In a new Telluride Film Festival 2024 mini dispatch Christina talks to Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com about 'Nickel Boys', RaMell Ross narrative directorial debut.
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Pop Culture Confidential
423: Telluride Film Festival Mini Dispatch 2. 'Nickel Boys'
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We got into see Edward Berger's conclave, his papal thriller starring Ray Fiennes, Joshua Oppenheimer's The End, Malcolm Washington's The Piano Lesson, and Saturday night Jason Reitman's film about the first ever SNL broadcast in 1975 brought down the house here at the festival. Michael Murray surprised the audience when he came up to intro the film. I'm going to be talking about these and many more films and upcoming shows, but I caught up with Eric Anderson of Awards Watch to talk about Nickelboys. Nickelboys had its world premiere here on Friday. It's the adaptation of the Coulson Whitehead book and the narrative directorial debut of Ramel Ross, who previously has an Oscar nomination for his 2018 documentary, Hail County This Morning This Evening. The film centers around Elwood, played by Ethan Harris and Turner, played by Brandon Wilson, who both wind up at the Nickel Academy, a reform school in Florida based on a real place. It's a dehumanizing, cruel, and brutal institution. And Januelle is Taylor, plays Elwood's grandmother, and really anchors the film. I caught up with Eric Anderson to talk about Nickelboys. You've watched them in unforgettable adventures, love affairs, and tragedies. Now it's time to hear their own remarkable stories. From the makers of Death of a Rockstar and Death of a Sportstar, this is Death of a Film Star. Starring Heath Ledger, Marilyn Monroe, Chadwick Boseman, Robin Williams, Carrie Fisher, and Bruce Lee. Search for Death of a Film Star in your podcast app. You've seen them tell stories. Now it's time to tell theirs. As a really big fan of Ross's documentary, Hail County, I was really excited and really hopeful, but really curious to see how he was going to become a narrative filmmaker. And from the opening moments of the film, I knew that he was essentially keeping the tone and ideas from his documentary life into narrative feature, and I couldn't have been happier with that choice. It's stunning, gorgeously shot. Jomo Frey, who did all his dirt roads, Taste of Salt, is the cinematographer and it's just everything crackles, everything feels soaked in the sun. I was really excited that the decision that he makes to use almost completely first person POV of the characters throughout the film. I was so glad that he's stuck with that because when it starts, it's so beautiful and you don't want it to be a gimmick and you kind of don't want it to go away and you are in the place of this child as he's growing up and you don't think there was a better way to do it than that. No, I agree. It's very sensory and brought you so much closer to what they're going through, so at the same time that it's both beautiful, it's so devastating in a way that I don't think I felt in a movie in a long time. Yeah, I think, too, I also have to mention the two young men that play Turner and Elwood, which Brandon Wilson and Ethan Harris respectively, absolutely exciting star in the making performances. They work so beautifully together. I can't wait to see more of them. But yeah, I think I'm going to always revisit this with that POV in mind and also thinking of Ramel Rass talking in the Q&A afterwards about how photography and cinema are the technology of racism because the point of view is so rarely from people of color, about people of color, and the history is told by white people. So what we see and what we know is from that perspective. So the choice to do the POV gives complete and total ownership of everything we're seeing because we're seeing what they're seeing the entire time. And also incredible use of documentary, archival footage, because I think it's a really personal film to every viewer, either it fills you and it moves you, or it may be more of a remove for you. You actually have a really great comparison to the zone of interest with this movie. What were you thinking there? So when I was thinking about that, and you know, you say something like that and you have to be careful about making comparisons like that because it was really evoking and feeling and not like it's not an apples to apples comparison, granted both of those films visually and orally are so exceptional and it's such a huge part of why I think each of them are so successful. But what I think both zone and both nickel boys do is you are an audience member who is completely removed from what you're watching in a way that has complicity and culpability. But at the same time you're also trapped in it and really forced to be a part of it. And it's a fascinating thing to do for an audience member because you're not, it isn't for the purpose of shame, it's for the purpose of enlightenment. Eric, so I think we can say that we like this movie, one of our favorites. But we'll be talking about more. We have many more movies to say. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks so much, Eric Anderson of the Ward's Watch. Check back with us. We'll be talking about other movies, the ones I mentioned in the beginning. We have the apprentice coming up, Pablo Lorenz Maria with Angelina Jolie. In the meantime, follow me on Instagram @ChristinaBiro the same on X and subscribe to Pop Culture Confidential wherever you get your podcasts. See you next time. I'm Allison Holland, host of the Kennedy Dynasty podcast. Equipped with a microphone and a long-term fascination of the Kennedy family, I am joined by an incredible cast of experts, friends and guests to take you on a fun, relaxed, yet informative journey through history and pop culture. In book references to fashion, to philanthropy, to our modern expectations of the presidency itself, you'll see that there is so much more to Kennedy than just JFK or conspiracy theories. Join me for the Kennedy Dynasty podcast.
In a new Telluride Film Festival 2024 mini dispatch Christina talks to Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com about 'Nickel Boys', RaMell Ross narrative directorial debut.
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