a trailer, works a menial, unfulfilling job and only finds consolation in his small-time weekend wrestling gigs or in the sympathetic arms of a similarly broken-down stripper. Such a familiar type of story is imbued with refreshing nuance by Mickey Rourke’s unflinching, honest performance and Aronofsky’s neorealist approach. If there was any doubt that the director could make a film expressing unglamorous realities and raw human truths without the stimulation of technical dazzle and flamboyant flourishes, this movie surely puts those concerns to rest. Despite it being a bit of an anomaly in Aronofsky’s career, The Wrestler might just be his greatest work to date. [Byron]

X-Men (Bryan Singer)

Since Jeff Nichols’ latest studio venture has inspired this feature, I’ve chosen another all-American director, who was also in his mid-30s when he made the quantum leap from small scales and modest budgets by hitting the sci-fi switch. Bryan Singer’s big break came with cult classic crime thriller The Usual Suspects in 1995 where an award-winning screenplay and unforgettable performances bolstered the director’s work enough for 20th Century Fox to have a meeting about it. The character-driven student-teacher Stephen King drama Apt Pupil came next in 1998, but Fox had reportedly already approached Singer for X-Men. He turned it down, made Apt Pupil instead, was courted again—this time by good friend Tom DeSanto—only to finally sign on and set the course for the modern film age of superhero dominance we’re currently (suffering) in.

For the first time in his career, Singer worked with special effects, a budget of $75 million, and in the Sci-Fi sandbox where comic book fandom reigns. And boy did he make it work. It’s near-impossible to measure the magnitude of the aftershock this movie created, after grossing over $200 million at the box-office. Hugh Jackman became a star, studios realized that comic book property was a gold mine they could finally tap into, and Singer made such a triumphantly left turn from chamber dramas to splashy blockbusters, he’s never hard to turn right again. By no means the best superhero film, X-Men is still a perfectly entertaining spectacle that turned its director into one of the best comic book helmers working today. I very much doubt Nichols will make the same impact. [Nik]

On the heels of Richard Linklater’s highly acclaimed Boyhood, director Louis Black (co-founder of SXSW and the Austin Chronicle) captures his filmography and the struggles he’s endured with the film industry. It’s a little odd, though, that the documentary was made now considering Linklater’s career is still very active, but fans of Linklater or his films will likely enjoy this tribute. It’s clearly made with great admiration and respect for the filmmaker, but it doesn’t bring a wealth of new information to the table. Because most of Richard Linklater – Dream is Destiny consists of interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, the documentary seems most practical as a DVD extra feature (we’re looking at you Criterion).

Growing up, Linklater wanted to be either a novelist or a professional baseball player. But a semester in college spent watching movies, and apparently drinking a lot of Pepsi, transformed his career path into filmmaking. Black does a good job defining how unprecedented it was for the Austin-based Linklater to make an indie film like Slacker in a city outside of New York and Los Angeles. Though Richard Linklater – Dream is Destiny makes it a point to discuss the film industry as a whole, Linklater seems mostly content with it. It’s clear that he just wants to make films that he’s proud of, whether it’s a $30,000 film (roughly the budget of Slacker) or a $35,000,000 film (School of Rock), even though he confesses that a film like Slacker wouldn’t take off now like it did back in 1991. “It’d be just another indie film. Whoopee,” he admits.

Rating:
6.5/10

Back in 1966, French critic-turned-filmmaker François Truffaut published the book Cinema According to Hitchcock, which was comprised of conversations he had with Alfred Hitchcock about his career. In a new documentary about these famous conversations, Kent Jones establishes the context for the time period when this took place, citing how Hitchcock wasn’t considered a serious artist by the general public. Even up to the release of Psycho, Hitchcock was known more as a light entertainer than a true master of the craft. At times, Hitchcock even wondered if he was stuck doing the same types of films and not experimenting more; he spent most his time cemented in the studio system of Hollywood, using his name to sell films as well as superstar actors like Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, and James Stewart.

Truffaut set out to fix the misconception of Hitchcock as entertainer first and artist second. He promised to expose Hitchcock’s cinematic greatness to the world through in-depth analysis of his filmography, and the book was a major hit. Not only did it help shape people’s perception of Hitchcock as a serious filmmaker, it became a bible for film buffs. To this day, the book is still considered to be the holy grail for aspiring filmmakers, or anyone interested in frame-by-frame breakdowns of how the Master of Suspense approached film.

Jones interviews an elite group of modern directors including Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Olivier Assayas, Peter Bogdanovich, and Richard Linklater about how influential Hitchcock is to their career. Listening to these auteurs gush over Hitchcock is inspiring—each respects him for their own reasons, but all seem to agree that it’s his ability to frame every shot perfectly that sets him apart.

Hitchcock provides a ton of captivating thoughts on what makes things work in film. He explains how not showing or saying something can make a scene operate better and brilliantly defends the implausible tendencies of his own films, saying “Logic is dull.” But perhaps the most fascinating insight of the entire conversation was listening to Hitchcock describe the importance of manipulating time. He claims the most powerful feature cinema offers is the ability to control time. Fincher echoes this sentiment by describing directing as simply controlling moments that should occur really fast and making them slow, and making moments that should occur really slow and making them fast. It’s true when you think about it. Compressing or expanding moments of time is indeed what makes cinema such a powerful medium for storytelling. The whole segment is a great example of the documentary supplementing a subject covered in the book.

It’s when Hitchcock/Truffaut devotes a large section on praising Vertigo that the film becomes a little off-balance. Jones details how poorly Vertigo did when it was first released, then contrasts it with how much of an impact it has on today’s filmmakers. This ends up being more of a puff piece for the film and Hitchcock instead of allowing the Master of Suspense to explain things himself. Some of the best parts of the film are listening to Hitchcock defend his decisions and talk about what he thought didn’t work (it’s fascinating to hear Hitchcock suggest how he’d fix a scene in Truffaut’s The 400 Blows). But the film often glosses over these moments in favor of celebrating Hitchcock for reasons which are mostly known at this point. And while it’s completely understandable that Hitch would receive the majority of attention, fans of Truffaut may be let down by how little his work is covered.

Truffaut revised the original book in 1985, updating it with conversations he had regarding the final stages of both their careers. With Hitchcock/Truffaut, Jones creates an unofficial third revision; offering additional perspectives from contemporary filmmakers who assure us that Hitchcock is every bit as relevant today as he was back then. However, the film isn’t nearly as essential as the book it’s based off, though it serves as a starting point for those who haven’t read the book and a modest companion piece for those who have.

After I came down from the McKellen high that had overtaken my body for a good couple of days, I got back into movie-watching mode and watched a pair of very different documentaries MVFF had to offer. The first was a film I had a deep personal investment in, Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut, based on the eminently popular interview book of the same name. The subject matter of An Act of Love struck a chord with me as well, dealing with the controversial Methodist Church trials surrounding Rev. Frank Schaefer’s officiation of his gay son’s wedding. Although I had emotional (and dare I say, religious) ties to both films, only one rang true on a cinematic level.

Master Meets Grandmaster

Occupying the bookshelves of most serious movie lovers, “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is indeed one of my prized possessions. It’s a print version of a week-long, in-depth exchange about the filmmaking process Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock shared in 1962 that’s influenced virtually every prominent filmmaker since the book’s release. The documentary based on the book, directed by Kent Jones, couples archival photos and audio from the interview and does its best to make us feel like we’re sat in the room with Hitch, Truffaut and their translator. It is a pleasure to hear the legendary filmmakers’ voices and laugh along as they share laughs with each other, and the insights Truffaut mines out of his hero are as enlightening today as ever. A highlight is a moment of master/pupil critique in which Hitchcock suggests a pivotal scene in Truffaut’s The 400 Blows would have been better played had the characters not said a word. To hear these two talk so candidly and in such detail about their craft is as big a thrill on-screen as it is on paper, and as a cinematic extension of the book, Hitchcock/Truffaut lives up to its name. Jones also interviews several big names in the industry (Peter Bogdanovich, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, and Richard Linklater to name just a few) about the genius of Hitchcock, and their words of adulation are terrific, extra perspectives on Hitchcock’s work that you won’t find in the printed version.

Love in a Loveless Place

Following the defrocking by the United Methodist Church of minister Frank Schaefer after officiating his gay son’s wedding, An Act of Love provides a thorough outlining of the political maneuverings, biblical technicalities, and emotional traumas that stemmed from the controversy (which wasn’t limited to Schaefer’s case). The divide in the church created by a fundamental disagreement about gay marriage and the personal stories surrounding it are heartbreaking and inspirational, but the presentation of these stories by director Scott Sheppard is decidedly uncinematic, with talking-head interviews and archival footage strung together in an unsurprising, textbook way. A greater sense of narrative propulsion and shape would have made the film a more engaging watch, though there are a few pleasant departures, like a scene in which Schaefer and his wife return to their old apartment in Germany and laugh about an old indoor palm tree they decorated with Christmas ornaments one year, to the confusion of his mother. The movie’s not flawed in any major way, and its subjects, while not especially charismatic, are impassioned across the board.

Back in 1967 French filmmaker Francois Truffaut (The 400 Blows, Day For Night) sat down with legendary director Alfred Hitchcock to discuss his filmmaking style and career up to that point. This new documentary from Kent Jones acts like a companion piece to the book Truffaut wrote from his interview, which includes several audio recordings from the actual interview. He also calls in several prominent directors such as; Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, David Fincher, and others who offer insight on the master of suspense’s work.

Hitchcock/Truffaut premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and recently at Telluride and TIFF, and will open in New York on December 2nd. If you consider yourself a film buff, or simply curious to what made Hitchcock so special, be sure to check out the trailer for Hitchcock/Truffaut.

On this week’s extra-packed episode of the Way Too Indiecast, Bernard, CJ, and Dustin discuss the 2015 Cannes Film Festival lineup, which looks to break the mold and announce some new filmmakers into the fold as opposed to showcasing the same old faces. Then, inspired by the recent release of While We’re Young and the upcoming The Age of Adaline, the gang talk about the subject of aging in film and why we find it so endlessly fascinating. Also on the show, “Name 5” returns and the boys share their indie picks of the week. Enjoy, friends (while we’re young)!

Topics

• Indie Picks of the Week (2:12)
• Cannes 2015 Lineup (13:10)
• Name 5 (33:58)
• Aging in Film (39:04)

WTI Articles Referenced in the Podcast

2015 Cannes Lineup

While We’re Young review

Different Drum review

Kevin Chenault interview

Blue Jasmine review

Before Midnight review

112 Weddings review

Doug Block interview

Subscribe to the Way Too Indiecast

• Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes
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• and don’t forget to leave us a rating and quick review!

Now that you’ve crawled out of the cave where you’ve been mainlining House of Cards Season 3, here is a look at the film news you may have missed this past week.

Remembering Leonard Nimoy

It was announced on Friday that Leonard Nimoy, star of the original Star Trek series and films had died. While Nimoy was primarily known for his role as Spock, he was also an accomplished film writer, director and producer. Since his passing, there has been no lack of great writing and remembrance for the cultural icon. Way Too Indie’s own Ananda and Scarlet offered their thoughts on Friday. You can also see what the New York Times and The Dissolve had to say. Turns out, even President Obama loved Spock.

Joseph Kahn’s Power/Rangers Undergoes Copyright Battle

The most quickly developing film story of the week surrounded a short film re-imagining of a popular 1990’s children show. Collider first announced that Power/Rangers had been pulled for copyright infringement, which was apparently settled only a day later, and back up online. According to Deadline Hollywood, Kahn and producer Adi Shankar added a disclaimer on the video claiming that this is simply a fan created film and not an officially licensed property—this separation seemed to be enough for the copyright owners, Lionsgate and Saban.

Joseph Kahn (Torque, Detention) is known for wild and violent films, and the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers would be awesome under his vision. Suffice it to say, though, despite the short’s popularity, he probably doesn’t have much shot to direct the untitled Power Rangers project now in pre-production. For a full timeline of the Power/Rangers events, /Film has a great breakdown.

Richard Linklater Linked to Where’d You Go Bernadette

Though Linklater may have been the biggest loser at last weekend’s Academy Awards, the director was one of this week’s biggest topics. First, The Guardian wrote on Linklater’s interest in a Boyhood sequel, based on comments from his recent interview on The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith. While we have this pipe-dream to speculate over the next twelve years, we may know Linklater’s next project. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Linklater is in talks to direct Where’d You Go Bernadette for Annapurna Pictures. The popular novel, written by Maria Semple, is about Bernadette Fox, a complicated modern woman. When she goes suddenly missing, her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, is on her trail. Linklater seems to be a great choice to tell the bright and modern satire of Seattle culture.

Lionsgate Partners with Telltale Games for Multi-media Project

Anyone who has interest in the indie video game scene is well aware of Telltale Games. The makers of very popular and critically acclaimed adaptations of The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and most recently Game of Thrones has now formed a partnership with Lionsgate Entertainment. Fans are already speculating which Lionsgate properties would be good fits for Telltale’s episodic, conversation based adventure games, and there are quite a few that come to mind. The gaming style is perfect for a Hunger Games adaptation and some have thought it would be an interesting transition for AMC series Mad Men after its finale this year. Even more incredible, reported first by Entertainment Weekly, is the possible creation of a “Super Show,” which will hybrid Telltale gameplay with a scripted television series produced by Lionsgate, letting gamers explore the world as it unfolds on the small screen. There are a lot of possibilities with this marriage and we are intrigued by the eventual results.

’71 and Wild Tales Shine in Limited Release

While Will Smith vehicle Focus won the box office with an underwhelming 19 million, the two films with the best per screen averages were U.K. action-thriller ’71 and Argentine comedy-anthology film Wild Tales. ’71, which features rising star Jack O’Connell as a soldier who is abandoned on the dangerous streets of Belfast during riots, had a $15,000 average in four theaters. Wild Tales, which was nominated for an Academy Award in the foreign language category, added 14 screens this past weekend (to a total of 18) and had a $6,000 per screen average. Look for both films to expand to more theaters in the upcoming weeks.

Trailer of the Week: Eva

Starring Daniel Brühl and directed by Kike Maíllo, Eva opens in limited release on March 13.

Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell show off their wit and charm as they host the 30th Independent Spirit Awards. We were reminded throughout the night why the Spirit Awards mean more to us than the Oscars, mostly because Nightcrawler received some deserved attention, winning Best Screenplay and Best First Feature. The biggest news of the night was Birdman winning the top prize of Best Feature, besting out category favorite Boyhood. Will this shake things up tomorrow night at the Oscars?!

Look for our full reactions to the winners and losers soon.

List of 2015 Independent Spirit Award Winners

(Winners highlighted in bold font)

Birdman
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash

Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
David Zellner – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias – Love is Strange

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Dear White People
Nightcrawler
Obvious Child
She’s Lost Control

Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents
Justin Lader – The One I Love
Anja Marquardt – She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien – Dear White People

André Benjamin – Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
John Lithgow- Love is Strange
David Oyelowo – Selma

Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Alfred Molina – Love is Strange
Edward Norton – Birdman
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo – Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone – Birdman

Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young – Selma

Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Tom Cross – Whiplash
John Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard – The Guest

Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Mommy
Norte, the End of History
Under the Skin

20,000 Days on Earth
Citizenfour
Stray Dog
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Blue Ruin – Jeremy Saulnier
It Felt Like Love – Eliza Hittman
Land Ho! – Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Man From Reno – Dave Boyle
Test – Chris Mason Johnson

Obviously we’re big fans of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, since we named it our favorite film of last year. And we’re definitely expecting it to grab some gold next weekend at the Oscars. But even we need to step back and admit that even the films we love most have flaws and poking fun at the blind spots of critics is the best way to keep us all honest.

YouTube channel ScreenJunkies have been dissecting and breaking down even the seemingly most impeccable films for years now and Boyhood gets its moment in their spotlight as they point a few of the film’s more hilarious failings—and a few on the part of us adoring audience members as well.

If the BAFTA’s are a sign of what’s going to happen at the Oscars then fans of Boyhood have a lot to look forward to. It may of not of swept the board but it took home the two biggest awards of the night winning best film with best director also going to Richard Linklater. Patricia Arquette also throughly deserves the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance grounded Boyhood giving it the emotional backbone that held the multiple strands of its story together.

Read: Full List of 2015 BAFTA Winners

I predicted that The Theory of Everything would win best film but whilst it may have missed out on that award it went on to take Outstanding British Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Eddie Redmayne (who else was going to win it) picked up the BAFTA for Best Actor. With Steven Hawking in the audience the awards for The Theory of Everything also gave the academy to excuse to celebrate a British Icon. It was also stronger film than The Imitation Game and deserved to win the battle of the biopics.

It would have been a travesty had J.K. Simmons not one Best Supporting Actor for his performance and thankfully there was no disappointments on that front. Whiplash also went on to win Best Editing which was well deserved, if surprising to me, along with the more predictable Best Sound award.

There clearly is a lot of love in the UK for The Grand Budapest Hotel and it was one of the most successful films of the night. Wes Anderson’s film won a whole host of awards including Production Design, Costume Design, Best Original Music and Screenplay. Those of you who read Way Too Indie’s 2014 Best of the Year feature will know I am a big fan of the film and it was pleasant surprise to see the film walk away with so many awards. Losing out to The Grand Budapest Hotel marked a disappointing night for Birdman. The fact that it only picked up best Cinematography and may lead to some to predict that it will lose out to Boyhood at the Oscars.

Read: Our 2015 BAFTA Predictions

Elsewhere Ida was a predictable winner for best Foreign Language film, even if I felt that the academy might go for Leviathan. Coming from Nottingham myself I was proud to see Jack O’Connell win the Rising Star Ward and referencing the Television Workshop in the city as a key to his success. Although I was disappointed however to see 71’, starring O’Connell miss out on best debut film. However, given the success of the film director Yann Demange will hopefully have more opportunities to win awards in the future.

The BAFTA’s as it always has been was a rather tame awards ceremony. Stephen Fry was on auto-pilot and his jokes were painfully bad. It left you wondering whether the awards could do with a new presenter to liven the show, especially considering Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s performance at the Golden Globes. The highlight of the night came from Mike Leigh who came to collect BAFTA Fellowship award and gave a brilliant speech on the importance of independent film. Leigh thanked those who had financed his films throughout his career. Yet, with his typical dry sense of humour, he also thanked those who had not describing them as ‘boneheads, Philistines and skinflints’, who could all ‘rot in hell’. Celebrating such an influential British director is what the BAFTA’s is all about and it almost made up for Mr. Turner picking up no awards at the ceremony.

Like most years, there was a lot of controversy over the Academy’s choices for Oscar nominations this year. Some felt that the lack of Selma representation, namely in Best Actor and Best Director categories since it did receive a Best Picture nom, spoke volumes about the predominately white demographic of the Academy. Though lets not forget last year’s Best Picture winner was appropriately given to 12 Years a Slave. At the time of announcement others felt the love for American Sniper was a bit of a reach, though the film has since set numerous opening box office records. But don’t think for one second I’m completely siding with the Academy, there were big time snubs in most categories (including the enormous neglect for The LEGO Movie). Below are predictions on who will win an Oscar, who deserves to win, and who should’ve been nominated in all the major categories.

Complete List of 2015 Oscar Predictions

BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida – Poland
Leviathan – Russia
Tangerines – Estonia
Timbuktu – Mauritania
Wild Tales – Argentina

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken

BEST EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
The Theory of Everything

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Everything Is Awesome” – The Lego Movie
“Glory” – Selma
“Grateful” – Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” – Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
“Lost Stars” – Begin Again

BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

While Birdman comes in with the most Independent Spirit Award nominations this year with a total of six, I’m predicting Richard Linklater’s Boyhood winning the most awards with four (including most of the big ones). Birdman will likely pick up at least two awards, same as Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler, and the rest of the field should be fairly spread out. You’re likely to see wins for smaller independent films like Dear White People, Blue Ruin, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and CITIZENFOUR.

In addition to picking the winners, I explain the reasoning behind my picks underneath each category. There’s still plenty of time for some shakers and movers between now and when the winners are revealed as the award season continues on. Tune into IFC on Saturday, February 21st at 2PM PT and watch live to see if my predictions hold up.

2015 Independent Spirit Award Predictions

(My prediction for the winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Birdman
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash

Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
David Zellner – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

André Benjamin – Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
John Lithgow – Love is Strange
David Oyelowo – Selma

Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Alfred Molina – Love is Strange
Edward Norton- Birdman
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo – Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone – Birdman

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias – Love is Strange

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Dear White People
Nightcrawler
Obvious Child
She’s Lost Control

Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents
Justin Lader – The One I Love
Anja Marquardt – She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien – Dear White People

Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young – Selma

Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Tom Cross – Whiplash
John Gilroy- Nightcrawler
Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard – The Guest

Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Mommy
Norte, the End of History
Under the Skin

20,000 Days on Earth
CITIZENFOUR
Stray Dog
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Blue Ruin – Jeremy Saulnier
It Felt Like Love – Eliza Hittman
Land Ho! – Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Man From Reno – Dave Boyle
Test – Chris Mason Johnson

So our first big awards ceremony of the season has now come and gone. In their third and final turn hosting, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler owned the opening monologue with some direct, honest, brave and spot-on hilarious jokes. Their were upsets (and quite a few instances where we didn’t predict the winners correctly) but here are our reactions to this year’s Golden Globe Awards.

Ananda Dillon

So there are plenty of things I didn’t call, let’s start there. The Grand Budapest Hotel taking home Comedy or Musical. I guess the only explanation I can think of there is that Birdman hardly fit the category anyway, though it was definitely the one we were expecting to hear called and that I was personally rooting for. There were the long shots I was hoping for, most specifically my call for Rosamund Pike for Actress in a Drama and Emma Stone for Supporting Actress. I knew they weren’t likely and am incredibly happy for Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette so no hard feelings. All the other actor awards I called spot on. So I guess I can gloat about that. I had hoped the HFPA would get a little wacky with the women’s categories, but they went for the more obvious calls.

Obviously I wasn’t surprised by Richard Linklater‘s win for Best Director, nor Boyhood’s major take home as Best Drama, and while we were dead wrong about Best Screenplay it made me incredibly happy to see Alejandro G. Iñárritu up on stage accepting an award. We were also wrong when it came to the musical categories, but understand that the HFPA decided to be a bit more standard in those choices as well. We were also off with our choices for Foreign Language film and am a bit surprised they went with Leviathan over Ida, or even my backup vote of Force Majeure. Just makes it hard to predict where the Oscars might go. But the one category that I absolutely am flabbergasted by is the HFPA’s choice of How to Train Your Dragon 2 for Best Animated Film over the amazing and incomparable The Lego Movie. I’ve never had strong feelings about an animated film before and I’m truly despondent over their decision. Whatever, I expect the Academy to get it right.

I will say I thought Amy and Tina killed it, delivering jokes that were both daring and hilarious. Their jokes regarding Bill Cosby were of course the more triggering but they went next level delivering their best Cosby impressions, which before this whole scandal was everyone’s favorite way of poking fun at Cosby. It was absolutely meta and the best way to truly express the way humor allows us to showcase that no one deserves safety when using humor to cope with tragedy. Their jab at George Clooney and his more accomplished wife was pitch perfect in calling out Hollywood’s tendency to lose perspective, and the joke that Selma “totally worked and now everything is fine” was delivered perfectly by Tina Fey, casting a great light on unreasonable expectations for films of its ilk while also impressing that this isn’t the sort of conversation that should ever really end.

As for TV, once again the HFPA gets premature and gives too much love to first-season shows rather than reward the ones that have gotten stronger (a difficult feat these days) but if it gets more people to watch Transparent, fine by me. All in all, it was a fun evening, if a somewhat confusing one, and whether we can use much in the way of predictions for next Thursday’s Oscar nominations announcement seems unlikely.

C.J. Prince

Well, I guess I can’t say it was a particularly safe night, so that’s a positive. Tina and Amy were great, even though they were only on for a brief time after their monologue. But for the second year in the row they pull off a great George Clooney burn, and probably did the first funny Bill Cosby joke since that whole scandal broke out (there’s no point tiptoeing around it, so good for them for getting as tasteless as possible for network broadcast). But this is an awards show, so I guess I should talk about those…

I have to mention something about the TV awards first. In typical HFPA fashion, the awards went to freshmen shows instead of old favorites (remember Brooklyn Nine-Nine winning last year?). Sometimes that can lead to weird choices (how many people scratched their heads at Jane the Virgin winning Best Actress?), but other times an awesome show like Transparent ends up winning Best Comedy and Best Actor. So this is me saying that Transparent is an incredible show that deserves its awards, and if you haven’t seen it yet please do so immediately. So that’s that about TV.

Going back to the predictions Ananda and I made a few days ago, we wound up splitting on the acting awards. I was right about Julianne Moore, she was right about Eddie Redmayne. Apparently the HFPA love it when actors play people with horrible diseases. Don’t be surprised if Jennifer Aniston winds up playing a genius with ALS next year that discovers she has Alzheimers. We both wound up being right about Michael Keaton and Amy Adams in the comedy acting awards, but those seemed like obvious ones. What really took me by surprise (along with everyone else, I’m sure) is The Grand Budapest Hotel winning over Birdman. While I don’t love Wes Anderson’s latest film (I think it’s a pretty enjoyable trifle), I’m so happy it won over the annoying, unfunny Birdman. And hey, Wes Anderson just officially became a contender (I think?). HFPA also got the supporting actor/actress awards right, so good for them. Very happy Patricia Arquette won, and J.K. Simmons deserves every award under the sun for Whiplash. Some awards didn’t interest me in the slightest (I know my prediction was wrong about Best Score, but I don’t care about that category whatsoever), so I’ll just mention some notable wins and/or losses: Leviathan taking Best Foreign Film over Ida was great, and it gives me hope that Ida won’t get that Oscar so easily. I haven’t seen The Theory of Everything, but I’m bummed Oyelowo didn’t win for Selma. Ditto for Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. And The Lego Movie losing Best Animated might have been my biggest disappointment because it totally deserved it.

So all in all, a little more interesting than usual I guess. I’m sad to see Tina and Amy go as hosts, and I’m sure the HFPA will have a hard time picking a suitable replacement. And, oh yeah, Boyhood. Well I’m not surprised it won. You might have seen my thoughts on Boyhood already. I say good for Linklater, because he’s always been a great director. I just wish all of these trophies went to a different, better film by him, like Bernie or any of the Before films or hell, even School of Rock. After tonight, I think that the big Oscar for Best Picture is Boyhood‘s to lose at this point. What’ll be interesting is seeing what other films will end up getting nominated with it.

Today’s the day! Our first big awards show of the season. If you aren’t able to watch or are keeping score, we’ll be live updating the winners as they are announced starting at 8 EST/5 PST. Refresh your browser to see winners throughout the evening.

Complete List of 2015 Golden Globe Winners

(Winners highlighted in bold font)

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Boyhood
Selma
The Imitation Game
Foxcatcher
The Theory of Everything

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Into the Woods
Pride

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
David Oyelowo, Selma

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
Helen Mirren, The Hundred-Foot Journey
Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Edward Norton, Birdman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year

Best Director – Motion Picture
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Boyhood
Birdman
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
Lana Del Ray – “Big Eyes” for Big Eyes
John Legend, Common – “Glory” for Selma
Patty Smith, Lenny Kaye – “Mercy Is” for Noah
Sia – “Opportunity” for Annie
Lorde – “Yellow Flicker Beat” for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor, Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

Best Animated Film
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida
Leviathan
Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Tangerines

Television Categories

Best Television Series – Drama
“Downton Abbey”
“The Good Wife”
“House of Cards”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Affair”

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
“Girls”
“Orange Is the New Black”
“Transparent”
“Silicon Valley”
“Jane the Virgin”

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Olive Kitteridge”
“True Detective”
“Fargo”
“The Missing”
The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”
James Spader, “The Blacklist”
Dominic West, “The Affair”
Clive Owen, “The Knick”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder”
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Ruth Wilson, “The Affair”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
Ricky Gervais, “Derek”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Louis C.K., “Louie”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Lena Dunham, “Girls”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is the New Black”
Gina Rodriguez, “Jane the Virgin”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Martin Freeman, “Fargo”
Billy Bob Thornton, “Fargo”
Matthew McConaughey, “True Detective”
Woody Harrelson, “True Detective”
Mark Ruffalo, “The Normal Heart”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Honourable Woman”
Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge”
Frances O’Connor, “The Missing”
Allison Tolman, “Fargo”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan”
Alan Cumming, “The Good Wife”
Bill Murray, “Olive Kitteridge”
Colin Hanks, “Fargo”
Matt Bomer, “The Normal Heart”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is the New Black”
Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story”
Michelle Monaghan, “True Detective”
Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey”

As Richard Linklater’s Boyhood continues to be praised as we’re approaching end-of-year best-of lists and awards season, IFC Films has released a making of doc to make sure we absolutely don’t forget about its epic production.

The 10-minute featurette, called ‘The Making of Boyhood – 12 Years on Film,’ gives an extensive look into the unique 12-year production with behind-the-scenes footage of Linklater and the core cast. This will likely be the first among many looks behind the curtain (we’re eagerly awaiting the Criterion Collection treatment), so it’s a must-watch for any fan of the film.

Boyhood featurette

With the beginning of December, the New York Film Critics Circle became the first of many critics groups to release their year-end awards earlier today. Top honors went to IFC Films’ Boyhood, which not only claimed Best Picture but saw its director Richard Linklater and one of its stars Patricia Arquette win prizes. Some of the other big winners were worthy albeit more surprising picks, notably Best Actor going to Mr. Turner‘s Timothy Spall and Best Actress to Marion Cotillard for two films, The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night.

While seen by many as the “first precursor” awards to the Oscars, last year’s New York Film Critics Circle winners overwhelming went Oscar-less at that year’s ceremony. Only Cate Blanchett and Steve McQueen prevailed at both ceremonies, while the other 9 NYFCC winners were passed over by the Academy Awards. This year’s crop of winners contains several suspected frontrunners, including Best Supporting Actor winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash). Check out the full list of winners below:

Best Picture: Boyhood
Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Best First Film: Jennifer Kent (The Babadook)
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard (for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night)
Special Award: Adrienne Mancia
Best Actor: Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner)
Best Cinematography: Darius Khondji (The Immigrant)
Best Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Best Nonfiction Film: Citizenfour
Best Foreign Language Film: Ida
Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie

It’s starting to feel like Christmas already as the nominations for our favorite awards show, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, were announced moments ago. Leading the pack with a total of six nominations was Alejandro G. Iñárritu‘s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) grabbing nods for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Editing, and three acting categories. Not far behind it was Richard Linklater‘s masterful Boyhood which received a total of five nominations in major categories. Also landing five nominations were Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler, and Ava DuVernay’s Selma.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the absence of Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyer’s Club follow-up Wild, since a lot of people have been talking about Reese Witherspoon’s performance in it. However, the biggest snub this year belongs to The Overnighters for not getting a nod for Best Documentary, as this indie doc is getting some serious Oscar buzz. Also, I had to do a double take when seeing André Benjamin’s name under the Best Actor category, which seems a little out of left-field but also edged out Ellar Coltrane for Boyhood and Oscar Isaac for A Most Violent Year.

Here at Way Too Indie, we were especially happy to see nominations for some smaller films such as A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (which picked up 3 noms and landed on our Must See Indie list), The One I Love, and It Felt Like Love. The 2015 Independent Spirit Awards will broadcast live (new this year) on IFC at 2:00/5:00pm PT/ET on Saturday, February 21, 2015.

Watch For: Our Spirit Award predictions coming soon.

2015 Independent Spirit Award Nominations:

Birdman
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash

Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
David Zellner – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias – Love is Strange

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Dear White People
Nightcrawler
Obvious Child
She’s Lost Control

Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents
Justin Lader – The One I Love
Anja Marquardt – She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien – Dear White People

André Benjamin – Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
John Lithgow – Love is Strange
David Oyelowo – Selma

Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Alfred Molina – Love is Strange
Edward Norton – Birdman
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo – Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone – Birdman

Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young – Selma

Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Tom Cross – Whiplash
John Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard – The Guest

Force Majeure (Sweden)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Mommy (Cananda)
Norte, the End of History (Philippines)
Under the Skin (United Kingdom)

20,000 Days on Earth
CITIZENFOUR
Stray Dog
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Blue Ruin – Jeremy Saulnier
It Felt Like Love – Eliza Hittman
Land Ho! – Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Man From Reno – Dave Boyle
Test – Chris Mason Johnson

Foxcatcher

Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

Amanda Rose Wilder – Approaching the Elephant
Darius Clark Monroe – Evolution of a Criminal
Dan Krauss – The Kill Team
Sara Dosa – The Last Season

Ana Lily Amirpour – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia – H.
Chris Eska – The Retrieval

With Boyhood, Richard Linklater‘s “12-Year Epic”, gearing up for wide release following its limited opening this past weekend, the indie guru has been on a whirlwind press tour, promoting the film across the country. This past Thursday, the tour found him in San Rafael, California, at the Smith Rafael Film Center, where he participated in an audience Q&A and chatted with some high-profile guests at the after party, all organized by the California Film Institute.

“It had to be one movie that felt all the same, and all you could notice was the people getting older. The film itself had to feel consistent,” Linklater said at the Q&A (moderated by CFI Director of Programming Richard Peterson) when asked how he kept the tone of the film steady over the course of the 12-year production. “People ask me, ‘Did you evolve over the 12 years as a filmmaker?’ and I say, ‘I hope not.’ If I evolved, it was maybe in the other films.”

When asked about how many scenes fell to the cutting room floor, Linklater gave a startling answer, considering the enormity of the production. “There’s very little on the floor. There will never be another version [of the film.] I probably cut out less material, ratio-wise, than most films.” It speaks to his efficiency as a filmmaker, which he touched upon with us in our chat last year about Before Midnight.

Following the Q&A, Linklater moved from the packed theater, booming with applause, to a private room where several of his peers awaited to shower him with praise (and nibble on some tasty treats, of which I may have stolen a few.) In attendance were Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, a film buff and Bay Area musical mainstay, Pixar mastermind Brad Bird, CFI Executive Director Mark Fishkin, and an assortment of industry vets who were universally touched by Mr. Linklater’s sweeping passion project.

Boyhood is picking up some serious momentum, and with luck (and more publicity tours), Linklater and his crew could ride the wave all the way to the Oscars.

With last year’s Before Midnight being clearly one of the best of 2013 (at least in our opinion), it would seem Richard Linklater, whose films can be somewhat hit or miss (Me and Orson Welles was a bit more on the miss side), is reaching some kind of maturation. Like a fine wine. It would be easy to say he peaked in the 90’s and early 2000’s where his youthful film angle seemed perfectly suited for his age, but with Before Midnight, he proved he could grow with his subject matter. So how to classify Boyhood? A film that shows that Linklater can not only mature with his work, but one that required planning ahead for over a decade’s worth of work.

Boyhood was shot over 12 consecutive years with the same actors, an impressive feat in and of itself. Complicated production aside, the film is quite simple. 6-year-old Mason (Ellar Coltrane) lives with his single mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and older sister, Samantha (Lorelie Linklater), in Texas. He goes to school, hangs out with his friends, argues with his sister, and watches his mother bounce from failed relationship to failed relationship. Some years they move. Others their estranged father (Ethan Hawke) bounces into their lives, attempting to assert his place in their lives and his genuine love for them. Nothing especially out of the ordinary happens, the height of the drama being an especially bad marriage situation that Olivia is forced to endure and eventually escape from. Mostly we watch Mason grow up. Looking wide-eyed and too-wise as a child, greasy and awkward in middle school, thoughtful and rebellious in high school. This is an average lower-middle class family — divorced, single-parented, all-American. And somehow at an unholy two hours and forty-five minutes, from a man known to embrace free-form “plot-less” filmmaking, there is never a second of Boyhood that isn’t entirely mesmerizing.

While I can hardly imagine being a 6-year-old and committing to spend a few days of every year until college on a movie, Linklater seems to have gotten incredibly lucky with his cast. Each of them somehow managing to channel their character on demand for each consecutive chapter of their, and their character’s, lives while effectively showcasing the undeniable maturity that comes with one’s personal aging. It’s a film full of absolute honesty because it’s made in a format that embraces reality. When Ethan Hawke shows up for his first visit onscreen as Mason Sr., it’s the younger scragglier version of him we haven’t seen since the late 90’s, and by the time the film closes, in a scene where Mason Sr. explains to his son that no one in life really knows what they are doing, he’s the older, grayer Hawke we saw in Before Midnight. And not a drop of CG.

The most extraordinary and intriguing transformation is that of Ellar Coltrane, who must find it surreal to watch a film that showcases his every bad haircut of adolescence, and those in-between years of baby fat and sudden pubescent shift. Within two scenes his voice goes from high and childish to a deeper adult sound, the sort of brutal realism a film is hardly able to capture in its normal production methods. Aside from how intriguing it is to watch Mason/Ellar age, more extraordinary is Linklater’s ability to capture the molding of his mind and personality. All the musings and thoughts we see running through his head, as though we’re literally watching him learn and grow, even when we’re not privy to what those thoughts are. Linklater, a lover of loquacious films, turns off that impulse in Boyhood and allows Mason’s silences and observations to do all the telling.

Even if Mason’s experiences aren’t exactly mirrored personally with audiences, the literal zeitgeist peppering each scene and giving it so much cultural context will make it impossible not to remember those years, not so long ago, and to feel utterly transported. Moreso than other historical-ish films even, because unlike a documentary, this film has literally captured time. Britney Spears songs, Harry Potter book releases, and political references are all genuinely reflective of the fervor surrounding them in real-time. It’s not a nostalgic remembrance — though it induces nostalgia — instead Boyhood is like watching a home video. It’s a preservation of time wrapped up in an every-man/child’s life story.

As a fascinating study in mixing reality and fiction, Boyhood stands out from say scripted reality shows in that it simply and effectively holds a lens up to the reality inherent in all films. A nuance that perhaps couldn’t be captured in anything less than 12 years, and which, it turns out, is so fascinating it turns an almost 3 hour film about almost nothing into a remarkable piece of art.

Boyhood trailer

Have we ever mentioned how much we love Alamo Drafthouse here at Way Too Indie? This small theater chain from Austin, TX constantly ranks as one of the best theaters in the world. And for good reason. The theater has fixes for all the things you hate about typical movie theatre experiences. In addition to it’s fantastic custom programming before each screening, up-scale food and drink options, and not allowing children in under the age of six, Alamo Drafthouse has a strict no talking/no texting policy. To help educate the audience members on its etiquette policy, Alamo Drafthouse plays hilarious PSA announcements before each film begins. In the past, guests in their videos have ranged from George Romero, Will Ferrell, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, and Danny DeVito to name a few.

Now Richard Linklater has joined in on the fun as his anticipated film Boyhood hits its theatrical run. With Wilco’s “Hate it Here” song playing in the background, Linklater reveals before getting into his career as a filmmaker he used to be a “paid hitman”. He then demonstrates how to take care of a texter/talker with a straw. The video satirically states, “Please don’t talk or text or someone might stab a straw into your brain”. Watch the video below.

Richard Linklater’s ‘Don’t Talk’ PSA

Watch the Tim League recommends Boyhood video. Purchase a ticket to see Boyhood at a Alamo Drafthouse.

Shot periodically over a 12 year period, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood chronicles the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) between the ages of 6 and 18. That kind of scale for one project isn’t exactly unheard of (Linklater’s Before trilogy takes place over 2 decades, and Michael Apted’s Up series has been going on for over 56 years) but the fact that he’s condensed it within one film makes it an unprecedented experience. With that kind of ambition it isn’t unreasonable to expect something monumental in the end, but surprisingly Boyhood emerges as nothing more than a pleasant slice-of-life film.

Aside from some melodramatic moments early on, Linklater keeps things loose as our glimpses into Mason’s life are mostly relaxed or subdued. The aimless, shaggy dog approach both help and hurt the film. The way major events merely pass by everyone might be the most true-to-life aspect of the film (Arquette’s final scene, one of the strongest in the film, addresses this aspect directly), but by the end there’s a distinct, lacking feeling as a result of Linklater’s filmmaking. The film amounts to a nice collection of the kind of naturalistic scenes Linklater excels at, but none of it comes together in a wholly satisfying way. In other words, it’s less than the sum of its parts.

Just don’t take any of this the wrong way. Boyhood is a good film, and the experience of watching its cast age over 2 and a half hours makes for a unique (but not especially remarkable) experience. It’s just that, considering all the effort put into the film (and the fervent response it’s received since premiering at Sundance), “good” feels disappointing in this case.

As the name implies, North by Northeast can be seen as a sort of partner to Austin, TX’s South by Southwest. The festival takes place in Toronto from June 13-22, and will see plenty of bands, comedians, films, artists and more show off their stuff. Like SXSW, NXNE is expanding its horizons beyond music and into film. Up until now the festival only screened films involving music, but in its 20^th year the program has expanded to include non-music related films.

In advance of this year’s festival, we were able to catch 6 films set to play between June 13 and 15 at the gorgeous Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. This is merely a sampling of what’s available, as short films and music videos will also be screening with select titles. By far the most anticipated film in this year’s line-up is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, which will have its Canadian premiere on June 14^th.

But don’t forget to take a peek at what else is playing at NXNE. And I don’t just mean the films either. There are hundreds of live acts playing the festival, so be sure to spare some time and look at what else is going on at the festival. Read on to see our thoughts on the 6 films playing, along with dates and times. You can find more information, including how to buy passes, at www.nxne.com. If you don’t want to buy a pass, you can buy individual tickets for the films here.

Riot on the Dance Floor

Screens Friday, June 13 at 9:30pm

Riot on the Dance Floor is a documentary about City Gardens, a club in Trenton, NJ that was home to a surprisingly vibrant music scene. Club promoter Randy Now booked a wide variety of acts at the club throughout the 80s and 90s. Bands like Nirvana, Black Flag, R.E.M., Dead Kennedys, Fugazi, Bad Brains, De La Soul and The Ramones are just a few of the bands that played City Gardens over the years. The club was seen by some as a sort of CBGB for suburban kids in New Jersey, and the eclectic bookings by Now (reggae, punk, metal, soul, alternative, etc.) gave the club a legendary status to those who knew it.

Director Steve Tozzi interviews locals, members of bands that played over the years and Now himself to paint a picture of City Gardens as a truly unique, and mostly unheard of piece of music history. Stories of the club helping establish Ween, Butthole Surfers trying to burn down the place, and a notoriously awful show by the band Venom are a few of the more entertaining pieces here. Tozzi constructs a pleasant, nifty documentary, although it might be a little alienating to people without any knowledge of the alternative scene.

For those with some familiarity, watching everyone wax nostalgic about City Gardens from Jello Biafra to Jon Stewart (he was a bartender at City Gardens for several years) is fun to watch. Tozzi gets a little too indulgent, letting his film run close to the 2 hour mark and dedicating too much time to Trenton’s past, but it isn’t long before another crazy anecdote gets the film moving again. And despite all of the focus on the club itself, Tozzi makes sure that Now is the film’s centerpiece. Randy Now may be an unsung hero, but Riot on the Dance Floor makes sure he finally gets his due.

Whoops!

Screens Saturday, June 14 at 12:30pm

Whoops! is pretty nonsensical, but its concept is a fun one. Rose Clements (Elaine Glover) is a caring but clumsy wife and mother of two. Rose is accident prone, but in a very particular way: her mistakes end up inadvertently killing someone. Her first kill happens when she mistakes a man in a parking lot for a stalker trying to attack her. She leaps out and hits him in defense, only to take out one of his eyeballs with her car keys. Rose’s husband Dave (Philip Rowson), fearing how the death will look to the authorities, hides the body. It doesn’t take long before Rose unintentionally kills again, and for the cops to start suspecting the happy couple.

It’s odd how almost all of Rose’s murders happen as a result of her fear of getting attacked by a man. Someone could take it as a kind of commentary on the very real fears women have, and how badly things end up for them when they act on it, but that might be giving Whoops! too much credit. This is primarily a silly, dark comedy, and it’s surprising how much it works. The cast is strong, with Olwen May getting most of the laughs as the hard-headed cop investigating Rose’s killings (also good: Paul Tomblin as one of Dave’s dim-witted co-workers). Dave’s decision to cover up his wife’s crimes is a little far-fetched, along with how May’s character manages to solve the case, but the entire film is so inherently ridiculous it feels silly to complain about implausible behaviour.

Unfortunately Whoops! falls into the usual horror/comedy trap of going for a sentimental climax. This is a film more about getting laughs at Rose and Dave’s deathly incompetence, not about their loving relationship. Still, Whoops! is a gory little romp that, despite its copious amounts of blood, is pretty harmless.

Luck’s Hard – Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins

Screens Saturday, June 14 at 10pm

The winner of the most Canadian film in the NXNE line-up will probably go to this film, a profile of Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Hawkins (probably known most from the band Lowest of the Low) and the new direction he’s taking his solo career: touring with a backing band and recording a double album with them. Directors David Brown and Daniel Williams spend some time on the music, but prefer to profile Hawkins along with the members of The Do Good Assassins.

Fans of Hawkins’ music, seen as a small but fiercely dedicated group in the film, will definitely have a good time with Luck’s Hard. The doc operates more as a puff piece than a serious work, something that would probably work best as a bonus feature on the band’s double album, but for the most part Hawkins and his band get by on their inoffensive charm. Brown and Williams admirably try to expand the scope of their work, using Hawkins as a symbol for a standard DIY indie artist and exploring how these kinds of artists can hack it in today’s music scene. A few choice moments, like the band’s bassist explaining why Toronto is one of the best music scenes in the world, are tailor-made for the NXNE crowd but the film’s appeal will still be limited. If you’re a fan of Hawkins, or interested in his music (some of which you can sample here) Luck’s Hard is worth catching during NXNE.

Well now you’re Here, There’s No Way Back – The Quiet Riot Movie

Screens Sunday, June 15 at 9:45pm

Regina Russell’s film finally answers the question “What would a 110 minute documentary about Quiet Riot be like?” The answer is, somewhat unsurprisingly, a bit of a mixed bag. The first 45 minutes are engaging and thorough, as Russell culls together her own interviews along with archival footage to give a brief history of the 80s rock band’s heyday. Vocalist Kevin Dubrow and drummer Frankie Banali made up the nucleus of the band, as one interview subject puts it, and their album “Metal Health” ushered in the glam metal era. “Metal Health” actually dethroned “Thriller” on the charts, and bands like Poison and Twisted Sister probably wouldn’t have been as successful if Quiet Riot didn’t pave the way for them.

The band’s story ends on a tragic note in 2007 when Dubrow died of a drug overdose, but the doc’s second (and weaker) half dedicates itself to following Banali’s attempts to restart the band with a new vocalist. Banali is clearly resentful of Dubrow’s death, looking at it as an act of selfishness that took away his career, and the doc’s look at Banali’s coping is one of the strongest part of the film, but it’s all too brief. Unfortunately it’s bogged down by an overindulgent runtime and stale touring segments, the kind of material with no appeal to anyone who might not be a fan of the band. Russell also proves to be pretty weak as a director, with several blatantly staged sequences that have more in common with a Bravo reality series than a piece of documentary filmmaking (also of note: a title card at the end reveals Banali and Russell got engaged after she finished filming). Those issues in the second half aside, Russell still crafts a decent “rock doc” any fan of the band or metal music will find fulfilling.

Voice of the Voiceless

Screens Friday, June 13 at 6pm

Give credit where it’s due: Writer/director Maximón Monihan clearly has a strong vision for his debut feature. The Voice of the Voiceless takes the point of view of Olga (Janeva Adena Calderon Zentz), a Central American deaf girl, and the film’s audio mix replicates Olga’s hearing. That means no audible dialogue, just low frequencies and dull thuds for anything especially loud. It’s a bold choice for a first-time filmmaker, but it doesn’t necessarily constitute a successful one.

Olga is lured to New York City under false pretenses of joining a sign language school. In reality, an international crime syndicate tricks her into becoming their slave. Day after day Olga gets on subway trains handing out “I am deaf” cards asking for donations, all of which go to her captors. Monihan spends a considerable chunk of his film repeating Olga’s daily routine to show off its mundane horrors, but this constant repetition does more to induce boredom than emphasize Olga’s horrifically banal routine.

Monihan’s choice to go for a pseudo-silent film is admirable, but the execution is seriously lacking. Eventually subtitles come into the picture, and information is relayed in ways that are either too vague to understand (I had to refer to the film’s official synopsis in order to understand that Olga was lured under the pretense of joining a school) or so blatantly defined it’s hard not to laugh (a box of rat poison saying POISON FOR RATS in massive lettering). The result is a tonal mess, a film that carelessly veers between broad, possibly unintentional comedy and cheap, miserablist drama.

Still, Monihan deserves some credit for trying something so unorthodox with a fact-based drama (Monihan was inspired by an article about a racket similar to the one in the film that went on in NYC for years). Ultimately it’s an interesting but failed experiment.

Lies I Told My Little Sister

Screens Sunday, June 15 at 3pm

Written by a woman in her 60s with no screenwriting experience and directed by a 21 year old NYU student, Lies I Told My Little Sister is one of the more torturous films I’ve had to sit through in a long time. Cory (Lucy Walters) and Jane (Michelle Petterson) are getting over the recent loss of their older sister Sarah (Alicia Minshew) when Jane suggests the entire family go on a weekend getaway to Cape Cod. Jane is an overly protective wife and mother who resents Cory’s free spirited lifestyle working as a nature photographer, so naturally they’re bound to clash once they spend time together. Will Jane and Cory be able to get along? Will everyone learn to move on from their recent tragedy? Will Cory happen to find love during her short getaway? The answer to all of those is yes.

Lies I Told My Little Sister is a twee indie hellscape, the sort of Sundance bottom feeder that feels more like a parody than an attempt at something sincere. Writers Jonathan Weisbrod and Judy White infuse their script with false profundities and metaphors so bad (“The past is the past, and you can’t wear it around your neck like a garlic clove”) even Zach Braff would cringe at them. Every conversation and dramatic moment ends with characters laughing together or hugging because feel-good movies do that, I guess. It’s all meant to be realistic or relatable, when the exact opposite is true. Lies I Told My Little Sister looks like aliens came down to earth and tried to make their own version of a heartwarming family dramedy. I didn’t think there could be a more inhuman film this year than Under the Skin, but here we are.

On the (very minor) plus side, the cinematography and cast are surprisingly good, but that’s kind of it. If you love montages scored with ukulele, glockenspiel and pounding piano riffs sounding like rejected Spoon songs, you might enjoy yourself. For me, the cloying non-stop attempts at ‘snappy dialogue’ and cutesy moments were insufferable. The film ends with Jane’s precocious son gathering his family around a campfire, making them hold hands and say “Om” together. “Are we Buddhists now?” Jane’s husband asks. “No,” Cory says, looking up at the stars. “We’re just alive.”If that doesn’t make you want to claw your face off, Lies I Told My Little Sister might be right up your alley.

Let’s Ruin it With Babies

Screens Sunday, June 15 at 6:30pm

Way Too Indie was able to see Let’s Ruin it With Babies earlier this year at the San Francisco Indiefest. In our review herewe said it was an “über-cute road flick with real drama and savvy, hard-hitting humor.” Be sure to read our review, as well as our interview with director/writer/star Kestrin Pantera.

Other films screening at the festival:

Born to Ruin (screens Saturday, June 14 at 3pm) – This music documentary follows Toronto-based band The Wildlife over 3 months as they record their sophomore album. The doc promises it will “inevitably change the common perception of life in a music studio.”

Boyhood (screens Saturday, June 14 at 6pm) – Do I need to say anything more? Richard Linklater’s coming of age tale is unprecedented in that it filmed its main character’s coming of age in real time; Linklater began shooting in 2002, periodically filming more scenes over the years until finally wrapping in 2013. The film has been a massive hit at Sundance, Berlin and SXSW, and now NXNE is happy to host its Canadian premiere. For those who can’t wait until July, this is your chance to catch one of 2014’s most-anticipated films.

Vann “Piano Man” Walls – The Spirit of R&B (screens Sunday, June 15 at 12:30pm) – Vann “Piano Man” Walls might not be well-known, but his influence sure is. The piano player worked as a musician at Atlantic Records, helping record some of R&B’s biggest songs (including Joe Turner’s “Chains of Love”). The documentary follows Walls’ history in the music business along with the recording of his final album.

First reported by The Wrap, Richard Linklater has been tabbed for his next film, an adaptation of the controversial novel Larry’s Kidney. The book recounts the bizarre story of a man who travels with his black sheep cousin to China for an illegal kidney transplant. Larry’s Kidney has also found its two stars in Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, with Ferrell in the lead role and Galifianakis suitably as the f-up cousin.

This deems a return to mainstream filmmaking for Linklater, who hasn’t had a major release since Bad News Bears in 2005. Linklater has rebounded from minor disappointments with a terrific run of critically beloved Bernie, Before Midnight, and the upcoming Boyhood.

Linklater is now tasked with redefining the careers of Ferrell and Galifianakis. Though both are big stars in mainstream comedies, their careers have become wrapped in sequels and material that hasn’t taken them out of their wheelhouses. Linklater is notable for his work with similar mainstream comedian Jack Black, who has given his best work with the filmmaker. Though the basic plot of Larry’s Kidney seems like it may be the typical comedy associated with the stars, if anyone can bring out some dramatic resonance, it might be Linklater.

SFFS Awards Night

On May 1st, right in the middle of the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF57), the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) held and awards night gala, honoring some of the industry’s most vital filmmakers and contributors. It was a star-studded event, with Richard Linklater, John Lasseter, Jeremy Irons, screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, and more receiving awards presented by young stars including Zooey Deschanel, Josh Gad, and Parker Posey. Check out pics from the red carpet below:

The Skeleton Twins

On the same night, a few blocks away in Japantown, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig were in attendance to introduce their dramedy (heavy on the drama) collaboration with director Craig Johnson, The Skeleton Twins. Hader, ever the entertainer, had fun with the press on the red carpet, pretending to cough to screw with photographers (I still managed to snap a couple good ones), and even conducting almost an entire interview in an Australian accent. Check out the hilarity below:

Palo Alto

Adding to the illustrious Coppola family legacy at SFIFF57 was Gia Coppola, niece of Sofia and granddaughter of Francis, with her gritty slice of teen life Palo Alto. Based on a book of short stories written by James Franco (who also acts in the film), it’s the best representation of modern day teens I’ve ever seen, an impressive outing for a first time filmmaker. Coppola and star Emma Roberts made an appearance on the red carpet at the Kabuki, both looking gorgeous as usual. (Photo credit: Adam Clay)

Last Weekend

Taking over the red carpet this past weekend were the directors and stars of Lake Tahoe-set family drama Last Weekend, which made its world premiere at the festival. Many of the ensemble cast were in attendance, including Patricia Clarkson, Joseph Cross, Chris Mulkey, Alexia Rasmussen, Devon Graye, and Fran Kranz. First time co-directors Tom Dolby and Tom Williams (lovingly referred to by the cast members as “Tom-Tom”) celebrated the film’s successful launch on the red carpet with their stars, as well as on a second carpet at the film’s after party. (Photo credit: Adam Clay)

Richard Linklater created a coming of age story unlike anything ever done before by remarkably filming the same cast for 12 years in an ambitious project entitled Boyhood. Linklater began filming a six-year-old boy named Mason (played by Ellar Coltrane) in 2002, and over the next 12 years we literally get to see him grow up. Although the film is primarily about life through the eyes of a child, the film is also about parenting, capturing Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as parents struggling to raise a child.

The trailer offers a small taste of how captivating this development process is to watch, see for yourself in the trailer below.

Watch Boyhood trailer

Tomorrow night, the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24-May 8) kicks off its program of 168 films representing 56 countries. Seeing every film in that span of time is a veritable impossibility (though San Francisco is full of sun-depraved cine-maniacs ready to jump at the challenge), so we’re going to take a look at some of the highlights in the festival’s catalog for anyone planning on hopping over to the Bay Area and joining in on the fun.

Opening up the festival tomorrow night at the Castro Theater is Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January, a Greece-set suspense thriller starring Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, an American couple on holiday who find themselves inextricably linked to a shifty tour guide (Oscar Isaac) after a fatal accident in a hotel room forces them to frantically find a way out of the country. Evoking Hitchcock’s touristic action-romance romps, the film should send the festival on its way nicely.

Speaking of being on holiday, Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip to Italy (pictured above) looks to walk on the lighter side of vacationing. A sequel to 2011’s The Trip, the film stars English funnymen Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing inflated versions of themselves as they, like in the first film, take a culinary tour of expensive restaurants, making each other chuckle along the way with improvised chatter and–of course–spot-on Michael Caine impressions.

On the darker side of traveling lies Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, about a sociopath Japanese office assistant who flies to Fargo, North Dakota in search of a buried treasure she glimpsed in the famous Coen Brothers movie. For some reason, she believes a suitcase full of money buried in the snow by Steve Buscemi in a fictional movie exists in real life…and that totally piques my interest for some reason…

The film that’s got me frothing in anticipation more than any other is Night Moves (pictured above), by ridiculously talented writer/director Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy). It’s a safe bet that, like her previous films, we’ll be treated to a smorgasbord of deliciously cinematic imagery to support a wholly unique script (set, as in all her previous efforts, in Oregon). The political thriller stars Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning as environmentalist lovebirds who, with marine veteran Peter Sarsgaard, hatch a plan to blow up a dam. This one looks to be a less contemplative and more narrative-driven movie than we’re used to seeing from Reichardt, which excites me to no end.

The fest’s centerpiece presentation is the Bay Area-set teenage drama Palo Alto, directed by Gia Coppola and starring Emma Roberts, James Franco, and Jack Kilmer. Based on a book of short stories written by Franco about his experience growing up in the titular Bay Area community, the film aims to be a more authentic take on teenage life than your typical high school drama, casting appropriately-aged actors in all roles and eschewing tropes like stereotypical clique dynamics.

Richard Linklater is set to receive the Founder’s Directing Award at SFIFF, and he’s bringing Boyhood, his much buzzed-about coming-of-age movie, along with him. We’ve all heard by now that the film is pretty good and that it took  an unprecedented 12 years to make, which is reason enough to check out the film at the festival, but sweetening the deal is that a career highlight reel of the indie pioneer will also be shown, and Linklater will participate in an on-stage interview. Doesn’t get much cooler than that!

There are two films with the word “Summer” in the title playing at the festival, but seriously, they couldn’t be any more different. Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders) chronicles the rise of the Civil Rights movement in his powerful documentary Freedom Summer, focusing on the significant, eruptive events in Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Director Michael Tully’s nostalgia comedy Ping Pong Summer (pictured above), set in a 1985 Maryland beach town, follows 13-year-old Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) as a simple family vacation turns into one of the most memorable summers of his life.

Closing out the festival is actor-turned-director Chris Messina’s Alex of Venice, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the titular workaholic attorney, whose negligence of her family drives her husband (Messina) to walk out of their lives. As Alex’s strictly organized life begins to spiral out of control, she scrambles to restore some semblance of order, in the process discovering what’s truly important to her. The film also stars Don Johnson as Winstead’s father in a standout role.

For more information and ticketing info, visit sffs.org

Today, the San Francisco Film Society (and its new executive director Noah Cowan) announced the full lineup for the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival, running from April 24-May 8. Consisting of 169 films from 56 countries, the festival looks to present a broad selection of both domestic and world cinema features. 200 filmmakers and special guests are expected to attend.

Opening up the festival will be Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January, a Greece-set suspense-thriller starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, and Oscar Isaac. Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto will serve as the fest’s Centerpiece Film, while actor Chris Messina’s directorial debut Alex of Venice, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Don Johnson, will wrap up the festival’s 15-day run.

Receiving awards at this year’s festival will be Pixar’s John Lasseter (2014 George Gund Craft III of Cinema Award), Richard Linklater (Founders Directing Award), screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (Kanbar Award), and film historian David Thomson (Mel Novikoff Award), with more to be announced.

Some standouts: Kelly Reichardt’s (Meek’s Cutoff) environmental activist drama Night Moves starring Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard, looks to be another excellent entry into the acclaimed indie filmmaker’s oeuvre;  The Skeleton Twins, a sibling drama starring SNL favorites Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, who will be in attendance at the fest; Young & Beautiful, a drama from Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) billed as “a portrait in four seasons and four songs”; and Boyhood, Linklater’s unprecedented coming-of-age story filmed over 12 years.

For the full schedule, check out sffs.org

The San Francisco Film Society will honor Richard Linklater with the 2014 Founder’s Directing Award at the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival, which runs from April 24-May 8. Linklater wowed the SFIFF festival goers last year with the excellent Before Midnight and looks to do the same this year with the ambitious Boyhood. His incredible catalogue of films also includes Slacker, Dazed & Confused, Waking Life, Before Sunset/Sunrise, and many more.

For more info, visit sffs.org

From the official press release:

San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society announced today that filmmaker Richard Linklater will be the recipient of the 2014 Founder’s Directing Award at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival(April 24 – May 8), honoring the quintessentially American director’s expansive body of work and celebrating the upcoming release Boyhood, his groundbreaking new film. The award will be presented to Linklater at Film Society Awards Night, Thursday May 1 at The Regency Center.

Linklater will also be publicly honored at An Evening with Richard Linklaterat the Castro Theatre, Friday May 2, 7:00 pm. An onstage interview and a selection of clips from his notable directing career will be followed by a screening of Boyhood. Filming over the course of 12 years, Linklater and his cast depict a young man’s journey from a 6-year-old boy to 18-year-old college freshman. The resulting film “has no precedent” according to the Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy. “Never has the long arc of the journey from childhood to college been portrayed as cohesively and convincingly as Richard Linklater has done.”

“Richard Linklater is one of our country’s great creative minds,” said San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Noah Cowan. “His curiosity about cinema’s endless possibilities and his landmark collaborations with many of the world’s most interesting actors mark him as a profound and important force in our medium. It is our great honor to welcome him here to accept the 2014 Founder’s Directing Award.”

One of the most profound and prolific American independent filmmakers of the last 20 years, Richard Linklater first burst onto the scene with his scrappy time capsule of Austin weirdness, Slacker (SFIFF, 1991). Since then Linklater’s work has graced international film festival lineups, helped launch the careers of a number of prominent movie stars (Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey) and garnered multiple Oscar nominations. Boyhood is his 18th feature film.

The Film Society and its year-round programs in exhibition, education and filmmaker services will benefit from the Film Society Awards Night fundraiser honoring Linklater. The star-studded event will also honor the recipients of the Peter J. Owens Award for excellence in acting and the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting. Honorees in recent years have included Harrison Ford (Owens Award 2013), David Webb Peoples (Kanbar Award 2012), Judy Davis (Owens Award 2012), James Toback (Kanbar Award 2009), Robert Redford (Owens Award 2009) and Robert Towne (Kanbar Award 2007). Victoria Raiser and Todd Traina are co-chairs of this year’s gala.

The Founder’s Directing Award is presented each year to a master of world cinema and is given in memory of Irving M. Levin, visionary founder of the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1957. It is made possible by Irving’s son and current SFFS board member Fred M. Levin and Fred’s wife Nancy Livingston. The award was first bestowed in 1986 on iconic filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, and for many years carried his name.

The award has brought many of the world’s most visionary directors to the San Francisco International Film festival over the years. Previous recipients are Philip Kaufman, USA; Kenneth Branagh, England; Oliver Stone, USA; Walter Salles, Brazil; Francis Ford Coppola, USA; Mike Leigh, England; Spike Lee, USA; Werner Herzog, Germany; Taylor Hackford, USA; Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia/USA; Robert Altman, USA; Warren Beatty, USA; Clint Eastwood, USA; Abbas Kiarostami, Iran; Arturo Ripstein, Mexico; Im Kwon-Taek, Korea; Francesco Rosi, Italy; Arthur Penn, USA; Stanley Donen, USA; Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal; Ousmane Sembène, Senegal; Satyajit Ray, India; Marcel Carné, France; Jirí Menzel, Czechoslovakia; Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA; Robert Bresson, France; Michael Powell, England; and Akira Kurosawa, Japan.

The Best Adapted Screenplay category is the lesser exciting of the two screenplay categories because of the lack of competition within the group of nominees, as well as the lack of films to choose from this year in general. The clear frontrunner this year is John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave, a film about a free black man who got sold into slavery for twelve years of his life. This would be a deserved win for the film as it does stand out against the rest of the competition.

I believe the only film here that could potentially upset 12 Years a Slave is Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena—which contains its own heart-wrenching story about a woman searching for her son. Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight may have wooed critics, but a nomination from the Academy is likely all the film will receive. The Wolf of Wall Street certainly portrays the wild (drug induced) ride of Jordan Belfort as a wealthy stockbroker who became a main target of the federal government. Though as exciting as it is to watch, the script benefited from the masterful hand of Martin Scorsese and his crew. The same can be said about Captain Phillips, the story is interesting but not necessarily exceptional.

Though it would be a complete long shot for several reasons, including the fact that it is a foreign language film that is rated NC-17, Blue is the Warmest Color deserved to be nominated for its comic book adaption about a woman’s self-discovery and passionate love for another woman. Blue is the Warmest Color is an admittedly simple story, but one that captures all the raw emotions and intimacy that surrounds a loving relationship. Not to mention that it was the best film of 2013.

Category Predictions

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight (review)

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips (review)

Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena (review)

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave (review)

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Previous Category Analysis

Best Shorts
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay

A special preview screening of Richard Linklater’s ambitious new project, Boyhood, has been added to the Sundance 2014 lineup.

The film, also known as the “12 Year Project”, is an unprecedented undertaking: for the past 12 years, Linklater has made one short film a year that follows a boy named Mason (played by Ellar Coltrane), along with his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, the auteur’s daughter), as he navigates the rocky road from boyhood (age 6) to adulthood (age 18).

Coltrane, who began filming in 2000, ages with his character in real time, an idea that, if nothing else, will be visually unlike anything ever seen on film. Playing Coltrane and Linklater’s parents (and aging along with him during the shoot) are Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. To watch Coltrane physically transform from a tiny tot into a young man within the running time of a feature film, “like timelapse photography of a human being”, as Hawke told The Playlist last year, is a uniquely compelling incentive to keep our eyes on Linklater’s latest.

ABOVE: Linklater in San Francisco, April 2013

This is the auteur’s second project to utilize the real-life passing of time as a storytelling device, following his Before series (whose latest entry, Before Midnight, was my favorite film of 2013), a trio of romance movies separated by 9 years each starring Hawke and Julie Delpy. That series celebrated its 18th birthday last year (a somewhat poetic coincidence). We chatted with Mr. Linklater about the series in an extended interivew last April at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Linklater has a long-standing relationship with the festival, premiering several of his films there: Before Sunrise (1995), subUrbia 1997, Waking Life (2001), Tape (2001), and Before Midnight (2013).

Boyhood premieres Sunday, January 19th, rounding out the 121 feature-length film lineup. The 2014 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 16th-26th in Park City, Utah.

Ranking up there as one of our favorite films of the year is Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, the third installment of his romance saga that jumps ahead nine years in the storyline where Jesse and Celine spend their holiday in Greece. We will be giving away a Blu-ray and 15 song soundtrack of Before Midnight to one of our readers to help celebrate the film coming to Blu-ray and DVD on October 22nd. Also, don’t forget to check out our two part discussion with Richard Linklater Julie Delpy.

How do you enter the giveaway?

Using the form below you have the ability to earn 4 entries in the giveaway. You will get one entry for telling us what you feel is the most romantic city in the world and other for following us on Facebook. You can get two bonus entries for following us on Twitter and tweeting at @WayTooIndie.
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Julie Delpy – Behind the scenes of Before Midnight

Before Midnight trailer:

In Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset (1995), twentysomethings Jesse (Ethan Hawke), a gruffly charming American, and Celine (Julie Delpy), a French beauty with a wily intellect, meet on a train headed to Vienna. They talk…talk…talk the night away, fall in love, and vow to reunite back in Vienna six months later. Cut to nine years later, 2004’s Before Sunset. Jesse and Celine never met in Vienna, but find each other again, this time in Paris. Their adult lives have advanced—Jesse is now married with a son, Hank, and Celine is an environmental activist. Despite being tethered to their new life pursuits, they find their electric attraction is as strong as ever…

…which brings us to Before Midnight, jumping ahead in the story another nine years. The couple—now middle-aged, living in Paris, and with adorable twin daughters—is on holiday in Greece. They’re as loquacious as ever, but their once burning passion is buckling under the weight of mid-life anxiety. Jesse, now divorced, is desperately (guiltily) trying to maintain a meaningful relationship with Hank, who still lives in Chicago with his mom. Jesse proposes to Celine that they move to the states to be closer to the boy, and Celine mistakes this as an order, a blatant disruption of her own life plans. They engage in venomous, cutting verbal warfare over the hypothetical move (hinting at a larger issue of digression), and their contentious energy threatens their future as a family.

The spat unfolds over the course of three acts, the first of which is a single awe-inspiringly long (17 minutes!) shot of the couple chatting on a leisurely drive through sun-baked Greece. Next is a bitterly revealing dinner with friends in which they discuss the nature, joys, and paradoxes of love. The grand finale, set in a seaside hotel room, is an ego-driven, vicious lovers’ quarrel that feels so real it’s scary. They’ve spent years with each other sharpening their skills as verbal pugilists, and now they’ve finally thrown the gloves off. It’s heartbreaking to see the two be so cruel. “I don’t think I love you anymore.” says Celine. The young, playful lovebirds on that train to Vienna feel like a distant, distant memory.

Delpy and Hawke work like a jazz duo, hitting every beat, every note with precision and impeccable timing (this is most impressive in the early 17-minute scene). Their speech patterns and conversational rhythm are startlingly true to life, and the crescendo of their final showdown is paced perfectly. The virtuosity on display is incredible. Linklater’s camera is deliberate and disciplined, filming space without occupying it. He captures the scenes efficiently, with a low shot-count (though he makes every shot count).

Before Midnight is unblemished and smooth-as-silk, flowing from one moment to the next like water. It’s a seamless experience. Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke explore the minutia of long-term commitment through characters with a history we’ve watched develop over years and years. On its own, the film may feel a little mean-spirited, but it works best when viewed in concert with its predecessors. The context of Jesse and Celine’s previous engagements is crucial to enjoyment. This is the definitive Gen-X love story.

The Before films aren’t showy, gimmicky or loud—they’re humble, honest, and true. They weren’t made for the wrong reasons—they didn’t make a ton of money and there are near decade-wide gaps in between them. They’re something of a film industry anomaly. The ballad of Jesse and Celine exists only because three artists wanted to tell a love story in their way, without compromises. Collectively, the films are an unprecedented, 18-year-long, certifiably brilliant work of art that’s a rare gem in the story of cinema. Before Midnight is the best installment in the series, but with luck, this won’t be the last we see of Jesse and Celine. See you in 2022!

In part 2 of our extended, in-depth interview with director Richard Linklater and star Julie Delpy talk about the third film in their Before romance saga, Before Midnight. We discuss the stresses of pulling off Before Midnight’s extra-long-takes, the evolution of the series, the significance of the sun and midnight in the films’ titles, the great Robert Bresson, and more.

Read Part 1 of our interview with Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy

WTI: There are some spectacular long shots in the film, like the early, nearly 17-minute-long shot of Julie and Ethan exchanging dialogue in a car. When you come up with these scenes, are you simply challenging yourself?

RL: Oh yeah, of course. [The three of us] have grown into it. The first movie had a couple lengthy scenes, like the one in the tram which was around seven minutes. In the car scene, I thought it would be great [as a signal to the audience] if we could just hang out in unimpeded cuts, just look freely at them. Just hanging with these people that you haven’t seen in nine years, like running into an old friend—that would be the best feel for the early part of the film.

JD: Just be with them in real time. Something happens in these long takes after we’ve rehearsed for, like, two weeks and learned our lines like crazy people—it’s like playing violin flawlessly. It’s this kind of training—you have to do it over and over and over. We do it by section, then we add [the sections together], then we do it as a whole. It’s a technique of work that’s really, really tedious. We have to learn [the scenes] with the [correct] timing. We even write our overlaps in dialog. We have to really plan in advance. When we finally do it, it has to feel totally flawless. You really have to feel like you’re witnessing these people so the ‘wall’ is not there anymore, you know? (To Richard) What is it called, the fourth wall?

RL: (laughs) Yeah, the third or fourth wall.

WTI: Yeah, one of those. (laughs)

JD: When you do those long takes, as an actor, 90% of the time, it’s really stressful. But, sometimes, you get into that moment where you just…fly.

WTI: Like a band.

RL: Yeah! You’re just in a groove, and that’s what we’re going for.

JD: You actually don’t even remember what you’ve done. Usually with the good takes, it’s like you’ve lost yourself entirely. That takes training and training and training to get there.

RL: No one will ever know how much work goes into that. As we got closer to production, there’s this segue from writing to [Ethan and Julie] having so much dialog.

JD: That’s the horrible part! The horrible part starts!

RL: Then, Ethan and Julie’s faces drop, and they’re like “Aw, fuck! We’ve done it again!” We’d be taking a ride somewhere [before production], and we’d rehearse [in the car].

JD: We’d run lines with each other, with other people. We got the kids involved. [Richard’s] daughter ran lines with Ethan! It becomes a group project.

WTI: Robert Bresson would famously have his actors run their lines over and over, doing countless takes until their performances were just drained of any emotion, totally detached. They were just going through the motions at that point. How do you avoid losing that energy with the amount of times you two had to rehearse these long scenes?

RL: Bresson’s my favorite filmmaker, and yet, he’s 180 degrees different [from me] in sense of drama.

JD: It’s different, because [Bresson] was using non-actors most of the time, so it was probably easier for him to get this kind of [vacant] performance from them, detached from passion. [Ethan and I] are actors—we’re putting our intentions into [the performances]. It’s not just the lines, you know what I mean? We wanted to be realistic, [capturing how] Celine—who is very different from me as a person—would react. How angry she would get…I wouldn’t get angry like Celine gets angry. I’m very different, but how do I get to that realistic reaction in character, you know? How do I become her?

RL: We leave enough energy. We’re always working on it, even up to the night before we’re shooting. As much as we write together, workshop together, and rehearse, there’s still something to be discovered on the day. Even in the car scene, there was a line Ethan said in earlier takes that we dropped. I was still critiquing [the scene, asking] how it could get better. The process never stops. The goal is to be able to have exhausted everything we have [in making the scene], knowing we’ve fully explored it and we’re done.

WTI: One of the big differences between Before Midnight and the first two films is that the new element of other actors involved in scenes in addition to Julie and Ethan.

RL: We thought it was necessary to see them in social environments even though they’re on holiday with friends. You reveal a lot about your relationship and yourself vis-á-vis other people.

JD: Oh! You can say ‘vis-á-vie’ in English?

RL: Yeah!

JD: It’s a French term! (laughs) You stole from the French again! ‘Vis-á-vis’! ‘Filet mignon’!

RL: (laughs) Yeah, so [showing them interacting with others] was important to us, but it was different bringing in other people into our process.

JD: It was really essential. When you see the scenes [with the other couples], they reveal so much about Celine and Jesse, but the [other couples] also mirror them. You see a couple their age, a couple older, a couple younger, and an [old man] who has lost his spouse. Celine says “I guess one of us will see what that’s like”. It’s going to be Celine or Jesse…or Julie or Ethan who goes first! (laughs) That’s way too depressing!

WTI: What did you guys say with Before Midnight about romance that you couldn’t say in the first films?

JD: That the pumpkin will turn back into a pumpkin! (laughs) Reality kicks in!

RL: It’s a much more reality-based film. We’re seeing them at an entirely different station in life. They’ve committed to one another, even though they’re not married. It’s so different. I think it’s a portrait of when you follow your passion and go for what you’re compelled to go for…life doesn’t always give you a free pass. There’s going to be a cost there.

WTI: Can you speak a little about the theme of the titles? The sun, midnight…

RL: If you think about it, the first two films are these naturally occurring events—sunrises and sunsets. Midnight jumps to time—that’s a human construct. Where they find themselves is something they’ve decided consciously. The attraction of two people is a naturally occurring, biological thing—the commitment and where they find themselves now, that’s [constructed by them].

WTI: Now, can you talk a bit about Jesse’s son in the films. When you referenced him in the second movie, at the time, were you thinking that it would be a cool thing to explore if you ever did make a third film?

JD: Oh! The offspring!

RL: Not really. We were thinking it would be interesting to start with ‘the price’. The one thing that is the fallout of [Jesse and Celine’s decision in Before Sunset]. The setup at the end of the second film is to think that they will be together. But, when you follow your passion in this world, you do affect others. There’s a price to be paid in this world. We start Sunset with that price right off the bat.

WTI: You see Jesse playing with his wedding ring at the end of Sunset…

RL: (laughs) It’s rare that you see a film that promotes adultery, to rig it so that the audience is rooting for the big taboo in our culture. They’re saying “It’s meant to be!”, but technically…they’re cheating. It’s code for a dishonorable person.

JD: Adulterers are usually the bad guys [in movies], but in reality, there are no good guys or bad guys. It’s not as simple as it seems.

RL: Jesse’s first wife probably isn’t so bad! (laughs)

JD: [I call her] a “fucking alcoholic cunt”! (laughs) ‘Cunt’ is a very pleasurable word to say!

RL: In the next film, Celine will be at [the son’s] graduation or something, and she’ll be really sweet to the mom. (laughs)

WTI: Are there any thoughts of a fourth film in your heads?

JD: We wrote and shut down the film a year ago. I always say it takes me nine years to recover, because it’s so intense. We dig so deep. If we felt it was forced, we wouldn’t do it. Actually, we questioned [Midnight]

RL: We’re on official hiatus for 5-6 years. If this ends up being the last one, we’re fine with that. If it’s a trilogy, I’m super proud. We felt the same way after Sunset and Sunrise, too. We don’t have to do it. [We only will] if there’s something to say.

JD: We always joke around. ‘Before They Go Crazy’ ‘Before I’m Too Saggy to be Filmed Naked’ (laughs)

WTI: Everything about Before Midnight is deliberate—from the dialog, to the camera placement, to the editing. Was there anything that happened during shooting that was unexpected?

RL: I broke my ankle! (laughs) But that’s off-screen. No surprises, really. [The film] is so constructed, so labor intensive. It’s a construct—nothing’s really left to chance. It’s not from a ‘control-freak’ angle—it’s making it work.

JD: [Before shooting], we don’t know if we’re going to be able to pull it off. As an actress, I’m never sure if we’re going to be able to do scenes in one take—I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to do it ever. The goal is to get those takes, and we question whether we’ll be able to do it as actors. If [the scene] doesn’t sound natural, it’s not working. It’s [Richard’s] job to make us go there, and it’s our job to go there. That’s the challenge of this film for me—“Am I going to be able to do it?”

RL: If there were any surprises, they were that Julie and Ethan were able to pull of the scene! (laughs) When we’re doing our Amour remake years from now, we’ll be going “Cut! Cut! Cut!”

JD: For me, it’s a surprise every time. “Oh shit! We did that take!” Actually, people who have to learn a lot of lines are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Public speakers, actors.

WTI: Is that right?

JD: Yeah! It rewires your brain every time you do it.

RL: I see a lot of plays, and you see these 86-year-old actors [doing really well] in a fucking play!

WTI: When you look back over the last 18 years of this project, what are you most proud of?

RL: Proud? I’m thankful. I’m thankful for the relationships that Julie, Ethan and I [developed]. It’s 19 years coming up—Sunrise was the summer of ’94—and the band’s still together.

JD: We’re lucky that we have this in our lives, and we’re lucky that it feeds [our other projects as well].

RL: We’ve only toured three times. (laughs)

JD: Luckily, we have that 9-year break. We don’t see each other very much during that time. We love to see each other when we can—it’s great—but it’s always just by chance. We’re all so busy.

RL: We’re big supporters of each others’ work. I think Ethan and Julie are great artists. It’s always been fun to follow them, to see them grow up. I met them when they were very young.

Before Midnight opens in theaters Friday, May 24th. Stay tuned for our full review.

In 1995’s, we met Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, respectively) on a train in Vienna and watched them fall in love as they explored the city in Before Sunrise. Nine years later (in real-world time and in theirs), we revisited them in Paris as they reconnected and rekindled their romance in 2004’s Before Sunset. Now in 2013, we check in on their lives yet again in Before Midnight, Richard Linklater’s third installment of his unprecedented romance saga which we saw at SFIFF. Now in their early 40’s and with twin girls, the couple are on holiday in Greece with friends. With their romantic spark smothered by the stresses of reality and their divergent life ambitions, they wrestles with each other over the control of their family’s destiny.

Independent film legend and director of Before Midnight, Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Bernie), and star Julie Delpy (2 Days in New York, 2 Days in Paris) spoke with Way Too Indie in an in-depth, extended interview. In part 1, they discuss the current state of independent film, working with Godard, growing up with the three films, the prospect of a fourth, and more.

Read Part 2 of our interview with Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy

(Before I could ask my first question, Delpy and Linklater took the reins, jumping into a conversation about eating food during production.)

Julie Delpy: We eat, and we enjoy food.

Richard Linklater: The [food on] the first shoot (of Before Sunrise) was alright.

JD: Paris was ok, but not great. It was ok, though. Greece is the top, food-wise. [This is] all we talk about! (laughs).

RL: Food has never played a part in any of the movies. [Maybe] in the next movie (laughs).

JD: [Jesse and Celine] won’t even try to have sex anymore. They’ll just eat!

WayTooIndie: That would be fantastic! Just them eating together, getting old.

JD: They wouldn’t fight, because they’re fed and happy!

WTI: I want to talk about the film industry today. At the San Francisco International Film Festival, Steven Soderbergh made a ‘State of the Industry’ address.

RL: Who better to ask than the guy who quit!

WTI: Exactly (laughs). He explained his departure from the film industry, and basically said that none of the studios are taking risks and are relying solely on the tentpole film business model, stifling creativity. Let me ask you two—what is the state of independent film?

JD: All of my films are financed in Europe, and [Before Midnight] was half financed in Europe.

RL: Clearly, the risks to take are in the indie realm, but it’s been that way for a long time. I think it’s a good time to be a filmmaker. Technology and distribution are getting better. There are new formats. I think it’s a good time…

JD: …to make indie film! I remember working with Jean-Luc Godard in 1987 on History of Cinema. He was filming in video, and I was like, “Ahh! You’re filming in video, that’s horrible!” He said, “It’s the future of real filmmakers, because it’s going to be cheaper. Those huge films that cost $200 million [and even] tiny films will be shot on video. I was like, “What is he talking about? He’s crazy!” But, Godard is a genius, and his mind is in the future.

RL: He sees forward and backward! (laughs) He’s our professor.

JD: I think he might have invented a time machine. At the time, I was like “Oh, video is horrible!” But he was right! [All the way back in] 1986.

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Before Sunrise (1995)

RL: I think studios have figured it out. I’ve been lucky enough to have films made at the studio level. Dazed and Confused was a studio film. Universal made that film.

JD: There are good people in some studios, and some terrible people that end up being studio heads. I meet studio people sometimes—they never hire me in the end (laughs), but I meet some that mean well, at least. Then, I meet some that are just businessmen who have no clue what a movie is and they don’t give a shit. You [see] everything in this business.

RL: Again, studios have figured it out—what they do and, most importantly, what they don’t do. Then, it’s just up to the rest of the world to fill in that gap. I like that that’s at least on the table. A lot of time is wasted over years just trying to get films made in the studio system. It’s a different league. Once you accept that and forget about it, there’s nothing really to complain about.

JD: [Studios] don’t really want to dig deep into human nature [in their films], you know? [They don’t make those] kinds of films. I went to a meeting recently for a studio film, and the guy who got the [directing] job was a commercial director who came in with a reel of, like, five [other] films he put together. It was so dumb! [He] put in a bit of Juno, a bit of this, a bit of that, and said “This is what I’m going to do!” Any retard can do that! But that’s what the studio went for. Okay, fine. That’s what the movie is going to be—a combination of those five films. A formula. That’s fair. But that’s why [Richard] and I raise money a certain way.

RL: Everybody is kinda on their own.

JD: Europe has a lot of potential in terms of financing real independent films.

RL: We started off [on this project] studio funded, believe it or not. Before Sunrise had a $7 million budget, but we went through Castle Rock and Columbia back in ’94. We were a ‘trickle-down’ studio funded film. Now, we’re off-the-grid independent, but what’s the difference?

WTI: I was fortunate enough to have grown up with the Before films. I saw the first one when I was about 11.

JD: Wow!

WTI: Years from now, when people look back on this series of films, they’ll experience them in a different way. They’ll pop in Before Sunrise, watch it, then pop in Before Sunset and watch you (Julie) and Ethan (Hawke) age nine years in a matter of seconds. That’s amazing in its own way, but can you talk about the special experience of growing up with the films?

RL: You’re living with the films, aging with the films. That’s the intention. That’s what we’re doing, obviously. Those who are chronologically aligned with the films—that’s a special thing.

JD: [There’s] no aging make-up there. It’s not really acting, you know. There aren’t fake noses or fake wrinkles. It’s the real deal.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunset (2004)

WTI: In Before Sunset, you have that scene with Ethan where you mention the line that developed in between his eyes after nine years. You can’t do that in any other type of project.

RL: The lack of vanity with Ethan and Julie is important. In the films—we’re all three of us doing this—we’re taking where we are at that moment and whatever life has thrown at us in the past nine years [and] using that as the clay for what we’re sculpting.

WTI: You’ve talked before about how at the end of filming Before Sunrise, you had no intention to make a sequel. Same for Before Midnight—no plans for it after Before Sunset wrapped.

RL: Oh yeah, that’s for sure.

WTI: How long after wrapping the films do the gears start turning in your heads for making the next one?

JD: About five years. We joke around about it.

RL: Yeah, we joke about it because we know Jesse and Celine are still sort of…out there. We also know, as of right now, we have no ideas worthy of making another sequel seriously. [We] have to live the years.

WTI: When the three of you were joking with each other in the five years following Before Sunset about making a sequel, was there a specific story element or idea that you came up with that was the key to you saying “Yeah, we need to make another one.”

RL: We had some general themes. We knew what we couldn’t do again, and we knew where we had to go, but how we got there—we had the luxury of a couple years where we threw out ideas [at each other], developing what we thought would work. It’s rare that you get the chance to hold onto an idea for months, develop it, and be able to change it, take it somewhere else.

JD: Also, we’re really the deciders [in the process]. There’s no one to tell us what to do. [The time we had] was a luxury we wouldn’t have in the studio system. Doing this third film and going into a place that’s forbidden territory for a studio film—it’s a relationship, they’ve been together for a long time, they fight for 25 minutes [straight], it’s talking all the time, there’s no plot, no FBI or anything like that. It’s forbidden territory, and it’s great that we have the luxury to go there. Richard figures that all out!

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Before Midnight (2013)

RL: Before Sunrise was a studio film on a super indie budget. The second one was handled by an indie division of a studio. For this one, we were selling it at Sundance trying to get a distributor, completely off-the-grid. It kind of explains how the studio system has changed. My friends who are in the studio system really like the Before films! They just know the studios aren’t going to make them. The studios don’t [pass on these films] because they don’t like them—it’s just not what they do. It doesn’t pay the bills. I love the studio system, in a way. It’s kinda pure.

JD: At least they’re clear, you know? Sometimes, studios that are trying to make ‘indie films’ that aren’t actually indie bothers me more.

RL: Yeah, I hate that middle ground. It’s almost more annoying. They give you an indie budget, and yet, they expect $100, $200 million dollars. ‘Indie films’ are still cast with big names. I was able to do movies without any name actors. Dazed and Confused is another example of how things have changed. An indie distributor today wouldn’t do Dazed, much less a big studio, because there aren’t a lot of name actors in it.

JD: They’re names now! Now, you’d have to pay $50 million for that cast!

Don’t miss Part two of our extended interview, in which Linklater and Delpy discuss the stresses of pulling off Before Midnight‘s extra-long-takes, the evolution of the series, the significance of the sun and midnight in the films’ titles, the great Robert Bresson, and more.

Way Too Indie was on the red carpet of the San Francisco International Film Festival to capture photos of Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof from Much Ado About Nothing as well as legendary award winners such as Harrison Ford, George Lucus, and Philip Kaufman. We also have some more exclusive photos from private interviews with Michael Cera, Sebastian Silva, Richard Linklater, and Julie Delpy.

Let’s get this out of the way straight away. Jack Black’s finest display of acting prowess is his 1996 Oscar nominated performance in the critically acclaimed blockbuster Mars Attacks in which Black stars as a plucky upstart U.S. Army soldier who valiantly attempts to defend the planet from the evil martians and in doing so, allows Pierce Brosnan to see less screen time. Knowing this, I entered viewing the 2012 hit film Bernie with confidence that Jack Black would shine bright as the lead role. Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Black surpasses his stunning performance in Mars Attacks by a considerable sum in this charming and very funny film.

Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Richard Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth, Bernie was recently nominated for Best Feature of the Independent Spirit Awards. I had intended to watch this movie when it came out in August but life got in the way and it sat unwatched on my laptop for nearly three months. I wish I would have viewed it when it came out so I would have this wonderful movie in my memory for that much longer. It was so good, my wife sat down half way through the film and loved it despite the fact she had no idea what was going on. So how did this film get this reviewer to blush in admiration? Dark comedy. A healthy tablespoon full.

The narration of the film is truly what makes it stand out amongst other films. Much of the flow and plot of the film is delivered by the people of Carthage, Texas where Bernie is set. The titular character, Bernie Tiede, played by a wonderfully in character Jack Black, is an assistant funeral director with a healthy appetite of generosity. He literally is the most well liked and respected individual in the entire town of Carthage. When he is not donating his time for the high school theater club or the local youth baseball league, he is helping various townsfolk with odd jobs and tasks. Bernie is loved by all. In act one of the film, the people of Carthage sit interview style in front of a camera and tell their favorite Bernie Tiede story. The film used a large amount of support characters and where many films have too many support characters that hinders their lead role’s command, Black utterly commands the screen even when he is merely the subject of Carthage’s stories. The state of Texas is itself a subtle character in the cast, as well as the townspeople who are unintentionally funny in their Southern gentry ways. Throughout the film, the support characters deliver some extremely funny lines in lieu of the dark situation unfolding in front of Bernie Tiede’s eyes.

The conflict arises when Bernie is taken advantage of for his genuine friendliness by a cold old woman named Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine). Bernie loses his freedom as Mrs. Nugent becomes dependent on Bernie and starts to smother him. The audience watches as Bernie slowly starts to become a caged bird looking for a way out. I won’t give away much more plot other than it’s a dark comedy because this film would suffer in my eyes if the audience knew too much about it. The main conflict scene provides Jack Black a vehicle to show off some of his acting chops which may come to a surprise to some, but this dude can act. He becomes Bernie Tiede in a way only an actor who conducted lots of research could do. Black was unsurprisingly nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for this film. I hear some of you asking, “Well, does he sing in it like all of his other films of late?” Yes, yes he does. But not in a forced way like in his world renowned performance in the mega blockbuster super hit Nacho Libre which grossed over 6 trillion dollars. The singing done by Black in this film is very organic and it fits perfectly with the film because it’s what Bernie Tiede would have done.

I loved this movie. I could see this movie going down as one of the best dark comedies of recent memory. I don’t even really have anything bad to say about it. It is possible that someone may not “get” the film but that is no fault of Bernie. That’s the uneducated yokel’s problem. Some viewers may find the beginning set-up to be a bit dry, but the humor pays off in the end.