Brian Trenchard-Smith has directed 42 movies and TV series in various genres from martial arts to comedy to horror to action adventure. He is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite directors
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November 17, 2008
WEBISODES…the movie maker’s answer to diminished funding and short attention span, coming soon to a wristwatch near you! No, aficionados of quality drama, the sky is not falling. It’s just the delivery system to the customer that is changing. Once again. Silent to Sound. Nickelodeon to Picture Palace. Big Screen to Small Screen to BluRay. Now, as the computer in all its forms takes over your harried life, it provides you with analgesic entertainment. Snacks not banquets, for a world on an accelerating treadmill.
As the business we love recovers from the double whammy of industrial action and fiscal implosion, original production for the web will expand and be the meat and potatoes for regular working actors and technical craftsmen. In the burgeoning digitally democratized world of recorded entertainment, low cost will assist The Creatives in maintaining greater creative control.
A leading writer/producer of the fabulous FARSCAPE series, Richard Manning, has devised a way cool Sci-Fi police procedural entitled FUSION exclusively for the web, and invited me to direct the pilot and as many episodes as I wanted, when the series is funded.
FUSION, shot in two days with a very small crew, premiered at the FARSCAPE convention last Sunday to great response.
FUSION is now on line. The baited hook is out, we‘ll see who bites. Click the eye for the link:
Ricky Manning sees the show as a, well, fusion of science fiction, horror, romance, and suspense, with a sprinkling of mystery and a dash of police procedural — in short, a broad-spectrum dose of genre.
Looking ahead through his writer’s bible, there are stunning twists and turns of plot and character to come. Also interesting to me is creating the off kilter, dystopian world in which these characters live; offices, shops, streets, apartments, we know these places, yet there is something strange about them. Genre fans, sipping their java, as they gear up for - or need help coming down from - the workday, will get a kick out of this series.
Please let me know your reaction.
The future of genre episodic is in bite sized mouthfuls. As production values increase, more eyeballs will be lured to advertiser sponsored webisode series.
So, in the on-going labor negotiations, it is time, in my humble opinion, for both sides to give a little ground and settle this thing before the end of this year, so this under-employed town can launch into the New Media Era with confidence. Perhaps Nikke Finke, Hollywood’s best source, can enlighten us as to the prospects for settlement.
November 10, 2008
In 2005, I wrote this opening scene.
EXT. WASHINGTON DAY
An American flag fills the screen, rippling gently in the wind, as credit titles and stirring music begin.
Dissolve to an aerial montage: the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capitol Buildings, etc. (Stock). A morning news broadcast fades up.
NEWSREADER (VO)
In an historic unanimous vote, Congress passed the universal health care bill at 3 am this morning. This is seen as solid evidence of the new bipartisan spirit on Capitol Hill that was promised at the last election. Swift passage through the Senate is expected and the bill could be on the President‘s desk as early as Friday morning.
Dissolve to aerial shot of the Vice Presidential motorcade on the freeway.
NEWSREADER (VO)
In other Washington news, Vice President Walker leaves today on a six nation tour to promote the President’s initiative on global warming…
CUT TO: Air Force Two in flight, buffeted by a heavy storm…
Hey, Film Guy, what delusional universe are you living in? A Utopian Washington doing the people’s business with efficiency and compassion? And this less than a year into Bush’s second term, with Karl Rove predicting a permanent Republican majority? Pull the other one, it‘s got bells on. Reviewers, a humorless breed by and large, missed the irony and snorted derision. Of course they were not going to like this movie anyway.
My assignment was to develop, produce and direct a Lesbian Rambo derivative that could, with a few simple substitute scenes, be sold to broadcasters intolerant of gay themes.
The concept was this: Air Force Two crashes in the Pacific, and the Vice President (DAVID KEITH), together with his gay secret service bodyguard (the magnificent MARIEL HEMINGWAY) and glam reporter (JILL BENNETT) are washed ashore on a remote island held by ruthless insurgents. The rebels, led by a crazed US mercenary (DAVID MILBERN), hunt the VP for ransom.
Big mistake. Mariel Hemingway slaughters them all. Think of it as a campy homage to 80’s right wing gun porn, but with only enough money for a 14 day shoot. Check out the trailer here.
I accepted the budgetary challenge, because it amused me to make a film that Vice President Cheney could sit and watch with his proudly lesbian daughter, each identifying with different characters.
The movie could have started with the poker game scene on Air Force Two, but since Darth Vader had given the office of Vice President such a bad name, I added the opening montage to help create a sympathetic image for the VP, before the audience even meets the character. Then David Keith’s wry charm takes over, and we care about the character’s fate.
Hence the Utopian Washington, mocked by critics. Yet, miraculously, here we are, but 3 years later, at the dawn of a new era in American politics, where the social change implied in that voice over news report, is now within sight.
I am not clairvoyant. I was just trying to fix a dramatic problem! IN HER LINE OF FIRE (mildly lesbian) or AIR FORCE TWO (straight and less fun) should be judged in the context of a 14 day shoot fueled by a budget best described as the smell of an oily rag.
The work of Steve and Bennique Blasini of BFX Imageworks creating the crash of Air Force Two, and lots of digital gunfire/collateral damage was a great help. The staging of gunfights goes a lot faster if the safety concerns relating to blank ammunition and pyrotechnics are not an issue. Just aim the empty weapon and CLICK! The Blasinis will do the rest. To see more of these digital wizards at work, check out their website: BFX Imageworks
As for Washington, it will take a lot of wizardry to repair that dysfunctional institution, but at least the world now has a leader with a powerful intellect willing to try.
October 28, 2008
Oliver Stone and I have one thing in common. We are the only two directors to have made a film about a sitting Administration. Like still in Office. Perhaps gasping for breath, as the air outside grows thick with scorn.
I thoroughly enjoyed W. It is both thought provoking and fun. Every voter should see it. As for my movie, read on and decide…
For six months after I had made DC 9/11: TIME OF CRISIS my agents could not get me a meeting. “I’m not hiring the guy that made the Bush movie” was one comment. “I can’t forgive you for helping Bush get a second term!” was another. My name became Leni Reifenstall on the list of cable movie directors, guilty of making TRIUMPH OF THE SWILL. This is ironic, given my life long leftist voting record.
When the then President of Showtime Jerry Offsay calls you late at night and asks you to take over a movie shooting in less than 2 weeks, you say yes. Even if not a word of the script may be changed; because that was the deal Showtime had to make when acquiring the project, even so, you say yes. You don’t step aside when a man who green lit 4 of your pictures comes to you with a problem.
The docudrama script was clearly intended to show how a well informed, articulate President took charge of Government and rallied the people in an unprecedented crisis. Each scene was factually based, but shaped to emphasize the President’s analytical powers and his off-the-cuff eloquence. We have never seen such a whip smart Bush before or since.
Despite the well researched depiction of real events, the underlying purpose of DC 9/11: TIME OF CRISIS was to polish the image of the President 14 months before the next election J Hoberman’s insightful review, linked here, identified the category of Propaganda tool: Stalinist “Father Of Our Nation” Myth Movie.
But I believe Propaganda is a two edged sword. It often reveals more about the Propagandists than they realize. With 20/20 hindsight, they might regret some of the hubris liberally sprinkled throughout.
So, Rumsfeld actually said at a Pentagon breakfast on the morning of the attacks: “Something’s coming, something big…”
Bush actually said: “This will decidedly not be another Vietnam.”
Hmm, I wondered, as I read the script over and over: do they really want to be on record as saying some of these things? In a way, the film is like a Project for the New American Century Infomercial, as approved by Karl Rove. No left wing media filter this time, folks, this is the straight skinny, straight from Headquarters. I knew I was directing a film that would be vilified by all except right wing media, yet, with the passage of time, have historical value as an authentic example of Neo Con thought, styled as advocate docudrama.
The invasion of Iraq started during the shoot. It was a little surreal to enter my Toronto hotel room after 14 hours of filming characters planning the Iraq war, then switch on CNN and watch those plans being carried out. Don’t they realize this will not be as easy as they claim, I wondered.
The cast, almost all Lefties, expressed similar disbelief, but like me, had a duty to honor the contract we signed to shoot the script as written. I encouraged each of them to find tone and quirks that could operate beneath the surface of the dialogue. I think Timothy Bottoms convincingly captured the Bush swagger. John Cunningham made the patronizing Rumsfeld a truly scary guy. I supported Greg Itzen’s smoothly conceited Ashcroft by shooting a key speech in low wide angle.
Karl Rove’s Machiavellian instincts are clearly visible in Alan Royal’s cunning interpretation. No disrespect to W.’s wonderful Thandie Newton, but I prefer Penny Johnson Jerald’s impersonation of Condi. Though in W. I must acknowledge that Thandie’s first appearance in angle, lighting and voice mimicry is a bulls eye, producing an audible gasp from the audience I saw it with.
None of our subtle embellishments caused a stir among The Watchers back at Party HQ. My staging of a Bush cabinet meeting with the President striding back and forth along the table issuing assignments to his key lieutenants like a brigade commander was ruled a good choice, not ironic hyperbole. But adjustments were ordered from time to time. On day 2, I had allowed Bush to be too angry in a frustrated outburst on Air Force One. “Brian, the President would not lose control like that…” I had to re-shoot that close up on our last day. The eagle eyed will notice Timothy Bottoms has gained a little weight between wide shot and close up.
There was a monumental weight of responsibility on Timothy’s shoulders every day of the shoot, but he always carried out the brief with dedication and expertise On that last day the inner liberal Tim had to bust out. On the final take of the scene in the Marine One set, while the camera was still rolling, he jumped onto the window seat, pulled down his pants and mooned the world while uttering a derisive stream of Bushisms relating to international consensus, if my memory serves. The Watchers were evidently not Watching that last day, but I think those tapes have since been destroyed.
Sidebar: During the shoot, and for months afterwards, my home phone would occasionally make clicking sounds during calls. A number of times during post, I would switch on my computer and find my email sorted in a random order. Make of that what you will.
Timothy Bottoms’ performance within the straight jacket of a role built from lego blocks of political exposition is nuanced and masterful. He deserved an Emmy nomination but politics often trumps professionalism in the awards game. Brolin’s W. is equally masterful in a broader style. And he will get an Oscar nomination.
The battle I most regret losing in the editing process was not being allowed to reflect the length of time Bush continued to read to the school children after receiving word of the crash into the second tower. I wanted to superimpose a title to that effect. The word came down from on high. Absolutely not. The issue was ultimately glossed over by a dissolve. Just about every scene in the film has an issue or spin that divides Left and Right. I hope that the perspective of the last 5 years gives the film a new flavor, a MONSTER’S BALL of ideologues, whose pronouncements now drip with dramatic irony. Erik Lindegaard’s recent article linked here - DC 9/11 is the new Reefer Madness! - hits the nail on the head. So I wish my film a long and fruitful autopsy. Here’s my concept for the sequel:
I was, at the time of DC 9/11: TIME OF CRISIS, a political quietist. In Australia, where voting is compulsory - as it should be everywhere - I would see graffiti at election time: Don’t vote, it only encourages them. After the Labor government of Gough Whitlam was subverted in 1975 by a paper coup, much as the 2000 election was in America, I had come to the cynical belief that democracy was just political theatre, designed to make us feel we have a hand in how our lives are run, while in fact the major power blocks behind the scenes that fund the political candidates to put on this charade, do much as they please with the nation’s resources Political activism, while inwardly satisfying, was ultimately futile. And now, unpatriotic, as defined by our Rulers Who Know Best.
Why have I changed my mind? Two words. Barack Obama. Here’s an inspiring man with a clearly brilliant mind who could actually rally the country at a time of national crisis, and more importantly, keep it rallied. Obama showed he could come from nowhere, outfox Karl Rove’s dirty tricks (or Enhanced Election Techniques to reflect this Administration’s flair for Orwellian New Speak), and now be on the brink - we pray - of a two term Presidency that could staunch America’s wounds and transform the way government operates. Democracy works. Activism works. If we all participate.
October 20, 2008
A blue cheese hamburger in one hand, a microbrew ale in the other, a comfortable seat, and a big screen in front of me…does Cinema get any better than that? After my week of Fantastic Fest at the Alamo Drafthouse, my local multiplex pales by comparison.
Today’s post will conclude my observations on America’s biggest and best genre festival, but fond memories will linger; not just because I got to present a couple of my old films to appreciative audiences, but because the Alamo Drafthouse staff so obviously cared about proper presentation - like in focus with good sound all the time! - and quality food, quickly and unobtrusively served. I am used to film crews going that extra mile for quality during production, but I rarely see that same enthusiasm in exhibition, that all important retail end of the process. The major theatre circuits could learn a lot from Alamo Drafthouse.
At last, all over the world, indigenous film industries are embracing GENRE, and spicing up familiar tropes with their own cultural ingredients. What particularly distinguishes foreign language genre from its English language counterparts is the attention paid to the quirkiness of character. Take a look at this trailer for THE SUBSTITUTE, a Danish riff on MY STEPMOTHER IS AN ALIEN. There are no subtitles, but you get the idea.
The sweetly demented Paprika Steen is brilliant in the title role. Hollywood will come calling soon if they haven’t already. Matching her are some outstanding child actors playing a bunch of slackers and whiners, who cannot convince their parents that the substitute teacher is in fact the vanguard of an alien invasion. The movie is enormous fun, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, though you may not want to eat chicken for a few days. However, the US trailer chooses to play down the laughs in favor of a more traditional Sci-Fi horror approach.
The US trailer chooses to expose a key surprise VFX shot, the first and more startling of the two VFX shots in a particular sequence. The Danish trailer only uses the second shot, the reverse angle. Its effect is thus more oblique. Those that see this trailer are less likely to anticipate the money shot when that sequence starts. Please compare and contrast both trailers if you wish to comment. I’m interested in your thoughts.
Also from Denmark, is FIGHTER, a riff on THE NEW KARATE KID, which gave Hilary Swank her start. Here’s an extract. This movie will certainly put a spotlight on Semra Turan, a Danish martial arts champion, totally convincing in her first acting role. Where FIGHTER differs from other Kung Fu Girl Wants To Be Champion flics is the nature of the obstacles in her path. She is a Turko-Danish teenage Muslim with very conservative parents who forbid her to train alongside men, and want her to consent to an arranged marriage. The complexities of culture clash and family politics are powerfully realized, resulting in the social drama being as compelling as the many fight sequences.
The Karate Hellcat movie that everyone is waiting for is ONG BAK director Prachya Pinkaew’s latest - CHOCOLATE, for which his protégé Jeeja Vismistananda trained for five years. And it shows.
In Jackie Chan movies they run the painful accidents of the shoot in the end credits. Here the Thai trailer showcases them as an incentive to customers. The plot is borderline incomprehensible, particularly the first 20 minutes, and its use of autism as a gimmick is tasteless, but in a Muay Thai action picture, who cares? The final jaw dropping, bone breaking 20 minutes are worth the price of admission alone.
It’s great when a first time director really hits it out of the park. After award winning shorts, Na Hong-Jin demonstrates he is a major talent with THE CHASER, his riff on the chase the serial killer when nobody believes you genre. The trailer certainly covers its visceral thrills. But the movie offers much more depth of character as a hard boiled ex-cop rediscovers his humanity. It was the last of five movies I saw that day. It was utterly riveting for its entire 123 minutes.
Also from Korea was a spectacular nod to the Westerns of Sergio Leone entitled THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD that reworks Leone’s Civil War piece into 1940 war torn Manchuria. It’s a veritable banquet of Leone set pieces from all of his work. Even a bit of the Hong Kong-Leone derivative DRAGON INN is thrown in. But that dark quirky sense of humor that has distinguished so many recent Korean films elevates the picture way beyond mere homage to A Great One. Song Kang Ho - I loved him in THE HOST - does play Weird/Ugly the original Eli Wallach character with more layers and such gusto that he drives the movie. You can’t wait for him to be back on the screen. The trailer gives you some idea of the scale of the top notch action. No doubt you winced at the horse stunts. As did I. But I was pleased to find out in the end credits, they used animatronic horses for those shots.
If you like your GENRE a little more sophisticated/exotically flavored than the standard English language variety, then you will probably have as much fun at these movies as I did. In GENRE, as in life, character counts.
October 13, 2008
Message to Russell Crowe: please don’t gossip. As a frequent victim of gossip, you should know this.
“You know, I worked with Leonardo when he was 17 on ‘The Quick and the Dead [1995],’ ” says Crowe. “He was a virgin, and he’d talk about that constantly. So I’m hoping we have some time so he can fill in what’s happened in between, maybe show some photos, because I’m sure life’s different now.”
Although this interview first surfaced a year ago, it clearly blindsided Leo at this recent Access Hollywood appearance.
Sure, it’s meant as a joke. NBD. Call me old fashioned, but I believe Secret Guy Stuff should remain between Guys. (But Girls can let us in on Secret Girrl Stuff anytime)
So why tell? Surely, Russell, you are not trying to imply that you have a bigger dick than Leo.
Incidentally, audiences, sparse though they were in 1992 for HAMMERS OVER THE ANVIL, had a brief opportunity to see more of Russell Crowe than any other of his movies revealed. (DVD Sales will now increase)
Here’s Leo’s comment!
I loathe and abominate celebrity gossip media. At their core, those rumor rags, blogs, and trash TV shows cater to that base instinct - Envy, the inevitable counterpart to celebrity worship: You’ve got so much more than I have, I want to see you suffer.
Celebrity gossip is the twinkling tip of a toxic iceberg, that soils social discourse, promotes unkindness, and diverts attention from the serious issues of life.
50 years ago, Hollywood scandal sheets served only dedicated movie fans; now they are a cancer that can poison the value system of any elementary student with an iPhone. To end the scourge of gossip, we have to start with ourselves, every day. Even the exalted.
This week you can see alpha dog Russell Crowe deliver another riveting and nuanced performance, as does the former virgin (BTW, it was 18 for me too) Leonardo DiCaprio in BODY OF LIES, opening this week.
Of all the recent studio movies dealing with US foreign policy, this one should take the most money at the box office. Smart script, big stars, taut direction, satisfying conclusion. The political rhetoric is organic, understated but effective. A thinking person’s thriller. Let’s hope it has a big opening weekend.
Intelligence surveillance also figures in the latest dark comedy of human ineptitude from the Coen Brothers, BURN AFTER READING. In fact, it makes an interesting companion piece to BODY OF LIES.
Both depict an intelligence community out of touch and out of control. Both portray human communication as the dialogue of the deaf. Brad Pitt’s hilarious airhead demonstrates once again his flair for quirky character - he and Johnny Depp should do a buddy movie - and did Frances McDormand, with eerie prescience, somehow channel Sarah Palin when devising the perky narcissism her character required? I guess I’m having a Twilight Zone moment.
Both movies are worth seeing on the big screen.
More Fantastic Fest Foreign genre films next time.
