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Tag: david-lowery

Movie Review: ‘Mother Mary’
Anne Hathaway in ‘Mother Mary’. Photo: A24.

Opening in theaters in limited release on April 17 and expanding on April 24 is ‘Mother Mary,’ written and directed by David Lowery and starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alba Baptista, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs.
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Related Article: Anne Hathaway & Adam Driver Starring in ‘Alone at Dawn’ for Ron Howard

Initial Thoughts

Anne Hathaway on the set of ‘Mother Mary’. Photo: A24.

David Lowery is nothing if not unpredictable. From Disney product like ‘Pete’s Dragon’ and ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ to weird experimental dramas like ‘A Ghost Story’ and ‘The Green Knight,’ the director’s career has taken one wild swing after another. With ‘Mother Mary,’ he pivots back in the direction of arthouse fare, with the story itself (according to Lowery) inspired by his own bifurcated career choices.

The result is an original, compelling — if not always coherent – hybrid of love story, psychological horror, and pop musical in which Anne Hathaway is outstanding as the title character, a mega pop singer about to make a comeback but unsure of who she is and aching with grief over a fractured relationship. Joining her is Michaela Coel (‘I May Destroy You’), the other half of that relationship, with both women yearning to repair their broken hearts and going to extreme lengths to do so.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Director David Lowery and Anne Hathaway on the set of ‘Mother Mary’. Photo: A24.

Mother Mary (we never know her real name) is a massive pop star – modeled after female musical icons ranging from Madonna to Taylor Swift – who’s about to attempt a career comeback after being derailed by a breakdown. On the eve of her first performance in years, she flees from rehearsals in L.A. to the English home and workshop of Sam Anselm (Coel), the fashion designer who created all her stage outfits for a while and with whom she shared a deeply symbiotic friendship (and perhaps more), until Mary’s fame fractured their relationship and put Mary’s costumes in the hands of top designers.

Estranged for a decade, with Mary asking Sam to make her a new dress for her show, the two circle each other like wary combatants: Mary, so confident, charismatic and larger than life onstage, is a meek, shattered shell of herself, not sure of her music or even her identity anymore, while Sam, having established her own career, is nevertheless barely able to repress her fury at Mary after all these years.

The two go through a long night of the soul in Sam’s atelier, a centuries-old converted barn full of shadows and mysteries, with ever-present rain and thunder rumbling in the background like restless spirits. As the two explore their past together and separately, a spirit literally comes into play as well – a red entity that, real or not, symbolizes both the creative spirit and sense of loss that both women feel, and that is equally comfort and torment to them both.

(L to R) Michaela Coel and director David Lowery on the set of ‘Mother Mary’. Photo: A24.

Lowery stages all this as a mix of horror movie, character study, and pop spectacle, with scenes from Mary’s past stadium gigs filling the screen with light, sound, dancers, and hordes of people, alternating with the moody, dark sequences in Sam’s atelier and brooding home. The scenes between Mary and Sam come across almost as a stage play sometimes, while the narrative involving the spirit (known as the Red Woman, and initially conjured up by a medium played by FKA Twigs) heads into more phantasmagoric, almost Ken Russell territory visually. It’s a bracing, ever-changing cinematic style that certainly makes this Lowery’s most ambitious film yet.

Yet the hallucinatory, expository nature of the story makes it self-consciously arty – much like ‘The Green Knight’ – which often keeps it at an emotional arm’s length. The result is a movie that is visually stunning, not easy to categorize, but also difficult to fully invest in.

Cast and Performances

(L to R) Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway in ‘Mother Mary’. Photo: A24.

Anne Hathaway (who has four other movies coming out this year) has been veering between mainstream titles like ‘The Hustle’ and more daring material like ‘Eileen’ in recent years, but ‘Mother Mary’ may be the most immersive performance she’s given in some time.

As Mary, she must sing onstage (all original songs, penned by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX and FKA Twigs) and project the veneer and physicality of a major pop star, complete with elaborate choreography which she replicates on her own for Sam in one riveting sequence. But she also exposes the wounded woman inside who is longing to find her creative spark again and grieving for the one true relationship she lost.

Michaela Coel’s Sam is grieving as well, but turns it into a weapon of scorn, sarcasm, and rage that she coolly wields against Mary like a knife. But Sam herself is lonely and unmoored, and her interrogation of Mary slowly brings back her energy and inner light. Both women are fantastic in the film, giving such dominant performances that there’s little room for anyone else to shine – except for FKA Twigs, who shows off some eerie physical work in her one major scene, in which she opens the way for the Red Woman.

Final Thoughts

Anne Hathaway in ‘Mother Mary’. Photo: A24.

‘Mother Mary’ is a deliberately experimental narrative, flashing back and forth in time and space, and despite what may seem like a conventional premise it delves into the mystical, spiritual, and existential in often bold ways, bolstered by its two fearless leading ladies.

While a feast for the eyes and ears, the film is perhaps not as moving as it could be, thanks to its dislocating narrative shifts. Yet the bond between Sam and Mary, strained and torn as it is, is still made powerful by the work of the two actors. ‘Mother Mary’ is ultimately about healing one’s soul and rediscovering one’s muse, a potent message from a filmmaker who seems to have done just that.

‘Mother Mary’ receives a score of 80 out of 100.
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What is the plot of ‘Mother Mary’?

Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance.

Who is in the cast of ‘Mother Mary’?
- Anne Hathaway as Mother Mary
- Michaela Coel as Sam Anselm
- Hunter Schafer as Hilda
- Atheena Frizzell as Emily
- Kaia Gerber as Nikki
- Jessica Brown Findlay as Tessa
- Isaura Barbé-Brown as Kyla
- Alba Baptista as Miel Contrera
- Sian Clifford as Jade
- FKA Twigs as Imogen
‘Mother Mary’ opens in theaters on April 17th. Photo: A24.

List of films directed by David Lowery
- ‘St. Nick’ (2009)
- ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ (2013)
- ‘Pete’s Dragon’ (2016)
- ‘A Ghost Story’ (2017)
- ‘The Old Man & the Gun’ (2018)
- ‘The Green Knight’ (2021)
- ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ (2023)
- ‘Mother Mary’ (2026)
Buy Tickets: ‘Mother Mary’ Movie Showtimes

Buy Anne Hathaway Movies on Amazon
April 17, 2026
Movie Review: ‘Queer’
(L to R) Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in ‘Queer’. Photo: A24.

Opening in theaters November 27th is ‘Queer,’ directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga, Ariel Schulman, and David Lowery.

Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Challengers’

Initial Thoughts

(L to R) Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in ‘Queer’. Photo: A24.

It’s James Bond like you’ve never seen him before. Three years after hanging up his tux as 007, Daniel Craig stars for director Luca Guadagnino in an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novella ‘Queer,’ written in the 1950s but not published until 1985. Craig is impressively lustful and sad as William Lee, who has fled drug charges back in New Orleans by escaping to Mexico City, where he indulges in drugs, sex, and drinking with the town’s other queer expats.

Guadagnino, with ‘Call Me By Your Name’ and this year’s very sexy ‘Challengers’ among his many cinematic explorations of desire, is a perfect filmmaker to tackle Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical tale, which also reunites him with ‘Challengers’ screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. But while Craig’s performance and a lot of the early going in ‘Queer’ is fairly absorbing — if somewhat slow-moving and repetitive — the film’s latter half is marred by a change in tone that’s perhaps suited to Burroughs’ hallucinatory text but doesn’t make the transition to the screen successfully.

Story and Direction

Director Luca Guadagnino attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Challengers’ at Regency Village Theatre on April 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios.

Independently wealthy but in the grip of both alcohol and heroin addictions that have driven him to the relatively relaxed confines of Mexico City, William Lee spends his days and nights indulging in both, as well as casual sex among the bars and nightclubs of the city. He has a friendly rapport with the other queer expats in town, particularly Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and John Dumé (Drew Droege), but he’s lonely and looking for a real connection.

He thinks he may have found it when he meets Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a beautiful ex-Navy serviceman who has found his way down to Mexico but whose sexual leanings – and level of interest in Lee – remain a mystery (Allerton is based on Lewis Marker, who was apparently the love of Burroughs’ life). Nevertheless, an enraptured Lee pursues him until the two finally become lovers, although Eugene quickly turns cold toward Lee and insists he doesn’t want to be tied down in a relationship. Lee alternates between courtly gentleman and needy parasite, finally convincing Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America. It’s there that Lee wants to find a rumored drug that induce telepathy in humans – a metaphor for Lee’s increasingly desperate desire for human communication beyond words.

Set in a meticulously crafted recreation of a fantastical Mexico City circa the late ‘40s/early ‘50s – where the searing sun gives away to painterly sunsets over the dusty, weatherbeaten buildings and streets (kudos to DP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and production designer Stefano Baisi for their sterling work at Italy’s Cinecittà studio) – ‘Queer’ is a study in shifting tones. The music alternates between a plaintive, piano-and-string-driven score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and anachronistic, jarring needle drops like Sinead O’Connor’s version of Nirvana’s ‘All Apologies’ and New Order’s ‘Leave Me Alone.’ The scenes shift from sweaty, graphic, yet tender sex between Lee and Eugene to harrowing shots of Lee calmly sitting alone, preparing and injecting heroin and drinking a beer while it takes effect.

Drew Starkey in ‘Queer’. Photo: A24.

Loneliness and dissolution hang over Lee like a shroud, yet his infatuation with Eugene is rather inexplicable – aside from a pretty face, the young man is an enigma who is often rather cruel to the older man who wants to care for him. That creates an imbalance in the relationship that’s offset by the tenderness and hunger of their sex scenes, a love-hate scenario that’s exacerbated by their third-act trip into the Amazon.

It’s here, where Lee and Eugene are introduced to the native plant ayahuasca (also known as yagè) and its psychedelic properties by the strange Dr. Cotter (Lesley Manville) at her jungle compound, that ‘Queer’ leaves behind its just-slightly surreal environs for a bizarre extended sequence that plays like a combination of Ken Russell’s ‘Altered States’ and David Cronenberg’s take on Burroughs’ ‘Naked Lunch.’ Any pretense at reality is left behind as the two perform a dance that ends with their bodies literally merging – but as Eugene repeats a line from earlier in the film, “I’m not queer, I’m disembodied,” it seems apparent that even the drug’s mystical properties can’t give Lee the spiritual and emotional union he’s looking for.

This is where the viewer may disconnect themselves from ‘Queer,’ with only a coda in the last scene (after what seems like multiple endings) channeling the same emotional pull as earlier in the film. There is also a more direct blurring of Lee and Burroughs’ lives that may not register with every viewer either. But by then ‘Queer’ feels disembodied itself, searching for an identity that it can’t quite define.

The Cast

(L to R) Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey and Lesley Manville in ‘Queer’. Photo: A24.

It’s all about Daniel Craig. This is his first major leading role outside of James Bond and Benoit Blanc in years, and he takes it far past anything he’s done onscreen before. Not only does Craig fully commit to the film’s explicit sex scenes, but his portrayal of William Lee is all impulse and raw nerve endings – Lee’s hunger for the sensations brought on by drugs and sex is as palpable as his painful longing for a true connection with another human being. His slight Southern accent (much less pronounced than that of Blanc in the ‘Knives Out’ films), casual stroll, and glittering eyes – full of both hurt and desire – paint a vulnerable portrait of a dissolute, aging man that’s about as distant from 007 as one could imagine.

Jason Schwartzman is physically unrecognizable as Lee’s friend Joe Guidry, with his thick beard and physique, and the character (channeling Allen Ginsberg) acts as both a grounding force and comic relief for the film. Drew Starkey’s Allerton is less interesting, but that’s more due to the script than anything else, which renders him literally a pretty face. And then there’s the great Lesley Manville, who’s acting in a very different film as the over-the-top Dr. Cotter and is almost unrecognizable herself.

Final Thoughts

Daniel Craig in ‘Queer’. Photo: A24.

Luca Guadagnino has cornered the market on the intense expression of desire, the fleshy, visceral nature of sex, and the grisly truth of body horror in his various films, sometimes even combining all three to delirious effect (the underrated ‘Bones and All’ would be an example of the latter). ‘Queer’ meanders but still manages to be captivating for much of its first two-thirds, thanks to Craig’s performance and passion.

It’s only when Guadagnino takes the film into the jungle that he loses control of his narrative, and while he kind of regains it at the end, it’s not enough to re-engage the viewer and make the film end on a truly powerful note. Luca Guadagnino has made two incredibly horny films this year, and ‘Queer’ is the lesser of the pair – if the more sobering.

‘Queer’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Queer’?

American man of leisure, alcoholic, and drug addict William Lee (Daniel Craig) idles in Mexico City among other gay men who have fled south, where he meets an enigmatic young man (Drew Starkey) with whom he becomes doggedly obsessed.

Who is in the cast of ‘Queer’?
- Daniel Craig as William Lee
- Drew Starkey as Eugene Allerton
- Lesley Manville as Dr. Cotter
- Jason Schwartzman as Joe Guidry
- Henrique Zaga as Winston Moor
- Ariel Schulman as Tom Weston
- David Lowery as Jim Cochran
(L to R) Director Luca Guadagnino and producer Amy Pascal attend the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Challengers’ at Regency Village Theatre on April 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios.

List of Luca Guadagnino Movies:
- ‘The Protagonists‘ (1999)
- ‘Melissa P.‘ (2005)
- ‘I Am Love‘ (2010)
- ‘A Bigger Splash‘ (2016)
- ‘Call Me by Your Name‘ (2018)
- ‘Suspiria‘ (2018)
- ‘Bones and All‘ (2022)
- ‘Challengers‘ (2024)
- ‘Queer‘ (2024)
Buy Luca Guadagnino Movies on Amazon
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December 1, 2024
Movie Review: ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’
Jude Law as Captain Hook in Disney’s live-action ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

On Disney+ now, ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ is the latest attempt by the studio to transform one of its animated classics into live action. And thankfully, despite being pushed straight to streaming, this reveals itself to be far better than the much-maligned ‘Pinocchio’ conversion job that (dis)graced screens last year, even that had Robert Zemeckis directing and Tom Hanks starring.

And that’s largely thanks to director David Lowery, who finds a lyrical, visually lush approach and ups the emotional ante to give the story more meaning.
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What’s the story of ‘Peter Pan & Wendy?’

Given that author J.M. Barrie’s original play premiered back in 1904 and it, and the novel spawned from it have been adapted many, many times through the years, it’s hard to imagine anyone doesn’t know the narrative for this one. But just in case…

‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ introduces us to Wendy Darling (Ever Anderson), a young girl on the verge of leaving her family and childhood home behind to attend boarding school. One night, Wendy and brothers Michael (Jacobi Jupe –– yes, the younger brother of ‘A Quiet Place’s Noah) and John (Joshua Pickering) meet Peter Pan (Alexander Molony), a boy who refuses to grow up.

Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi), she travels with Peter to the magical world of Never Land. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook (Jude Law), and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever.

Alexander Molony as Peter Pan in Disney’s live-action ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Danger Pan

Even with a seemingly failsafe story, Peter Pan has offered mixed blessings to filmmakers through the years. Disney famously made a successful animated version way back in 1953, but in more recent times, it has become something of a third rail for directors who dare to go near it.

It has provided flops for ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ filmmaker P.J. Hogan, whose 2003 traditional ‘Peter Pan’ boasted Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook but could only wrangle $121 million worldwide from a $100 million budget (not counting advertising etc.) ‘Atonement’s Joe Wright tried a punkier, revised version in 2015 with Hugh Jackman playing Hook. That did even worse, losing money. And even more recently, ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’s Benh Zeitlin turned the focus to Wendy Darling with, well, ‘Wendy’, which was made for $6 million and has so far returned less than $300,000 on limited, pandemic-impacted release after it landed in 2020.

Yet Lowery has pulled off something that feels like it both channels Barrie’s original story and does interesting things with it that make it feel fresh.

Alyssa Wapanatâhk as Tiger Lily in Disney’s live-action ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Related Article: Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult Starring in ‘The Order’

This is, of course, not Lowery’s first ride on the Disney rodeo either –– he previously brought the world a fine adaptation of ‘Pete’s Dragon’. With that movie there was a lot more scope for change, the director swapping the live action/cartoon musical story for a more grounded (aside from the whole dragon thing), story of a lost boy who finds solace in a giant winged creature.

Lost boys –– and girls –– are, of course a big part of the ‘Pan’ story (Peter has a group he’s collected through the years), and in finding his young cast, Lowery has tracked down some authentic (and authentically diverse) actors to bring the roles to life.

Ever Anderson, daughter of Milla Jovovich and director Paul W.S. Anderson, brings charm and a soulful quality to Wendy and also does well on the stunt front when called upon (the apple not falling far from the tree there). As her brothers, Pickering and Jupe aren’t called upon to handle too much, but what they bring is kids who are appealing and never precociously annoying.

Ever Anderson as Wendy in Disney’s live-action ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Molony as Peter initially feels smug and arrogant, but those are a slightly in keeping with his base character. And as the movie probes deeply into his reasons for being the way he is, he warms up.

Law as Hook is a fantastically preening villain at first, but the actor is also talented enough to handle the deeper origin story that Lowery and co-writer Toby Halbrooks hand him. And he’s ably supported by Smee (Jim Gaffigan, who unveils a solid British accent), who is also handed more of a character than the usual comedy sidekick.

Lowery kicks off with a very theatrical feel, upping the fantasy levels and, if there’s a problem to be found, the earlier scenes (which take place at night) are a little muddy with the digital filming. And Molony, for one, sometimes looks like he’s been crafted with CGI, even more so than Shahidi’s Tink.

Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell in Disney’s live-action ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

But once the movie gets to Neverland, sunshine arrives and the canvas expands, the movie becomes much more watchable. And the effects –– such Hook’s ship going flying and the infamous ticking-belly crocodile (to whom Peter fed Hook’s hand once he cut it off years ago) –– are effective, even if they sometimes stretch the more limited budget offered by a movie produced for the streaming service as opposed to ‘Pete’s Dragon’s lush theatrical look.

The music, meanwhile, both in score form from musicians Daniel Hart and Oliver Wallace (who channels John Williams at times) and the pirate songs from the original animated movie given fresh treatment, really help to enhance the experience.

This is Lowery bringing his carefully crafted indie sensibility to the film, once again putting his stamp on it rather than feeling like it rattled off of a construction conveyor belt. It might not appeal to fans of his more esoteric work such as ‘A Ghost Story’, but it’s a perfectly fun story for family audiences, especially with young children who have yet to see their first ‘Pan’ adaptation.

You won’t feel like a codfish for catching this one.

‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.

A scene still from Disney’s live-action ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Peter Pan & Wendy:’
- ‘Peter Pan‘ (1953)
- ‘Hook‘ (1991)
- ‘Peter Pan‘ (2003)
- ‘Finding Neverland‘ (2004)
- ‘Pan‘ (2015)
- ‘Cinderella‘ (2015)
- ‘Pete’s Dragon‘ (2016)
- ‘Beauty and the Beast‘ (2017)
- ‘The Lion King‘ (2019)
- ‘Mulan‘ (2020)
- ‘Wendy‘ (2020)
- ‘Cruella‘ (2021)
- ‘Pinocchio‘ (2022)
- ‘The Lost Girls ‘(2022)
Where to Stream and Watch Online: ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’

Buy ‘Peter Pan’ Movies on Amazon

‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ is produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is set to premiere on Disney+ April 28th, 2023.
April 29, 2023
’80s Movie ‘Explorers’ Is Becoming a TV Series

Paramount

“Explorers,” the 1985 Joe Dante movie where River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke build a spaceship and meet aliens, is getting the TV series treatment, just like fellow cult movie “Time Bandits.”

And not just anyone is behind the project: Cary Fukunaga (“True Detective”) and David Lowery (“Pete’s Dragon,” “The Old Man and the Gun”) are teaming to write a pilot script for Paramount Television, Deadline reports.

The two will write the script together and one of them might be directing the pilot.

They’re both busy, busy guys: Fukunaga, just directed and exec produced the first season “Maniac” for Netflix and then he’s tackling the 25th James Bond film.

Lowery just signed on to direct the Arthurian fantasy epic “The Green Knight” and is in pre-production on a new live-action version of “Peter Pan.” He also directed the first two episodes of CBS All Access’ “Strange Angel.”

Can we hope for an Ethan Hawke cameo if the TV series actually happens? (Today, by the way, is Hawke’s 48th birthday.)

In a 2015 video interview, Hawke recalls that the movie was a massive failure when it came out. He thought it was going to be the “next E.T,” but instead it bombed: “I don’t think it got one good review and nobody went to see it,” he says. But, because he survived that, he said it “gave me the tools to survive ‘Dead Poets Society.’”

So, it’s a good thing that “Explorers” flopped?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5c1dlrJiCM

[Via Deadline]

November 6, 2018
‘Pete’s Dragon’ Star Karl Urban Loves a Great Villain

If you think you’ve heard the name Karl Urban a lot this summer, you are correct.

Not only is Urban co-starring in the August 12th Disney live-action release, “Pete’s Dragon” as Gavin, the villain trying to capture the titular friendly beast, but, earlier this summer, he reprised his role as Bones in “Star Trek: Beyond,” and was confirmed to star in “Thor: Ragnarok” as the villainous Skurge. To say he’s been busy is an understatement.

In fact, when we caught up with Urban to chat about his role in “Pete’s Dragon,” he had just wrapped the first Los Angeles press day for “Beyond,” after having flown in from New Zealand the night before. With his feet up on the coffee table, relaxing on a couch, Urban talked a bit about his role in “Thor: Ragnarok,” what it like working with director David Lowery on “Pete’s Dragon,” and what Robert Redford is really like.

Moviefone: You are a very busy man! “Star Trek” and “Pete’s Dragon,” and and you’re about to start working on Thor: Ragnarok. And, you’re also a dad! Do you find it a little bit hard to juggle everything?

Karl Urban: Yes, it’s tough. That’s the important thing is to try and find that balance and make sure that my family is included in aspects of my career as much as they can be. I just took both of my boys to Sydney to the premiere of “Star Trek” and they had a great time. They both came to the set in Dubai and one of them came to Vancouver, so it’s just about going to lengths to make sure that that balance is maintained.

Did you grow up with “Pete’s Dragon.” Does it have as big a fan base in New Zealand as it does here in the States?

I did not, actually. I never saw it as a kid and I still haven’t seen the original today. It bears no relevance to the film that I made, if it did, I would have watched it but this is a complete re-imagining.

You’ve been involved with major franchises, even in your early work, that have such huge fan followings: “Hercules,” “Xena,” “Star Trek”… What is the difference between going from those big franchise-type stories with a huge fan base to something like “Pete’s Dragon,” which has a bit of a smaller, more intimate feeling to it? How do you approach the character?

The approach is just the same, there’s no difference. Film-making is film-making, and character is character. The only difference I guess is how well that property is known before it’s released. For me, it’s about character, it’s about story and it’s about who I’m working with and where I’m working and those are the things that I concern myself with when I’m making a decision about what I’m going to do.

How different was it working with David Lowery, who comes from more of an independent movie background?

The medium is irrelevant. Every director is different. Every director has their strengths, and, for lack of a better word, their weaknesses. I found David to be a great director. He’s very specific about what he wanted and at the same time he was very willing and open to collaborate, welcoming of ideas, and he was just such a lovely positive guy. You wanted to please him and help him realize his vision for this film. He had a wonderful creative team around him; the writer Toby [Halbrooks] was constantly on set, and it was a rewarding experience.

Can you tell me also a little bit about working with Robert Redford? He’s such an icon in Hollywood.

It was incredible. To tell you the truth one of the appeals of joining this film was the prospect of getting to work with Robert Redford and indeed when I did get to work with him it was so surreal. You’d be in a scene with him and he would smile and you’d have a plethora of classic Hollywood films flashing [in front of you]. And he’s such a warm, generous guy. He shared stories about many things, from Santa Fe to his love of automobiles and bikes and horses — and it was just an incredible honor to be able to work with such an icon.

Speaking of horses, Bryce and David mentioned when they did the trailer launch that he saved a horse on the way to the set — do you have any other stories like that? They said he did plenty of stuff that made them go ‘Wow! He’s really doing that!’

Yes, I think that’s probably the one that I know the best. He was on the way to work and saw an emaciated horse in a paddock and stopped and basically saved the horse. He went and got a trailer and they rescued the horse and then he had it checked out and stabled it and put on a proper regime of feed to try and build some condition back up in this animal and that’s just a real testament to the man that he is.

What does it mean to you to become part of this whole Disney universe? I know you’ve named your son after Indiana Jones, which is part of Disney now, and now you’re in “Pete’s Dragon” and you’re going into “Thor.” So what does it mean to you, personally, to be part of that now?

Well to me … what I personally cherish the most out of any experience are the people who you get to meet and work with, and that to me is the most rewarding experience out of everything. And in both cases of “Pete’s” and “Thor” there are some really wonderful people and it’s my hope that they remain a part of my life from this point forward. I loved working with David Lowery — I’d work with him again in a heartbeat — the same obviously with Wes Bentley and a bunch of the other guys that worked on that, and Mr. Redford. On “Thor” it’s the same thing with Taika [Waititi]. I’m pretty fortunate.

We know you’re playing a villain in “Thor: Ragnarok.” Can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on? Anything we can expect from your character?

I can’t say too much under the bounds of confidentiality, and I haven’t actually started shooting yet; I’ll start in a couple of weeks. So, that being said, it’s a wonderful opportunity to work with Cate Blanchett and Chris [Hemsworth] and Tom [Hiddleston] and it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Villains are so much fun to play and you play somewhat of a villain in “Pete’s Dragon.” Do you take any extra … have a little more fun with the villainous characters as opposed to the straight ones?

The villains are always the fun characters to play because, of course, they can get away with saying and doing things that we never can in real life. My favorite villains are the villains that are fun and naughty and the character of Skurge isn’t cut-and-dry in the same way that Gavin isn’t cut-and-dry. The character has his motives and his reasons for doing what he does and I think as long as you imbue your character with that then you’ll avoid being some carbon copy 2D bad guy.

“Pete’s Dragon” opens in theaters everywhere August 12th.

August 11, 2016
‘Pete’s Dragon’ Star Wes Bentley Can’t Imagine a World Without Disney

When you see Wes Bentley‘s name, you wouldn’t typically associate it with a family movie — much less one made by Disney — yet, opening on August 12th is “Pete’s Dragon.”

Bentley stars as Jack, the fiancé of Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who happens to find a forest-dwelling boy named Pete (Oakes Fegley), who claims to have a dragon for a best friend. Along with Grace’s dad, Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), and daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence), they must stop Jack’s brother, Gavin (Karl Urban), from capturing Pete’s dragon.

We sat down with Wes recently to talk about being part of his first family-friendly film, filming “Pete’s Dragon” and “American Horror Story: Hotel” back to back, and what he would tell his younger self.

Moviefone: This movie is a completely different from the “Pete’s Dragon” most of us saw growing up. What drew you to this version?

Wes Bentley: David Lowery [the director] drew me to it. I was a fan of the original, but I knew that didn’t have anything to do with it, really. So I put that out of my mind right away and I had met David before and knew his work, and I really wanted to work with him. I also wanted to do a family film. Those two combined, that’s as much as I knew at the beginning and then I got to see how much more they were going to do. It’s Disney, they’re going to make something special, and they did.

So this is actually, I believe, it’s your first family film.

Yeah, it is.

What is that experience like? Especially because you get to share it with your kids.

My son is almost six, and he’s going to come with me tonight to the premiere. This will be the first time he can really watch me in a film. He’s seen bits of stuff, you know, we freeze framed a moment from “American Beauty” and he stood by it, because he has my eyebrows, so we were trying to catch a freeze frame. So, he knows I do this, but he’s never actually seen anything.

What do you think he’s going to think of dad being up on the big screen?

I don’t know. That’s going to be interesting to find out. You know, I did bring him to the set one time, he was much younger, three, and he was sitting behind the monitor and he kept seeing me on screen and then I would see his head pop around and then he would look at the screen and then his head would pop around. He couldn’t figure out how I could be in both places at once. He couldn’t picture it. Imagining passed a 2D image. I think he just couldn’t see me.

What does it mean for you to be part of the Disney family now? I mean, it’s such a legacy that goes back to our parents, grandparents, and now our children are getting taken by their films.

My wife I were — I think someone brought the question up — we were contemplating it one night. What would the world be without Disney? It’s hard to — that’s how big it is — you can’t really imagine. It’s hard to imagine even in the toughest places on Earth, where things are at their worst, Disney films are still there. They’re a part, in some way, of that — or it’s in there somehow. I can’t imagine what it would be like. I have no idea. It’s big for me, “Alice in Wonderland” and all of the musicals when I was a teenager. They were all big for me.

This is actually pretty different from what you are doing on TV: “American Horror Story.” How was it going from filming something like that, which is meant to induce nightmares. to this, something meant to uplift and give you hope?

Not just “American Horror Story,” a lot of my career has been playing in the dark side of human nature and even the non-genre-esque characters were still dealing with darker elements. So I was excited to do this because it’s a tap into that lighter side. Also, I have children. I got to tap into that and that side of myself. But it was tricky. I actually shot this before shooting “American Horror Story: Hotel.” And the set of “Pete’s Dragon” was a really loving, warm set. We had a great time doing it. New Zealand was beautiful, my kids were there and it was just like — my son was sort of “working” on the film and the ladies had him helping them out in the trailer.

Then I went to shoot “American Horror Story” and it’s also a lot of fun to work on that, but it’s a grueling shoot. We work a lot of hours trying to get a lot in a little amount of time. There are psychologically tough elements to those, definitely. Definitely different from “Pete’s Dragon.” It was definitely tough to jump from that to that. I didn’t want my kids to come to the “American Horror Story” set.

You would be paying for therapy bills, right?

Yeah, exactly. So it was quite a leap.

Speaking of that a little bit, when I spoke to David Lowery last month, he did say that he likes that this film kind of makes kids a little bit uncomfortable, a little bit scared — it makes them feel things you don’t normally want kids to connect to, but at the same time, it’s necessary. How do you feel that is necessary as a parent and also as a storyteller?

I think, in my opinion, as a society we have become afraid to let our kids feel tough feelings at an early age because we think they are going to have psychological problems. I think the opposite. I think dealing with somewhat heavy issues or feeling heavy, deep emotional feelings let you learn how to deal with it, cope with it. Kind of like, in a physical way, falling off the monkey bars teaches you that you need to be careful on the monkey bars. So you sort of learn that about emotions. So I really appreciate David’s opinion about that and the way he made the film because I think a lot of times, children’s films now — the one’s made recently — they have, for the most part avoided that.

We grew up with some pretty serious stuff like the “Secret of NIMH” is not soft, “The Last Unicorn” and “Dark Crystal,” these were the things we grew up with and they touched on some heavy elements with some dark imagery. Not dark meaning like “‘American Horror Story’ dark,” but gothic sort of feeling, literally dark imagery. I feel like it would be nice for our kids to grow up with that. I feel elements of it in some cartoons and some movies, but I don’t think it’s enough. So I am glad that “Pete’s Dragon” doesn’t shy away from some things and some of the emotional difficulties of being five and 10. The reality of life that can come knocking at your door.

It also has a lot messages. There’s the family that chooses you or the one that you choose. There’s some adoption and friendship. What was the most touching element to you about the story between Pete and Elliott?

It’s that love passes through every boundary. That love and friendship, love and life, can bridge those difficult feelings and difficult moments in our lives. It’s so strong, the image of five-year-old Pete. What happens in the beginning and then his first encounter with Elliott being so delicate, but immediately he feels loved. And if immediately he feels loved, things go well for him. Also, as he’s moving on in life and he’s 10 and it’s time to be with, maybe, other people and a family, as he is finding that family feeling the love and what he is leaving and then going into what’s coming next. It’s just about love and how much love can mean when you share it with each other. And support, support is not just, “I’ll be there for you” but, you know, it’s loving somebody.

So I think that’s a huge element here. I think that there’s hidden — there’s one here, too, but I don’t know if it’s an intentional theme, but you’re 10 years old, you have a child who’s turning nine. That’s a big change. There are a lot of changes that happen between eight and 10, you know? Mythologically they call it “losing the golden ball” and that’s something that happens around eight or nine, and it’s big for everyone. We’ve all had, if we look back at our lives, something happen to us at eight or nine or 10 that truly changes you and starts to point you toward adolescence and, I think, the movie, in a strange way, kind of touches on that.

You’ve been very open in the past that you have had some drug issues, and I’m glad to see you’ve overcome them and you’re succeeding. If you were to go back and give yourself advice, knowing what you now know, what would you tell yourself?

Relax, man. Don’t take everything so seriously. I think I got scared because I knew I still had a lot to learn as an actor and as a person. So I got very tense. I tightened up and into all that confusion. So I think if I saw myself again I would just relax and just take it one step at a time. I was afraid to make a mistake because it was so perfect in the beginning in some ways. That movie was so good and people really loved it so much, I just didn’t want to mess up and show who I really was in the next one, which was that I’m not that good of an actor. You know what I mean? It was that fear. Fear is the problem in just about anything. Fear will always lead to trouble. So if you can learn to not be afraid or at least learn how to deal with fear, then you will be fine. I think that the way to deal with fear is to relax and not — just let things happen and be okay with it.

Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” opens nationwide Friday, August 12th.

August 10, 2016
‘Pete’s Dragon’: 10 Things We Learned at the Sneak Peek for Disney’s Reboot

For many, “Pete’s Dragon” was a huge part of their childhoods, so it’s no surprise Disney chose to make it their next live-action reboot. But don’t expect this “Pete’s Dragon” to be a simple recycling of the original; it has its own unique, grounded take on the fan-favorite story.

Recently, Moviefone was privy to an exclusive preview of footage from the movie, with writer-director David Lowery in attendance. The scenes we screened emphasized the film’s grounded tone and, of course, everyone’s favorite Disney dragon: Elliot. Following the screening, Lowery and select members of the cast participated in a Q&A, revealing how they brought Disney’s beloved tale to life.

1. The first decision when it came to designing a CG Elliot: He had to be furry. Lowery revealed that he is obsessed with his cats (same) and he used them as inspiration for the lovable dragon. He really wanted Elliot to remind audiences of a cute and cuddly pet, which the footage definitely delivered.

2. Karl Urban plays the villain, Gavin. He wants the dragon and will do anything he can to get it.

3. Bryce Dallas Howard loves the original “Pete’s Dragon” and immediately said yes when she was offered a role in the reboot. She loved that this movie wasn’t just a copycat; it took the core of what the live-action/animated film did and made it its own.

4. Don’t look for any callbacks to the original. While Lowery gets why reboots and remakes give a wink and nod to their source material, the filmmaker didn’t want to take the audience out of the movie. The reboot also does not feature any songs from the original.
5. To ensure that they could use a green screen only when necessary, they drove two hours into the woods to film every day. Lowery wanted the movie to feel as grounded as possible, and having a big, furry dragon is enough to “unground” it.

6. Robert Redford once hitchhiked to the set after being dropped off at the wrong spot. Classic Redford.

7. On the way to set one day, Redford spotted an injured horse and came to its rescue. What a guy.

8. Howard said Oona Laurence, who plays Pete’s fierce BFF, Natalie, was “a little Meryl Streep.” She would be playing in between scenes, come to the set, do her scene, nail it, and leave.

9. To find the perfect Pete, the casting director auditioned thousands and thousands of people worldwide. She eventually winnowed it down to about 150 kids, and, from there, Lowery chose one.

10. To land the role of Pete, Oakes Fegley was asked in his audition to build something out of the chairs in the room and to sneak up on someone. Lowery wanted to make sure that the actor cast in the role had the genuine qualities he saw in Pete.

“Pete’s Dragon” hits theaters Friday, August 12.

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June 14, 2016