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Michael Showalter Interview

Spoiler Alert is the latest from director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) and I recently had the chance to discuss the project…

Matt:  You’ve had a busy few years working as a director in both film and television.  Has your approach to direction changed will all the additional experience under your belt?

Michael:  I feel like I learn something from every project.  I enjoy the process quite a bit.

Matt:  How did you first hear about this script?

Michael:  I read in the trades that Jim Parsons had optioned the book.  I was curious about the project in terms of wanting to work with Jim.  I contacted them and asked if they had a director.  They then sent me the book which I read.  I loved it and responded to it and I felt there was something really special there.  I then teamed up with Jim and his company, and we found a writer from there.

Matt:  Some movies about death tend to shy away from the heavier stuff but here, we have a lot of graphic scenes taking us inside the world of a cancer suffered… right up to the final hours and the final goodbyes.  Was that a creative choice?

Michael:  Yeah.  That’s what so much of the book is about.  It’s not whether or not someone will die, but rather how you cope with it and persevere.  How does it change you and how does it change them?  The movie was always an exploration of what happens in that period of time.  We didn’t want to shy away from it but we also didn’t want to make it exploitative.  It was a fine line we walked.

Matt:  The film is based on the memoir written by Michael Ausiello.  Was he involved at all with the production?

Michael:  Yeah, very involved.  He was on set every day and he was a producer on the movie.  He was a source of information and guidance.  All of the Smurfs in the movie are his.  He temporarily donated them to the movie.

Matt:  I was going to ask about that – how long it took to create that unique interior decoration?

Michael:  He had his Smurf collection packed up from a storage house in New Jersey to us so it could be used in the film.

Matt:  The early scenes of Spoiler Alert take us back to the late 1990s and we see things like business cards, and old-school cameras, and TV shows like Felicity.  Were there any challenges at all in re-creating that era?

Michael:  It was fun to be reminded of that.  I remember when CDs were described as modern and people lamented the phasing out of albums.  Now, CDs and DVDs feel so old now.  I was in my 20s living in New York during the 1990s and it brought back a lot of memories.

Matt:  A lot has been made in recent years about straight actors playing gay characters.  I note here you’ve gone with two openly gay actors in the lead roles.  Was it something you gave thought to?

Michael:  It was important to me that they were.  I have nothing against straight actors playing gay people and vice versa but in this movie, I really wanted to see two gay men playing these gay men.  Only because it’s not as common as it should be.  I’d like it to be so common that it wouldn’t even be noticeable.  For the physical attraction and intimacy these two characters share, I wanted the chemistry to be increased by know they are gay men.  Just like a heterosexual on-screen couple, I wanted a part of audiences to wonder whether these two are in love.

Matt:  I also note a lot of other cast members, people like Nikki M. James and Bill Irwin, have a strong background in live theatre.  Was that a conscious decision?

Michael:  I love theatre.  We shot the movie in New York and we were looking to have local actors in the movie.  It’s not a coincidence they were the right people for the movie.  Jim Parsons is heavily involved in theatre right now.  It wasn’t discussed but I was interested in working with New York actors on this project.

Matt:  Without giving too much away, there is a dreamlike, semi-cliched television show within the movie.  As a director, did you approach those scenes differently?

Michael:  Stylistically, we wanted it to look like an 80s sitcom.  We used different colours, and had the actors act differently.  I thought it was an interesting way to reveal things about the characters which were different and maybe a little surprising.  It’s true about a lot of us who grew up in the 1980s that TV influences so much of the way we think and look at the world and the stories we tell.  It was important to show that.  Michael Ausiello, as played by Jim Parsons, is a TV writer.  He’s so immersed in the stories of television and I wanted to convey that in this movie.  He makes sense of the world through television in a lot of ways.

Matt:  What are you working on at the moment?

Michael:  I directed a romantic drama/comedy in the fall starring Anne Hathaway.  I’m editing that as we speak.  I hope that comes out sometime in the next year.

Since 2011, I have been pulling together a list of the best movies of the year according to the Brisbane-based critics who I run into regularly at preview screenings.  Films to have topped prior year lists have been Drive in 2011, Argo in 2012, Gravity in 2013, Boyhood in 2014, Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015La La Land in 2016, Get Out in 2017, The Favourite in 2018, Parasite in 2019Nomadland in 2020, and Nine Days in 2021

To come up with an overall top 10, I’ve used a simple points system and applied it to the list of each critic. It is as follows:
 - 3 points for the top film on each list.
 - 2 points for the films ranked between 2nd and 5th on each list.
 - 1 point for the films ranked between 6th and 10th on each list.

If two films finished on the same score, the film that appeared on the greater number of top 10 lists is ranked higher (as an indication of wider approval). If that's the same, it goes to an average of the individual rankings of each film.

The 10 list includes movies released in Australian cinemas and also those made available on streaming platforms.

There were 3 standout films which appeared on more than 50% of lists.  Topping the table this year was Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin which was released in Australia in Boxing Day and has since picked up 9 Academy Award nominations.

Rounding out the placings were the surprise hit Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the action blockbuster Top Gun Maverick. They too have been showered with love this awards season.

Four non-English language films earned spots in the top 10 – Drive my Car from Japan, Decision to Leave from South Korea, Petite Maman from France, and RRR from India.

An interesting mix of genres rounded out this year’s list. We have a “neo-Western science fiction horror film” Nope, the dark comedy The Menu, the superhero movie The Batman, and the documentary Fire of Love.

As always, it’s a great list of movies. Hunt them down on streaming services if you missed them in cinemas.

 

On that note, here are the top 10 movies of 2022 according to Brisbane critics…

Brisbane Film Critics - Top 10 of 2022
1.  The Banshees of Inisherin
2.  Top Gun Maverick
3.  Everything Everywhere All at Once
4.  Nope
5.  Drive My Car
6.  The Menu
7.  The Batman
8.  Petite Maman
9 (tie).  Decision to Leave
9 (tie).  Fire of Love
9 (tie).  RRR

You can view a table of all the votes and final scores by clicking here.

A big thanks to all who submitted their lists. If you're a Brisbane critic would like to contribute in future years, please reach out to me on social media.

You can check out information on all the Brisbane critics (along with their choices for the best and worst of 2022) below.
 


 

Matthew ToomeyMatthew Toomey

Born in Brisbane, Matt Toomey was introduced to the world of cinema when he landed a job at a video store fresh out of high school in 1995. A few years later, he started his own website and reviewed movies regularly on a community radio station. In 2005, he joined the team at 612ABC and can be heard reviewing the latest releases every Thursday morning. He can also be heard weekly on regional ABC throughout Queensland.

Website: thefilmpie.com
Twitter: @ToomeyMatt

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
2. Lost Illusions
3. Top Gun Maverick
4. The Banshees of Inisherin
5. Flee
6. C'mon C'mon
7. Quo Vadis, Aida?
8. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
9. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
10. Full Time
 
Best Australian Film:
Blaze
Best Animated Film:
Flee
Best Documentary:
Flee
Best Performance:
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Worst Film:
Moonfall
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Barbarian
Everything Everywhere All At Once

 

Sarah WardSarah Ward

Sarah Ward is a film critic, arts and culture writer, and film festival organiser. She is Concrete Playground’s film and TV editor and critic, Screen International’s Australia-based critic, a writer for the Goethe-Institut Australien’s Kino in Oz, and a contributor to Flicks Australia, SBS, SBS Movies and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Her work has been published by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, AACTA, Birth.Movies.Death, Junkee, FilmInk, Lumina, Senses of Cinema, Broadsheet, Televised Revolution, ArtsHub, ScreenHub, Metro Magazine, Screen Education and the World Film Locations book series. She is also a film critic for ABC radio, and has worked with the Brisbane International Film Festival, Queensland Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival.

Websites: concreteplayground.com
screendaily.com/sarah-ward/1100859.contributor
goethe.de/ins/au/en/kul/sup/kio.html
flicks.com.au/author/sarah-ward/
sbs.com.au/guide/person/sarah-ward
sbs.com.au/movies/person/sarah-ward
awfj.org/blog/author/wardsarah/
Twitter: @swardplay

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Decision to Leave
2. Moonage Daydream
3. The Banshees of Inisherin
4. Drive My Car
5. Petite Maman
6. Everything Everywhere All at Once
7. Nope
8. Bones and All
9. Red Rocket
10. After Yang
 
Best Australian Film:
The Stranger
Best Animated Film:
Belle
Best Documentary:
Moonage Daydream
Best Performance:
Tang Wei (Decision to Leave)
Worst Film:
Father Stu
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Ambulance
Decision to Leave

 

Garry WilliamsGarry Williams

Garry Williams is a reviewer for Film Club, a radio program broadcast on 4ZZZ-FM each Thursday from 7-8pm.

Website: 4zzz.org.au/program/film-club
Twitter: @thegeegenie

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Fire of Love
2. Moonage Daydream
3. The Northman
4. Parallel Mothers
5. The Stranger
6. Nightmare Alley
7. Amsterdam
8. The Eyes of Tammy Faye
9. Official Competition
10. The Batman
 
Best Australian Film:
The Stranger
Best Animated Film:
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Best Documentary:
Fire of Love
Best Performance:
Viola Davis (The Woman King)
Worst Film:
Moonfall
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
The Gray Man
Fire of Love

 

Peter GrayPeter Gray

Peter Gray is a Brisbane based, Rotten Tomatoes certified freelance entertainment writer specialising in film. Currently the entertainment reporter/film reviewer for QNews, Queensland’s largest LGBT publication, head film critic for The AU Review, and regular contributor to Brisbanista, CRPWrites and This Is Film.

Website: rottentomatoes.com/critic/peter-gray/movies
Twitter: @ratedPDG

 
Top 10 Films:
1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
3. Top Gun Maverick
4. Nope
5. Glass Onion
6. Cha Cha Real Smooth
7. The Batman
8. Red Rocket
9. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
10. Causeway
 
Best Australian Film:
Sissy
Best Animated Film:
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Best Documentary:
Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi
Best Performance:
Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande)
Worst Film:
Morbius
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Orphan: First Kill
The Banshees of Inisherin

 

Ella DonaldElla Donald

Ella Donald is a writer, change and communications professional, and PhD candidate. She has written for publications like GQ magazine (Australia, Middle East), CNN, The Guardian, and ABC.

Website: elladonaldwriter.wordpress.com
Twitter: @ellafdonald

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Top Gun Maverick
2. Petite Maman
3. C'mon C'mon
4. RRR
5. Bergman Island
6. Elvis
7. Red Rocket
8. Matilda: The Musical
9. Everything Everywhere All at Once
10. After Yang
 
Best Australian Film:
n/a
Best Animated Film:
Turning Red
Best Documentary:
Flee
Best Performance:
Austin Butler (Elvis)
Worst Film:
n/a
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Matilda: The Musical
Top Gun Maverick

 

David EdwardsDavid Edwards

David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb Magazine and writes about film and television.

Website: www.theblurb.com.au
Twitter: @TheBlurbMag

 
Top 10 Films:
1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
3. Decision to Leave
4. The Menu
5. Drive My Car
6. Nope
7. Top Gun Maverick
8. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
9. Bones and All
10. Parallel Mothers
 
Best Australian Film:
The Drover's Wife
Best Animated Film:
Strange World
Best Documentary:
The Sound of 007
Best Performance:
Tang Wei (Decision to Leave)
Worst Film:
Ambulance
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Bones and All
The Banshees of Inisherin

 

Rob HudsonRob Hudson

Rob Hudson is the editor of popular culture website modmove.com and reviews film, theatre and music.

Website: modmove.com
Twitter: @modmove

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Prey
2. The Woman King
3. The Menu
4. Nope
5. The Duke
6. Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
7. Nitram
8. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
9. Kimi
10. Glass Onion
 
Best Australian Film:
Nitram
Best Animated Film:
Turning Red
Best Documentary:
Vinyl Nation
Best Performance:
Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)
Worst Film:
Blonde
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
The Good Guys
Prey

 

Baz McAlisterBaz McAlister

Walkley Award winning journalist Baz McAlister is a writer and deputy night editor at The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail, and co-hosts 'Force Material', a podcast about the secrets, history and influences of Star Wars.

Website: bazmcalister.wordpress.com
www.forcematerial.com
Twitter: @bazmcalister

 
Top 10 Films:
1. RRR
2. The Banshees of Inisherin
3. Top Gun Maverick
4. All Quiet on the Western Front
5. Belfast
6. Fresh
7. Barbarian
8. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
9. X / Pearl
10. Clerks 3
 
Best Australian Film:
The Stranger
Best Animated Film:
Lightyear
Best Documentary:
Nalvany
Best Performance:
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Worst Film:
Unchartered
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Fall
RRR

 

Nick L'BarrowNick L'Barrow

Nick specialises in 60 second movie reviews on his Instagram profile - covering all the major releases and indie films that hit Australia. Nick is also a featured reviewer for Novastream Network and Film Notions.

Website: instagram.com/nicksflicksfix
Twitter: @NicksFlicksFix

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Top Gun Maverick
2. Cha Cha Real Smooth
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once
4. Jackass Forever
5. The Batman
6. The Stranger
7. Nope
8. The Banshees of Inisherin
9. Armageddon Time
10. The Black Phone
 
Best Australian Film:
The Stranger
Best Animated Film:
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Best Documentary:
My Old School
Best Performance:
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Worst Film:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Smile
Top Gun Maverick

 

Hannah GrzesiakHannah Grzesiak

Hannah is a regular critic and reviewer on the weekly 4zzz radio show, Film Club which airs at 7pm on Thursday evenings.

Website: 4zzz.org.au/program/film-club
Letterboxd: @honiglieber

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Drive My Car
2. The Banshees of Inisherin
3. Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone
4. Fire of Love
5. The Souvenir: Part II
6. De Humani Corpis Fabrica
7. Because We Have Each Other
8. Petite Maman
9. Both Sides of the Blade
10. Crimes of the Future
 
Best Australian Film:
Because We Have Each Other
Best Animated Film:
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Best Documentary:
Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone
Best Performance:
Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Worst Film:
Avatar: The Way of Water
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
De Humani Corpis Fabrica
Drive My Car

 

Jacob RichardsonJacob Richardson

Jacob Richardson runs Film Focus Magazine. His reviews can be found there, as well as in local Brisbane publications My Village News, and a series of NSW newspapers.

Website: filmfocusmagazine.com
instagram.com/filmfocusau
Twitter: n/a

 
Top 10 Films:
1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. Avatar: The Way of Water
3. Spencer
4. The Menu
5. The Northman
6. Everything Everywhere All at Once
7. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
8. The Phantom of the Open
9. Full Time
10. The Batman
 
Best Australian Film:
Sweet As
Best Animated Film:
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Best Documentary:
Running with the Devil
Best Performance:
Ralph Fiennes (The Menu)
Worst Film:
Moonfall
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Puss in Boots; The Last Wish
The Banshees of Inisherin
Shekhar Kapur Interview

What’s Love Got to Do with It? is the latest effort of director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth).  I recently spoke to him about the project…

Matt:  Elizabeth: The Golden Age came out back in 2007 and was your last movie. I’ve got to ask – what have you been up to over the past 15 years?

Shekhar:  I’ve done a lot of stage musicals all over the world.  I’ve also been doing television such as a series about the young William Shakespeare.  I’ve been busy but I haven’t done a feature film in a while.

Matt:  How did this script from Jemima Khan first come across your radar?

Shekhar:  I worked with Working Title before who produced Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.  They reached out to me, I read the script, and I said I’d do it.  It sounded really interesting.

Matt:  What was it about the script that made you want to get involved?

Shekhar:  I was fascinated by Zoe, the lead character played by Lily James.  I’m fascinated by the idea of intimacy and where it’s going in society.  Where are apps like Tinder leading us?   I’m not taking a moral view but I’m trying to show there’s a fundamental human need for intimacy… but is casual sex the way to get it?  I remember doing the same thing in London as an 18-year-old.  I can’t remember forming any meaningful relationships out of casual sex but maybe that’s just me.

I found it interesting that a girl of Zoe’s age is looking for that online and then explores other ways to find intimacy.  Just when you think that her old friend knows exactly what to do, you realise she doesn’t.  What I like about the script is that everyone is in the same boat and everybody is yearning for that mysterious thing called love.  Life is a mystery and that’s really why I wanted to make the film – to reinforce that. 

Ultimately, I wanted to explore love from different angles – a mother’s love for her son, a girl’s love for a boy, a father’s love for his son.  The moment the family comes into the story, everyone in the world will respond.  We like to think different nationalities have different family dynamics but that’s often not the case.  When I had the first screening of the film for the cast and crew, three different came up to me and said the grandmother character was exactly like their own.

Matt:  This is your first romantic comedy – a genre which puts a smile on people’s faces but which can also be very formulaic and predictable.  Are there rom-coms from other directors which you look up to and use as a benchmark for what you want to achieve here?

Shekhar:  For me, other rom-coms seems to come to a conclusion.  This film doesn’t do that.  It’s forgiveness, and being honest with each other, and being close with each other.  There’s no ribbon on the top, and it doesn’t provide all the answers, and it doesn’t have a scene where they run after each other at the railway station.  It’s a more “searching” rom-com.  They’re not fairy tale characters.  These are real, every day character.

Matt:  A more traditional rom-com would have just had the two protagonists chatting back and forth but there’s an extra layer here with Zoe (Lily James) being a documentary filmmaker and making a movie within the movie.  Do you approach those scenes any differently?

Shekhar:  A lot of those things were already there in Jemima’s script.  It wasn’t an easy film to make but I said let’s go for it.  Those scenes are designed to make audiences reflect.  It’s like the characters are narrating their own story to you… and yet they don’t know.

Matt:  The film makes several references to the way in which white British people are perceived differently from non-whites.  Sometimes this is done dramatically and sometimes through comedy – like the joke about having to get to the airport earlier.  It’s obviously a topic you wanted to highlight?

Shekhar:  Yes, absolutely.  Emma Thompson is great as Cath.  Of all the characters, she’s the one who aspires to do the right thing but gets it wrong all time.  She’s say a line like “Kaz is so good looking… he almost doesn’t look Muslim.”  You can’t say that.  She’s both appreciating him and also being caught in the dilemma of what used to be.  Yet, she’s the one who aspires most to be Asian because of the way she dresses.

Matt:  Emma Thompson is having a sensational year after Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Matilda: The Musical.  She gets so many great one-liners here as the nosy, pushy, inquisitive mum.  How did she come on board the project?

Shekhar:  She read the script and we spoke.  Jemima was very persuasive also.  It’s hard to get great actors attached to your script.  It’s their job to examine and try to find out if they can “be” that part.  Once she realized the script had something deeper than the words, she went for it.

Matt:  And I have to ask how you settled on Lily James and Shazad Latif in the two lead roles?

Shekhar:  I didn’t know they were friends before and it was only after I cast them that I realized.  I hadn’t met Lily previously but we had long conversations during the pandemic about what life and love is about.  That’s how she came on board.  With Shazad, I did an audition and I realized he could be the perfect person to come across as dependable and solid.  He knows what he’s doing with his life whereas she’s all over the place.  In then flips, when he falls in love and everyone is in the same place. 

Matt:  I believe this was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic so I’m curious to know if it was all shot in a single location or the cast and crew travel between the UK and Pakistan?

Shekhar:  It was tough to do.  Most of the film was shot in London but we did go to Pakistan. 

Matt:  Anything you’re working on at the moment?  I hope it won’t be another 15 years before we see another movie from you.

Shekhar:  I’m doing another big stage show but I’m also in prep for a movie on water and a city has to come to grips with a water shortage.  When people in power have the water, they use it as a tool to economically oppress other people.

Mariana Treviño Interview

Based on a 2015 Swedish film, A Man Called Otto arrives in Australian cinemas on 1 January 2023.  I recently spoke to one of its supporting stars, Mariana Treviño, about the project…

Matt:  Otto has put up some strong emotional barriers but of all the people in the film, it’s Marisol who cuts through those barriers best.  What is it about your character that you think makes her so successful in doing that?

Mariana:  We Latin people are very expansive and we often barge into a neighbourhood with that energy.  I barge into Otto’s life in a similar fashion but not in an invasive manner.  It’s more like a burst of life and it helps her establish an immediate closeness with Otto.  There’s an instant connection beyond what is rational.  I think we Latin people have that ability and that is portrayed in the film.

Matt:  Marisol is a very animated, chatty person who loves to gesticulate.  Is it a personality you could easily relate to, or did it require a bigger transformation?

Mariana:  It’s a personality I can relate to, but I am more reserved and less friendly than Marisol.  It was within me and so I could tap into the character and it was a joy to do it.

Matt:  She has such a great spirit to her.  What is it you want audiences to take away from the movie in terms of her character?

Mariana:  The idea that anybody can make us reconnect back with life if we’re receptive to the people who are around us.  It doesn’t have to be a very close person.  It can just be someone who comes to you and open up.

Matt:  You get to work alongside one of Hollywood’s most loved actors, Tom Hanks.  Instead of asking if there was anything you learned of him, I’ll flip it around and ask if there was anything you were able to teach him?

Mariana:  No.  I don’t know.  I can tell you that I was happy and humbled to have been given the opportunity to do scenes with him.  We were all learning from him and trying to take everything he gives off into our hearts and souls.  He works from such a truthful, vulnerable, private space and we were all in awe.  Even if we can’t describe it properly, it imprints on us and that’s a gift we get to walk away with.

Matt:  The learning to drive scene with you and Tom Hanks is amusing.  Was it easy being such a bad, stressed-out driver?

Mariana:  Yeah, I had to take classes again because I’d forgotten how to drive with a shift stick.  I took two lessons before so I didn’t crash the car with Tom Hanks in it.  It was fun.  Some of the nerves were real because I wasn’t too keen on the shift stick.  I remember it as one of the most memorable days on the shoot because it all flowed so beautifully and we got to sit in that little car like a capsule going back and forth.  We had a nice chat and we connected.

Matt:  You worked under the direction of Marc Forster who I’ve admired for films like Monster’s Ball and The Kite Runner.  How did you two meet and end up working together?

Mariana:  The audition process got to a point where they said okay, you’re still in the mix and the director wants to talk to you.  I did a Zoom with Marc and I remember being very nervous.  He’s such a sweet person and he made me feel very comfortable and welcome to the project.  I instantly wanted to work with him.  Everything in the experience connected in the right way – both with Tom and with Marc.

Matt:  A Man Called Otto is receiving a wide international release.  Is it a much bigger time commitment in terms of all the press and marketing stuff as we head into its release?

Mariana:  We’re very excited to share it with the world.  We created this in a private space and then comes the moment where we roll it out into the world and share.  We’re at that stage right now and I’m so grateful to be part of the process.  I’m hoping it resonates with people.  A lot of people struggled with isolation during the pandemic and so the timing is right for people to see a movie like this.