FearNet Interviews "Femme Fatales" Host Tanit Phoenix

[JamesG]

Cinemax Orders "Femme Fatales" Anthology Series
by Ryan McKee
posted Jul 21st 2010


B-movie fanatics are currently overdosing on their asthma inhalers.

"Skinamax" is working on an original series based on the kitsch men's magazine 'Femme Fatales.'




For those of you who do not live in your mother's basement, 'Femme Fatales' features genre pictorials of scantily-clad models and B-movie actresses. Like a woman in a silver bikini and holding a laser gun? Now you're getting the picture.

"It's a different show than we've ever done before," says Bob Conti, senior VP of creative affairs at Cinemax. "We have an opportunity to tell some sexy and thrilling stories that all have powerful women."







The noir-style mystery series will be a half-hour late-night program and obviously have a strong erotic component. Conti cited movies like Bound, Dead Calm and Red Rock West as inspirations, so viewers can expect sexy lesbians, unfaithful wives battling hit-men and female pirate-like antics.




"Femme Fatales" will debut in 2011 and be headed by Mark A. Altman ("Castle") and Steve Kriozere ("NCIS"). According to Altman, the show will have a "Twilight Zone"-type narrator, one that he dubbed "a sexy Rod Serling."



"There's been so few opportunities to do contemporary noir," Altman says. "Within that, we can do different genres -- we can do a Western episode, we can do a supernatural episode."

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/07/21/ci...hology-series/

[JamesG]

Cinemax Casts Lead in "Femme Fatales"
October 25, 2010
James Hibberd


South Africa's Tanit Phoenix has landed the lead role in "Femme Fatales", Cinemax's first scripted series.



Phoenix (Death Race II, Lost Boys: The Thirst) will play Lilith, a mysterious, enigmatic narrator who will appear weekly in each episode introducing the episodes of the anthology format.

The part has been dubbed a "sexy Rod Serling."




The show, inspired by the men's magazine, will be a half-hour program with stories similar to such noir movies as Bound, Dead Calm and Red Rock West.

"Fatales" will debut next year.


Phoenix is repped by Fortitude and Framework.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blo...-fatales-32481

[JamesG]

We Check Out the ‘Femme Fatales' of Cinemax
by FearNet Staff
April 6, 2011


Of all the booths on the exhibit hall floor at this weekend's WonderCon 2011, the easiest on the eyes had to have been that designed for Cinemax's upcoming "Femme Fatales".

Created by genre vets Mark A. Altman and Steve Kriozere, the series is a late-night anthology series starring Death Race 2's Tanit Phoenix as the host.




The show's press release describes it as being:

"about powerful, sexy and dangerous women… In each of the 13 stand-alone episodes, women find extraordinary ways of coping with their problems, channeling their survival instincts and bringing out their inner guile.

The show is inspired by and styled in the tradition of pulp stories, film noir and graphic novels, and takes place in contemporary settings."



Altman also serves as one of the show's directors, alongside some names familiar to horror and genre fans, like Mike Hurst, Robert Meyer Burnett, Greg Pritikin, and Darin Scott.




"Femme Fatales" debuts Friday, May 13 (11:00 p.m. ET/PT) on Cinemax.

http://www.fearnet.com/news/b22241_w...atales_of.html

[Retro4Life]

It's a neat idea. I remember watching those cheesy flicks of the 80's and 90's with the "femme fatales" and "scream queens".

This is probably outing me as an "old guy", but I think it'd be a great idea to showcase the stars of those films, like Brinke Stevens, Monique Gabrielle, Linnea Quigley and Michelle Bauer, etc. I know most of them are probably retired but what a hoot it would be to see them back on the screen; I'm sure they're still attractive and they'd have that nostalgic appeal to the older audiences.

[JamesG]

First Femme on “FEMME FATALES”
Posted by Samuel Zimmerman
May 13, 2011


Tonight (Friday the 13th) kicks off the premiere episode of Cinemax’s new series "FEMME FATALES", a neo noir anthology featuring dangerous female characters.

Created by the owners of the magazine and website of the same name and boasting a sexy "TWILIGHT ZONE" vibe, "FEMME FATALES" consists of a baker’s dozen standalone episodes hosted by Tanit Phoneix.





Phoenix explains:

“'FEMME FATALES' is a 13-part anthology series, contemporary film noir, about women who kill men. Each episode showcases a new story and each episode is only linked by the fact that my character, Lilith [the show’s narrator and host], plays the most vital role in introducing these female killers and guides the audience on a journey of why she is following these women.

The 13th episode finally reveals the truth…”







As far as concept goes, Phoenix explains that the show is:

“the first of its kind. It showcases strong minded powerful women, women who take back their power.

Each episode plays on the tongue and cheek reality of certain relationship woes, and even just for the novelty of watching women kill men, 'FEMME FATALE'S is well worth a watch!”







Phoenix adds:

“Based on the 'TWILIGHT ZONE' series, having a narrator lead the audience on a journey that has a massive twist in the plotline toward the end of the first season, I would say the audience would be well surprised at the well-written scripts and celebrity appearances.

It’s fresh, it’s interesting, it’s dangerous and sexy and very entertaining.”







"FEMME FATALES" is described as being similar to noir and thriller movies such as BOUND, DEAD CALM and RED ROCK WEST and will include genre-friendly guest stars such as:

Ellie Cornell (Halloween 4 and 5)
Stephen Macht (The Monster Squad)
Angus Scrimm (Phantasm)
Dean Haglund ("The X-Files")





Directors include:

Michael Hurst (Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud)
Darin Scott (Dark Horse)
Robert Michael Burnett (Free Enterprise)
Greg Pritikin (Dummy)
Mark A. Altman and Steven Kriozere (series' co-creators)

http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?op...ews&Itemid=167

[JamesG]

Exclusive: On the Set of Showtime's "Femme Fatales" with Tanit Phoenix
by Joseph McCabe
August 17, 2011


Tanit Phoenix first turned the heads of genre fans last year when she starred in Lost Boys: The Thirst and Death Race 2.

But she's since attracted a much wider audience with her role as Lilith, the hostess of Showtime's Friday-night anthology series "Femme Fatales" (which will return for 13 new second-season episodes in 2012).



I had the good fortune to meet Phoenix on the "Femme Fatales" set earlier this summer, and the gorgeous South African native told me a little about her character, her fondness for "The Twilight Zone", her upcoming dinosaur movie, and, of course, her greatest fear.







This may be the only first-run anthology series on the air right now. But it's also unique in that it's the first anthology series to be hosted by a woman.

You're right. [Laughs]





Can you talk a little bit about that? You're mining new territory here.

They've likened me to Rod Serling, which is really funny, because he's an old dude. [Laughs]





He's younger than the Crypt Keeper.

Yes, he is. [Laughs]

I used to watch "The Twilight Zone" when I was a kid, and I very much liked it. Yeah, it's empowering. She's the most favored of all the Femme Fatales. She's the hostess that knows the mostess about everything that's going on. I find that interesting about her character, and I would love for them to explore that. Because it seems there's so much more going on with her, and the reason why she knows everything.

But they write each episode as they go. I myself don't know where this is all leading to. But on the 13th show of the first season, Lilith unveiled herself a little more.





Do you have a favorite episode from among those that have aired?

I like the 13th episode the most, because you got to see more of who she was. It seems to me like she's been trapping these girls to do her bidding.

Again, I wish they could have explored more of that this time around. But we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.





You get to explore a lot of different genres with this show – crime, horror, sci-fi. Do you have a favorite?

I like the crime stories. I'm a big fan of "CSI". Actually we're doing one next week based on that. So I'd like to explore more of that. I know that we were going into more of the fantasy-horror stuff, but they've pulled away from that, because I don't think that's the direction that they want to go in. So they're sticking with the film noir and the crime stuff.





Do you know if, in the second season, Lilith will become a more active participant in the stories?

Should I be honest, or should I lie? [Laughs] You see less of Lilith in each show than you did in the first season. I'm not quite sure why. She only introduces and ends the show. She has much more to say in her introductions, but the character, in each episode, they don't explore so much anymore. I think that has to do with timing.Because I know that I'm leaving soon, so they have a certain time with me here.

I'm not really sure how they're gonna play this out. I'm set to film other stuff, so they flew me in and I've been here for a month, and they are pushing these episodes so much quicker than they ever have before.

So I think they're really pressed for time, and they're trying to think of smart ways to get my stuff done so they can carry one with everything else. We've been pre-shooting a lot of the stuff, and they're going to carry on with the episodes once I've left.







Can you say what else you're working on now?

I just finished Safe House with Denzel Washington.

I have another film called Latin Quarter based on London and Paris back in the late 1800s, about Pablo Picasso.

Then I've got another film coming out – I can't tell you what it is, but there are going to be a lot of dinosaurs involved. It's an American film shooting in South Africa. It's The Flintstones meets Clueless. It's very funny. I was reading the script and I was quite amused.





Is it like Caveman, the Ringo Starr movie?

Everyone's asked me that! I don't know because I haven't seen it. [Laughs]

But this film is a spin-off of a popular series in Britain that's doing extremely well. So they're making a feature film based on it.







In real life, what's your greatest fear?

Okay, well, I was raised in airplanes. I tried to jump out when I was six years old and I had to have my foot strapped it. So I have no fear of heights. I have no fear of death, because my dad was a medic who educated me very well in spirituality and religion and how we're all made of energy and we're all connected and how, when we do go, we'll go to another place and be reborn into something else.

I'm not afraid of spiders. I'm a nature girl; I was raised on a farm in Africa. But I am afraid of real-life blood. If I see someone bleeding, I can't deal with it. I don't know how I'm going to be a mom. Because if a kid comes to me with a scratched knee I'll be on the floor passed out. The kid will be like, "Dad, Mom's passed out again!"

http://www.fearnet.com/news/intervie...mes_femme.html