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Mario Van Peebles was in London in early February along with his son, Mandela. And the pair stopped by for a long chat about their work, their latest film - Outlaw Posse - and a whole lot more.
In this chat, topics include Jaws: The Revenge, the role of a producer, Melvin Van Peebles, the hidden names in the end credits of Outlaw Posse, New Jack City and a whole lot more...
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Coming off the back of the film Payback, Oscar-winning writer/director Brian Helgeland feared he might be in movie jail. Thus, he got writing, and came up with A Knight's Tale, a film mixing jousting, modern music, Heath Ledger, and a naked Paul Bettany.
It took months to shoot in Europe. When it came to the music, David Bowie turned up. And then there's the tale of its sequel that never was.
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword meanwhile was to be the first of six films, as originally pitched. Guy Ritchie came in to direct, and star Charlie Hunnam would admit that the film they started making wasn't the one they ended up with. Quite the story, though. Includes elephants and David Beckham.
Tales of both are told in this episode.
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In an extra episode of the Film Stories podcast, Simon is joined by director Tim Fehlbaum, as they discuss his new film, the Oscar-nominated September 5. As always, it's a far-ranging conversation, taking in Fehlbaum's earlier work, a name on the end credits of the film, and the attention to detail in making the movie.
Plus, a few thoughts on the technical similarities with Saturday Night as well.
September 5 is now out in UK cinemas.
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The path to 2007's Zodiac started when a then-19-year old managed to take out an option on a best-selling book. Then, a few years later, he inked a deal with Disney to make the movie. Fate took a few turns though, and it was the collapse of an $80m television series that would bring David Fincher to the eventual movie. Some people were expecting a film along the lines of Fincher's Seven though. They did not get it...
For the second half of this episode, Oscar-nominated director Brady Corbet then joins the podcast to talk about his film The Brutalist, the challenges of which have been well documented. Over a lengthy chat, he talks about the film, the question he's not asked, and - it says here - there's a bit about toilet roll too...
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In a special episode of Film Stories, Simon is joined for a long, clickbait-free chat by writer/director Nicholas Stoller.
Recorded at the junket for They're Cordially Invited, they explore how that film came together. But also, the conversation covers a whole bunch of other movies. There's Stoller's directing work on the likes of Neighbors/Bad Neighbours, Bros, Get Him To The Greek and The Five Year Engagement. Plus, his writing, on movies such as The Muppets and Captain Underpants.
You're Cordially Invited is on Prime Video now.
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Acclaimed as one of the finest films of the 2000s, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood was - at one stage - a movie people weren't keen to pay for. The movie though has an unlikely link to the book Fast Food Nation, and Anderson dropped a different idea to go with it.
Then, there was the small matter of the first two weeks of filming having to be pretty much re-done from scratch.
The second half of the episode is a career-spanning chat with filmmaker Mike Leigh, that takes in his new movie - Hard Truths, landing in UK cinemas on 31st January 2025 - but also goes back some 60 years to the start of his famous process...
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With his brilliant new book - Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time - Barry Sonnenfeld joins Film Stories for a long, funny and candid conversation about his work.
The chat covers his director of photograpy days for the Coen Brothers, shooting the last two weeks of Goodfellas, and then moving onto directing. From his debut with The Addams Family, to the challenges of Get Shorty with Gene Hackman and John Travola, and a whole lot more.
Quite the chat, this. A little bit of fruity language too.
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When it comes to making your feature directorial debut, The Producers isn't a bad way to get off the mark! But Mel Brooks' now much-loved comedy faced a bumpy path to the screen, not least the struggle to write it in the first place. That, and the kind of subject matter that Hollywood studios didn't have much desire to go near.
Plus, it turned out that the fate of the film owed a bit of a debt to Peter Sellers.
After the success of A Fish Called Wanda meanwhile, the question was asked: would John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin and Kevin Kline come back for a sequel? Well, not quite: and despite Fierce Creatures being billed as an 'equal not a sequel', the comedy had a very, very difficult production.
Stories of both are told in this episode...
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Joining the Film Stories podcast for a special episode, writer/director Leigh Whannell chats to Simon and Maria about his latest film, Wolf Man. It's had a bit of a journey to the screen, and Whannell explores that in this longform chat.
Also: the small release date change that might have proven pivotal to The Invisible Man, the prescience of Upgrade, a segue into Police Academy 3, and his short-lived career as a film critic.
Note this episode was recorded just before the passing of David Lynch.
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The plan with the DC Comics character Black Adam was firstly to make him part of the Shazam movie, and then - when Dwayne Johnson signed up for $20m+ plus - to give him his own adventure. Johnson, it seemed, wanted lots of adventures - including a crossover he reportedly lobbied hard for.
In the case of 2014's Draft Day, here was a drama where the writing of draft one took a very hurried two weeks. But after initial interest, Paramount Pictures would drop the movie. Things suddenly looked really tricky - until the Black List came along to save the movie...
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Stories of both are told in this episode. Support our print film magazines at https://store.filmstories.co.uk. Thank you!
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Returning to the Film Stories podcast, writer/producer/director Steven Knight is in writing mode for his latest project, Maria. Directed by Pablo Larrain and written by Knight, in a wide-ranging conversation he discusses the unusual unHollywood relationship between the pair.
The chat also covers a rogue Christmas tree, a boiled egg, Birmingham Airport, and strange Google searches too...
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With Oliver Stone writing the script, Al Pacino starring and Brian De Palma behind the camera, perhaps it's no wonder that 1983's Scarface has enjoyed a long success. It was met with no shortage of problems during its production though: an unhappy shoot, a change of location, long overruns and the budget soaring. And then Al Pacino had to go to hospital. It's quite the film story.
The second half of this episode? Filmmaker Robert Eggers arrives for a long chat about Nosferatu, The Northman, The Witch and more.
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Chris Columbus and Robert Eggers aren't necessarily names you expect to see side by side, but the pair formed a creative force on the newly-released Nosferatu.
In a wide-ranging podcast special, Simon chats at length to Chris Columbus about his producing career primarily, but with films such as Only The Lonely, Home Alone, Stepmom, Bicentennial Man, Reckless and more making an appearance too...
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In a special episode of Film Stories, it's a guest filmmaker and a guest interviewer! This time, director Justin Kurzel is chatting about his latest movie, The Order, that's now playing in UK cinemas. Plus, there's a bit of chat about Snowtown and Assasin's Creed in there too.
Ryan Lambie of Film Stories is asking the questions, after a bit of babble from Simon at the start. And it's just the kind of longform, clickbait-free conversation we love to do...
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The return of Wallace & Gromit to our screens also coincides with a return visit for Nick Park to the Film Stories podcast. He's joined by his co-director too, Merlin Crossingham, as the pair chat about their new film, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
The conversation covers timescales, writing, studio notes... and a little bit of clingfilm...
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In a very special episode of Film Stories, Simon is joined by Andrew Davis, perhaps best known for directing films such as The Fugitive, Under Siege, Holes and more. Those movies certainly come up in the extensive conversation between the pair.
Davis has also, with Jeff Biggers, written his first novel, Disturbing The Bones, and there's a strong movie link to it as well. And the chat also takes in Stony Island, The Fugitive sequel, Steal Big Steal Little and a whole lot more...
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In the final regular Film Stories episode of 2024, we start with a 1989 movie that's gone on to become something of a Christmas favourite.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation saw John Hughes writing again, and a first time director in Jeremiah Chechik. The former protected the latter from studio notes, and even a potential lack of snow turned into the opposite problem. Still: what happened to the UK cinema release?
Clint Eastwood's Juror #2 remains one of the more curious film stories of 2024. A movie made for a modest sum, that Warner Bros then gave the impression of simply not really wanting to release it.
Stories of both are told in this episode...
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It took some time for writer/director J C Chandor to break into the movie business. When he did, it was with the mini-budget Margin Call, a film that would snag him an Oscar nomination.
Since then, he's brought to the screen All Is Lost, A Most Violent Year, Triple Frontier and now Kraven The Hunter, arguably his highest profile feature to date. In this special episode, he talks through his new film, and a whole lot more...
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It's fairly well known that the role of Detective Harry Callahan was originally set to be played by Frank Sinatra, before he had to pull out as production neared. Yet when Clint Eastwood decided to accept, he had several versions of a script to choose from - and decided to put a call into someone he trusted: Don Siegel. The pair would go on to fashion a cinema classic.
The journey to 2002's Anita And Me meanwhile began with the publication of Meera Syal's semi-autobiographical novel in 1996. Work began to then turn it into a film - but the challenge of making an independent film in the UK, with two young, unknown leads? That'd be quite the test.
Stories of both are told in this episode.
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In a potty-mouthed Film Stories podcast special, Simon welcomes back Kevin Smith. It's a chat centred around Smith's new film,. The 4.30 Movie - and how he came to make it. That tale involves buying a cinema, and digging deep into his own youth.
Beyond that, they chat about the length of the end credits, they segue into Waterworld, and consider some of the bumps in life. Not least reviews, and a rejection from the Sundance Film Festival.
The 4.30 Movie is available to buy and rent on video on demand.
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