 |
"Straightheads" News
Straightheads DVD now available for pre-order
Posted at 8:35 AM (PDT) on Saturday, July 21, 2007
 In the USA and Canada, Straightheads will be released under the title: CLOSURETitle: Closure (2007) List Price: $24.96 Price: $22.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. You Save: $2.47 (10%) Pre-Order Price Guarantee! Order now and if the Amazon.com price decreases between your order time and release date, you'll receive the lowest price. Pre-order now! Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available. Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Language: English Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) Amazon USA - Release date: September 18, 2007Amazon Canada - Release date: September 18, 2007Amazon UK - Release date: September 24, 2007NOTE: The referral fees for orders placed through our links will benefit NF, Inc. Thank you for your support!
Straightheads in the UK
Posted at 10:23 AM (PDT) on Friday, April 27, 2007
From director Dan Reed's latest blog entry:
If you're in the UK and you've nothing better to do this weekend, why not go and catch Straightheads and let me know what YOU think?
Click here to visit his blog and share your opinions.
Straightheads opens tomorrow (27 April) in the UK
Posted at 9:42 AM (PDT) on Thursday, April 26, 2007
ViewLondon
Review by Matthew Turner
Three out of Five stars
The violence may be too strong for some but this is worth seeing for a terrific performance by Gillian Anderson.
The Good
Gillian Anderson is terrific as Alice, giving a performance that is by turns sexy (the nudity and sex scenes are surprisingly well handled), heartbreaking and terrifying. We can sense the anger boiling within her, but that still doesn't prepare you for the shocking violence she is capable of. Dyer is good too, dialling down the Cockney wide-boy act and trailing in Anderson's wake like a helpless puppy.
In addition, there's suitably creepy support from Ralph Brown, Anthony Calf and Steven Robertson as the three attackers, even if it seems somewhat implausible that the police were unable to find them.
The Bad
The film's biggest problem is that it tries to justify the horror of the revenge by showing you the initial attack not once, but twice, the second time in unnecessary detail. By doing so, it tips too far into exploitative territory and lessens the impact of the point it's trying to make.
On top of that, there's an uncomfortable air of adolescent male fantasy to the violent climax that doesn't quite convince. That said, as Danny Dyer revenge thrillers go, this is a lot better than Outlaw.
Worth seeing?
In short, if you can handle the shocking violence, then this a promising directorial debut that is definitely worth seeing for Anderson's performance.
Q&A: Time Out, London
Posted at 10:32 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The 'X-Files' star talks about her role in violent revenge thriller 'Straightheads'.
By Chris Tilly
'Straightheads' seems to be quite unlike anything you've tackled before, so what attracted you to the project?
I think what interested me at first is the characters. There's something about the script that's quite different and mysterious and disturbing, but also the character, Alice, is very different to the parts I've played before.
Can you see yourself continuing to do low-budget British film like this?
Yes, I think I will, but all of a sudden I find myself on yet another film where we constantly have to cut scenes and hurry up and shoot something before the light goes and knowing if it does go the scene gets thrown rather than picked up later because we don't have the budget. So there is part of me that says never again, but then again it's the kind of low-budget British film that I love watching, so I don't think I'll stop.
Read more...
BBC Interview
Posted at 11:27 AM (PDT) on Monday, April 23, 2007
Interviewed by Rob Carnevale
BBC Movies
What appealed to you about Straightheads?
What drew me to it was two-fold. Firstly, there was a back story with Alice [her character] that's no longer in the film that involved her being raised by her father, who was ex-army, and being basically taught to shoot and seek revenge - whether it's deer eating the plants or whatever. It was a twisted relationship between her and her dad.
I also found the double life [idea] quite intriguing, that a woman who's quite successful in her own right and in the business world might have a secret story like this. A story that she has pushed far enough behind her, but which then comes back to haunt her despite proving, in a sense, useful. She has to drag it out of the cobwebs to survive, or at least feel that she can go on with her life. I was compelled enough by that story to meet with Dan [Reed, director], and once I started talking about what his vision was for the film I liked what he was attempting to say.
Is there any truth to the persistent rumours surrounding a new X-Files movie?
Yes, there are new rumours of an X-Files movie possibly happening, which is brilliant. Whenever they manage to get it together I'm on board.
Read more if you don't mind spoilers.
Straightheads Promo Interview in The Times
Posted at 2:45 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, March 28, 2007
From The Times, UK
March 29, 2007
More X-rated than X Files
Effing, blinding (two swear words a minute) and flirting for Crouch End, Gillian Anderson could not be less like her chilly screen persona, Kevin Maher discovers
Click here.
WARNING: The article contains SPOILERS.
Visit the Straightblog.
Visit the Official Straightheads Web Site.
An update from the director of Straightheads
Posted at 10:01 AM (PST) on Friday, March 2, 2007
From Dan Reed's blog: On most feature film shoots there's something called an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) crew going around shooting bits and pieces behind the scenes and looking for a chance to interview the actors in between setups. Here's one of the clips of Gillian, recorded in one of the fantastically ornate and sumptuous drawing-rooms during a very cold night shoot at Mawley Hall in November 2005. The spontaneity she talks about, the little tingle of risk when the scene you're shooting isn't over-rehearsed yet, you haven't chewed it to death and the actor's responses are still fresh and "live" - that's one of the real pleasures of shooting with Gillian, especially for a film-maker with a doc background like myself... Straightheads: Gillian Anderson on Acting in Physical Scenes
Official Straightheads Trailer
Posted at 2:14 PM (PST) on Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Dan Reed, director of "Straightheads", is promoting the official trailer (courtesy of Verve Pictures) on his blog.
He writes: "I've noticed that on YouTube it's climbing the favourites ranking fast - so the favour I'd like to ask is that as many of you as possible go onto YouTube and add the trailer to your favourites (you have to register for this but it's easy and doesn't cost a penny). The higher we go up the rankings, the more people will see the trailer, the more will come to the movie, the happier we all will be, right?"
Straightblog Update
Posted at 5:03 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Dan Reed, the director of Straightheads, has updated his blog once again...
Cannes - this went really well, according to Sam our glamorous sales agent. As you know I didn't go to Cannes because... well basically I couldn't afford to go, and more to the point until Straightheads is completed in all its finished glory there's no point my hanging around festivals being the director of a film no one has seen yet!
Interestingly, three or four US theatrical distributors have indicated very strong interest in taking on Straightheads, but of course they won't buy until they see the finished movie at Toronto (the selectors now have a rough copy of the film - an AVID output with no visual effects and a temporary score) or wherever Straighteads gets its first major festival screening.
Sam reports there has been strong interest from all territories but as I say she's waiting until we have the real thing, so we can get a really good buzz going. I hope all of you people, Gillian and Danny fans and just plain shameless Straightheads obsessives out there will help us any way you can.
Much more, plus a new photo, at the blog. Click here.
Director of Straightheads has a blog
Posted at 11:12 AM (PDT) on Monday, May 1, 2006
Welcome to Straightblog!
Over the last ten months we've been making "Straightheads", a dark and intensely disturbing thriller starring Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer, coming to UK cinemas early next year...
This blog will follow the final push to getting the film finished and the months leading up to the release…
As writer and director of the film, I’ll be giving you an inside look into the process, and sharing with you my burning excitement / bleak despair / overwhelming joy / random thoughts as the release date gets closer. I haven’t done any heavy-duty bloggage before so bear with me if it’s a little ropey to begin with.
The blog will be updated throughout the year and include video diaries, cast and crew stuff, plus plenty of exclusive content and hopefully some sneak-preview footage closer to release time.
We’ll also have some special guest editors on the blog, but for the main it’ll just be me, and er… you.
Dan Reed
Writer & Director, Straightheads.
To read the blog, click here. Thanks, Wendy!
On loo-cation in Worcestershire
Posted at 2:16 PM (PST) on Tuesday, March 21, 2006
 Connect Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Newsletter Issue 27, March 2006 (p.23)Oscar Glory for Treatment Centre Toilets?
International star of stage and screen Gillian Anderson turned to the TC toilets when a lavish set was needed for a key scene in her latest movie.
Gillian, who is famed for her roles as Scully in sci-fi smash The X Files and more recently as Lady Dedlock in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House, found herself on loo-cation in Kidderminster for the last day of shooting on her latest movie Straightheads – ‘a dark and twisted tale of revenge.’
The film’s production team were bowled over on a visit to the Treatment Centre and decided that the ladies loo in the main atrium was ideal place for Gillian to shoot the crucial scene, which takes place in luxurious toilet facilities.
The actress and film crew duly arrived and spent several hours on a series of takes, before leaving for their end of shoot party – but not before Gillian had stopped to pose for this picture with Assistant Operations Director, Teri Green and Sister Ellen Kaczor, an Emergency Nurse Practitioner at the Kidderminster MIU.
Teri told Connect: “We are very proud of the facilities we have at Kidderminster, but even we never expected they would attract the attention of an international film star!”
Straightheads was in pre-production as Connect went to press and is due to be released later this year. It might be too early to start thinking about Oscar nominations for 2007 – but watch this space..... Thanks, Wendy and BobbyG!
More from the Straightheads Web Site
Posted at 1:20 PM (PST) on Wednesday, January 11, 2006
They now have a very cool printable brochure.
And click here and here to view stills from the film.
Straightheads: Official Site's New Look
Posted at 11:24 AM (PST) on Monday, January 9, 2006
 The official STRAIGHTHEADS site at Lumina Films has a new look.
Currently in post-production, STRAIGHTHEADS is the first film out of Panic Attack's stable. Panic Attack is Lumina Films' thriller label which aims to bring sophisticated and stylish thrillers to the international marketplace.
STRAIGHTHEADS is directed by twice BAFTA nominated conflict documentary maker Dan Reed.
Thanks, Irre and Wendy!
Straightheads Web Site
Posted at 1:48 PM (PST) on Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Lumina Films has a section on Straightheads.
From an interview with writer/director Dan Reed (September 2005):
How did Straightheads come about?
I spent fifteen years of my life being very frightened and coming into contact with people who use violence as the main force in their lives. I think it’s made me what we call slightly post-traumatic. I stopped dreaming and my nights were completely blank for many, many years and in fact Straightheads grew out of the first dream I had when I started dreaming again. Through writing the script it helped me to deal with things that I didn’t understand were happening to me. And it’s much cheaper than psychotherapy …
Straightheads is about two people who have everything that life can offer us here in the civilised world, its about a successful woman whose got money and power and success, and she meets this beautiful young man and they begin what seems like a beautiful one night adventure together. And then suddenly something happens and they’re attacked and they’re subjected to a terrible, terrible time, this forces them into a completely different world to the world they started out and the film takes you in a very different direction.
Straightheads is a journey from a place of safety to a place of danger. Straightheads is about how difficult it actually is to take revenge even when you’ve decided that violence is your best option. It’s about how, in the real world, when you use violence there is a price to be paid at every step, a consequence of every step. You might think it’s a simple matter of killing person A, but you don’t realise that person A might have a daughter or a son. I think it will mess with people’s heads a bit. It will satisfy people’s expectations of a thriller and that’s very important as basically Straightheads is a revenge thriller. It should be very vivid and I want to play with the audience, I want to use all the panoply of techniques that we all know from thriller and horror films, to lead them the right way, to lead them the wrong way, just to take the audience on a very exciting ride.
Who do you imagine as the audience for this film?
The audience for this film is going to be mainly young people in their twenties; it’s a thriller but not just a thriller for young men. I think women will find the Gillian Anderson character fascinating. She’s a powerful woman; there are not that many thrillers with really strong female lead. They will be fascinated by how she manages to overcome this terrible attack on her which is part of our worst nightmares. What happens when you’re removed from the zone of safety and you’re placed in a zone of danger. How it would be if violence came to your door and maybe one of the ways you dealt with it is if you actually resorted to violence yourself. The minute you resort to violence you become entangled in a series of moral conflicts that lead you to a place you have never been before and that’s what Straightheads is about.
What films or directors are your influences?
Visually I'm a great admirer of David Fincher (Panic Room, Fight Club). I'm a huge fan of Danny Boyle because he is a very dynamic director in that he picks you up at the beginning and you are not let go until the very end. 28 Days Later was a great example of that, really tense, really dynamic. Christopher Nolan: Memento was a brilliantly told story. I love that very sharp, very considered style and that's what I would like to emulate. Coming from documentary, people will tend to expect it to be loose, gritty and very realistic. It will have a feeling of reality to it, a heightened reality, very carefully judged, and deliberately created.
Why have you cast Gillian Anderson?
Gillian Anderson is sexy. She’s also very intelligent and has always portrayed very intelligent women. There is something slightly dangerous about her look, something slightly damaged maybe and yet she has tremendous confidence and she’s fantastic to watch. Gillian Anderson is Alice, for me the two are inseparable.
Why is it called Straightheads?
Straightheads came out of the time I spent with gangsters in Liverpool and it’s a term gang members used to use for anyone who wasn’t involved in crime. A straighthead is a person who is clean and this film is about Straightheads. Two people who have never been involved in violence, who have never suffered, who have never had to defend themselves. It’s also about how any one of us, however little we have been exposed to violence, however unprepared we think we are, actually inside all of us there is a capacity for dealing with violence. It’s a very moral film but when you’ve seen as much real violence as I have you are not going to be happy with a cheaply exploitative and gratuitously violent story. My experience as a witness to violence in war, in criminal situations made me more sophisticated about the way violence should be portrayed on film, both to make it more authentic and exciting and to make it more morally satisfying. Violence is not really well understood by a lot of writers and directors of film.
To read the entire interview, click here (Word Document).
Thanks, Oberon!
|
