SXSW

SXSW Film Review: Ktown Cowboys (USA, 2015)

The 2015 SXSW Festival is in full swing in Austin, Texas. And undeniably, one of the most anticipated highlights of this year’s conference was the world premiere of the long awaited, fan-funded, Ktown Cowboys – a film based on the wildly popular web-series of the same name. Directed by Daniel Park, Ktown Cowboys follows the lives of…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Ian Hultquist on composing The Diabolical, departing Passion Pit and more

Ian Hultquist is at SXSW promoting the horror film The Diabolical, for which he composed the musical score. He is also a founding member of synth pop band Passion Pit, although in October 2014 he announced his departure from the band. In this interview, Hultquist chats about the nature of composing for film, his inspirations,…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Composer Johnny Jewel speaks on working with Ryan Gosling for Lost River

The Iris’ Larry Heath recently had the chance to chat with composer Johnny Jewel, on the Red Carpet at the North American SXSW premiere of his new film Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling. Jewel discusses how he first met Gosling while working together on the 2011 film Drive, how he got on board working…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Barbara Steele on working with Ryan Gosling for Lost River

The Iris’ Larry Heath was fortunate enough to catch up with actress Barbara Steele, on the Red Carpet at the North American SXSW premiere of Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling. Steele chats about how Gosling approached her to star in his film, musing on the fact that she is a frequent collaborator with first…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Rose Byrne on working with Jason Statham, 50 Cent, and Jude Law in ‘Spy’

“It was a real eclectic mix from people all over the world,” treasured actress Rose Byrne says of the upcoming movie Spy. Larry Heath was on hand at the SXSW premiere and caught up with Rose, who talks about working with the likes of Jason Statham, Curtis Jackson AKA 50 Cent, Jude Law, and more……

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Jason Statham on comedy and new film ‘Spy’

While at SXSW for the debut of ‘Spy’, The Iris’ Larry Heath spoke to veteran action star Jason Statham about the style of the film, his role, and more. On working with Melissa McCarthy, Statham says: “She’s just an exceptional talent at whatever she puts her hand to” and as for comedy: “I tried not…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: ‘Spy’ director Paul Feig on the film’s tone, Melissa McCarthy, and the best James Bond

Paul Feig, famed director and the man behind new action-comedy Spy catches up with The Iris’ Larry Heath at the film’s SXSW premiere to talk about tone, Melissa McCarthy, and his favourite James Bond. On what he wants people to take away from the film, Paul says: “I just want people to have a really good…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury on composing for new film ‘Ex Machina’ – Part One

Larry Heath caught up with Geoff Barrow (of Portishead) and Ben Salisbury to talk about the music they have composed for Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller ‘Ex Machina’. Both musicians discuss in depth about how this project originated. their creative process, and more. Ex Machina is out now in cinemas. ———- This content has recently been…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury on composing for new film ‘Ex Machina’ – Part Two

Earlier we brought you Part One of our interview with Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury from SXSW. In Part Two, the composers for sci-fi thriller ‘Ex Machina’ discuss how they matched music with film in detail, future projects, and lots more. Check out the full interview below. Ex Machina is out now in cinemas. ———-…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Director Etan Cohen and Actor-Comedian Kevin Hart discuss new comedy ‘Get Hard’

With Get Hard currently being released in cinemas, Larry Heath caught up with Director Etan Cohen about the dynamic between writing and directing. He also catches up with actor-comedian Kevin Hart, who discusses his friendship with co-star Will Ferrell. Get Hard is scheduled for release in Australia on March 26, 2015. You can also check out our exclusive…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Executive Producer Gary Michael Walters talks ‘Lost River’, Ryan Gosling, and more

While walking the red carpet at SXSW, Lost River Executive Producer Gary Michael Walters talks exclusively to The Iris about his love of Australia, Ryan Gosling as a ‘singular visionary’, and more. Having worked with Ryan Gosling twice before, Walters wanted to support his new venture and fully financed the film. As a studio head, Walters says,…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Rob Zabrecky talks about working on Ryan Gosling’s “Lost River” and more

Whilst at the SXSW premiere of Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River, Larry Heath caught up with actor Rob Zabrecky who talks about working on the film, how he got involved, and more. Having been friends with Gosling for five years, Zabrecky talks about how it made sense for them to work together, “it’s always…

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The Breakfast Club 30th Anniversary at SXSW

Bringing us the story of a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse, The Breakfast Club has been hailed “an iconic comedy that defined a generation”. In celebration of the film’s 30th anniversary, SXSW 2015 hosted the world premiere of the newly restored version of The Breakfast Club. 1,300 fans watched the beloved John Hughes’ classic…

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SXSW Q&A Highlights: The cast and creator of Mr. Robot premiere the series in Austin.

Earlier today at SXSW in Austin, Texas, the new USA Network series Mr. Robot premiered its pilot episode to a packed out Vimeo Theatre crowd. The series, a psychological thriller which closely follows the life of a computer hacker as he gets in deep in a world of corporate espionage, was followed by a Q&A…

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SXSW Film Festival Announces 2015 Jury And Special Awards!

Finally, after months of preparation, the ultimate winners of South by Southwest were finally announced this week. The Jury and Special Award-winners of the 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony at the historic Paramount Theatre. The awards were hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Vanessa Bayer, who…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Henry Rollins on He Never Died and preparing to play a villain

“I wrote pages and pages of notes,” Rollins laughs, “the director told me to chuck it all out.” We’re on the red carpet, and Henry Rollins is deep into explaining how he prepared for the role of Jack, a cannibalistic immortal that’s the antihero of Jason Krawczyk’s new film, He Never Died. “I read the…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Saoirse Ronan talks about working with director Ryan Gosling on Lost River

The Iris’ Larry Heath caught up with Irish actress Saoirse Ronan on the SXSW Red Carpet at the North American premiere of her new film Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling. Saoirse discusses how she became involved with the film, as well as the unique filming experience that Gosling created on the set, and what…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Iain de Caestecker on working with Ryan Gosling on Lost River

The Iris’ Larry Heath recently had the chance to chat with actor Iain De Caestecker on the Red Carpet at the North American premiere of his new film Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling. De Caestecker shares his thoughts on the SXSW Festival experience as a whole, before discussing some of the intricacies that went…

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SXSW Film Review: Deep Web (USA, 2015)

Underneath what we see in our daily browsing – our emails, Facebook, people’s banal commentary on Twitter – is something called the dark web. It’s like looking under the hood of a car – a mind bogglingly immense and completely unseen part of the Internet that is mostly made up of lines of HTML code….

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WGN America’s Salem brings a ‘Witches Playground’ to SXSW as well as a Q&A panel with the cast

SXSW Film has kicked off with a bang with the “Witches Playground” event, celebrating the upcoming release of the second season of WGN America’s flagship show Salem. The party, held in the notoriously haunted Speakeasy on the Avenue venue in Austin on Friday the 13th, served as the opening event for the festival. The 1,300…

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Five things the Deep Web Panel at SXSW 2015 made us think about

The day after the premiere screening of the Silk Road documentary Deep Web, director Alex Winter, Lyn Ulbricht, consulting producer Andy Greenberg and producer Marc Schiller answered questions about the trial of Ross Ulbricht, the longtime legal implications of the ruling, and the notions of online anonymity. Below are five key points that were discussed….

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Exclusive SXSW interview: Will Ferrell on “Get Hard” and Prepping for Prison

The Iris’ Larry Heath caught up with Will Ferrell, star of the new film Get Hard, at the film’s premiere at SXSW in Austin, Texas. It was the actor’s first time at SXSW, “it’s wild to see it unfold,” he said. He spoke about the film, whether he’d be ready for jail after being a part…

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SXSW Q&A Highlights: Mavis Staples performs and talks about seeing her documentary Mavis! for the first time.

This morning at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, a packed out Paramount Theatre enjoyed the World Premiere of the new music documentary Mavis!, telling the story of the legendary Mavis Staples. Making her feature length documentary debut with the film was Director Jessica Edwards, who joined Mavis and other members of the crew…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Ryan Gosling talks about his Directorial Debut Lost River.

The Iris’ Larry Heath caught up with Ryan Gosling on the red carpet at the North American Premiere of his Directorial Debut Lost River last night. We asked Ryan about assembling a team of familiar faces for the project; people he’s worked with before – from Australia’s own Ben Mendelsohn to composer Johnny Jewel –…

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SXSW Q&A Highlights: Spy premieres at SXSW Film Festival with Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham and more

Ahead of its US release on June 5th, the new action-comedy Spy had a special unofficial world premiere at SXSW tonight, with actors Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale joining writer/director Paul Feig to show off the film to the Austin, Texas crowd. The room was filled with laughter from start to…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Ben Mendelsohn talks about working with Director Ryan Gosling on Lost River

The Iris’ Larry Heath briefly caught up with Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn while on the Red Carpet at the North American premiere of his new film Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling. Ben talks about getting to know Ryan on The Place Beyond The Pines, leading to him being a part of this project, the experiences of…

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Exclusive SXSW Interview: Melissa McCarthy talks Spy and reveals she’s coming to Australia!

Earlier tonight, the upcoming Action-Comedy Spy, reuniting Melissa McCarthy and Australia’s Rose Byrne with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, premiered at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. We were lucky enough to be on the red carpet at the screening, and briefly caught up with star Melissa McCarthy to talk about being an action star in…

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SXSW Documentary Film Review: The Last Man On The Moon (UK, 2014)

“I’m the luckiest human being in the world,” says Eugene ‘Gene’ Cernan. In December 1972, he was the commander of the Apollo 17 mission, the final moon landing. Leaving behind his footprints and his daughter’s initials in the dust, Cernan returned to Earth. From this simple and yet extraordinary premise, director Mark Craig weaves together Cernan’s story, from his…

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SXSW Documentary Short Review: Boxeadora (USA/Cuba, 2014)

Boxeadora, a short 16-minute documentary by American filmmaker Meg Smaker, starts with a brief foreword, “Since Castro’s revolution, Cuba has won more Olympic Gold Medals in boxing than any other country in the world”. Pretty mean feat for a small country, considering most of their opponents would be from nations with a lot more financial backing in sports….

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SXSW Q&A Highlights: The Breakfast Club celebrates its 30th anniversary at SXSW Film with Molly Ringwald & Ally Sheedy

John Hughes’ iconic coming-of-age film The Breakfast Club celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and to celebrate the release of a completely restored version of the movie, Universal and SXSW Film hosted the World Premiere and a special Q&A session with two of the movie’s stars, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy. The Paramount Theatre was crammed early with fans of the…

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