AP PHOTOS: Red carpet fashion at the Academy of Country Music Awards
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San Francisco Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
'Tron: Ares' brings the Grid, and the light bikes, to Comic-Con
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Grid took over Comic-Con on Friday, bringing the stars of the new 'Tron: Ares' films to unveil footage and reveal the story behind the franchise's third movie. The film stars Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith as the story brings the virtual environment of the Grid, complete with light bikes, into the real world. Disney showed off several minutes of footage, including a light bike chase scene in the real world and another in the red-hued Grid. Propelling the onscreen action is a propulsive Nine Inch Nails soundtrack. 'It's fun to see it on the big screen for the first time,' said director Joachim Rønning. Disney turned the Hall H panel into a spectacle, with red lasers filling the room and characters in suits with red lights entering the massive hall. Asked what excited her about joining the 'Tron' franchise, Lee responded: 'I just wanted to ride a light cycle.' Leto spoke affectionately about the original saying: 'This movie just grabbed a hold of me and took me to a place that I'd never been before. It kind of rattled my imagination and it kind of showed me what was possible in the world.' He praised Bridges and Steven Lisberger, who created 'Tron' and directed the 1982 original. Lisberger attended Friday's panel and laid out his case for why the franchise remains relevant. 'My feeling about 'Tron' is that the most important thing is we kick this technology around artistically before it kicks us around,' Lisberger said. 'I am weary about hearing all the grim news about the future,' he said, and the way he thinks it can be avoided is to 'inspire young people what can be done with this technology.' Friday's panel ended with the premiere of the music video for "As Alive as You Need Me to Be," the first Nine Inch Nails song from the soundtrack. 'Tron' has never been in the top tier of sci-fi franchises. The original 1982 film starring Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a man sucked into a computer vortex known as the Grid, was admired for its ground-breaking concept and effects, and was a modest hit with moderately good reviews. Perhaps more importantly, it won a cult following and has been maintained enough in cultural memory to remain a valuable property for Disney. The 2010 film 'Tron: Legacy,' starring Bridges and Garrett Hedlund, made more than $400 million globally. A TV show that followed, 'Tron: Uprising,' lasted just one season. Rønning has helmed other Disney franchise films: 2017's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' and 2019's 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.' The Norweigan director said he was interested because he dreamed about making a sci-fi film and enjoyed the twist of 'Ares' bringing the Grid into the real world.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa to bring eerie storytelling to his first samurai film
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, known as a master of horror films set within the neurotic realism of the modern day, will bring his signature edge-of-your-seat storytelling to a genre he has never tackled before: the samurai movie. 'I do want to do it once, and it looks like it might be really happening, although things are still uncertain. I may finally be able to make my samurai film,' he told The Associated Press, noting he couldn't give much detail just yet. His upcoming samurai film will not have sword-fight scenes or action-packed outdoor shots that characterize the genre, known as 'jidaigeki.' Instead, it will be the same creepy quiet narrative of Kurosawa movies, where the action takes place almost claustrophobically, in this case, in a castle that just happens to be set in the samurai era. That concept alone is enough to pique a movie lover's interest. The horror master was just honored at this year's Japan Cuts film festival in New York. The festival presented him the Cut Above award, international recognition that follows the Silver Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival for 'Wife of a Spy,' centered around a troubled married couple during World War II. Kurosawa, who is not related to 'Seven Samurai' and 'Rashomon,' director Akira Kurosawa, said period pieces are difficult to make due to the extraordinary costs of sets, props and costuming. He also made it clear he isn't interested in directing science fiction, but rather pursues realism. However, he readily acknowledged that his films are all made up, in fact, 'a lie.' 'Maybe this is my weakness, or my characteristic; I want to tell my stories in a setting of a very real modern-day society, yet I want to entertain,' he said. 'And so it's a contradiction that I aim for every time,' 'You create a lie, like a horrific character (in a realistic framework),' he said. Kurosawa, who has managed to produce a film a year over his 40-year career, invests a lot of time researching the setting and backdrop of his films, including much reading, to make it as realistic as possible. In his most recent thriller, 'Cloud,' a man who is down on his luck, portrayed by Masaki Suda, makes dubious profits by reselling items he finds online at far higher prices. It starts harmless enough, except, as the plot thickens, the protagonist is confronted by victims out for revenge. Kurosawa is not one to hold back on violence, often gory and extreme but beautifully shot, sometimes almost comical in its bizarreness. 'Cure,' a 1997 film about a police detective investigating a series of gruesome murders, starring Koji Yakusho, uses continuous shots purposely without cuts to bring out the varied emotions, and the coldness of the characters, sometimes changing viscerally within the same scene, to explore madness. Despite his insistence on realism, Kurosawa, who counts Alfred Hitchcock among his influences, doesn't rule out the addition of tiny unreal elements for that perfectly subtle and eerie effect. But his movies are never happy-go-lucky, he said. 'Everything being happy is not possible if you start with the realism of modern-day Japan,' said Kurosawa. Kurosawa believes that while filmmaking is usually a giant confusing project where multiple players must work together, producers worrying about the box office and actors concerned about their roles, it is ultimately about dealing with what feels right to your deepest self. 'In the end, it all boils down to: I understand there are many opinions, but we must choose what is right. What does being right mean? To figure that out is the creator's job,' he said. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on Threads:
San Francisco Chronicle
8 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Famed Wanamaker Organ will again be heard by the public in fall art series in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — One of the most famous organs in the world, which graces one of Philadelphia's favorite public spaces, was at risk of going quiet this spring when Macy's closed up shop in the city's storied Wanamaker Building. But countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, the avant-garde opera star hired last year to run Opera Philadelphia, is leading an effort to let the public again enjoy the Wanamaker Organ, a National Historic Landmark-designated treasure. The organ boasts more than 28,000 wood and metal pipes hidden behind a soaring wall of gold-leaf pipes that frame the building's seven-story marble atrium. Costanzo, with $1 million in philanthropic funding, is organizing a series of public performances this fall — including opera, ballet, theater and drag — before renovations begin next year on the building's conversion to a retail and residential hub. The first event is set for Sunday, Sept. 7. 'John Wanamaker, when he built this Grand Court, said he wanted it to be the intersection of arts and commerce, and that's why he put the world's largest pipe organ into it,' Costanzo told The Associated Press in an onsite interview Thursday evening. 'This space is operatic,' he said. 'So I thought it was a perfect umbrella to bring in every arts organization I could, and all these different collaborators.' The organ was made for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. Wanamaker, a successful merchant and civic leader, had it moved to his new emporium next to City Hall in 1909 and then hired a crew of 40 pipe makers to enlarge it so the sound filled the vast space. A decade later, famed conductor Leopold Anthony Stokowski performed there with the Philadelphia Orchestra as 15,000 people crowded into the great hall and mezzanines. With the merchandise now gone, the acoustics rival those of the great cathedrals, Costanzo said. 'The organ for the first time is in perfect cathedral acoustic condition, so it will be the best way to hear this instrument in the history of the space, because there's actually nothing in there,' he said. The building's new owner hopes to continue to incorporate art and culture into their plans, which include retail on the lower floors and office and residential space above. The organ adds unique challenges. 'You've got this organ music going in the grand atrium, but meanwhile you've got other uses on these upper floors looking into that space, so you have to figure out how to make that work for everybody,' said Jon McMillan, a senior vice president of TF Cornerstone, the New York-based development firm. Local civic groups, in an announcement Friday, said they hope to raise funds to bring back one of the city's most beloved annual events, a holiday light show that drew generations of families to the store. Costanzo, who continues to perform around the world, believes he can build enthusiasm for the arts by bringing it to the places where people gather, including the Wanamaker Building. And he hopes that, in turn, will help people find a way to connect with each other. 'This space is so deeply embedded in the emotion of Philadelphia,' Costanzo said. "I want them to come to Wanamaker and discover something they've never seen before.'
