Movies
Sam Raimi Talks ‘Send Help’ in Featurette with Rachel McAdams & Dylan O’Brien
Director Sam Raimi and stars Rachel McAdams (Doctor Strange) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) discuss Send Help in the new featurette below.
“I really like the ‘what if?’ aspect of the movie,” says Raimi. “What if a woman at work was cheated? She’s got this terrible, mean boss. What if they crash-landed? And what if I was trapped on this island?”
“It’s got all of Sam’s great qualities to it,” McAdams notes. “Particularly the dark humor.”
O’Brien adds, “No one does it like Sam Raimi.” Amen to that.
We also have a new look at McAdams and O’Brien in the survival thriller above, courtesy of USA Today.
Early sneak preview screenings will take place on January 24 before the film hits theaters and 3D on January 30 via 20th Century Studios.
Linda Liddle (McAdams) and Bradley Preston (O’Brien) are two colleagues who find themselves stranded on a deserted island after they are the only survivors of a plane crash. They must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it is an unsettling and darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
Edyll Ismail (“La Brea”), Dennis Haysbert (“24”), Xavier Samuel (The Loves Ones), Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians), Thaneth Warakulnukroh (“Thai Cave Rescue”), and Emma Raimi (Sam Raimi’s daughter) round out the cast, along with an appearance by horror icon Bruce Campbell.
Damian Shannon & Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason, Friday the 13th 2009) penned the script. Danny Elfman (Spider-Man, Beetlejuice) composed the score.
Raimi produces alongside Zainab Azizi (65, Don’t Move) for Raimi Productions, with JJ Hook (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Bumblebee) serving as executive producer.
Movies
‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Is No Fan of Generative AI: “Defeats the Purpose Entirely for Me”
There has been a lot of talk recently about filmmakers embracing generative AI as part of the filmmaking process, from Darren Aronofsky to Martin Scorsese. But what about filmmakers that are against the use of Gen AI for creative pursuits? You can count 20-year-old Backrooms director Kane Parsons among that group, which should give you some hope for the future.
In a new chat with The Australian, the self-taught young filmmaker makes it crystal clear that he won’t be using generative AI in any of his upcoming filmmaking projects.
“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” Parsons tells the outlet. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”
“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” Parsons notes. “We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.”
He explains, “I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.”
Kane Parsons also notes during the interview with The Australian, “… there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.”
Backrooms marks young prodigy Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and it’s based on his own series of YouTube videos that were brought to life using Blender, the open-source 3D computer graphics software suite. So it’s no surprise that Parsons, who has hand-made his filmmaking career up to this point, isn’t buying into the hoopla around Generative AI.
His debut feature is the #1 movie in the world, so perhaps he’s onto something.
What’s next from Kane Parsons, you ask? Stay tuned…
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