When Mike Rianda got the opportunity to direct “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” a film inspired by his own “crazy” family, he wrote a manifesto on his vision that stressed the importance of…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
When Mike Rianda got the opportunity to direct “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” a film inspired by his own “crazy” family, he wrote a manifesto on his vision that stressed the importance of the characters being believable. Working closely with the film’s production and character designer, Lindsey Olivares, Rianda focused on creating animated characters that felt as real as flesh-and-blood.
“I got the opportunity to make this movie, and I was so blown away that you could do anything,” Rianda said at a Variety Streaming Room. “We love experimenting and maximalism and trying to do everything we can to push animation to places it’s never gone before.”
Rianda and Olivares were joined on the panel by “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” star Danny McBride and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. In a conversation moderated by Variety film awards editor Clayton Davis, the panel discussed their acclaimed Netflix animated film, which focuses on a dysfunctional family who become the only people capable of saving the world from an AI uprising, going into the production of the film and what attracts them to animation.
McBride said he loves animation because it represents what he loves about filmmaking: the collaboration required to bring a work to fruition.
“It’s an art form that requires tons of artists to bring a vision together,” McBride said. “With animation, it’s so incredible not to know how any of that stuff comes together and to see that there are decisions made about every hue and every shadow and every shape. I think there’s something beautiful about seeing a final product that so many brains and so many talents went into.”
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” is now streaming on Netflix.
Watch the full conversation above.