TRIPLE 9 is in theaters now, and to celebrate, I thought I’d share some of my favorite cop flicks with you! Directed by John Hillcoat, TRIPLE9 is an action-packed thriller starring Oscar®-nominees Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet and Casey Affleck, along with Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot and Anthony Mackie, and is in theaters now!
Below are some of my favorite cop films. You can tell that I’m heavily influenced by the 80’s. What are some of your favorite old-school cop movies? Be sure to comment below!
POLICE ACADEMY
Whenever I think of cop films, the first thing that pops into my head is this. Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, and Michael Winslow (you know, the one who makes all of the crazy noises with his mouth) came into our lives in 1984 as recruits after the newly elected mayor banishes all former fitness, education, and medical requirements in order to rebuild the police force. The films were such crowd favorites that they actually made seven of them.
DIRTY HARRY
One of the most successful cop films ever made, DIRTY HARRY ended up with four sequels. Clint Eastwood brought the character of ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan to life as his character worked on a case similar to that of the zodiac killer, which is what the film drew from. It’s been such a big part of cinematic history that congress has placed it in the National Film Registry.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, and Roy Scheider star in this 1971 thriller that was the first R-rated film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. The lead characters were based on actual New York Police Department detectives who seized over a hundred pounds of heroin and broke up a major crime ring. It, too, has been placed in the National Film Registry.
LEATHAL WEAPON
This is your typical story of an odd couple pairing that works together in entertaining ways. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover star as L.A.P.D. detectives that uncover an incredibly large drug ring. The film did so well that it made four more. There are rumors of a reboot in the franchise without Gibson or Glover, but for now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that they rethink excluding the duo.
HEAT
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer star in this incredible 1995 Amerian Crime Film. De Niro plays a professional thief (Neil McCauley), while Pacino plays an L.A.P.D. detective (Lt. Vincent Hanna) out to catch McCauley and his gang. Think about this… you have Pacino going up against De Niro in a film involving guns and violence… It’s pretty safe to say that this film is gold!
DIE HARD
Even though John McClane is off-duty, he’s still a cop and that counts! McClane tries to save his wife, along with other hostages from the terror of Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) in, what some people claim to be, the best action film ever made. Also, it’s technically a Christmas movie so put down IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE and get ready for some explosions!
So, those are just some of my favorites. What films did I leave out? What are some of your favorites? Be sure to comment below! And remember… TRIPLE 9 is in theaters now.
A few weeks ago, WAMG was invited to the in-homeglobal junket for Disney & Pixar’s THEGOODDINOSAUR, which is available now on Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital download.While there, they had a band ready to play us a few songs from the film, and I sat down with director Peter Sohn to talk about the film. Check it out below!
“TheGoodDinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed theplanet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo (voice of Raymond Ochoa) makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.
The composers were talking about their role in conveying your vision. You were talking earlier about navigating through that without knowing the lingo. So how did you go about conveying your vision to them and what initial sound were you going for?
Peter Sohn: One of the pieces that I loved from what Michael had written was from Life of Pi. There was a real kind of…there are moments in that movie where you are just looking at a character looking at an animal stuck in a boat with a lot of silence. But the music underneath it was not overbearing, but it was also very internal. Like, it was kind of projecting what the characters were thinking about. That was something that I really was looking for in this film, because Arlo and Spot, they don’t speak the same language. And so, that was an element: could we find someone that could really project that internal kind of thought process in the music for Arlo? He was that guy. And he found all these themes that helped us out with that. That was one of the first things we started talking about.
That’s awesome. Disney and Pixar are known for how much research they put into things before they start with location. I would assume you did quite a bit with dinosaurs. What kind of preparation did you take before even getting off the ground with this?
Peter Sohn: Preparation research. It really was a lot of movie love going on. Like, I love The Black Stallion. That was a movie that was really quiet. ET. And so, I started watching these kind of boring dog movies. Even Rain Man was kind of a boring dog movie. There was that and then the great westerns, the great landscape movies like Lawrence of Arabia. That was some of the early prep work I had done before we’d even go on research trips.
Bu it would also kind of teach me what I needed for the movie. For example, the cliché of the cowboy versus the real thing was something that I didn’t realize until we went out to the research trip. But I knew I wanted to go in that world.
Yeah, you can definitely feel the spaghetti western influence on certain parts. Were there any films in particular that you looked for to that?
Peter Sohn:Shane was a huge one, Jeremiah Johnson, The Searchers, Red River, even some of the modern day ones, like Silverado had some aspects that we looked at. But then trying to make landscape or nature a character, there were a lot of other movies that kind of hit that core.
This just popped into my head. One topic that’s been really prominent as of late is cultural appropriation. I’m just curious… Is that something that you focus on? You are dealing with the cave people and landscapes and everything like that. Is that something that you focus on and think about avoiding conflict when you are making a film?
Peter Sohn: Yeah. It’s not the first thing that you think about. But for me, I don’t want to just take a culture completely. I honor it and respect it, but also trying to make it work within the story, what the story needs are. And so, the culture of a cowboy was something that, like, when I first jumped into, I didn’t really understand until we did the research. And once we did the research, it was like, “OK. You know what? I’m literally making fun of the cowboy in that other version. I do not want to do that in terms of the culture of the people that survive in the west and live out there. Let’s honor it by finding something truthful in the way they live.”
So that was as close as we got to that type of thing. In terms of the humans, it was always kind of a made up culture, like we were trying to create our own traditions, create our own rules because of the evolutionary kind of setup that we had.
What is it about the buddy pic that speaks to you? The one that that I love about this is that Disney and Pixar are venturing out from the traditional love story, and on to subjects such as friendship.v
Peter Sohn: What’s funny about this film is that it’s slightly different from the classic buddy film. The classic buddy film was always like, “I don’t like you.” “I don’t like you!” “Well, I’m stuck with you.” “I’m stuck with you, too.” “I’m beginning to understand you.” “I’m beginning to understand you. Now we’re friends.”
This is like, “I don’t like you.” “I’m a dog.” “I still don’t like you.” “I’m just a dog living my life.” “You are teaching me everything. I’m still living my life. You have changed me. I have grown from you because of this relationship.”
So that’s something that was slightly different but something that spoke to me in terms of that kind of miscommunication. Like, again, I was talking about growing up with immigrant families, you are just trying to find ways to communicate without language. And this relationship and the way they connect was very much rooted in that.
Another thing about the classic Disney and Pixar films is a lot do have some sort of tragedy in their story. I think part of that is in order to allow your character to grow from that. How important is the tragedy to a Disney film? Did you have that in mind right away when you started writing this?
Peter Sohn: Yeah. It was there because it was in a lot of films about growing up. We tried to find a new take on it so we could still have that hole in Arlo’s life that happens when you lose someone. We did a lot of research into that type of loss and how children heal from that.
Then we started shying away from it and pulling back away from that concept. Then we met some families how had recently lost a husband or a loved one and they were like, “Please do not shy away from it. It’s such an important thing to continue to talk about with families.” There’s always a kid that still is gripping with it. So, so what if it’s an older thing. It’s a story that’s there for a reason. It made us even stronger in that concept.
What was the biggest lesson that you took from art department to director? It’s quite the leap.
Peter Sohn: You know what? Your title; that was a big deal for me, that you are a part of a family that everyone is trying to make the best film possible. Some people as the supervisors…I’m a supervisor, so I’m supposed to tell people what to do. In my years I’ve never seen that make anything positive. For me it was always like, “What can we do to make this film better, whatever problem that’s in front of us?” How do you answer that in a way that benefits the film?
I loved the nature backgrounds in this, such as the rain. All the nature elements are so vibrant and really detailed. But when you look at the design of Arlo and the T-Rex’s, it’s a little more simplified. How did you find that balance between those?
Peter Sohn: It was a tough balance. We did a lot of experiments early on where the nature was more cartoony or graphic. And it’s the danger that we needed out. All of a sudden, the world felt so safe when it was just kind of a cartoony premise. So we kept those elements of realism in it.
But also the same thing with Arlo where Arlo is more realistic. He just felt like an animal, like a cow sitting out there. And a cow has no problems. A cow can just eat grass and survive. But because this is a growth movie about survival, we needed you to feel when Arlo’s thrust out into the wilderness for the first time to be like, “[breaths heavy] I’m going to die out here!” To really feel that kid that was lost. So we pushed that graphic element to feel that youthful quality and the human quality of what a dinosaur could be.
That’s amazing. One more question. How was your first test screening? I’ve heard some brutal stories about how those go!
Peter Sohn: It’s rough. I remember hearing about this audience, and there were really great positive reactions were people were cheering at the end, but then there were questions that were harder. And that can throw you for a loop in both good ways and bad ways because you need those to just keep yourself in check just because you’ve been watching the movie over and over again so many times. So getting fresh eyes are always good.
But if taken the wrong way, it can be very destructive. For me it was always the spirit of the note, trying to understand the reasoning behind some of the notes.
What’s the strangest note you got?
Peter Sohn: “Why dinosaurs?”
[laughs] Well it’s called The Good Dinosaur…
Peter Sohn: Yeah. A dinosaur is a cool metaphor for being stuck. It’s about a kid trying to grow and move forward.
THE GOOD DINOSAUR is available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Download now
Last night, the historic El Capitan theater held the red carpet premiere of DISNEY’S ZOOTOPIA, and the stars came out to celebrate!
Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Nate Torrence, Shakira, Jenny Slate, Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore, co-director/co-screenwriter Jared Bush and more walked the wild carpet, despite the rain. Check out some of the photos, provided by Walt Disney Studios courtesy of Getty Images, below!
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.
In this comedy-adventure, A WALK IN THE WOODS, celebrated travel writer Bill Bryson (Academy Award® winner Robert Redford) challenges himself to hike the Appalachian Trail—2,200 miles of America’s most unspoiled, spectacular and rugged countryside from Georgia to Maine—instead of retiring to enjoy his loving and beautiful wife (Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson) and their large and happy family. In celebration of the film coming out on Digital HD, On Demand, DVD and Blu-ray on December 29th, WAMG is giving away copies of Bill Bryson’s book A WALK IN THE WOODS. Check out below for rules on how to enter.
The peace and tranquility Bill (Redford) hopes to find, though, is anything but, once he agrees to being accompanied by the only person he can find willing to join him on the trek—his long-lost and former friend, Stephen Katz (Academy Award® nominee Nick Nolte). Katz is a down-on-his-luck serial philanderer. After a lifetime of relying on his charm and wits to keep one step ahead of the law, Katz sees the trip as a way to sneak out of paying some debts and sneak into one last adventure before it’s too late. The trouble is, the two have a completely different definition of the word “adventure.” Now, they’re about to find out that when you push yourself to the edge, the real fun begins.
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SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE OUTTAKES AND FEATURETTES ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL AND HIKING TIPS FROM THE LEGENDARY CAST!
BONUS FEATURES ON BLU-RAY™, DVD AND ITUNES EXTRAS:
“Sounds of A Walk in the Woods” – A featurette on the music from the film.
“The Appalachian Trail” – Legendary actors Robert Redford Nick Nolte, director Ken Kwapis and producers Chip Diggins and Bill Holderman delve into the intricacies of filming on The Appalachian Trail.
“Take a Hike with a Legendary Cast” – Legendary actors Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, along with director Ken Kwapis and producers Chip Diggins and Bill Holderman discuss being part of the film.
“A Walk in the Woods Outtakes” – Laugh along with the cast in these side-splitting outtakes!
“Robert Redford’s Call to Action PSA” – Legendary actor Robert Redford shares why it’s important to preserve The Appalachian Trail.
Every holiday, millions of people make their way to the local movie theater for some fun, cinematic action, comedy, romance, or adventure. Unfortunately for DADDY’S HOME, it offers none of the above.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg team up again for the all new broken family comedy. Brad Taggart is a mild-mannered executive at a jazz radio station who seems to have everything that he’s ever wanted… a great job, a loving wife, and two wonderful step-children. He’s living the daddy dream until the children’s biological father Dusty comes back into the picture. Now, Brad is in a battle for his family with a bad boy who seems to excel where he doesn’t. The result is chaos.
I get what they were trying to do here by bringing Ferrell and Wahlberg back together. They were trying to recreate the same comedic chemistry that THE OTHER GUYS had. True, Ferrell and Wahlberg are great together, but that isn’t enough to save this film. It all starts with the script. We’ve seen oddball pairings in film before. It gets boring unless there is some sort of direction or substance behind it. Unfortunately, none of that was offered in this script.
The whole film felt lost, and the comedy had no real direction. It felt like they couldn’t decide if they were making a family comedy, or going more gallows. That doesn’t really work for a movie like this. They needed to pick one or the other. Instead, it danced back and forth in a sad attempt to find middle ground. Forty-five minutes into this ninety-six minute snooze-fest I was completely bored and ready to leave. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Director and screenwriter Sean Anders doesn’t have a great track record with his films. His top two being WE’RE THE MILLERS and HOT TUB TIME MACHINE. I mean, DUMB AND DUMBER TO was embarrassingly bad.
My problem is not with the actors… especially the children. Owen Vaccaro and Scarlett Esteves were terrific. My problem is with the flow of the film and the script. Did none of the actors realize that the script had no direction? Were the actors not able to improvise? Something tells me that there are a ton of jokes that were left on the cutting room floor that could have greatly improved this film. I guess we’ll have to wait for the bonus features.
It’s a shame to have such a stink bomb in theaters for the holidays. This should have been a mid-January release.
Katniss returns to face her oppressors in the final installment of THE HUNGER GAMES franchise, but does it pack the same punch as the first three? You know it does!
Panem is in the midst of war, and Katniss is preparing to take President Snow (Donald Sutherland) out. On a mission as ‘the face’ of the war, she and her team of friends, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick (Sam Claflin) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) continue try to liberate the citizens throughout the districts. Although they are out of the games, they face greater dangers than they ever have. This time, the entire nation depends on it.
The tone of this film is much different from the previous films. It’s serious, sure, but there are a couple of new surprises. Director Francis Lawrence leaned more on CGI for some of the dangerous beings in this film, and I found that there were a bunch of jump scares. I don’t recall any of the other films making me jerk out of my chair. It makes sense for this film to be a bit darker in tone, seeing as how the entire country is at war, and part of the film is shot inside underground pipes, but the changes definitely stick out.
The cast is incredible, as usual, in these films. Lawrence, however, is even more dynamic in her final portrayal of Katniss than I thought possible. It’s incredible to see her character grow, and Lawrence does a fantastic job of showing her evolution, both internally and externally.
It takes a bit for the film to perk up, and move into the battle scenes. If you’re expecting all out war, you’re going to have to wait a bit. Keep in mind that this film is over two hours. They can’t just dive into the meat and potatoes! Have some appetizers first.
If you’ve read the books, you are already familiar as to how the story ends. This is the same for the film. Although I enjoyed the ending, I didn’t find it satisfying… and that’s ok. I sort of like the way they slowly tied things up. Not to spoil anything (which means, if you don’t want to risk learning new information, stop reading), but there isn’t a giant triumph of victory. It just, kind of, happens. Afterwards, she slowly goes back to her old life. I enjoy that. What do we expect? A huge victory, and then a picture perfect life of spoils? This ending is a true Katniss ending. It’s humble, and it gives the audience more to grasp onto.
Let’s face it… You’re going to go see this film, and you should! You’ll be happy you did, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
The blockbuster Hunger Games franchise has taken audiences by storm around the world, grossing more than $2.2 billion at the global box office. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 now brings the franchise to its powerful final chapter in which Katniss Everdeen [Jennifer Lawrence] realizes the stakes are no longer just for survival – they are for the future.
Recently, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutchinson, Liam Hemsworth, Francis Lawrence, and Nina Jacobson sat down with a small room of press in Hollywood to talk about the film. Check out part of the press conference below!
With the nation of Panem in a full scale war, Katniss confronts President Snow [Donald Sutherland] in the final showdown. Teamed with a group of her closest friends – including Gale [Liam Hemsworth], Finnick [Sam Claflin] and Peeta [Josh Hutcherson] – Katniss goes off on a mission with the unit from District 13 as they risk their lives to liberate the citizens of Panem, and stage an assassination attempt on President Snow who has become increasingly obsessed with destroying her. The mortal traps, enemies, and moral choices that await Katniss will challenge her more than any arena she faced in The Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, from an adaptation by Suzanne Collins, and features an acclaimed cast including Academy Award®-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Academy Award®-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, with Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland reprising their original roles from The Hunger Gamesand The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The impressive lineup is joined by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 co-stars Academy Award®-winner Julianne Moore, Mahershala Ali, Natalie Dormer, Wes Chatham, Elden Henson and Evan Ross.
If you are uptight and faint of heart, SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE is not your movie. Still here? Ok, good. If you aren’t easily offended, and are looking for a laugh mixed with some jump scares, this movie is for you!
In SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, three life-long scouts team up with cocktail waitress after a zombie outbreak spreads through their town. They don’t have long to use their survival skills and try to make it out before it’s too late.
Sound like a familiar plot? Sure… but I promise that you haven’t quite seen a zombie movie like this. This movie is completely predictable, but fun! Director Christopher Landon combines the modern-day tale with elements of 80’s horror and adventure films. In other words, there are plenty of cheesy, raunchy moments… and yes, even boobs. I’m an old school, campy horror fan, so I found this movie to be funny. Some won’t. I guess you could say that this film is like blue cheese… it’s not for everyone!
Cast members Tye Sheridan, Joey Morgan, and Logan Miller work together extremely well. You can tell that they really got along, and they were believable as friends. Actress Sarah Dumont, on the other hand, was hit and miss. There were moments where her kick-ass, bad girl act really paid off, and moments where she fell really flat. She kind of has this flat, hard to read acting style going on to where I couldn’t tell if it was part of her character, or not. David Koecher is funny as usual, but he’s not in the film enough to be a huge influence. Cloris Leachman, on the other hand, wasn’t in the film enough, but really added the laughs for me! To have a legend do what she does in the film is incredibly ballsy, and it paid off!
One cool thing that Landon did in this film was use practical effects. This is always a big plus for me, because I think it really pays off in the end. It’s so easy for filmmakers to cop-out and use CGI, and the slightest mistake with it throws you out of the movie. With practical effects, the audience tends to be more forgiving. Plus, no one wants an animated zombie. Give me a real human splattered with blood and flesh wounds!
The jokes in this film are really going to upset some people, and make them cringe. There are plenty of crass, ‘I can’t believe they went there!’ moments. Even I made a few audible gasps in the theater. If you are easily offended, I’m going to tell you to just stay home right now. This movie is just going to piss you off. Sometimes we need a break from our PC society, and I commend Landon for having the balls to tell jokes with no apologies. I know critics are going to eat this film alive, but can’t we just go into a movie and take it for what it is? It’s not trying to be the next big Oscar contender… It’s just trying to have fun! Take it, or go rent FORREST GUMP.
In SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, three scouts and lifelong friends join forces with one badass cocktail waitress to become the world’s most unlikely team of heroes. Recently, I sat down with director Christopher Landon to talk about the film. I have to add that he is an incredibly wonderful interview! I had a blast talking with him, as you will see below!
When their peaceful town is ravaged by a zombie invasion, three scouts will fight for the badge of a lifetime and put their scouting skills to the test to save mankind from the undead.
The first question I have to ask is how this movie come about?
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : How did this wack-a-doodle thing get made? [Laughs]
Yeah! It’s a lot of fun!
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : So, I just finished PARANORMAL ACTIVITY : THE MARKED ONES, which had a lot of comedy in the beginning of it. So, Paramount called me up and said ‘We have this script called SCOUTS vs. ZOMBIES, which was the original title, and I instantly thought ‘either this is going to be awesome, or really stupid,’ and it was both… and I was really happy about that. [Laughs] I read it, and I was like ‘this is a surprisingly sweet movie.’ It was written, at the time, as PG-PG13, and I was like ‘that’s a hat trick.’ I don’t know how you can make a zombie movie for kids. So, I went back to them and I said ‘You know what? I think this is cool. I think this could be really funny. I think it should be Rated R, and I think it should be gory, and I think it should be balls out crazy! I was surprised that they were like ‘OK! Go for it!’ When they said ‘Go for it!’ they really meant it. so in my dream bag of what I would want to see in this kind of movie… I got to pull all of that stuff out… and they were really supportive of that. It just, kind of, evolved. I think I wrote a couple of – I think I wrote two drafts – and then the next thing I knew we were off and making it. It was surprising too. I think that size of the movie is hard to get made right now. You’re either dealing with very small, Jason Blum style 5 million dollar movies, or your GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. There’s very little in between now, and so the fact that the studio was willing to make this movie was impressive. The fact that they were willing to make a movie with no real major stars was impressive, but also that they really supported me in my vision to make a movie that felt like THE GOONIES, and felt like GREMLINS… that was a throwback. I wanted to make an 80’s style movie. It was pretty cool.
It’s great that you mention GREMLINS and THE GOONIES because it does have that 80’s kind of feel. You have the friendship, but you also have the raunchy elements… you have the boobs!
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : The boobs are there! [Laughs] By the way, it’s funny because my friends all make fun of me because I’m gay, and they’re like ‘Why does the gay guy always have boobs in his movies?’ [Laughs] I’m like ‘I don’t know! They just keep popping up!’ It’s horror!
It’s horror! There should be boobs! [Laughs] It’s cool that you threw that stuff in, because a lot of horror today sort of misses the mark on the themes and patterns of 80’s films. What other influences did you have going into this?
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : My big influences, of course, was THE GOONIES, MONSTER SQUAD was there, but then there were echoes of SUPERBAD. That was something that I really loves, and felt like kind of had a place in this movie. Even, in a weird way, and this is the weirdest reference, but STAND BY ME. There was a tinge of that, and you’ll see that in the campfire scene. I really wanted to sell the idea of this friendship, and of these three guys, and the experience that they’re going through. I think it’s a very relatable thing… to be in high school, and to find yourself at a crossroads in your friendships, where you’re outgrowing a friendship, or you’re at least in the process of reevaluating a friendship because you want to trade up to things that don’t really matter, which is something that I talked about in the movie. So, I really wanted to capture it all in a very relatable story, but then still deliver the ridiculous headpieces, and the scares, and the fun, and all that kind of stuff.
When it comes to the comedy in this film, and how dirty it goes how did you find the balance between it and the horror, and was there anything that went too far that you couldn’t put into the movie?
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : Ok, oh man. I’m gonna get in trouble. Let’s see what we can print here. So, um… I … First of all, I always tend to follow the ‘South Park’ rule of comedy, which is that I don’t think that anything is sacred. I think that life is meant to be laughed at as much as possible. I have a gallows humor that I grew up with, so I don’t find anything particularly taboo. I never felt like I was personally crossing a line. I know that in terms of personal taste, for some, I have. There are moments in the movie… there’s one moment in the movie that tends to offend some people. I’m not going to say what it is, but that’s the one that kind of makes me… I find it kind of interesting because people are offended at this one particular scene, but then they’re not offended by other stuff, and I’m always like ‘That’s so weird to draw a line in the weirdest places.’ But, I wrote one scene that ended up not making it. I had to come up with a pretty quick replacement for it because the studio got cold feet. I will tell you what it is if you want to hear it. I’ll get in trouble for what it is, but I don’t care. [Laughs]
Of course I wanna hear it! [Laughs]
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : So, there’s a scene in the movie where out scouts encounter a homeless zombie, and they have a sing-a-long with the zombie. You saw the movie?
Yes. I saw it last night.
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : Ok. So, they do a sing-a long. The original version of that scene was, and this is why I was gonna go to hell… They’re walking down the street and they see a school bus off to the side of the road, and it turns out that it’s a short school bus… and an intellectually and developmentally disabled child comes off the bus, and they can’t figure out if he is a zombie, or it’s part of his disability. So, they are debating back and forth on if they should shoot him or not, and he keeps getting closer, and closer. It was hysterical! [Laughs] It was hysterical, but horribly mean and offensive. So, the studio…
That was NOT the direction that I thought you were going! [Laughs] #00:08:24.9#
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : So, they were like ‘We’ve been really cool about everything, This one is not ok with us!’, which was tough, because I knew it was going to be the funniest scene in the movie. It’s so wrong that it’s right. I know most of my audience would have been you… and they would have died laughing, but I would have gotten hate mail! It wasn’t even one of those ‘I can fight for it’ moments, it was the head of the studio calling me, saying ‘We won’t let you make the movie if you keep this scene.’
Oh, yeah! That was the line in the sand! [Laughs]
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : But it was really funny! [Laughs] It was a really good scene!
So, I’m guessing this won’t be on the bonus features either?
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : No. This will not be on the bonus features! I literally was trying to find a way to shoot both somehow without them knowing… like, I was gonna swap the cards out, and find the actor, and do the whole thing, but there was no time in the schedule, and it was literally one of those that if I got caught, I could get fired deals. So I was like ‘Fine. I won’t do it…’ It’s a really tough scene to watch for me, because while I’m so proud of that moment, and I think it plays really well, and it’s definitely quirky and funny, It always reminds me of the one that got away!
Wow! Where do we go from here in the interview? [Laughs] Cloris Leachman! Super excited about that! How did you convince her to do this? [Laughs]
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : She’s amazing! YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN was one of my all time favorite movies, so I’ve been a fan of hers ever since then. It was really just a call. It was a ‘Will you do this?’ and she said yes! I heard ‘Oh, she’s pretty out there! She’s really crazy, and fun to work with!’ but there is nothing that prepares you for this woman. She shows up. She’s a force of nature. Her first day on set, I was waiting by her trailer, because I wanted to be there when she arrived – she’s a legend, so you have to show your respect. So, I’m standing there with Logan, and she pulls up, and she’s already in character, and she’s clawing at the window like a zombie [laughs] looking at me. She gets out of the car, and the first thing she says to Logan is ‘I’m gonna eat your ass!’ [Laughs] I was like ‘You’re gonna be so much fun to work with!’ and she was! She was crazy, and she would tell the funniest stories! Every night, when we would wrap her, I would walk her to her car. We would do an arm in arm, and I would take her though set… and as I walked her through set she would literally go to every single crew member [whispers] ‘Goodnight’ [as she was flipping them off]… [Laughs] She’d flip everyone off! We had one night where we had a crowd of looky-lou people watching in the neighborhood… kids, and everyone… and when she came out, she flew two birds at them [laughs] and I was like ‘You’re a nutcase! I love you!’
That sounds amazing! [Laughs]
CHRISTOPHER LANDON : It was pretty fun. We were always laughing, and it was tough sometimes because there were times when we really needed to get the shit moving faster. It was hard because we had really funny people on set that made you laugh all the time.
SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE hits theaters tomorrow
No one else is the same… Em is her name! But, does the new Jem live up to her 80’s legend? Now you have two ways to find out! Not only will you find my written review below, but I also shot and edited a review just for you! (Go easy on me since I’ve never shot myself before!) It’s a ‘choose you’re own adventure’ kind of review!
Jerrica Benton, a small town girl is thrust into the spotlight after being discovered on YouTube, and is on the ride of her life with her sisters. The problem is that her video was posted under the alias ‘Jem,’ and now that’s who the world wants. Jerrica is now on a mission to find her voice in the world, and getting into mischief along the way.
I’m not going to lie. I was worried about this when I saw the trailer. As a child of the 80’s, so much had changed about my beloved Jem! Why did she have brown hair? How was she going to turn into Jem if she wasn’t using synergy to do so? Where was Rio’s sweet purple hair? Well kids… I’m here to tell you that I enjoyed this film. Sure, Jon M. Chu changed a lot when it comes to the sci-fi side of things, but he transformed Jem into something that young kids today can relate to. He adapted her. Instead of synergy creating the hologram of Jem, Jerrica was pressured to present Jem to the world at all times… Jem was her hologram to the outside world, and on social media to hide behind. Clever Chu… Clever.
The casting in this film was wonderful. Aubrey Peeples is not only talented, but incredibly likable. I’ve gotta hand it to Chu. He went out of his way to find actors with musical talent. Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Hayley Kiyoko, and Ryan Guzman really impressed me in the film. My biggest kudos goes to Juliette Lewis in her portrayal of Erica Raymond. In the cartoon, the head of Starlight Enterprises was Eric, a man. Not in 2015! Juliette Lewis is incredible to watch on-screen, and I’m hoping to see her rock out in a sequel since her real-life band is amazing! Add Molly Ringwald into the mix and you’ve got one solid cast!
The songs don’t stick to one genre, but dammit they are catchy. The song ‘Youngblood’ still creeps into my head. The songs go from more pop, to pop-rock, to an indie Zooey Dechanel type of ballad. There’s sure to be something for everyone!
Now, what comes up must come down. I do have a few gripes about the film. The second act is boring, and kind of unnecessary. Also, why does Rio have to sneak into his mothers company? He works there! It’s ridiculous and makes zero sense. While we are on the subject of Rio, where was his purple hair? My Barbies dated Rio instead of Ken as a kid because of his delicious purple locks. Such a bummer! Overall the film is a bit cheesy, but so were the 80’s, so I can overlook that!
If you’re looking to have a fun time at the theater, go see JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS. If you’re stuck in your old ways, go play with your pet rock.
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