Interview: Director Cory Finley and Actress Anya Taylor-Joy on Thoroughbreds

 Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy play a kind of chess in Thoroughbreds, Cory Finley’s new film.

Cory Finley’s debut feature, Thoroughbreds, has many signs that point to a promising career in film. His dialogue is often whip-smart, crackling along at a fast pace. He has scenes of incredible tension realized in interestingly new yet classic style. He’s got a knack for casting, and clearly has a way with actors, as his small ensemble performs the heck out of the material. There’s so much to like about this movie, yet it left me with so many questions about its history and its themes. Lucky for me, director Cory Finley and star Anya Taylor-Joy were in town to talk about the film, and I was able to sit down with them to discuss this fun and tense film.

SP: When I saw this film, I had no idea it was based on a play, and then I watched it and talked to my friend, and I said, “I think that was based on a play.” I think there were two things that stood out. One is sort of just the conservation of characters. I was really surprised that we met the moms at all. I thought that we were going to get through the whole film without the moms. Were the moms in the play? Continue reading “Interview: Director Cory Finley and Actress Anya Taylor-Joy on Thoroughbreds

Film Review: 5 to 7

Dull picture chronicles boring affair

Arielle (Bérénice Marlohe) and Brian (Anton Yelchin) wonder what they possibly could do in a hotel room between the hours of 5 and 7.

According to writer/director Victor Levin’s new film, a “5 to 7” relationship among the French refers to an extramarital affair, fully sanctioned by all involved parties, that may or may not take place during those appointed hours, but is termed thusly regardless. In Levin’s new film named for that expression, though, the affair that is the film’s subject does indeed mostly take place during those evening hours. The participants are 24-year-old aspiring New York writer Brian (Anton Yelchin, best known as the Star Trek reboot’s young Chekov) and the beautiful, older, married Frenchwoman Arielle (Bérénice Marlohe, Skyfall). At least these two get to have a few hours of fun; the viewers of this hokey mess aren’t quite as lucky.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Drake Doremus on “Like Crazy”

Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones in LIKE CRAZY

Few films have nailed the invincible excitement of young love with the giddy, wrenching precision of Like Crazy. The third feature film in as many years from director Drake Doremus, the film stars Anton Yelchin (The Beaver) and Felicity Jones (The Tempest) as Jacob and Anna, a young couple that meet while attending college together in southern California. When they discover their mutual attraction, they immediately understand the obstacle in their path – Anna is British and only in the U.S. on a student visa – but as they fall deeper and deeper into the first throes of romance, Anna decides to throw caution to the wind and stay with Jacob a few months past the expiration of her visa. Despite the instant gratification this choice provides, it will lead to lasting, disastrous consequences. The film works as a romantic drama as well as a terrifying cautionary tale about the dangers of abusing a student visa.

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The Spinning Platters Guide to the 34th Mill Valley Film Festival

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, which is having its Bay Area premiere during the Mill Valley Film Festival.

The Mill Valley Film Festival, one of the Bay Area’s most esteemed and prestigious film events, is returning for its 34th installment October 6-16. The MVFF has come to represent the first opportunity for Bay Area film buffs to check out festival favorites from the likes of Toronto, Venice, and Telluride before their theatrical releases, not to mention a chance to mingle with the talent; expected guests this year include Glenn Close, Martin Donovan, Luc Besson, Michelle Yeoh, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, and Ezra Miller. Last year’s festival featured the likes of 127 Hours, Blue Valentine, and eventual Best Picture winner The King’s Speech. Look after the jump for the top 12 films to check out this year.

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Film Review: “Fright Night”

Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell in FRIGHT NIGHT

starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Imogen Poots, Dave Franco, Reid Ewing

written by: Marti Noxon

directed by: Craig Gillespie

MPAA: Rated R for bloody horror violence and language including some sexual references

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Film Review: “The Beaver”

Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson in THE BEAVER

starring: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Cherry Jones

written by: Kyle Killen

directed by: Jodie Foster

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, some disturbing content, sexuality and language including a drug reference.

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