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Cinema 101: Director Jason Winer On Chasing One’s Dreams And Crafting An ‘Ode To Joy’

Filmmaker/producer Jason Winer (Modern Family, Arthur) has a ton on his plate this days with the release of his indie romantic comedy Ode to Joy and the fall release of NBC’s Perfect Harmony (he’s an executive producer and also directed the pilot). During our interview, we talked about the inner workings of Ode to Joy, a New York set feature that is headlined by Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy, Black Panther) and Morena Baccarin (Deadpool, Homeland)

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CinemAddicts Ep. 100: ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon,’ ‘Love Antosha’ and ‘Ode To Joy’

It took us 3.5 years, but Anderson Cowan and I finally made it to 100 episodes on CinemAddicts. We’ve been picking up the pace lately (two eps. per month) thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and on this show we cover The Peanut Butter Falcon, Ode to Joy, and Love, Antosha. Details and audio of our podcast is below!!

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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Hits Blu-Ray In March

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Bilbo Baggins’ (Martin Freeman) epic journey concludes with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and the epic hits Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on March 24 via Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It’s a bummer director Peter Jackson will never film J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece The Silmarillion, but considering The Lord of the Rings trilogy and now The Hobbit installments are part of our rich cinematic history, who’s complaining?

The adventures of Bilbo Baggins come to an epic conclusion in “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), arriving onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD on March 24 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. From Academy Award®-winning* filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. In “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. The international ensemble cast is led by Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Billy Connolly, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish, Stephen Fry and Ryan Cage. The film also stars Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, Mikael Persbrandt, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Adam Brown, John Bell, Manu Bennett and John Tui. The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers. “The Hobbit” Trilogy tells a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson and his team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” will be available on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack for $44.95, Blu-ray Combo Pack for $44.95 and 2-disc DVD Special Edition for $28.98. The Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack features the theatrical version of the film in 3D hi-definition, hi-definition and standard definition; the Blu-ray Combo Pack features the theatrical version of the film in hi-definition on Blu-ray; and the DVD features the theatrical version in standard definition. All versions include a digital version of the movie in Digital HD with UltraViolet. Fans can also own “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” via purchase from digital retailers. SYNOPSIS “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings to an epic conclusion the adventure of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the Company of Dwarves. The Dwarves of Erebor have reclaimed the vast wealth of their homeland, but now must face the consequences of having unleashed the terrifying Dragon, Smaug, upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town.

 

With The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Bilbo, Gandalf the Grey and a group of heroic dwarves (led by Richard Armitage as the morally conflicted Thorin Oakenshield) ready themselves for a final stand against the forces of evil.

The great news is that all versions of the film will contain the same special features, which means 2-Disc DVD Special Edition owners won’t be left out in the cold.

The extras found on the discs include “The Last Goodbye” music video and the four featurettes “Recruiting the Five Armies,” “Completing Middle-earth,” “The Last Goodbye: Behind the Scenes,” and “New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth, Part 3.”

 

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Benedict Cumberbatch On Tolkien & The Hobbit’s Heroic Journey

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (opening December 17) is director Peter Jackson’s third and final installment of Bilbo Baggins’ (Martin Freeman) heroic quest against darkness and the evil dragon known as Smaug (voiced by Freeman’s Sherlock Holmes compatriot Benedict Cumberbatch).

Although J.R.R. Tolkien’s undertaking of Middle Earth towers above the fray with its sheer ambition, much of its resonance originates from the simple theme that each individual, no matter how big or small, can be the hero of their own story. In the quote below, Benedict Cumberbatch talks about Tolkien’s idea of heroism?

“With Tolkien you get the feeling it’s about proving that you don’t have to seem heroic. Heroic actions can come from small people. It’s about levels of sacrifice and that’s what is truly heroic – the small deed or the big deed done by the small person.”

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins - Warner Bros. Pictures & MGM (Photo Credit: Mark Pokorny)
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins – Warner Bros. Pictures & MGM (Photo Credit: Mark Pokorny)

To hear Benedict Cumberbatch talk about the “epic odyssey” that surrounds The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, click on the media bar below: