In Contention

Tag: Tony Scott

  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘Salt’ sound re-recording mixer Greg P. Russell and ‘Unstoppable’ supervising sound editor Mark P. Stoeckinger

    When Oscar voters spoke up last Tuesday, two intriguing craft category nominations stuck out, both coming from the same branch: Mark P. Stoeckinger’s third bid to date for the sound editing of “Unstoppable” and Greg P. Russell’s fourteenth — yes, fourteenth — for the sound mixing of “Salt.”

    The Academy’s sound branch consists of 405 members, enough to be the fourth-largest voting block of the organization.  Including Best Picture, they have three opportunities on a nominations ballot to make their voices heard, as opposed to the usual two for other disciplines.

    It seemed a good idea to sit down with these two lone representatives of their films, given that they were ushered into the race by the same community (and hey, they share a middle initial).  Both are also coming off of nominations last year.

    After one of the most intricate jobs of his career on “Star Trek” in 2009, Stoeckinger was fortunate to work with both Ridley Scott (“Robin Hood”) and his brother Tony (“Unstoppable”) for the first time this year.  “They’re similar in that sound is an important tool for their film-going experience, for sure,” he says.  “And they’re amazingly creative guys.”

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  • Who should be on Christopher Nolan’s ‘Superman’ shortlist?

    My RSS feed was absolutely stuffed to the brim with the clamoring re-reporting of the geek press’s favorite story of the week yesterday: OMG! Christopher Nolan is meeting with a shortlist of potential “Superman” directors!

    Except the list is all wrong. The names: Tony Scott, Matt Reeves, Jonathan Liebsman, Duncan Jones and Zack Snyder.  Now, I love Reeves and Jones (the two getting most people excited) as much as the next guy. But they don’t feel thematically right for this material. And Superman boasts a scope that these directors, however talented on a smaller scale, have yet to prove capable of navigating.

    Liebsman, meanwhile, is the intriguing up-and-comer pick, and though I haven’t seen “Battle: Los Angeles,” I feel like this is just a way to insert some in-house cross-promoting potential (“from the director of ‘Clash of the Titans 2,’” you know?). And Snyder, well, I wouldn’t be entirely against it, but I’d know from the start that it would be a stylistic divergence unsuitable to the character.

    Scott is really the most interesting pick of the bunch, and if this were pre-frenetic filmmaking Scott (i.e. pre-“Enemy of the State”), I’d be all about it. I’d say the guy who copped Scott’s early style would be a better pick…

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  • 7/23 Web Round-up

    Kevin Spacey• Kim Voynar wonders where the Brat Pack for today’s generation is. [Movie City News]

    • Judd Apatow gets the MOMA treatment in NYC. [Movieline]

    • Andrew O’Hehir talks “Shrink” with actor Kevin Spacey. [Beyond the Multiplex]

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  • The movie as a surface

    Tony ScottJust the other day I mentioned the new-ish “Facebook for cinephiles” website The Auteurs and how it’s a breath of fresh for those of us who’d like to have certain classic films at the click of a button.  But in addition to the social networking component, there is also an editorial side to the site.

    The Auteur’s Notebook features frequent contributions from former Premiere film critics Glenn Kenny (which is what brought me there in the first place some months back), but the blog also features other regular authors. One such is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who, as part of his weekly “What is the 20th Century?” series of columns, has shrewdly conveyed his sentiments regarding cinema and its constructs in the modern age.

    Vishnevetsky’s most recent item concerns the leader of a film set, the director, and what that role has come to mean for a number of today’s working filmmakers.  It’s a fascinating dissection of a wide variety of helmers, from Abderrahmane Sissako to M. Night Shyamalan to Michael Bay. But what really caught my eye was Vishnevetsky’s classification of the prolific Tony Scott.

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  • What the $%@& is up with all the rehashing, Tinseltown?

    Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total RecallDoesn’t it just feel like you’re Arnold over there lately, strapped into that chair and force-fed the disgusting mindwipe that is Hollywood product these days?

    Patrick Goldstein has written a piece that touches on something that has been digging further and further under my skin the last couple of weeks: Hollywood’s disgusting rehashing of previous material.

    It’s nothing new, of course,  Remakes and sequelitis have plagued the industry from its earliest days.  When it comes to economics and brass tacks, the fact is, these places are run by business-minded individuals who look to capitalize on public interest at every turn.  And in an economy such as this, it simply spells disaster for moviegoers who long for something new.  It doesn’t even have to be GOOD but FRESH would be appreciated.  But what’s rather sad is the fact that a number of the pipelined reboots, remakes and sequels have ties to projects that never lit up the box office to begin with, clearly lost touch with audiences over the years, or in some cases, never even found much interest on home video.  How does that math compute?

    For some, it might seem like the oldest complaint in the book, but have you taken a look at what we have in store lately?  Just in the past few weeks a slew of titles have popped up either as newly announced projects or projects landing writers, directors, etc.  Do we really need a remake of “Total Recall” 19 years later?  Is America so deprived of the “Short Circuit” franchise that it needs a reboot as well (no doubt some weird capitalization on “WALL-E”)?  And a new “Scream” trilogy?  Really?

    The “Alien” prequel and “Predators” project (a sequel) have glimmers of promise but they also represent franchises that need to die a quick and merciful death.  Ditto “Robocop,” also getting the reboot treatment.  Did the box office nose dive of “Terminator Salvation” not teach these people anything?  Fox needs to buy the “Terminator” rights (which will be on the market soon) and end it all for us with “Predaterminalien.”  Just get it over with.  Smothered in the night.  There are other stories, folks.

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  • 6/2 Web Round-up

    Alien• With “The Hangover” on the way next weekend, Dave Itzkoff talks to director Todd Phillips. [New York Times]

    • Tom O’Neil remembers Jay Leno’s 12-year Emmy losing streak as the host exits “The Tonight Show.” [Gold Derby]

    • Hey, proper use of the word “exclusive” for a change (and a few days late linking).  Steve Weintraub talks to Tony Scott about the recently announced “Alien” prequel. [Collider]

    • Another late-to-link piece, but it seems Blockbuster Video will dip into the movie memorabilia racket to steer clear of fiscal life support. [Hollywood Reporter]

    • With “Revolutionary Road” making its way to DVD and Blu-ray, a quick Q&A with Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon. [Premiere]

    • 15 pages of silliness to jack up the traffic numbers: “Where are they now?” with the cast of “Friday.” [New York Daily News]

    • A list of…wait for it…the top 10 best movie punches.  Think that’s terribly specific?  Wait until tomorrow’s requisite arbitrary list link. [Rope of Silicon]

    • “Coraline” makes its way to Broadway, with analysis from the Financial District. [Wall Street Journal]

    • First look at James Cameron’s “Avatar”: screenshots from the accompanying video game?  Lame. [/Film]

    • Glenn Kenny writes up the DVD release of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Zabriskie Point.” [Some Came Running]

  • 5/25 Web Round-up

    (from left) Alison Lohman and Lorna Raver in Drag Me to Hell• Tom O’Neil chats up the actors of Broadways’ “God of Carnage.” [Gold Derby]

    • Noah Forrest gets wrapped up in the excitement of seeing “Drag Me to Hell” with an audience (a week or so after decrying the public movie-going experience). [Movie City News]

    • Indie filmmaker and noted script doctor John Sayles is trying to sell a work of historical fiction. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Vicki Reid talks “Last Chance Harvey” with Dustin Hoffman across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Anthony Breznican wraps up Cannes with a look at the convergence of light and dark subject matter. [USA Today]

    • Quentin Tarantino talks about potential trims to “Inglourious Basterds” with Anne Thompson. [The Daily Beast]

    • Tony Scott talks John Travolta’s villain and scripting a remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123.” [Empire]

    • On the road with the boys from “Spinal Tap.” [New York Times]