The Secrets Behind how Filmmakers Made the Most Memorable Aliens of All-Time

The existence of aliens has been confirmed time and time again (in the world of movies). These beings span a wide variety of origins and appearances, genres and styles, as well as unique creative processes and innovative applications for visual and special effects (SFX) in film production. Extraterrestrials have been a rich source of inspiration ...

By  |  October 30, 2017

Interview

Editor

Oscar Watch: Editor Joe Walker Masters Time and Space in Arrival

Oscar-nominated Arrival editor Joe Walker contributed his unerring instinct for the well-timed cut to his 2014 collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve in drug-trafficking thriller Sicario. "When I saw Sicario with an audience for the first time at Sundance, I nearly had a heart attack," laughs Walker, referring to film's hyper-suspenseful opening sequence. This time around, ...

By  |  February 21, 2017

Interview

Screenwriter

Arrival‘s Screenwriter on Crafting one of the Year’s Best Films

For sci-fi fans, there was something doubly wonderful about watching director Denis Villeneuve's Arrival; it proved that the most malleable of genres is still alive and well, and, confirmed that Villeneuve was absolutely the right choice to helm the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, Blade Runner 2049.  Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner is one of sci-fi's most iconic films (coming just a few ...

By  |  December 21, 2016

Interview

Animator

Gorgeous Early Concept art for Arrival

If you haven't seen director Denis Villeneuve's brilliant sci-fi film Arrival yet, you're in for a treat. The short and sweet synopsis is this: Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks ...

By  |  November 30, 2016
Go see Arrival This Weekend

We've been talking about Denis Villeneuve's Arrival since it had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this past September 1. There couldn't be a more appropriate time for a film about the importance of communication in times of peril then right about now. Arrival's conceit is simple and brilliant: linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) ...

By  |  November 11, 2016

Interview

Production Designer

How Arrival’s Production Designer Created an Alien Language

Oscar-nominated production designer Patrice Vermette was tasked with creating an alien language for the new movie Arrival —  and although he started by studying the languages used in other films about alien invasion, he ended up “reverse engineering” the language that Amy Adams uses to communicate with the invaders in the new film (in theaters ...

By  |  November 7, 2016
Communication Breakdown: Arrival‘s “Kangaroo” Featurette

Last week we shared with you this beautiful Arrival promo that Paramount released that gets at the very heart of the film's conceit. Paramount took people from all across the world and paired them in groups of two, with the caveat being they had to speak different languages and therefore be unable to communicate with words. This leads them ...

By  |  November 2, 2016
This Arrival Promo Will Make you cry

This new promo Paramount Pictures put together for Denis Villeneuve's Arrival is brilliant. The film's conceit is that a dozen alien ships have touched down all across the globe and it's up to linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and an elite team of investigators to try and decode their language and figure out a way to ...

By  |  October 28, 2016
The Final Arrival Trailer Teases one of Fall’s Most Antcipated Films

We’ve written before how excited we are for Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. After helming the thrilling, blood-soaked Sicario, Villeneuve’s turn towards a cerebral, haunting sci-fi film was just the type of unexpected transition you love from an up-and-coming director. The film premiered to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, and this final trailer gives ...

By  |  October 21, 2016
Telluride Film Festival Ignites Oscar Buzz

The Telluride Film Festival is the first official American fest of the fall season, and once again it has provided real excitement with a crop of high quality films by up-and-comers and legends alike. Telluride functions as a cinematic palate cleanser after the often heavy, loud, and CGI-reliant summer blockbuster films. One of the lovely things about ...

By  |  September 6, 2016
Arrival Plays at Venice International Film Festival, Wows Critics

When we shared the remarkably promising trailer to Denis Villeneuve's Arrival two weeks ago, lots and lots of readers were enthused. Villeneuve's already proven he's an ace at creating ambitious, tense dramas—see his previous films like Sicario, Prisoners and Enemy for proof. You don't get tapped to direct the sequel to Ridley Scott's brilliant Blade Runner by being a slouch. So it's ...

By  |  September 1, 2016
WOW: Watch 1st Trailer for Director Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival

Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario) has quickly become the type of filmmaker whose every movie warrants attention. His latest is a major swerve from the claustrophobic thrillers he has become a master at—Arrival, based on Ted Chiang's 1998 novella "Story of Your Life," is a film about mysterious alien spacecraft that touch down all across the globe and the small ...

By  |  August 16, 2016