brad silberling Tagged Articles at Cinematical

At the beginning of the summer we told you how this year our theme was Summer Appreciation, hence the Our Favorite Summers series and our very cool director's series. Our intention was to speak to as many directors with films coming out during the summer and not only chat about their particular movie, but the summer movie season in general. What were some of their favorite summer moviegoing experiences, or favorite summer movies, etc ...

Though we're still not done shoveling out all those interviews, we wanted to drop in with a little recap of the ones we've already conducted in case you're looking for something to browse through this weekend as we segue into the last month of the summer, August. Links to all our special summertime director interviews below, along with some choice quotes.

McG, Terminator Salvation
"Raiders. That was a time when I would characterize the big movies as the best movies, and so rarely is that the case. That was the case last summer with Iron Man and The Dark Knight, which were the biggest movies of the year and arguably the best movies of the year. So I would welcome that sort of summer moviemaking coming back, and I'm a child of [Star Wars] Episodes IV, V and VI, and that's just where my head is. Those are the seminal moments of my life."

Pete Docter, Up
"I kind of look at it as everybody at the studio has a really unique set of skills. Like, if I was building a house, for example, I could probably do it myself to some degree, or at least teach myself, but why not get the greatest craftsmanship that I possibly could for every part of that house?"

Sam Raimi, Drag Me to Hell
"The point to make it in the first place is to make a horror story – to entertain, thrill and scare the bejeezus out of the audience, if I can, and make them jump and shout, and if I can, make them have a good laugh too."

Much more after the jump

Because of the commercial pressures Hollywood places on filmmakers these days, many directors adopt a sort of "one for them, one for me" career strategy that allows them to exercise their creativity while maintaining a degree of viability at the box office. Brad Silberling, despite an array of films that really do run the gamut from intimate character studies to effects-laden opuses, seems to have effectively synthesized the two more and more effectively with each subsequent effort. Starting with straightforward studio fare like Casper, he quickly graduated to meatier projects, including the semi-autobiographical Moonlight Mile, before tackling an adaptation of the first book in Daniel Handler's Lemony Snicket series.

But he seems to have truly captured both his own creative idiosyncrasies and the demands of a summer blockbuster with Land of the Lost, a sprawling, bizarre big-screen reimagining of the Sid and Marty Krofft TV series from the 1970s. The film stars Will Ferrell as a disgraced scientist trying to rebuild his reputation while dodging aliens, dinosaurs, and oversized crabs, and Silberling brilliantly brings the film's fantastic world to life. Cinematical recently spoke to the director via telephone from the film's Los Angeles press day, where he discussed the prospect of making a madcap, foul-mouthed summer movie, explained how (and why) he managed to include an extended homage to "A Chorus Line," and talked about the summer movie that inspired him to become a filmmaker.

Did the Marx Brothers ever get serious? Pixar seems to have perfected the art of mixing dramatic themes into their comic adventures, pleasing audiences both young and old. (Moviefone's current poll of readers on Pixar's best reflects this as well, with a top choice that may surprise you.) Up is a rather magnificent tale that's filled with witty dialogue, visual gags, and laugh out loud moments, even as it "moves smoothly from romance to drama to fantasy to comedy to action-adventure and then back to sentimental drama again," in the words of Jette Kernion. Sam Raimi took modern horror in a new direction by coupling jolts with jokes in The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, expertly playing one against the other. His latest, Drag Me to Hell, marketed as a straight-up horror tale, is, in fact, "a convulsively funny movie with chills and thrills," as I've written before. Really, it's more of a comedy than anything else.

This week's widest releases appear to be more straightforward comedies: Todd Phillips' The Hangover stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis as three friends who stumble around Vegas after a bachelor party gone wild; Brad Silberling's Land of the Lost stars Will Farrell as a scientist who stumbles around a prehistoric world with dinosaurs and fantastic creatures. Meanwhile, Donald Petrie's My Life in Ruins looks more like a traditional romance with comedy and drama, starring Nia Vardalos as a Greek tour guide.

How do you like your laughs? Do you prefer your comedy straight up, no chaser? Or would you rather have other elements added to the mix: drama, horror, adventure? Take our poll and let us know.

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Cinematical has just received this exclusive teaser poster for this summer's hotly-anticipated Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel and Jorma Taccone. Based on the classic television series, Land of the Lost was directed by Brad Silberling and follows a has-been scientist (Ferrell), a crack-smart research assistant (Friel) and a redneck survivalist (McBride) who get sucked through time and spit out into an alternate universe -- one that finds them running from dinosaurs and weird reptiles called Sleestaks, while trying to figure a way out of this hybrid dimension. Really looking forward to watching Ferrell and McBride pair up on screen together, and with the "alternate universe" angle thrown in, I'm sure we're in store for all sorts of ridiculousness.

Land of the Lost arrives in theaters on June 5, 2009.

I always like it when a big box arrives at my door, because let's face it: I'm a movie blogger -- I don't have many friends. Let alone the kind who would send me cool t-shirts and a singing box. A singing box, mind you, featuring the theme song for Land of the Lost! Yes, this theme song. While the film isn't due out until July 17, 2009, that doesn't mean we can't start celebrating now, right?

The box pictured above arrived earlier today, and when you opened the leaves a sweeet Sleestak t-shirt cried out, "Rock me hard, dude! Rock me all day, every day!" The old school theme song was blaring -- I was dancing -- and for a little while the world was right. Directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, the brand new, bright and shiny big-screen version of Land of the Lost is due in theaters on July 17th, 2009.

Check out the gallery below for more images ...

He (Morgan Freeman) is an actor --- who hasn't acted in a while. He's been ... taking some time? Off the radar? Avoiding gigs that seemed to be beneath him while the floor of other's expectations lowered bit by bit and day by day without him even knowing it? It's not clear to us; it may not be clear to him. He's headed to a grocery store to research a part -- talk to the manager, get a sense of life at an L.A. food mart -- but he's not exactly committed to the project yet. Then again, as he's being driven by a production assistant (Jonah Hill) who isn't sure of the route to the store, it's pretty clear the production isn't necessarily committed to him. ...

Brad Silberling's had one of those perverse, up-and-down careers that Hollywood seems to throw at people occasionally: Not up and down in terms of quality, but rather in terms of resources. Silberling came from TV to direct the big-screen version of Casper; then, he got the hot potato of remaking Wings of Desire for America with City of Angels. From that, it was the personal-and-overlooked drama Moonlight Mile, and then back up to money-maker territory with Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. After that film's miss at the box office (and the challenge of big expectations, off-set turmoil and Jim Carrey), you could pardon Silberling for wanting to take some time and make a slightly smaller-scale film. The good news is that there's no need to; 10 Items or Less may be light, and slight, but it's an unexpectedly winning delight.

Odds and ends from Thursday:

• According to the Hollywood Reporter, two more actors will be joining Ryan Phillippe in Kimberly Pierce's (Boys Don't Cry) drama Stop Loss. Pic, which revolves around a solider (Phillippe) who returns home from Iraq, only to be called back through the military's stop-loss program, has enlisted Timothy Olyphant and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to join its cast. Olyphant will play a "no-nonsense military man," while Gordon-Levitt takes on the role of a returning solider whose personal life is falling apart.
• THINKFilms has nabbed all North American distribution rights for 10 Items or Less, directed by Brad Silberling. The character comedy, which stars Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega, revolves around a picky big-time actor whose reluctance to take on certain roles leaves him suffering through a dry-spell. While considering a role as a supermarket manager, he slowly develops a close relationship with the shop's feisty cashier and, based on the description, it appears the two learn some life-lessons along the way.
• Okay, the best line from the new Casino Royale trailer definitely belongs to Eva Green. While sitting across from Bond (Daniel Craig) on a train, talking business, she goes "I will keep my eye on our governments money and off your perfectly-formed ass." Brilliant! Best. Line. Ever. And that's just a tiny bit worth of this fantastic trailer. If you're one of those people who still needs to be convinced of Casino Royale's awesomeness, then you simply must check out the new rock-your-socks-off preview over on Moviefone. Trust me on this ... it's worth it.