Magazine Assignment

BELOW THE LINE

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS ABOUT 10

FABELMANS

SXSW 2023 FILM FESTIVAL

9 DAYS OF SCREENINGS

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

A SECOND PLUNGE INTO PANDORA

Below the line (BTL) refers to any production costs not included in the above-theline portion of the budget. It also refers to technical crew roles: workers who do not provide input, guidance, creative development, or leadership on the project.

TONY KUSHNER

has worked with Steven Spielberg a whopping four times on four completely different movies: 2005’s thorny political thriller “Munich;” 2012’s historical biography “Lincoln;” 2021’s epic musical “West Side Story;” and most recently, 2022’s autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” the story of how Steven Spielberg became Steven Spielberg. Only one other screenwriter, David Koepp, has collaborated with the filmmaker as often (and they had a fifth project in pre-production that fell apart at the eleventh hour). Kushner and Spielberg’s ongoing collaboration is perhaps the most important of either artist’s career.

So sitting down with Kushner to talk about “The Fabelmans” and his journey with Spielberg, it was easy to feel intimidated. (One rarely gets to talk to a Pulitzer Prize winner.) But Kushner was warm and open about their collaboration and its difficulties – including where they might be headed next.

WHEN YOU DID “MUNICH”, DID YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH MR. SPIELBERG?

No, not at all. I really loved working with him on “Munich.” It was so much unlike what became our way of working because I wrote the screenplay fairly quickly and then I took a little bit longer than he liked for rewriting it. But nothing compared to the years that went by getting ready to write “Lincoln” and then revising “Lincoln.” And it was a huge production. But we finished filming “Munich” in October and released it in December, which still seems kind of impossible to me.

REALLY?

Well, he edits as he goes along and he’s really edited a lot of it in his head while he is filming it. Every film that I’ve done with him — I think in every film he’s made — he has a rough cut, or close to a rough cut, by the last day of filming. But with “Munich” that happened and then two months later we were out in the world. And that was shocking.

And I had just published an anthology of essays

that I edited with a friend of mine Alisa Solomon, about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And it literally had come out days before I met with Kathy and I said, “I’ve just published 58 progressive Jewish American responses to the conflict. Would you like a copy of it?” And she said, “Sure.” I sent her two, one for her and Steven. And then Steven called and said, “I read the book, I’d like to talk to you about this movie I’m making.” But I didn’t think… I had no idea that it would start this thing.

WELL, WHAT IS IT LIKE WORKING WITH HIM AS A WRITER?

BECAUSE HE SO INFREQUENTLY WRITES. I think he’s a wonderful writer. I love “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” I think it’s still probably my favorite of his films. And because when I work with him and I’m this screenwriter myself, we go over the script over and over and over and over again. We read parts of it out loud to each other and he makes suggestions. I also know from his direction that he loves language. He has a really good ear for it. He really loves the sound of it. He’ll often say like, “Man for All Seasons,” because it is a movie that he adores because he loves Robert Bolt’s screenplay. He loves the speeches, he loves

StevenSpielberg(left)andTonyKushner(right)

Writer Tony Kushner on Dramatizing Steven Spielberg’s Life

YOU WEREN’T WRITING “LINCOLN” WITH ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE ROOM WITH YOU. WERE YOU PUSHING FOR IT TO BE MORE DRAMATIC, AND WAS HE PUSHING FOR IT TO BE MORE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL?

No, I mean, we both had decided that making this work dramatically as a story apart from its rootedness in his life, that making it work as a story that could mean something to people who didn’t know that it was directed by Steven Spielberg or didn’t know who he was, but that it would have meaning on its own and not meaning to him or his sisters or the people who knew his parents. It had to earn its place in the script as part of a story. I think this is why it’s good that he was working with another writer because I think I did provide a degree of objectivity. It wasn’t my life, so I didn’t cherish these things. I mean, I cherished them because they were great dramatic material, but not because it had some sort of beautiful deep feeling because I had lived through them.

And one of the reasons that I think that I glommed onto this idea of making a movie centered around the central event of “The Fabelmans,” of the camping trip and the footage and everything, is I was really moved … I’m a writer and I think a lot about art and I come from a family of artists, and I think a lot about the ways in which when you’re young, you use art, either the creating of it or the consuming of it, to make the world comprehensible to yourself, hence safer or apparently safer to yourself. And that if you’re an artist and that’s where you’re originally being led by that artist saying to you, you can make the world a more habitable, less menacing place.

EVERY ONE OF THESE MOVIES IS SO DIFFERENT. AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT [SPIELBERG AND KUSHNER’S ABANDONED] “THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MORTARA” WAS GOING TO BE, BUT I’M ASSUMING THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT AS WELL. WITH EACH NEW COLLABORATION, DO YOU REDEFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND THE NATURE OF YOUR COLLABORATION?

Well, to some extent, yeah. Because each one has its own thing. And there were things about “Lincoln” that were problematic and hard. In a way

with “Munich,” it was sort of very much him and me, and we had this great cast. But Daniel came in very much as a creative partner. And that was an interesting experience for me and for him. Everybody’s in awe of Daniel. I mean, the first thing on the set was he did that giant monologue word perfect. David Strathairn was sitting next to him and came off the set looking ashen. And I said, “Are you okay?” And he said, “I’ve been staring up at

Olympus.” He said, “I’ve never seen anything like that.” Daniel is awe-inspiring. And Steven was like, “Oh my God, oh my God.” And Sally Field. But it had its own complexities and political complexities and historical complexities.

HAVE YOU STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE NEXT ONE?

Yep.

OKAY.

Just a couple of weeks ago. When we finished “The Fabelmans,” we realized it was the first time — well, certainly since the day that he asked me if I would look at “Lincoln” — that we hadn’t been working on a project. We always had the next thing lined up. We finished “The Fabelmans” and said, “Okay, what are we doing next?” And so for a while now, we’ve been having meetings and throwing ideas back and forth. And for one reason or another nothing has really felt right. And then about two weeks ago, I was doing a speech in Toledo, Ohio, and he called me and said, “I’ve got an idea. I’ve just listened to something that I want you to listen to.” And I listened and I called him back and I said, “Oh my God.”

New York Film Academy Launches

New BFA in Entertainment Media Degree

This Fall, New York Film Academy (NYFA) launches its unique and innovative, WSCUC-accredited Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Entertainment Media degree program at its New York City campus. Eligible students can apply for enrollment to the degree program and begin their classes as early as January 9, 2023.

The exciting program is designed for students who wish to explore different visual and performing arts before choosing a concentration. In their first six semesters, students engage in a curated liberal arts curriculum complemented by practical application courses that provide experience and training in various selected areas of

visual and performing arts, which include Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Screenwriting, Cinematography, Documentary Filmmaking, Producing, Broadcast Journalism, Musical Theatre, 3D Animation, and Photography. This approach allows students to gain exposure to various arts before making a determination regarding the best application of their specific skills and talents. For their final year, students select a concentration in one of the offered disciplines mentioned above, and will engage in an intensive study of that discipline centered on hands-on work, which culminates in a capstone project.

“This approach allows students to gain exposure to various arts before making a determination regarding the best application of their specific skills and talents.”

SXSW 2023: Everything to know about Austin’s iconic festival

The website for the Grammys once described the SXSW Music Festival as the Olympics of the music world. But drawing a comparison between this iconic Austin festival and anything else may be selling it short because the multi-day gathering goes far beyond a lineup of epic concerts, and marks a true convergence of the sectors of music, tech, film and education.

Really, SXSW, or South by Southwest if you’re not into the whole brevity thing, is a mega celebration of all things creative— backed by a stellar soundtrack and full of special moments like hearing Grammy-winning rapper Killer Mike do his thing on stage, but also popping into his speaker session to hear him talk about the Atlanta barbershop he co-owns with his wife that provides free haircuts, braids and school supplies for children. So how much does SXSW cost to at-

tend, can you still get tickets, and are any events free? Keep reading for all you need to know about SXSW 2023.

This year’s Headliners: Opening and Closing Night Films and a Centerpiece Film with associated Special Events on our Live Channel.

Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil

Director: Michael D. Ratner, Producer: Marc Ambrose

Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil is a powerful YouTube Originals documentary event, exploring every aspect that led to Lovato’s nearly fatal overdose in 2018, and her awakenings in the aftermath. (World Premiere) (Opening Night Film)

CHEKHOV’S GUN

10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The

Fabelmans

Between being on the back burner for decades and David Lynch’s Cheeto obsession, there’s even more history to The Fabelmans than audiences know. The Fabelmans is the newest movie from celebrated director Steven Spielberg, and it has gotten some of the best reviewers of Spielberg’s storied career. There have been so many period movies that are love letters to cinema over the years, but The Fabelmans is different, as it’s semi-autobiographical; the characters are all based on Spielberg’s family and, of course, himself.

With it being such a passion project of the filmmaker’s, how the film came to be is almost as interesting as the film itself. Between the screenplay coming together shockingly quickly, being on the back burner for decades, and David Lynch’s Cheeto obsession, there’s even more history to The Fabelmans than audiences know.

Spielberg first had the idea in 1999

Though the development time of The Fabelmans was relatively short and had a shockingly quick turnaround from when Spielberg and Kushner put pen to paper, the idea had been ruminating in Spielberg’s head for much longer. According to The New York Times, Spielberg had the idea all the way back in 1999.In the interview from 2323 years ago, Spielberg worried, “My big fe fear is that my mom and dad won’t like it and will think it’s an insult and won’t share my loving yet critical point of view about what it was like to grow up with them.” It was probably for the best that Spielberg waited to make the film, as that 23-year gap includes some of the director’s best movies, and his legacy has only grown exponentially. So a movie celebrating his life and upbringing is way more impactful now than it would have been in 1999.

It was originally titled “I’ll Be Home”

It turns out that The Fabelmans was way more than just an idea in 1999 too, and there had actually been some major development made on the project. However, it was much different from the final result that just hit theatres. According to the same NY Times article, Instead of The Fabelmans, the movie was titled I’ll Be Home. It also seems as if a draft of the screenplay had been completed, as Spielberg explained that the movie was written by his sister, Anne Spielberg.

Spielberg cast Michelle Williams after seeing her in Blue Valentine

Michelle Williams is one of the greatest actresses working today. She has starred in tons of beloved movies and has had four Academy Award nominations. But the reason why Spielberg decided to cast her as Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman, the character that’s based on the director’s mother, was based on her role in the emotionally exhausting 2010 movie Blue Valentine (via The New York Times). Blue Valentine cuts between two stories, as it’s about a couple that’s head-over-heels in love, and it follows that same couple years later with kids and utterly unhappy. There are some parallels between the 2010 film and Blue Valentine, as they’re both about divorce and the effect that’ll have on their children, and it spans decades too. But above all else, Williams’ performance is so raw and realistic, and she totally deserved the Oscar win for it.

Paul Dano felt intimidated playing Spielberg’s father

kkAlong with Williams playing a character hhbased on Spielberg’s mother, Paul Dano plplays Burt Fabelman, who is based on Spielbeberg’s father, and such an important role cacame with a lot of pressure. According to ThThe Hollywood Reporter, Dano felt intimidated about playing the semi-real-life character that the celebrated filmmaker looked up to so much.The actor explained, “The stakes felt really high... You’re embodying one of the most important, influential, complicated figures in [Spielberg’s] life. It was incredible to see how much of this was in his work the whole time.” However, Dano seemingly enjoys the nerves, as his filmography is full of daunting roles, such as starring alongside Daniel-Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood relatively early in his career. And just recently, he played The Riddler in The Batman, which is part of a franchise that has such a huge, fastidious fanbase. But he ended up giving the best portrayal of the Riddler.

It took David Lynch three weeks to agree to feature in the film

David Lynch is a unique filmmaker best known for his surreal thrillers like Mulholland Drive, and he sometimes acts too, as infrequently as it may be. Lynch returns to acting in The Fablemans, as he plays the ico-nic movie director John Ford, but it wasn’t without a ton of convincing. According to The Playlist, not only did it take Spielberg three weeks to convince the elusive filmmaker to sign on, but he had the help of their mutual friend, Laura Dern, who called him countless times to commit to the role. But most interestingly, Lynch only agreed to do it provided Cheetos were available on set at all times, which is a small but strange request.

Spielberg’s parents were “nagging” him to make the film

Though Spielberg worried that his parents might have thought the movie might have been an insult, the actual truth is that they were “nagging” him to make the movie. According to People, the filmmaker’s parents wanted him to make the film before their deaths.

Spielberg explained, “They were actually nagging me, ‘When are you going to tell that story about our family, Steve?’ And so this was something they were very enthusiastic about.” Both of Spielberg’s parents, unfortunately, passed away before the film went into development, and that could have been what encouraged Spielberg to finally make it.

Sammy was the hardest role to cast.

Gabriel LaBelle plays Sammy in the new movie, and the character is based on Spielberg when he was a child, so it comes as no surprise that the director thought it was the hahardest role to cast. And according to ssVulture, Spielberg auditioned 2000 different aaactors to play the character.

The director explained the tightrope he had ssto walk when looking for the perfect actor, ssnoting, “I wasn’t looking for what I see in ssthe mirror, I was looking for a young actor Awho could carry a lot of story by being curious and honest and engaging and unpredictable.” LaBelle did exactly that and beat out 2000 other actors, but even he wasn’t successful until he auditioned a second time three months later.

It was emotional on set

Given that it’s such a personal movie for Spielberg and is so semi-autobiographical, it’s jshardly surprising that there were so many emotions on set. Seth Rogen, who plays Benny Loewy, Sammy’s surrogate uncle, detailed just how emotional it really was and that he’d s regularly find Spielberg crying while shooting (via People).

The actor added, “I’d be like, ‘Did this happen in real life?’ and the answer was ‘yes’ a hundred percent of the time.” The movie will undoubtedly leave audiences crying just as much, but they’ll mostly be tears of joy, but that’s hardly any different from any other Spielberg-directed film.

It was short work for the screenwriter

While Spielberg is credited as a co-writer, the director worked with his long-time collaborator, the screenwriter Tony Kushner. The Fabelmans marks their fourth collaboration following Munich, Lincoln, and last year’s West Side Story. And according to Indie Wire, it was the easiest work of Kushner’s career.

The screenwriter spoke about his day-to-day while working on the script, and it was essentially a part-time job. Kushner explained, “We wrote three days a week, four hours a day, and we finished the script in two months: by leagues, the fastest I’ve finished anything. It was a blast. I loved it.”

Spielberg selected most of the music

Most movies will have music supervisors, and there are specific members of the film’s post-production that make most of the music choices. However, for The Fabelmans, outside of John Williams’ score, Spielberg chose a lot of the classical music featured in the film himself (via Indie Wire). While it isn’t unprecedented, and some filmmakers even score their own movies, directors have a huge hand in the soundtrack is a rarity. And when it comes to the movie’s music, The Fabelmans is also notable for being John Williams penultimate movie score before his retirement, with his final movie being Indiana Jones 5. And it marks the end of a long-running working relationship with Spielberg, as they have worked together on 29 movies.

HOW TO...

THE FILMMAKING PROCESS FOR BEGINNERS

If you thought filming took time, you were wrong. Post-production is when you edit all your footage to create a rough cut of the film. Once done with the rough cut, you’ll begin adding things like sound effects, music, visual effects, and color correction. This process will require the use of editing software — if you’re not confident, feel free to find/hire an experienced editor.

Our tip: Before you polish up your rough cut, show it to people whose opinions you can trust. It’s better that you find out what isn’t working now rather than when your audience is watching the final version.

Step 2: The Scrips

The script is where you’ll put down the story, setting, and dialogue in linear form. This important tool will be used by the rest of the team to know what’s going to happen in the film. You’ll also be using your own script as a reference throughout the process as well since you may need to refresh your-

self on certain actions, dialogue lines, and more.

Our tip: Don’t be afraid to make changes to the script even after you think it’s ready. More often than not, better ideas will come to you well after this stage in the filmmaking process.

And don’t be afraid to let your actors improvise, whether it’s in rehearsal or on the set. You may be surprised at what your actors are able to imagine from their character’s point of view. This is especially true for filmmakers who may not be great at writing dialogue.

Step 3: The Storyboards

A storyboard is a sequence of drawings that represent the shots you plan to film, and can be a critical part of the filmmaking process. We highly recommend this process because it helps you visualize each scene and decide on things like camera angles, shot sizes, etc. You’ll discover your storyboard’s

true value when it helps communicate what you’re trying to go for to other people on the set.

And for those of you who think, “I can’t draw,” photographing your storyboards can be a quick solution. Your camera phone works fine for this. Just take a couple of friends to your location and tell them, “You stand here, you stand there,” and take pictures. Take lots of pictures from lots of different vantage points. Then select the ones you like best, and there’s your storyboard. Doing this has the added advantage of showing you what’s really possible. Because we often draw storyboards, then discover to our disappointment, that we’d have to demolish-+ a wall to get the perspective that we’ve imagined.

Step 4: The Cast and Crew

Assembling your team can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. We recommend you take as much time as needed to find the right people for your film. For crew members, be sure to consider their past work and experience and request showreels or any examples if available. You should also hold auditions to find the best actors and actresses for your roles.

Our tip: Don’t feel obligated to include friends and family in your project. This is your film, which means choosing the best people for the job. Hopefully, your acquaintances are professional enough to accept when you don’t think they’re a fit for your project.

Step 5: The Locations

You may need to construct sets for a setting you’d like to have. But for scenes where an actual location will do, you’ll need to do some scouting to find the best spots. Take a camera with you and do as much traveling as possible, snapping shots of places you

think will serve as the perfect setting for particular scenes.

Our tip: Always consider the space required by the cast and crew. Don’t choose a cramped, narrow space where only the actors will fit well and not the cameras, lights, etc.

Step 6: The Filming

It all comes down to this. To prepare, be sure to have a shooting script ready along with an organized schedule of what will be filmed and when. Give yourself plenty of time to shoot scenes so that you’re never rushed and can accommodate changes or problems. It’s common for a scene that will last one minute in the final cut to require more than five hours to film.

Our tip: If time permits, try filming the same scenes from new angles. This way, you’ll have more footage to work with that can keep your viewers engaged.

Step 7: The Post-Production

If you thought filming took time, you were wrong. Post-production is when you edit all your footage to create a rough cut of the film. Once done with the rough cut, you’ll begin adding things like sound effects, music, visual effects, and color correction. This process will require the use of editing software — if you’re not confident, feel free to find/hire an experienced editor.

Our tip: Before you polish up your rough cut, show it to people whose opinions you can trust. It’s better that you find out what isn’t working now rather than when your audience is watching the final version.

ESSENTIAL FILMMAKING

EQUIPMENT FOR BEGINNERS

Blackmagic Design Ursa Broadcast G2 $4,195

Panasonic HC-X2000 4K Professional Camcorder $2,199

Remote-Controlled Studio Panel Lighting Kit4,195

FILMMAKING BEGINNERS

4WD RC Camera Car $3,996

Sunpak 620-840 - Video PRO-M 4 Tripod with Fluid Head $69

SIGMA 18-35MM F/1.8 DC HSM LENS FOR CANON $599

What Filming ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Actually Looked Like on Set

In this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” from its upcoming digital release, the film’s cast and crew reveal the multiple innovative methods they deployed to shoot the film, as the production team quite literally learned how to work vis-à-vis the way of water. Going from land to water was a big adjustment for the cast. Stars Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington and Kate Winslet discuss having to learn to regulate their bodies and breathing within this unfamiliar layer of the set so they could properly capture the essence of Cameron’s vision.

“There’s not just the physical challenge of holding your breath,” says Winslet, who plays Ronal in the film. “There’s then the added challenge of acting out a scene underwater where everything is very different. You’re having to imagine coral reefs; you’re having to picture other Na’vi swimming around you. Then you have the challenge of your movements are very, very different underwater — finding that serenity and that calm.”

“There’s not just the physical challenge of holding your breath,” says Winslet, who plays Ronal in the film. “There’s then the added challenge of acting out a scene underwater where everything is very different.

You’re having to imagine coral reefs; you’re having to picture other Na’vi swimming around you. Then you have the challenge of your movements are very, very different underwater — finding that serenity and that calm.”

The actors swam in performance capture wetsuits and goggles around fully submerged sets. The medium made actors’ movements more fluid, allowing their characters’ actions to appear far more realistic than they would have with the use of wire suspension systems.

As for the technical part of filming, the crew created a series of decks using unistrut systems hooked up to gantries and chain motors that could be lifted out of the water. Sets could be built above the water and then lowered down when it came time to film. The creation of such adaptable systems allowed for immense mobility of the set, allowing platforms to be titled to allow for better interaction between actor and animated topography.

Thanks to these intensive efforts from cast and crew, “Avatar: The Way of Water” — which debuts on digital on March 28 — was able to emulate the spirit of the sea. “If we tried to do this any other way instead of being legit, it wouldn’t be a James Cameron film,” said Worthington.

In the year 2008, moviegoers all across the nation saw what many consider to be the greatest comic book movie of all time. Released to critical acclaim and record-breaking box office numbers, this film took the superhero genre to brand new heights- It was adapted from a phenomenal screenplay and featured breathtaking visual effects, cinematography, action sequences, and direction.

That film in question was… “The Dark Knight”, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/ Batman. While this film is held in very high regard, and rightly so, it is often overshadowed by another comic book movie that was released that same year. Among a seemingly endless bombardment of mediocre, cookie-cutter superhero sequels that have been pumped out en masse for the past few decades, Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man” remains a breath of fresh air. While not nearly as gritty or mature as “The Dark Knight”, “Iron Man” shines due to its self-awareness, humor, and respect for the source material. It also set the standard for every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that followed it, while launching Robert Downey Jr.’s career into the stratosphere. The film follows Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist, genius inventor, arms dealer,

and hedonistic playboy who’s living his best life in Malibu, California until he is suddenly kidnapped by a terrorist organization and forced to take responsibility for all the damage he has unwittingly caused. From the first few minutes of this two-hour long runtime, “Iron Man” masterfully establishes its tone and its protagonist’s personality in the opening scene. Sure, the sight of a long motorcade of military-grade Humvees driving across a barren desert landscape may give off a more serious tone. Seeing them drive while the diagetic sound of ACDC’s “Back in Black” blares through what appears to be Tony’s own radio, however, might result in some tonal whiplash. As jarring as it may appear, this scene quickly establishes Tony as eccentric, juxtaposing loud rock music with a shot of a wealthy man in a dapper suit, holding an ice-cold ’26 Macallan. Robert Downey Jr. almost embodies the role of Tony Stark, maintaining a sense of self-assured arrogance, along with charming wit all throughout. Charisma and interesting banter come quite naturally for him, so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if most of Tony’s dialogue was ad-libbed on the spot, and these are some of Downey’s natural reactions to what is happening in the movie. Unlike numerous other superhero flicks, “Iron Man” is not, by any means, a

Released in April 200

power fantasy. Tony has several moments of weakness, and his numerous shortcomings are laid bare. Before he is captured by the Ten Rings, Tony suffers a near-fatal wound, as he is given a chest full of shrapnel by a bomb with a harrowing “STARK INDUSTRIES” proudly sprayed onto its shell. Tony and his fellow prisoner Ho Yinsen (Shaun Toub) spend a significant amount of time locked inside of a dingy cell, trying to keep their science project a secret as the terrorists watch their every move. Through his struggles, Tony ultimately “earns” the iconic scene where he puts on his Mark I Iron Man suit for the first time, destroys his stolen weaponry, and escapes from the cave. Going hand-in-hand with the suit itself, the film takes a minimalist approach to this first action sequence. Seeing as how it was built from discarded machine parts and scrap metal, Tony’s first suit of armor is noticeably sluggish and bulky. Whenever the terrorists are shooting at Tony, the audience can clearly see him flinch when bullets ricochet off of the suit, reminding them that it’s not fully impenetrable.

In his final battle with a deranged Obadiah, Tony even enlists the help of his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to deal the finishing blow. Every victory and triumph Tony achieves feels earned, because instead of just shooting lasers out of his eyes whenever he’s in trouble, Tony uses his own ingenuity to find a new angle and save the day. In stark contrast to its sleek appearance in the source material, the Mark III Iron Man Armor looks much more mechanical, and, in turn, realistic in its live-action form. Every once in a while, a close-up shot will reveal the many intricacies that lie beneath the suit’s flashy red-and-gold exterior, showing off just how much work the visual

effects team put into designing every nook and cranny. Watching hundreds of motorized actuators lock and shift into place is a testosterone-pumping joy to watch, and the action sequences that follow are even cooler.

This film’s only major shortcoming would have to be the events that transpire during the final act, when Jeff Bridges’ big bad villain character makes a number of irrational decisions in his plot to kill Tony and take over Stark Industries. However, the well-choreographed “final battle” between him and Tony effectively makes up for it. Above all else, “Iron Man” is thoroughly fun to watch, thanks in part to Jon Favreau’s direction. Very few actors can master the art of performing comedic scenes completely alone quite like Robert Downey Jr. can. This is exemplified during the moments where Tony is constructing a second iron man suit. Like engineering in real life, Tony innovates his design of the Iron Man armor through trial and error. Every time his rocket boots malfunction, he makes some adjustments and tests them out again. As previously stated, “Iron Man” strikes a nearly perfect balance of buildup and reward, or in simpler terms, slow-paced contemplative moments and pulse-pounding action. It’s no wonder that Iron Man’s critical and commercial success launched the entertainment powerhouse that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is today. Just like Tony Stark himself, Marvel Studios was able to build it in a cave, with a box of scrap

It’s-a blockbuster! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” an animated adventure based on the classic video game, crushed the competition with its jaw-dropping $204.6 million domestic and $377 million global debut over the long Easter weekend.

Those results far exceeded expectations and even surpassed the starts of recent installments in Universal’s biggest franchises, like “Jurassic World Dominion” ($145 million domestically) and “Fast and Furious 9” ($70 million). So, expect a sequel to be announced faster than you can say “Let’s-a go!”

“The box office just kept growing and growing,” marvels Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “It’s a tremendous worldwide debut, and the movie has a clear runway.”’

The PG film, which cost Universal, Illumination and Nintendo roughly $100 million to bring to the big screen, thrived as the de facto choice among family crowds, who have been starved of compelling theatrical offerings since last December’s release, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.”

But the kid-friendly film also managed to expand its reach beyond parents with young ones. Thanks to a heaping dose of nostalgia and positive word-of-mouth (reviews… not so much), “Mario” turned into a four-quadrant blockbuster — resonating with males and females, young and old, who grew up with Mario, Luigi and other inhabitants of the fantastical Mushroom Kingdom. “The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations,” says Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International.

Just because “Mario” is adapted from one of the most popular video games doesn’t mean the film was preordained for blockbuster

‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Box Office: All the Records Smashed on Opening Weekend

status. In fact, 1993’s disastrous live-action “Super Mario Bros,” starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, has become a legendary example of Hollywood’s failure to properly translate video game stories from consoles to cinemas. In fact, 1993’s disastrous live-action “Super Mario Bros,” starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, has become a legendary example of Hollywood’s failure to properly translate video game stories from consoles to cinemas. Even though critics were mixed on the new adaptation, opening weekend audiences were enthusiastic and awarded the film an “A” CinemaScore.