Shakespeare’s classic comedy is given a contemporary spin in Joss Whedon’s film, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Shot in just 12 days (and using the original text), the story of sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love.
Over the last 400 years, Shakespeare’s plays have continued to intrigue and excite audiences. His plays have been performed in every medium imaginable. There is a quality to his work that continues to evolve beyond the style and structure of plays from that era. “Much Ado About Nothing” is the kind of witty and acerbic comedy that still manages to inform love. The self-doubt, humility and growth that everyone must go through in the pursuit of love is something unchanged in these 400 years.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING opens in St. Louis, Friday, June 21st!
Enter for your chance to receive a pass (Good for 2) to the advance screening of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING on June 17that 7:00 PM in St. Louis.
Answer the following question:
Where was William Shakespeare born?
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. SEND YOUR NAME AND ANSWERS TO: michelle@wearemoviegeeks.com
3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE CORRECT ANSWER TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTION ABOVE TO WIN.
No purchase necessary. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. At the screening seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Refer to screening pass for further restrictions. Screening pass winners will be drawn at random and notified via email. Limit two (admit-one) passes per person. Must be age 13 or over to enter.
Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and brief drug use.
Leonato (Clark Gregg), the governor of Messina, is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) who is returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother Don John (Sean Maher). Accompanying Don Pedro are two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While in Messina, Claudio falls for Leonato’s daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese), while Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor’s niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange with Leonato for a marriage.
In the days leading up to the ceremony, Don Pedro, with the help of Leonato, Claudio and Hero, attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to trick the two into falling in love. Meanwhile, the villainous Don John, with the help of his allies: Conrade (Riki Lindhome) and Borachio (Spencer Treat Clark), plots against the happy couple, using his own form of trickery to try to destroy the marriage before it begins.
A series of comic and tragic events continue to keep the two couples from truly finding happiness, but then again perhaps love may prevail.
Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a professional Scarer—and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU, Mike’s plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot MU legacy James P. Sullivan, “Sulley” (voice of John Goodman), a natural-born Scarer. The pair’s out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University’s elite Scare Program. To make matters worse, they realize they will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, if they ever hope to make things right.
Screaming with laughter and oozing with heart, Disney•Pixar’s MONSTERS UNIVERSITY is directed by Dan Scanlon (“Cars,” “Mater and the Ghostlight,” “Tracy”), produced by Kori Rae (“Up,” “The Incredibles,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and executive produced by John Lasseter. The story and screenplay are by Daniel Gerson & Robert L. Baird (“Monsters, Inc.”) and Scanlon.
Enter for your chance to receive a Family Four Pack of Passes (2 admit-two passes) to a special 3D advance screening of MONSTERS UNIVERSITYon June 18th at 7:00 PM in St. Louis.
Answer the following question:
In 2001’s MONSTERS, INC., what was the name of the restaurant Mike and Celia visit ? (Hint – it’s named after the man who made the stop-motion animation monsters for films like Jason and the Argonauts.)
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. SEND YOUR NAME AND ANSWERS TO: michelle@wearemoviegeeks.com
3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE CORRECT ANSWER TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTION ABOVE TO WIN.
No purchase necessary. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. At the screening seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Refer to screening pass for further restrictions. Screening pass winners will be drawn at random and notified via mail. Limit 2 admit-two passes per person. While supplies last.
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY also features the voices of Steve Buscemi (“Boardwalk Empire”) as Randy Boggs, Helen Mirren (“Hitchcock,” “The Queen”) as Dean Hardscrabble, Alfred Molina (TNT’s “Monday Mornings,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Frida”) as Professor Knight, Dave Foley (TV’s “NewsRadio,” “The Kids in the Hall”) as Terry Perry, Sean P. Hayes (“The Three Stooges,” TV’s “Up All Night”) as Terri Perry, Joel Murray (TV’s “Mad Men,” “Two and a Half Men”) as Don Carlton, Pixar’s Peter Sohn (“Ratatouille,” “Small Fry”) as Scott “Squishy” Squibbles, and Charlie Day (“Horrible Bosses,” “Pacific Rim,” TV’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) as Art.
The voice cast also includes Nathan Fillion (“Much Ado About Nothing,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” TV’s “Castle”) as Johnny Worthington, Bobby Moynihan (NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” HBO’s “Girls,” DreamWorks Studios’ “Delivery Man”) as Chet Alexander, Julia Sweeney (TV’s “The Goode Family,” “Saturday Night Live”) as Ms. Squibbles, Aubrey Plaza (“To Do List,” TV’s “Parks and Recreation”) as Claire Wheeler, Tyler Labine (“Tucker & Dale vs. Evil,” “Mad Love”) as Brock Pearson, John Krasinski (“Promised Land,” TV’s “The Office”) as “Frightening” Frank McCay, Bonnie Hunt (TV’s “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” “Cheaper by the Dozen”) as young Mike Wazowski’s grade school teacher Karen Graves, Beth Behrs (TV’s “2 Broke Girls”) serves as Carrie Williams, and John Ratzenberger (“Cheers,” Disney•Pixar’s feature films) returns to the Pixar recording studio as the voice of a Monsters, Inc. employee.
With music from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and award-winning composer Randy Newman (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Toy Story 3”), Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso from Swedish House Mafia and Mastodon, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2013, and will be shown in 3D in select theaters.
In the fame-obsessed world of Los Angeles, a group of teenagers take us on a thrilling and disturbing crime-spree in the Hollywood hills. Based on true events, the group, who were fixated on the glamorous life, tracked their celebrity targets online, and stole more than 3 million in luxury goods from their homes. Their victims included Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, and Rachel Bilson, and the gang became known in the media as “The Bling Ring.”
In THE BLING RING, Oscar Winning filmmaker Sofia Coppola takes us inside the world of these teens, where their youthful naivete and excitement is amplified by today’s culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession. The members of the Bling Ring introduce us to temptations that any teenager would find hard to resist. And what starts out as youthful fun spins out of control, revealing a sobering view of our modern culture.
THE BLING RING Opens Nationwide on June 21st
In celebration of the opening of the film, WAMG has a great prizepack to giveaway to one lucky reader.
THE BLING RING prize pack includes:
Bling Ring Poster, T-Shirt and Book (a $50 value).
With an ensemble cast starring Emma Watson Nudes, Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Georgia Rock, and Gavin Rossdale, THE BLING RING is written and directed by Sofia Coppola.
Coppola also serves as producer with Roman Coppola and Youree Henley. Executive producers for the picture are Michael Zakin and Francis Ford Coppola for American Zoetrope, alongside Fred Roos and Paul Rassam. Emilio Diez Barroso and Darlene Caamano Loquet also acted as Executive Producers via their Nala Films label. Reteaming with Coppola is costume designer Stacy Battat, production designer Anne Ross, Editor Sarah Flack, and Cinematographer Harris Savides.
Theapocalypse is coming to theaters and on VOD today in the form of RAPTURE-PALOOZA. Only this time, Craig Robinson, Anna Kendrick, John Francis Daley, Rob Corddry, Paul Scheer, and many more are along for the ride.
Recently, I sat down with stars Rob Corddry and Rob Huebel to talk with them about the film, as well as some other random topics. Check out our little chats about clipping your toenails in IHOP, mustaches, and who the better doctor really is below.
When the Apocalypse actually happens and a billion people are raptured up to heaven, Lindsey (Kendrick) and her boyfriend Ben (Daley) are left behind in suburban Seattle. The young couple try their best to lead a normal life surrounded by talking locusts, blood rain showers, and pot-smoking wraiths. But when the Anti-Christ (Robinson) makes his home base in their neighborhood, Lindsey finds herself the object of his affection. With the help of her family, friends, and a lawn-mowing zombie neighbor, the young couple set off to stop the Anti-Christ from taking her as his bride… and just maybe, saving the world in the process.
(We’ll preface this with them asking me where I am from, which is originally St. Louis.)
RH: Isn’t Nelly from St. Louis?
He is.
RH: Come on guys.
RC: We’re big fans.
RH: Huge. Put that in your article.
You have the Anti-Christ, religion, sarcasm…
RH: THERE’S SARCASM IN THIS MOVIE?! (Laughs)
NO WAY!
RH: If there’s sarcasm in this movie, I’m out!
RC: You’re fu- You’re reading into that.
… so what was it that attracted you to this project?
RC: Uh, Rob Huebel.
RH: I heard that he (points to Corddry) was going to be in it.
You guys have never worked together before… ever…
RH: We were actually both really attracted to Craig. We’re like “Oh, Craig’s doing it. Yeah.”
RC: I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I assume because Craig’s a producer – that’s why we’re here. I probably owe him a thanks.
RH: I think Craig was like “I’m producing this movie. Let’s get these guys.”
RC: “Let’s get my buddies in.” (Laughs)
RH: “We’re gonna shoot this in Vancouver? Those guys would be fun to drink beer with.”
Because your both have worked together so many times, what’s the dynamic like on set? Do you know what to expect at this point?
RH: I think it depends. I mean, we know it’s going to be comedy GOLD! (Laughs) Don’t we? We try to leave room to improvise some stuff. I think this script was funny to us. You had more written – I think I had, like, 4 lines written in the script. And then when we got there they were like “Yeah, just say whatever you want.”
RC: (Laughs) So we created a whole relationship.
RH: Yeah, we created a whole relationship between us.
RC: … and Scheer too! Like, I had that whole scene with Scheer too. Same exact thing.
RH: So, if you’re lucky, when you do a movie like this, you can get people who can improvise and try to make it funnier, and develop the characters a little more. But, yeah, we’ve worked together a lot, so we feel pretty comfortable together.
RC: Yeah. It’s also like… being an actor, it’s always kind of your first day. You know, your first day in the office is always uncomfortable. (Laughs) “Where’s the coffee machine? Can I leave for lunch or…?” But, being able to work with people that you’ve worked with before, who you are friends with, it’s just… it rarely feels like the first day anymore because it’s all familiar faces.
RH: Yeah, and I think, comedically, we’ve worked together before, so we’ve kind of developed a shorthand with each other – where I sort of know what he might be going for in something. Like, if he’s going down some weird road and he’s improvising, I sort of know what I can be to help him bounce that off of me.
RC: And, Huebel and I… I think I’ve worked with you the longest of anyone in Children’s [Hospital]. We’ve been improvising together since, like, 97’. So, I think you and I always have the most satisfying improv. (Laughs) At least once a season something that happens
RH: … some sort of banter between us… (Laughs)
RC: … that I just get insanely proud of… (Laughs)
RH: It could also only be funny to us.
RC: Totally.
If “The Rapture” were to take place tomorrow, which of the plagues would you be most afraid of?
RH: Wait… do you know the plagues? Like, there’s locusts…
… there’s blood rain…
RC: That doesn’t sound too bad to me.
RH: Blood rain?
RC: Blood rain.
RH: There’s also famine… there’s a lot of plagues.
A lot of people got killed by fiery meteors in this film.
RC: Pestilence. Pestilence would be tough.
RH: What is that? Is that disease?
RC: I don’t know. I don’t know what that is… (Laughs)
RH: I would say locusts. I would not want locust all over me…
RC: No! That sounds terrible…
RH: … and in my face.
RC: … any sort of bugs…
RH: Yeah, bugs in general. You don’t want mosquitos. You don’t need all that.
[To Rob Corddry] How long does it take you to grow a mustache? You had a pretty great stache in this one…
RC: God… (sigh) … it took me about 10 minutes in makeup.
RH: 10 minutes to success.
Oh… they glued it on? Because that’s comfortable…
RC: I swallowed about 8 or 9 of them during the course of making this.
RH: I will say that you look…
RC: (Laughs…)
RH: … so much like a pedophile with a mustache.
(Laughs)
RC: Seriously… (laughs)
RH: I would say you look exactly like a pedophile… and I know a lot of pedophiles.
RC: Also, it immediately ages me, like, 10-15 years. (Laughs)
RH: I think that’s why they did it. How are you going to be John Francis Daley’s dad… I mean, let’s do the math on that.
RC: I know. I know. I had him when I was like, 13.
Craig Robinson has been known to be very musical on set. I noticed the piano in the film. Was there a lot of music going on behind the scenes?
RH: Oh man. We were always hanging out on set just…
RC: … jammin’…
RH: … just jammin’…
RC: … and man, how we’d get so high…
RH: … so high…
RC: … and just jam…
RH: … and just jam R&B songs…
RC: … and that’s when the good stuff happened..
RH: … Oh, that’s where the magic is
(Laughs)
RH: No. That was someone’s house. What you see in the movie… that belongs to some billionaire guy in Vancouver. That was his house. So we didn’t really loiter around there too much.
RC: Also, every interior is in that house. I don’t even know if they dressed it. It’s like “Oh, this dude had a piano so Craig had a piano.” (Laughs) “We don’t have a lot of money to do the movie, so lets use what we have.”
[To Rob Corddry] You just had a film you worked on by Michael Bay come out. What is it like to work on a Michael Bay set?
RC: Same thing… Lotta improv…
RH: Just magical…
RC: Easy peasy… (Laughs)
RH: Just easy peasy…
RC: It feels like the first day of work. It’s different. Say what you will about his reputation, but what I found was that he’s the hardest working man in the room, and demands that of the people around him by actions. You know what I mean? Like, you immediately just want to please him. You wanna do good. You wanna work hard because he’s working hard. We’re always working on stuff that is low-budget, so it’s always moving fast… but I’ve never been on a set that moves so fast.
RH: Really? Even on a big budget project like that…
RC: It wasn’t even that big budget. I mean, 26 million is big budget to us, right? But to him…
RH: That’s nothing to him…
RC: … that’s nothing.
RH: That’s what that movie was?
RC: 26. Yeah. Nothing.
RH: That’s not a lot. By the way, that’s about 25 million more than what we used to shoot this movie.
RC: Exactly! (Laughs) He was telling us that he shot this one scene where The Rock [Dwayne Johnson] is on his knees in a hotel room really high, and Bar Paly, his girlfriend, is talking nonsense to him, and he can’t understand her. And he goes “Watch that scene. I shot it in 17 minutes. We got in, shot it, and had to get out of the location.” He shot it, and it’s gorgeous. It’s amazing. So, he thrives, I think, in that environment. I think he really likes solving problems, and he’s really good at it. He’s a really good director.
RH: We should get him to direct some Children’s Hospital. Why wouldn’t he ever want to.
I think that’s a great idea!
RC: Why wouldn’t he ever want to? (Laughs) He’s gotta be sick of money at this point!
RH: He’ll do it as a fuck you to himself.
(Laughs)
RC: Fuck you, me!
[To Rob Huebel] You tweeted today that “IHOP is a great place to meet people who like to clip their toenails while you eat your pancakes.”. Does this come from experience? Have you actually ever seen someone do this?
RH: Yeah. I had spent the night in Palm Springs last night, and was driving back this morning, and stopped at an IHOP… and there was someone clipping their toenails in the booth next to us.
RC: Gross.
That is so gross.
RC: I think it’s rude. I think it’s rude when people clip their toenails alone in their own bathroom. That’s disgusting.
RH: Disgusting.
Did you say anything???
RH: No, it’s IHOP. You’re allowed to do that.
RC: No! Because that person is obviously insane! Don’t mess with that person!
RH: That person has…
RC: Don’t talk to that person…
I can’t imagine a sane person doing that…
RH: No, that’s their target market – is people…
RC: You know what I hated too… and not to sidetrack…
No, you’re good!
RC: … we lived in New York forever, and people would clip their fingernails on the subway.
RH: Ohhh..
Oh, no!
RC: All the time! Like, you’re always hearing “tink, tink” and…
RH: Ugh.
RC: … it’s, like, a thing. A lot of people will wait. That’s their time.
RH: Then it’s like their bathrooms.
RC: It’s so fucking disgusting to me. Biological waste is just flying everywhere.
I’m horrified right now.
RC: It’s horrifying!
I half expected that to be a farce. I didn’t expect that tweet to be real.
RH: Everything I tweet is real.
RC: Nothing! He never lies!
Well, that kind of answers my next question. I’ve been surprised lately by how many celebrities have other people tweeting for them. That is actually you guys tweeting.
RH: Yeah. We tweet…
RC: Imagine if you had someone tweeting that – my favorite Huebel tweet ever is something like… and I’m paraphrasing… “Never go running in the park with rapist written on your forehead.” or something, and – can you imagine if you had your publicist doing something like that? (Laughs)
RH: I know a few entities… like I got asked to do the twitter page for a movie that was coming out that I was not involved with at all…
RC: Oh, that’s weird.
RH: I was not involved in the movie. I know the director, so he asked me “Do you mind running the twitter page?” and I politely said “No thank you.”.
RC: (Laughing) It’s like “Yeah, I kinda so mind actually”.
RH: “Yeah, if you put me in the movie!”
RH: It’s kind of strange that an individual would have someone else tweet for them.
RC: You can tell though. Like, Tom Cruise has never typed anything into twitter, and stuff like that… I don’t think he would, but there’s a lot of people like that who probably don’t. But for us, we can tweet anything and it’s just a joke. For guys like that, everything they say is put under a microscope. We just go like “satire” and everything goes away.
RH: You can literally tweet anything…
RC: Anything…
RH: The only time I’ve been burned is – there’ve been a couple of times where I’ve woken up and I didn’t look at the news to see what was going on, and it’s been the day of, like, a major national tragedy, or something like that, and I’ll get on there and be like “Oh man. These tacos gave me diarrhea.” and people are like “How dare you! This plane just crashed!”.
RC: Hahaha! Oh god…
RH: “Oh, I didn’t know.”
[To Rob Corddry] WARM BODIES had a really nice reception. Are we looking forward to a sequel?
RH: Oh. I wanted to see WARM BODIES. I didn’t even get to see it. Where can I see it?
RC: Jesus Christ dude…
RH: I didn’t…
RC: Don’t…
RH: Come on…
RC: I can get a private screening.
He knows a guy…
RC: I know a guy. I just heard today, from a journalist, that Isaac Marion is writing a sequel. Maybe he’s writing the book sequel.
Would you be down for a sequel?
RC: Yeah! Hell yeah! I pretty much don’t say no to a lot of stuff. (Laughs)
RH: Who’s the guy in that? Who’s the kid? Cause he’s big now, right?
RC: Nicholas Holt.
Isn’t he like a superhero now?
RC: Yeah. Nic Holt. He’s in X-Men. He’s the Beast. He’s great, and he’s awesome in it. They’d be silly, probably, not to make another one. I always look at it realistically, like, how is my character going to figure into it… I don’t know. Who knows. I’ll do it. Yes. The answer is yes! (Laughs)
Children’s Hospital has been picked up for a fifth season. What can we look forward to? Also, who do you think is the better doctor?
RH: The best doctor?
RC: That’s a great question!
RH: Well, the fan favorite is me… Dr. Owen Maestro.
RC: I would say a lot of the doctors that aren’t really characters on the show. I mean, it’s a hospital. There has to be a hundred more doctors in that hospital. They’re probably better…
RH: The best doctor, if you mean the most skilled physician is probably…
RC: Josh Weingard. (Laughs) We haven’t seen him yet.
RH: Dr. Rosenberg.
RC: We actually have a scene – we just finished shooting the fifth season, and we’re editing it now. There is a scene where one doctor – you think he gets killed, and you turn him over and it’s somebody that just looks like him, and it’s like “Oh god! It’s Josh Weingard, our best surgeon!”, and then we have an argument over a dead body about “Is he the best?”
The number one comedy blockbuster IDENTITY THIEFis ready to steal a space on your Blu-Ray and DVD shelf, and in support of its June 4th release, WAMG was invited out to Dodger stadium to watch star Genesis Rodriguez, who plays Marisol in the film, throw out the first pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals. While there, I got the chance to speak to her about the film. I might have also watched my home team Cardinals win. What can I say? You can take the girl out of St. Louis, but you can’t take the St. Louis out of the girl. Check out my interview with Genesis below!
Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses) and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) lead an all-star cast in this hilarious blockbuster hit. Unlimited funds have allowed Diana (McCarthy) to live it up on the outskirts of Orlando. There’s only one glitch: she’s financing her shopping sprees with an ID stolen from Sandy Patterson (Bateman), an accounts rep who lives halfway across the U.S. With only one week to hunt down the con artist before his world implodes, the real Sandy Patterson is forced to extreme measures to clear his name.
First off, how long did you practice that pitch?
GR: I practiced two days, about a week apart. If I made a fool out of myself, fine – but at least I tried, in my head. I don’t know what I did. I have no idea. (Laughs)
You play quite the badass in this film. How did you become involved with this film?
GR: The producers had seen CASA DE MI PADRE, and really loved it, and they asked if I would be willing to read for a part. I was like “Yeah, sure!”. I had no idea what they wanted, really, so I just kind of winged it. I came in with a super heavy accent – they didn’t ask for an accent… I came in “batshit crazy”. I remember, in my audition, I had this part where I was just talking, and I throw my things… I just went all out with it, and they were like “Ok. We really like this! You got the job!” and I was like “Ok. I had a really great time!” If I have a great time auditioning, I know I’m going to have a great time in the movie. That was the case. I had a great time. I’m not a badass. I mean, I can hardly throw a baseball for crying out loud. (Laughs) I like to be able to do that and push myself, and act, because that is total acting. I could not be like that.
You get to play around with guns in some of your films. Did you have to do any sort of training for that?
GR: I had done THE LAST STAND right before, so I had a little bit of gun training, then I jumped into this one right afterwards, so I was like “Sure. Yeah. Why not man?” They’re fun.
You’re known for your roles in soap operas. How was the crossover for you into film, and comedy?
GR: Well, I never really trained for comedy. I trained for saying ridiculous things very seriously. Like, my whole life I would have to say things like “I lost my vision” and be dead serious about it. That shit doesn’t happen! Excuse me for saying shit.
Oh no, you’re fine. I have the mouth of a sailor. You’re great! (Laughs)
GR: That was my training for comedy. To take it very seriously, and to deliver as intensely, and seriously as possible. That was pretty easy for me to do. That’s kind of what I’ve been doing in all the comedies like CASA… It was just “say ridiculous things very seriously”. This one was super intense. She didn’t even know how to pronounce her J’s (laughs) so, it was just a very easy transition.
You got to spar a bit with Melissa McCarthy in this. Did you get to improv with her, or with Tip (T.I.)?
GR: With her, no. With Tip I did. All the time. With Melissa we had to be more on book. She got to improvise a little bit more, just because of the way the story had to be told and played out.
This is his first comedic performance. He’s mostly known for his music career and his drama roles. What was your relationship with him like on set?
GR: At first I was like “How is he going to be?” because he’s this huge hip hop artist. “Is he going to be a diva? Is he going to be obnoxious? Is he not a team player?”. He was awesome. Just so easy to work with… He’s an actor! I didn’t know to how full of an extent I was ready for improv. So smart, so quick – just giving you something to feed off of. That’s what he should be doing. He should be doing more comedies. He’s hilarious.
You said you were worried about it. Have you ever had a problem with someone on set? Have you ever encountered someone being a diva?
GR: More so in my Spanish soap opera work. That was brutal. The biggest divas in the world were there. I probably had myself a diva moment there too because it was just horrible hours. You kind of get fed up. The 18 hour work days Monday through Saturday – about 7 months in you’re like “Ok, I gotta go! Let’s get this take done!”. That’s the type of attitude you start getting, but in movies it’s totally different! I don’t know. I never meet anyone like that. I certainly don’t have those feelings. It’s a Monday through Friday job, a 12 hour day – It’s pretty awesome! You get a trailer! You get to read books! You can eat candy and catering! It’s like “Dude, I don’t have to work today if you don’t want me to. I’ll wait!” I could not care!
You grew up with a singer/actor father, and a model for a mother. Do you feel like you were destined to do this? To be a part of the entertainment world? Or, was there something else you envisioned yourself doing?
GR: You know, I thought maybe I was going to be a lawyer, which is kind of acting as well. (Laughs) I was really good in school. I was in the honor program, I was in robotics, I was good in sciences… Honestly, I never took myself seriously. I never realized that I was in the public. My parents were the most humble and simple people ever. So, I never thought of myself as anything really different. I thought it was normal, what they did. I never was really interested until I took a drama class, and I realized “Holy moly! I can be different people?”. My drama teacher noticed. He never really told anyone this in class but he said “Gen, you should really consider this as a profession.” I said “I never really thought about that.” and he said “Get some training. Get some training. Go do that. I think you’ll be ok.”
Take Home the Hilarious Unrated Edition of IDENTITY THIEF today on Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack Including UltraViolet™, DVD & Digital Copy with Alternate Takes, a Gag Reel & More
In MAN OF STEEL, a young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
Zack Snyder directed MAN OF STEEL from a screenplay by David S. Goyer from a story by Goyer & Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Entertainment. Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder are the producers, with Thomas Tull, Lloyd Phillips and Jon Peters serving as executive producers.
The film stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni and Russell Crowe.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Syncopy Production, a Zack Snyder Film, MAN OF STEEL. The film will be released in 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX®, and is slated for release on June 14, 2013. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Enter for your chance to receive a pair of passes to a special 3D advance screening of MAN OF STEEL on June 11that 7:00 PM in St. Louis.
Answer the following question:
Name the actors who played Jor-El, Lois Lane and General Zod in SUPERMAN (1978).
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. SEND YOUR NAME AND ANSWERS TO: michelle@wearemoviegeeks.com
3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE CORRECT ANSWER TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTION ABOVE TO WIN.
No purchase necessary. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. At the screening seating is not guaranteed and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Refer to screening pass for further restrictions. Screening pass winners will be drawn at random and notified via email. Limit two (admit-one) passes per person. Must be age 13 or over to enter.
The comedy THIS IS THE END follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.
THIS IS THE END stars James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, with Michael Cera and Emma Watson nude. Directed by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, THIS IS THE END will be in theaters June 12.
Columbia Pictures and WAMG invite you to enter to win a pass (good for 2) to the advance screening of THIS IS THE END on June 10that 7:00 PM in St. Louis.
Answer the following question:
In THIS IS THE END, six friends – who just happen to be James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson – are trapped in Franco’s house as the end of the world begins outside. And we’re not talking about any old California-slides-into-the-ocean earthquake… we’re talking the fire-and-brimstone Apocalypse – the real Biblical deal.
What famous person would you want to be stuck in a house with at the end of the world?
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. SEND YOUR NAME AND ANSWERS TO: michelle@wearemoviegeeks.com
3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE CORRECT ANSWER TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTION ABOVE TO WIN.
4. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN THROUGH A RANDOM DRAWING OF QUALIFYING CONTESTANTS. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PASSES WILL NOT BE SUBSTITUTED OR EXCHANGED. DUPLICATE TICKETS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
THIS IS THE END has been rated R by the MPAA for CRUDE AND SEXUAL CONTENT THROUGHOUT, BRIEF GRAPHIC NUDITY, PERVASIVE LANGUAGE, DRUG USE AND SOME VIOLENCE.
I’m super-excited about this year’s Q-Fest….and I’m not even gay!
There are a pair of must-see gay-themed films making their St. Louis debuts; I AM DIVINE, a documentary about the late crossdresser and John Waters frequent star, and James Franco’s INTERIOR LEATHER BAR, a high-concept recreation of scenes that were cut from William Friedkin’s notorious 1980 gay serial killer movie CRUISING. Divine was one of the biggest, most outrageous, and proudly different gay cultural icons the world has known and the new documentary about the performer I AM DIVINE plays at Q-FEST this Friday night at 7pm. A high (or low) point in Divine’s career was John Waters 1972’s masterpiece PINK FLAMINGOS where he/she competes for the title of “filthiest person alive” by eating fresh dog poop. With antics like that, it’s no surprise that the emerging punk scene adopted his visage on t-shirts. I AM DIVINE will be preceded by the short LAST KISS by Chuck Lum, a brief elegy honoring the memory and tomb of Oscar Wilde. Chuck is an old buddy of mine and helped out with Vincentennial two years ago by going to Elizabeth Shepard’s apartment (she starred with Vincent Price in TOMB OF LIGEIA) and filming a wonderful testimonial by her about working with Vincent Price. This is the first of Chuck’s films to be shown at Q-Fest and I’m glad they’re showing it with the Divine documentary because that will draw a big crowd.
INTERIOR LEATHER BAR plays afterwards at 9pm but requires a separate admission.
And those two aren’t even the films opening the sixth annual edition Q-Fest!
The Cinema St. Louis event will be held Thursday, June 6 – Sunday, June 9, 2013, in the Winifred Moore Auditorium at Webster University. QFest uses the art of contemporary gay cinema to spotlight the diversity and inherent complexities of living an alternative lifestyle in today’s society. This year’s event will feature an eclectic slate of contemporary LGBTQ-themed feature films, documentaries, and shorts. Contact artistic director Chris Clark for additional details, questions, and the mega cool perks of sponsoring the event or a QFest film: chris@cinemastlouis.org or 314.289.4152. Tickets
All screenings will be held at the Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves. Individual tickets are $12 general admission, $10 for students and Cinema St. Louis members with valid and current photo IDs, and free for Webster U. students. Advance tickets will be available through Brown Paper Tickets (search for QFest St. Louis). For more information, call 314.289.4152.
a printable .pdf of the entire event can be downloadedHERE
Married & Counting
Allan Piper
United States
2012, 93 min.
Show Times
Thu, Jun 6th at 7:00pm
Webster U./Moore
A same-sex couple celebrates their 25th anniversary by traveling the country to marry in every state that will legally let them. Along the way they find acceptance from strangers, rejection from loved ones, and discover that no distance is too far to go to declare that their marriage counts. Narrated by George Takei, Time Magazine calls the film “Equal parts love story and political protest”
Director Allan Piper, plus subjects Pat Dwyer and Stephen Mosher will attend. Immediately following the screening will be a wedding reception at Cravings.
Carla
Eli Hershko
United States
2012, 80 min.
Show Times
Thu, Jun 6th at 9:00pm
Webster U./Moore
While Carla, a male-to-female pre-op transsexual, contemplates on how to come up with the cash needed to complete her transition and is faced with the hardship of being dejected from her family she meets Sam, a regular great guy who likes her the way she is. But when Carla suddenly gets the cash needed for her various surgeries, Sam has second thoughts about their relationship. Now Carla is faced with the tough dilemma, if she transitions she loses Sam and if she doesn’t she may just lose herself.
Actress Joslyn Defreece, who plays Carla, will attend.
Sponsored by:
Tim Brennan and Cravings
Friday night June 7th:
I Am Divine
Jeffrey Schwarz
United States
2013, 85 min.
Show Times
Fri, Jun 7th at 7:00pm
Webster U./Moore
I AM DIVINE is the story of Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, from his humble beginnings as an overweight, teased Baltimore youth to internationally recognized drag superstar through his collaboration with filmmaker John Waters. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine was the ultimate outsider turned underground royalty. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture. This definitive biographical portrait charts the legendary icon’s rise to infamy and emotional complexities.
Interior. Leather Bar.
James Franco & Travis Mathews
2013, 60 min.
Show Times
Fri, Jun 7th at 9:00pm
Webster U./Moore
The controversial 1980 film “Cruising,” which explored (or exploited) the S&M gay subculture, was forced by the MPAA to cut 40 minutes of sexually explicit material. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what might have transpired in those lost scenes in this intriguing film. The result is a provocative film about the importance of the radical and transgressive in society and the value of engaging with things that scare us. The films grapples with the need to challenge normalcy, the interplay of celebrity and experimentation, and the dilemma faced by actors struggling to reconcile who they are in life with who they portray on screen.
Parking may be a challenge Friday night due to the annual Webster Groves Art & Air Festival taking place all weekend across the street on the campus of Eden Seminary. Please allow extra time for parking and walking a little further to Webster U. and Moore Auditorium, which is in Webster Hall right across the street from Eden and the festival. Look for the castle-like structure in the middle of the circular drive in the northernmost face of the campus on Lockwood. The main doors lead directly to the theater. This will be an awesome St. Louis summer weekend, so please come early to enjoy this wonderful outdoor event before coming to QFest.
Check back here at We Are Movie Geeks for more coverage of the 6th annual Q-Fest St. Louis!
Premiering to rave reviews at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, THE KINGS OF SUMMER is a unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenage friends – Joe (Nick Robinson), Patrick (Gabriel Basso) and the eccentric and unpredictable Biaggio (Moises Arias) – who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.
Free from their parents’ rules, their idyllic summer quickly becomes a test of friendship as each boy learns to appreciate the fact that family – whether it is the one you’re born into or the one you create – is something you can’t run away from. This is director Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ feature debut.
THE KINGS OF SUMMER stars Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Erin Moriarty, Marc Evan Jackson, Thomas Middleditch and Tony Hale.
The film is in select cities now and opens in St. Louis Friday, June 7th.
CBS Films and WAMG invite you to enter to win a pass (good for 2) to the advance screening of THE KINGS OF SUMMERon Monday, June 3rdat 7:00 PM in St. Louis.
Answer the following question:
Tell us your favorite Teen film.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. SEND YOUR NAME AND ANSWERS TO: michelle@wearemoviegeeks.com
3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE CORRECT ANSWER TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTION ABOVE TO WIN.
4. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN THROUGH A RANDOM DRAWING OF QUALIFYING CONTESTANTS. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PASSES WILL NOT BE SUBSTITUTED OR EXCHANGED. DUPLICATE TICKETS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Photo credit: Julie Hahn
THE KINGS OF SUMMER has been rated R for language and some teen drinking.
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a monthly newspaper run by Steve DeBellis, a well know St. Louis historian, and it’s the largest one-man newspaper in the world. The concept of The Globe is that there is an old historic headline, then all the articles in that issue are written as though it’s the year that the headline is from. It’s an unusual concept but the paper is now in its 25th successful year! Steve and I collaborated recently on an all-Vincent Price issue of The Globe in 2011 and he has asked me to write a regular monthly movie-related column. This month’s St. Louis Globe-Democrat is written as if it’s 1949, the year Joe Besser starred with Abbott and Costello in the comedy AFRICA SPEAKS.
Our town’s Joe Besser is well on his way to being a distinguished comedian and even has a role in the newest Abbot and Costello film AFRICA SCREAMS. Born in 1907, Joe is the 9th child of Polish immigrants Morris and Fanny Besser of Florissant. He’s been fascinated with show business, especially comedy and magic, since he was a child and has become a headliner on the Orpheum, RKO, Paramount, and Loew’s theater circuits, as well as the Broadway stage, often with Jimmy Little serving as his straight man. Joe has appeared in a few movies; most notably EADIE WAS A LADY as Professor Diogenes Dingle opposite Ann Miller but a role in a film starring box office champs Bud and Lou should introduce him to a whole new audience.
Abbot and Costello have taken a leave from their work at Universal Studios, where they have been the among the top ten box office attraction in Hollywood for the past several years. They are still under contract there but have gone to work for Huntington Hartford, heir to the A&P supermarket fortune. Mr. Hartford, one of the country’s wealthiest men, has decided to get into the motion picture business and has hired the comedy duo for the inaugural production of Huntington Hartford Productions, an independently financed comedy entitled AFRICA SCREAMS, the title being a play on the name of the popular 1930 documentary Africa Speaks! AFRICA SCREAMS was filmed at Nassour Studios o Sunset Boulevard in sixteen days with a budget of $5450,000. It is being released by United Artists and has been directed by Charles Barton who has directed the Bud and Lou in six previous films including their horror hit ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.
In AFRICA SCREAMS Bud and Lou play department store booksellers Buzz and Stanley. They are approached by Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke) who’s looking for a copy of the book Dark Safari, written by a famed explorer and offers to pay $2,500 for a map inside the book she thinks will lead to a stash of diamonds. Buzz devises a plan to pass off Stanley as a great explorer who can reproduce the map from memory. The two agree to accompany Diana on an African expedition, where the boys run into crocodiles, a tribe of cannibals, lions, a gorilla, a giant ape, and every other sort of trouble one could find in the jungles of Africa.
AFRICA SCREAMS is fast-paced and funny with Bud and Lou both in fine form. A highlight is when Abbott does the familiar but hilarious bit where he thinks Lou has been killed and delivers a mournful monologue about what a pal Lou was and how he is to blame…..though Lou’s standing right there. The odd compact car that Lou drives near the end of the film is a Crosley, made by the Crosley Motor Co. a company previously known for making refrigerators. The boys are backed by a colorful supporting cast. The film not only spoofs the type of real-life jungle safari adventures made popular by explorer Frank “Bring ‘Em Back Alive” Buck in the early 1930’s (Wild Cargo 1934, Fang and Claw, 1935), it features the famed hunter playing himself in a supporting role. Buck isn’t the only jungle Bwana in AFRICA SCREAMS. Clyde Beatty, “the World’s Greatest Animal Trainer” plays himself and his scenes with the big cats are impressive. Beatty has his own Circus, and has appeared in many films before, including a starring role in the 1937 15-part Columbia movie serial Jungle Menace.
Boxing brothers Max and Buddy Baer are cast as Hillary’s intimidating henchmen Boots and Grappler. The 6’3” Max has been appearing in films since THE LADY AND THE PRIZEFIGHTER (1936), but this is the motion picture debut of his younger, and larger at 6’7”, brother Buddy. The two bruisers have a clever scene where they’re duped by monkeys into fighting each other. At one point Buddy says to Max “I’ll hit you harder than Louis ever did”. This is of course a reference to current World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis who fought and defeated both Baer brothers.
Shemp Howard, who replaced his brother Curly three years ago in The Three Stooges has a small role in AFRICA SCREAMS as a squinty killer who wears thick glasses and repeatedly bumps into things, but it’s St. Louisan Joe Besser who really steals the show as Diane’s butler, Harry. One hysterical scene has Besser interrupting Abbot and Costello by dashing into a tent to get cup after cup of water. When the boys finally ask him why he needs so much water, he responds by telling them that his tent is on fire. Besser has another funny moment when he hears someone reveal a secret; he punches the guy on the arm and in his best spoiled-brat voice says, “Ooo, you’re such a snitch!”. Besser is terrific in AFRICA SCREAMS and shows great potential as a big-screen comic.
1950s Abbott and Costello went back to Universal where they made nine more films (in addition to two for Warner Brothers). Their popularity diminished as their place as Hollywood’s hottest comedy team was taken over by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and Universal dropped Bud and Lou in 1955. Both suffered health problems and their final film together was DANCE WITH ME HENRY for United Artists in 1956. Lou Costello died of a heart attack in 1959 at age 52. Bud Abbot worked little after Lou’s death but did voice his character in the 1966 Abbott and Costello cartoons made by Hanna-Barbera before his death in 1974. Frank Buck seemed healthy enough in AFRICA SCREAMS but died the following year from lung cancer. Clyde Beatty died in 1965. Max Baer would die in 1959 but his brother Buddy would co-star with Abbott and Costello again as the giant in their 1952 version of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. Buddy p[layed played the title role in the 1958 horror film GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN and played the heavy on dozens of TV shows before his death in 1965. Shemp Howard was still working as a Stooge when he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1955. Joe Besser, who was making comedy shorts at Columbia studios at the time and had been a regular on the Abbot and Costello TV show (along with his AFRICA SCREAMS boss Hillary Brooke), replaced him as a member of the Three Stooges. Besser made 16 shorts with Larry and Moe over the next two years but declined to star in their feature films and was himself replaced by Joe DeRita. Besser returned to films and television, most notably as superintendent “Jillson” on The Joey Bishop Show, and the voices of Babu in an animated version of I Dream of Jeannie and the character Putty Puss on the cartoon series The Houndcats. Joe Besser died of heart failure in 1988 at age 80.
