My full interview for The Playlist with writer-director Ti West can be read HERE
Excerpts from my SXSW/Fantastia Film Festival thoughts on his latest, the retro-western "In A Valley of Violence:
"Ti West has made a career out of deconstructing the horror genre with genre classics such as "The House of the Devil" and "V/H/S." Who would have thought that the 36 year-old writer-director would be making the best movie of his career by delving into the Western genre with Ethan Hawke and John Travolta along for the ride."
"In A Valley of
Violence" has Hawke's mysterious pale rider Paul involved in a random act
of violence that turns a small town, bossed by Travolta's Marshal, into a
violent mess. West directs this lovely, but absurdist, homage to the Western
with a newfound energy and style we didn't think he had in him. "
"The most surprising aspect
of the film is how funny it is, clearly influenced by Sergio Leone's spaghetti
westerns and West's own brand of darkly comic thrills. It's a ride that gallops
into a cinematic territory with fresh new eyes and ears. We spoke to West about
the film earlier this week and the mind-set he had going into this latest
twisted cinematic endeavor."
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.