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Close Quarters: Indie and Improv at its finest

Lee Jarvis — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:25:37 +0000

A film about sex, betrayal, friendship, jealousy, love, hate, death, and coffee.

Close Quarters is a fairly unique concept to come across; originally a series of fourteen short sketches, all rolled into one feature film, and then cast with some of the finest improv actors in Chicago. Having wrapped up late last year, the film is now hitting the festival circuit, and hoping for a US debut very soon.

The title alludes to the kind of intimate conversations and situations where people reveal all, getting straight to what they really think, and pulling no punches. As Director/Producer Jack C. Newell says to Reel Chicago, “Coffee shops are like modern-day Roman bathhouses. People do incredibly private things in coffee shops, which is essentially a public place. People break up, they fall in love, they gather to celebrate or grieve, they do business, or just come in as a brief interlude in their day.”

In the film, two baristas struggle to understand their own relationship, whilst the coffee house’s customers come and go, each thread threatening to interrupt and displace the plans of the two workers, and possibly intertwining with their own feelings. The conversations that follow offer various blunt, weathered, and complex views, along with the occasional rose-tinted notion, on life and love. The dialogue shines, owing to the freedom of no script and a cast of Second City veterans to TV sitcom writers; all drew on a wealth of experience to give the film it’s edge.

Credit also goes to Newell for the selecting of said actors. “I picked people who I knew would be game for that and they were brave enough to give complete trust over to me.” he says, “What I intended by working like that was to get a style of performance that was fearless in that way true improvisation is. No one knew what was going to happen – and that’s very exciting.”

Shooting a film such as this takes patience and skill, and it also helps that Chicago hosts some of the best improv performers, combined with a thriving independent film-making scene. Screenwriter Ron Falzone also told Reel Chicago, “We had a crew of alumni from Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University, which worked incredibly well together. The film schools here really enable smaller productions to crew up with talented, eager, and serious people.”

Watch the Trailer

Crew

Executive Producer/Co-Producer: Joe Rosengarten
Director/Co-Producer: Jack C. Newell
Screenwriter/Co-Producer: Ron Falzone
Editor: Jill DiBiase
Director of Photography: Stephanie Dufford
Production Designer: Mary Margaret Bartley
Sound Designer, Mixer: Marina Bacci
Motion Graphics: John Michaels

by Lee Jarvis.

Hans Zimmer and Rodrigo y Gabriela collaborate for a Walt Disney Pictures soundtrack

Lee Jarvis — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:19:26 +0000

Walt Disney Pictures has recently announced that Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is to team up with popular acoustic duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela. The at first unusual, but ultimately exciting collaboration will span the soundtrack to the fourth installment of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. The film will be released in typical summer blockbuster fashion, in late May, with the soundtrack available to purchase the same week. From the official press release….

One of summer’s most highly anticipated blockbuster movies, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” features original music by Academy Award®-winning composer Hans Zimmer and a first-time collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. Walt Disney Records will release the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides May 17, 2011.

“We’d always felt it a creative necessity that the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4′ score have an original sound all its own and to distinguish itself from the first three films. With the inspiring addition of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s unique artistry under the direction of maestro Hans ‘Long John’ Zimmer, this iconic score franchise take its next step forward with an imaginative, fresh and individual new sound,” says Mitchell Leib, President of Music and Soundtracks for the Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group and Disney Music Group.

Hans Zimmer is one of the film industry’s most respected and sought-after composers with a career that encompasses more than 100 film and television scores. An Academy Award® winner for his score for The Lion King, Zimmer has also received eight additional Oscar® nominations for his work including Inception, Sherlock Holmes, Gladiator, The Thin Red Line, Rain Man, As Good as It Gets, The Preacher’s Wife and The Prince of Egypt. Other recent credits include Rango, The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. Among his many honors, Zimmer has also won two Golden Globes® and three Grammy Awards®.

Rodrigo y Gabriela are considered the premier guitar-playing duo in the world. They have sold over one million albums, have sold out arenas and headlined festivals worldwide, and in 2010 they were invited to share the stage with Beyonce for a state dinner at the White House. The collaboration with Hans Zimmer is their first film score-an exciting and defining moment in their career. Their willingness to explore musical expression and to embrace new sounds irrespective of fashion or trends, as well as their point blank refusal to be pigeonholed as any particular genre, is the very foundation of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise—this time in Disney Digital 3D™. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love—or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

Walt Disney Pictures’ and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” with screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, suggested by the novel by Tim Powers opens in theaters May 20, 2011, in Disney Digital 3D™.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides original motion picture soundtrack will be available wherever music is sold on May 17, 2011. For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, please visit Disney.com/music, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic. For more information on Rodrigo y Gabriela, please visit www.rodgab.com

‘Inglourious Basterds’ Trailer, Tarantino & Pitt Interview

Lee Jarvis — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:23:19 +0000

Quentin Tarantino’s latest offering ‘Inglourious Basterds‘ has hit the screens last weekend and has already grossed in the region of $37.6m in the US. The movie is seen as a pivotal release for the recently struggling indie Weinstein Company, and will be closely followed by Halloween II, expecting to lead them into a strong fall season. It’s also good news for Universal, who split the cost of the movie and distributed it to 22 foreign territories, grossing $27.5m overseas. Those of you looking for a taster of the movie, here is the official trailer…

‘Basterds’ has made waves online, with it’s Twitter following not only growing, but Tweets from fans doing much of the word-of-mouth publicity work. Both the NY Times and LA Times declared it a roaring success, and praise has rained in for Tarantino and Weinsten.

Slightly less has been said of Brad Pitt, which is a shame as I think he really helps make the movie. I’ve always enjoyed Pitt’s characters, from ‘Fight Club’ to ‘Se7en’ to ‘Snatch’ to ’12 Monkeys’, and I think that this film will slot right into his top five roles.

MTV have uploaded a joint interview with Pitt and Tarantino, which I thought I’d share here as a bit of background.

(Part 1 script)

(Part 2 script)

Feel free to share your thoughts on Pitt, Tarantino, ‘Basterds’, Weinstein or all of the above in our comments!

Lee Jarvis.