Tag Archives: Call your mother

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My Interview with BOY WONDER Director Michael Morrissey

On Saturday night, attendees at New York Comic Con were treated to a special advance screening of the new vigalante pyschological thriller, BOY WONDER. On Sunday afternoon, I had the pleasure of interviewing BOY WONDER director Michael Morrissey about the film. During the interview, people kept coming up to the BOY WONDER booth raving about the previous night’s screening.

Tuesday Night Movies: What is BOY WONDER about?

Michael Morrissey: BOY WONDER is a dark psychological thriller about what would really happen if the typical superhero tale existed in the real world. And not like Kick Ass in the real world, kind of like a very serious take on the genre. We don’t mention superheroes. We don’t have capes or tights or anything like that. What would the kid’s life be like?

TNM: What inspired you to make this? Was it those vigilante guys in Seattle?

MM: No, it was quite the opposite. I’ve been reading comic books since I was 10 years old and I remember when I was kid, I thought I was going to be a superhero. And this kid, Sean Donovan, loses his mother when he is 10, very violently. What if you got stuck with that idea in your head as a 10 year old? He has a really screwed up situation – his father is an alchoholic. He lives with this idea and it kind of takes hold once he’s a teenager. I like this type of story and this is what I want to see.

TNM: Does BOY WONDER take place in New York City?

MM: Yeah, it’s shot all around New York and Brooklyn. I’m from Brooklyn. I grew up in Marine Park. The kid grew up in Marine Park. Kind of write what you know.

TNM: How was filming in New York City? Did you run into any difficulties while filming on location?

MM: Filming in New York City was great but expensive. And the noise is insane. There is no quiet location outdoors, you just have to hope for the best.

And filming in the NY subways is a crazy experience. Not something I would do again unless I had lots of Hollywood money.

TNM: What kind of preparation did your actors need to do for BOY WONDER?

MM: Caleb Steinmeyer, who plays Sean Donovan, put on about 20 pounds of muscle for the role. We had him in Brooklyn for nine weeks of training. He was very dedicated.

Michael Morrissey (left) and Caleb Steinmeyer (right)

TNM: Where is BOY WONDER opening?

MM: It’s opening in New York City on 10/21/11. It’s opening at the 3rd Ave & 11th St AMC. We’ll be in Chicago on 10/28. And then on 11/8, we’re everywhere: iTunes, Netflix, DVD, etc.

TNM: Has BOY WONDER appeared in any festivals?

MM: We have. We won about 14 film festivals. We won Best Picture at the Vail Film Festival. It shocked us because there were all these high falutin films. We won the Crystal Palace Film Festival in London, Sacremento, Williamsburg.

TNM: Is this your first movie? Did you go to film school?

MM: It’s my first feature. I’m self-taught. I was a writer first, then I did a couple of shorts and learned how to edit. I worked in television for a bit. I finished the script in 2000, tried to raise the money and finally got it done.

TNM: What’s next for you after BOY WONDER?

MM: Working on a new film called MOTHER, a phycological horror/thriller that takes place in Lake Tahoe. Kidnapped kids, female serial killer, nice Disney type stuff.
 
BOY WONDER opens tomorrow, Friday, 10/21/11 at the AMC 3rd Ave on the corner of 3rd Ave and 11 St in Manhattan.

Interview by Billy Henehan, Photo by Graig Kreindler.

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At The Theater #37: 127 Hours

Did you like the self-mutilation in Black Swan, but weren’t really into the lesbian make-out scene? Then Fox Searchlight has the movie for you: 127 Hours!
I’m only kind of joking here. 127 Hours is a very graphic movie. But you have to expect that going into a movie about Aron Ralston, the hiker who had to cut off his own arm to save his own life.

The first 20 minutes of 127 hours show the beauty of nature. It will make you want to visit your nearest national park and take in the natural splendor that our country is full of. How awesome is that underground pool that James Franco brings Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn to?

The next hour and 15 minutes are all about how nature is something to be feared. Because nature will fuck you from behind the first chance it gets. And it will donkey punch you while it’s doing it. And it won’t call you the next day.

It will be hard to go hiking and not think of this.

I wondered how Danny Boyle was going to keep the audience’s interest up throughout the movie. Aron gets trapped fairly early on and his only companions are a couple of ants and his own hallucinations. But Danny Boyle and James Franco did a great job. I was never bored during 127 Hours. Boyle used the perfect mix of problem solving on Ralston’s part for getting out of his situation and flashbacks to Ralston’s life leading up to this moment. And Franco was wonderful as Ralston, immediately portraying him as both likable and fallible, basically making him human. I think it’s an easy pick for both Boyle and Franco to receive Oscar nominations for 127 Hours.

I was really happy to hear Plastic Bertrand’s Ca Plane Pour Moi during the movie. Everyone needs this French punk song on their iPods.

Download it.

Little things stand out. I thought it was really cool that Danny Boyle used the distinctive whirring sound made by the tape loader in Canon DV video cameras whenever James Franco turned on his video camera. I know that sound all too well from owning one of them. Boyle also used the same on-screen icons from Canon’s camera when we were seeing things from Ralston’s video camera’s point of view.

Aron Ralston is amazing. 127 Hours is a testament to the huge amounts of hope and willpower Aron had to have in order to survive being trapped in the wilderness on his own. Even when his situation was at its bleakest, he never gave up. The guy is the epitome of willpower. Forget Hal Jordan. Aron Ralston should be the Green Lantern of Earth.

Geek to English translation: Green Lantern’s power ring is powered by his own willpower.

The most shocking part of the movie isn’t when James Franco does what you knew all along was coming, namely getting to the business of removing his own arm, it’s at the very end, when it’s shown that the real Aron Ralston is still at it doing hard hikes in the wilderness after all that he went through. He’s even fitted his stump arm with an awesome looking claw tool for digging in ice. I broke my wrist a couple of years ago snowboarding and never put on snowboarding boots again. Maybe I should rethink that.

Bad-Ass.

I believe there are five lessons to take away from 127 Hours: 1. Hike with a buddy. 2. Return phone calls, especially from your mom. 3. Spend an extra five minutes looking for your Swiss Army Knife. 4. Never give up. 5. When you fall down, not matter how hard, get back up and live life on your own terms.