Posts by Matt Patches
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Legendary Status Not Required: How Sylvester Stallone Plucked ‘Expendables 3’ Director Patrick Hughes Out of Obscurity
When Sylvester Stallone handpicked Patrick Hughes to direct the third installment of ‘The Expendables,’ the 36-year-old director had one feature credit to his name: ‘Red Hill,’ a 2010 Australian western indie starring ‘True Blood’ swoonthrob Ryan Kwanten. By August 2013, Hughes found himself on the Bulgarian set of an eight-figure Hollywood blockbuster, navigating the clown car of action vehicles.
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True or False: Parsing Fact From Fiction in Jenny Slate’s Abortion Comedy ‘Obvious Child’
Obvious Child isn’t based on the life of actor Jenny Slate, but “Donna” — a comedian who finds herself pregnant after an idyll one-night-stand — fits her like Brooklyn couture. After a brief run on Saturday Night Live was cut short in 2010, Slate found opportunities on Bored to Death and Parks and Recreation to […]
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Samurai Robots, Nude Robin, and Monster Love: The Batman-Godzilla Movie That Could Have Been
“Love happens to Godzilla,” reads the prose treatment for ‘Batman Meets Godzilla,’ a sequel to 1966’s ‘Batman: The Movie’ that came close enough to reality that someone was paid to put harebrained ideas to paper. Much like today, a crossover event meant double the dollar signs. Why not take two of the most iconic characters in pop culture and smash them together?
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Webslinger in Front: How an Infamous Death Transformed the ‘Spider-Man’ Franchise
Four years ago, before cameras rolled on ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ director Marc Webb knew exactly how the second movie of his rebooted series would end. He rattles off his source of inspiration the way a baseball fan might recall a legendary no-hitter: “’Amazing Spider-Man #121.’ 1973. Gerry Conway.” It’s why he wanted to make Spider-Man movies in the first place.
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Solo Act: The Making of Tom Hardy’s Man-Alone Drama, ‘Locke’
For the actor playing Ivan Locke, a mild-mannered foreman whose life falls apart over the course of a 90-minute drive, the film would be like a ‘Saw’ trap. Director Steven Knight only wanted Tom Hardy. And Hardy was more than willing.
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Q&A: Shailene Woodley Will Defend Native Hawaiians, Fight Mediocrity, and Not Be the Woman Everyone Wants Her to Be
During a whirlwind press tour, Shailene Woodley spoke to Grantland about ‘Divergent,’ sticking to her off-road course, and what might be the root of our eventual dystopia.
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The Other Paul Anderson: The Psychotic Action Vision of ‘Pompeii’ Director Paul W.S. Anderson
Paul W.S. Anderson is a visionary director.
Those visions include a red-drenched adaptation of the most popular fighting video game of all time, a mash-up of two iconic science fiction monsters, and a steampunked take on a classic 19th century adventure novel. But they are visions nonetheless, and authentically crafted.
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Surely They Can’t Be Serious?
The unlikely rise of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, Hollywood’s majorly hated, hugely successful kings of the modern-day spoof.
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Remembering ‘Rain Man’: The $350 Million Movie That Hollywood Wouldn’t Touch Today
“There wasn’t anything special about it.”
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Q&A: Jonah Hill on Working With Martin Scorsese, the Trick of Eating a Goldfish, and the Insanity of The Wolf of Wall Street
Sporting hyper-clean fake teeth, wire-frame glasses, and a pastel sweater that recalls the very worst fashion decisions of the early 1990s, Jonah Hill doesn’t look “good” in his latest film, The Wolf of Wall Street. But he does look perfect for the role of Donnie Azoff, a pill-popping party addict who matches his indulgent behavior […]
