Movies In Focus

#18: James Kenney On Finding The Lost Director’s Cut Of Peter Bogdanovich’s SQUIRRELS TO THE NUTS

Premiering at the Venice Festival in 2014, She’s Funny That Way was the final narrative feature from the late Peter Bogdanovich. Starring Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Will Forte, Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Aniston, the film was a screwball comedy which, while enjoyable, never truly felt like a cohesive vision from the master writer-director. And that’s because it wasn’t.

Originally filmed as Squirrels To The Nuts Bogdanovich’s vision was compromised during post-production and after he finished his edit, he conducted reshoots and removed a lot of the film’s multi-strand plot . It was believed that the director’s original cut was lost all together - and that’s where James Kenney comes in.

A life-long fan of Peter Bogdanovich, Kenney is a teacher and film writer at Tremble Sigh Wonder with an eye for collecting scripts and other film materials. One evening he was trawling through eBay when he noticed a HD tape for sale, titled Squirrels To The Nuts. The label on the tape stated a running time much longer than that of the final film - and It transpired that Kenney had discovered what is likely the only remaining copy of Bogdanovich’s true vision.

Ultimately Kenney ended-up connecting with Bogdanovich, who began working to get his version of Squirrels To The Nuts released. Sadly, Bogdanovich died in January 2022, before he could achieve this, but now Squirrels To The Nuts is getting a limited run at New York’s Museum Of Modern Art (MoMA) and it looks like the film will also get a full release at a later date.

James Kenney joined the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about discovering the director’s cut of Squirrels To The Nutsand how he worked with Peter Bogdanovich to get the film released. We also discussed Bogdanovich’s career and a host of other film related topics in this podcast episode.

#17. Batman On Film Founder Bill Ramey Talks About BATMAN On The Big Screen

Since 1998, Bill Ramey’s Batman On Film has been the go-to website for the best news for Batman on the big screen.  It was founded in the wake of Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin as a way of ‘lobbying for the long-term continuation of the Batman film franchise and the production of quality Bat-Movies’.

Batman-On-Film was there for the first rumblings of new Batman movie and the lead-up to what would become Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. The site then gained a huge following throughout the production of Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and the creation of Zack Snyder’s Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Justice League and beyond.

Bill Ramey joined the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about all things Batman related - including Matt Reeves’ The Batman starring Robert Pattinson, Ben Affleck’s tenure as The Dark Knight and Michael Keaton’s Batman return in The Flash and Batgirl.

 

#16. Australian Director Phillip Noyce Talks About His Thriller The Desperate Hour

Over the last five decades, Australian director Phillip Noyce has shown that he really knows how to handle the thriller genre. Noyce first captured international attention with the acclaimed 1989 film Dead Calm. Starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane, the film is a close quarters thriller which still works incredibly well more than 30 years after it was first released.

The success of Dead Calm brought Noyce to Hollywood, where he directed Rutger Hauer in the fun action film Blind Fury, a film which helped Noyce land the directing gig on Patriot Games, the Tom Clancy adaptation which saw Harrison Ford replace Alec Baldwin in the role of Jack Ryan. Noyce followed the film up with the Sharon Stone thriller, Sliverbefore once again returning to the world of political intrigue in Clear and Present Danger - finest film in the Jack Ryanseries.

Noyce would go on to helm a slew of other key films starring a variety of big stars. These included The Saint with Val Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue, The Bone Collector with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, The Quiet American starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser and The Giver with Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep.

Phillip Noyce’s latest film is the tense real-time thriller, The Desperate Hour starring Naomi Watts. It’s an expertly handled thriller, tense and well executed with an impressive performance from Watts - who pretty much shoulders the majority of the film’s running time on her own. Watts plays a mother attempting to save her son in the wake of a high school shooting and the film unfolds in unexpected ways as the tension gets ratcheted -up towards the finale.

Phillip Noyce joined the Movies In Focus podcast to discuss The Desperate Hour and the logistics of making a film which essentially features Naomi Watts and her trusty iPhone. Noyce covers all the questions that you’d have about the film and we even touch on his next directorial effort, Fast Charlie starring Pierce Brosnan.

#15. Head Of Irish Film London Gerry Maguire Discusses The Irish Film Festival London

Founded in 2010, the main aim of Irish Film London and the Irish Film Festival London is to champion Irish film and animation around the UK community. With patrons including Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell and Fiona Shaw, the organisation is not just a major force for Irish film in the UK, but it now has a strong global reach.

In this episode of the Movies In Focus podcast, Niall Browne talks with Gerry Maguire, the Head of Irish Film London to discuss what it’s like running the organisation. In a chat which covers everything from the selection of films to the technicalities of arranging venues this is a hugely informative look at the 2021 Irish Film Festival London.

#14. Adam Nelson On Low Budget Filmmaking & The Mire

Adam Nelson has had an interesting career as a filmmaker. A life long film fan, Adam did a degree in film before moving into teaching the subject.

His first short film as writer and director was The House Near Apple Park and he then went on to make first feature length film Little Pieces. Critically acclaimed, Little Pieces won the Best Independent Feature Film award at the Dorking Film Festival 2015 and was nominated for a National Film Award in the Best Drama category in 2016.

Adam’s next film is The Mire, a self-contained thriller which has raised some of its finance through crowdfunding. Adam joined the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about his career as a filmmaker, raising finance for independent films and what he has planned for The Mire.

 

#13. Filmmaker Filip Jan Rymsza On His Psychological Thriller Mosquito State

Filip Jan Rymsza is a Polish filmmaker who has had a varied career in the business. In 2018 he helped spearhead the completion of The Other Side Of The Wind, the final film from Orson Welles, as well as producing Morgan Neville’s They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, a documentary which detailed the making of Welles’ film. Filip’s latest release is Mosquito State, a thriller which he produced, directed and co-wrote.

A clinically precise piece of filmmaking, Mosquito State is a psychological thriller that verges towards Cronenbergian body horror. Rymsza’s film is more than that though, it uses the 2007 financial crisis as a stepping-off point and manages to create a piece which takes place in the recent past but feels like it could be set a hundred years in the future.

Filip Jan Rymsza joined the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about Mosquito State, discussing the inception, casting and production of this mesmerising piece of cinema.

#12. Fractured Visions Founder Phillip Escott On Running A Boutique Film Distribution Label

Phillip Escott, the founder of Fractured Visions joins this episode of the Movies In Focus podcast. Fractured Visions is a UK distribution company and film festival which has a keen focus on genre cinema. 

Phil discussed his boutique DVD and blu-ray label and talked about his film selection process as well as how he goes about sourcing elements like negatives and the work that goes into creating a wide selection of wonderful extras.

It’s a fascinating - and little talked about - aspect of the film distribution process. 

#11. Writer & Journalist Abbie Bernstein Discusses Her Book Master Of Horror: The Official Biography Of Mick Garris

Writer and journalist Abbie Bernstein is the author behind many great film and television books such as The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road, Godzilla King of the Monsters, and The Cabin in the Woods: Official Visual Companion. A Los Angeles resident, she writes for such titles as Assignment X, Fangoria, and Buzzy Mag.

Her latest work is Master Of Horror: The Official Biography of Mick Garris, a book which looks at the life and career of the iconic horror writer-director, Mick Garris. It’s a brilliant  book which gives you everything that you would want from a biography of a great filmmaker.

Abbie joined the Movies In Focus podcast to discuss the publication of the book and to talk about her long and varied career on the entertainment beat.

#10. Writer, Director & Master Of Horror Mick Garris

Filmmaker Mick Garris has ticked nearly every creative box that there is in the industry. From his career beginnings working in the Star Wars production office through to his work on Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories to his many Stephen King adaptations including the smash television mini-series The Stand and The Shining. He’s also the creator of the ground-breaking Masters of Horror television series and the host of the brilliant podcast, Post Mortem.

Mick is a man with a lot of great stories to tell – and you’ll find them all in Abbie Bernstein’s book, Master Of Horror: The Official Biography of Mick Garris.

Mick Garris joined the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about the book, his career as a filmmaker and also his work as a short story writer and novelist.

This is a far-reaching conversation with the man that many call the Nicest Guy in Horror. 

 

#9. Producer Gemma Bradley Talks About Black Box & Independent Filmmaking

Film producer Gemma Bradley joins this episode of the Movies In Focus Podcast. Gemma is an independent filmmaker who has produced the urban thriller Brother’s Day and the recent science fiction film Black Box.

I’ve known Gemma for well over 20 years. She’s the younger sister of my best friend Robert who was sadly killed by a drunk driver in the year 2000.

 Funded largely through a Kickstarter campaign, this low budget film’s location setting and claustrophobic use of space has echoes of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2013 Gravity. Whereas Cuarón had a $100 million budget at his disposal, Gemma and director Angel Delgado had a considerably smaller budget (thousands, not millions). However, what they did have was ingenuity – which makes Black Box a tremendous feat in low budget, independent filmmaking.

Gemma chatted about many things - including the trials and tribulations of producing low budget independent films and using crowdfunding as a way of raising finance her latest film Black Box.