An eclectic day on BEHIND THE LENS celebrating the blockbuster and the indie gem as we take a look at AVENGERS: ENDGAME, BOLDEN, and THE DIRTY KIND.
It was a bombastic weekend at the box office as AVENGERS: ENDGAME broke virtually every recorded box office record thanks to a global opening weekend box office of $1.2 BILLION. The world showed that it’s all in for the ENDGAME! But beyond being the film to wrap up this MCU phase after 10 years and 22 films, what is it that makes AVENGERS: ENDGAME a true cinematic experience? How about superb production values that really get to shine thanks to more emotional, interpersonal story development versus gigantic action set pieces (don’t worry, there are enough of those, too)? We’ve got great love for cinematographer Trent Opaloch, editors Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt, production designers John Plas ( his first job as a production designer) and Charles Wood, and of course, scribes Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely who so artfully crafted a story that allowed for the technical artisans to showcase their work with more nuance and subtlety (and tear duct inducement) than what we have experienced in the past.
And speaking of the past, how about taking a trip into the past and the early days of jazz with BOLDEN. One of my picks of the year, take a listen to our exclusive prerecorded interview with writer/director DAN PRITZKER as we go in-depth into the history of jazz and Buddy Bolden. A relatively unknown figure, there are no recordings of Bolden and his cornet but for possibly one phonograph cylinder which remains lost, a smattering of photographs, and little written on the man. He is, however, credited by the early jazz musicians as the man who invented jazz and who contributed much to the musical art form with his fusion style of brass and blues and improvisation playing by ear. At his performance peak from 1900-1907, in 1907 he was placed in an asylum where he remained until his death in 1931. With this background information, Dan crafted a mythological story taking us into the world of Buddy Bolden, with him in the asylum and hearing a radio broadcast of Louis Armstrong which then takes Bolden back through his own life and his days as “King Bolden.” Taking the lead from this story set-up and the allegory of the film as a whole, you’ll hear Dan talk about his visual triptych construct (which is glorious) with cinematographer Neal Norton, working with Wynton Marsalis who did all the music for the film, editing, the need for musicality as a director to make a film like this, and casting – most notably Reno Wilson as Louis Armstrong. And here’s a tip for you moviegoers – see BOLDEN, but also take a look at Dan’s other film, LOUIS, about a young Louis Armstrong getting his first cornet.
At the midpoint of the show, writer/director/producer/cinematographer VILAN TRUB joins us live talking about his neo-noir crime thriller, THE DIRTY KIND, the story of a politician, a hooker, a couple of gangsters and a private eye and how everything goes wrong for everyone. Calling on his own love of 30’s and 40’s Sam Spade films and works by Dashiell Hammett, as well as more recent crime thrillers, listen as Vilan talks about crafting the story and the characters and layering plotlines on character traits, wearing a multiplicity of hats, shooting a film in nine days, the importance of location on a low budget production, rehearsal, editing, 20/20 hindsight, and his best advice to other filmmakers – don’t wait for someone to wave a bag of money at you to make a film; just go make one.
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