Sadistic Nazis, Ptsd-afflicted Allied soldiers, angry spirits and creepy dolls make for an already-formidable pile of scare factors in “Ghosts of War,” which then topples the stack by loading too many additional elements in the final stretch. This second feature from “The Butterfly Effect” co-director Eric Bress likewise has a trickily structured take on reality. But in this case, it’s closer to the realm of “The Cabin in the Woods” in that the initial, fairly straightforward horror tale is eventually reframed as part of something larger.
It’s the kind of narrative leap that can make or break a film. But here it . Beautifully atmospheric to a point, handsomely produced, “Ghosts” gradually disappoints because its thematic ambitions add more clutter than depth to a story that’s most effective at its simplest. Vertical Entertainment is releasing to U.S. virtual cinemas, on demand and digital July 17, after being available...
It’s the kind of narrative leap that can make or break a film. But here it . Beautifully atmospheric to a point, handsomely produced, “Ghosts” gradually disappoints because its thematic ambitions add more clutter than depth to a story that’s most effective at its simplest. Vertical Entertainment is releasing to U.S. virtual cinemas, on demand and digital July 17, after being available...
- 7/15/2020
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Composer Mike Suby’s career encompasses a wide variety of projects across both film and television, including “Robot Chicken,” “Pretty Little Liars,” and “The Butterfly Effect” (2004). This year, he has two very different shows -- “The Vampire Diaries” and “Project Runway” -- in contention at the Emmys. When asked in our exclusive audio interview (listen below) about how he comes up with musical themes for such disparate programs, his answer is simple: “It always depends on what you get on film. You spend a lot of time creating palates and thematic material for characters, and in the end, it’s always about what you get on film. So that always dictates for me what I’m going to do.” -Break- Watch dozens of video chats with 2015 Emmy contenders He relates this to his work on “The Vampire Diaries,” a popular young adult drama about a teenage girl tor...
- 6/12/2015
- Gold Derby
In our second part of this summer’s roundup of television scores, we’re taking a look at the new and returning shows on FX, ABC Family and Starz. Also visit our previous article featuring shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, USA and Showtime.
FX:
The only new show this summer on FX is the comedy Wilfred. The show stars Elijah Wood as a depressed and unemployed worker who imagines seeing a man in a dog costume. Jason Gann and Fiona Gubelmann are co-starring and guest stars include Ed Helms, Chris Klein and Rashida Jones. Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies, Obsessed) is providing the score for the show. Wilfred is based on an Australian series with the same title and is adapted by David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad). Randall Einhorn (The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) directed the pilot. The show’s first season of 13 episodes is currently airing every Thursday night on FX.
FX:
The only new show this summer on FX is the comedy Wilfred. The show stars Elijah Wood as a depressed and unemployed worker who imagines seeing a man in a dog costume. Jason Gann and Fiona Gubelmann are co-starring and guest stars include Ed Helms, Chris Klein and Rashida Jones. Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies, Obsessed) is providing the score for the show. Wilfred is based on an Australian series with the same title and is adapted by David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad). Randall Einhorn (The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) directed the pilot. The show’s first season of 13 episodes is currently airing every Thursday night on FX.
- 7/24/2011
- by filmmusicreporter
- Film Music Reporter
Recently, we spoke with Michael Suby, Musical Composer for The Vampire Diaries. He’s the man that sets the tone for each character and episode. In this interview, Suby goes over creative choices he made in Season 2, from designing the Mason Lockwood (Taylor Kinney) and the werewolves to coming up with the motif for the warlocks and The Originals.
Key Moments:
- Describes the difference between Season 1 and Season 2
- Discusses The Originals and the first appearance of Klaus
- Favorite character to create sounds for going into the finale
- Planning out The Originals from our first meeting with Rose
- Pushing the envelope on “Epic” love themes and timeless relationships
The Vampire Diaries airs on the CW Network on Thursdays at 8/7c.
Key Moments:
- Describes the difference between Season 1 and Season 2
- Discusses The Originals and the first appearance of Klaus
- Favorite character to create sounds for going into the finale
- Planning out The Originals from our first meeting with Rose
- Pushing the envelope on “Epic” love themes and timeless relationships
The Vampire Diaries airs on the CW Network on Thursdays at 8/7c.
- 4/20/2011
- by Bags
- BuzzFocus.com
It may not be as well known as San Diego Comic-Con, its Southern California counterpart, but the San Francisco WonderCon is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year as one of the country's best comics and popular arts events. On the fence about attending? Here's a rundown of what genre fans can look forward to at the show.
WonderCon runs at the Moscone Center South from April 1 through 3 with an incredible roster of comics' greatest writers and artists as special guests and featured in spotlight panels throughout the weekend. The show's programming schedule includes panels and previews from the comics industry's biggest publishers, including DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Aspen, Idw, Boom!, Slg, and many more. All of these publishers have booths in the giant Exhibit Hall so you can visit and interact with them all weekend plus shop in a pop culture paradise! The Exhibit Hall includes vendors selling items...
WonderCon runs at the Moscone Center South from April 1 through 3 with an incredible roster of comics' greatest writers and artists as special guests and featured in spotlight panels throughout the weekend. The show's programming schedule includes panels and previews from the comics industry's biggest publishers, including DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Aspen, Idw, Boom!, Slg, and many more. All of these publishers have booths in the giant Exhibit Hall so you can visit and interact with them all weekend plus shop in a pop culture paradise! The Exhibit Hall includes vendors selling items...
- 3/26/2011
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Hey gang! WonderCon 2011 invading San Francisco on Friday, April 1st through Sunday, April 3rd and the three-day schedule has been unleashed! Unfortunately we won't be able to make it up there this year, but if you are going, it looks like there's a ton of stuff for you to check out! I wish to hell I was going!
The convention will feature presentations and screenings for Falling Skies, Green Lantern, Super, Cowboys & Aliens, The Three Musketeers, Hanna, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man Anime, Priest, Immortals, Doctor Who, Terra Nova, Thundercats, and more.
Check out the full schedule below and start planning you WonderCon adventure!
Friday, April 1
12:30-1:30 Nerds! The Secret Origins of Game Designers— Comics. Movies. Games. Did you know that a life of fandom might be perfect training for a career as a video game designer? Learn the secret origins of industry veterans Haden Blackman...
The convention will feature presentations and screenings for Falling Skies, Green Lantern, Super, Cowboys & Aliens, The Three Musketeers, Hanna, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man Anime, Priest, Immortals, Doctor Who, Terra Nova, Thundercats, and more.
Check out the full schedule below and start planning you WonderCon adventure!
Friday, April 1
12:30-1:30 Nerds! The Secret Origins of Game Designers— Comics. Movies. Games. Did you know that a life of fandom might be perfect training for a career as a video game designer? Learn the secret origins of industry veterans Haden Blackman...
- 3/21/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
I wish I had the chance to interview more compatriot composers here, but fact is there are very few Hungarian film composers I could talk to. Adam Balazs is one of them - although he lives in Los Angeles, he recently completed his first score to a Hungarian movie: Szíven szúrt ország is a documentary about the murder of a handball player whose tragic death brought forward many unresolved issues within the country. In addition to this new documentary, Ádám's new movie The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations will have a soundtrack CD released pretty soon, which is a first for the composer (although several of his scores are available through download options). We discussed these and a number of other projects in the following interview:
How did your interest in music begin?
I grew up in a fully musical environment — my father is a distinguished classical composer and before her retirement,...
How did your interest in music begin?
I grew up in a fully musical environment — my father is a distinguished classical composer and before her retirement,...
- 10/3/2009
- Daily Film Music Blog
Butterfly Effect: Revelation - the third film in the series that was launched in 2004 - gets an original score by Hungarian composer Adam Balazs. The film opens theatrically in the Us on January 9 as a part of the After Dark Horrorfest (also known as "8 Films to Die For") and tells the story about a young man who uses his power to time travel in order to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's death. Rachel Miner, Chris Carmack and Daniel Spink star in the film which is directed by Seth Grossman, for whom Balazs previously scored The Elephant King. The two first Butterfly Effect films carried scores composed by Michael Suby.
- 12/16/2008
- by noreply@blogger.com (Mikael Carlsson)
- MovieScore Magazine
Opens
Friday, Jan. 23
PARK CITY -- Latching on to an absolutely preposterous premise about alternate realities and mysterious mental maladies, the writing-directing team of Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber manufacture an entertaining piece of supernatural nonsense whose sheer audacity disarms all (well, nearly all) skepticism. The only downside to the outrageous story line is the filmmakers' exploitation of extreme criminal behavior, ranging from kiddie porn and pedophilia to animal torture and beatings with baseball bats.
The presence of Ashton Kutcher, who exec produces, ensures solid opening-weekend grosses, but what his fan base will make of this weird melodrama is hard to predict. Certainly, "The Butterfly Effect" goes in the opposite direction of his first two film vehicles, "Dude, Where's My Car?" and "Just Married".
Kutcher's Evan Treborn has many missing gaps in his past, blackouts he experiences from an early age where he is unable to recall traumatic events. While brain scans show no abnormalities, his mother (Melora Walters) worries desperately because his father, long ago locked up in a loony bin, experienced similar mental black holes.
A psychologist (Nathaniel Deveaux) suggests that he keep a diary detailing his daily life. In college years later, he happens upon these notebooks and reads a passage. Suddenly, Evan is thrust back in time, reliving an event his mind refused to record. Back in the present and with a nosebleed to show for his time travel, Evan realizes that these blackouts are a kind of bookmark to which he can travel back whenever he reads a passage leading up to an unremembered event.
Inhabiting his childhood body, Evan finds he is able to alter these terrible events and thereby undo the damage done not only to himself but to his childhood sweetheart Kayleigh (Amy Smart), her brother Tommy William Lee Scott) and a neighborhood buddy, Lenny (Elden Henson). The root of all evil here is Kayleigh and Tommy's abusive father (Eric Stoltz). By altering these past incidents, however, Evan returns to a vastly changed present. And each time he thinks he has altered everyone's life for the better, he discovers that he has made some things worse.
There is sly comedy in the idea that altering one event will transform Kayleigh from a bubbly sorority girl to a drug-addicted whore. Or change Tommy from a psycho ex-con to a heroic frat boy. Or transfigure Lenny from a fat, institutionalized killer to a slim and bright student.
Evan himself doesn't change that much other than his choice in wardrobe and roommates. He remains a guy driving himself crazy by trying to create a happy ending but getting outsmarted by uncontrollable chains of events.
Kutcher makes the incredible credible by approaching each of his altered roles with realistic acting. Ditto the rest of the cast, who anchor the wacky transformations with thoroughly believable and engaging performances. Just as the best comedy is delivered with a straight face, the best melodrama is executed with passion and conviction.
In their second feature effect, Bress and Gruber show a flair for the dramatic and the smarts to make the preposterous provocative. Their production team goes for horror-film flourishes such as Michael Suby's nerve-jangling score and Matthew F. Leonetti's dynamic cinematography. Production and costume designers Douglas Higgins and Carla Hetland have a field day creating alternate realities utilizing the same basic locations and sets.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
New Line Cinema
A Benderspink/FilmEngine productionin association with Katalyst
Credits:
Writer-directors: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Producers: Chris Bender, A.J. Dix, Anthony Rhulen, JC Spink
Executive producers: Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Cale Boyter, William Shively, David Krintzman, Jason Goldberg, Ashton Kutcher
Director of photography: Matthew F. Leonetti
Production designer: Douglas Higgins
Music: Michael Suby
Co-producer: Lisa Richardson
Costume designer: Carla Hetland
Editor: Peter Amundson
Cast:
Evan Treborn: Ashton Kutcher
Kayleigh Miller: Amy Smart
George Miller: Eric Stoltz
Tommy Miller: William Lee Scott
Lenny Kagan: Elden Henson
Thumper: Ethan Suplee
Andrea Treborn: Melora Walters
Dr. Renfield: Nathaniel Deveaux
Running time 113 -- minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Friday, Jan. 23
PARK CITY -- Latching on to an absolutely preposterous premise about alternate realities and mysterious mental maladies, the writing-directing team of Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber manufacture an entertaining piece of supernatural nonsense whose sheer audacity disarms all (well, nearly all) skepticism. The only downside to the outrageous story line is the filmmakers' exploitation of extreme criminal behavior, ranging from kiddie porn and pedophilia to animal torture and beatings with baseball bats.
The presence of Ashton Kutcher, who exec produces, ensures solid opening-weekend grosses, but what his fan base will make of this weird melodrama is hard to predict. Certainly, "The Butterfly Effect" goes in the opposite direction of his first two film vehicles, "Dude, Where's My Car?" and "Just Married".
Kutcher's Evan Treborn has many missing gaps in his past, blackouts he experiences from an early age where he is unable to recall traumatic events. While brain scans show no abnormalities, his mother (Melora Walters) worries desperately because his father, long ago locked up in a loony bin, experienced similar mental black holes.
A psychologist (Nathaniel Deveaux) suggests that he keep a diary detailing his daily life. In college years later, he happens upon these notebooks and reads a passage. Suddenly, Evan is thrust back in time, reliving an event his mind refused to record. Back in the present and with a nosebleed to show for his time travel, Evan realizes that these blackouts are a kind of bookmark to which he can travel back whenever he reads a passage leading up to an unremembered event.
Inhabiting his childhood body, Evan finds he is able to alter these terrible events and thereby undo the damage done not only to himself but to his childhood sweetheart Kayleigh (Amy Smart), her brother Tommy William Lee Scott) and a neighborhood buddy, Lenny (Elden Henson). The root of all evil here is Kayleigh and Tommy's abusive father (Eric Stoltz). By altering these past incidents, however, Evan returns to a vastly changed present. And each time he thinks he has altered everyone's life for the better, he discovers that he has made some things worse.
There is sly comedy in the idea that altering one event will transform Kayleigh from a bubbly sorority girl to a drug-addicted whore. Or change Tommy from a psycho ex-con to a heroic frat boy. Or transfigure Lenny from a fat, institutionalized killer to a slim and bright student.
Evan himself doesn't change that much other than his choice in wardrobe and roommates. He remains a guy driving himself crazy by trying to create a happy ending but getting outsmarted by uncontrollable chains of events.
Kutcher makes the incredible credible by approaching each of his altered roles with realistic acting. Ditto the rest of the cast, who anchor the wacky transformations with thoroughly believable and engaging performances. Just as the best comedy is delivered with a straight face, the best melodrama is executed with passion and conviction.
In their second feature effect, Bress and Gruber show a flair for the dramatic and the smarts to make the preposterous provocative. Their production team goes for horror-film flourishes such as Michael Suby's nerve-jangling score and Matthew F. Leonetti's dynamic cinematography. Production and costume designers Douglas Higgins and Carla Hetland have a field day creating alternate realities utilizing the same basic locations and sets.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
New Line Cinema
A Benderspink/FilmEngine productionin association with Katalyst
Credits:
Writer-directors: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
Producers: Chris Bender, A.J. Dix, Anthony Rhulen, JC Spink
Executive producers: Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Cale Boyter, William Shively, David Krintzman, Jason Goldberg, Ashton Kutcher
Director of photography: Matthew F. Leonetti
Production designer: Douglas Higgins
Music: Michael Suby
Co-producer: Lisa Richardson
Costume designer: Carla Hetland
Editor: Peter Amundson
Cast:
Evan Treborn: Ashton Kutcher
Kayleigh Miller: Amy Smart
George Miller: Eric Stoltz
Tommy Miller: William Lee Scott
Lenny Kagan: Elden Henson
Thumper: Ethan Suplee
Andrea Treborn: Melora Walters
Dr. Renfield: Nathaniel Deveaux
Running time 113 -- minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 1/16/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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