Who doesn’t have a hero complex? That drive to help the man as he’s kicked to the ground, or perhaps to just do all that you can to make the world a better place. Well the LA Times as well as LACMA have decided to dedicate an entire festival to that exact thing called “The Hero Complex Film Festival” which spans across four days of epic films and even more epic discussions with the creators of these cinematic works of genius. While most of the films are based on comic book heroes or some intergalactic ones, the moral of the festival resonates strong as you listen to the masters talk about their works after they show on the silver screen. It was my pleasure to attend, and still continue to attend the festival, so without further adeu, day one and all it’s glory.
Day 1- Warren Beatty; Dick Tracy
Some big news came out of the Hero Complex Film Festival on their very first day. It seems the director, producer, actor and writer Warren Beatty is in the process of making a sequel to his smash hit Dick Tracy, which is based off the old comic strip/animated show.
But that’s not all we learned from Mr. Beatty, he also decided to share some long drawn out wisdom for all the potential filmmakers out there. A few great quotes include “Casting is writing.” “The best person to ask about actors is actors.” Take what you will potential Spielberg’s and Lucas’.
For those of you who have seen Dick Tracy, you are fully aware of the extreme visual styles that Beatty chose, he decided to let us know a bit about that as well, talking about the difficulties of getting the lighting just right to set the mood, and to use the makeup to his advantage.
While most of the discussion was the on the technical aspects of the film and what it was like working with the big cast he had, we couldn’t help but press further about the sequel but every questioned that dare dance along that line was immediately shut down. “I won’t talk about it…I want to get it just right…talking about movies before their made ruins them.” Interesting that he’s so reserved about it.
Thanks Geoff Boucher for this great day, and I’ll be updating you more as I continue on down the path of the heroes before me. Expect even bigger news to follow during this exciting film festival!
