The Screengrab : peter smith

The Top Ten Screengrab Top Tens of 2008 (Part Two)

Andrew Osborne — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:30:00 GMT

5. THE GAY PRIDE TOP TWENTY

Part One, Part Two, Part Three & Part Four

4. THE TOP TEN UNCOMPLETED MOVIES

Part One & Part Two

3. THE TEN WORST HAIRDOS IN MOVIE HISTORY

Part One & Part Two

2. THE TWELVE GREATEST OPENING CREDITS IN MOVIE HISTORY

Part One & Part Two

1. JAILBAIT CINEMA: 16 FILMS THAT MAKE US NERVOUS

Part One, Part Two & Part Three

Click Here For Part One of the Top Ten Top Tens!

The Top Ten Screengrab Top Tens of 2008 (Part One)

Andrew Osborne — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

As you may or may not have noticed (given our recent Best of 2008 orgy), we sure do loves us some lists here at the Screengrab.

And as you further may or may not have noticed, Thursday is typically List Day on this blog, with a rotating Top 10 (or 11 or 12 or 16 or 20, etc.) of various cinematic categories, from The Ten Best Cussing Scenes in Movies to The World's Greatest Animated Shorts.

With a New Year dawning, we'd like to ask YOU what lists you'd like to see in 2009...just post your comments down yonder in the Comments section and we'll do our best to get to as many of them as possible!

Meanwhile, it seemed only fitting to wrap up the current annum with our final list of the year (based on hits received)...THE TOP TEN SCREENGRAB TOP TENS OF 2008!

10. COMING SOON: A SCREENGRAB SALUTE TO MOVIE TRAILERS

Part One & Part Two

9. THE 12 GREATEST MOVIES BASED ON TV SHOWS

Part One & Part Two

8. THE 10 GREATEST PSYCHIATRISTS IN MOVIE HISTORY

Part One & Part Two

7. FITTING FAREWELLS: THE TOP TEN GREAT FINAL FILMS

Part One, Part Two & Part Three

6. SCREENGRAB PUB CRAWL: THE TOP 15 BARS OF CINEMA

Part One, Part Two & Part Three

Click Here For Part Two of The Top Ten Top Tens

Screengrab Rant: Indiana Jones in 2008

Peter Smith — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT

I think we can all agree that Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest adventure films ever made. Its two sequels, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade both have some serious flaws. Temple of Doom is shrill, silly, arguably racist and saddled with an atrocious love interest; Last Crusade is a hammy rehash of Raiders where the jokes are all broader and the characters are all stupider. But they have their moments. As I sit here trying to review Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I just can't muster the enthusiasm. Crystal Skull, sadly, makes Temple of Doom and Last Crusade look like, well, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In fairness, it's hard to imagine a fourth Indy movie being particularly good at this point, for reasons that become all-too-clear in the first fifteen minutes of Crystal Skull. With Harrison Ford twenty years older than he was in Last Crusade, the film couldn't be credibly set in the '30s. Thus, Crystal Skull takes place in 1957. Divorced from his pre-war milieu — an era when lost cities and ancient artifacts could plausibly still be hiding off the map — Indy looks sad and out-of-place. He's a great, iconic character, but a lot of the power of that iconography comes from its pre-World-War-II context. There's something jarring about watching a fedora-clad Ford in an Eisenhower-era suburb.

And speaking of that suburb, into which Indy stumbles at the beginning of Crystal Skull — well, it's a test site, and our man is about to get nuked. Sure, the Indiana Jones movies have always been frantically action-packed, but Steven Spielberg used to know how to build to a climax. That the hero survives a nuclear test in the first fifteen minutes says something about the filmmakers' lack of restraint. That lack of restraint (and I know, "restraint" and "Spielberg" don't always go together, but look again at the pitch-perfect balance of Raiders ) is also apparent in Skull's comedy, which is as precious as Last Crusade's and clumsily executed to boot. Watch for a sequence wherein Shia LaBeouf, as Indy's son (by no means the worst part of the film, contrary to fan expectations) rescues his father from a pit of quicksand. . . by using a snake as a rope. Indiana Jones hates snakes, remember? (I'm guessing this was George Lucas's idea.) Ford mugs through this scene like no one fetched him his Metamucil; in fact, for the whole movie, despite being remarkably fit for a sixty-five-year-old, he's given little to do. At the big finale, he pretty much gets out of the way. As for the father-son relationship, given that it's one of Spielberg's favorite tropes, it's remarkable how little resonance he gets out of it.

But again, resonance may have been a lost cause, given the constraints of setting. I can think of only one way Crystal Skull might've worked. Don't ignore the problems — embrace them. Instead of making Indy's age and the time period a relative non-issue after the obligatory gags about crankiness, make the movie about his age. Make it about the loss of the pre-war world. Where the other Indiana Jones movies end with supernatural cataclysms, scrap the ludicrous ending of Crystal Skull (the titular skull is an alien's, and I'll say no more) and end with the film's one memorable image — the old adventurer, silhouetted against a mushroom cloud. A man out of time, faced with a technology orders of magnitude more destructive than any cursed artifact he could ever dig up. That might be a bit of a downer, but it'd mean something. And I'm sorry to say it, but unlike its motley bunch of predecessors, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn't mean much of anything.

New Street Fighter Movie Cast

Peter Smith — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:30:00 GMT

One of the great cinematic experiences of my life was seeing Street Fighter: The Movie in theaters back in 1994. Rather than try to describe the thrill, I'll just suggest you watch this clip:

Besides being one of the best bad movies of all time, Street Fighter has the distinction of having embarrassed poor ol' Raul Julia to death. Fourteen years later, the videogame franchise isn't as popular as it was in the '90s, but with two new games on the horizon, the brand's poised for a rebirth, which must be why they're trampling on sacred ground with a new Street Fighter movie. Smallville's Kristen Kreuk takes the lead as Chun-Li (Ming-Na Wen in the original, far from The Joy Luck Club); the cast also includes Michael Clark Duncan, Neal McDonough, Chris Klein and "Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas." No word on who'll supplant Jean-Claude Van Damme as All-American flag-waver Guile, but we hope it's someone with an equally heavy French accent. For more comic Street Fighter goodness, be sure to check out CollegeHumor.com's spectacular web series, Street Fighter: The Later Years. If it's all lost on you, you may be my mother, who once wondered aloud why no one would make a game called Street Poet II.

And Now a Little Something for the Zooey Deschanel Enthusiasts

Peter Smith — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:15:00 GMT

Some of us have loved Zooey Deschanel since the first ten minutes of Almost Famous. ("This song explains why I'm leaving home to become a stewardess.") But I guess if you're not into brainy, doe-eyed ingenues, this clip (of her performing with her new band She & Him at SXSW last week) won't do much for you...

Breaking: Anthony Minghella Dead at 54

Peter Smith — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:30:00 GMT

This just in: Anthony Minghella, director of The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain, is dead at fifty-four. Little is known right now, but expect more details as the day goes on. We'd previously reported that Minghella was considering an English-language remake of last year's arthouse hit The Lives of Others. That sounds like a bad idea, but it's a damn shame to see Minghella go. More to follow.

Insane Cargo-Salvage Story From Wired to Become Movie

Peter Smith — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Some of you may have read the totally batshit story from last month's issue of Wired, entitled "High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas," about a team of tough dudes who fly around the world trying to refloat sinking cargo ships using good ol' American ingenuity. If not, read the whole thing here. Seriously. You will not believe this story. It's like a Michael Bay movie with all the action and none of the stupid. It's got neat gadgets, expensive cars, a race against time, hardass wisecrackers of varying nationalities and skill sets, tragedy, comedy... my God, one of these guys has a scar from a fight with a wolf. The main thought you walk away with is, "This should be a movie," and now, according to Andrew Hetherington, the photographer whose photographs (see right) run with the story, it's been optioned to be one. I'm thinking Tommy Lee Jones from ten years ago as Rich Habib, but Ed Harris will do if 1998 Tommy Lee Jones isn't available. I just hope they don't add a love interest, or play up the part of the competing Dutch salvage team. Don't mess with success, guys.

Apocalypse Now and Then: Ten Great End-of-the-World Movie Scenarios, Part 2

Phil Nugent — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:00:00 GMT

THE QUIET EARTH (1985)

Suppose they gave an apocalypse and nobody came? That’s the question faced by the always-engaging Bruno Lawrence in Geoff Murphy’s delightful little sci-fi thriller, The Quiet Earth. Made in New Zealand before it was home to hobbits and every low-budget syndicated action show on television, the movie opens with scientist Lawrence awaking one day to find that, due to an experiment gone rather substantially awry, he is the last person left on Earth. By far the film’s greatest charms lie in the subsequent scenes, where Lawrence tries to balance his attempt to find out what happened (and if there is any way of correcting it) with his somewhat bemused attitude towards being the last living human being on the planet. This bemusement, unsurprisingly, slowly degenerates into neurosis and from there into near-madness as Lawrence transforms from the sort of quirkiness one expects from a guy who lives alone and doesn’t get out much into outright loneliness-inspired lunacy. (It is in these scenes that Lawrence has a brief but highly amusing conversation with Adolf Hitler.) When he finally discovers that there is at least one other living person on the planet — in a scene that can only be described as the post-apocalyptic genre’s biggest meet-cute — the movie shifts gears into a more conventional science fiction contrivance, but it’s kept alive by swell performances from Lawrence and the Maori actor Peter Smith, as well as some highly inventive and rapid-fire camerawork from director Murphy. The Quiet Earth is an interesting take on the whole genre, and it nicely blends its psychological approach with the typical what-would-you-do-if-you-were-the-last-man-on-earth gameplaying seen in such movies.

THE BED SITTING ROOM (1969)

The end of the world as brought to you by giggly British weirdos. Directed by Richard Lester, it depicts what's left of England after World War III, which, we're told, lasted "three minutes and forty-seven seconds... including the peace treaty." The cast includes Ralph Richardson in the title role (after he mutates), Michael Hordern, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Spike Milligan, Marty Feldman, and Rita Tushingham, who trumps Shelley Plimpton by giving birth (to Christ knows what) after she's been pregnant for thirteen months. This is one of the most truly horrifying visions of the end of the world ever caught on film, because it's supposed to be a comedy but there isn't a laugh in it. It is the anti-Dr. Strangelove, demonstrating the desperate inability of talented people to make you laugh at its subject matter, and so making the subject matter seem terrifying to a degree that sober-faced when-they-drop-the-bomb movies such as On the Beach can only dream about.

THE BIRDS (1963)

This Hitchcock film has been the subject of considerable textual analysis and speculation as to its symbolic meaning, but I like to think that Sir Alfred made it just so that he boast that they'd let him. Imagine what the pitch must have sounded like: "So, Alfred, it's called The Birds, huh? What's it about?" "Check the title, Einstein. It's about the birds." "Birds, huh. The birds, though? Is it about any particular birds?" "Nope, it's about the birds. Pigeons, parakeets, ostriches, penguins, crows, buzzards, ducks, tufted titmice... " "I see. And what do the birds do exactly?" "Turn on us. Wage war on us. Peck our eyes out." "But... why do the birds do this?" "How the hell am I supposed to know? You think I speak toucan?" "Okay, fair point. How do we stop the birds in the end?" "We don't. They kick our ass. Make Rod Taylor their bitch." "Un-huh... so... um... " "Hang on, I'm sorry, I have to take this. Mildred, did you get ahold of the gentleman with the bulldozer yet? I really need to get those bags containing the money I made off Psycho out of the driveway, they're blocking the jet... " Hitchcock himself fought with the studio to prevent them from actually tacking the words "The End" onto the final shot of our feathered friends gathering to welcome the new day, sensing that it would count as overkill.

TIME OF THE WOLF (2003)

When Michael Haneke, the European director known as the master of everyday horror for his uncanny ability to wrench suspense out of the slightest disruptions to bourgeois culture, decided to make a post-apocalyptic film, it was dead certain that it wouldn’t be a typical mosh pit of explosions, zombies, and atonal stings on the soundtrack. And, indeed, Haneke succeeded in making one of the quietest, most subtle visions of the end of the world imaginable — but also one of the most disturbing, and probably the most depressing. Haneke gives us almost no clue as to what happened to bring about the end of civilization; all we know is that the authorities are gone, the power is out, the water is tainted and no help seems to be coming from anywhere. As with all of his films, we aren’t overwhelmed with gore or beaten over the head with abject terror: instead, we’re presented with the even more profound horror of constant uncertainty and abject helplessness. When Isabelle Huppert’s family arrives at their rural cabin in hopes of waiting out the nebulous catastrophe that’s taken place, they experience the one moment of hope in the entire film; Haneke, of course, strips them of it swiftly and heartlessly, and before you know it, Huppert and her children are utterly alone, with no more possessions than they can carry and no one to protect them against a world that has grown almost instantly feral. Soon enough, they are huddled in an abandoned train station where xenophobia and sexual assault are almost tangible stinks in the air and where they are completely at the mercy of the few people bothering to pass themselves off as authority figures. Through it all, very little in the way of violence or disruption actually takes place: what chills the soul is the omnipresent fear, the certain knowledge that just as it did in a fatal and inexplicable moment at their cabin, everything can go horribly wrong at any moment and there is no safe place, no safe time. A remarkably skillful, effectively understated, and powerfully upsetting drama that conjures an apocalypse that is terrifying because it is so small and petty.

WATERWORLD (1995) & THE POSTMAN (1997)

It is the mark of a true artist that he is never satisfied with his work. Take Kevin Costner, for example. Unhappy as a mere sex symbol, he transformed himself into an Oscar-winning director, but that, too, was not enough for this nobly ambitious man. He took the only logical next step: spending close to a third of a billion dollars making two ridiculous, overblown, awful post-apocalyptic epics that would almost single-handedly destroy his career. Now that’s dedication! First came the notorious Waterworld, an early global warming scare flick that became much more famous for its colossal cost overruns (and its feeble box office) than it did for its clunky story. In it, Costner plays Mariner, a gill-festooned mutant piss-drinker who comes into contact with a bunch of unmotivated pirates called the Smokers. The leader of the Smokers is portrayed by Dennis Hopper, in full-blown Hindenburg mode as always; pitted against the supremely wooden Costner, he is as overwrought and bombastic as the Mariner is stone-faced and boring. Between the two of them, you might just be able to build one decent performance, which would be one more than is featured in Waterworld. The movie, which cost $200 million and made back about thirty bucks, was such a disaster that Costner, never a man to rest on his laurels, decided that the best way to follow it up would be to basically make the same exact movie, except this time he would direct and star in it. Of course, The Postman cost a mere $80 million, not even enough for half a Waterworld, but it made up for it by being even worse. At least the former had decent sets and costumes, whereas The Postman was a jerry-rigged piece of junk that still cost a king’s ransom and yet ended up looking bad, sounding bad, and probably even smelling bad. In this post-apocalyptic world, civilization has collapsed and America has been taken over by the Promise Keepers. Costner, a bad movie actor who here portrays a bad Shakespearian actor, poses as a postal carrier from the reformed U.S. government in order to cadge free meals off of local yokels, but soon enough, he is dispensing real hope to the legions of downtrodden mopes who have to appear in this cruddy movie. The movie only once loses its putrid reek of vanity project, and that’s at the end, a jaw-dropping exercise in the inability to suspend disbelief: the Promise Keepers, despite their inhuman levels of military discipline, have a rule that anyone can be the boss if they defeat the current leader (played by a nose-holding Will Patton) in a punch-out. Naturally, the mighty Costner prevails, and then turns to the vast army of murderous brutes who have been marauding the countryside for a decade and says "There’s gonna be peace!" They all shrug noncommittally and wander off to become chartered accountants or something, and we’re treated to another replay of the scene where Kev makes a little girl cry by wrapping himself up in the American flag. In the annals of postal lore, this thing rates slightly below Patrick Henry Sherrill’s bloodthirsty Oklahoma rampage as a point of pride.

— Phil Nugent, Leonard Pierce

Click here for Part 1.

Nostalgia Trip of the Day: The Goonies 'R' Good Enough

Peter Smith — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:45:00 GMT

From the "Treasures of YouTube" department, enjoy this vintage clip of Cyndi Lauper in concert at Budokan in 1986, performing her hit single from the soundtrack to The Goonies, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough." This might be Cyndi Lauper's greatest song, and to my mind — with all due respect to the Truffle Shuffle — it evokes wistful childhood reminiscence better than the movie itself.

Cinemorgue.com Answers a Question You May Not Have Thought to Ask

Peter Smith — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:30:00 GMT

Ever wanted a list of ways Kyle MacLachlan has bitten it on screen? With pictures? You've got it — spoiler warning — courtesy of Cinemorgue.com, a startlingly comprehensive compendium of death scenes organized by actor featured. Once again, we marvel at the sheer breadth of the internet. (Depth is kind of another story.) You go looking for info on the alternate ending of Kiss Me Deadly, and two hours later you're face to face with a bloodied Stellan Skarsgard. Modernity, friends.

Juno's Diablo Cody Tries Her Hand at Acting... With Mixed Results

Peter Smith — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:55:00 GMT

She's been a stripper. She's been a blogger. She's been a pop-culture sensation. But Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody is... not much of an actress, judging by this clip from the web videocast series Chasing Windmills. Hit the jump to check it out.

Video here.

Gary Busey Attempts To Make Out With Jennifer Garner In Public

Peter Smith — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:05:00 GMT

Because we here at the Screengrab respect the inestimable refinement of our readership, we normally wouldn't stoop to lowbrow material like this (cough). But the above is the kind of headline we film writers dream of, and we'll be damned if we're going to let it get by. Hit the jump for what's possibly the most awkward red-carpet moment of the year. (Special props to the cameramen for catching Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill gawking in the background.)

Oscars Suck

Peter Smith — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:15:00 GMT

At least that's the word from the people. According to Nielsen (Media Research, not Leslie), last night's telecast may have been the lowest-rated Oscar broadcast ever. Preliminary estimates suggest this year's show was watched by 21% fewer people than last year's, and 14% than 2003's, the current booby-prize holder. It's possible that a large percentage of potential viewers were just stuck on an immobile Amtrak train for two-and-a-half hours, like me, and thereby unable to watch. But it seems unlikely. Too bad for the Academy, but at least this will give Jon Stewart something to be wry and self-deprecating about for another few Daily Shows.

Screengrab Review: Charlie Bartlett

Peter Smith — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:00:00 GMT

December brought us Juno, a teen movie (over)written by a thirty-year-old ex-stripper; February brings us Charlie Bartlett, a teen movie apparently written by a twelve-year-old whipped into a frenzy of high-school anticipation by every other teen movie ever made. It's an odd creature, this Charlie Bartlett — thick with references to Rushmore, Harold and Maude and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, it feels persistently unreal, untempered by real-life experience of high school. The "drug" sequences seem to come from someone less familiar with altered states than with the pot montage in The Breakfast Club, and a key virginity loss is mysteriously set inside a scene from Sixteen Candles. You might find this annoying, or you might find yourself getting wistful for the worst years of your life.

Charlie (Anton Yelchin) has been booted out of every private school in the state — not for bad grades, of course, but for persistent attention-seeking prankery. He's desperate for popularity, and at his new public school, he finds it by psychoanalyzing his classmates and prescribing them medication via the bevy of shrinks thrown at him by his doting, overbearing mother (Hope Davis, who chastizes him for not eating his dinner with the line, "I've cooked you a perfectly Oedipal meal" — or at least that's how I heard it). Simultaneously, he befriends a bully (one Tyler Hilton, who looks far too much like a young Morrissey to be threatening) and romances the principal's daughter (Kat Dennings, of The 40-Year-Old Virgin). But the principal himself (Robert Downey, Jr., entertaining as ever) turns out to be a problem, though not too much of a problem to resolve in a ludicrous climax. Basically, this is not the next Rushmore, Donnie Darko or even Ferris Bueller, despite Charlie's preference for a Bueller-esque shades-and-beret combo. It's not without fun, though. You can scoff at it if you like, but if you're twelve, you'll probably find it highly plausible. — Peter Smith

Afternoon Deal Report: Strike is Over! (If You Want It)

Peter Smith — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:15:00 GMT

The Writers' Guild strike is over at last, and we all breathe a sigh of relief.

Steven Spielberg has pulled out of his role as artistic advisor to the Beijing Olympics, in an attempt to pressure the Chinese government into pressuring the Sudanese government (which profits enormously in oil sales to China) into ending the genocide. Undoubtedly, he's also responding to pressure from his own humanitarian critics, including Mia Farrow, who apparently warned him he could be compared to Leni Reifenstahl if he went ahead. Pressure all around, but if it pushes China to act, it's all for the good.

I love that Ashton Kutcher produces stuff. Nothing signifies quality and refinement like the Kutcher imprimatur, right? In any case, he's currently producing and starring (with Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the sex comedy Spread.

The line between History Channel programming and action film grows ever thinner, as Fox announces a deal to adapt the History Channel series Ice Road Truckers into a summer crash-bang-boom picture.

Afternoon Deal Report: Coens to Adapt Chabon's "Yiddish Policemen"

Peter Smith — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:10:00 GMT

Joel and Ethan Coen have two or three original projects in the pipeline (Burn After Reading, A Serious Man and Hail Caesar), but apparently the mainstream success of No Country for Old Men (okay, the Coens have never really lacked mainstream recognition, but with its literary pedigree, No Country is certainly the most prestige-y thing they've ever done) has spurred them towards more adaptations. Scott Rudin has just hired them to adapt Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. (Rudin also has an adaptation of Chabon's Adventures of Kavalier and Clay in the works, written by Chabon himself.) As someone who liked No Country well-enough but missed the Coens' usual irreverance in the midst of all that apocalyptic atmosphere, I'm sort of sad to see them moving towards adaptations. Their original voice is one of the best things they have. Thoughts, readers?

Marisa Tomei will star with Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky's next movie, The Wrestler, about an '80s pro-wrestler. Sadly, this is not the Macho Man Randy Savage biopic we've all been waiting for.

After a protracted scuffle with Peter Jackson over the division of the spoils of his Lord of the Rings adaptations, New Line has now evoked the legal wrath of J. R. R. Tolkien's estate. In other lawsuit news, the co-writer of The Passion of the Christ is suing Mel Gibson for misleading him about the film's budget. Drive out those moneychangers, Mel.

Screengrab Q&A: Eran Kolirin, Director of The Band's Visit

Peter Smith — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Eran Kolirin's first feature, The Band's Visit, opened in New York and Los Angeles last Friday. A poignant story of an Egyptian police band lost in Israel, the film has won a host of awards worldwide. That the film has done well internationally is fitting, since for all its apparent evocation of local politics, its themes are existential — can we connect with other people, or even with our own pasts? The Band's Visit makes the political personal, capturing perfectly the homesickness that can strike even when you're still at home. And if I'm making it sound grim, it's also got some great jokes. When I reached Kolirin on the phone last week, he sounded weary and lonely, stranded in the middle of a two-week press tour — probably the perfect position from which to promote this wry, bittersweet film.

What was your initial inspiration for this film?
It began with an image of the main character, of Tewfiq, a man in uniform who sings an Arabic song. [Then] part of what you do is to research within yourself why this story interests you. It has my own private nostalgia for Egyptian cinema — part of my lost youth or childhood. I share this incomplete feeling that all of the characters share, a feeling of living beside life and not really touching. A movie is a kind of mirror of your own self.

The central relationship between Tewfiq, the reserved bandleader, and Dina, the woman who takes him in, feels very real. How did you develop it?
No big secret to this. Some of it was developed while working with the actors. Sometimes in a good cast you get this kind of magic, and at least as far as I'm concerned, between Sasson Gabai and Ronit Elkabetz, this is what happened. During the rehearsals we rewrote the scenes. For example, the whole scene of them on the park bench was written through rehearsal.

That relationship encapsulates the whole subtext of the film—the question of whether it's possible to connect with another person. Even though it's about people from different cultures and different languages, there's a universal quality to that struggle.
I never thought I had these characters who are very different and this movie kind of brings them together — not at all, not for a second. It's the very starting point, I never doubted it: they're all the same. And this is why sometimes when people describe the movie as different cultures coming together. . . I never thought about it this way.

As you show in some of the family scenes, it's perfectly possible to feel lonely and isolated even within your own family — never mind different cultures.
Yeah. I kind of have this thing with loneliness. [laughs]

What are some of your favorite films?
Mike Leigh's High Hopes. Down by Law by Jarmusch. I like very much Jean-Claude Brisseau, Sound and Fury. With this movie, I was thinking also of Jacques Tati and Aki Kaurismaki, and I guess there are a lot of others — I like Wenders a lot, I like Bresson and I like Ozu.

There's a very sharp sense of place in this movie. This outpost town, Bet Hatikva, feels very real. I have very strong childhood memories from those places. Since I have asthma, they sometimes would take me to small towns — not where we shot, but towns not far away from there — what they would call in Israel development towns. And I have memories of these concrete buildings — this kind of monumental communist architecture in the desert, and this feeling of distance and emptiness.

I tried to shoot it more like I remembered it than the way it is. It took me a lot of time to understand how to get this feeling. I realized that what makes a difference is the sound of those places. Sometimes in the desert the wind blows in your ears and you go deaf for a second. We tried to somehow capture this feeling in the whole sound of the movie.

If you just told somebody you were making a film about Arabs lost in Israel, they might expect an obvious political statement, which this film isn't.
I know those expectations. In some ways it's kind of a colonialist approach. You're expected to be in this theater play they wrote. And you know, I live in the Middle East, and I'm aware of the politics. This is a political movie as far as I'm concerned. There are questions of culture, there are questions of the connection of Israel to the region, and how it's lost its connection through the process of capitalization and modernization. There's a very specific connection between the Israeli side and the Egyptian side in the movie. They share this same feeling of loss, nostalgia. If you listen close enough and you're acquainted with the cultural conflicts of the region, you would see the movie raises a lot of political questions. Not just the obvious ones about the conflict — I'm not saying those questions are not important, but it doesn't have the character saying, you know, "My brother was killed in the war," and then everyone can sleep comfortably in their beds having been reassured about what it was all about.

How has the film been received in Israel and Egypt?
Unfortunately, it cannot be shown in Egypt, formally anyway, but I've been reading quite a lot of articles from the Arab world about the movie, and I've gotten some good reactions. It's been reviewed quite well in Israel, and again, the nuances, they differ from place to place, but at the end of the day, the proportion of people loving it and not loving it is about the same all over.

Israel couldn't submit this film for an Oscar, because over half of it is in English. Were you disappointed?
I would like to say thank God, because without the Academy Award I've been flying all over the States for two weeks now and I miss home. If I had been a nominee, they would take me here for two months. I would kill myself.

R.I.P. Tony Silver, Director of Style Wars

Peter Smith — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:20:00 GMT

Sad news: Gothamist reports that Tony Silver, co-director of the classic hip-hop documentary Style Wars, died last weekend. The film, which first aired on PBS in 1983, is predominantly concerned with the then-flourishing art of graffiti, but expands to cover other elements of early hip-hop culture, including breakdancing and rapping. Not only is it endlessly quotable (my favorite: "'Destroy all lines?' What'd the lines ever do to you?"), but it also offers an unforgettable portrait of a different, grimier New York — a half-subterranean dystopia of train-yards, access tunnels and drainage culverts that, seen from today's corporate city, seems almost science-fictional. If you haven't seen Style Wars, check out the trailer here; the whole thing is floating around on Google Video, but we here at Screengrab assure you that it's well worth a DVD purchase (particularly since the DVD includes priceless "where are they now" footage which reveals, among other things, that Skeme's mother is still busting his chops.) We tip our hat to Mr. Silver, and thank him for the great film.

Morning Deal Report: To Hell With Ellen Page

Peter Smith — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:15:00 GMT

It girl Ellen Page will star in Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell. Drag Me to Hell sounds kind of cool — it's said to be Raimi's return to his budget-horror roots after a decade of blockbuster work.

Stephen Frears's next film is Cheri, an adaptation of the French novel. It'll star Michelle Pfeiffer, reteaming Frears with his Dangerous Liaisons star.

The writers' strike could end Wednesday, depending how its members vote on a possible settlement tomorrow night. No settlement probably means no Oscars at this point — a possibility that has a certain appeal. But let's hope it's over, for the sake of the writers and their coworkers.

Morning Deal Report: Larry David and Woody Allen, Together at Last

Peter Smith — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Woody Allen's next movie will star Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood, a combination of cranky neurotic Jew and precocious jailbait so patently Allen-esque that one wonders what took him so long.

Michael Douglas, Anne Archer and Robert Forster join Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

Hayden Panettiere will star as Kim Gordon in the Sonic Youth biopic Daydream Nation. No, I kid. It's just your standard teen movie with an alt-rock nod that'll probably be the best thing about it. (See also Can't Hardly Wait.)

Afternoon Deal Report: A Fitting Tribute to Hasbro's Tradition of Quality

Peter Smith — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Dennis Quaid and Channing Tatum have joined the cast of G.I. Joe. This seems apt, given Tatum's startlingly realistic face.

Julianne Moore will star in the supernatural thriller Shelter.

After (ahem) a monstrous opening, Cloverfield has dropped 68% at the box office. Course, when you're up against an aesthetic triumph like Meet the Spartans, which made $18 million last weekend. . .

Crash is becoming a series on Starz. That's the ensemble drama Crash, not the Cronenberg flick about car-fucking, unfortunately.

Luc Besson's next project will be a three-film adaptation of Aventures, a beloved French comic about a novelist in World War I-era Paris.

Morning Deal Report: Toy Story 3, D

Peter Smith — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:45:00 GMT

This 3D business is really taking off, apparently; Pixar will rerelease Toy Story and the superior Toy Story 2 in 3D in 2009 and 2010 respectively, leading up to the unveiling of Toy Story 3 in summer 2010.

According to The Sun (via Cinematical), Johnny Depp may replace Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno and Milo Ventimiglia will star in the action/heist movie Armored.

Morning Deal Report: Whither The Dark Knight?

Peter Smith — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:45:00 GMT

Heath Ledger's death this week, as many speculated, has left several upcoming films up in the air. Production on The Dark Knight is finished, with all of Ledger's post-production done, but the film's ad campaign centered on him. Meanwhile, production on The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, the next film by Terry "Can't Get A Break" Gilliam, is on hold while the insurers figure out what to do. (Please, someone figure out how to make this movie. Tom Waits plays the devil.) And Ledger's directing debut, The Queen's Gambit (about a young female chess prodigy, possibly to have been played by Ellen Page) is needless to say on hold.

We can finally stop saying "Bond 22," for the second Daniel Craig Bond movie finally has a title. And it's. . . Quantum of Solace? Pardon?

Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Wilkinson join Clive Owen and Julia Roberts in Duplicity, Bourne screenwriter Tony Gilroy's directorial follow-up to Michael Clayton.

Morning Deal Report: Oliver Stone Directing Bush Biopic

Peter Smith — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:45:00 GMT

Oliver Stone is planning Bush, a biopic of the world's cleverest president, which he says will be "give a sense of what it's like to be in his skin." He's already cast Josh Brolin, apparently. Too bad this title is already taken. Still, they could do better than just plain ol' Bush, no? What about The Decider? Goin' Nucular? Where Wings Take Dream?

Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst will star together in All Good Things, the feature debut of Capturing the Friedmans director Andrew Jarecki.

If you like the National Lampoon movies, but sometimes feel alienated by their excessive classiness, we've got just the production for you: Maxim's Mardi Gras, shooting this spring. Take your chick, bro!

Adrien Brody will play legendary R&B mogul Leonard Chess, against Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, in Cadillac Records.

Morning Deal Report: Noooo!

Peter Smith — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:55:00 GMT

Justice League is on hold. Damn you, Hollywood! America needs more superheroes!

First Run Features will distribute the documentary Jihad for Love — the first documentary ever made about gay Muslims, from the directors of Trembling Before G-d, about gay Orthodox Jews. This is sure to go over well in the Muslim world. In more Islam-baiting news, Warner Independent will release the new film directed by American Beauty writer (and Six Feet Under creator) Alan Ball: Towelhead, about "the sexual awakening of a thirteen-year-old Arab-American girl." At least it's not the sexual awakening of a gay thirteen-year-old Arab-American boy. That'd really rile 'em.

Hayden Panettiere may star in the adaptation of Larry Doyle's comic novel I Love You, Beth Cooper. The book's supposed to be great, and gets a nod from me for employing the underappreciated Evan Dorkin as cover artist.

Morning Deal Report: Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen in "The Road"

Peter Smith — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:30:00 GMT

With No Country for Old Men topping many a critic's list, the next Cormac McCarthy adaptation is just around the corner; Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen are set to star in the film version McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel The Road.

Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen are both contributing to New York, I Love You, an anthology film along the lines of Paris je t'aime, which collected twelve stories of love in Paris by major directors. But apparently Johansson will be directing her own segment, not starring in Allen's.

With Harry Potter 6 still to come, debate (among fans, if not filmmakers) rages over whether Harry Potter 7 should be one film or two.

Morning Deal Report: Who're You, One Of The FREAKS?

Peter Smith — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:55:00 GMT

"Salma Hayek to play bearded lady" — the headline film writers dream of. She's returning from maternity leave to join John C. Reilly in the horror film Cirque du Freak. Now, John C. Reilly is highly capable, acting-wise; playing a vampire is well within his range, I'm guessing. But after years of toil as a character actor, he's finally become famous for goofy comedy. So the question is whether audiences will be able to hear "John C. Reilly as a vampire" without giggling. And frankly, I'm giggling already.

Christian Bale may join Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's John Dillinger biopic Public Enemies. Kind of a dream team here; Depp plays Dillinger and Bale would play Dillinger's nemesis, FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

Lionsgate will distribute the new Conan the Barbarian movie. Hail Crom?

Morning Deal Report: Amy Ryan on a Hot Streak

Peter Smith — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Amy Ryan is doing well these days, with parts in Dan in Real Life and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, and a highly acclaimed performance in Gone Baby Gone. (I just finished watching her fine work in Season 2 of The Wire, to boot.) Now she and Greg Kinnear are joining Matt Damon in a Paul-Greengrass-directed thriller based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran's non-fiction Iraq chronicle, Imperial Life in the Emerald City. This also marks a reunion of Damon and Greengrass, which any Bourne fan knows is a good thing.

Jessica Biel costars with Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas in the Noel Coward adaptation Easy Virtue.

Boys Don't Cry and Stop Loss director Kimberly Pierce wants to adapt Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. It's always interesting when a serious, realism-minded director steps into sci-fi. Let's hope this happens.

Morning Deal Report: Upgrades and Downgrades

Peter Smith — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:50:00 GMT

Hayden Christensen to play lead role in Neuromancer? Yikes. I've heard stories about Christensen getting in brawls with heckling Star Wars fanboys. At least William Gibson fans probably aren't wielding prop lightsabers.

Kate Winslet replaces a pregnant Nicole Kidman in Stephen Daldry's The Reader. She was apparently the original choice for the role, so that's cool.

The brainiest videogame of the year by all accounts was Bioshock, a spook show set in a mostly-abandoned, subaquatic utopian colony. Now rumor suggests a film version may be on the way.

Morning Deal Report: Golden Globes Take a Fall

Peter Smith — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:05:00 GMT

Annnnd, the Golden Globes bite it. I'm all in favor of awards shows kerploding; the only concern is that the writers will get blamed for pooping the party, when they really have every reason to be striking. But this'll cost the studios a lot of money and promotion. Maybe it'd be easier to just pay the writers for their work? No?

Karyn Kusama (Girlfight. . . and Aeon Flux) will direct Jennifer's Body, ~~Brook Busey-Hunt's~~ Diablo Cody's follow-up to Juno.

Ridley Scott just never slows down, huh? His next project is The Reykjavik Summit, about Reagan and Gorbachev's '86 nuke talks. Ridley Scott made some of my favorite movies, but political acuity is not is strong suit. When this turns out to be a Reagan hagiography, I'm gonna barf.