(Left) William H. Macy in ‘Fargo’. Photo: Gramercy Pictures. (Center) Michael Cera in ‘Superbad’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing. (Right) Emilia Jones in ‘CODA’. Photo: Apple Original Films.
Preview:
William H. Macy, Michael Cera and Emilia Jones are joining ‘The Running Man’
Glen Powell is starring alongside Josh Brolin, Lee Pace, Katy O’Brian and Daniel Ezra.
Edgar Wright co-wrote and will direct the Stephen King adaptation.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Captain Benjamin “Ben” Richards in ‘The Running Man.’
‘The Running Man,’ which King published in 1982 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, was set in 2025 in an America under a totalitarian regime that uses violent game shows to placate the disenfranchised masses.
The story centered on one desperate man, needing money for his gravely sick daughter, who joins the most popular show, ‘The Running Man,’ in which teams of killers hunt down contestants. The longer that a contestant survives, the more money that person makes. But as the game show’s producers and killers will find out, our conflicted hero will break all the rules and expose the show’s dark secrets.
Powell is playing the main character, while O’Brian would be one of the other contestants.
What do we know about the new recruits for the movie?
Brolin, meanwhile, stars as the ruthless producer of the game show, and Pace is the brutal chief hunter tracking down Powell.
Cera (who starred in ‘Scott Pilgrim’ for the director) will be a naïve rebel who tries to help the desperate man, while Jones is playing a privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government.
Bill Skarsgård in ‘Boy Kills World’. Photo: Lionsgate.
In theaters on Friday, April 26th, ‘Boy Kills World’ is a revenge thriller that choose to layer dark, madcap humor over its clear ‘John Wick’ influence. Powered by a solid, committed central performance from Bill Skarsgård and some entertaining quirk from elsewhere in the cast, it does somewhat fall victim to a thin storyline that gives it much more of a style over substance feel and sometimes comes across as a video game rather than a movie.
Still, with some interesting permutations later in the plot, it does prove to have a little more going on under the surface.
Yayan Ruhian in ‘Boy Kills World’. Photo: Lionsgate.
If you only watch one movie this year where Bill Skarsgård goes on a violent rampage intent on wiping out the people who did him wrong… well, we’ve yet to see ‘The Crow’, so we can’t tell you whether ‘Boy Kills World’ is the better of the two.
But it certainly has a level of originality to put it above a new adaptation of a graphic novel that was first brought to screens in 1994. That said, what we have here is very much a blend of ‘John Wick’, ‘The Hunger Games’ with just a dash of a twisted take on ‘The Karate Kid’.
Script and Direction
Sharlto Copley in ‘Boy Kills World’. Photo: Lionsgate.
Tyler Burton Smith wrote the script here, working with Arend Remmbers to adapt the short film that the latter created alongside director Moritz Mohr.
While Skarsgård’s performance is mute, the screenplay for the movie is nevertheless full of entertaining voice-over from H. Jon Benjamin (‘Bob’s Burgers’), who provides an insight into what’s going through his character’s head. Whether it’s quoting from the dictionary that the younger version of Boy studies or commenting on what’s going on, it’s a real highlight of the movie as a whole –– all credit to the team for hiring someone who knows what they’re doing on the voice-over front.
Yet for the most part, the movie is reliant on its fight scenes, and they are certainly numerous, even if they eventually start to make you a little numb. Even with the invention on display here, the sheer brutality of every clash is to such a level that you start to feel battered by it yourself. Still, as the credit implies, it’s fight designer/director and coordinator Dawid Szatarski who deserves the lion’s share of the credit here.
But Mohr, who expands his original concept here, certainly has a lot of flare to spare when it comes to camera moves and performances. It’s clear he and his team were working to a tighter budget than the likes of either ‘Wick’ or ‘Hunger Games’, but he gets a lot out of it.
Performances
Michelle Dockery in ‘Boy Kills World’. Photo: Lionsgate.
Appearing in almost every scene (aside from early story moments when the younger version of his character is on screen, played by twins Nicholas and Cameron Crovetti), Skarsgård brings his typical intensity to the role, and very clearly threw himself into training (he’s essentially carved from stone here) to pull off the various fights.
And his “Boy” is more than simply a savage, revenge-happy warrior –– he’s a damaged personality who has suffered years of trauma and has a mission on his mind (even if it’s not the mission he thinks it is). In tandem with Benjamin’s quirky delivery, it combines to make for a watchable lead role.
As his Guru, Yayan Ruhian channels the film’s anarchic style, bringing a deranged Mr. Miyagi energy to the screens, the world’s most dangerous mentor. He doesn’t have a lot to do besides show off his considerable martial arts skills (you’ll have seen him in the ‘Raid’ movies and the third ‘John Wick’ outing), but he does the job well.
On the villainous side of things, we have an assembled group who are clearly having a blast playing atrocious, dystopian autocrats, a collection of paranoid ramblers and scheming social climbers.
Michelle Dockery in ‘Boy Kills World’. Photo: Lionsgate.
Famke Janssen does a lot with relatively little as the power-obsessed Hilda Van Der Koy, one part Hitler, one part Margaret Thatcher. Around her are the likes of Brett Gelman (superbly sleazy as the script-happy brother-in-law Glen), while Sharlto Copley leans into his ability to make smarmy assholes likeable. Well, sort of. But even when he’s at his worst, he’s utterly entertaining.
Michelle Dockery, meanwhile, is creepy on a whole other level as Hilda’s sister Melanie, the real power behind the throne.
And then there’s June 27, played by Jessica Rothe. The star of the ‘Happy Death Day’ movies is just as committed as the rest, and proves she’s got the action chops as much as Skarsgård. Plus, she delivers when called upon to show other sides to her character.
Final Thoughts
Jessica Rothe in ‘Boy Kills World’. Photo: Lionsgate.
‘Boy Kills World’ is certainly frenetic and action-packed, with a healthy line in dark, zany comedy and some clever ideas.
But in a world where movies such as ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’, ‘John Wick’ and other exist, it doesn’t seem as completely original as it might, and it frequently mistakes punching for plot. Don’t let that stop you from checking out something that could use the support, though.
‘Boy Kills World’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the story of ‘‘Boy Kills World’?
The new movie stars Bill Skarsgård as a young man known only as “Boy”, who vows revenge after his family is murdered by Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the deranged matriarch of a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty that left the boy orphaned, deaf and voiceless.
Driven by his inner voice, one which he co-opted from his favorite childhood video game, Boy trains with a mysterious shaman (Yayan Ruhian) to become an instrument of death and is set loose on the eve of the annual culling of dissidents. Bedlam ensues as Boy commits bloody martial arts mayhem, inciting a wrath of carnage and blood-letting.
As he tries to get his bearings in this delirious realm, Boy soon falls in with a desperate resistance group, all the while bickering with the apparent ghost of his rebellious little sister.
Premiering on Netflix November 17th, anime series ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ is the latest adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s cult graphic novel series, published between August 2004 and July 2010 by Oni Press.
It was first brought to big screens by director Edgar Wright, whose ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ was released in 2010. It didn’t do well at the box office, but became a cult favorite, and is still seen as a successful translation of the source material to screens.
Which means that ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ has even more to prove, following both the original books and the movie. Yet, as it turns out, this animated TV version is more than up to the challenge.
Does Scott Pilgrim successfully cross over into anime?
If you’re a fan of the ‘Scott Pilgrim’ graphic novels, you’ll probably have been anticipating this one, not least because it boasts the movie’s cast on voice duties.
It is a relief, then, to report that ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ is a roaring success, which is both faithful to the original story but finds fascinating new paths to take –– about which we wish we could say more, but to do so would spoil the fun.
Suffice to say, the initial episode of the show follows almost entirely faithfully along the story of the first book, introducing us once more to Scott’s frosty Toronto existence. He’s a nervy slacker who plays in a bad rock band and is (sort of) dating a highschooler.
And yet Scott is also, apparently, one of the best fighters in the area, since the ‘Pilgrim’ world is one where spontaneous, video game-style battles break out when people are fighting for reasons including winning over someone they have a crush on.
That’s Scott’s challenge when he meets the beautiful, mysterious Ramona Flowers, an American transplant still smarting from a bad breakup with some serious baggage. He becomes somewhat obsessed with her, partly because she rollerblades through his dreams (turns out his subconscious mind is a hyperspace portal that knocks miles off Ramona’s route as a DVD delivery worker… yes, you really do need to key into the story’s specific oddness).
So, when one of Ramona’s ex-boyfriends show up to challenge him to a fight, Scott is only to ready to leap into action.
It’s there that O’Malley and TV co-writer BenDavid Grabinski (‘Happily’) really get to show off the imaginative drive of the show, as they find truly interesting new ways to tell the story.
The writers, who clearly knew that another completely faithful adaptation would be viewed as unnecessary, make some real leaps here, getting a lot of mileage out of experimenting with the basic story engine. It allows for characters who in the book and movie are mostly side players to get their moments to shine –– and truly expands upon the story.
This could well be considered a multiverse variant of ‘Scott Pilgrim’, one that enriches the experience without forgetting what makes it work. The characters feel authentic, and the emotions are still real, even with all the craziness going on around them.
And while Wright was able to pull off some impressive action in his movie version (employing some nifty effects and a creative stunt team), the anime nature of the show means it can go far further in its depiction of the different battles.
Director Abel Gongora brings audacious visual panache to the whole series, whether it is two characters fighting in a plane as it crashes, or paparazzi photographers portrayed as a pack of ninjas.
The anime style fits with the book’s illustration, then brings them to life in vivid and various ways. And the music, meanwhile, is a perfect blend of entirely new material and songs that cropped up in the film. This is the perfect mix of the source and its original adaptation.
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’: Performances
The voice cast of ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Anime Series.
Gathering the movie’s cast back (albeit in isolated recording booths, since the actors have gone on to much bigger, busier careers in the years since release) proves to be another winning aspect of the new production.
Michael Cera, of course, is still great as a low-key Scott, while Kieran Culkin still steals scenes as his unwitting roommate Wallace Wells, who has even more snark to deliver here. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Ramona gets to be more than a love interest, while the likes of Satya Bhabha’s Matthew Patel and Johnny Simmons’ Young Neil are expanded far beyond their minor roles in the story.
In a year where the comic book genre has taken something of a beating, this off-beat blend of video games, romance, rock and comedy is the ideal antidote. It’ll please fans of both the book and movie and looks unlike anything out there on TV at the moment.
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ ranks among the best of genre on small screens this year. As the o omnipresent video game announcer might declare, “Winner!”
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.
Adapted by Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski, ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ follows the title character (voiced by Michael Cera) as he falls in love with New Yorker Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
But in order to date her, he must defeat all seven of her evil exes. Then things get even more complicated.
Who else is in ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’?
Thanks to the intervention of Edgar Wright, the entire movie cast is back alongside Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
The new series is a fresh, yet recognizable adaptation of O’Malley’s original books, which chronicle how slacker Scott (Cera) goes from dating the enthusiastic Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) to becoming obsessed with the cool courier Ramona Flowers (Winstead).
Trouble is, when Scott starts dating Ramona, he learns he’ll also have to battle her seven evil ex-boyfriends (and one ex-girlfriend) to unlock the power of love and truly win her heart. You know: that old boy-meets-girl-boy-fights-exes-learns-life-lessons story.
Set in “the magical land of Toronto”, the story also brings in garage bands (since Scott plays with a scruffy local outfit called ‘Sex Bob-Om’), crazy video game references and dueling musical acts. Part of Scott’s problem is that he also has an ex, Envy Adams (Larson), who has since gone on to become a huge rock star.
Evans will be Lucas Lee, one of the exes, while Routh plays Todd Ingram, Envy’s new boyfriend and bandmate. Plaza is aboard as Scott’s sweary nemesis Julie Powers, while Anna Kendrick is his sister, Stacey. Schwartzman, meanwhile, is calculating ultimate evil ex Gideon Graves.
Fellow Sex Bob-Om bandmates include Young Neil (Johnny Simmons), Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and Kim Pine (Pill).
“One of the proudest and most enjoyable achievements of my career was assembling and working with the dynamite cast of ‘Scott Pilgrim’. Since the film’s release in 2010 we’ve done Q&A’s, remembrances and charity read throughs, but there was never the occasion to reunite the whole gang on an actual project. Until now… Original creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, along with writer BenDavid Grabinski have conjured up an anime series of ‘Scott Pilgrim’ that doesn’t just expand the universe, but also…well, just watch it. I’m more than happy to announce that I have helped coax the entire original cast back to voice their characters on this epic new adventure. You are in for a treat.”
As a movie, the story was fun, and stylish and from the looks of this first trailer, the series will be able to both replicate the style of O’Malley’s graphic novel work while also expanding on the craziness (dinosaurs!)
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ hits Netflix on November 17th.
Now, though, Wright is executive producing a new animated adaptation of O’Malley’s work, with O’Malley and Ben David Grabinski as executive producers, writers and showrunners, with Science SARU as the animation studio bringing it all to life.
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Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim in director Edgar Wright’s ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.’
What’s the story of ‘Scott Pilgrim’?
The new series looks to be a new adaptation of O’Malley’s original books, which chronicle how slacker Scott (Cera) goes from dating the enthusiastic Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) to becoming obsessed with the cool courier Ramona Flowers (Winstead).
Trouble is, when Scott starts dating Ramona, he learns he’ll also have to battle her seven evil ex-boyfriends to unlock the power of love and truly win her heart. You know: that old boy-meets-girl-boy-fights-exes-learns-life-lessons story.
Set in “the magical land of Toronto”, the story also brings in garage bands (since Scott plays with a scruffy local outfit called ‘Sex Bob-Om’, crazy video game references and dueling musical acts. Part of Scott’s problem is that he also has an ex, Envy Adams (Larson), who has since gone on to become a huge rockstar.
Evans will be Lucas Lee, one of the exes, while Routh plays Todd Ingram, Envy’s new boyfriend and bandmate. Plaza is aboard as Scott’s sweary nemesis Julie Powers, while Anna Kendrick is his sister, Stacey. Schwartzman, meanwhile, is calculating ultimate evil ex Gideon Graves.
Fellow Sex Bob-Om bandmates include Young Neil (Johnny Simmons), Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and Kim Pine (Pill).
Here’s what Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski had to say about the new series:
“We’re getting the band back together! Cera and Winstead, Bhabha, Culkin, Evans, Kendrick, Larson, Pill, Plaza, Routh, Schwartzman, Simmons, Webber, Whitman and Wong. A stellar cast, perfectly assembled by Edgar Wright. We can’t wait for fans and newcomers alike to see what we and our partners at Science SARU have been cooking up. It’s going to be a wild ride.”
And Edgar Wright adds,
“One of the proudest and most enjoyable achievements of my career was assembling and working with the dynamite cast of ‘Scott Pilgrim’. Since the film’s release in 2010 we’ve done Q&A’s, remembrances and charity read throughs, but there was never the occasion to reunite the whole gang on an actual project. Until now… Original creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, along with writer BenDavid Grabinski have conjured up an anime series of ‘Scott Pilgrim’ that doesn’t just expand the universe, but also…well, just watch it. I’m more than happy to announce that I have helped coax the entire original cast back to voice their characters on this epic new adventure. You are in for a treat.”
The film was bursting with visual imagination and geeky puns, but the series promises to be even wilder given the advantages of animation. Netflix has yet to announce a release date for the show.
Chris Evans as Lucas Lee in director Edgar Wright’s ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.’
Other Movies Similar to ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World:’
Anna Kendrick is one of the most popular and talented actress working today.
She first gained attention for her supporting role in the ‘Twilight’ franchise and was quickly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work opposite George Clooney in ‘Up in the Air,’ and has since appeared in such popular movies as ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,’ ‘End of Watch,’ ‘Cake,’ ‘The Accountant,’ ‘Trolls’ and the ‘Pitch Perfect’ franchise. Her latest project, ‘Alice, Darling’ opens exclusively in AMC Theaters on January 20th.
In honor of the release of her new film, Moviefone is counting down the 20 best movies of Anna Kendrick’s career, including ‘Alice, Darling.’
Bella (Kristen Stewart) once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward (Robert Pattinson) and her friendship with Jacob (Taylor Lautner), knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.
Mike (Adam DeVine) and Dave (Zac Efron) are young, adventurous, fun-loving brothers who tend to get out of control at family gatherings. When their sister Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) reveals her Hawaiian wedding plans, the rest of the Stangles insist that the brothers bring respectable dates. After placing an ad on Craigslist, the siblings decide to pick Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) and Alice (Kendrick), two charming and seemingly normal women. Once they arrive on the island, however, Mike and Dave realize that their companions are ready to get wild and party.
Weekend trips, office parties, late night conversations, drinking on the job, marriage pressure, biological clocks, holding eye contact a second too long… you know what makes the line between “friends” and “more than friends” really blurry? Beer. Starring Kendrick, Olivia Wild, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston.
After the highs of winning the world championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren’t job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.
Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who learns of his cancer diagnosis and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.
The new found married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.
After having visions of a member of her support group who killed herself (Kendrick), a woman (Jennifer Aniston) who also suffers with chronic pain seeks out the widower of the suicide.
When Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Despite Edward’s repeated cautions, Bella can’t stay away from him, a fatal move that endangers her own life.
The Bellas are back, and they are better than ever. After being humiliated in front of none other than the President of the United States of America, the Bellas are taken out of the Aca-Circuit. In order to clear their name, and regain their status, the Bellas take on a seemingly impossible task: winning an international competition no American team has ever won. In order to accomplish this monumental task, they need to strengthen the bonds of friendship and sisterhood and blow away the competition with their amazing aca-magic! With all new friends and old rivals tagging along for the trip, the Bellas can hopefully accomplish their dreams.
Stephanie (Kendrick), a dedicated mother and popular vlogger, befriends Emily (Blake Lively), a mysterious upper-class woman whose son Nicky attends the same school as Miles, Stephanie’s son. When Emily asks her to pick Nicky up from school and then disappears, Stephanie undertakes an investigation that will dive deep into Emily’s cloudy past.
Lovable and friendly, the trolls love to play around. But one day, a mysterious giant shows up to end the party. Poppy (Kendrick), the optimistic leader of the Trolls, and her polar opposite, Branch (Justin Timberlake), must embark on an adventure that takes them far beyond the only world they’ve ever known.
In a woods filled with magic and fairy tale characters, a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) set out to end the curse put on them by their neighbor, a spiteful witch.
Anna Kendrick stars as Alice, a woman pushed to the breaking point by her psychologically abusive boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick). While on vacation with two close girlfriends (Kaniehtiio Horn and Wunmi Mosaku), Alice rediscovers the essence of herself and gains some much-needed perspective. Slowly, she starts to fray the cords of codependency that bind her. But Simon’s vengeance is as inevitable as it is shattering – and, once unleashed, it tests Alice’s strength, her courage, and the bonds of her deep-rooted friendships.
A girl (Kendrick) falls for the “perfect” guy (Sam Rockwell), who happens to have a very fatal flaw: he’s a hitman on the run from the crime cartels who employ him.
Two young officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.
As a math savant (Ben Affleck) uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.
Corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) spends his life in planes, airports, and hotels, but just as he’s about to reach a milestone of ten million frequent flyer miles, he meets a woman (Vera Farmiga) who causes him to rethink his transient life.
As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of ex-boyfriends (Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman) who will stop at nothing to eliminate him from her list of suitors.
College student Beca (Kendrick) knows she does not want to be part of a clique, but that’s exactly where she finds herself after arriving at her new school. Thrust in among mean gals, nice gals and just plain weird gals, Beca finds that the only thing they have in common is how well they sing together. She takes the women of the group out of their comfort zone of traditional arrangements and into a world of amazing harmonic combinations in a fight to the top of college music competitions.
Debuting On Demand and digital May 3rd is the new drama ‘All My Puny Sorrows,’ which is based on the novel of the same name by Miriam Toews.
Directed by Canadian filmmaker Michael McGowan (‘Saint Ralph’), the movie tells the story of two sisters, Yoli (Alison Pill) and Elf (Sarah Gadon), whose father (Donal Logue) committed suicide when they were young. Now adults, Elf is a concert pianist obsessed with ending her life, and Yoli is a writer, wrestling with her sister’s decision. Along with their religious mother (Mare Winningham), they make profound discoveries about their own lives.
Actress Alison Pill began her career at just the age of 10 and has since appeared in countless television and film projects. On TV she has appeared in such popular programs as ‘In Treatment,’ ‘The Newsroom,’ ‘American Horror Story: Cult,’ and ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ where she currently plays Dr. Agnes Jurati. While her film work includes ‘Milk,’ ‘Midnight in Paris,’ ‘Miss Sloane,’ ‘Vice,’ and ‘Hail, Caesar!’ But she is probably best known for playing Kimberly “Kim” Pine in director Edgar Wright’s modern classic, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Alison Pill about her work on ‘All My Puny Sorrows.’ The actress discussed her new film, her complex character, the movie’s unique humor, filming in Canada, and working with Sarah Gadon and Mare Winningham, as well as the upcoming third and final season of ‘Star Trek: Picard.’
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You can read our full interview with Alison Pill about ‘All My Puny Sorrows’ below or watch our interviews with Pill, Sarah Gadon and director Michael McGowan by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about how you got involved with the project, and did you read the novel the movie is based on before shooting the film?
Alison Pill: I had read the novel around the time it was released. I was familiar with Miriam Toews and her work. She’s just one of the most incredible writers working today. I was already familiar with it when the script came along, and I was honestly a bit surprised that it was being turned into a movie just because it felt like it’s an impossible adaptation.
When I started reading the script, I was like, “How are they going to make this a movie?” I was really delightfully surprised by Mike’s adaptation of the book. I think he found the through line and the importance of the relationships while also maintaining so much of Miriam’s humor and using so much of her language.
It’s this semi-autobiographical novel about Miriam and her family. This family who has Philip Larkin poems off the tops of their heads, this very literary family who loves words, books and maintaining that without getting too heavy handed. I thought Mike did a beautiful job. I was in as soon as I read the script, despite the fact that it meant navigating COVID and the Canadian border and all of the things. But it was so very worth it to deal with all of that.
MF: The movie deals with very serious subject matter, but at the same time is very funny in moments. Can you talk about the challenges of balancing those two different tones?
AP: I think the beauty of Miriam’s book speaks to the comedy inherent in so much tragedy. I think a lot of people lead their lives in the midst of both the comic and the tragic. I think you have a bad day, but hopefully if it’s bad enough, you can start to laugh at it. When the bird poops on your head, you’re like, “Okay, all right, this is the day I’m going back to bed. That’s it. It’s over.”
I think that feeling is what allows people to get through. Life isn’t one note, it is so many things. It is so many feelings and emotions and even in the midst of the despair that is sort of wound through this whole story and this family, there’s also such beautiful love. That is the real heart. So, when you have that woven together, inevitably you can find the humor because things are never one thing.
(L to R) Sarah Gadon and Alison Pill in ‘All My Puny Sorrows.’
MF: Can you talk about the trauma that Yoli and Elf went through as children, how that affected their adulthood, and creating that sisterly bond with Sarah Gadon?
AP: Sarah and I have known each other since we were like 10 and 11 respectively, and we had made a movie together when we were teenagers. We had just been in and out of each other’s lives throughout our childhood. Creating the sisterhood was actually incredibly easy and so special. When Sarah and I finally got into the same room, it was just like, “Oh, I know you.” Also, it was like, look at who you’ve become. There were all these things that I didn’t know, and there’s all this mystery. There’s something really special about discovering that.
In terms of delving into the shared trauma of their past and the shared family trauma that goes back generations, I think what Yoli is searching for throughout this movie is the reason why some people can survive and move on. Why are there all these differences? She asks her aunt about the buoyancy that she sees in her and her mother. She says, “What is that thing that keeps you afloat when you feel like the world is dragging you down?” I think that is this really existential question of, “How can we keep ourselves afloat?” Both of them are trying that in various ways, and sometimes failing.
MF: Can you also talk about Yoli’s relationship to her mother and creating that with Mare Winningham?
AP: I don’t think anybody can speak about Mare without a giant smile on their face. She’s as good as you think she is, if not better. I mean, she’s just like this magical creature with so much talent, heart, warmth and wisdom, and is such a special human. I can’t imagine any other energy being in that role of this very strong, spiritual and grounded mother figure who has been through so much yet maintains this beautiful solidity. I think Mare brought so much just by being her. She’s just the best human.
(L to R) Mare Winningham and Alison Pill in ‘All My Puny Sorrows.’
MF: As a Canadian born actress, what was it like for you to return to shoot this movie with Canadian filmmaker Michael McGowan?
AP: It was in some ways like the perfect most magical thing because we were shooting in North Bay, which is a couple hours north of Toronto. It had pretty low COVID case numbers, which felt like a reprieve from a lot of other places in the world at the time. My daughter came and got some serious snow. Sarah and I got to go semi-frozen lake canoeing with her, have hot chocolate and all of those things.
There were real Canadian vibes around and Mike McGowan, I think did a wonderful job of adapting Miriam’s book. None of it would’ve happened without his vision for seeing the possibilities of this story being cinematic. I think he did a beautiful job of finding the ways to make this story work on film.
MF: Finally, it was recently announced that ‘Star Trek: Picard’ will end after the upcoming third season. Now that it is almost over, what has the experience of working on that series been like for you?
AP: Well, they’ve already wrapped season three. I finished my pieces at the end of the summer, and it was sad to say goodbye. I love our cast so very much. I love P. Stew (Patrick Stewart). I think the group that was brought together by this was such just a magical group of wonderful humans and it was such a joy to bring Dr. Agnes Jurati to life. I’m so grateful but I also understand it is tiring to make a TV show with this much action and this much effects work. I completely understand. I’m just grateful that I got to be a part of it.
