When I interviewed for this gig, JoBlo asked me what some for some of my favourite movies from the past year. After listing off the givens, STOMP THE YARD and AMERICAN PIE: THE NAKED MILE, I had to go with HALF NELSON, a smaller film that got much recognition from the towering performance of its lead, Ryan Gosling. But acting does not a great movie make, and a huge part of the film’s brilliance was in its writing and directing, which can be chalked up to the considerable talents of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. The two co-write while Fleck handles directing duties. This was Fleck’s first film, and whenever a director dishes out a first feature of this quality, movie fans everywhere can rejoice at the prospect of a legendary filmography.
Today we’re given the info on Fleck’s next feature, called CALAMITY PHYSICS, based on Marisha Pessl’s novel SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS about a high school senior who spends three years on the go with her eccentric father, and when she finally settles into a town, gets wrapped up in a murder mystery when a teacher is killed. Sounds like a perfect project for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, if you ask me. Fleck and Boden are also working on SUGAR, about a Dominican baseball prospect, trying to work his way through the U.S. minor league system up to the majors. After HALF NELSON, I’m up for anything these two do.