This week I had the pleasure of attending Disney and Pixar’s newest original feature, “Elemental” at New York City’s Lincoln Square AMC. Directed by Peter Sohn, the film takes us on a journey into the spectacular world of Element city.
Radio City’s Music Hall was bursting with excitement, as the large sign under the iconic Radio City, said “Disney Plus’ American Born Chinese World Premiere!”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK—On Friday, April 28, Disney will take kids of all ages to Neverland once again when “Peter Pan & Wendy” debuts on Disney+. So, naturally, there was no better place to hold the movie’s premiere than on an ACTUAL pirate ship.
The Knockturnal had the honor of attending “The Crossover” premiere at the Hollywood Athletic Club. “The Crossover” is the television adaptation of Kwame Alexander’s novel-in-verse. Alexander won the 2015 John Newbery Medal and a Coretta Scott King author honor for his work, and serves as the executive producer and showrunner for the new series. “The Crossover” follows Josh (Jalyn Hall), nicknamed “Filthy”, and Jordan Bell (Amir O’Neil) throughout their middle school experience while they figure out how to balance their social life, school, and basketball. The teenagers are coached by their dad (Derek Luke), a former professional basketball player.
It’s a very powerful thing to write words that have meaning and for the meaning to affect many different people from different walks of life.
The Knockturnal had the privilege of attending Prom Pact’s premiere on the pink carpet at the Wilshire Ebell theater. The red carpet attendees were dressed accordingly, with colorful prom dresses to fit the theme of the 80’s promposals displayed in the film. (Graham) stated that their favorite part of working on the movie was becoming friends with each other. Milo recalls sitting on his balcony after a workday, and discussing the craft of acting with his peers. The pink carpet displayed how tight-knit the cast was, with each Disney star jumping at the opportunity to support their friend, or hug a castmate on camera.
What happens when a never ending war ends?
Director Matthew Heineman captures the final months of the 20 year long war in Afghanistan in his new documentary “Retrograde.” Heineman is known for his Oscar-nominated doc “Cartel Land” and his narrative feature “A Private War.” His films are gonzo in the most dangerous and intimate of moments. His unfettered access lets you feel like you’re there — often in places you feel like you shouldn’t be.
“Fly on the wall” comes to mind when describing his films, but Heineman says he hates the term. “No offense to flies, but they don’t have a lot of agency,” he said. He, as a filmmaker, does, however. And he gained access to those “fly on the wall” shots by building trust with his subjects and pounding at bureaucratic hurdles and logistical setbacks.
After a Monday screening of “Retrograde”, the director sat down for a Q&A to discuss how the film came together.
“The goal is to become part of the fabric of the daily lives of our subjects so they can be comfortable,” said Heineman of his style of filmmaking. “You can have those surprising human moments you would never ever get if you just helicoptered in and tried to film.”
Heinman put himself in some life threatening situations. “A lot of people think I’m this adrenaline junkie and love getting shot at, which I don’t —for the record. I don’t do this for the thrill of it,” he said. “If you’re risking your life for something it has to be for some form of a greater purpose or story I really believe in.”
He recounted the filming of a scene where he’s backseat in a helicopter in a particularly dangerous area. The Taliban began firing. He said, “When you’re in the helicopter and rockets are being shot at you there is no object button. There is no I want to go home. You are there. You’re in it.”
He continued, “In those situations the only thing I have agency over is my camera. And that is what I choose to focus on. I focus on framing and exposure. I’m mixing sound when I’m filming. Those are things I can control. If I’m going to risk my life to get a scene I’m going to get it right.”
“Retrograde” is produced by National Geographic and available for streaming on Disney +.
Whether you’re Chris Hemsworth or a journalist for the Knockturnal we all get stressed out.
Spiders, taxes, birthday party planning and heights are amongst the top stressors. The last of which, got Chris Hemsworth and me sweating bullets.
National Geographic organized members of the media to scale Hudson Yards skyscraper with City Climb to promote their show “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth.” We strapped into a harness and up we went.
Dr. Module Akinola prepped us for the high altitude, high stress trek. Hemsworth also got the spiel. She appears in the first episode of the series to equip the “Thor” star with valuable de-stressing tools before he walks atop a Sydney skyscraper.
In the episode, and at Hudson Yards, she explained the box breathing method. Imagine a box. Start at one corner. Inhale for four seconds. On to the next corner. Hold your breath for four seconds. Next corner. Exhale for four seconds. Last corner. Hold for seconds. Repeat.
I did the exercise, as did Hemsworth, and made my way up. The piece de resistance was leaning over the edge of the skyscraper, stretching myself over all of New York City with two straps and a harness preventing me from plummeting hundreds of feet. Flouting the conventional wisdom of “don’t look down,” I indeed stared down at all the ant-size people walking around lower Manhattan.
Akinola, an Associate Professor at the Columbia Business School, spoke to The Knockturnal about her experience working with Hemsworth and National Geographic on the series as well as practical tips we can all use in our daily lives to calm down. One of the big takeaways from the interview, the episode and the series writ large is we all experience stress. As we do aging, death, illness, physical strain etc. You can be a Marvel superhero from Asgard and still face human challenges like the rest of us. The key is not to dread these as ailments, but to accept them as inevitable parts of humanity and learn to confront them.
It starts with the end.
National Geographic’s “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth” aired its sixth and final episode at the Jazz at the Lincoln Center premiere on Nov 15.
The show, which is available for streaming on Disney +, puts Hemsworth through physical trials — from high wire walks to ice plunges. The last episode, however, gives the “Thor” actor a trial of a more metaphysical nature.
The title is “Acceptance.” Hemsworth spends three days in a retirement community preparing for death. It’s a meditative episode to close out the stunt-filled series.
“I lost both my parents this year,” said series creator Darren Aronofsky at the post-screening panel. “As I was losing my mom, I watched it on the couch with my dad next door to my mom as she was passing. Half way through I paused and asked, ‘Is this ok?’ Because there’s a lot of heavy shit going on. He was like, ‘Yeah, keep it going.”
Aronofsky said watching the cut of the final episode was “extremely helpful” for him in coping with the deaths of his parents.
Along with “Limitless,” Aronofsky has been promoting his film “The Whale,” which premiered to plaudits at TIFF. It too deals with grief and family.
Hemsworth had family on his mind after the final episode. “It made me think about my family in a more intense way and my kids,” he said. “And not taking anything for granted.”
His big takeaway from making the series is to live in the present. “It’s the narrative in the past and the future that can scare us and become overwhelming,” he said.
An interactive reception followed the screening and panel. Attendees could take pictures in front of a green screen, strap on VR helmets to get a taste of the high octane thrills and take a seat in zero gravity chairs. The event kicked off with a man grappling down a rope from a cable car on the ceiling.
All six episodes are available for streaming on Disney +.
Season 2 of The Mysterious Benedict Society is now streaming on Disney+.
Following the success of season one of the Mysterious Benedict Society, the crew is back together for season two. In season one, this group of four ‘misfits’ Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance were brought together to stop the evil Dr. Curtain and save the world. They used their wit, intelligence, kindness and empathy to stop the evil schemes. In this new season, they return to help Mr. Benedict once again. When their leaders Mr. Benedict and Number Two are kidnapped, these kids must use their minds to find their leaders. This is a fun series for the whole family. Each episode is filled with mystery, beauty and humor.
The Knockturnal recently spoke with the cast and creators of this show. Tony Hale, who plays Mr. Benedict and his evil twin brother Dr. Curtain, shared his creative journey of developing these characters. Mystic Inscho (“Reynie Muldoon”), Marta Kessler (“Constance Contriare”), Seth Carr (“George “Sticky” Washington”) and Emmy DeOliveira (“Kate Wetherall”) are the four main heroes of this show. We spoke with them about the costumes, sets and exciting process of creating another season of this show. Gia Sandhu (“Ms. Perumal”) and MaameYaa Baofo (“Rhonda Kazembe”) told us about working with these young actors and the excitement that filled each new day of filming. We also spoke with the creators of this series Darren Swimmer, Todd Slavkin, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. They shared their creative processes of collaborating on the Mysterious Benedict Society.
Watch The Mysterious Benedict Society season two now only on Disney+.