Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Despite its flaws, Alex Proyas’ Knowing ended up being a fascinating film, with a cool sci-fi bent and some interesting ideas about faith. I was so taken aback by the film and its audacious ending that I held an impromptu /Filmcast, where we all tried to make sense of what the movie was all supposed to mean (and determine whether or not the film was actually any good).
/Filmcast listener Ned wrote in a detailed response to that podcast episode, in which he relates various elements of the film to Biblical prophecy. I don’t think I would make all the connections that he made, but I found his e-mail pretty thought-provoking nonetheless (especially from a Christian standpoint, as faith plays a huge part in the film). I’m republishing the e-mail here in its entirety, with his permission. If you ever have any interesting and in-depth interpretations of recent/classic films that you want to share, always feel free to e-mail me at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Who knows? Maybe it’ll end up on the site one day.
For obvious reasons, everything after the jump and the comments should be considered a SPOILER-FILLED zone. Continue at your own risk.
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The /Filmcast: Bonus Episode - A Spoiler-Filled Discussion About Alex Proyas’s Knowing (GUEST: Russ Fischer)
Posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 by David Chen
In this bonus episode of the /Filmcast, Dave Chen, Peter Sciretta, and Adam Quigley discuss their thoughts on Alex Proyas’s ambitious new science fiction film, Knowing. Spoilers abound in this meandering, barely-coherent discussion! Special guest Russ Fischer joins us from CHUD. As always, if you have any feedback, feel free to e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993.
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/Filmcast Ep. 43 - Duplicity (GUEST: Alison Willmore from IFC)
Posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 by David Chen
In this episode of the /Filmcast, David Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley discuss the criteria for getting chosen for the Criterion Collection, and reflect on the state of I Love You, Philip Morris. Special guest Alison Willmore from IFC and the Indie Eye blog joins us this evening, and reports from the SXSW film festival.
You can always e-mail us at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com, or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next Monday night at Slashfilm’s live page at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review Monsters vs. Aliens.
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Alex Proyas Answers Questions From /Film Readers
Posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Last week, we asked /Film readers to provide questions for a special question and answer blog with director Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow, I, Robot, Knowing). We sent Alex the submissions, and he has personally picked nine of the questions to respond to. Read the answers below.
1. TerrenceV: “Mr. Proyas when you are developing the visual style of your films with the various camera angles, framings, and lighting do you storyboard heavily with your cinematographer so that you reach your vision, or do you find that you improvise more? Are your visual choices pretty instinctual?”
I do storyboard, but not with my DP - these days I usually throw away the boards on the set and go for something more spontaneous. My choices are in fact based mostly on instinct - but every scene in a movie is different and requires a different approach so some are more structured than others.
2. JordanFRAV: “Alex, in one of your last posts, you spoke about the influence the film and the William Blatty novel ‘The Exorcist’ had on you as an aspiring film-maker, I was just wondering if you had considered creating a ’supernatural horror’ or a film in the ‘horror’ genre in the foreseeable future?”
Yes I’d like to do a horror movie as many of my films have elements of “horror” in them. I’m working on a script based on a Heinlein story, THE UNPLEASANT PROFESSION OF JONATHAN HOAG, which I see as a horror movie.
It was another good weekend for Summit Entertainment. The distributor behind last year’s meteoric hit Twilight has scored a solid hit with the Alex Proyas-directed Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage. Despite shaky word-of-mouth and negative reviews, the sci-fi thriller got a solid 9% bump on Saturday for a $9.7M second day, and it will likely finish its opening weekend with a possible $24.8M.
As a production company, Summit is responsible for some monster hits, including commercially and/or artistically successful films like Once (Oscar nominee for Best Picture), American Pie ($102..5M domestic), Memento (Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay: Chris Nolan), Mr. & Mrs. Smith ($186.3M domestic) and In the Valley of Ellah (Tommy Lee Jones nominated for Best Actor). But as a distributor, they got off to a slow start.
I just got home from seeing the Alex Proyas-directed sci-fi thriller Knowing. It seems like response to the movie is extremely mixed. Roger Ebert called the film one of “the best science-fiction films” he’s seen. Others reviewers have said that it is among the worst films of the year. I’m not going to write a full review because it could be seen as a conflict of interest since Alex was a guest blogger for the site, and my thoughts are pretty positive.
It’s definitely not perfect. The acting is over-the-top across the board, not just Cage. Some of the dialogue is laughable, and some of the computer generated effects look rushed. I can honestly understand why someone would hate this movie, especially the last third of it. But for me, the film presents some very interesting ideas having to do with fate and chaos, religion and science, symbolic visuals, three kick-ass action set-pieces, and one of the most ambitious endings I’ve ever seen. I really dug the film a lot despite it’s flaws. The film goes to places you would never expect.
And that is why I’m writing this call for reader discussion. I want to know what you thought of the film, or more specifically the film’s ending. If you haven’t seen the film, do not read the comments, because it is bound to be filled with spoilers. I’m not looking for “It sucked” or “loved it” responses. I want to hear what you thought, and why.
Box Office: Knowing Grabs $8.8M Friday, Targets $24M Weekend
Posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 by Steve Mason
Early box office returns are pointing to a weekend win for Knowing from Summit, but I will put my money on I Love You, Man (Dreamworks/Paramount) to generate more in US ticket sales over the long haul. The Nicolas Cage sci-fi thriller has grabbed an estimated $8.8M to start the weekend, and it will likely finish at $24M or so. That is, unless word-of-mouth catches up to it first.
Reviews for Knowing, written and directed by Alex Proyas, the inventive filmmaker behind the visually striking 1998 film Dark City and the 2004 Will Smith mega-hit I, Robot, has received overwhelmingly negative reviews (25% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), but thanks to Twitter, real-time movie-goer reactions spread like wildfire. Here are some Tweets I just grabbed off the social networking platform.
Box Office Tracking: Knowing is Favored to Win the Weekend, But is I Love You, Man Poised for an Upset?
Posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
For the last few weeks, Summit’s Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, has appeared to be the likely winner of the upcoming box office weekend. But, my sources tell me that I Love You, Man, the new comedy starring Paul Rudd (Role Models) and Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) has surged in the latest pre-release industry tracking.
In the spirit of March Madness, I’m calling for the upset. I Love You, Man may not actually be a Judd Apatow movie, but it sure does look like one in trailers and commercials. The movie reportedly “rocked the house” at the South By South West Festival last week, and the buzz is very positive. I am calling for $21.5M, which would be above industry expectations. Writer/director John Hamburg is at the helm with the likable Rudd and Segal in tow. He previously wrote Meet the Parents (brilliant) and its sequel Meet the Fockers (a lot less brilliant). He also wrote the cult hit Zoolander, which I hated, but has a loyal core of fans.
Meanwhile, tracking suggests that Knowing will open strongly. The reviews are generally negative (21% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), but Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times has published a rave, saying that “Knowing is among the best science-fiction films I’ve seen — frightening, suspenseful, intelligent and, when it needs to be, rather awesome.”
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Editor’s Note: You probably know Alex Proyas as the director of films like The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, I Robot and Knowing, but for the last few weeks the filmmaker has been guest blogging on /Film. The post below is his last column. Later this week he will answer some of the questions submitted by /Film readers. Also, be sure to click after the jump to see a clip of the completed plane crash sequence.
One of my most challenging scenes in Knowing is the plane crash. I believe it was essential to have one of the predictions come true early on in the story, something so real and so horrible that we could no longer ignore the list of numbers.
I filmed this scene in one shot with a single hand-held camera. A nearly 3 minute continuous take where nearly everything in shot bloews up or catches fire. There was absolutely no room for even the smallest error. I wanted to take the audience right into the depths of that horrible environment with Nic. It took nearly 2 days to set up, and I must say that I’m really happy with the way it turned out.
Could There Be A Dark City 2? Maybe… But Not From Fox
Posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
There’s a whole lot of Alex Proyas around the web at the moment, what with the imminent release of Knowing. Of course, Mr. Proyas himself is blogging here on /Film, which gives him a direct route to you, like a syringe to your brain, but he’s also being quoted here, there and everywhere. Some fascinating possibilities are being dug up, as well as the odd BIG RED SIGN of priceless advice for all filmmakers, up and coming or otherwise.
MTV are quoting Proyas on the matter of a Dark City sequel, and Chud have the dirt on why Proyas will never work with Fox again. Jump over the fold for the good stuff.
Exclusive: 3 New Photos from Alex Proyas’ Knowing
Posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Summit Entertainment has sent us three new exclusive photos from Alex Proyas’ Knowing. Summit will be showing two big action scenes from the film at a panel at the New York Comic Con this weekend (February 7th from 4-5pm). And I’ve been told that one of them will be the full plane crash sequence. Check out two more photos after the jump.
Summit Entertainment has released the full length movie trailer for Alex Proyas‘ upcoming thriller Knowing. If you’ve seen the previous teaser, than you know that Nicolas Cage comes across a code that predicts every major disaster in the last 50 years, including the upcoming destruction of everything. This new trailer introduces a new (possibly) supernatural element to the story, “the whisper people”, a group of mysterious albino men who stand off in the distance. Yeah, I’m not too sure what role they play quite yet. Watch the full trailer and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
