"Mad Max: Fury Road" has the hottest trailer, the best reviews and one of the oldest working filmmakers. We go deep with director George Miller (pictured with Charlize Theron); Crash the red carpet with our sneak peek of the Cannes Film Festival; ABC doubles down on diversity for fall season.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’: George Miller’s dystopian action epic aims to blow your mind
It’s been 30 years since George Miller last directed a “Mad Max” film. Now, the Australian filmmaker has returned to the character that launched his career and the movie franchise that defined the modern post-apocalyptic thriller.
In “Mad Max: Fury Road,” out this Friday, Tom Hardy has replaced the original Mad Max — played by a young Mel Gibson — but Miller has retained much of the DNA of the original three movies. There are crazy costumes, crazier cars and the most elaborate — and, OK, craziest — action sequences seen in any movie for a long, long time.
Miller recently stopped by The Frame to talk about the language of action, his insistence on practical effects, how technology allowed him to tell the story he's wanted to tell for more than a decade, and what happened to all those amazing vehicles.
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS IN THE WASTELAND
While many filmmakers increasingly turn to computer effects in an attempt to wow audiences, Miller is staying largely old school and analog for “Fury Road” — which is fitting as he just turned 70. When vehicles in “Mad Max” blow up, they are really blowing up, and stars Hardy and Charlize Theron are actually doing a lot of their own stunts.
"This is a movie in which we don't defy the laws of physics," Miller said on The Frame. "They're real cars, they're real people, in a real desert. When you see Tom Hardy hanging upside down between two tires of a giant War Rig hurtling through the desert, that is Tom.”
One thing the actors aren't doing a lot of in "Fury Road" is talking. Almost all the story is conveyed through car chases and stunts, not through dialogue, according to Miller:
"I've always been fascinated with action movies, even pre-dating sound. I was always taken by Hitchcock's notion where he said, ‘I try to make movies where they don't have to read the subtitles in Japan.’ That's what we tried to do with 'Fury Road.' I wanted to do one extended action movie where there's very little language to speak of.”
NAVIGATING THE STORY
In the early days of “Fury Road,” Miller took a unique approach to storytelling by teaming up with graphic artists Brendan McCarthy, Mark Sexton and Peter Pound to sketch out the film through storyboards. This was all done without a traditional film script.
“The three of us spent nine months in a room laying out the movie," Miller said. "We plotted out the story, but basically wrote the screenplay as one extended storyboard — 3,500 panels around a room. Eighty percent of what people see today, all these years later, is what was on that wall."
Once the action was sketched out, it came time to develop the subtext of the story and the dialogue. Miller said that part of the process came about organically, especially the conflict between the tyrant Immortan Joe and his five wives.
"Just like everybody else in the movie they are commodities, they carry in one way or another his brand seared onto the back of their necks,” Miller said. “I guess you're sometimes alert to what's happening out there in the world. You're riffing off the zeitgeist in a way, and these things seep into the story. Before we knew it, all the subtext emerges. I can't think of starting a story with the subtext first. You tell the story and then you begin to see these emerging themes.”
The timespan of the film take place over three days, hardly enough time to really get to know the characters. But for his cast and crew, Miller made sure to write complete backstories for the individual characters and their wares.
"If you're asking an audience to come along on this chase, on this wild ride, you have to find every way you can to create authenticity,” Miller said. “Not only did each character have a very, very detailed backstory, it's virtually another screenplay. This applied to every single character, every set piece, every piece of weaponry, every piece of costume. All the designers had to know where it came from.”
THE ONE ADVANTAGE OF DELAYS
The world that George Miller envisioned more than a decade ago when he first began working on “Fury Road” was not possible to achieve at the time, especially without the aid of computer graphics. But thanks to advancements in film production technology, Miller’s imagination was became translatable.
One particular idea Miller had years ago came together in time for filming and the director said it was oddly emotional.
"I remember seeing some street performers on flexible poles swaying in the breeze at a festival in Australia. I thought it'd be great if we could put those on vehicles, I never imagined we could do it for real,” Miller said. “Suddenly, after all this time, they'd figured out a way to put those people on poles and have those vehicles working. It brought tears to my eyes, I never imagined it could be done for real…It was one of the advantages of the delays.”
Filming the intense and often high-speed car chase scenes in the middle of the Namib Desert created its own set of difficulties. But thanks to the camera crane technology called The Edge, Miller was able to have the flexibility necessary to coordinate and cover such complicated practical stunt work.
THE CARS? “Truth is, we've wrecked them all.”
Miller and his team designed 150 individual vehicles for “Fury Road,” each with its own function in the story. Unfortunately, being functional in a place like the Wasteland means there wasn't much left after shooting.
"Truth is, we've wrecked them all," Miller said.
The one that was not destroyed — and which Miller cites as his favorite — is a vehicle called The Gigahorse. 
“It’s a massive V-16 driven by the Immortan Joe, the tyrant character. It’s two Cadillacs, one on top of the other. It’s so epic.”
Among the other cars are Max’s classic Interceptor (a souped-up Ford Falcon XB GT coupe), the Doofwagon (complete with a masked rock guitarist and wall of speakers affixed to the front), and a tank-like muscle car called the Peacemaker. We’ll let it speak for itself:
Upfronts: 7 hot new shows from ABC, NBC and Fox to talk about at your water cooler
The major networks are in New York selling their upcoming shows to advertisers, and Vulture's Joe Adalian talked with the Frame to run down seven of the shows making waves. They're all largely drawing on old franchises, nostalgia and other shows for their inspiration.
ABC
The Muppets
The classic Muppets TV show mocked variety shows, which were the hot trend of the '70s, but the rebooted show is mocking modern television — particularly mockumentary sitcoms, including ABC's own "Modern Family."
On the show, Miss Piggy hosts a late night show while Kermit the Frog serves as the show's producer, dealing with a strained relationship as they make a show within the show.
"It's a question — are the Muppets still relevant to viewers today? But I think they are," Adalian says.
The show describes itself as an adult version of the classic Muppets. The trailer even features what's essentially a marijuana joke.
Of Kings and Prophets
This show shows a strong "Game of Thrones" influence, while also building on the Bible. ABC head Paul Lee described the show as a sexy version of the Bible, focused on power and intrigue while avoiding feeling like Sunday school.
"We'll see. Big historical epics haven't worked lately on the networks, but they're hoping this could be a soapy sort of thing and a 'noisy' thing, as they like to say at ABC, that can stand out from all the big shows on cable Sunday nights," Adalian says.
NBC
Blindspot
"The Blacklist" is a big show, so here's an attempt to build on that success with a similar pairing of law enforcement with a person with secrets. It focuses on a woman with clues tattooed all over her body — and amnesia — working with an FBI agent. The vibe also gives a feel of "Bourne Identity" meets "Memento."
The show comes from prominent producer Greg Berlanti, who's been an executive producer on everything from the CW's "Arrow" and "The Flash" to "Dawson's Creek." Berlanti also has "Supergirl" and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" hitting the air next season, along with "The Mysteries of Laura," which is already airing.
"It's really the same show [as "The Blacklist"], but Greg Berlanti does well-executed shows, well-done shows, so it could work," Adalian says.
The Player
Wesley Snipes is trying to move on from his IRS troubles on this new show. On the show, rich people bet on if the show's lead can stop a crime or not, and Snipes represents the gamblers.
The NBC formula, according to Adalian: "Can crime be stopped by people who have advance notice of said crime?"
The farfetched idea delivers escapist fare, moving in the opposite direction of some of the more gritty reality currently seen on cable, Adalian says.
Fox
Empire 7 days a week 2 hours a night
(We're kidding, but they probably wish they could.)
The Grinder
The show stars Rob Lowe as an actor playing a lawyer on a TV series who can't leave that life behind, while his character's brother, played by Fred Savage, is an actual lawyer. Lowe's character decides to take his TV skills into the actual courtroom.
It goes meta, playing on Lowe's TV image and everyone's nostalgia for both Lowe and Fred Savage from his "Wonder Years" days. Lowe gets to play the Cyrano de Bergerac to Savage's tongue-tied lawyer who helps Lowe pursue a meaningful life.
Grandfathered
"The Grinder" is paired with John Stamos's "Grandfathered," with Adalian is calling "Fox's Fun-Time Flashback Hour," with "stars millennials and older women might fondly recall, being sort of grouchy and weird and irascible, but lovable!"
The show plays on Stamos's sexy image — as well as his pop culture history, including a trailer with music reminiscent of when he played with the Beach Boys and Stamos being adorable with a little tyke that'll remind you of "Full House's" Michelle. He discovers that he not only has a son he didn't know about, but a grandchild he didn't know about either. The trailer also delivers on a Bob Saget cameo, so there's not one, but two projects they'll be working on between this and Netflix's "Fuller House."
Minority Report
Fox is hoping that the Steven Spielberg film can be made into a successful TV show. It takes place after the film's continuity, following one of the precogs in the film after "Precrime" has been abolished.
"One of the hot trends this year is solving crimes before they can happen," Adalian says — that isn't just the domain of NBC.
In this version, they try to stop murders before they're committed. The show has a slick trailer, but whether that translates into a great show remains to be seen.
"Pilots often spend a lot of money to look good, but we'll see. Movie adaptations don't always do that well," Adalian says.
Cannes 2015 preview: The 6 most anticipated films hoping to make waves
If there’s one place to be right now if you’re a film fanatic, it’s France. The Cannes Film Festival is revered as one of the best film festivals in the world and features movies that elevate the form to higher artistic standards.
From Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend" and Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" to Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," the festival has honored films that have gone on to become some of the most respected films cinematic history.
Kyle Buchanan, senior editor at Vulture, helps us break down this year's lineup:
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
What separates this film festival from the rest of the pack?
The dominant thing with Cannes is that it's established filmmakers, directors who've got 30 to 40 years under their belt at times. So you're seeing a lot of high-level A-list auteurs. There's also a lot fewer films at Cannes than there are at the other festivals, but they more than make up for it with pomp and circumstance. You're tuxedoed out everyday and the party scene is insanity. You're on yachts and you're taking helicopters to chateaus.
"Mad Max" and Pixar's "Inside Out" are playing out of competition at Cannes. What is the purpose for these films screening at the film festival?
With "Mad Max: Fury Road," it's about to begin its worldwide rollout and I think they want to announce themselves in a major way. Not to mention that the film is freaking great in my opinion.
And as for "Inside Out," Cannes is traditionally very friendly to animated films. I mean, they even programmed "Shrek 2," in competition no less. With this particular movie, I think they are gunning for some of that critical acclaim after a few years where they mostly made just sequels.
What are some of the American films that are in competition at this year's festival?
I'm definitely interested in seeing Todd Haynes' new movie "Carol.'" He is such a slam dunk director when he's making a period piece, as we saw with "Far From Heaven," his HBO mini-series "Mildred Pierce." This one has Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as lesbian loves; a period-drama. I'm there for the costumes alone.
"Sea of Trees" I'm very curious about. Matthew McConaughey, now that he's gotten all of his indie cred and parlayed that into a blockbuster career, he's making another indie and this time with Gus Van Sant. I think that they'll be an interesting match of people.
With "Sicario," Denis Villeneuve, who's come close to the Oscar derby with films like "Prisoners." This time Emily Blunt is playing an FBI agent investigating drugs south of the border and it sounds like it could be a great marquee role for her.
Actress Natalie Portman will be premiering her directorial debut with "A Tale of Love and Darkness," which is in Hebrew. What's the rundown for this film?
It promises to be an interesting film because Natalie's very outspoken about Israel and Palestine in general. What's also interesting about this film's inclusion is that it's one of a couple movies that are directed by women. Last year, Cannes was really dinged for not including virtually any movies directed by women. This time they've got several. The interesting thing is that they are all directed by glamorous actresses. I guess that doesn't hurt to have a leg up on glamour when you're going to a place like Cannes.