marcie | Simply Elijah Wood

Skinamarink director to helm new horror movie from A24 with Elijah Wood producing

on November 11, 2024 by marcie Comments Off

Skinamarink director Kyle Edward Ball is teaming up with A24 for his next horror movie.

Per Variety, the upcoming pic is titled The Land of Nod. Josh Safdie will produce under his new Central Pictures production banner with Elijah Wood producing under his SpectreVision banner.

Skinamarink, an experimental horror film that provides a rather unique viewing experience, hit theaters in 2022 and grossed $2 million against a budget of only $15,000. The movie follows two siblings who realize something is wrong with their parents, and that their house is not what it seems. The movie, which takes its title from an old children’s song, is shot with a kind of static-y overlay that keeps you at the edge of your seat – as it’s almost impossible to clearly make out what’s lurking in the darkness.

The plot of the new film is being kept under wraps, though Ball told Variety back in 2022 that his new movie would either be one of two ideas: a take on the Pied Piper legend, the other about three strangers who all see the same house in a dream. Given that The Land of Nod is a biblical reference, being the land located just east of Eden that Cain is banished to, we’re leaning more towards the second idea (though of course, it could be a new concept entirely.)

Skinamarink is streaming now on Hulu. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024, or, skip right to our list of movie release dates.

The Monkey Teaser

on October 16, 2024 by marcie Comments Off

Here’s a longer teaser from The Monkey.

Movies Bookworm

Bookworm Takes The Lord of the Rings Star Elijah Wood Back To Middle-earth

on October 1, 2024 by marcie Comments Off

lijah Wood and Ant Timpson’s partnership is old hat at this point, with Wood starring in two of three of the director’s feature films (Come to Daddy in 2019, and now Bookworm). Their rapport is evident both onscreen and off as Wood falls into his complex characters in both films as easily as he chitchats comfortably with Timpson as I enter the room to discuss the charming Bookworm with the pair.

Bookworm follows the wildly precocious Mildred (Nell Fisher) and her deadbeat dad Strawn Wise (Wood) as they find their lives unexpectedly smooshed together while they hunt for the famed (and possibly mythological) Canterbury Panther after Mildred’s mother suffers a tragic accident. Mildred is whip-smart and self-sufficient while Strawn is a washed-up magician (illusionist, he insists) who has never followed through on much of anything in his life. The film is a cute, heartfelt romp held together by delightful performances by Fisher and Wood.

The aspect of Bookworm that I found most noteworthy is that, despite the fact that he’s a goober and a terrible father, you simply can’t help but root for Wood’s character, Strawn. Turns out, most of that comes down to Wood himself.

“The film’s written for Elijah because he has this sort of inherent, deep likability, instant connection with the audiences,” Timpson explains. “We feel like we can kind of push that a little bit with those sort of insufferable traits, but still win [the audience] over because he has this warmth and humanity that shines through no matter how much we dress him up and hang all these neuroses and foibles on.”

“My challenge too, as an actor, is to find the balance between the more self-involved, unsavory aspects of the character and kind of the bluster and his self-defining characteristics that are sort of what makes him kind of an asshole and a little repulsive and a little annoying,” Wood adds. “It’s about finding the balance of those things and the vulnerable human being underneath that’s using those things as a skin to feel better about himself.”

It turns out that making a bad dad lovable wasn’t the film’s greatest challenge, though. Indeed, it’s actually kinda hard to film something in middle-of-nowhere New Zealand.

“This one took place like 90% in the wilderness,” Timspon says. “So you can’t pivot. Because accommodation’s booked, you can’t just uproot and move elsewhere. It looks incredible when it works, and when it doesn’t it’s hell on earth.”

Source: IGN