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Samuel L. Jackson, Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton, José Padilha, And Abbie Cornish Talk ROBOCOP : Comic-Con 2013

Let’s face it, we’re all excited about the new ROBOCOP remake. Adding to the excitement, director José Padilha, along with Samuel L. Jackson, Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton and Abbie Cornish sat down with press at Comic-Con 2013 to talk a bit about the film. Check it out below!

In RoboCop, the year is 2029 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Their drones are winning American wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front. Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life. He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.

Director José Padilha (Elite Squad) reimagines the tale of part man, part machine, all cop starring Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) as the title character, Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises) as the scientist who creates RoboCop, and Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers) as media mogul Pat Novak. RoboCop is being produced by Strike Entertainment’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, with Eric Carraro as Executive Producer. The film is currently in pre-production and slated for a summer 2013 release.

To Samuel L. Jackson, what was your thought when you first heard there was going to be a RoboCop remake.

Samuel L. Jackson: Why me?

Because, because–

Samuel L. Jackson: Because I actually went to the movie theater to see RoboCop.

Joel Kinnaman: Before I got this part I’ve probably seen RoboCop about 25 to 30 times. I started rehearsing the RoboCop walk way before I became an actor. So I was pretty well-versed in the Robo-walk. But then when I got the suit on, and also sort of the 1987 vision of where robotics would be is very different from a 2013 vision of where robotics would be and how a robot would move in 15 years, in the future. So when I got the suit on, I had some ideas. We went for a more superhuman approach to his movement pattern, but then we added in some more robotic movement to it. But that was something I was mostly… I was playing around with it and then José would look at it and then maybe give me a little note and I would either take that note and work on something else but mostly I’d take his notes.

José Padilha: The suit is hot. That’s the only thing. He wants to get in and out quickly.

Joel Kinnaman: It was a bit of a torture device but I was glad —

Michael Keaton: Bulls–t. I’ve seen the suit. You try wearing my Bat suit. Ah man, you’ve got it easy.

Samuel L. Jackson: I did three Star Wars movies and I just did Oldboy. I did Shaft.

This is your first sci-fi film. What did you think when you first read the script?

Samuel L. Jackson: I was excited by the prospect of a modern-day RoboCop. Thinking about it and thinking about the possibilities of what could be done with all the CG things we can do now, and the advancements in robotics and… I read a lot of comic books, so I see a lot of things and the things that happen in my as opposed to what happens on the page as opposed to what he (director) said we were going to do, I was excited by the possibility. And knowing that there are a lot of young people who may be aware of RoboCop but not really the way we’re aware of RoboCop, so I’m excited to come into that world.

Tonally the original RoboCop is almost like a black comedy in some parts

Samuel L. Jackson: You mean like Stanford and Son? Not that black? (Laughs)

Will there be any one-liners that we’ll be quoting years from now?

José Padilha: Yes. The original RoboCop tonally was very ironic and very violent. It was a critique of fascism, at least the way I’ve seen it. But it was also very smart and it dealt with some concepts that maybe not everybody caught on to, but they were there. The relationship between fascism and robotics, for instance… it’s very clear that it’s going to become way more important as time goes by. I’ll just give you an example. If you think about the war in Vietnam, or even in Iraq – The war in Vietnam ended because American soldiers were dying. Same thing that’s happening in Iraq – we’ve got to get out of there. Now, if you picture the same war with robots, substituting robots in instead of soldiers, then you don’t have the political pressure at home. There is a relationship between being able to use robots for war and fascism. The issue has already been posed by the use of drones by the way, and if you open all of the major American newspapers, you’ll read and hear their opinions – pro and against drones. Now this issue is ready and our movie is pretty much about that. That’s one part of it. And the other part of it is what it feels like to be a robot as opposed to what it feels like to be a human. I kind of explain to you why. Say you have footage of the Hiroshima bomb exploding and then you play the footage backwards. The bomb goes up into the plane. The plane flies backward. At the end of this you’re going to end up at Harry Truman’s table, and he makes the call to drop the bomb. Now, because Harry Truman is a man, he has free will and he can make choices. We can argue about whether he did the right choice or not. The same thing goes for criminals. A criminal shoots someone in the streets. We say this is a man who knows what he’s doing. He’s taken someone’s life and we can’t argue whether it’s right or wrong. Now, once you replace man with autonomous robots, accountability goes out the window. Say you have a robot, let’s say in the middle of the Amazon forest hunting drug dealers, and the robot is there and nobody sees what it’s doing and it shoots drug dealers and it shoots a kid. Now, whose fault is that? So, this is a huge philosophical issue that’s going to be present more and more. It’s been debated a lot already, but it’s going to be debated more and more as robots evolve, and our movie is also about that. And there are some fights in there too.

Samuel L. Jackson: Wait, wait, wait… And your favorite line from the original RoboCop was what? I’m sure there’s one or two lines in this [new] film, but I haven’t seen it and I thoroughly expect my face to be on all kinds of t-shirts. (Laughs)

Coming off on what you were just talking about, the first film also dealt with a lot of corporate issues. [inaudible] It feels like corporations are now stepping into making it into a government issue.

José Padilha: Right. I would actually kind of corporations are in the movie, but in any case, we had in the first movie, there was all the satire with the ads. The over the top corporation ads selling something that was clearly not for kids, and we do the same satire in the movie, but instead of using ads we go for the media. So, if you remember recently we’ve got the weapons of mass destruction and nobody could find it, and then the weapons were not there, it was almost anti-patriotic to go against the idea and all the media fell for that or kind of played with that. We have that. We kept that and our movie has that from the original.

To me, RoboCop is a very beautiful story about Alex Murphy. This corporation thinks they own him because they created the cards that brought him back to life, but they can’t own Alex Murphy. How do you explore that in this version and I was curious to see if you’ve ever seen the Canadian TV series of RoboCop?

Joel Kinnaman: I have seen that. I love the first movie, I kind of checked out 40 minutes into the second one and I didn’t see the third one, and I missed the TV series. But that part is very much so in our story. We go a little further with Alex Murphy. We get to know him a little better. We spent more time with Alex Murphy when he’s at work as an undercover cop and as a family man. He’s got a beautiful little family. And then that is very much the question. Is he now a property? Is he owned by OmniCorp? He’s very vulnerable because the system needs to be changed and he needs to be plugged in, so he’s dependent on this corporation that has made him to survive – that has made him very powerful but at the same time very vulnerable. There’s a continuous interactions. They let him interact with his family, he gets to reconnect with his family after he had become RoboCop, and that’s of course something that’s not easy to come home and try to embrace your six-year-old son and your wife, and you have just a big robotic body. You can’t really feel them.

Samuel, what’s your favorite movie of all time and why?

Samuel L. Jackson: Who? Me? My favorite movie of all time… you mean if I’m lost on an island somewhere and it’s a movie I would want to watch everyday? Hard Boiled. Just because I love John Woo, I love action, I love Chow-Yun Fat and I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful movie.

I loved the movie when I was a kid. It’s my favorite childhood movie. Will you get to say the famous line “Your move, creep”, and is there any trace of Clarence Boddicker in this movie?

Joel Kinnaman: Sorry to disappoint you man. We kept a couple of lines from the original but we also felt that all these iconic lines from the first one, they were part of that movie – the tone of that movie and Verhoven’s tone. I think that would feel like something unjust and disrespectful to keep all the lines. We’ve kept a couple of lines from the original but “your move, creep,” no. That’s something that I would say to my friends all the time when I was obsessed with that movie. I practiced that a lot. [On Clarence Boddicker in the movie] Not really, no.

First of all this could be a really excellent performance with you. You also finished a movie with Anthony Hopkins and Colin Farrell. Can you talk a little bit about that experience?

Samuel L. Jackson: They’re bringing that movie in tomorrow. Not fair.

Abbie Cornish: According to my representative over here I’ve got to keep a tight lip about it. No, I’ve been really lucky. Sort of in the last year I worked on three great gigs, starting with RoboCop. It’s funny, when people ask me about RoboCop and the experience of shooting it, they say ‘How was it?’ and I say ‘It’s the easiest film I’ve ever made.’ And it was. We have incredibly talented director who just helmed this quite classic and political social story in such a sort of wonderfully deep way. I worked with an incredible cast and worked on a film that is, for me, iconic and very nostalgic. I was five when it came out. My brother had it on VHS and we ran that VHS until it shredded itself up. And so for me it has a lot of importance in my life, and in my childhood. So, great cast, great crew and everyday was just easy. All the actors were A-grade, so prepared and same with the crew and directed by Jose. That was a dream gig.

Samuel L. Jackson: I want to talk about a movie we’re not here to talk about too.

José Padilha: Right. I think it’s the first presumed movie I’ve made. I’m shooting a movie, I’m shooting a movie. When I get on set, whether it’s a one million dollar or a hundred and forty million dollar film, it’s about the script, it’s about the actors, it’s about having the camera the right way, and it was so with RoboCop. We had fun while we were making the movie. We gave ourselves room to improvise. We made up a lot of lines on the spot that just popped up in our heads. The same way, we shot this movie the same way we shot our movies in Brazil. I don’t know why it would change it. Actually I don’t even know how to do it another way. It wasn’t like, there is no such thing like oh it’s such a gigantic movie, how’s it going to happen? How am I going to do it? You just go there and shoot a movie. And there’s a little less drug dealers and corrupt cops around the set, but I guess that’s because we shot that in Canada.

Abbie Cornish: That’s what I mean by easy.

What is one thing about the character that you knew you had to make really cool, and something from the original that you had to bring back that you had to bring to a modern audience?

Joel Kinnaman: I don’t really think about it like that.

Samuel L. Jackson: He’s connected to the internet. He gets wifi. RoboCop gets wifi.

Was there a particular scene that you worked on that you think you’ll remember, for each of you, when you look back on this movie years from now?

Joel Kinnaman: I think for me the whole awakening sequence when Alex awakes for the first time and experiences the disbelief of his new reality. In those scenes, I was working really close with Gary Oldman – and also that whole sequence on getting to see… well there’s some things that I can’t… spoilers. But I think there’s a string of scenes in 40 minutes into the movie that were very demanding but very rewarding as well.

Mike, this is for you. I interviewed you when you were Batman.

Michael Keaton: I am Batman.

My question is, very few people, except for Samuel, get to do one iconic movie after another iconic movie. Did you hesitate at all coming into this kind of superhero movie? Was it kind of coming home again in a sense?

Michael Keaton: No. You know, this was simple. I haven’t actually seen the original, I’ve just seen bits and pieces, so my decision was based on the script that I read. I thought it was pretty smart and pretty well-written. At this point I didn’t know who the cast was, so once I heard who the cast was, that made me more excited. I’ve become a fan of Jose’s, and one conversation I had on the phone with him, long distance, saying I don’t know if you’re interested on my take on the character but this is what I think, and he felt exactly the same way. So it was really a matter of if the film was good.

Abbie Cornish: Michael’s great in the film. Amazing. He’s so interesting. I was lucky enough to do a couple of scenes with him and it was so interesting. You play a lot in that role, which was nice to watch.

Obviously everybody keeps bringing up the original, but when it comes to this interpretation of RoboCop, this question is for all of you. What do you think is the biggest drawing point for all audiences to go in and say ‘I want to see this version of RoboCop.’?

Samuel L. Jackson: The trailer. Always the trailer.

Michael Keaton: It’s a very current theme. My guess is it will be hugely entertaining and underlining. It’s relevant. It’ll resonate with people, but not to the degree where your brain will hurt when you think about it when you’re going home. When there’s smart added to fun, even if you don’t notice the smart, it ratchets everything up exponentially. It just always makes movies better. Even if you have to go home and think about some things. Earlier on I thought Obama made a huge mistake not getting out of Afghanistan when he had the move early on, but I thought, you know, to surgically remove people and to surgically remove certain parts, that’s the way to go and win this war, not primarily drones. Now I don’t think that. I don’t think that. I think there’s a whole other moral issue to that, and that’s what is really interesting about this, the moral aspect of this movie. I don’t mean to make it sound too serious because it’s very fun, but that’s the underlining intelligence and how it resonates. It’s there without you having to pay too much attention to it.

Samuel L. Jackson: Obviously we’re not going to put that in the trailer. We want the excitement in the trailer. Then people will get in there and then they’ll find out how morally intriguing it is, but first we’re going to show them the trailer. Then when people tweet their friends they’ll say “Damn, that s–t is morally intelligent.”

For a fun look at ROBOCOP check out http://www.omnicorp.com

ROBOCOP is scheduled for theatrical release on February 7, 2014

Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Gareth Edwards And Elizabeth Olsen Talk Godzilla : Comic-Con 2013

This Saturday at Comic-Con 2013 Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and director Gareth Edwards talked to press about their upcoming film GODZILLA, set to release May 16, 2014.

An epic rebirth of Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

BRYAN CRANSTON: We’d like to report that the water quality has increased by .02%. Oh, wrong press conference. Sorry. (Laughs)

After all these years, what do you think it is about the Godzilla creature – that it’s still so resonant? That people still can’t get enough of it?

GARETH EDWARDS: I think it’s the fact that you can’t answer that question. You can’t define it, in a sense. Like, when we first tried to figure out the film, is it going to be about Godzilla, or based on these different things? It became a lost conversation. It’s undefinable to these things. There have been so many remakes back-to-back that it’s evolved and changed over the years. I think that’s why it withstood the test of time. We felt that, above having Godzilla in the film, you’ve kind of got an infinite canvas. It’s such a rich universe, once you step back from these giant creatures. You really can do anything you want. I think that’s why it withstood the test of time – because it’s so ripe for remaking and revisiting. It’s not a single story. It could be any story that you want. Is that good? Is that a good answer?

BRYAN CRANSTON: That’s good. Good answer.

So much of the charm of your first film was the idea of concealing the creatures in that movie. How much did that benefit you when you were working on this, which is so much about the spectacle of revealing the creature? How much did it challenge you, and how much did it hurt you to, sort of, go the other way on this one?

GARETH EDWARDS: Yeah, I mean… without showing you stuff… With these films, you’re going to sit in the cinema for two hours. You want to see Godzilla, and you want to see him fight something else. We can reveal that now because we just talked about that this morning. If you just do it straight away, all up front, when everything is peaking, it goes to zero. It has no effect. It’s all about contrast. We tried to build the structure of the movie, and the weight of the film in such a way that it climaxes more, and more, and more. By the end of the film, hopefully it’s as powerful as it can be. You get all of those moments, which come throughout the movie. Like, you really feel like you’re ready for them… Classic movies though… You can hop back to JAWS, JURASSIC PARK, ALIENS… They don’t actually show the creature…

BRYAN CRANSTON: I gotta see those! (Laughs) I hear they’re good!

GARETH EDWARDS: My assistant had not seen those films, but I forced her to. She’s shaking her head back there (in the back of the room), but I had to give her an education on this film.

You mentioned earlier that Godzilla fights many creatures, at least one of which we saw this morning (in Hall H, they showed a teaser with a creature that looked like a spider-like insect). THere have been hints at several creatures. The creature, or creatures in the film, are they original design, or is it possible that you will be paying homage to some of the old Toho creatures in the long array of Toho films?

GARETH EDWARDS: I can’t answer that question. Bryan can just be really funny instead… (Laughs)

BRYAN CRANSTON: You’re just going to throw me under the bus?

GARETH EDWARDS: We had a deal. If I got an awkward question, I’d scratch my head like this (scratches side of head) and he would come in and save me.

BRYAN CRANSTON: And if there was a question that I didn’t want to answer, I’d just scratch my head like this (scratches head with middle finger). (Laughs)

Do you have a vivid memory of the first time you discovered the Godzilla films? Were you generally scared by the monster, or was the campiness part of the appeal? How did you discover Godzilla?

BRYAN CRANSTON: Unfortunately, my discovery of Godzilla was in the 1950’s when the Raymond Burr… 1956 I believe, came out. The year I was born. On TV, as a kid, watching it… that was astonishing! Even for its time, it was amazing to see those special effects, that were state of the art at the time. I just loved it. I thought it was – for a boy to watch that, it was great destruction, and a wonderful use of miniatures. But, our tastes have become more sophisticated since then, and certainly now. That’s what’s so great about this version of Godzilla. There was careful concern to develop the plot lines and intricacies, and the character development. Without that, without us as actors, and performers getting into our roles, the audiences wouldn’t be invested either. That’s what makes it far more interesting, for me – I believe, that audiences will be far more invested in these characters, and riding with them through the tensions and fears, and anxieties that the characters are going through. You’ll feel it more. Ultimately, it will be a better experience for you.

One of the biggest surprises for me with Monsters was how much I enjoyed the character that you created in that film. I’m wondering how you’re going to manage that with the effects that we’re all expecting, and what the cast felt dealing with the effects – how you approached the effects for GODZILLA?

GARETH EDWARDS: I tried not to view them as effects and go “Ok. This really happened. There really are giant monsters. What would be the best story to tell, that we can think of?”, and it always involves humans. So you come up with those characters, and try to create that story. I don’t separate the two in my mind. You just picture the movie. What was so refreshing was that we would shoot scenes that sometimes had a creature in them, sometimes didn’t, and we’d desperately try to make it work from an emotional point of view, on its own. You guys had the advantage of this, but we’d go in the evening, and kind of review scenes with the digital effects company, and they’d start putting the special effects in, and I’d go “Oh my god. I totally forgot that this whole other layer was going on with this.” We were painstakingly worried about the characters, and their journey, and suddenly, on top of that, there’s this spectacle that’s going to be invented in the whole film. It makes you feel really good, because we wanted to get it right from the character side of things.

AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON: The thing that I found really interesting around a film that’s a special effects movie – my idea was that you’re going to be in a studio filming these green screen monsters. There was, maybe, a couple of days of that, but the majority of time we would go film on location. It gave it just a whole other depth, and you forget about it. We’d be on location with destruction everywhere, and people were injured, and it came to life. It felt natural, and realistic. The way we shot it, it’s just kind of with you on this journey, from our perspective point of view. When you do get a glimpse of Godzilla, you’re looking up from a car window, or from a military helicopter, so you really feel, as an audience, that you’re totally involved in it. That you’re on this mad roller coaster journey with us.

ELIZABETH OLSEN: It’s kind of funny to go “Ok. So in that corner up there is this thing. Is it like a unicorn, or like a spider?” so, you know… it’s kind of a weird… it’s fun! It’s like you’re playing hot lava as a kid, or something. You’re trying to go deep into your imagination, like “Yeah, that’s a monster! It’s going to kill me unless I run fast!” So it’s fun. (laughs)

AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON: There were times as well that it’s hard to get the imagination of something, but it is a frightening prospect. Sometimes – it was really helpful – Gareth would – without knowing – we’d have a scene where we’d see something happen from one of the creatures and Gareth would play something on the microphone so we’d get the sound of Godzilla, or somebody playing around with the special effects. That was really great, to kind of hear something. You’re envisioning it through your consciousness, and then you’re hearing something through the giant speakers around you. Sometimes he would do it without you knowing it, and it would give a totally different layer.

GARETH EDWARDS: It was on my iPhone. I would desperately try to get to “this clip” with “this sound” and go “That’s not it. That’s not it. That’s not it. ” and they’d go “You’re wasting camera time” and I’d go “I gotta find that noise!”.

AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON: There was one time where it was, like, a walrus meets a tiger, meets a hippo farting. (Laughs) It was so bizarre…

GARETH EDWARDS: You just gave it away… that sound effect. (laughs)

BRYAN CRANSTON: And also the other monster in the movie.

Elizabeth, can you tell us about the character you play, and whether she is suited or unsuited to face what she is facing?

ELIZABETH OLSEN: I feel like my character’s role serves a purpose in the hands on interaction of chaos in the city, and how you deal with that, as well as having a child who needs to not be part of the chaos. I think that’s the perspective you get, and what ends up happening after… these things occur, and there’s an overflowing hospital, and people have to get from point A to point B, so it’s just, kind of, the practical part of it. It references any time some sort of natural disaster happens in a city. There’s a real truth to it, as opposed to a fantastical thing.

Because Godzilla is such a legendary creature, and on top of that, this film is highly action driven, what were some of the biggest challenges on the set of this film?

BRYAN CRANSTON: Getting Godzilla to come out of his trailer. He was an ass. He was a real asshole. (Laughs)

GARETH EDWARDS: I’d like to see that. We’d have to CGI the whole thing though.

BRYAN CRANSTON: He’d come out, he would eat all of the food on craft services, he would wreck everything… but boy, when the cameras rolled… boy he was good! That’s why they keep making Godzilla movies. (Laughs) He’s really good.

Elizabeth, what is it like being in a big budget film, because we are used to seeing you in more low-budget, indie films?

ELIZABETH OLSEN: I was really expecting to wait in a fancy trailer for three hours until they were ready for a lighting setup or something, but what ends up happening was on set until lunchtime, then until we wrapped. The crew felt really intimate. I think Legendary (Pictures) does a really good job of creating this incubator of creativity. They pick people that they trust, put them in an incubator, and then they put their heads together and figure out what they want to do to get done what they said they were going to do, and they allow you to do it. They’re not controlling things. It was just as creative of a process as anything else, honestly.

Bryan and Aaron, since we’re at Comic-Con, have you seen people dressed up as your characters, and have you see them do this before?

BRYAN CRANSTON: Yeah. I’ve seen a few dressed up on the floor as Walter White. Oh, you mean my character in Godzilla? No. I wouldn’t be surprised. (Laughs) It’s flattering to us. It’s a lot of fun to see that.

AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON: Yeah. I’d say the same thing. It’s amazing coming to Comic-Con. Everyone’s so passionate, and enthusiastic, and they dress up for the occasion. It’s incredible. Some of them make up their own costumes…

Any tattoos?

BRYAN CRANSTON: Oh yeah. Lot’s of Walter White, on various body parts. More than I’d like to know… (Laughs)

FOR MORE INFO:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/GodzillaMovie

GODZILLA wrecks it’s way into theaters May 16, 2014 in 3D

SLIFF/Kids Kicks Off Friday Night with Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, and Live Music

There’s nothing better than silent films accompanied by live music and I’d go as far as saying there’s nothing better than silent films accompanied by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra. I’ve seen them do this several times, and it’s alwways a stunning good time at the movies. You’ll have the opportunity this weekend, and it’s FREE, with the kick-off of Cinema St. Louis’ first annual SLIFF/Kids, the St. Louis International Children’s Film Festival, presented by PNC Arts Alive.

Buster Keaton in One Week

Friday night’s opening program is a trio of silent film shorts starring silent film legends – Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel & Hardy (The Chaplin film will not be accompanied by live music but will play with its original Chaplin-composed score)

The event starts at 7pm.

The venue is Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium: Webster Hall, 470 E. Lockwood Ave. Parking is available both in front of and behind Webster Hall; no permits are required.

Charlie Chaplin in A Dog’s Life

The program features live music and clown performances and a trio of classic silent-film shorts by some of cinema’s funniest comedians:

Charlie Chaplin becomes involved with a found pooch and stolen loot in “A Dog’s Life” (Charles Chaplin, 1918, 33 min.).
Buster Keaton attempts to build a prefab house in “One Week” (Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton, 1920, 24 min.).
Laurel and Hardy sell Christmas trees door to door in “Big Business” (James W. Horne & Leo McCarey, 1929, 19 min.).

The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra’s Matt Pace accompanies the Keaton and Laurel and Hardy films on piano, and live clowning is provided before, between, and after the films by Sammich the Tramp and the Knock-a-bouts and Circus Kaput’s Oh My Gosh Josh. Recommended for all ages. I’ll be there. Get there early – this should draw a big crowd….did I mention it was Free?!?

Laurel and Hardy in “Big Business”

James Gunn Begins Principal Photography On Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY At Shepperton Studios – August 1, 2014 Release Planned

(L-R) Actors Lee Pace, Benicio del Toro, Dave Bautista, James Gunn, Djimon Hounsou, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana attend Marvel’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy” panel during Comic-Con International 2013 at San Diego Convention Center on July 20, 2013 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage).

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, the next epic adventure from Marvel Studios, has started shooting at the UK’s Shepperton Studios.

Directed by James Gunn (“Slither,”“Super”) from his screenplay, with a story by Nicole Perlman and Gunn, the film will introduce audiences to a whole new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The all-star cast includes Chris Pratt (“Zero Dark Thirty”, “Moneyball”) as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek Into Darkness”, “Avatar”) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (“Riddick”) as Drax the Destroyer, Lee Pace (“The Hobbit,” “Lincoln”) as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker (AMC’s “The Walking Dead”) as Yondu, Karen Gillan (BBC TV’s “Doctor Who”) as Nebula, two-time Academy Award® nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Amistad”, “Gladiator”) as Korath, with Academy Award® winner Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”) as The Collector, Academy Award® nominee John C. Reilly (“Chicago”) as Rhomann Dey, and six-time Academy Award® nominee Glenn Close (“Albert Nobbs,” “Fatal Attraction”) as Nova Prime.

Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is slated for an August 1, 2014 release in the U.S.

James Gunn, Benicio del Toro, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker, Kevin Feige at Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” press conference during Comic-Con International 2013 at San Diego Convention Center on July 20, 2013 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Patrick Wymore)

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Alan Fine and Stan Lee; the co-producer is Nik Korda.

The creative team includes director of photography Ben Davis, BSC (“Wrath of the Titans”, “Kick-Ass”), production designer Charles Wood (“Thor: The Dark World”), BAFTA-nominated Editor Fred Raskin (“Django Unchained,” “Fast Five”) and Academy Award®-winning editor Hughes Winborne, A.C.E. (“The Help,” “Crash”), and Academy Award® winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Elizabeth The Golden Age”).

The film will also shoot at Longcross Studios, and locations in and around London.

Marvel Studios’ last two releases were “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “Iron Man 3,” which are the #3 and #5 highest grossing films of all time and the two highest-grossing films ever released by the Walt Disney Company. The two films are the #1 and #2 all-time domestic 3-day weekend box office record holders at $207.4 million and $174.1 million respectively.

The studio’s upcoming release schedule includes “Thor: The Dark World” on November 8, 2013, and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014.

Kermit And Miss Piggy Celebrate Birth Of Royal Prince From Set Of MUPPETS MOST WANTED

On Tuesday, the world caught its first glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s baby son.

The birth of the little Prince was celebrated with a 41-gun salute, Trafalgar Square was lit blue for a boy, while the BT Tower delivered the message: “It’s a boy!”

From the London set of their upcoming film MUPPETS MOST WANTED, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy joined in celebrating the birth of the new Royal Baby with this video.

MUPPETS MOST WANTED takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine – the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit – and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. The film stars Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard, and Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon.

Said Kermit the Frog, “This movie takes us places we’ve never been before. And trust me – this frog has never seen so much international flavor. I think audiences will eat it up – the entertainment, that is.”

Directed by James Bobin (“Flight of the Conchords,” “Da Ali G Show”), MUPPETS MOST WANTED opens in US theaters March 21, 2014!

Like The Muppets on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Muppets
Follow The Muppets on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MuppetsStudio
Official Site: http://disney.com/Muppets

SLIFF/Kids – Children’s Film Festival in St. Louis Announces Guests of Honor

Cinema St. Louis introduces SLIFF/Kids, the First Annual St. Louis International Children’s Film Festival, presented by PNC Arts Alive. With a half-dozen presenting partners, CSL will offer film programs, camps, and a workshop as part of SLIFF/Kids, which is held from July 26-Aug. 4, 2013. A total of 14 film programs will be screened on the fest’s two weekends (July 26-28 and Aug. 2-4) at Webster University, the St. Louis Public Library, the Missouri History Museum, Washington University, Lindenwood University, and the Wildey Theatre. With the participation of both Lindenwood and Webster universities, filmmaking camps on live action and animation will be held at the St. Louis Public Library’s Creative Experience on the fest’s weekdays (July 29-Aug. 2). And on Aug. 3, a full-day animation workshop will be held at the Saint Louis Art Museum. The SLIFF/Kids film programs and camps will be offered free of charge; a modest fee will be charged for the animation workshop, but all supplies and materials will be provided.

The following guests of honor will be featured at SLIFF/Kids:

Michael Sporn, Lifetime Achievement Award in Animation

Michael Sporn has been a vital creative force in animation for 40 years. Declaring Sporn “a poet of animation,” cartoon historian John Canemaker writes: “His artistry and craftsmanship are first-rate, and he invests each of his handmade projects with keen intelligence, integrity, and heart.” Before opening his independent studio in 1980, the Oscar®-nominated and Emmy-winning producer/director worked closely with legendary animation artists Faith and John Hubley, Richard Williams, and R.O. Blechman on commercials, shorts, and feature-length films. Sporn has produced a remarkably diverse range of animation, including feature-film titles, television specials, and even visuals for the Broadway stage. A sensitive interpreter of children’s stories for the screen, Sporn has carefully adapted to animation the unique styles of such storybook illustrators as William Steig, Russell Hoban, Bernard Waber, and Mordicai Gerstein. Working with music by composers such as Caleb Sampson, William Finn, and Charles Strouse and the distinctive voices of James Earl Jones, Susan Sarandon, and other actors, Sporn has produced adaptations of such classic tales as “The Red Shoes” and “The Hunting of the Snark.” Sporn presents programs of his work on the evening of Aug. 2 and afternoon of Aug. 4.

A Teen Workshop on animation drawing with Mr Sporn will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM). Teens can sharpen their animation drawing skills in this all-day, hands-on workshop led by Oscar®-nominated and Emmy-winning producer/director Michael Sporn. Participants will learn basic elements of cartoon animation, from pre-production to voiceover work. Sporn will also share a selection of his own films and lead students through various animation drawing exercises. Completed drawings will be combined into a short animated feature. Each student will be mailed a copy of the completed animated film. Class size is limited to 15; participants must be between 14 and 18 years old. Cost is $75 ($50 for SLAM members), and all art supplies are provided; lunch is not included but can be purchased at the Museum Café. To apply, visit the Saint Louis Art Museum Web site.(register HERE)

http://www.slam.org/iebms/reg/reg_p1_form.aspx?oc=10&ct=ACLASS&eventid=37766

Joey Dedio

Joey Dedio is a veteran of film, stage and television. As a youngster, Dedio appeared in After School Specials and on the NBC soap opera “Another World”; portrayed the title role in the NBC Series “The Karate Kid”; and served as the voice of “Wheeler” on the animated series “Captain Planet and the Planeteers.” As an adult, Dedio has worked as a regular in the serial “Sunset Beach”; guest-starred on such dramas as “Law and Order” and “Chicago Hope”; originated the role of Angel in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play “Skin”; and appeared in more than 15 films, including the Sundance competition drama “Strays.” Taking on additional roles, the multitalented Dedio wrote, produced, and starred in “Downtown: A Street Tale” and produced the award-winning documentary “The Providence Effect.” Dedio plays the title role in “Tio Papi,” which he co-wrote and produced. He’ll introduce the film and participate in a Q&A on July 27.

Jere Hausfater

Native St. Louisan Jere Hausfater, a leader in the media and entertainment industries for more than 30 years, currently serves as the chief operating officer of Aldamisa International, whose “Standing Up” closes SLIFF/Kids on Aug. 4. Before joining Aldamisa, Hausfater founded and was CEO of Essential Entertainment. He previously served as executive vice president at Miramax International, where he managed international distribution. Before Miramax, Hausfater was a president at Intermedia Films, and he spent more than 12 years as executive vice president of Disney’s Buena Vista International/Buena Vista Film Sales/Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Hausfater started his career in the music business, holding executive positions with United Artists/Blue Note Records, ABC Records, and MCA Records. A graduate of Boston University School of Business, Hausfater also holds a law degree from Southwestern University. Hausfater introduces “Standing Up” and participates in a post-film Q&A

Filmmaking Camps

Cinema St. Louis and the St. Louis Public Library are presenting Filmmaking Camps in live action and animation from Monday-Friday, July 29-Aug. 2, at the Central Library’s new Creative Experience space. The first camp, co-presented with Lindenwood U., is held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. each day and will give students the opportunity to collaborate on a live-action short. The second camp, co-presented with Webster U., is held from 1:30-4:30 p.m. each day and will focus on the creation of an animated short. The shorts that the students make will screen as part of SLIFF/Kids on its final weekend. The camps are aimed at middle- and high-school students ages 12-18; students will be assigned to five-member teams and grouped according to age. Each team will produce its own short. Spots for 20 students are available in each camp. There is no cost, but students must provide their own transportation and commit to attending the camp on all five days. To inquire whether space is still available, call Brian Spath at Cinema St. Louis: 314-289-4153. Download the application form for the filmmaking camps here.

http://www.cinemastlouis.org/sites/default/files/downloads/2013/Camp_Application.pdf

Check back here at We Are Movie Geeks for more coverage of SLIFF/Kids

The Cinema St. Louis SLIFF/Kids site can be found HERE

http://www.cinemastlouis.org/sliffkids-childrens-film-festival

GIVEAWAY – Win MLB iTunes DVDs

Baseball fans are now able to experience their favorite films in an entirely new way, as titles from the Major League Baseball Productions Film & Video Archive are now available on iTunes at http://www.itunes.com/MLB.

Over 100 titles are now live on iTunes including The Best of the Home Run Derby and “Prime 9: All-Star Moments;” Official World Series Films dating back to 1947, including the 1969 and 1986 films; the first season of “This Week In Baseball,” which originally aired in 1977; a documentary offering a fresh perspective on Jackie Robinson’s life and career; recent productions including a comprehensive film chronicling every era of World Series play and documentaries created to celebrate notable anniversaries for the Mets, Astros and Red Sox; bloopers titles highlighting the funniest MLB moments; and many other titles.

Prices range from $1.99 for individual episodes of “Prime 9” and “This Week in Baseball” to $19.99 for the Official 2012 World Series Film in HD.

In honor of MLB’s official iTunes Store, we are giving away 2 baseball DVDs.

PRIME 9: MLB HEROICS ($12.99)

MLB ALL-TIME BLOOPERS: DELUXE DOUBLEHEADER ($14.98)

Head over to http://www.itunes.com/MLB for more info.

Sponsor: A&E Home Video

Answer the following:

What two teams played in the 2012 World Series?

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE A US RESIDENT. PRIZE WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED TO US ADDRESSES. NO P.O. BOXES.

2. ENTER YOUR NAME AND ANSWER IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. WE WILL CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE A WINNER.

3. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN FROM ALL QUALIFYING ENTRIES. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PRIZES WILL NOT BE SUBSTITUTED OR EXCHANGED.

The giveaway ends 11:59 a.m. est on August 5th , 2013.

THE ROOM This Weekend at Midnight – Reel Late at the Tivoli

“I got the results of the test back – I definitely have breast cancer. “

There are different types of ‘Bad Movies’. It’s become sport to poke fun at bloated star vehicles such as ISHTAR, GLITTER, or GIGLI but those films are usually miserable experiences to actually sit through. There are films that are intentionally bad such as those from Troma studios (TOXIC AVENGER, POULTRYGEIST) but Troma knows its audience and anyone seeing a Troma film knows what they are getting into. Tommy Wiseau’s THE ROOM belongs with the group of movies that are so bad that they can transform their own awfulness into a “comedy of errors”. Unlike more mundane bad films, these films develop an ardent following of fans who love them because of their poor quality, because normally, the errors (technical or artistic) or wildly contrived plots are unlikely to be seen elsewhere and they become great entertainment in spite of themselves. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is the most famous film in this category but its director, Ed Wood, made his films while cloaked in an alcoholic haze (and bra) while convinced he was making great art. I’m not sure what Tommy Wiseau’s excuse is.

Fans of bad cinema who live in the St. Louis area have something to celebrate this weekend. Tommy Wiseau’s THE ROOM, crowned as ‘the Worst Movie Ever Made’ by pretty much everyone who has seen it, will be playing midnights this Friday and Saturday (July 26th and 27th) at the Tivoli. This will be the first time THE ROOM has screened as part of Tivoli’s Reel Late at the Tivoli film series since Tommy Wiseau’s triumphant appearance last summer. That weekend both midnight screenings of THE ROOM, hosted by Tommy himself, were sold out (and the film didn’t even begin until 1:30am because Wiseau wanted to make sure to accommodate the many fans who wanted to meet him in the lobby to purchase some autographed merch). We will start THE ROOM promptly at midnight this weekend.

THE ROOM is an independently-made, self-distributed movie Wiseau wrote, directed, and starred in back in 2003 that would have been quickly forgotten if it hadn’t found new life after being discovered by some courageous Los Angeles movie fans. It’s been playing midnights in larger cities for a couple of years now, complete with prop-throwing, dialog-heckling, and the audience acting out scenes (think ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW without the bustiers). I’ve seen THE ROOM a couple of times and can’t wait to see it again with a live interactive audience so I too can shout out “Lisa, you’re tearing me apart!” I’ve never bothered writing a review of THE ROOM because there’s no real way of adequately describing the film’s amusements in standard critique but I will say that it really does live up (or in this case down) to its reputation.

A most uncomplicated love story, THE ROOM stars Wiseau as Johnny, a long-haired banker whose trampy girlfriend Lisa (Juliette Danielle) is having an affair with his best friend Mark (Greg Sestero). Johnny gets upset. The End. To be sure, THE ROOM is a craptacular train wreck that will have you rolling on the floor with laughter because of its stupidity, but it is so transcendent in its dreadfulness that it actually becomes a thing of beauty. All of THE ROOMS’s cult achievement rests squarely on the awkward shoulders of Tommy Wiseau, the creepiest leading man ever to grace the big screen. Wiseau looks like Gene Simmons’ squat, constipated brother and has an incredibly uncomfortable screen presence. Speaking in a vague Eastern European accent (he claims he’s originally from France. He also claims to study psychology ‘as a hobby’), his every line is mumbled in the same phonetic, euro-sleaze inflection and concluded with a forced, strangled giggle. Wiseu directs himself in three long soft-core sex scenes, each one accompanied by an excruciating song and while Wiseu could have hired as his leading lady an unattractive actress who could act or a beauty who couldn’t, Juliette Danielle is both homely and untalented. I hate to be cruel but with her bad teeth, folds of fat that pop out of her lingerie, and nervous tick neck-twitch, she actually outdoes Wiseu in the lack-of-charisma department (at I first suspected she must be Wiseau’s girlfriend until I read an interview where he claims to have discovered her the day before shooting began when he spotted her stepping off a bus!).

It’s hard to explain the appeal of THE ROOM to someone who hasn’t seen it. I could describe the craziness that abounds such as the scene when the guys go outside and toss a football around from about three feet apart while reciting wretched dialog, or mention that a main character announces she has cancer halfway through, a development never again revisited, but there’s no way my descriptions can do THE ROOM’s unintentional delights justice. After all the anti-acclaim the film has received, Wiseau has backpedaled and now claims he was making a spoof, or dark comedy all along. I’m not buying it. I’ve read and seen interviews with Wiseau and am convinced he really was trying to make a serious drama with THE ROOM. Watch the extras on the THE ROOM DVD and you’ll observe a man who just isn’t all there. I’ve never seen someone with such a complete lack of self-awareness and oblivious narcissism. Sorry Tommy, we’re not laughing with you, we’re laughing at you. I don’t mean to begrudge the guy, as I understand it takes a lot of hard work to get a feature film made and he should just be glad he’s managed to turn himself into something of a cult figure. Wiseau says THE ROOM was based on his unpublished novel and never-performed play (!). Wiseau also claims the film’s budget was 6 million dollars but I’m sure 95% of that went to pay for the billboards he posted along Sunset Boulevard for four straight years promoting THE ROOM that show a huge close-up of his foul mug and the purchase of a full page “for your Oscar consideration” ad in Variety. Wiseau’s film failed to receive any nominations but he has self-published a glossy commemorative hardback book on the making of THE ROOM. I must have that book! It doesn’t get worse than THE ROOM, and that’s a good thing.

I’ll be at THE ROOM Friday and Saturday nights this weekend with THE ROOM trivia and great prizes!

See ya there!

The Tivoli is located at 6350 Delmar in The Loop.

Visit Landmark’s The Tivoli’s website HERE

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

And here’s the midnight line-up for the next few weeks:

Aug. 2-3 SPICE WORLD
Aug. 9-10 KICK-ASS
Aug. 16-17 ALIEN: DIRECTOR’S CUT

Sandra Bullock And Alfonso Cuarón Talk GRAVITY : Comic-Con 2013

This Saturday, at Comic-Con 2013, Sandra Bullock and writer/director Alfonso Cuarón talked to press about their new Warner Bros. Pictures project GRAVITY, set to release October 4, 2013.

In this Sci-Fi thriller, Dr. Ryan Jones (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission,with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney). But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone – tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth… and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

What were some of the challenges of this film being more factual as oppose to fantastical sci-fi?

Alfonso Cuarón: The challenge was that we didn’t want to create a new world. The goal was for the film to feel like one of those IMAX documentaries, like a Discovery Channel documentary that went absolutely wrong. We used current technology. We didn’t invent anything. If anything, we didn’t invent it but we went ahead of time – is that we have the Chinese space station. Right now it’s just one module. So that’s the only thing we changed. Not only that but we wanted to be retro. We have the space shuttle and we decided to keep the NASA astronaut suits instead of the current one, because there’s a new generation that’s going to come very soon. If we go through the next generation, it was going to look like fantasy science fiction, because it’s not in the consciousness of people yet. So that’s why we decided to go a little retro there. We went through pains to try to honor reality as much as we could. In terms of the sign of what you see and pretty much what it is up there … it’s a work of fiction, so we don’t pretend to say that everything is perfect. In frame of that fiction we try to be as accurate as possible to reality.

Sandra Bullock: Because I wasn’t at all in control or had no idea the extent of technology that is involved, and to me it was a fantastical and futuristic, which made it exciting and magical and frightening all in the same breath but it had to be very true to what someone was dealing with who would be in my character’s position, which is factual today. I wanted to be really accurate, so we have a lot of incredible specialists who answered that. There’s always people on call. There was several times I was able to call up to space and ask some questions. They were very helpful. Just from what I had to do, it had to be very human in this technologically advanced space that felt very futuristic of me because it has ever been done on film. So I had the benefit of both.

George Clooney is known for his on set pranks, and you’re also known to be quite a fun gal on set. Were there any on set pranks?

Sandra Bullock: No. There was a truce. Everyone should be grateful. (Laughs) This film was so hard, pranks had no place on this set. There was never downtime. How could we pull pranks hanging from a wire or scaffolding, rigged up all day? So we had a truce from the beginning of it, because that just wasn’t the appropriate place to prank someone. (laughs)

Alfonso Cuarón: The truce was – they decided not to prank each other… meaning that…

Sandra Bullock: We didn’t prank you, we just made fun of you.

Alfonso Cuarón: Exactly.

Sandra Bullock: (Laughs) There’s a difference.

You have a great history of making science fiction very realistic, and very gritty. It looks like you are going to do the same thing with GRAVITY. Did you shoot this in 3D?

Alfonso Cuarón: No we didn’t. It didn’t make any sense, because of the technology that we used, it was practically impossible. We wanted to shoot with 3D, with the cameras, and we did tests. First of all, it was impossible because of the technology. We used these robots. These robots that they use for camera manufacturing, we adapted some of those cameras, instead of using motion control, but the weight of those cameras was impossible in those rooms. In one instance, Sandra was on a rig inside a cube that is nine by nine that the camera just had a limited view of Sandra, and I would have to go through holes in that cube. If it’s a wide shot, it would start wide and go very closely. It was impossible because, as you know, with 3D cameras, you need two cameras so you need more space. Beyond that, it not only was impossible because of the constraint of space, what didn’t make any sense is it’s a combination of real action and CG that the amount of real footage was so minimal. What we would end up doing is doing a conversion. Pretty much we started converting the 3D three and a half years ago. To go through things to make sure it would be the closest thing to native 3D. I was with [James Cameron] last weekend and he was saying look, this is the perfect example how a film can’t be converted. Now he’s talking about now the way that technology goes, it’s not about taking our choice of going native or I’m going to convert, but like with any other tool, you choose your moments.

What kind of reaction are you hoping people have to the film?

Sandra Bullock: You want so much for this. I haven’t even seen the completed film but what I hope people come out of this feeling is having been taken completely out of their bodies. By the time the end of the film happens, wanting to go out and doing something amazing with their life if they’re not already doing it. What have you wasted up to this point? What have you not experienced? What have you not savored? Stop holding your breath and worrying about everything. There’s so many beautiful story lines in this film but you come out of it feeling, hopefully, that you’re given one more chance to be born again – to do what you’re going to do in this lifetime. That having been at the end of this horrific, beautiful, frightening experience that Alfonso gives you on the way there.

What was George Clooney like professionally?

Sandra Bullock: We’ve known each other long before, before either of us had a career, we’ve been part of a close group of friends, so I’ve known George before the world knew handsome George. The same person he was then was the exact same person he is now, a man who loves film, a man who loves being part of the group and working and supporting. He’s the ultimate team worker. You never know you’re dealing with someone who’s had the level of success he’s had, because all he cares about is being at the table at the beginning of a film, reading the script. What lines are great? How can I help? He’s just the same person I knew all those years ago when our hair was dark and curly. It’s just more of the same guy that I’ve known. You’re always grateful when you’re working with George because he wants everyone else to look better. He always wants everyone else to have their moment. It’s never the narcissistic actor/director/writer/producer who’s like “I need to make myself as good as possible.” He’s always looking out for everyone.

Alfonso Cuarón: That’s so true because part of his concern is here – because there was a point in which there was so many scenes with Sandra alone, he was so concerned with making sure that… I mean he could have just gone on, done this job and left. George noticed that Sandy and I were struggling with a couple of scenes. We were all the time discussing the scenes and doing rewrites in terms of the dialogue and how to best convey the emotions that we wanted to convey. Suddenly, out of the blue, he offered to help. Actually, one of the scenes, one of my favorite scenes, he rewrote. It was just out of the blue. It was like hey, look, for what it’s worth, here are these. Delete it or use it, and it was great.

What went through your head when you read the script for the first time, and what made you decide to sign on to the project?

Sandra Bullock: You know, it’s the great unknown. You’ve read this script and you always read into it, your experience in life. It was really profound, but it was still the great unknown. How do you do this? But the fact that it came from Alfonso, who is someone that for many, many years I have just… the joke always with me was that no matter what film I was doing, I was thinking “Let’s ask Alfonso Cuaron to direct it,” even though we knew that was never going to happen. But to admire someone so much and to have this project which you couldn’t explain, had never been done before, had this possible outcome of this beautiful message intertwined with extreme thrills, and action, and the technology that’s never been done before, it’s just like life. Sometimes I don’t know what this is, but the person who’s helming it is the person who’s worth blindly stepping into this vortex with. That’s what it was. I had such faith in what he already done, and meeting him as a person, and us having similar views and paths in life. I feel like we were trying to figure out so many things in our own lives and it just worked out that way. It was always a conversation that was okay to have. So it was what made it want to step in was the human being and the artist.

FOR MORE INFO:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/gravitymovie

WEBSITE: http://www.gravity-movie.com

GRAVITY opens in theaters OCTOBER 4

Gale Anne Hurd Among Three To Donate $5 Million Naming Gift To The Academy’s Museum of Motion Pictures

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received three $5 million naming gifts from producer and Academy Governor Gale Anne Hurd; philanthropist and CEO of Onex Gerald Schwartz and his wife Heather Reisman; and the family of the iconic film exhibitor Ted Mann—Victoria Mann Simms (Ted Mann’s daughter), her husband Ron Simms and their family. These gifts will help to fund the design and construction of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

“Our plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures are ambitious, and the support of a diverse and committed group of partners will help to make our vision possible,” noted Academy Museum Campaign Chair Bob Iger. “We are incredibly grateful for these vital commitments to the project.” The Academy launched the Museum’s capital campaign in 2012 and has already secured more than half of the campaign’s goal in commitments. The campaign is co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.

Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the historic Wilshire May Company building. Slated to open in early 2017, the Academy Museum will contain nearly 300,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, screening rooms, education centers, and special event spaces.

Support from Gale Anne Hurd will fund the creation of Academy Museum’s Demonstration Stage, which will be called The Hurd Stage. The Hurd Stage will host Academy members and other industry professionals who will conduct clinics and master classes tied to the arts and sciences of moviemaking. It also will allow the Academy Museum to highlight the latest technological advancements in cinema and to provide an immersive introductory experience for visitors.

Support from Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman will fund the Museum’s mezzanine lobby and gallery space, which will be called the Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman Mezzanine Gallery. Adjacent to the Academy Museum’s premier theater, this space will be a lively and interactive space that will also serve as a gallery, reception area, and meeting place for Museum visitors and moviegoers.

The Simms/Mann Family Foundation will support the creation of an intimate theater on the third floor of the Museum to be named The Ted Mann Theater. The Ted Mann Theater will be a home for retrospectives, screening series, and special programming, and will be embedded within a permanent exhibition devoted to the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Oscars.

“The outpouring of support for our Academy Museum has been extraordinary,” added Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Each one of these donors has a special connection to the entertainment community and we are thrilled and honored to count them as Founding Supporters of the Academy Museum.”

ROBOCOP is scheduled for theatrical release on February 7, 2014

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GODZILLA wrecks it’s way into theaters May 16, 2014 in 3D

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Filmmaking Camps

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GRAVITY opens in theaters OCTOBER 4

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