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Guillermo Del Toro

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Flavorwire’s Endearingly Exhaustive 2013 Summer Movie Preview

By Jason Bailey on

It’s the first weekend in May, so you know what that means: there’s a new Marvel movie in theaters, and the summer movie season has officially begun. It’s a tricky minefield to navigate, rife with sequels and reboots and sequels and adaptations and sequels, but Flavorwire is here to help: our summer movie guide takes you through the entire season, month by month, spotlighting the films that might be worth seeing (Might! Maybe! No promises!) and delicately averting your eyes from the certain dogs. Take a deep breath and put on your 3D glasses; here we… Read More

Film

‘The Birds’ Turns 50: 7 Horror Filmmakers on Its Influence

By Jason Bailey on

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic The Birds turns 50 years old today, and we’re celebrating in the expected ways: watching the movie, looking up a lot, making sure all of our windows are shut tight. But Hitchcock’s film wasn’t just an effective scarefest; its innovative use of sound, matter-of-fact drama, and unrelenting claustrophobia have inspired horror filmmakers since its release. In celebration of the film’s anniversary, we gathered quotes from seven makers of scary movies, who had a thing or two to say about how the film influenced them, and why it’s one of the all-time great horror flicks. … Read More

Film

10 Famous Films That Were Abandoned by Their Directors

By Jason Bailey on

Lynne Ramsay is a tremendously talented director, as anyone who has seen her films We Need to Talk About Kevin and Ratcatcher can tell you, which makes the latest ripple in her career quite a bummer: when production began Monday on her latest film, the Natalie Portman-fronted Western Jane Got a Gun, Ramsay was nowhere to be found. Deadline broke the story (so beware; that site is notoriously cozy with studio types who might have it in their interest to paint Ramsay as wildly — and litigiously — irresponsible), reporting trouble right up to the start date. Ramsay still hasn’t issued comment on the matter, but the film’s producers have already lined up a replacement in the form of Gavin O’Connor, director of Warrior and Tumbleweeds (and the pilot of The Americans). Deadline branded Ramsay’s departure a “SHOCKER,” but it’s not as rare as you’d think; despite the intense work of developing a picture and preparing it, filmmakers have frequently walked away from pictures before — or even during — production. We’ve got a few examples for you after the jump. … Read More

Film

Ranking Foreign Directors’ English-Language Debuts from Best to Worst

By Alison Nastasi on

Described by critics as a “literary, gothic fairy tale,” Chan-wook Park‘s provocative thriller Stoker is the Korean director’s first English-language film. The dark drama about an enigmatic man who moves in with two women he claims are family opens in limited release today. Cult audiences are familiar with the filmmaker’s intense, violent revenge epics like Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but it’s interesting to see how the director is being embraced by American critics for his stylish storytelling — this time featuring Hollywood talents Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, and Matthew Goode. Not every foreign filmmaker has seen similar praise when it came to their North American offerings. We explored this by examining the works of ten well-known, international directors and ranked their English-language debuts from best to worst. … Read More

Film

10 Children’s Stories Guillermo Del Toro Needs to Adapt

By Alexander Huls on

Guillermo del Toro loves fairy tales and children’s stories. He also loves making them into movies. A lot. He has overseen films like Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians, and is in various stages of making/producing a live-action adaptation of the Disney Ride The Haunted Mansion, a stop-motion Pinocchio film, a new version of Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson, an animated movie based on the Day of the Dead, and another called Alma about a girl drawn to a strange toy store. Earlier this week, it was announced that del Toro will team with Beasts of the Southern Wild screenwriter Lucy Alibar on Universal’s adaptation of The Secret Garden.

What distinguishes del Toro films — including his own fairy tale, Pan’s Labyrinth – is his belief that children’s stories should “actually try and create a sense of darkness” to help children come to terms with the complexities of life. Which is why he keeps on making movies that are tinged with that kind of darkness. Since the filmmaker is obviously not busy enough, we’ve come up with a list of popular children’s stories and fairly tales that we think he should take on and either faithfully adapt or inject with his unique vision. Add to it in the comments! … Read More

Film

10 Feature Films You Didn’t Realize Started As Shorts

By Alison Nastasi on

This week, we’ll finally learn the secret behind the disappearance of two young girls that were rescued from a cabin in the woods and became haunted by an eerie presence. Mama opens in theaters tomorrow. Super producer Guillermo del Toro is never one to turn his back on a film about kids and things that creep in the dark. He’s been promoting the movie since it started as a Spanish short film. You can watch the spooky video after the jump, where we’ve shared other short films that became feature-length movies. Several directors used their shorts as a jumping point to expand their vision, while others were discovered thanks to their introductory projects. Watch the movies that started life small and grew into big screen hits, below. … Read More

Film

Awesome Photos of Filmmakers Hanging Out Together

By Jason Bailey on

In honor of the launch of the purty new Flavorwire 2.0, we decided to return to one of our most popular features: images of your favorite people together. We’ve previously rounded up pictures of great comedians, musicians, and writers killing some leisure time in each other’s company; today, we’ve assembled 25 shots of filmmakers chewing the fat. Again, some of the match-ups are surprising (Warhol and Hitchcock? Get outta here), some less so (spoiler: Lucas and Spielberg hang out a lot off-set too). There are even some special guest stars (BOWIE ALERT). With our thanks to the tons of Tumblrs and blogs that collect such things — especially the heroes over at Awesome People Hanging Out Together — we present this latest gallery; check it out after the jump. … Read More

Film

Take a Tour Through Guillermo del Toro’s Bizarre Home Offices

By Emily Temple on

As part of a special feature on Criterion’s Blu-ray and DVD editions of his film Cronos, director Guillermo del Toro leads a tour of his home offices, which he fondly dubs “Bleak House.” They’re not bleak, but they are a bit creepy, with rubber monsters and real-life “specimens” covering every surface. Del Toro explains that the offices were created as a “compression chamber” so that he and his co-workers and collaborators could be “stimulated not just by what is called high art or fine art but by even the powerful images that come from toys or pop art or vivid imaginations. So everything in the house for me has equal importance, whether it’s a rubber toy or an anatomical model, whatever it is, it’s here to try to provoke a shock to the system, circulating the lifeblood of imagination, which I think is curiosity.” Click through to take a tour of Del Toro’s personal Bleak House, stuffed-to-the-gills with creepy figures and memorabilia — you might just get a little inspiration, if you get out alive. … Read More

Film

Flavorwire’s 50 Essential Horror Films

By Alison Nastasi on

As Halloween draws near, you’ll undoubtedly see dozens of lists analyzing the scariest, goriest, and even the funniest of horror films. Nostalgia surrounding the spooky holiday conjures a breathless excitement to seek and share the movies that toy with our deep-seated fears. If you’re new to the horror genre, we don’t want you to feel left out of the fun. We’ve created a list of 50 essential films that will educate and entertain you all month long. Each week, we’ll be counting down to number one and exploring a breadth of titles. Whether you’re looking for a creepy tale to watch on Halloween night, or you’re interested in honing your horror knowledge, check out the first ten of our must-see movies below. … Read More

News

Guillermo Del Toro Will Direct Emma Watson in ‘Beauty and the Beast’

By Alison Nastasi on

Guillermo Del Toro continues to prove he’s one of the busiest filmmakers in the biz. THR is reporting that the Devil’s Backbone director is set to helm a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. The film will be written by Bridget Jones’ Diary scribe Andrew Davies. Harry Potter… Read More