Director – We Are Movie Geeks

Margot Robbie And BIRDS OF PREY Cast Take Over Hollywood & Highland With A Night of Music and Mayhem In “Harleywood”

On Thursday evening Warner Bros. Pictures took over Hollywood & Highland with A Night of Music and Mayhem in “Harleywood,” hosted by the cast of BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) with after party at The Dream Hotel.

The ‘Harleywood and Highland’ promotion will be an interactive space with, ‘stunning visuals, courtyard activations, photo and video opportunities for all’ on Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25 from 10 AM to 10 PM each day.

The movie is set to hit theaters and IMAX on February 7.

Robbie looked gorgeous in a little back dress with hot pink pumps and a sparkling diamond choker.

Robbie, who reprises the role as well as produces the film, says, “The most exciting thing for an actor is to have choices with your character, and you can really do anything when you’re playing Harley Quinn. With some roles, you can react one or two ways; with Harley, it’s more like 20, and every one of them makes sense for the character. That is really liberating and creatively stimulating.”

For that reason, among others, even while she was still filming her first turn as the fanfavorite anti-heroine in “Suicide Squad,” she recalls, “I knew that I definitely wasn’t ready to stop playing her, that there was still so much yet to be discovered and explored on screen.”

The night also featured musical performances by Birds of Prey soundtrack artists Charlotte Lawrence, Doja Cat and a DJ set by Whipped Cream.

Doja Cat, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Charlotte Lawrence, Ella Jay Basco, Megan Thee Stallion, Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ella Jay Basco

Preorder the soundtrack, available on February 7, now: https://birdsofprey.lnk.to/PREORDER

You ever hear the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the mafia princess? “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her.

Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down. In the Warner Bros. Pictures film, Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”) returns as Harley Quinn, alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“10 Cloverfield Lane,” TV’s “Fargo”) as Huntress; Jurnee Smollett-Bell (HBO’s “True Blood”) as Black Canary; Rosie Perez (“Fearless,” “Pitch Perfect 2”) as Renee Montoya; Chris Messina (“Argo,” TV’s “Sharp Objects”) as Victor Zsasz; and Ewan McGregor (upcoming “Doctor Sleep,” the “Trainspotting” films) as Roman Sionis. Newcomer Ella Jay Basco also stars as Cassandra “Cass” Cain in her feature film debut.

Directed by Cathy Yan (“Dead Pigs”) from a script by Christina Hodson (“Bumblebee”), the film is based on characters from DC. Robbie also produced, alongside Bryan Unkeless and Sue Kroll. The film’s executive producers are Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman, Geoff Johns, Hans Ritter and David Ayer. Joining Yan behind the scenes was a creative team comprised of director of photography Matthew Libatique (“A Star Is Born,” “Venom”); production designer K.K. Barrett (“Her”); editor Jay Cassidy (“American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) and editor Evan Schiff (“John Wick Chapters 2 & 3”); and costume designer Erin Benach (“A Star Is Born”).

The music is by Daniel Pemberton (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”).

This film is rated R for strong violence and language throughout, and some sexual and drug material.

birdsofpreymovie.com

Contributed by Melissa Thompson and Michelle Hannett

WAMG speaks to DESTROYER director Karyn Kusama and co-writer Phil Hay – Interview

**Director Karyn Kusama and actor Nicole Kidman on the set of DESTROYER, an Annapurna Pictures release.**

The crime drama DESTROYER stars Nicole Kidman as a hardened L.A. policewoman bent on vengeance, in a gritty role unlike anything she has ever played. The film is directed by Karyn Kusama from a script by Phil Hay, who is also Kusama’s husband, and his writing partner Matt Manfredi. Kusama’s breakout film was 2000’s GIRLFIGHT.

Karyn Kusuma, who grew up in St. Louis, and husband Phil Hay were in town last November for the 2018 St. Louis International Film Festival, where DESTROYER made its local debut. The film-making couple spoke to a group of St. Louis-area film critics at a round-table interview.

Below is a portion of that interview. Questions from all film critic participants are combined, and the interview is edited for length and clarity. DESTROYER opens Friday, January 18.

Interview with DESTROYER director Karyn Kusama and co-writer Phil Hay

Question:

“I watched this film on Wednesday and I’m still thinking about it.”

Karyn Kusama:

“Oh, cool. That’s great. Happy to hear it.”

“Something particularly striking about the film was the way you shot L.A. It reminded me of Michael Mann and COLATERAL. Was he maybe some of the inspiration for your visual approach in shooting the movie? Because the way it looked really added to the whole quality of the film.”

KK: “Obviously, because Michael Mann has made some classic crime films in Los Angeles, it is hard not to acknowledged the influence of those films. But I think for me, I looked more at films from the ’70s, particularly I’d say TAXI DRIVER, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, [and] CHINATOWN to a degree. Movies like THE PARALAX VIEW, KLUTE, where there was a gritty, dark photographic style, that also could meet up against harsh sunlight, unrelenting brightness.

Q: “I’m curious – as a writing and directing team, what is your process for starting a new project? Do you come up with an idea? Do you automatically just say I’m going to direct what you write? Or do you both discuss the idea first? How does that work?”

Phil Hay: “We have to earn it (laughs). So Matt (Manfredi), my partner, and I, you know, we’ve been writing together for more than 20 years. Usually what happens is…it takes us a really long time to figure out if it is a movie for us or not. In the case of both this movie DESTROYER and THE INVITATION, our previous movie, [it was] like ten years [from when] we came up with the idea, basically, until we said, ‘OK, now we’re going to write this script.’ ”

“[W]hat we do, Matt and I, we have these little questions [about the script idea]. It could be a theme, could be a character, it could be a specific story item, but something that kind of interests us. We keep talking about it, talking about it, talking about it. And when it gets to that point – and it may take years – where we think there is something there, then we bring it tentatively to Karyn and say ‘What about this?’… and she might have some thoughts and might, you know, have a perspective on it.”

“In the case of DESTROYER, we went back and, really, specifically sort of outlined the story. Normally, Karyn says ‘you guys write it and give it to me’ and then we start the conversation. In this case, we said ‘let’s show you, we want to walk you though the story, so you can start thinking [about it].’ Now that we have this team, this family – we try to do things in a kind of simultaneous manner, so while we’re writing script, Karyn is already starting to think about the visual conception, already starting to put together her “look” book, [and to] think about collaborators we might want to work with. Our composer, who is one of our oldest friends, is already writing music based off the script, even before the movie is shooting. So there is a lot of simultaneity that goes on, which is really great for us.”

Q: “Did you always want to tell this story through a female perspective? Or did that change throughout the process?”

PH: “I think, from the writing side, we knew we had a story [but] it was kind of nebulous who the story was going to be about. We had some things that were almost around the center [but] there was this hole in the center, in a way. And it was when – and that was sort of Matt, and I and Karyn starting to talk about this story – we all had this realization that not only that this story needed to be about a woman, but [that it needed to be] about this specific woman and her specific problems. That was “the reason for being” of the whole thing. So I can’t imagine a version of this [without that]. For us, it wouldn’t be worth telling, because it wouldn’t be that character, if it was not this particular woman. And I think that did invigorate us from the beginning. That’s what made it special to us, that’s what made it feel right.”

KK: “Yeah. And it’s distinctive. For me, reading those early scripts, I knew, kind of, in my gut that we really hadn’t seen this woman [on screen before], and I don’t even think we’ve seen such as interesting version of this [character as a] man before. Personally I felt really … I just felt excited by the idea that she was so, kind of, difficult and cantankerous and problematic. You know, I have a very… I don’t want to say love-hate but a “tough love” relationship with that character, because she demands pretty tough love. I don’t know, I felt there was just something about her that felt incredibly distinctive.”

Q: “I was drawn to this character played by Nicole Kidman. You see a lot of movies where the plot drives it – what is going to happen, what is going on – but then it can have a certain emptiness about the actual character. That was not the case here. I saw the movie last night, and was thinking about it this morning. Like that scene with Shelby, her daughter. The character’s whole story could be sort of reverse engineered from that moment.”

KK: ‘When [Kidman’s character] has that final conversation with her daughter?’

Q: “Yeah. She’s talking to her, and she gives her a kiss at the end, and we know that [Kidman’s character] doesn’t really know what is going to happen but she’s very self-aware about her limitations as far as how she’s able to be a mom and how she’s able to love her daughter. But the thing is, it would be easy as an audience member to kind of judge that but what I was thinking was that we all have that, we all have certain limitations as far as what we are able to do.”

KK: “I think that was what we were striving for, to depict a character who as extremely limited… Nicole [Kidman] herself actually made a comment that I hadn’t really thought about in terms of playing the character. She said that, first and foremost, the character is so emotionally shut down. And I hadn’t really thought about it that way, that it is so hard for the character to even know when she is feeling something. You know, she acts more out of these base emotions, [feelings] about rage and about shame, and about deprivation. She’s sort of this person who’s always trying to protect her territory and her, kind of, very limited kingdom. So I think it was important to us that we see the character like that, because we’ve all been there, or I felt I have. We’ve all had our moments of feeling petty and small and grabby, and I think she’s just a bigger, slightly bolder version of those qualities. But I hope what we do is humanize that.”

PH: “I think it’s good you brought that up in the way you did because, always for us, that scene in the diner is the center, in a way, of the whole thing. It is the meaning of the thing, because of what the cost is [for the character]. The difficulty for her to be honest, finally, and to offer her daughter something extremely valuable in her life, and to change the context of their relationship, which I think is true of many parent-child relationships, the idea of who’s right and who’s wrong.”

WAMG Talks BAD WORDS With JASON BATEMAN

Jason Bateman (Identity Thief) makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy BAD WORDS. Last week, WAMG and several other members of the press sat down with him in a roundtable discussion to talk about his first time directing a feature film, F-words, and working with his young co-stars. Check it out below.

Mr. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn of We’re the Millers) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand of Homeland), who is completely unfazed by Guy’s take-no-prisoners approach to life.

Have you always wanted to direct and did you look back at all the directors you’ve had to draw on those experiences?

Jason Bateman: I don’t want to get caught saying the cliché, “I always wanted to direct,” but in any profession, I’m sure you guys — well, I don’t know but I would assume, if not all of you guys but most of you guys — look at the jobs of the people around you and some that are above you, and you spend enough time doing what it is you’re doing that you want to challenge yourself to see if you can do a little bit more and maybe even help the process of those that would be doing the job you’re doing now. It was always just about me appreciating how complicated that position could and should be. The more I learned about all of the contributions of all the departments, the more I wanted to have the privilege of that responsibility. I didn’t want to get the opportunity as a result of some sort of contractual perk and jam job. I wanted to earn it. I wanted to not be asked but I wanted to make sure that it was the appropriate time. And I asked and I asked and I asked people who were brutally honest and very objective and they said, “I think that the industry would welcome that. I think you could attract a group of actors that you would be proud of. I think you could attract a bunch of people below the line that would be incredible.” So I started looking at some scripts — three in particular and this was one of them — and I said, “This seems like the kind of scope that I would be responsible to take on and this is the kind of comedic tone I think I could navigate well.”

The tone is so important. Were you clear or did everyone understand that’s what the script called for?

Jason Bateman: I was pretty clear, I think, with the few people I had to talk to. It’s not a huge cast so I spoke as specifically as I could to them and also to the department heads and gave them some films to sort of compare it to perhaps. The visual style of it I thought was very, very important for the audience. Consciously or subconsciously, we as audiences are aware of what to expect based on a palette that you’re looking at sometimes, and certainly with music, so I was really excited to be the person that guides all of those efforts.

What kind of films did you recommend?

Jason Bateman: The kind of comedies that are character driven as opposed to plot or coneept driven. Yes, this has a pretty sticky concept, but it’s succeeds or fails based on the authenticity of the characters in it. In other words, it’s a straight drama to everyone that’s in the movie. Character comedies that are done by people like Paul Thomas Anderson or David O. Russell or the Coen brothers… even Quentin Tarantino… Those guys are incredible craftsmen with their filmmaking. But, they have a very keen sense of comedic tone that’s not reliant on some big board concept.

As a young actor you excelled at adversarial relationships with adult characters. In this, you got to kind of flip it and be the adult in this situation. Was that on your mind at all?

Jason Bateman: That’s interesting. Not really. From playing little assholes, [laughs] I was aware that whether you’re a little asshole or a big asshole, you need to be somewhat excused for your assholiness – for people to enjoy it. Or, you’re just hateful and people won’t like you. You need to like the person that’s doing these things so you can laugh with them instead of being repelled by them. So, there’s an obligation as an actor to play flaws and vulnerabilities in humanity inside of a character – whether it’s written in the script or not. Sometimes it’s just a vulnerable look that you can wear on your face as opposed to one of arrogance or cockiness. That’s hard to write in a script. I knew there was that cocktail that we had to play with.

In the poster, it looks like you are starting to say words…

Jason Bateman: I think he is starting to say, “Friend.” [Laughs] Or f…unny meeting you here. It’s definitely an “F.” And… it looks like me! [Laughs]

There are so many bad word in the script. Did you fight ever have a moment where you said “Oh, we have to eliminate this part”?

Jason Bateman: Were we aware maybe we shouldn’t make it quite as dirty sometimes?

Yea.

Jason Bateman: Yes, there were certain drafts of this script that went a little bit too far at certain points and there were plenty of points where it didn’t go far enough. As Andrew and I worked on the script for a long time we just always kind of tried to make those adjustments, those ads or those cuts through the lens of why is this guy here? What’s going on? How is it a drama for him and not a comedy? At the core this guy has had his feelings hurt. He is lashing out and he’s trying to get back at whoever hurt his feelings. And so he’s emotionally injured. If the spitefulness, if the petulance is coming out of that as opposed to just being arbitrarily mean to somebody, then it was fine. It it was just arbitrarily mean, then it had to go. As far as the number of “F” words we did not try to hit a certain number. I wouldn’t try to keep it under a certain number, but no one needs to see another spelling bee movie. And no one needs to see ABOUT A BOY again. It was a great movie and we were trying to do something different here. Spelling bee happens to be the environment where this bad decision kind of plays out, but there was a necessity to keep some edge to this film and some dirt under its nails because it’s an adult going through something that’s deeply emotional to him and often times that’s not pretty and one can lose one’s dignity and that should feel dramatic at times as well as ___.

How did you enjoy directing yourself?

Jason Bateman: There was a checks and balance system that was eliminated, which is not terribly responsible or advised in most circumstances, but this was a character that I felt I could handle. There is a part of me that is this guy. I’ve got him where he needs to be… in a cage, but I knew how to access that guy and I felt like I had a good shot at playing him in a way that was vulnerable, somewhat redemptive. That was the biggest challenge of… I took a couple of big swings at some actors that could definitely do it. Much, much bigger stars than I’ll ever be, but they were busy or not interested and before we started going to people that might be a little bit more risky as far as hitting that narrow target. I said, well why don’t I just do it? That way I increase my chances of hitting this narrow target of tonal accuracy since I’ll be able to control it in front of the camera and behind the camera. And since we had this truncated shooting schedule, I knew I didn’t have the luxury of time to do four or five takes where you work out a creative negotiation with the actor about you know you seem a little angry there and I’d love for you to be a little kinder there and now all of a sudden you need to be moving on to the next scene.

You’ve worked with some amazing directors, and your whole career you’ve been on sets… Did anything surprise you about directing? Is there anything that you didn’t expect when taking on that role?

Jason Bateman: Um… pre-production and post-production is something that I’ve never been exposed to. I was pleasantly surprised that you could accomplish a lot during pre-production. There are so many things that you want to do with every department on the set, that you just don’t have time to either execute or discover. So, you have these weeks and weeks to, sort of, live with these people, and the script to figure out “Ok, what are we trying to do in this scene without saying it. If we pull the dialogue out can we do it with a lens? Can we do it with a light? Can we do it with a piece of music? Can we do it with a location?” Sure, you have time to discover that stuff on set sometimes, but for the most part you don’t. You just kind of have to execute, execute, execute… That was really kind of fun, and gratifying to me – to pick how we got to shoot every single scene so that we didn’t lose those creative opportunities, and still be malleable on the day, but everything was shot listed, everything was storyboarded, and everything was planned out so we could kind of have fun, and not be so pressured that we would miss something that might be a better idea on the day.

They say to never work with children or animals, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue in this film. How was your experience working with your young cohorts?

Jason Bateman: They were great. The kids on the stage were very into it, and very professional. Rohan [Chand] who played Chiatanya was… I think he’s 19 [laughs], or something like that. You’ll have to check his papers. He was very professional, and he knew all of his lines, and my lines. He was a very skilled actor without being obnoxiously precocious. There wasn’t that switch with the kids… That hamburger switch, where they’re like “This is great!” and then the camera goes down. I encouraged him to be every bit of the kid that he is, and a lot of that was helped by me remembering how I liked o be treated when I was that age acting. You wanna be treated like an adult, but you also want to have fun. You want to feel safe. I was his buddy as much as his director, and his co-actor. We had a really good time. I’m so proud of him, and I’m really excited for people to see how good he is in this film. He’s the heart and soul of the movie. It’s tricky… You want to lead with that, and you want to tell everybody how great the kid is, yet then people are going to think it’s ABOUT A BOY [laughs]. Literally and figuratively. The film is not soft, but there is a great emotional, heartwarming byproduct of this very prickly journey that you have to go through to then see and appreciate, but if you lead with that, you’re like “I got it. I’ll go watch the Disney channel and get my gist of that”… This was not that.

Were his parents or guardians, were they onboard with everything that he had to do? Obviously there’s some…

Jason Bateman: His dad was with us the whole time and he was a part of every single decision. He was in there with us during rehearsals, and I kept checking with him with Rohan’s comfort level with hearing these things, seeing these things, saying these things. His mother, they live in New York, his mother had to stay in New York and she calls in every once in awhile, particularly that night with the prostitute in the alleyway. She was just curious on how that scene was going to be shot, how much Rohan was going to be exposed to that, as was the social worker who was on the set. The school teacher has to always be there for a kid under 18. We were very sensitive to that. He wasn’t there for any unnecessary coverage, and sort of singles that we did on Marzipan where you wouldn’t see Chiatanya in the shot, he would be gone. We tried to be really responsible with that.

What have you learned as an actor, coming out of this? Going now”That’s why that director was doing that on that film I was in years ago”… Something that makes you think “Oh, now I see it from the other side that I never had.”

Jason Bateman: I mean, things become, you get a sense of what a director’s challenges are on the set, surely, but all of those assumptions were verified. Why after lunch does the stress level go up? Why do you point the camera one way in the morning versions one way in the afternoon? It’s this whole sun position and all of this kind of stuff. It was verified to me that it is beautifully complicated, and it’s a deep, deep responsibility that I’m so lucky to be given.

But you’re doing it again apparently.

Jason Bateman: Yea. Start in May.

So you liked it. You really liked it.

Jason Bateman: I never want to do anything else.

Really?

Jason Bateman: It’s the greatest job in the world. You get to create worlds for people. We all go into a movie theater and ask to be taken somewhere. It’s nice to be asked to drive. It’s a lot of responsibility that goes with that, so you have to make sure you know what you’re doing, and if you don’t then you have the responsibility to ask because it’s very, very involved. It’s 360 degrees. It’s all senses and you’ve got to keep the ball in the air for an hour and a half. It’s a deep, deep challenge and it asks me to call upon everything that I’ve learned since I’ve started. I think, going back to how I’ve started, wouldn’t you all want to be in a position where it demands that you utilize all that you’ve learned? And we all kind of try to mold our position into demanding that, and certainly directing is that for me. I would hope that everybody has an opportunity to be able to use all that stuff.

The tension between father and son is such a specific theme in this movie. I was wondering where you were sort of going through your script, how much of that idea stuck with you and made you want to pursue this particular project?

Jason Bateman: Certainly I, as everybody, have a deep relationship with my mother and my father and that informs a lot of the decisions I make in my life, as I’m sure it does with you guys. A writer writes what a writer knows and an actor acts the characters as if they’re a part of themselves. Thematically, that sort of father-son dynamic was certainly attractive to me. I won’t bore you with all the specifics of my personal childhood. But my dad played a huge, huge role in my life and continues to. He’s the reason I wanted to be an actor, certainly the reason I wanted to be a director, taught me everything I know about acting and really defined my taste in films and in directors. This was nice.

Kathryn [Hahn] said that her family is funny. How about yourself? You’re a funny person but how…

Jason Bateman: My family is pretty funny. My mother’s British so she’s got a very dry sense of humor. That’s where I got that kind of thing from. And my sister is obviously very, very funny. She’s spent a lot of years on a very funny show. My dad’s got a very dry sense of humor too so I appreciate comedy a lot. I imagine her family is a lot funnier than mine, given how funny she is. She’s a lot funnier than I am.

You’ve done acting, you’ve done directing. Would you put more of a hand into writing one of these days?

Jason Bateman: I like contributing to the writing as a director, because quite frankly it’s a lot easier. Writers have I think one of the more difficult jobs in the world, whether it’s screenwriting, being a novelist or whatever. You’re dealing with a blank page. That whole story of Mel Brooks and Anne Bankcroft, she came home from work one day from acting and she said to Mel, her husband, “Oh I’m so tired.” “Was it a tough day?” he said. “Mel, it was the hardest day ever. You have no idea how hard acting is.” And he held up a blank piece of white paper and said, “No, writing’s hard.” It is all about disciplining all your choices down into a certain funnel and deciding you can write anything, you can go anywhere. There’s so many forks, and distilling all that down into something that truly works is a big challenge. So I like to kind of come in and attempt to fix things that are already there as opposed to creating them.

FOR MORE INFO:

Official site: BadWordsMovie.com
Official Facebook: www.facebook.com/BadWordsMovie
Official Twitter: @BadWordsMovie
Official hashtag #badwords

BAD WORDS opens in select theaters March 14th and expands across the country on March 21 and March 28

TFF 2013 DAILY RECAP: Sunday April 21ST

Today started off with a press & industry screening of THE PRETTY ONE written & directed by Jenee LeMarque. If there was one thing I took away from this film, it is that Jake Johnson needs to star in more movies because he is charming as hell. I knew very little going in, which I was far better off for around the 10-minute mark. The film manages to mostly stay on the correct side of being cute and quirky without getting too weird, which is surprising given its premise. Zoe Kazan plays identical twin sisters, Audrey who dies in a horrible tragedy on her birthday, and Laurel who decides to take her place. Yes, it is a comedy and to be honest, not that dark either.

I left Clearview Cinemas and began walking toward the Borough of Manhattan Community College, just 45 minutes away, for the Tribeca Talks Director Series chat with Ben Stiller and Jay Roach. This trip really tested my decision to walk everywhere during the festival but I arrived with plenty of time to spare. I was able to grab a front row seat, which led to a few nice photos… before I was told to stop taking pictures or I’d be kicked out. I am not quite sure why non-flash photos were not allowed at an event like this, especially for press, but I just sat back an enjoyed the chat. And luckily you can too because the entire talk was posted online for free by Tribeca.

For anyone who has caught BEN STILLER’S COMEDY ROUNDTABLE that has been playing on Encore recently, you know what to expect from an event like this. For anyone who hasn’t, it is probably exactly what you expect anyway; two funny guys telling stories and occasionally revealing an insightful little nugget of filmmaking info. I was particularly surprised to hear them go into such detail about the preview screenings scores for ZOOLANDER and AUSTIN POWERS. They also touch upon improvising on set and staying true to your own vision rather than trying to predict what the audience will find funny. It really is a good watch so you should check it out below when you get a chance.

Jerry Cavallaro – @GetStuck – www.JerryCavallaro.com

WAMG Interview: Evan Kelly – Director of THE CORRIDOR

Evan Kelly’s debut as a feature filmmaker is THE CORRIDOR, an independent film that crosses genres and tells a fascinating story of five friends reunited in an isolated cabin in the woods. THE CORRIDOR made it’s North American premiere during the 2011 Fantastic Fest, which is when I first discovered and thoroughly enjoyed the film. THE CORRIDOR opens theatrically on March 30th, 2012. I have had the privilege to speak with Evan Kelly about the film and his experience as a filmmaker. Continue reading below to find out what he had to say…

Continue reading WAMG Interview: Evan Kelly – Director of THE CORRIDOR

Diablo Cody, Patton Oswalt & Charlize Theron talk YOUNG ADULT

Last weekend YOUNG ADULT opened on 8 screens with a solid $40k per screen average. Today it expands to theaters nationwide. I recently attended a press junket for the film written by Diablo Cody & directed by Jason Reitman. Below are the highlights from the press conference with Diablo Cody, Charlize Therom & Patton Oswalt. (Check out highlights from the Jason Reitman press conference right HERE)

DIABLO CODY on YA novels: Well, I’ve been an avid consumer of young adult literature since I was one. And I think some people leave that stuff behind when they become old adults, but I never did. And I was always interested in the fantasy world created in those novels, and that I think is the kind of thing we see reflected in pop culture more now than ever, with reality shows and these weird, fully made-up people living these fake fairytale lives on camera. And I think the idea of somebody whose priorities were completely screwed up, who wanted to live in that world, even though it’s completely unattainable, that was intriguing to me.

DIABLO CODY on research: You know, I actually, I didn’t talk to anybody, which is probably pretty lazy of me. But the feedback I’ve gotten has been really interesting. I actually, since we’ve started showing the film, I’ve heard from a couple people who are not only young adult writers, but are in the position that Mavis is in, where they are writing books that are credited to another person or to a creator. And they were very enthusiastic about the movie, and said that I nailed it, which felt good.

DIABLO CODY on Francine Pascal: You know, I’ve – kind of working with Francine right now. I wrote the “Sweet Valley High” movie that is currently progressing toward production, I hope. So I was kind of inspired by that world – the idea of anonymity behind art.

PATTON OSWALT: And you did like a Hard “R” “Sweet Valley High”, too, which I thought was really courageous of you.

DIABLO CODY: We’re hoping for the Hard “R”.

CHARLIZE THERON on Mavis Gary: I’ve never been a fan of labels, you knowI just, I think it’s very easy to kind of look at somebody and just kind of throw a label on them, they’re crazy or they’re – you know. And I’m not a big fan of overly justifying bad behavior, or why people are the way they are. I think that it’s a cop-out. And I don’t have a lot of empathy for that. So I didn’t really think of her – I thought the things that she did were pretty despicable; but then again, not like to the point where I was like disgusted by her. I never had a hard time not liking her I would love to go and have a beer with her. I mean, I would never let her hang out with my boyfriend. But I would love to hang out with her. I think she, you know, she’s entertaining about all of her stuff

DIABLO CODY on women behaving badly: I’m certainly not going to call it a step back, because that would be the opposite of what I’m trying to do as a writer, and also as a female. I feel like maybe – it’s funny, when people talk about “Bridesmaids”, they always talk about, “Oh, we’re seeing raunchy women.” And I say, “No, you’re just seeing women.” Like that’s what feels fresh about this, is you’re actually seeing women in complicated, funny situations where you would normally see male characters. So I don’t really see it as – seeing women behaving badly so much as just seeing more multi-faceted female characters. And I hope there will be more of that, because I’m enjoying it.

PATTON OSWALT on women behaving badly: You have finally made progress as a group if you can be depicted as fully – as the full spectrum. Usually, any kind of sub-group or smaller group in a movie goes from being made fun of and victimized. And then it swings too hard the other way, where they’re like amazing and always positive, which is just as dehumanizing. And then you finally like, “Hey, a single individual can be a hero and a villain and funny and an asshole at – well, just like we all are every second of the day. So you know, that’s definitely progress, too.

CHARLIZE THERON on a possible Academy nod: I know it sounds so unbelievably cliché, but I haven’t worked in three years. And to have the opportunity to come back and do something like this, with Diablo and with Patton, with Jason, who I really, really wanted to work with, and this kind of material – and to see people respond to it, has been the greatest gift. And so I can’t, I can’t even like think beyond anything like that. It’s just really nice to have people come up to me and have these little tiny anecdotes with like what they connected with in the movie. And the movie kind of puts them in this, a little bit of a Mavis mood, so they feel like really free to kind of, you know, admit that they’ve done things like Mavis – which is just so endearing. And I love it so much because I just feel like that is proof that we all kind of set out to do the thing that we wanted to do, and that we succeeded in that. And so that is really the greatest gift for me. Plus, I have an Oscar, so – [LAUGHTER] That was such an asshole thing to say.

PATTON OSWALT: Keep in mind, you don’t have an Oscar for the “Guest House”, so just keep that in mind.

CHARLIZE THERON: True, that.

DIABLO CODY on music selection: That’s what was so fun about it, was getting to sit down with Jason, and – Jason and I are the exact same age, so we were able to say, “Do you remember this one?” “Do you remember that one?” And when characters enter a space in this movie, a lot of this time, there’s like music playing, and it’s almost always a song from the 90’s, which was Jason’s wink at the genre. But yeah, it was – in fact, I was just thinking about that Teenage Fan Club song that Mavis is totally obsessed with and listens to in her car. And like that was probably my favorite song when I was 19 or 20, and I was a college radio DJ, and I would just play it constantly. Plus, it’s like six minutes long, so you could go to the bathroom.

PATTON OSWALT on his high school mix tape: I’ve got to say my high school mix tape would be, for me, when I was growing up, would be just the Repo Man soundtrack, because that is – that is such a mix tape for safe, suburban rebellion. And also for me, that was ten years behind punk, and I got to spend the summer of ’84 letting people in on, “You’ve got to listen to these punk bands.” Like, “Patton, we know, we – it’s been around since ’79.” “No, you don’t know, man, there’s this band called Black Flag.” “Yes, we know. Patton, they’ve already broken up.” “No, listen.” So it was just that kind of – that was my high school experience, is being ten years behind everything. That’s my mix tape right there.

DIABLO CODY on getting the film made: I really don’t think this film would have ever come into existence if it weren’t for, you know, the combined power of Jason Reitman and Charlize, and Patton. And –

PATTON OSWALT: I had no – trust me, – what, my Twitter followers helped get this thing made?

DIABLO CODY: Patton’s vast Twitter following willed this movie into being. [LAUGHTER] And so on my own, it would have been a no go. I mean, it’s a challenging movie; it’s a small movie. I feel like there has been – I have felt this pressure to write a big budget, romantic comedy, basically since I rolled into town. And I try, and it’s – it just doesn’t seem to be in my skill set. I just write small and weird. And so I did sense some resistance, but at the same time, you know, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people who believe in me. And then when Jason gave the material his vote of confidence, that meant a lot, because he is, you know, very selective about his material, and the guy has never made a movie that’s less than great, in my opinion. So suddenly, we had a little more firepower.

CHARLIZE THERON on a high school crush: I didn’t have any boyfriends, but I had a massive crush on this guy who – this interviewer, that just did a story on me for Vogue, actually found, and –

PATTON OSWALT: What?

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah, he found the guy that I had said – this guy did not know I existed, by the way, in school. And then he was all, like, “Yeah, tell her the crush was mutual.” Fuck that.

PATTON OSWALT: Yeah.

[LAUGHTER]

CHARLIZE THERON: The crush was so not mutual.

PATTON OSWALT: What was his name?

CHARLIZE THERON: And then he was like, “Oh, and I remember, she wore those glasses.” And I was like, “Hrrrmmmm.”

PATTON OSWALT: What was the guy’s name?

CHARLIZE THERON: Oh, I can’t do it. I’m –

PATTON OSWALT: Tell me the name.

CHARLIZE THERON: No, this guy’s gonna get hunted down.

PATTON OSWALT: Oh, okay.

CHARLIZE THERON: I can’t do it.

DIABLO CODY: It’s in Vogue; you can –

PATTON OSWALT: Oh, is it in Vogue.

CHARLIZE THERON: Hint, hint.

PATTON OSWALT: I have a subscription. It’s waiting in my house right now, I – it’s my Bible, people. I mean, look at how I’m dressed.

DIABLO CODY on UNITED STATES OF TARA cancellation: You know, it was one of those things that wasn’t a – it wasn’t shocking, because we never really had the audience that we wanted, in terms of numbers. And so I honestly was really grateful that we survived as long as we did, and really grateful to Showtime that they would support something that was that offbeat and interesting. And it was, you know, some of the most satisfying work that I’ve done. But it’s – you also have to understand that when you’re dealing in the realm of small and weird, like things don’t always survive. So you just appreciate them as long as you can, and treasure the experience, I guess… sometimes I think about the, like mythical fourth or fifth season, and where it would have gone. And I think we still had a lot of stories to tell. But I think it wrapped up nicely, considering we didn’t know that was going to be the last episode.

PATTON OSWALT on reading with Charlize: We were – we kind of got along right at the first table read. We were teasing each other and kind of, you know – we just, there was just something, a kind of a rapport there.

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah, I don’t like rehearsal and Jason doesn’t like rehearsal, either. And I hate table reads. I hate anything where you have to say the words out loud.

PATTON OSWALT: And I can’t read.

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah. [LAUGHTER]

PATTON OSWALT: So –

CHARLIZE THERON: That was a huge problem.

CHARLIZE THERON on the Africa Outreach Project: Thank you. It’s going great. My director is actually down there right now, looking at three new projects. And we’re just continuing to find projects that are really encouraging prevention care. And it’s just – I don’t know, I think if you do this kind of work, it’s like anything in life – if you don’t love it, you shouldn’t do it. And I just – I really love what we’re doing, and I really believe in it. I – you know, growing up in a country like that, and seeing how prevalent AIDS is, and understanding the immediate need, but feeling this kind of horrible neglect for people who just have no tools to understand how not to become HIV positive, just seemed so wrong to me. And it felt like a missed opportunity. And so we’re just really trying to encourage already existing NGOs to really support prevention care. So it’s been great.

PATTON OSWALT on comedy: Well, I mean, you were talking about how much you love Jason Reitman’s movies. And you watch his movies. And I think because you know you’re in the hands of someone that knows how to edit a film and how to edit a scene, and so when you – because we just knew, subconsciously, we were in such good hands, directing-wise, that we could relax enough. And that relaxation is what I think gets – the comedy was never needy. It was just like – we were never going for a laugh; it all came very naturally. And a lot of times, what was so great about the way that she played Mavis, was the laugh comes from her not giving me any response, and then I get more nervous, which is a really real thing, that a lot of actors really don’t have the balls to do. They don’t – like, they always want to be saying something or listening and reacting. And she was able to just go, “You know what? My character’s just not engaging in this scene at all.” And that is where the humor came from. So again, it was – you know, it came from knowing we were working with a good director. I got to play off somebody that really understood human nature, which is – that’s what’s important to comedy. Not knowing – comedy is knowing human nature. And then, so all of that kind of swirled together, and created a thing, and fade to Golden Globe. [LAUGHTER] I don’t know what I’m saying. I literally, I lost my own train of thought. But you know what I’m saying there? You asked a really smart question, and I answered it so stupidly.

PATTON OSWALT on choosing roles: Well, first, thank you for implying that I have any control over my career, that I get to choose projects. “Tell Spielberg to get ready to be disappointed; I’m going with Reitman on this.” I was very lucky to be offered this script. I was there at the – I got to know Jason through just, we both love film; we both own French bulldogs. So that’s kind of how we got to know each other. And then I started doing these table reads early for the script, so you know. But as far as my intentions, I just – I’m so beyond like genre, drama, comedy – I just want to do really good, interesting projects. And that can mean something like this script, which was so good when I read it, so good; or something like that little adult swim show that I just did, which was the most bizarre, but also a great script and a – just stuff that constantly rolls the dice down the felt and just goes for it. And this – man, this script went for it. So I was, you know, I – hopefully, someday, if I’m ever at a point where I have the luxury of intention, I will make the right choices. But so far I’ve been lucky enough that the choices I have been given have been really, really good.

PATTON OSWALT on meeting Jason reitman: We met at an awards ceremony and we were just gabbing about movies, and I was presenting an editor’s award. And I actually knew all the editors. Like that’s how much of a nerd, like those guys are like rock stars to me. And you could – it’s like the music geek that knows the bassist’s name, like that’s how excited I was. So then we started talking. And then he was – he saw on my phone, I had a picture of my French bulldog. And he goes, “I have a French bulldog,” and we started showing back and forth. This is – this is like the lamest.

PATTON OSWALT on getting the role: [Reitman] has these screenings at his house every Sunday. And then it just kind of led – basically, you know what, I did all the early readings, so I got this movie the way a squatter gets an apartment. I was just there. You know, like, “Ah, he’s got his mattress and his hot plate. Let him have it. He’s nice. The kids like him. He sweeps up the hall. Come on.” So, yeah.

For the final question, someone asks if the main character’s name is a reference to Lyla Garrity on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Diablo corrects him that the name is actually Mavis Gary and not mavis Garrity.

PATTON OSWALT: Let’s have a different final question, because he kind of got the Garrity thing wrong.

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah. Way to end this press conference, dude.

PATTON OSWALT: Wow, Dude. Her name is Mavis – her name is Mavis Vader – is that a – no, it’s not Vader. Oh, sorry.

So they allowed one more question, which lead to the most aimless & conversational answer of the night. What would you do if you could add 10 more minutes to the end of the film?

CHARLIZE THERON: I don’t know if I could add it straight on to this movie, because I like that Mavis leaves Sandra. But I do like the idea of like Sandra eventually, like in a sequel, Sandra and Mavis finding each other and taking that little fucked up Mini, on like a Thelma and Louise – Like, the two of them just like cross country driving, just damaged, just –

PATTON OSWALT: They just have an eye-rolling spree.

CHARLIZE THERON: Carnage.

PATTON OSWALT: They just –

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah.

PATTON OSWALT: – drive, you know, and just roll their eyes at things, until the police –

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah.

PATTON OSWALT: – kill them.

[LAUGHTER]

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah. No – yeah. Nobody gets raped or anything like that.

PATTON OSWALT: yeah.

CHARLIZE THERON: They just like roll their eyes in the –

PATTON OSWALT: “Oh, great.”

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah. Yeah.

PATTON OSWALT: Well, you know, every screening I’ve been to, people will come into the lobby and I’ll watch them talking. Here’s what I love about this movie, is that everyone has very specific ideas as to what happens [at the end]. They’re all completely different, and they’re all right. Like, it’s one of those movies where people keep – so – and then what – like what happens in the next scene, it makes – this is a great like, go to see the movie and then hang out and go, “What do you think she did?” “Oh, she totally is on the way down.” “Oh, I think she makes it.” Like that’s, again, that’s a testament to the writing, and to the – her performance.

CHARLIZE THERON: But seriously, Diablo, what are you going to write for the sequel?

PATTON OSWALT: Yeah, what is the sequel going to be?

DIABLO CODY: You know, I think, if I – you said specifically, I could add only ten minutes to the movie. I think I would do the Mini – either the Mini flying off a bridge and pausing in mid-air, a la Dukes of Hazard or Thelma and Louise.

PATTON OSWALT: [SOUNDS LIKE] Thank you.

DIABLO CODY: Or crazy credits.

CHARLIZE THERON: Crazy credits?

DIABLO CODY: Like funny credits for that ten –

PATTON OSWALT: Oh, nice.

DIABLO CODY: Like bloopers. Does that count for my ten minutes? Yeah, like an out take reel.

CHARLIZE THERON: That’s just lazy; you didn’t write that.

DIABLO CODY: I know. You see how I operate.

CHARLIZE THERON: You have to write it.

DIABLO CODY: Like –

PATTON OSWALT: Well, we’ll see you guys in 20 years for the Grumpy Old Adult panel. We’re very excited and we’re already working on that now.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

Jason Reitman talks YOUNG ADULT

Last weekend YOUNG ADULT opened on 8 screens with a solid $40k per screen average and it expands to wide release tomorrow. I recently attended a press junket for the film written by Diablo Cody & directed by Jason Reitman. Below are the highlights from the press conference with director Jason Reitman.

JASON REITMAN on Charlize Theron: I was only going to make this movie if I could make it with Charlize. I had read the script and I thought it was phenomenal, but I knew how tricky this character was and I knew how easily it would be to misinterpret this character. You know on the page she was written perfectly. She was nuanced and complicated and she wasn’t just some mean girl. She was a woman with deep wounds that like anybody wanted to be loved and was searching for her place in life who really only knew how to find it by going back to high school to the last moment where things kind of made sense to her, but she was looking for an on road, you know, an on ramp to the highway. And it’s one of those things that in the hands of the wrong actress would just be a mean girl.

JASON REITMAN on Patton Oswalt: I needed someone who was going to be the accessibility point to this movie and I think this movie works because of Patton Oswald. I think the audience strangely sees the movie through Patton Oswald. He says the things that everyone in the audience wants to say and his rare combination of like brilliant comedy, but also his pathos, his ability to go to these really sad places makes the whole thing work.

JASON REITMAN on Movie Night: I loved that Scorsese probably screens these great Italian films for his cast and the only thing I ever sent Charlize was season’s one of The Hills of Laguna Beach. Oh yes. Following in the footsteps of giants. I have a movie night at my house every Sunday night and it really came out of my own embarrassment of the amount of films that I had not seen and I presumed that if there were a lot of films that I had not seen that my friends perhaps had not seen them either. So what I did was every Sunday night I show a classic movie that you’re supposed to have seen that I have not seen and I just invite my friends and say hey here’s a moment for us all to stop being embarrassed and start seeing these films. And it started a couple of years ago and we watch films like and now I’m going to embarrass myself for all of you. Cool Hand Luke, which I had never seen, Patton I had never seen, Say Anything I had never seen. I know, that’s always the shocker.

JASON REITMAN on Casting Patton Oswalt: When I went to do the table read for this film I called on friends at first and Patton is a friend and I said hey would you read this role? And watching him do it was just so – – he was so perfect and then when he read it with Charlize they had this unbelievable chemistry. It was actually the moment I realized this was a romance was watching the two of them together and a heartbreaking romance. It’s like a Romeo and Juliet because it’s a romance that cannot be. But anyhow yeah, that’s, that was the research and that’s how I know Patton.

JASON REITMAN on Diablo Cody: I have the rights to Diablo’s life. In a deal that really benefits me more than her. I always feel and I’m not sure if directors or writers will get more upset at me for saying this, but I feel like they’re all part of the same thing. I see my job as storytelling and that starts with simply an idea, a feeling I want the audience to have and it travels through writing, directing, shooting, cutting, post, doing this to the whole thing. And so if I don’t write the script I get to personally skip one part of the process. And with Diablo, I don’t know, we get along so well and we trust each other so much, there’s never been a question of whether or not she was going to be on set. So when she could be on set it’s great. I put her to work, you know. I say, you know, I need this, I need a line, I need a scene and she does it. But there’s also enough trust that if she’s not there, she knows I’m not going to screw up her script. And I’m a writer myself and I strangely feel as a writer on set the job is to be a tailor. It’s to, you know, and I know Sorkin would be pissed if I said this, but if an actor can’t say the lines, in my opinion it’s not the actor’s fault. If you put on a pair of clothes that don’t fit, it’s not your fault, it’s the clothes fault. And the clothes should be tailored and that’s how I feel about dialogue. If I’m with an actor and they’re struggling with the words, then I tailor the words for the actor. Very rarely would I say this is the line, you need to say the line.

JASON REITMAN on directing theater: You know I spent last year in New York making this film from start to finish, including post. And it was a great moment for me ‘cause for the first time in my life I had seen most of the shows that were playing and it was really exciting to be able to get into a conversation and actually know what I was talking about for a very brief nano-second and certainly looking at great plays made me want to try to direct a play. That said I know nothing about theater so it’s a little presumptuous of me to think I could do it. But yeah, although on the other hand what I love about directing movies is I have the final say, you know. I get to cut the performance and the idea that you just hand off the play to your actors, that seems insane. I mean I would literally be on stage. Let’s do that again. You know let’s just hold on audience and it would be a ten hour play of just me all right one more time, all right that was great, continue the scene from there. That would be like me directing. It would be a boring play.

JASON REITMAN on Women Behaving badly: Women behaving badly is, excuse me, I’m not trying to be rude, I think is just kind off a cheap term and look, I’ve always been interested in making movies about women. They interest me far more than men. And I’m interested in honesty in filmmaking and I think the darker moments are far more interesting than the cheerful ones. And I guess that’s my approach and I don’t know why they made Bride’s Maids and I don’t know why they made Bad Teacher. That’s certainly why I made this movie.

JASON REITMAN on the film’s message: First and foremost I don’t have a message in any of my movies. You know if I have a message and hopefully there’s a continuity of that in all my films it’s think for yourself and come up with your own opinions and I certainly don’t want to tell you what to think. That is the core theme of Thank You for Smoking and since then hopefully people draw their own conclusions and that’s always been kind of the case. On Juno pro life people thought it was their movie, pro choice thought it was there’s and I’ve certainly got a variance of opinions of where George Clooney goes at the end of Up in the Air and that makes me happy. That lets me know I’m doing my job. I really just want to – I’d rather inspire the conversation than tell you what to think. So on this movie I’m certainly not saying this is my message to women.

JASON REITMAN on writing: As far as how we treat her life, I thought it was a fairly true and, you know, I’m speaking to a room of writers, point view on what it’s like to write, which is it’s a really lonely existence, man or woman. Often it feels like a trip to Office Depot, makes me feel as though I accomplished something today. I did something and it’s the only – – and you do it for the pure reason of if I didn’t do this it really would feel like I did nothing, but I had an adventure. I picked up toner. And being a writer is tricky in that your sense of accomplishment is always so varied. Is it by page count? Is it by that you wrote something special? Will anyone ever read this? Will anyone ever see this? And I don’t think that changes no matter how much success you have. Every time I write I feel like this is awful, no one will ever see this or if they do they’ll think it’s, you know, they’ll never hire me again.

JASON REITMAN on parental advice: There were a couple times we’re on set she would say something that was so mean that we just had to cut the line of dialogue. It was just, at that point it wasn’t even interesting anymore, it was just that’s really bitchy. I mean, you can’t, you know, the audience is just going to hate her for no reason and it all of a sudden is actually out of character and dishonest because it’s just so mean. It’s mean for no reason. All of this always goes back to a piece of advice that my father gave me and he literally gave it to me the night before I started shooting Thank You for Smoking. And he said “always remember it’s not your job to be funny. Your barometer for comedy is nowhere as good as your barometer for truth. And the only thing you’re trying to achieve on set is honesty.” You look at a performance, you look at anything the way people interact, the location, the way you’re shooting it, does it feel truthful because you’re not going to be able to tell if it’s funny. Ever once in a while it’s okay that’s hilarious, but you always know when it feels like bullshit or not. Even with people you know when they’re being truthful with you and so it’s the greatest piece of directing advice I’ve ever gotten and it plays, it feeds everything and if I’m ever unsure I can always go back to that and think about what my father told me and say all right does this feel honest. And that plays into is this too mean because if it’s so mean that it feels otherworldly then it’s not right.

JASON REITMAN on music selection: You know one of the great parts about working with Diablo is that she’s so specific in her writing; the production design, wardrobe, specific as her dialogue seems, the description work is even stronger and the songs are there. And so the only question there is then, you know, do I agree with them or not and I usually agree with them. And on this movie, even though we love the same music and we come from the same era, there’s a few songs that I’m not a huge fan of including the Teenage Fan Club song. But I knew it was right for the movie so that’s kind of all that mattered. [The song mentioned is The Concept]

JASON REITMAN on tone: I wanted – – to do something that I hadn’t done in my other films. And I think as a director I try to grow with each film. I try to do something different to the audience. In the first movie I just wanted to make people laugh. Second film, I wanted them to feel romance. In the third film I wanted them to feel lonely. And on this one, I wanted people to feel uncomfortable. I wanted them to look at the screen and be so in the moment that they felt like they were standing there on the lawn watching Charlize break down right in front of them and they don’t know what to say because you feel sorry for her, you’re not sure if you’re part of the cause of this.

JASON REITMAN on audience reactions: I know with my films I don’t want to judge anybody. I don’t want to judge any of the characters. It’s very important to me. If the audience feels as though they know how I – – my judgment of a character that I considered, then I think I failed. I think my job at the end of the day is to create honesty and truth and real moments that instead of telling you to think, just push you to think about something. And nothing gets me more excited than an audience arguing over what I was trying to say or having a thoughtful conversation about the film rather than walking out. I would be much more disappointed by someone walking out of my film and thinking and now I believe this because that strangely isn’t my job.

And finally, this next quote isn’t an answer to a question but rather Reitman’s response to receiving some praise prior to a question. I wanted to include it because it was so genuine & I really enjoyed seeing this reaction in personal.

JASON REITMAN: Okay. First of all, thank you for saying those really kind things. That means a lot to me. That’s nice to hear. Sorry, I just, you know, I just did an interview earlier. I was just talking about how I became a director and I just remember a moment where I thought I’ll be lucky if I ever get to direct a commercial and that’s a really cool thing to hear. Thank you for saying that.

Check back tomorrow for highlights from the YA press conference with Diablo Cody, Charlize Theron & Patton Oswalt.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

Interview: Robert Saitzyk, Director of GODSPEED

Jeremy had a chance to interview director Robert Saitzyk about his new film GODSPEED. The guys talk about the making of the film in luscious Alaska, the concepts of the story and characters and much more! Check out the interview and trailer below where our own Jeremy Kirk is quoted!

GODSPEED: Movie Trailer – Watch more top selected videos about: Godspeed, Ed_Lauter, Cory_Knauf, Joseph_McKelheer, Jessie_Ward, Hallock_Beals, Courtney_Halverson, Robert_Saitzyk

Discuss: Obvious Collaborations That Never Happened

While sitting and thinking about the upcoming remake/sequel to ALICE IN WONDERLAND (trust me, it’s not something I do all that often), I couldn’t help but stumble upon one, key element about the film. It’s Tim Burton. It features Crispin Glover. One has never directed the other before, and this is a surprising notion to come across. Granted, Glover provided a voice in 9 last year, and Tim Burton was a producer on that film. Before that, though, there has never been a collaboration between these two giants of weird.

This got me thinking. What other obvious collaborations are there that, for whatever reasons the cinema Gods felt necessary, never came to fruition. What directors have such an identifiable style that coalesces with the style of an actor or actress that have just never merged together on any, one project?

Here are a few I’ve found:

Martin Scorsese and James Caan
Granted, there are hundreds of thousands of actors who have NOT worked with Martin Scorsese, some of them fairly obvious. I’m sure it would surprise you all to learn he has never directed Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini, either. This one, though, shocks me, as James Caan, the quintessential guy’s guy and badass Corleone son, Sonny, has never been directed by Scorsese. Caan has played heroes in his career more than he has villains and mobsters. Nonetheless, this seems like a marriage that should have happened long ago.

John Hughes and Bill Murray
Okay, this one might not be all that head scratching. Hughes mostly directed teen comedies and Murray was mostly in adult-oriented comedies like CADDYSHACK and STRIPES. However, these two were comedy powerhouses throughout the ’80s and most of the ’90s. How their stars never crossed paths, I’ll never know. And I don’t count that tiny cameo Murray had as himself at the end of SHE’S HAVING A BABY. I’ll give you that, Hughes was behind the camera and Murray was in front of it, but the fact that these two never did a full-fledged comedy together is quite surprising.

Ivan Reitman and Steve Martin
This non-collaboration is even more of a head-scratcher than Hughes and Murray. Ivan Reitman had a hand in many an SNL and SCTV alumni’s career, but he and Steve Martin never crossed paths. The closest they come to working together is appearing as themselves in the documentary, STEVE MARTIN: A COMIC LIFE. The fact that Reitman, for all the ’80s, comedy clout he had, never roped Martin in for a role in one of his films is almost sad to consider. There is still time, though, as both of their careers are chugging along quite finely.

William Wyler and John Wayne
Maybe this one isn’t so obvious. William Wyler isn’t exactly known as a director immersed in the Western genre, but the guy did make a movie called THE WESTERNER, and the Duke wasn’t in it. Wyler was also known to make a war movie here or there, and, though most of them dealt with human side of war, none of these featured John Wayne, either. It’s certainly not as surprising as the next one in line, but it’s still somewhat of a surprise to know these two powerhouses in the ’40s and ’50s never crossed paths.

John Ford and Gary Cooper
This one shocked the hell out of me when I uncovered it. On one side, you have John Ford, the man whose name became synonymous with the sense of Americana in the ’30s and ’40s, the man who directed the great Westerns like STAGECOACH and THE SEARCHERS. On the other side, you have Gary Cooper, the quiet but firm, American, leading man who seemed the perfect fit for the protagonist of such films as HIGH NOON and Sergeant York. I guess, if you really want to get technical, John Ford did do uncredited work on 1938’s THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO starring Gary Cooper, but the fact that there was never a full-fledged collaboration between these two is absolutely staggering.

Robert Wise and Vincent Price
Notably, Robert Wise is not most known for the horror or science fiction films he did. The Val Lewton-produced THE BODY SNATCHER & THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL weren’t exactly Wise’s bread and butter. When you look back and really think about their careers, maybe it isn’t such a surprise that Wise and horror master Vincent Price never collaborated, but you can certainly imagine how astounding it would have been had it ever happened.

Garry Marshall or Nora Ephron and Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock was in some of the most memorable romantic comedies (heavy on both sides of that coin) of the ’90s and early 2000s. How none of these were directed by Garry Marshall nor Nora Ephron is beyond me. Granted, Marshall’s clout has somewhat petered off since he peaked with PRETTY WOMAN in 1990, and Ephron had a pretty rough period there in the late ’90s and early 2000s when Meg Ryan decided to call it quits. Nonetheless, there is still plenty of time for these behemoths of the romantic comedy genre to come together. Maybe not so much for Marshall, but the other two have all the time in the world.

Quentin Tarantino and Gary Oldman
You can’t count Drexl Spivey. TRUE ROMANCE was only written by Tarantino, and that Tony Scott film was so re-written and tossed about, it seemed more Roger Avary than Tarantino, anyway. Even so, you cannot imagine how incredible Oldman would be working from an unfiltered Tarantino screenplay with Tarantino himself guiding the performance. This is one that, if it never happens, I will go to my grave shocked at the world. This should happen. This better happen. It’s still white boy day, and Spivey could very easily have a twin brother out there, somewhere.

Steven Spielberg and Gene Hackman
Okay, maybe this one is just personal to me. Gene Hackman is my all-time favorite actor, and throughout the late ’70s and ’80s, he seemed like the kind of person who wasn’t afraid to take on some meaty roles in big budget fare. Call it sacrilege, but just about any Richard Dreyfuss role would have been better served with Hackman the one delivering the performance, and one cannot help but wonder, as good as SUPERMAN was, how much better it would have been with Spielberg at the helm instead of Richard Donner.

Those are just a few I have come up with anyway. Down the road a bit and with a whole lot more digging, I may come up with a part two of this list. What are some collaborations that you are surprised to find have never come to fruition? Let us know. Shoot us a comment with your favorite “would be but never were” Hollywood collaborations.

Tarantino Week: Revisiting ‘Reservoir Dogs’

Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?

A long, long time ago, (1992 to be exact), a magical man names Quentin Tarantino made his debut as a director with the classically smooth and violent masterpiece Reservoir Dogs.

Reservoir Dogs follows Joe Cabot’s gang (Lawrence Tierney) and their bank heist mission. The only problem is this mission goes wrong… terribly, terribly wrong. With one member dead, and another missing, the surviving members Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), and Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) are hiding in a warehouse until they figure out what to do. Tarantino plays Mr. Brown, one of two men that don’t make it back to the warehouse. Tension builds and emotions begin to escalate as Mr. White shows up with a little something in his trunk. Add Mr. White and Mr. Pink discussing that a traitor might be among them, (because of how fast the police showed up at the robbery scene) and you have one hell of a movie!

Talk about hitting the casting jackpot with his directorial debut! Tarantino could not have done a better job with the casting job on this one! Keitel, Buscemi, Roth, Madsen… they all fit their parts to a tee. Tarantino digs deep into the character development, not only giving them each a well rounded, unique personality, but also giving them all a kind of humanity to show that they are not just criminals, but multi dimensional. He also does a great job of keeping the plot interesting. With all of the twists and turns involved, it’s hard to predict how any of it is going to end. Tarantino has said that he was really inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing to make this film, and you can kind of tell with the crazy, twisty plot!

The film is testosterone driven, with violence, vulgar language, and bad guys doing bad guy stuff, yet is written in such a witty way that it easily appeals to more than just the rock eating meat head. Heck, this chick loves it! Even the violence! Some argue that the violence in this movie was completely pointless. I disagree. I feel that it really helped with the character development. The language in this film is great! Every character, no matter how gangster or ignorant, speak in an eloquent fashion filled with pop culture. People generally don’t talk that way, which makes it even more entertaining to watch.

The movie has become a cult classic. It’s hard to believe that Tarantino was working as a video store clerk when him and his friends were going to take on this movie with a mere $30,000 budget. Just like magic, Harvey Keitel became involved, agreeing to act in it and co-produce, and they were able to get $1.5 million to make this film. The film opened in 19 theaters across the United States, taking in $147, 839 in the first week and $2,832,029 total during its box office run in the states.

Needless to say, the success of Reservoir Dogs skyrocketed Tarantino’s career. If it weren’t for the success of this film, we would have missed out on a slew of great films. So let’s kick off Quentin Tarantino week right and give this man, and this movie some praise for entertaining us and blowing out movie loving minds!

Cheers Mr. Tarantino!

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BAD WORDS opens in select theaters March 14th and expands across the country on March 21 and March 28

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