FEATURETTES
Epic Behind-the-Scenes Promo for Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator II' Sequel
"This is the biggest film I've been on... It's huge! Cecil B. DeMille on steroids!" Ha - thanks for that quote, Denzel. Paramount Pictures has debuted an epic behind-the-scenes featurette for Ridley Scott's Gladiator II, his long-awaited sequel to the Oscar-winning classic Gladiator from 2000. This legacy sequel is actually a direct continuation - following Lucius, the son of Maximus's love Lucilla, after Maximus's death, who ends up fighting in the Colosseum as well. A new legacy of rebellion will begin... The promo video contains tons of new footage from the movie, as well as some fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses of filming. They keep talking about how "real" this is with gigantic sets and thousands of crew members bringing Ancient Rome to life. This stars Paul Mescal as Lucius, Denzel Washington as Macrinus, Pedro Pascal as the Emperoro Marcus Acacius, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, plus Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Peter Mensah, and Derek Jacobi. As always, I want more behind-the-scenes footage, especially because Ridley Scott is so badass and I want to hear more from him. These sets look gigantic! Wow! Excited to watch this sequel when it opens soon - hoping it will live up to the glory of the awesome first movie. Strength & honor!
Watch: Tarsem Singh Chats About 'The Fall' While Reading Reviews
"I spent all my money to make the movie..." Some of you may have heard of this film before, some of you maybe not. But now it's screening again with a glorious 4K re-release thanks to Mubi – this interview might convince you to watch. Tarsem's film The Fall is considered a masterpiece by some critics, a flop by others, though it is being given a chance to shine again 18 years later with this restoration. The Fall 4K "Restored Cut" originally premiered at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival a few months ago, and just debuted streaming on Mubi. During the premiere, Letterboxd caught up with filmmaker Tarsem Singh and asked him to read some of the recent Letterboxd reviews raving about the film. The result is this extra fascinating 8-minute video where Tarsem goes on and on telling amazing stories about the film and the process and how hard it was to make & distribute. One of my favorite stories is how David Fincher & Spike Jonze agreed to put their names on it for free to help the film. The Fall stars Lee Pace in one of his first roles, with Catinca Untaru and Justine Waddell. It's a vivid, entrancing, unforgettably unique cinematic experience. So glad it exists.
› Posted on September 29 in Feat, Featurette, To Watch | Comments
First Look Featurette for 'We Live In Time' Featuring Garfield & Pugh
"It's a revolutionary act of love." A24 has unveiled a new promo featurette for the love story film We Live in Time, the latest work made by the Irish filmmaker John Crowley, best known for his two hit films Boy A and Brooklyn. This just premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival last week to glowing reviews, and it will hit theaters starting in October this fall. Get a closer look at more footage below. We Live in Time is a decade-spanning romance starring the Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. Almut and Tobias are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Through snapshots of their life together – falling for each other, building a home, becoming a family – a truth is revealed that rocks their foundation. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route that their love story has taken. The small cast also includes Adam James, Aoife Hinds, and Marama Corlett. This is looking better and better the more they show, a heartfelt and tender story about the power of love. Wish there were more behind-the-scenes glimpses in this but enjoy anyway.
› Posted on September 19 in Featurette, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Watch: Behind-the-Scenes Videos for Adam Elliot's 'Memoir of a Snail'
"We have over 200 characters in the film and every single one of them has been handmade." This is what sets stop-motion films apart. Everything is handmade by amazing craftspeople! Madman Films in Australia has revealed a series of 5 mini-featurettes for the acclaimed stop-motion animated film called Memoir of a Snail. It's the latest creation from animation maestro Adam Elliot, and it just premiered to rave reviews at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival, with a US release set for October (watch the main trailer). I'm a huge fan of this film! Set in 1970s Australia, it's a bittersweet memoir of a melancholic woman called Grace Pudel – a hoarder of snails, romance novels, and guinea-pigs – and her brother after they're separated. Featuring the voices of Sarah Snook as Grace, with Jacki Weaver, Eric Bana, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dominique Pinon, Magda Szubanski, with Nick Cave. This one is a winner - I wrote a glowing review and I'm glad it's getting more & more attention. I want more videos! The stop-motion process is so mesmerizing because of how they have to build every little tiny bit of the entire film. Enjoy the behind-the-scenes glimpses below.
› Posted on September 11 in Animation, Featurette, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Enjoy This 'The Music Within' Making Of Video for 'Joker: Folie à Deux'
"This music within him - it's messy, it's chaotic, it's expressing the complexity of love." WB has debuted a quick music featurette for Joker: Folie à Deux, premiering this week at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. We already posted the official trailer a few months ago, and with this big moment about to happen, they're ramping up the final marketing blitz. Don't forget that Joker 2 is actually a musical! They've hidden this fact from the trailers for the most part, but this making of featurette offers a quick glimpse at a few musical numbers. This all-out sequel is being described as a "musical psychological thriller" set in Gotham City, with many songs being worked into the story featuring Lady Gaga appearing as Joker's new partner Harley Quinn. Joaquin Phoenix returns as Arthur, with Zazie Beetz and a cast including Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, Steve Coogan, Ken Leung, & Harry Lawtey. From all the early buzz and all the early looks, this looks like it's going to be an incredibly ambitious follow-up to Joker. Love or hate the first movie, this sequel looks like a must see no matter what. Sing on, Arthur & Harley, sing on.
› Posted on September 3 in Featurette, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Thrilling Behind-the-Scenes Look at Jason Reitman's 'Saturday Night'
"We were trying as much as possible to recreate a set we're all familiar with." Sony Pictures has debuted a fantastic behind-the-scenes featurette for the upcoming Saturday Night movie, a new film from director Jason Reitman. It was just announced as part of the 2024 Telluride Film Festival line-up screening this weekend, premiering there before heading to TIFF next. At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed TV forever. Find out what happened in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. With Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J.K. Simmons. This is an exciting inside look at what they pulled off, including a live score by Jon Batiste in addition to everything happening in the background on set while filming. This is looking more & more like it might end up being one of the best films of the year - cannot wait to watch this.
› Posted on August 29 in Featurette, To Watch, Trailer | Comments
Laugh At This: Beetlejuice Goes on 'Hot Ones' and Argues with Keaton
"Who the hell are you?" Some might know him as... Batman! Warner Bros has dropped in a funny comedy promo for the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sequel. This highly anticipated Burton follow-up is premiering this week at the Venice Film Festival, then opening in theaters the week after. This promo is a riff on the famous Hot Ones YouTube series, featuring comedian Sean Evans interviewing celebrities while they eat chicken wings with burning hot sauce on them. But this is an unofficial riff - so it's literally just the actor Michael Keaton interviewing the character Betelgeuse, resulting in some extra strange moments. But it isn't long enough! Barely 90 seconds! I'd watch a full 15 minute YouTube with these shenanigans, but I guess they'd need the real Sean Evans from Hot Ones on there. (They did recently get Donald Duck on for real in another Hot Ones promo.) Keaton returns as the miscreant Betelgeuse and Winona Ryder stars again as Lydia, in this horror comedy sequel from maestro director Tim Burton. We've already posted all of the trailers for this movie before. Just a funny promo video to keep a buzz going before it opens in theaters soon. 🌶 Enjoy.
Nerdy Making Of Promo for Sci-Fi 'Slingshot' with Laurence Fishburne
"Slingshot is similar to Event Horizon because the ship is a character as well." Bleecker Street has unveiled a fascinating behind-the-scenes featurette for the sci-fi thriller Slingshot launching into theaters next week. It's set on a ship traveling to Saturn's moon Titan. Laurence Fishburne stars as Captain Franks, along with Casey Affleck as John, plus a supporting cast including Tomer Capone, David Morrissey, Emily Beecham, Charlotta Lövgren, Mark Ebulué, and Nikolett Barabas as the voice of "Odyssey" the spaceship system. An astronaut struggles to maintain his grip on reality aboard a possibly compromised mission to Titan near Saturn (past Jupiter). The title refers to a space travel maneuver (using gravity to "slingshot" them) that will either catapult them to Titan or send them into deep space forever. This promo video digs a bit more into the concept and what it's dealing with - human minds struggling with space travel & hibernation, and a spaceship computer that might be deceiving them. In all honesty, this featurette got me more excited to watch this film than the original trailer. Will be watching this when it's out in theaters soon.
Friendship Featurette for 'Wicked' with Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
"We have to learn about each other to get to know each other." Universal has revealed yet another behind-the-scenes featurette for the Wicked movie - in theaters in November three months from now. This video is called "The Powerful Bond of Friendship" focus on the friendship between the two lead characters and the wonderful actors who play them: Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, with green skin, and Ariana Grande as Glinda, who is obsessed with everything pink. If you follow celebrity news and have seen photos of these two together, it's all part of the marketing (their friendship is real of course), their beautiful partnership is now something to promote. After two decades as one of the most beloved & enduring musicals on the stage, Wicked makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a fabulous, generation-defining cinematic event. Directed by filmmaker Jon M. Chu (of Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part immersive, cultural celebration. It also stars Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, plus Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz. These are such delightful behind-the-scenes glimpses, showing how everyone put so much joy and love into making these two movies. From the looks of it, this is going to be a magnificent big screen experience.
Featurettes About Bear McCreary's New Score for 'The Rings of Power'
"All the crossroads converge as Galadriel faces Sauron." Prime Video has revealed a series of featurettes for Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power focusing on the score by composer Bear McCreary (known for The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, Godzilla: King of the Monsters). In Season 2, after the finale of Season 1: Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. The latest trailer looks incredible, even bigger & better this time. Bear McCreary returns after composing the score for Season 1 and continues to follow in the footsteps of maestro Howard Shore to create a new score for Middle Earth. He doesn't talk about that much in these videos below, but he does say how he's excited every single day to work on this. He talks about Galadriel fighting Sauron, the darker themes of the series, and the how they've evolved in Season 2. There's also a video with singer Rufus Wainwright working with Bear to record Tom Bombadil's Song for the series. I cannot wait for this second season to kick off - it looks truly spectacular.
Amusing Voice Actors Making-Of Video for 'Transformers One' Movie
"We get to see all these characters be elevated in a completely different way than we've seen them before." Paramount has unveiled this fun behind-the-scenes featurette for Transformers One focused on the voice cast and the actors recording their characters. T-One tells the story of how the bots Optimus and Megatron went from being friends to enemies. The sci-fi prequel is set on the planet Cybertron and will center on the relationship between two Cybertronian workers named Orion Pax and D-16, and how they turned against each other and became sworn enemies. It's directed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) and arrives in theaters starting in September - here's the main trialer. The ensemble voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth as Optimus / Orion Pax, Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron / D-16, Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, with Jon Hamm, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion. This footage is looking much, much better - don't write this one off, give it a shot. This cast is entirely top notch, everyone seems like they're having an absolute blast making this. And early word is that it actually is excellent. Enjoy.
Extensive Behind-the-Scenes Look at 'A Quiet Place: Day One' in NYC
"He really wanted different tones and textures and themes." Paramount has unveiled an 8-minute behind-the-scenes featurette for the sci-fi prequel A Quiet Place: Day One, which is now available on digital to watch at home (and on VOD soon). If you haven't caught up with it yet, this movie is one of the best summer blockbusters of 2024 and I highly recommend it. This behind-the-scenes promo video spends time exploring the making of the movie from all angles - story, cinematography, apocalyptic setting, etc. It's a nice look at what went into creating this sci-fi prequel. Lupita Nyong'o stars as a woman named Sam who gets caught up in the apocalyptic New York City mayhem when the alien creatures arrive and attack. As every street goes quiet, she is thrown together with a man named Eric. With some reluctance, the pair agree to navigate and survive the city together. The cast also includes Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou, and Alex Wolff. It's directed by filmmaker Michael Sarnoski, with cinematography by Pat Scola, both of whom are included in this featurette. Clearly most of this was shot on sound stages using blue screen to control the background.
› Posted on August 4 in Featurette, Hype, To Watch | Comments
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