A mainstay of both Cinema Scope and Reverse Shot (not to mention plenty of other publications), Adam Nayman is one of our sharpest film critics. This is evidenced in his previous book, It Doesn’t Suck, a thorough defense of Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls that only solidified the film maudit as something of a modern classic. He’s now turned his attention to another divisive figure with Ben Wheatley: Confusion and Carnage. While Nayman has shown in much of his writing a skepticism towards the lionization of certain genre directors in Internet circles, he makes a compelling case for the still yet-to-quite-breakthrough Wheatley as a wholly intelligent filmmaker whose ideas transcend Tumblr screencaps. He sat down with us to discuss his new book, Wheatley, and other issues within film culture.
The Film Stage: In comparison to your last book, It Doesn’t Suck, do you think this was a bigger or smaller task?...
The Film Stage: In comparison to your last book, It Doesn’t Suck, do you think this was a bigger or smaller task?...
- 12/1/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Kill List's Ben Wheatley is to direct two episodes of Doctor Who.
The acclaimed filmmaker will helm the first two instalments of the BBC sci-fi drama's eighth series, Screen Daily reports.
> Ben Wheatley interview: A Field in England, Kill List, Sightseers
Series eight - to air in 2014 - will be the first to feature Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, with the Thick of It star replacing current lead Matt Smith in the show's 2013 Christmas special.
"I am very excited and honoured to be asked to direct the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who," said Wheatley. "I've been a fan since childhood.
"I'm really looking forward to working with Peter Capaldi and finding out where Steven Moffat is planning to take the new Doctor."
Wheatley's past credits include 2012's Sightseers and episodes of Ideal and The Wrong Door.
He most recently helmed psychedelic civil-war film...
The acclaimed filmmaker will helm the first two instalments of the BBC sci-fi drama's eighth series, Screen Daily reports.
> Ben Wheatley interview: A Field in England, Kill List, Sightseers
Series eight - to air in 2014 - will be the first to feature Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, with the Thick of It star replacing current lead Matt Smith in the show's 2013 Christmas special.
"I am very excited and honoured to be asked to direct the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who," said Wheatley. "I've been a fan since childhood.
"I'm really looking forward to working with Peter Capaldi and finding out where Steven Moffat is planning to take the new Doctor."
Wheatley's past credits include 2012's Sightseers and episodes of Ideal and The Wrong Door.
He most recently helmed psychedelic civil-war film...
- 10/14/2013
- Digital Spy
Exclusive: Kill List and Sightseers director will direct the first two episodes in the new series of Doctor Who.
Ben Wheatley will direct the first two episodes of BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who.
The director, known for his unsettling, macabre and darkly-comic style in films such as Sightseers and Kill List, confirmed the news to ScreenDaily.
Wheatley will direct the episodes for series eight through December and into the new year for transmission in autumn 2014.
It will see the filmmaker direct Peter Capaldi, the Thick of It star who was confirmed in August to take the role from outgoing Matt Smith.
“I am very excited and honoured to be asked to direct the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who. I’ve been a fan since childhood (Tom Baker is my Doctor if you are asking),” Wheatley told ScreenDaily.
“I’ve been watching the current run of Doctor who with my son and have...
Ben Wheatley will direct the first two episodes of BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who.
The director, known for his unsettling, macabre and darkly-comic style in films such as Sightseers and Kill List, confirmed the news to ScreenDaily.
Wheatley will direct the episodes for series eight through December and into the new year for transmission in autumn 2014.
It will see the filmmaker direct Peter Capaldi, the Thick of It star who was confirmed in August to take the role from outgoing Matt Smith.
“I am very excited and honoured to be asked to direct the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who. I’ve been a fan since childhood (Tom Baker is my Doctor if you are asking),” Wheatley told ScreenDaily.
“I’ve been watching the current run of Doctor who with my son and have...
- 10/14/2013
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The far out British director is following Sightseers with a micro-budget psychedelic civil war-era head trip. But don't rule him out of having a crack at Spider-Man one day
For its American release in May, the poster for Ben Wheatley's last film – the brutal caravan odyssey Sightseers – acquired a few extra elements. The UK version featured the Lake District's Bonnie and Clyde standing in a field. The Us poster added an axe. And some blood. And a corpse. And a caravan on fire. Just to be sure you got the message.
Wheatley's films themselves are a little more subtle, but the fact remains they tend to involve people doing horrid things to each other, the violence laced with extremely uncomfortable comedy. Sightseers was preceded by the nasty-funny Down Terrace and gripping hitman horror Kill List. Although Wheatley's uniquely effective style is often pegged as being typically English, he's attracted...
For its American release in May, the poster for Ben Wheatley's last film – the brutal caravan odyssey Sightseers – acquired a few extra elements. The UK version featured the Lake District's Bonnie and Clyde standing in a field. The Us poster added an axe. And some blood. And a corpse. And a caravan on fire. Just to be sure you got the message.
Wheatley's films themselves are a little more subtle, but the fact remains they tend to involve people doing horrid things to each other, the violence laced with extremely uncomfortable comedy. Sightseers was preceded by the nasty-funny Down Terrace and gripping hitman horror Kill List. Although Wheatley's uniquely effective style is often pegged as being typically English, he's attracted...
- 6/24/2013
- by Alex Godfrey
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – Graphic violence is a double-edged sword. It can shock viewers into acknowledging the tragic nature of carnage so often belittled in mainstream cinema, yet it can also repel viewers straight out of the theater before the end credits roll. Ben Wheatley’s “Kill List” is far from the most violent film in recent memory, but its few instances of onscreen bloodshed are unbearably savage.
This makes the film a perfect fit for IFC Midnight, which has specialized in distributing ultra-grisly indies. “Kill List” is one of their better releases this year, but it lacks the emotional and psychological depth of a film like Justin Kurzel’s “The Snowtown Murders.” Whereas Kurzel’s fact-based tale was about people who seemed frighteningly human, Wheatley’s film centers on a group of characters so witless that audiences may find it difficult to become involved in their plight. “Kill List” is entertaining enough...
This makes the film a perfect fit for IFC Midnight, which has specialized in distributing ultra-grisly indies. “Kill List” is one of their better releases this year, but it lacks the emotional and psychological depth of a film like Justin Kurzel’s “The Snowtown Murders.” Whereas Kurzel’s fact-based tale was about people who seemed frighteningly human, Wheatley’s film centers on a group of characters so witless that audiences may find it difficult to become involved in their plight. “Kill List” is entertaining enough...
- 8/14/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
An Assassin stumbles across a ritualistic cult in writer-director Ben Wheatley's upcoming horror film Kill List.
It will hit cinema screens on September 2, via Optimum Releasing. The story sees ex-soldier turned contract killer Jay pressured by his partner Gal into taking a new assignment, eight months after a disastrous job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred. As they descend into the dark and disturbing world of the contract, Jay begins to unravel once again - his fear and paranoia sending him deep into the heart of darkness.
In his first starring role, Neil Maskell plays Jay. His previous credits include It's All Gone Pete Tong, Basic Instinct 2, Atonement and The Football Factory. Michael Smiley (Burke and Hare, The Other Boleyn Girl) plays Gal, MyAnna Buring (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, The Descent, Lesbian Vampire Killers) is Shel and - in her first major film role - Emma Fryer plays Fiona.
It will hit cinema screens on September 2, via Optimum Releasing. The story sees ex-soldier turned contract killer Jay pressured by his partner Gal into taking a new assignment, eight months after a disastrous job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred. As they descend into the dark and disturbing world of the contract, Jay begins to unravel once again - his fear and paranoia sending him deep into the heart of darkness.
In his first starring role, Neil Maskell plays Jay. His previous credits include It's All Gone Pete Tong, Basic Instinct 2, Atonement and The Football Factory. Michael Smiley (Burke and Hare, The Other Boleyn Girl) plays Gal, MyAnna Buring (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, The Descent, Lesbian Vampire Killers) is Shel and - in her first major film role - Emma Fryer plays Fiona.
- 7/27/2011
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
IFC Midnight purchased the North American rights of horror film “Kill List,” an entry from the SXFantastic midnight series at SXSW. The film was directed by Ben Wheatley (“Ideal,” “The Wrong Door”). It starred Neil Maskell (“Basic Instinct 2,” “Atonement”), Michael Smiley (“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” “The Other Boleyn Girl”) and MyAnna Buring (“The Descent,” “Vampire Killers”). Here is the official synopsis: “Eight months after a disastrous job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred, ex-soldier turned contract killer, Jay, is pressured by his partner, Gal, into taking a new assignment. As they descend into the dark, disturbing world of the contract, Jay begins to unravel once again – his fear and paranoia sending him deep into the heart of darkness.” “Our team was blown away by ‘Kill List,’” said Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring to The Hollywood Reporter. “It is relentless, stylish, brilliantly directed journey...
- 3/15/2011
- LRMonline.com
Down Terrace
Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Robin Hill & Ben Wheatley
UK, 2009
A good movie that could very easily have been a great one, Down Terrace, a very black comedy with a dash of arthouse ambition, has all the ingredients necessary for a truly distinctive feature but bungles the proportions, making for a peculiar viewing experience – one worth partaking in, provided a strong inclination towards gallows humor.
Writer-director Ben Wheatley is already somewhat of a commodity in his native UK thanks to a BBC comedy series he created, The Wrong Door, and his comedic pedigree certainly shows through here. Terrace, his first feature, revolves around a clan of two-bit criminals whose professional ties might actually be stronger than their blood ties. Father Bill (Robert Hill) and son Karl (Robin Hill, Robert’s real-life son and the film’s co-writer) are fresh off of a stint in the clink, and...
Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Robin Hill & Ben Wheatley
UK, 2009
A good movie that could very easily have been a great one, Down Terrace, a very black comedy with a dash of arthouse ambition, has all the ingredients necessary for a truly distinctive feature but bungles the proportions, making for a peculiar viewing experience – one worth partaking in, provided a strong inclination towards gallows humor.
Writer-director Ben Wheatley is already somewhat of a commodity in his native UK thanks to a BBC comedy series he created, The Wrong Door, and his comedic pedigree certainly shows through here. Terrace, his first feature, revolves around a clan of two-bit criminals whose professional ties might actually be stronger than their blood ties. Father Bill (Robert Hill) and son Karl (Robin Hill, Robert’s real-life son and the film’s co-writer) are fresh off of a stint in the clink, and...
- 12/4/2010
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
Winning accolades and fans across the festival circuit for the past year, and comparisons to material as far and wide as Ken Loach and The Sopranos (although in all fairness it is neither of those things, more like deader-than-deadpan Coen Brothers absurdity) Down Terrace has been playing in limited release for a month, and is opening in Canada commercially at the Carlton Theatre in Toronto (before expanding out to Vancouver) November 12th. I have been shamelessly been sitting on a lengthy chat with writer/director Ben Wheatley while the film played at the Fantasia Film Festival back in July. He left his copy of Sight & Sound behind as he took off to the airport after our conversation, which I scored (snack-cake!) but don't tell him. A prolific advertisement and TV director, he is as film literate and verbose has one would expect from a genre-mashing drama/comedy/gangster picture with literate and verbose characters.
- 11/11/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Here begins a trio of Toronto-centric posts and, yes, I apologize to those of you who don't live here.]
Fans of bleaker than bleak comedy in Canada, give a nice round of applause to Evokative Films because they're about to give Ben Wheatley's award winning black comedy Down Terrace a theatrical release on these shores. Here's the official word:
Montreal, Thursday October 21st, 2010 - After screenings at the Fantasia and Vancouver International Film Festivals, Down Terrace will be opening at the Carlton Theatre in Toronto on November 12th. This is the first English-speaking film release for Evokative Films, having concentrated its releases on International, subtitled films over the last two years.
Father and son Bill and Karl have just been released from jail, but all is not well at Down Terrace. Patriarchs of a small crime family, their business is plagued with infighting: Karl has had more than he can take of his old man's philosophizing and preaching; Bill thinks Karl's dedication to the family is seriously compromised...
Fans of bleaker than bleak comedy in Canada, give a nice round of applause to Evokative Films because they're about to give Ben Wheatley's award winning black comedy Down Terrace a theatrical release on these shores. Here's the official word:
Montreal, Thursday October 21st, 2010 - After screenings at the Fantasia and Vancouver International Film Festivals, Down Terrace will be opening at the Carlton Theatre in Toronto on November 12th. This is the first English-speaking film release for Evokative Films, having concentrated its releases on International, subtitled films over the last two years.
Father and son Bill and Karl have just been released from jail, but all is not well at Down Terrace. Patriarchs of a small crime family, their business is plagued with infighting: Karl has had more than he can take of his old man's philosophizing and preaching; Bill thinks Karl's dedication to the family is seriously compromised...
- 10/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
This year’s Fantasia is taking a while to get off the ground horror-wise, and it wasn’t until the second evening of the festival that we saw the first real horror related film of this year’s program, the documentary Herschell Gordon Lewis - The Godfather of Gore (review here).
The movie was thoroughly entertaining, containing tons of stories straight from Herschell, his collaborators, and high profile fans such as John Waters and Joe Bob Briggs. The screening was attended by the filmmaking team, Jimmy Maslon, Mike Vraney, and the always hilarious and informative Frank Henenlotter. The man himself, H.G. Lewis was also on hand to answer questions, and lead the Fantasia audience through a rollicking rendition of the 2000 Maniacs theme song! Yeeeeee-Haw!
Saturday was the first of many full-day movie watching sessions, and included the Greek zombie apocalypse flick Evil in the Time of Heroes, dysfunctional British family crime comedy Down Terrace,...
The movie was thoroughly entertaining, containing tons of stories straight from Herschell, his collaborators, and high profile fans such as John Waters and Joe Bob Briggs. The screening was attended by the filmmaking team, Jimmy Maslon, Mike Vraney, and the always hilarious and informative Frank Henenlotter. The man himself, H.G. Lewis was also on hand to answer questions, and lead the Fantasia audience through a rollicking rendition of the 2000 Maniacs theme song! Yeeeeee-Haw!
Saturday was the first of many full-day movie watching sessions, and included the Greek zombie apocalypse flick Evil in the Time of Heroes, dysfunctional British family crime comedy Down Terrace,...
- 7/11/2010
- by EvilAndy
- DreadCentral.com
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