Magnolia

‘Splinter’ Stars, Director to Sign Copies at Dark Delicacies in California

BrianTT — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:40:24 -0600

CHICAGO – One of my favorite horror movies of the last several years, Toby Wilkins’ “Splinter,” will be the centerpiece of a signing event at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, Calif. on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 2 p.m. If you’re anywhere near the store, you should check it out. I would.

Splinter was released on Blu-Ray on April 14th, 2009.
Photo credit: Magnolia

Director Toby Wilkins and stars Jill Wagner and Shea Wigham will appear at the event to sign copies of “Splinter” and Wilkins will also sign copies of “The Grudge 3,” which comes out on DVD on May 12th, 2009 from Sony.

A sample of my “Splinter” review:

“What does director Toby Wilkins do with “Splinter” that so many horror directors miss? He understands how to build tension and the power of the unseen. “Splinter” works because it places the focus on the well-rounded, believable characters instead of just their trap or their enemy. It’s a modern film take on what filmmakers have been doing for years and feels like a movie John Carpenter and Sam Raimi would love.”

For more information and other goodies about the film, check out Toby’s blog here.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Highly Buzzed ‘Splinter’ Lives Up to Expectations

BrianTT — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:19:16 -0600

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “Splinter” has been steadily building buzz since audiences first had a chance to see this twisted creature feature and now it’s destined to become a cult phenomenon on Blu-Ray and DVD. The film won six awards at Screamfest 2008 and earned praise from Variety, CBS-TV, Entertainment Weekly, and New York Magazine on its theatrical run. Horror fans are going to love this film for years to come.

Why? What does director Toby Wilkins do with “Splinter” that so many horror directors miss? He understands how to build tension and the power of the unseen. “Splinter” works because it places the focus on the well-rounded, believable characters instead of just their trap or their enemy. It’s a modern film take on what filmmakers have been doing for years and feels like a movie John Carpenter and Sam Raimi would love.

There are major echoes of both Carpenter and Raimi in the simple-yet-effective set-up for “Splinter”. A couple named Seth (Paulo Costanzo) and Polly (Jill Wagner) are out for a romantic camping weekend when they’re car-jacked by Lacey (Rachel Kerbs) and her convict boyfriend Dennis (Shea Wigham).

Splinter was released on Blu-Ray on April 14th, 2009.
Photo credit: Magnolia

The quartet arrives at a seemingly innocent gas station and finds themselves caught in a nightmare. Lacey stumbles across what looks like a man in the bathroom but he’s got spikes (or splinters) coming out of his body. And he’s not safe. Soon, all of them are fighting for their lives, trapped inside with something outside that no one has ever seen before.

Splinter was released on Blu-Ray on April 14th, 2009.
Photo credit: Magnolia

Why don’t people make movies like “Splinter” any more? Do they assume that audiences all need Shyamalan twists or Jigsaw’s traps? Can’t we just appreciate the classic set-up that John Carpenter used so many times of good guys in a building and bad guys outside of it? It’s so relatable. We all fear what’s beyond the street light or just over the horizon and we can all imagine being stuck in a gas station with no discernible way out.

It’s easy to see why critics fell for “Splinter” (70% on Rotten Tomatoes is about as high as a horror movie can go), but I wish more audiences had seen it in theaters. This should have been a “Saw”-level hit. But Magnolia/Magnet doesn’t have the draw to bring people to a movie like this with no stars and no proven franchise.

They do, however, have the ability to create a cult hit on DVD and Blu-Ray. In fact, Magnolia is quietly becoming one of the best genre studios out there, having released “The Host,” “Let the Right One In,” “Timecrimes,” and “Splinter” in just the last few years. It’s getting to the point that the Magnolia name is intriguing enough to warrant a viewing without any other details.

They’ve done a very good job with a movie that I expect thousands will see on Blu-ray. It’s going to be rented, then bought, then passed around like the movies that made Carpenter and Raimi icons of horror in their early years.

The video for “Splinter,” presented in 1080p with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio isn’t perfect. It’s good, but the picture felt a little flatter than a lot of HD transfers. I think it may be a byproduct of taking a low-budget film and trying to give it the HD polish. I still wonder if low-budget horror is the right fit for Blu-Ray but that could just be because I’m so used to seeing them at grainy midnight marathons or on the VHS of my youth.

Splinter was released on Blu-Ray on April 14th, 2009.
Photo credit: Magnolia

The video may not be remarkable but the audio in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is excellent. The sound design of “Splinter” is well above-average and incredibly effective on Blu-Ray. Turn it up loud.

The special features for “Splinter” are a little scattered but ultimately worthwhile. I’m just tired of 4-minute featurettes. Either bunch them together or don’t include them at all, but no one likes to be thrown back to the menu screen that quickly.

Featurettes include “The Splinter Creature,” “The Wizard,” “Building the Gas Station,” “Shooting Digitally,” “Oklahoma Weather,”” “How to Make a Splinter Pumpkin,” and “HDNet: A Look at Splinter”. The disc also includes a creature concept art gallery and two great commentary tracks - one with the director, cinematographer, and editor, and one with the director and his three stars. You won’t find a more perfect set-up for audio commentaries. One focuses on what happened in front of the camera and one focuses behind it. Perfect.

For a lot of horror nuts, “Splinter” will be perfect. Will it bleed out of the genre and convert some non-horror fans? I certainly think it’s good enough that it has the potential to do just that with such a great Blu-ray release. Say you saw it before it became a cult hit.

‘Splinter’ is released by Magnolia Home Entertainment and stars Shea Wigham, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner, and Rachel Kerbs. It was written by Ian Shorr & Kai Barry and directed by Toby Wilkins. It was released on April 14th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Set in Tel Aviv, New Israeli Film ‘Jellyfish’ Shines With Virtue, Veracity

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:34:26 -0600

CHICAGO – It has been a banner year so far for the Israeli film industry. Following the American debuts of “The Band’s Visit” and “Beaufort,” we now have the stunningly composed and heart-rending “Jellyfish”.

Unwinding like a Tel Aviv version of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia” – but warmer – “Jellyfish” follows several lives steeped in moral crisis and offers redemption like an elusive brass ring.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Jellyfish” in our reviews section.

View our full “Jellyfish” image gallery.

An underachieving wedding waitress with career and mother issues searches for answers while staring at the sea. An unusual 5-year-old child approaches her in a bathing suit and life-preserver ring.

Since the little girl seems separated from her parents and circumstances, she adopts the other lost soul as her temporary guardian.

Meanwhile, a wedding that the waitress was working at has gone wrong after the reception. The bride suffers a broken leg, which forces honeymoon plans to be moved to a tacky Tel Aviv hotel nearby.

Anxious and bored, the groom begins a friendship with a woman – a resident of the hotel – who seems to be a writer.

Nikol Leidman as the mysterious girl who emerges from the sea in “Jellyfish,” which is a film by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen.
Photo credit: Zeitgeist Films

Noa Knoller as Keren in “Jellyfish,” which is a film by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen.
Photo credit: Zeitgeist Films

Read Patrick McDonald’s full “Jellyfish” review.

Screenplay Surfaces Online For Oscar-Worthy ‘There Will Be Blood’ With Daniel Day-Lewis

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:31:11 -0700

“There Will Be Blood” is among the best films of 2007. Period. An Oscar-worthy performance by Daniel Day-Lewis helps to make this picture Oscar worthy in its own right.

Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: IMDb
A haunting supporting performance by Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Girl Next Door”) isn’t one you’ll soon forget, too.

Aside from his 2005 work in “The Ballad of Jack and Rose,” we last saw Day-Lewis in film all the way back in 2002 for his gritty “Gangs of New York” performance.

“There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: IMDb
“There Will Be Blood” is as worthy as any for him to bring the familiar character out of hibernation.

While you’d be remiss not to see this in theaters, you can read now why director Paul Thomas Anderson (who adapted the film’s screenplay from the Upton Sinclair novel “Oil!”) deserves your attention.

Paul Dano in “There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Anderson also directed “Punch-Drunk Love” and “Magnolia”. The full screenplay is below. Warning: This is a thorough spoiler alert.

Click for the full “There Will Be Blood” screenplay.
I downloaded this screenplay from this Paramount Vantage link.

Daniel Day-Lewis (left middle) in “There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Though the film only opened in limited New York City and Los Angeles theaters on Dec. 26, it will expand in Jan. 2008. Before that, 14 cities are being treated to a midnight sneak screening on Dec. 29.

Daniel Day-Lewis (left) and Dillon Freasier
on Dec. 10, 2007 for “There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
These include Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, Toronto and Washington, D.C. See our Dec. 23 post for more.

Daniel Day-Lewis (left) and director Paul Thomas Anderson
in “There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Other Paramount Vantage scripts are also online for “The Kite Runner,” “A Mighty Heart,” “Margot at the Wedding” and “Into the Wild”.