Director Matt Reeves Talks About "Let Me In" - Filmed in New Mexico

MTV2 Interview:

Matt Reeves knows he has a target on his back. The director admits as much roughly two minutes into a conversation about his upcoming film, "Let Me In." That's what happens when your movie: A) takes on the pop-cultural theme-du-jour of vampires, and B) remakes a beloved flick that pretty much everyone agrees is as perfect as genre filmmaking gets.

After helming the inventive disaster adventure "Cloverfield," Reeves built up the Hollywood cred to buy himself some breathing room for his tale of childhood alienation, improbable yet vital friendship and, yup, the bloodsucking undead. Based on a 2008 Swedish film, Reeves' adaptation (due in October) shifts the story to the bleak winter landscape of New Mexico but maintains the original's horror-genre elements. We're so pumped about the film's potential that we've tagged Reeves as one of our 10 to Watch in 2010 — the folks in the movie industry we expect big things from in the next 12 months.

During some downtime on set, Reeves gave MTV News a call to talk about reworking a cult classic, contending with other vampire franchises and what's coming down the line this year and beyond for the director.

MTV: Is "Let Me In" a remake or a reimagining? What are you keeping from the original and what are you changing?

Matt Reeves: It's very much an Americanization of the tale that John Ajvide Lindqvist tells. The film touched me. And I read the book, which he also wrote, and it moved me too. It reminded me so much of my own childhood in certain ways. It's so much about that period of preadolescence, that feeling of being a child and of being bullied, the difficulties of growing up. It's such a beautiful coming-of-age story, in addition to being such a terrific genre story. One of the things I really wanted to do was find my own way into the story while still being very, very reverent to the beautiful film and to the wonderful story that they created. And so the story in many ways follows the same trajectory. I really wanted to put you, even more so, into the point of view of the boy and understand his childhood as vividly as it comes across in the book.

To read the full article, click here!

NM-made films among Golden Globe nominees

New Mexico-produced films are represented this year among the Golden Globe nominees, which were announced on Tuesday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

“Georgia O’Keeffe,” a film about one of New Mexico’s most famous artists, which was made for Lifetime Television in and around Santa Fe, is up for best mini-series or motion picture made for television. Joan Allen, who portrayed O’Keeffe, and Jeremy Irons, who portrayed Alfred Steiglitz, are also nominated for best actress and actor in that category.

Jeff Bridges is nominated for a best actor Golden Globe in a drama for “Crazy Heart,” which shot in Albuquerque and Santa Fe in 2008 and also starred Maggie Gyllenhaal. Toby Maguire is also nominated for best actor for his role in “Brothers,” which also starred Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal and shot in northern New Mexico in late 2007.

The song “Winter” from “Brothers,” written by Bono and performed by U2, is nominated for best song, as is the song “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart” that was written by Ryan Bingham and performed by T. Bone Burnett.

The Golden Globes will be broadcast live January 17, 2010 on NBC. See the original article by clicking here!

New Mexico New Visions Free Public Screenings!

"The Sands of Time"
By New Visions 2008 Winner Catherine Y. Fridey
-and-
"A History of Navajo Wool: As Told by BaaBaa"
By New Visions 2008 Winner Melissa Henry

Friday, December 18, 2009
6:00pm
Jean Cocteau Theater | Q&A with Filmmakers to follow

In addition to the December 18th screenings above, a second screening of "A History of Navajo Wool: As Told by BaaBaa" created by New Visions 2008 winner Melissa Henry, will take place in Church Rock, NM, on Sunday, December 20th:

"A History of Navajo Wool: As Told by BaaBaa"
By New Visions 2008 Winner Melissa Henry

Sunday, December 20, 2009
11:00am (approximately)
Churchrock Chapter House
Church Rock, New Mexico | Q&A with Filmmakers to follow

A Chapter House meeting starts at 10am, which is free and open to the public, and screening is estimated to take place around 11am following that. The Churchrock Chapter House is located southeast of Red Rock State Park, near the junction of State Route 566 and the old U.S. Route 66, about ten miles east of Gallup, New Mexico. http://churchrock.nndes.org/

Please join us in celebrating two of our very talented New Visions 2008 winners for these special screenings, free to one and all!

THE SANDS OF TIME synopsis: A free public screening of the demo reel for “The Fields of Yaru,” the pilot episode for an entertaining and educational animation series “The Sands of Time”. While examining an ancient burial chamber with her Egyptian colleague Mez, spunky Australian archaeologist Gill enters a tunnel which transports her back in time, where she gets to witness the elaborate rituals conducted by the gods in the Egyptian afterlife. Spellbound by the experience, she is suddenly caught by Egyptian guards and struggles to free herself. Will Gill be able find a portal back to the present and continue her adventures around the globe? There will be a question and answer session after the screening with Catherine Fridey and other team members working on the project.

HORSE YOU SEE and A HISTORY OF NAVAJO WOOL: AS TOLD BY BAABAA: A screening of "Horse You See" (2007) by Melissa Henry, winner for Best Children's Film at the 2009 Talking Circle Film Festival, and the animatic for "A History of Navajo Wool: As Told by BaaBaa", a work in progress, which tells the story of how the Churro Sheep came to live among the Navajo. Both films are narrated in Navajo language, with subtitles. Filmmakers will be present after the screening to answer questions and talk about the film and their latest work.