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Bohemian Rhapsody: Interview med Gwilym Lee aka Brian May

Interview: I forbindelse med udgivelsen af ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – filmen om det britiske band Queen og dets forsanger Freddie Murcury bringer vi her stolt et interview med skuespilleren Gwilym Lee, der i filmen spiller bandets legendariske guitarist Brian May.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ udkommer på dvd, Blu-ray og 4K Ultra HD den 18. marts.

Can you recall your first meeting with Brian May?

“We started with Live Aid. The first day Rami [Malek] came to set was the first day that all four of us were together and Brian decided that he wanted to turn up as well. So we were terrified. We had only just started and at that stage we hadn’t shot anything, so was he going to say that he was not happy, were our jobs safe? But he walked straight in the room and straight up to me and just gave me this big hug and I sensed his excitement.”

Did he show you any of his guitar moves?  

“Yes. He did. We did a pre-record session at Abbey Road before we started filming and we were all there having lunch and he leant over to me and said, ‘Do you want to have a little jam while everyone is eating?’ I was like, ‘Absolutely! Yes, please. Thank you very much.’ So he came in and his tech, Pete, who is a great guy and he had brought the Red Special with him.“

I think he made that guitar when he was about 14…

“Yes, exactly. Remarkable. That guitar sums up so much about the man. He made it with his father who was an electrical engineer. He made it as a teenager with bits he found around the house so the neck is made out of an old mahogany fireplace and the whammy bar is made out of part of an old bike saddle. He and his dad made his own pick ups. I always think that that is the perfect symbol or metaphor for Brian; it is eclectic and it is genius. It’s eccentric, eclectic genius.”

How talented a musician were you prior to this film?


“Wonderwall! Acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, campfire guitar. I certainly hadn’t played any lead and not a huge amount of electric guitars. So that was a challenge, not least to try and master those solos but also to play it in his style. He played with a sixpence, an old coin.“

There is lots of Queen footage to study but what did you to prepare for the Smile peformances?

“That’s a good question. Some of those early concerts there is no footage. In the film we perform as Smile, the pre-concert to Queen with Tim Staffell. There is no footage of that. You can hear the music and the different style of that time. It is a bit more introverted, a little bit more navel-gazy. So you’d listen and try to guess how they performed; you had to do that through your imagination. There are a few photos and talking to Brian helped, but certainly they hadn’t got to that vitriolic, glam rock stage with their physical performance.

Do you remember which album got you into Queen? 

“My older brother was really into Queen and for his birthday he had been given The Miracle, and I happened to be sick and off school on his birthday and so he had to stay at home and look after me, which he wasn’t very pleased about. But we played The Miracle back to back endlessly throughout the day and learnt all the words to I Want It All.“ 

Do you have a favourite era? 

“I love those first two albums, Queen and Queen II, because you hear them trying to find their sound. You hear, particularly on Queen, they sound quite a lot like other bands of the time. They sound a little bit like Led Zeppelin at times. They hadn’t quite discovered their true power yet and I like that rawness to them. They really sound like a young band and then it is just remarkable to think that is the same band that goes on and plays Wembley in 1985 and 1986.” 

Shooting that Live Aid set, did you do it just once or was it something that you had to keep going back to?

“It was the very first thing that we shot and we did it in the first ten days, pretty much. So we approached it one day per song. So day one we did Bohemian Rhapsody. Day two we did Radio Ga Ga and we worked through it like that. By the sixth day we had completed all of it and at that point the producers gave us the opportunity to play the 20-minute set. They set up a load of cranes, a load of cameras in various places and we played it as a real concert, which was amazing because then you realize that it is an accumulative thing.”

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ udkommer på dvd, Blu-ray og 4K Ultra HD den 18. marts.

Interview med Drew Goddard – manden bag ‘Bad Times at The El Royale’

INTERVIEW: Thrilleren ‘Bad Times at The El Royale’ udkommer nu på både dvd, Blu-ray og 4K her i landet den 14. marts. I den forbindelse bringer vi et interview med filmens instruktør, Drew Goddard.

Why choose to set this film in a location that straddles two places?

It all came out from writing. The movie started with characters, I knew I wanted a hotel but I didn’t have this idea that it would be a bi-state hotel until I started getting into the script. At the beginning the core idea was to show 7 people, from very different backgrounds, arriving to one hotel and probably trying to kill each other. The hotel happened organically. When I was thinking how I wanted to design the film and what were the emotions of the characters, there the theme of duality kept coming up, and very organically arrived the idea of the hotel reflecting that duality.

How important is the era in which this film is set?

I very much wanted to set this film in 1969 for a reason. The 60s were very much a time for turmoil and in rapid success, in just a five year period, Martin Luther King, John Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Then Nixon signed in. So this movie takes place at the dawn of the Nixon years because I wanted to show the time when the great darkness started to descend after a time of great hope. I wanted to deal with that specific place and time.

We know that there was a certain mood in the 60s in California, but what was the mood in Nevada?

In a weird way those states were the opposite of what they are right now. Nevada in the 60s was very much about hope and opportunity: the idea that you can roll the dices and change your life. There was a swingin vibe, it was the era of the Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra. Whereas California was different. California was a darker place. You had the cults like the Charles Manson’s one coming out in the 60s, you had politicians like Richard Nixon coming out from California. There was a golden seduction of California that is very different from the California of today.

What do you feel audiences at home will take away from this film?

The film is designed to warrant close details. The thing I like when I watch a movie at home is that I can really study the movie, you can really get into the details and the meanings and the nuances by watching the movie in the intimacy of your home. I’m not a purist I love both the theatre and the home experience and I hope the movie does play well in both.

You directed Chris Hemsworth in his first non-heroic role. What was it about him that made him perfect for this role?

That’s good to hear. Yes, I hope that’s true! I’ve known Chris now for like a decade, when we worked on ‘Cabin In The Woods’ it was before he got the role on ‘Thor’, so I’ve seen him evolve as a performer and I know how talented he is and how much range he has. He doesn’t get the chance to do that all the time. Because he’s so busy saving the world you know…

What was the process of creating that long scene of Jon Hamm discovering the secret passage and looking at every guest behind glass? What steps did you take and what were the challenges of that shot?

That shot was the most complicated shot I’ve ever tackled in my career. It took us 8 months of planning, because we had to build the entire set around the shot. Everything that you see happening in that shot is in the set.. You even see outdoors, you see into the parking lot, so we had to build all that as well. We did not use visual effects for all the things you’re seeing, the only visual effects is the wall behind Jon Hamm because that’s where the camera track goes. And we had to hide it. Other than that we’re just doing everything for real, because we wanted the audience to feel that they’re in that moment with Jon Hamm, experiencing the movie.  

With every twist and turn of the film, viewers learn more and more about each character. What was your process in creating characters with such depth and history?

All the story starts from the Jeff Bridges’ priest. He was the first character I thought of, there was something about the idea of a priest who is lying that was sitting right with the drama for me. And so he was the first piece to fall into place, the second was the singer. The movie is much about the two of them: the false spirituality of the priest and the false spirituality of the artist.

‘Bad Times at The El Royale’ udkommer på dvd, Blu-ray og 4K d. 14/3.

Interview med Cailee Spaeny fra ‘Bad Times at The El Royale’

INTERVIEW: Thrilleren ‘Bad Times at The El Royale’ udkommer nu på både dvd, Blu-ray og 4K her i landet den 14. marts. I den forbindelse bringer vi et interview med Cailee Spaeny fra filmen.

Would you say that Rose is a byproduct of the California culture of that era, in what way?

I think the cool part about the script is that each character is a chunk of that era. For example: music is a characteristic of that era and that’s what Cynthia Erivo’s character shows. Miles, the bellboy, he was in the vietnam war. So each character kind of represents a different aspect of that time.

You did a great job embodying the 60s/Manson-esque cult mentality, did you do any research or reading into that era to inform how you were going to play Rose?

Yes, I did lots of research. I think Chris Hemsworth’s character doesn’t really represent the Manson cult as he has different qualities. He plays a different version of that, but I did research all of the different cults among which there was the Manson’s one. It’s not a super happy thing to spend your time with, still, Drew sent me a list of documentaries that I saw: Children Of God, Jonestown… those kind of things. Almost every night I was researching cults, which is not that nice, but I got to learn a lot of things. I’ve started this movie thinking: “Why would anyone join a cult? How do you get your mind to that point?”.

The saying ‘not everything is as it seems’ rings true for Rose and the audience is quickly proven wrong on their initial assumption of your character. What was it like to evolve in to the Rose we see in the final scenes?

I just tried to stay in the moment as the character. I tried not to get into my head too much, thinking what the audience is thinking. Some actors can do this but for me if I go to work I’m just thinking about what the character has in mind, I don’t think: “Oh this is too much for the audience

Which scene was the biggest challenge to shoot?

The final killing. We wanted something slower than the other deaths. It doesn’t happen as fast as most of the other killings, because that is one of the big final deaths. We’ve fallen in love with Miles and his character and we wanted that to be very brutal, I mean in the way I twist the knife across the stomach. It is very hard to watch even for me, still it got a little silly while filming because me and Lewis Pullman were just: “This is so crazy! What is this scene?.”

Was it always you on the chandelier or a double?

We did have doubles on set but it was me swinging on the chandelier, it was very cool. One covered from my bucket list.

Were there a memorable behind the scenes moment?

So many memorable moments! Because it is such an intense script, it’s an ensemble cast and there aren’t that many people in the movie (except for the 7 main characters), therefore we all got pretty close. There were so many great moments. A lot of times Jeff Bridges would have his panoramic camera on him and right before there the rolling call he would pop into the different rooms and just take pictures of us. That was so fun!

Do these moments help?

Yes for sure, I think it’s just nice to know we’re all there to help each other, we’re all in to make a fun movie, we all had each others backs and knew how delicate for the actors the scenes were and how emotional they were. And so i think the cast, crew and Drew were all having each others back trying to make everyone’s job easier.

The majority of your scenes were shot with Dakota Johnson and Chris Hemsworth. How was it working with them?

For Dakota, thankfully we had a bond offset so the bond was there also during the scenes, there wasn’t too much of work, or acting or even pretending. We were sisters and I felt we already were when we started working, so that was nice.

Every actor learns something new with each movie they star in. What did you learn from this movie?

I just had such a lucky experience working with incredible actors, getting to see their work ethics, their different techniques… Jeff Bridges is such a legend! Getting to watch him and see how he worked was a blessing. Something i really like that he did, was that he never came on set like “Yeah yeah I got this, can we please roll? I’ve been doing this for years!”. Every time we got on set he was always asking questions, there was never anything he already knew, he always wanted to learn more.

‘Bad Times at The El Royale’ udkommer på dvd, Blu-ray og 4K d. 14/3.

Interview og rejsebeskrivelse: Hvad ville Game of Thrones være uden island?

Interview og rejsebeskrivelse: Som opvarmning til den længeventede udgivelse af den 7. sæson af den populære serie ‘Game of Thrones’, der udkommer den 11. december, bringer Filmskribenten her en rejsebeskrivelse og interview på svensk skrevet af Gunnar Rehlin.

Vi følger her guiden Einar Sveinn Thordarson, der beskriver hvorledes forskellige egne på Island er brugt som locations til indspilningen af ‘Game of Thrones’ og flere af seriens legendariske scener.

Først lidt om ‘Game of Thrones’ på Blu-ray og dvd: 
Med sine 437 minutter og eksklusivt materiale udkommer Game of Thrones sæson 7 i HD på Blu-ray samt dvd den 11. december. Oplev hele sæson 7 af Game of Thrones fyldt med action, drama og blændende billeder fra start til slut.

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Om de forskellige udgivelser af sæson 7:
Fans og interesserede kan finde sæson 7 af ‘Game of Thrones’ i forskellige formater og udgaver. Den mest prominente og eksklusive af dem alle er Drogon limited edition med sæson 1 til 7 i Blu-ray-format plus en fin detaljeret figurine af dragen Drogon.

En anden limited edition er ‘The Iron Throne’, hvor hele sæson 7 i Blu-ray-format er inkluderet + en figurine af Jerntronen. Af Drogon og ‘The Iron Throne’ limited edition vil der kun være 200 enheder til rådighed i hele norden.

Ydermere vil Game of Thrones kunne findes som bokssæt på Blu-ray og dvd med sæson 1 til 7 samt sæson 7. Der vil også være en Steelbook-udgave af sæson 7.

Både Blu-ray- og dvd-udgaverne af bokssættet indeholder aldrig-før-set historiefortælling af de syv kongedømmer, samt kommentarspor til samtlige episoder. Diskene vil også indholde to helt nye behind the scenes featuretter.

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Om Sæson 7 af ‘Game of Thrones’
Daenerys Targaryen har endelig sat kurs mod Westeros med hendes hære, drager og den nye Tyrion Lannister – ‘Hand of the Queen’. Jon Snow er blevet udnævnt konge af Norden efter at have besejret Ramsay Bolton i ‘Battle of the Bastards’ og har taget Winterfell tilbage til House Stark. I King’s Landing, har Cersei Lannister vundet ‘The Iron Throne’ ved at have brændt High Sparrow, hans følge samt rivalerne i Sept of Baelor. Mens gamle alliancer dør hen og nye opstår, marcherer en hær af døde mænd mod Muren – en hær, der truer at ende de syv kongedømmer for altid…

Interview og rejsebeskrivelse med Einar Sveinn Thordarson på svensk
 af Gunnar Rehlin
När nu säsong sju släpps på dvd och Blu-ray finns det gott om scener att se som helt eller delvis spelats in på den karga lavaön – till exempel den scen där Jon Snow och hans män omringas av The White Walkers.

– Det är en kombination av att filma på plats och att komplettera med specialeffekter, säger Einar Sveinn Thordarson på produktionsbolaget Pegasus Pictures. Han har under åren varit location manager för Game of Thrones-inspelningarna på Island. Tillsammans med seriens producenter har han tillbringat många dagar med att med flyg, jeep och bil leta passande inspelningsplatser.

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photo credit: HBO

Under några dagar gör vi samma sak – med flyg, jeep och bil reser vi runt på Island och tittar på en rad av de platser där man spelat in scener till Game of Thrones. Och om någon tror att det bara handlat om scener med snö och is, så tänk om. Här har man också hittat platser för bland annat landstigningar med båt och massiva klippformationer som den i Thingvellirs nationalpark där Brionne och The Hound hade en kamp till döds.

Under de dagar vi reser runt på ön ser vi allt från klippformationer, vattenfall, grottor – bland annat ingången till den grotta, Groytágjá, där Jon Snow och Ygritte badade nakna – och glaciärer. Det är gott om vattenfall runt de gigantiska glaciärerna; det är mycket vackert men inte ett gott tecken.

– Det betyder att uppvärmningen gör att glaciärerna smälter allt fortare, säger Einar. I en intervju i en brittisk tidning berättade nyligen Kit ”Jon Snow” Harrington om hur han när han återkom till en glaciär efter några år nästan hade svårt att känna igen sig. Så mycket hade smält bort under ett par år.

Många av inspelningsplatserna, som Myvatn-området, når vi med vanliga bilar, men när vi ska ta oss ut mot de rätt otillgängliga glaciärerna några timmars bilfärd från Reykjavik krävs det färd med stora, specialutrustade jeepar. Färden går på primitiva vägar och flera gånger färdas vi genom brusande vattendrag som nästan riskerar att rycka med den jeep vi färdas i.

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photo credit: HBO

Einar berättar om hur naturen kan förändras i princip från en dag till en annan, hur det som idag är en liten ström imorgon kan vara närmast en stor flod, vilket givetvis sätter käppar i hjulet för inspelningsteamet. Man måste därför alltid vara beredda på att improvisera, på att hitta alternativa inspelningsplatser. Vädret på Island kan vara mycket nyckfullt.

Mycket av det vi ser i ”Game of Thrones” skapas med digitala effekter. Denna dag besöker vi bland annat den ravin i Höfðabrekkuheiði-området där Jon Snow och en liten samling män från Castle Black omringades av The White Walkers och där en av drakarna sköts ner i den nu dvd-aktuella säsong sju. Det är en mäktig, hög ravin, med en fors som rinner fram i ena kanten.

– När vi hittade det här området var den där lilla forsen något som mer liknade en flod, men vi insåg att det skulle passa ändå. Vi hade base camp nere på parkeringsplatsen, och satte upp portabla toaletter i närheten av ravinen, säger Einar.

Här filmades skådespelarna, sedan kompletterades detta med de digitala effekter som skapade illusionen av en istäckt sjö – och en drake som skjuts ner och blir zombie.

En jeepfärd uppför en slingrande väg tar oss till Dyrhólaey, en högt belägen fyr med en enastående utsikt både ut över havet och, när vi vänder oss om, över berg och glaciärer.

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photo credit: HBO

Nej, fyrhuset förekommer inte i ”Game of Thrones”, utan här ser vi ut över den långs stranden som ligger långt nedanför. Einar berättar, samtidigt som han varnar oss för att gå för nära kanten:

– Här filmade vi hur Jon Snow och hans män landsteg i en episod i säsong fem. Det var gott om turister, som stod här uppe och tittade på. Det har det för övrigt ofta varit när vi filmat, men det har alltid gått att undvika att få dem med i bild.

Numera är turistindustrin Islands mest inkomstbringande näring och har gått om fiskeindustrin. Det finns gott om företag som sysslar med rundturer, flera med aktiviteter baserade kring ”Game of Thrones” – en officiell rundtur heter ”Myvatn Mystery & Magic: Game of Thrones Themed Tour”.

Turist-boomen har också gjort att fler och fler bygger om sina gårdar till hotell eller bed & breakfasts, allt från superlyx till enkla hotell med våningssängar.

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photo credit: HBO

När ”Game of Thrones” kommit till ön har detta givetvis krävt en mängd hotellrum. Ofta har skådespelare och team fått bo på något mindre luxuösa inkvarteringar.

– Jag är säker på att många skulle ha föredragit att få bo i Reykjavik, men det skulle inte fungerat när vi till exempel filmat uppe i norr. Det har ändå varit långa transportsträckor, så det skulle inte ha gått att varje morgon flyga upp dem från Reykjavik till Aukeyri, säger Einar.

Å andra sidan har de kunnat få möjligheten att avsluta dagen med ett bad i Myvatn Nature Baths – norra Islands svar på den mer berömda Blå lagunen, mindre men inte lika packad med besökare.

För islänningarna har närvaron av ”Game of Thrones” inte bara gjort att de inhemska filmarbetarna fått mer och mer erfarenhet av att arbeta med stora produktioner, utan öns befolkning har också fått erfarenhet av att vara statister. Mestadels har de fått spela vildingar.
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Eksklusivt Interview: Sir Anthony Hopkins om Michael Bays Transformers: The Last Knight

I forbindelse med udgivelsen af Michael Bays ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ bringer Filmskribenten.dk stolt et interview med Sir Anthony Hopkins, der har rollen som Sir Edmond Burton, en britisk robot-ekspert. Han forbereder i filmen Mark Wahlbergs karakter, Cade Yeager, på menneskehedens ultimative showdown med kæmperobotterne. Her taler han blandt andet om sit samarbejde med Michael Bay, den store produktion og favorit-robot.



- ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ udkommer på 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray og dvd den 9. november.


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What was it that first attracted you to The Transformers?

Michael Bay, really. We met at a hotel for breakfast, way back. And I gathered from that very first meeting that he had the whole film already in his head. I mean, he knows all about that computer stuff and will concentrate for hours just on the reflection of light off their steel to make them look real. I thought, this is going to be interesting.

He then sent me the script and told me he wanted me to play a man called Sir Edmond Burton. I said, “Sir Edmond?” Okay… He said, “Well, you’re a knight.” I said, “Okay… Is he a lord?” He said, “Yeah, an aristocrat.” I said, “Okay…” So I got the script, read it, and it was actually very, very good. I thought, I like this.

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How did you proceed?

Like everything else – learn the part; learn all the lines. But what I do know about directors like Michael Bay… You know, they have reputations for being tough. Like Oliver Stone or any of the great ones. But tough in a good way. They’re experienced and tough about what they want. And I respect that. And therefore you, the actor, you have to know what you’re doing. You have to be there ready to go.

What was the first day of shooting like?

We filmed out at this big country house. Michael came to greet me. “Hi-How-You-Doing-Okay- Great!” He talks really fast – like Speedy Gonzalez… But, you know, I’m not short of intelligence. I’ve got a couple of synapsis still working… I go in and Michael’s there and the whole crew is set up. “Can I call you Tony?” he said, “Yes, call me whatever you want to call me.”… I think he got the message quickly that I’m a team player. I’ll do whatever the director tells me to. And then they begin to trust you.

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What can you tell us about your character?

Well, I can’t tell you much… He’s an English lord, an aristocrat whose lineage goes back a thousand years, ancient families and all that – back to the court of King Arthur. And he knows that the Transformers come from that period in time and that they’re now going to take over the earth. That there’s going to be a battle with the humans.

How does the film compare in scale to your recent projects?

Oh, this is a big, big film. It’s huge. We were at Stonehenge, Blenheim Palace… We were at Downing Street – that’s never been done before. But he can get in there. Down the Mall, outside of Buckingham Palace, racing in a car with a stunt driver… Yes, I think it’s one of the biggest I’ve ever done. It’s a big, big movie.

What was it like working with Mark Wahlberg?

He’s really terrific. Excellent actor. And very quiet, actually. You know, comes on set prepared and does it. He also likes to improvise and I like that too. Honestly, when you have a good script, and this was an excellent script, the rest is easy. If a director doesn’t want you to improvise because he values his writing that much, then fine. Just learn the script. But a really good director has the capacity to say, “Okay, let’s kick this about.”

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What was the biggest challenge making the film?

No challenge. No challenge at all. It’s never a challenge. My philosophy is don’t take yourself so damn seriously. I guess I’m, as they would say today, ‘cool’, about it… I can’t take it too seriously.

Do you have a favorite Transformers movie?

I love the ones with Shia LaBeouf, especially the very first one I saw because I didn’t know what to expect. The others with Mark Wahlberg too. I’ve seen all of them now. But I can’t really pick one. I actually watched them all again before we started filming just to be fresh. I really think they’re terrific.

Do you have a favorite Autobot?

No, not really. But kids would ask me that when we were in London, when we were filming on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace. You know, all these kids were there and they wanted photographs with me. And they would ask me: “Do you know Bumblebee?” I’d say, “Yeah, very well. We had breakfast this morning!” “Yeah?”

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Michael Bay is known for favoring practical stunts over CGI whenever possible. How did you find that aspect of it?

Love it. I remember going down The Mall that day in one of the cars – we had this great American stunt driver. He tells me we’re going to go 75 mph through Admiralty Arch, which was like going through the eye of a needle in a rocket. And I just thought, well, god, I’ve had a good life… They call action. The car roars.  And the camera is on me as we go through the arch. And then we do it again. I just thought, please don’t ask for a third take, that’s pushing your luck…

What kind of film are we ultimately in store for?

I think it could be one of the best ones and one of his best films. It should be good fun.

– ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ udkommer på 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray og dvd den 9. november.

Eksklusivt: Interview med Michael Fassbender om ‘Alien: Covenant’

I forbindelse med udgivelsen af Ridley Scotts både nervepirrende og blodige ‘Alien: Covenant’ bringer Filmskribenten stolt et interview med Michael Fassbender, der har dobbeltrollen som Walter og David, eksklusivt i Danmark.

Det hele startede tilbage i 1979 med Ridley Scotts egen rumklassiker – den klaustrofobiske og yderst skræmmende ‘Alien’. Den har siden affødt den actionmættede 2’er ‘Aliens’, videre til David Finchers ‘Alien³’ og den spraglede ‘Alien Resurrection’ samt to ‘Alien vs. Predator’-film – samt ikke mindst Ridleys Scotts egne ‘Prometheus’ og nu ‘Alien: Covenant’.

– ‘Alien: Covenant’ er ude på Ultra HD, Blu-ray, dvd og digitalt den 5. oktober.

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In ‘Alien: Covenant’ you have two roles. So who is it you play alongside David?

I also play Walter who is the synthetic on the Covenant ship. He is sort of a different version of what David was, because David was very humanlike and had elements in his programming that allowed him to develop human personality traits that freaked people out. So they built the following synthetics with less of those human design traits. Walter is very much a non-emotional robot.

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Does this mean you get to act with yourself?

Indeed, there are a couple of scenes just between David and Walter. We did some cool stuff there where we filmed it with the camera on a special computerised crane. When we do the David take the movement of the crane is mapped in electronically. So when we do the reverse for Walter it will follow that same electronic path as it did for David. Then they’ll lay me in as Walter into the scene with David. That was pretty cool.

Is he still influenced by Peter O’Toole in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ as he was in ‘Prometheus’?

I am still taking that as a central thing. I don’t want to veer away too much from what people saw in ‘Prometheus’. So there are some elements that will remain constant and that sort of Peter O’Toole influence is still very much there. There is a reference to ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in a scene that I do where he is singing the song that Lawrence sings where it echoes round the valley.

So there are still those things. I think that is cool, when you do that with any franchise or running series. You can do little hat tips to previous films and have a level of consistency that the audience can anchor themselves down with.

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Playing both Walter and David must be a tremendous challenge as an actor.

It’s helpful to have a clear idea. It’s fun. When I got offered ‘Prometheus’ and went into that, I wanted to make sure that it was going to be fun doing something like this, to be part of this Alien world and work with Ridley Scott. It is really just seeing how far you can push certain things.

David is very clear to me. I understand him very well. It is just trying to find fun things to do. Sometimes they work and sometime they don’t. It was also important to find the comedy in him as well, because the film is going to be really scary. In ‘Prometheus’, even when he got his head ripped off that was kind of funny.

How much have you looked at Ian Holm’s performance as Ash in ‘Alien’ as an inspiration?

For ‘Prometheus’ I didn’t look at him at all. I didn’t look at Bishop in Aliens either. I didn’t look at any of the previous synthetic incarnations. I really rooted it in Peter O’Toole, David Bowie and Olympic diver Greg Louganis — they were my three influences for him. They remain my hook for him. I also watched ‘Blade Runner’ before ‘Prometheus’ to see the Replicants in that. This time, on the plane over to Sydney, I did watch ‘Alien’ and ‘Aliens’. Took a look to see what both robots were doing there.

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Then for Walter there is more Leonard Nimoy in there, sort of a Spock-like influence. I wanted something that was without emotional content, something that was very logical. It’s interesting looking back at Ash, I think he has purposefully played him very human. It is only after the fact, when you watch it again knowing he is a robot, you almost project the idea that he is a robot onto him.

Have you been involved in the development of ‘Alien: Covenant’ with Ridley Scott since ‘Prometheus’?

I have had conversations with Ridley for sure, every now and again, but I didn’t have a great deal of input on the script. We kept in contact. We’re friends and we have had dinners since ‘Prometheus’ and discussed it, but I can’t take any credit for any of the ideas in the script. It is as we are going along and playing I sort of add some ideas.

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Is ‘Alien: Covenant’ a different kind of film to ‘Prometheus’?

I would say that it remains in the universe. We were introduced to the Engineers in ‘Prometheus’, but they will play less of a role in this. In terms of its feel as a film, it is probably harking back more to ‘Alien’ in terms of it being a thriller. I think it will be a lot scarier than ‘Prometheus’. Once it starts, it is relentless. But not in a way that you see with a lot of action films where it is action packed.

This is psychological suspense. The elements of ‘Prometheus’ that are present are in the grandness, the world that we are trying to explore, the planet that we are on. Those things are similar. What really made ‘Alien’ stand alone is that you never left the ship, so it was a very claustrophobic experience.

– ‘Alien: Covenant’ er ude på Ultra HD, Blu-ray, dvd og digitalt den 5. oktober.

Interview med Tim Burton om inspiration, barndom og film

INTERVIEW: I forbindelse med udgivelsen af Tim Burtons seneste film, den eventyrlige Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, bringer Filmskribenten.dk med stolthed et interview med den legendariske instruktør om blandt andet arbejdet med filmen, hans inspiration og barndom.

Tim Burton er som bekendt manden bag blandt andet fremragende film som Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks! samt Corpse Bride – og med denne hans nyeste film er han tilbage med sit umiskendelige burtonske eventyrunivers.

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When you first read Ransom Riggs’ book, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, what did you make of the photographs in it?

Well that’s what drew me to it. That’s the thing I liked the most about it, was that the story was based on those old photographs. I don’t have as big a collection as he has, but I look at and collect some photographs, and I just love the mystery of them and the poetry, and the creepiness, and that there’s a story but you don’t really know what it is. It just sort of spurs your imagination to make up your own story about these things and I just thought it was an interesting way to approach the book.

Did the visual element of the book make it more complex to adapt?

The thing about the photographs is that you sort of feel things but you don’t really know everything. To try to keep the mystery without explaining everything, that aspect of it was important. Just to try to get the vibe of that, so that it’s not about, ‘Well why does this boy have bees living in him?’ It’s just to try to keep that slight air of mystery about it, where you can make up your own mind and find out your own feelings about it.

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Why did you choose to film in Blackpool, the seaside resort in the north of England? Am I right in thinking that you have filmed there before?

Yes, and that place says a lot about me! I did a Killers video there as well. There’s just something about it. I grew up on the west coast of California, and the Santa Monica pier was a similar thing. They shot a few movies there – they did this movie called Night Tide where Dennis Hopper plays a sailor who finds a mermaid. I used to go as a teenager, that sort of Quadrophenia lonely person on the dilapidated amusement pier – that just always spoke to me, and I think that’s why I kind of like Blackpool.

When did you first become familiar with the book?

It was a couple of years ago. I don’t know if I saw the book when it first came out, but somebody sent it to me. I didn’t really know that much about it, and it was good in a way because you get something fresh where you don’t have any preconceptions about it. I wasn’t reacting to whatever The New York Times said – I was just sort of reacting to it, and there was something very positive about that.

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Some have pointed out the similar premise to the X-Men film. How does Miss Peregrine fit into the landscape of superhero films?

Obviously the superhero genre is alive and well, but with this I never quite saw it that way. I always felt this was a more human version of that kind of thing, and I always saw it as less of a superpower and more of an affliction. Each kid had their own peculiarity, that’s what I was interested in. It wasn’t, ‘we’re going to save the world.’ It was, ‘we are who we are and this is our thing, and maybe we can help to get out of a problem, or deal with an issue.’

Why is it important for children to see stories like this?

If you go back before films to fairy tales – those are horrible stories. They’re graphic, grotesque, with mothers eating their children. I just always believed, that when you’re new to life, everything is just abstract. It’s horrible imagery, but they’re somehow processing something that you don’t intellectually understand yet as an adult. I think that’s an interesting thing about the power of those kinds of stories, or myself growing up with monster movies and fantasy movies. They’re not real, but they are real to me, and they help process whatever psychological things you’re trying to understand in your life.

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In the story the children are living the same day on a loop. Have you had any filmmaking experiences so gratifying that you’d relive them on loop?

Well, every day feels like it’s a loop on a film. it’s a weird concept, and I didn’t want to get too involved in the overly technical aspect of it. Growing up in Burbank or wherever you live, you feel that kind of feeling a lot, like you’re in this kind of weird bubble, and you’re in this sort of weird time warp. It’s something that didn’t feel that unusual to me, that feeling.

What were you like as a child?

Well, I mean, I feel a bit like Benjamin Button. I’ve talked to a lot of kids this way. When I was young, I felt like I was about 80 years old, and I think just this morning I hit 13. That’s why I give kids more credit. Parents go, ‘Oh, that’s too scary.’ It’s like, kids know their own boundaries with this sort of stuff. I think that you sort of always feel the same way, in a funny way. I was kind of the same as now, only smaller.

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Why was Samuel L. Jackson right for the part of Barron, the bad guy?

Well, Sam is a guy I just always wanted to work with. He works a lot, but he’s one actor where I don’t get tired of him. If he’s in a movie, I just want to see it. Also, it was great to give him a look that he’s never had before, and to give him a different vibe. The poor guy, it’s like, ‘Would you mind if we wire you and yank you across here?’ or ‘Oh, we’re going to set you on fire today.’

With a reputation like yours, do you become more self-aware of how a ‘Tim Burton’ movie feels?

It’s a very interesting point, and if you ask anybody who is around me, to my own detriment, I’m very techno shy – I don’t go on the internet. I spent my whole life as a child always categorising that I was that thing, I was ‘the weird kid’. So you spend your whole life trying to become a human being, and then I kind of hit a point where I became a human being, and then I became a thing again, so I just avoid that very strongly. I don’t like hearing about myself, I don’t go on the internet. I just don’t do it, because of that reason.

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How does having a cast of children affect the process? Some were studying for exams. Is that an added stress?

They’re all different ages so it was all over the place. It was interesting because they were all doing that, but they bonded. That made me feel good because they became a group, just fending off their own school work. They were a good bunch of kids, but no, you’re right, it does take patience.

How was it to work with Judi Dench?

Oh, well she’s great. She caught the crossbow on the first take. She’s a real professional. Again, it’s funny to work with these kinds of people, like Sam and her, in a different way than they’re kind of used to. It’s not your typical Dame Judi Dench type movie, whatever that is. But the amazing thing is meeting people like that that have been through so much, and that they still have that spark and curiosity and artistry and positive spirit.

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Do you enjoy the day-to-day? Is being on set the biggest thrill?

It’s the most interesting, because it’s where it’s all happening and everything goes wrong, so you feel like a manic-depressive – ‘Have I taken my medication today?’ You’re up and down. Look, there’s no complaints because there are much worse jobs to have, and it’s a great thing. Yes, I much prefer that than I do, say, trying to pitch it to the studio, or talking about it afterwards. Because you’re just kind of in there, and all the outside bizarre bureaucratic things go away, and you’re just left with the elements, which is the best.

You filmed a portion of this movie in Florida. Is that your first time shooting there since Edward Scissorhands?

Yes. In fact I visited the neighbourhood there, and the thing that struck me the most was that the trees were like 50 feet tall. That made me feel really old. You go to this neighbourhood and don’t recognise it. It’s a funny place, Florida. But that was in the book, so I didn’t make that one up

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children udkommer på dvd, Blu-ray og Ultra HD den 16. februar.

Q&A med filmskaberen J.J. Abrams

I forbindelse af udgivelsen af J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness bringer Filmskribenten en Q&A med instruktøren om arbejdet med filmen, hvor han både kommer omkring om store budgetter, Star Trek-castet og hemmelighedskræmmeri.

Filmskribenten: Nu hvor du rebootede Star Trek-universet med din film fra 2009, hvilke tanker gjorde du dig så i forbindelse med at skulle vende tilbage til universet?

Abrams: Det er ofte sådan med sequels, at man går ud fra, at man som publikum også har set den forrige film. Så man er på en måde nødt til at arbejde på at forny engagementet, hvis du forstår. På den måde kan man sige, at vores tilgang til at lave Star Trek Into Darkness, var som at skulle lave en helt ny film, uden at tænke, det var nødvendigt at have set den første. Det var nøglen, om man så må sige. Så hvis man eksempelvis ikke er fan af Star Trek-universet – eller aldrig har set noget af det, du ved, tv-serierne og filmene – så fungerer denne også for dig. Det håber jeg i hvert fald.

Filmskribenten:
Var der andre udfordringer i forbindelse med filmen?

Abrams: Man kan sige, at denne film er meget større end den første. Vi kiggede for eksempel på dobbelt så mange locations, som vi gjorde på den forrige film. Udfordringen var også, hvordan vi brugte pengene fornuftigt – du ved, bare fordi man har et stort budget, har man aldrig penge nok, ha ha. Det er helt sindssygt hvor dyre sådanne film er. Men vi sluttede faktisk før den planlagte tidsplan og holdt os indenfor budgettet.

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Filmskribenten: Nu har filmen jo i mine øjne en ret cool skurk og jeg synes, at Benedict Cumberbatch er virkelig god. Men hvordan vil du beskrive skurkerollen?

Abrams: Det, der i mine øjne gør denne skurk så god er, at hvis du spørger ham, hvem skurken er – altså Benedicts karakter – så vil han aldrig pege på sig selv. Han ser ikke sig selvom som skurken, men er helt rationel og ærlig, både overfor sig selv og publikum, om hvad hans mål er – uanset om man så måtte være uenig med hans mål og metoder at opnå dem på.

Filmskribenten:
Star Trek har en enorm fanbase, så tørsten efter at følge med i tilblivelsen af sådan en film er jo enorm – og der er jo også mange mennesker involverede i produktionen. Så hvad gør du for, at der ikke slipper noget ud?

Abrams: Haha, jeg gør bare mit for ikke at besvare spørgsmål fra journalister som dig. Men det er klart, at jeg informerer crewet og de medvirkende om, at vi holder kortene tæt ind til kroppen. Vi vil jo i vidt mulig udstrækning  bevare overraskelserne til publikum. Mere konkret sørger vi blandt andet for ikke at uddele manuskriptet til højre og venstre. Som du måske ved, så skrev jeg et Superman-manuskript for nogle år siden, og det blev anmeldt før filmen overhovedet blev lavet. Det stoppede produktionen, og var en katastrofe. Her lærte jeg min lektie. Du ved, vi laver jo ikke manuskripter, som folk skal se, men vi laver film, der skal ses.

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Filmskribenten: Men for lige at vende tilbage til selve filmen, hvordan vil du så beskrive dens tone? Vil du sige, at den er mere dyster end den første?

Abrams: Man kan sige, at filmen aldrig slipper sin menneskelighed og humor. Men det er jo grundlæggende en fortælling om familie – altså blandt andet crewet ombord på Enterprise – så på den måde er der også meget på spil. Der er så at sige vigtige, menneskelige relationer mellem karaktererne. Alle har fra starten en helt personlig mission, eller rejse foran sig. Angående om filmen er mere dyster, så kan man måske sige, at den muligvis dystre tone mere er personlig og indadvendt, end gældende for den overordnede fortælling.

Filmskribeneten:
Nu vi taler om filmens karakterer, hvordan vil du så beskrive dit forhold til dem – og er der en, du bedst kan relatere til?

Abram: Jeg elsker alle sammen. Selvfølgelig. Men jeg har for eksempel aldrig været lige så intelligent eller logisk tænkende som Spock, og heller ikke lige så kvik som Kirk. Jeg er dog heller ikke hverken Chekov, Bones eller Sulu. Men ja, jeg forstår dem alle sammen. Hvem de er og hvorfor de handler, som de gør – selvom, der ikke lige er en, jeg kan spejle mig selv i hundrede procent.

Filmskribenten: Nu er der jo et fast cast fra den første film, der går igen i Star Strek Into Darkness. Men der er også nye ansigter, så som Benedict Cumberbatch. Hvordan har det fungeret at skulle inddrage nye skuespillere på holdet?

Abrams: Det kan godt være noget af en opgave for en skuespiller at skulle indgå i et allerede etableret hold. Men med Benedict, eller for den sags skyld Alice Eve og Peter Weller, var det en smertefri forøgelse, både for mig, men også for dem. De blev hurtigt en del af familien, så at sige. Og jeg elsker Benedict, både i filmen, men også som person, hvilket er en hjælp, når man skal arbejde så tæt sammen.

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Filmskribenten: Som du nævnte tidligere, er Star Trek Into Darknees en væsentlig større film end sin forgænger. Er der noget du har lært af den første film, som du kunne bruge her i anden omgang?

Abrams: Helt grundlæggende forsøger jeg som filmskaber at lære mere om faget, og da jeg jo har arbejdet meget med tv, er også det at tænke filmisk, noget jeg hele tiden forsøger at blive bedre og bedre til. Men ja, der er klart ting, jeg ville ønske, jeg havde gjort i den første film. Det fik jeg så mulighed for at gøre med denne opfølger, hvilet har været sjovt og givende – både personlig, men også rent fagligt.

Filmskribenten:
Nu du nævner dit arbejde med tv, så har du jo mange forskellige projekter kørende på samme tid. Hvordan balancerer du alle disse forskellige projekter?

Abrams: Nu arbejder jeg heldigvis sammen med nogle virkeligt hårdtarbejdende mennesker, der er rigtig gode til det, de gør. For mig er fordelen ved det blandt andet, at jeg føler, der også er plads for mig til hele tiden at blive en bedre producent, forfatter og historiefortæller. Men en af de ting, der gør, at jeg kan bevare en vis balance i mit arbejde er, at jeg hver dag kommer hjem til min familie. Du ved, mine børn og kone. Hun er desuden den mest brutalt ærlige person, jeg nogensinde har mødt. Så det er noget, jeg sætter stor pris på.

Filmskribenten: Jamen, det er jo et meget fint at ende interviewet i familiens skød. Tak for din tid – jeg glæder mig til at følge dit arbejde fremover.

Star Trek Into Darkness udkommer på Blu-ray og dvd den 10. oktober. Følg med her på sitet, hvor Blu-ray-udgivelsen vil blive anmeldt.

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview med Martin Scorsese

I forbindelse med udgivelsen af instruktøren Martin Scorseses seneste film, den  eventyrlige Hugo, er det en fornøjelse, at jeg her på MTV at the Movies kan bringe et eksklusivt interview med manden, der bl.a. også står bag Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas og The Departed. Han en af undertegnede absolutte favoritter og taler her bl.a. om det at arbejde med 3D samt hans tanker om filmmediets fremtid.

– Hej Martin, cool at du vil snakke med mig om Hugo. Men lad os hoppe ud i det. Jeg tænker, at du må have mødt nogle nye udfordringer, da det jo er din første film i 3D – kan du fortælle lidt om det?

Det var rigtig sjovt, men det gav også en del hovedbrud – men det var fornøjelige hovedbrud, kan man sige. Alle på holdet kan fortælle, at hvert skud var som en ny opdagelse – en ny måde at tænke i billeder på. Både i forhold til 3D-elementet, men også det, at filmen visuelt er baseret på en drengs hukommelse af Paris omkring 1930.

– Hvordan kan det være, at du overhovedet valgte at kaste dig over 3D?

Lige meget hvor vanskeligt det måtte blive, så tænkte jeg også, at det ville være sjovt at starte et nyt sted. Jeg ville teste grænserne og se hvor langt vi kunne gå. Jeg elskede bl.a. muligheden for at bruge dybde på en ny måde. 3D er spændende, men kræver også respekt. Sandheden er, at jeg altid har været interesseret i 3D og jeg følte, at Hugo var den perfekte mulighed for at udforske mediet.

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EXCLUSIVE: Interview med Mark Wahlberg

I forbindelse med udgivelsen af Peter Jacksons seneste film, den overnaturlige drama-thriller The Lovely Bones bringer MTV at the Movies i samarbejde med Paramount Pictures et interview med Mark Wahlberg – eksklusivt i Danmark. Her fortæller han bl.a. om det at være far, hvorfor filmen var hård at lave og om at ville være et godt menneske.


– Hey Mark, cool du vil tale med mig om The Lovely Bones. Men lad os straks springe ud i det. Filmen beskæftiger sig med alvorlige emner som døden og sorg. Som far, hvordan var det så at arbejde med en historie, der centrerer sig om mordet på en lille pige?

”Det var hårdt, netop pga. de hårde emner. Jeg forsøgte ikke at tage det med mig, når jeg forlod optagelserne, men så havde jeg bare mareridt om det.”

– Du kunne altså ikke lade rollen og filmen blive på settet?

”Nej, ikke rigtigt. Det er bare sådan jeg arbejder – og det skræmte mig også, da jeg sagde ja til filmen. Jeg har jo nogle skønne børn, som betyder alt for mig, så det var hårdt at have filmen hængende i hovedet hele tiden.”

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