Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB (2014)

Starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Rami Malek, Patrick Gallagher, Mizuo Peck, Skyler Gisondo, Rebel Wilson, Dan Stevens, Ricky Gervais, Ben Kingsley, Dick Van Dyke, Rachael Harris, Bill Cobbs, Andrea Martin, Patrick Gallagher, Brennan Elliott, Percy Hynes-White, Mickey Rooney, Alice Eve and Hugh Jackman.

Screenplay by David Guion and Michael Handelman.

Directed by Shawn Levy.

Distributed by 20th Century Fox.  97 minutes.  Rated PG.

I’m not sure the world has been waiting with baited breath for another Night at the Museum film, particularly since the last one is over five years old and pretty much forgotten, though it was a big hit at the time.

But here we are, staring down the barrel of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, and the only real notable thing about this third film in the series is that two of the stars (Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney) have died since their roles were filmed.  Rooney has a glorified cameo here, but Williams once again has a quite substantial supporting role as Teddy Roosevelt.

Whether it is fair to the movie or not, since this is the first film we have seen Williams in since he committed suicide a few months ago, his presence givesSecret of the Tomb a real sense of melancholy that overwhelms much of the movie’s very lightweight pleasures.  No amount of silly sight gags and dumb historical humor can undo the sense of unfairness at Williams’ much too sudden death.

It would be a difficult conundrum for even the strongest film to overcome.  And let’s face it, the Night at the Museum films are not exactly known for their stellar filmmaking, though in fairness the first film was rather amusing.

However, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was just a lazy repeat of the first movie, with a new city (from New York to Washington DC) and bigger – if not necessarily better – special effects and comic stunts. Secret of the Tomb also falls into this groove, again moving most of the action (this time to London) but not adding all that much as far as humor or excitement.

Which is not to say that Secret of the Tomb is a horrible film, though it is not very good.  In fact, of the three Night at the Museum films it is undoubtedly the most lifeless.  And it is the most unnecessary.  However, some of the jokes hit their mark here, and British actor Dan Stevens (The Guest) gives the series a little jolt of life every time his Sir Lancelot is onscreen.

Secret of the Tomb is supposed to be the finale of a trilogy, though it appears that the story passes the baton from Ben Stiller to new recruit Rebel Wilson in case they decide to do a reboot.  However, Wilson’s eccentric humor feels wasted here, an odd fit for the series.  Hopefully if Secret of the Tomb does poorly enough director Shawn Levy will see the hieroglyphics on the wall and allow the Night at the Museum franchise to rest undisturbed in some deep cavern until some unlucky archeologist stumbles upon it in a few thousand years.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 19, 2014. 

The Interview

THE INTERVIEW (2014)

Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park, Diana Bang, Timothy Simons, Reese Alexander, James Yi, Paul Bae, Geoff Gustafson, Dominique Lalonde, Anesha Bailey, Anders Holm, Ben Schwartz, Brian Williams, Guy Fieri, Bill Maher, Rob Lowe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eminem.

Screenplay by Dan Sterling.

Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Distributed by Sony Pictures.  111 minutes.  Rated R.

Undoubtedly the funniest thing about The Interview is that stoner stars Seth Rogen and James Franco – of all people – have been responsible for creating a major international political and diplomatic incident.   The guys behind Pineapple Express and This is the End were the catalyst for one of the most serious and egregious acts of cyber terrorism in history?  Wow.

Sony Pictures, one of the biggest companies in the world, was left quaking in their boots as their dirty laundry was released to the world.  Then, after vague threats of violence and retribution, most of the major cinema chains in the United States refused to show The Interview.  Sony bit the bullet and cancelled what it hoped might be one of it’s major Christmas tent pole movies – which was a particularly bitter pill to swallow because their other major title for the season was the horrible remake of Annie.

It hit such surreal heights that the President of the United States discussed them in a press briefing at the White House.   (And to show how totally B-list these guys really are, Obama did a slip of the tongue calling the actor by the similar name of Baltimore Ravens quarterback James Flacco.)

Sony was planning on just writing the whole thing off, but the negative publicity that they were giving in to terrorists, so they have agreed to give the film a limited release in independent theaters and through Video on Demand.

It is all even funnier now that the film has finally released and it turns out that the film is the type of unfanged, unfocused, goofy, broad satire that one would tend to expect from Seth Rogen and James Franco.  The movie is more a verdict on cheesy infotainment journalism with more than its share of blow job jokes than any kind of political farce.  Hell, Kim Jong-un even turned out to be portrayed as a pretty nice guy in much of the film.

Kim Jong-un could have saved everyone a lot of agita and just allowed the movie to sink from the weight of its own inevitable bad word-of-mouth.  The hacking scandal got this film priceless publicity, and it worked up the movie-going public.  People seemed to react as of one mind: No one is going to tell us we can’t watch some stupid movie.  We’ll decide what dumb films we’re going to see, thank you very much.

I’m one of many people who would have never have gone out of my way to see this film if not for the controversy.  If anything, the coming attractions trailer looked pretty awful to me.  I will even go so far as to say that it is a beyond-stupid premise and that Kim Jong-un does have the right to be miffed that some dumb comedy is using the idea of his potential assassination as entertainment.

About a decade ago when some tiny British film studio put out the exploitation film Death of a President in which they staged a imagined murder of George W. Bush, I went on the record in my review that no real living man’s death, no matter what he may have done, should be used for entertainment.  And I disliked George W. Bush more than I do even Kim Jong-un, if only because Bush negatively affected my everyday life and Kim Jong-un, as much of a strict dictator he may be, does not really cross over into my world.

Therefore I will stick with that belief.  It was a cheap, cynical ploy for Rogan and co-writer Evan Goldberg to use the real Kim Jong-un as a character in their film when they could have easily made a fictional character based on the real thing.  They were hoping for the real name to get the film a bit extra of controversy and notoriety.  Be careful what you wish for.

But, okay, the movie is here now – at least sort of.  We can see it – though with considerably more difficulty than originally planned – so let’s try to put the controversy on the back burner for a moment.  It’s difficult, but let’s try to look at The Interview as a film, not as a huge news story.  Is it any good?

Eh.  It has some good moments, but honestly, not really.

Franco plays Dave Skylark, a cheesy TV host whose idea of a huge expose is an episode on Miley Cyrus’ camel toe or getting Eminem to casually out himself on camera.  Rogen is Aaron Rapaport, his producer and best friend, who keeps him real on camera.  When it turns out that the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a big fan of Skylark’s show, the guys decide to as Kim for an interview and shocked when he agrees.  (Though to give you an idea of their journalistic integrity, they allow his people to decide on the questions he will be asked.)

When word gets out that they are going to Korea, the guys are approached by a gorgeous CIA agent (played by a wasted Lizzy Caplan of Masters of Sex, in a role that asks little of her beyond acting with her cleavage) who tries to charm them into killing the dictator while they are there.

The idea that the CIA would be recruiting two civilians, and rather inept ones at that, for such a sensitive mission is shockingly not the most unlikely thing about the film.  But the guys fly off to North Korea and are shocked to find out that Kim Jong-un seems to be a pretty nice, misunderstood guy, the type of guy who likes to party and drive his personal tank and listen to Katy Perry.

Dave starts having second thoughts about the whole thing.  Could the whole world have been wrong about the guy?

Of course not, and eventually the dictator starts to show his true colors.  Otherwise there would be no movie.

Franco is scarily good at playing a shallow sort (take that as you will).  It is kind of weird when the best acting in the film is done by the bad guy (Randall Park gives Kim Jong-un a sweet charm and a fanatical furor).

And did I mention there were way too many blow job and fart jokes?

So The Interview isn’t very good.  It’s no big surprise.  It almost doesn’t even matter anymore.  I watched it, for better or worse, in a misplaced fit of patriotism and many others will too.  If I were more cynical, I might believe that the whole thing was just some weird James Franco stunt to get more attention.  After all, The Interview would have probably been a minor hit left to its own devices, but now everyone in the world is talking about it.

The Interview is no longer just a film, it is a symbol of standing up to oppression.  And while, yeah, I wish it were a more enjoyable symbol to sit through for nearly two hours, I’m not sorry that I spent my time and money to watch it.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 26, 2014.

Jill Whelan

Jill Whelan

Life, Exciting and New

by Jay S. Jacobs

Did you ever hear the story about the young actor who became famous while still in grade school, grew up glamorously amongst some of the biggest names in Hollywood and then went on to become a normal, well-grounded adult?

Not the typical sordid child-star tale, but that’s what life had in store for Jill Whelan.  She was still in grade school when she was hired to play the daughter of Captain Steubing (played by Gavin McLeod) on the long-running hit seriesThe Love Boat.  The youngest member of Pacific Princess’ crew that also included series regulars Lauren Tewes, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange and Bernie Koppel, Whelan found herself surrounded by Hollywood royalty on a weekly basis while cruising on the Lido deck of a luxury liner.

When not boating around the world with Dick Van Dyke, John Davidson, Scott Baio and Charo, Whelan was doing a series of commercials and TV and movie guest shots – including a supporting role as a young girl in need of a heart transplant in the classic comedy Airplane!

It’s a crazy way to come up, but Whelan didn’t realize it at the time.  She also did not slip into the crazed party life to which so many of her contemporaries fell prey.

“I was very lucky to have incredible parents,” Whelan explains, looking back.  “My mother kept everything very normal for me.  If it hadn’t have been for her, God knows what would have happened.”

She laughs, thinking back.  “Rightfully so, I was a little afraid of my mother.  That’s important, I think, in raising children.  That you’re not their friend.  That you are their parent.  Kids have enough friends.  They don’t need anymore friends.  They need parents.  In that respect I was very lucky.  I think that it’s because of my mother and because of her strong parenting that I got to besomewhat normal.”

However, she did make a lot of friends in her Love Boat run, life long friends who she still sees to this day.  In fact, the gang is getting together on New Years Day for the Rose Bowl Tournament of Roses Parade to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Princess Cruise Line.

“In the parade, we’re going to be on Princess Cruise’s float, which should be really exciting,” Whelan explains.

Of course, it’s always fun to see the actors who became like her second family.

“We usually see each other maybe once a year or so,” Whelan says.  “Some of us see each other more than others, but some of us live in the same state.  I see Ted Lange quite a lot.  I see Bernie [Kopell] every once in a while, because they both live here.  Gavin [MacLeod], I don’t see as much because he’s not living in Los Angeles.  So it’s just a little bit more difficult.  Same thing with Lauren Tewes.  But we just saw each other in the beginning of November and that was just amazing.  We had the best time.”

The funny thing is, acting was just a fluke for Whelan.  She wasn’t looking to become a star as a little girl.  It was more a case of her mother needing a good babysitter.

“I started when I was seven years old,” Whelan recalls.  “My mom was a pre-school teacher and needed someplace for me to be during the summertime when she was teaching summer school to preschool kids.  The closest thing was a local theater.  All those kids were working in San Francisco.  I thought that looked like it was really fun.  That’s how it all really started.”

Quickly Whelan’s acting started paying off, getting her some local commercial gigs.  Before long she was getting roles on series like Vega$, Matt Houstonand her first series gig on a short-lived show called Friends (not related to the 1990s hit series).

She also got a small role in Airplane!, an offbeat little comedy in which she played a little girl who needed a heart transplant who was serenaded by the stewardess with a very heartfelt and animated version of Peter Paul & Mary’s “River of Jordan.”  This role was based on a scene in the film Airport ‘75 with Helen Reddy doing the singing.  However, unlike the original film, the singer knocks out the girl’s IV line, causing her to nearly die while the entire plane looks on, beatifically smiling.

When making the film, she did not realize that it would become as iconic as it became.

“We didn’t when we were doing it,” Whelan admits.  “We thought when this thing happened that it was either going to be a great flop or a huge success.  There was not ever going to be anything in between.”

Still, even though her role was relatively small, people still remember it vividly.

“People do come up [to me] and sing that song, which is pretty funny,” Whelan admits.

In fact, the role is remembered almost as much as her much longer-running role of Vicki on The Love Boat, Whelan admits.  Ten seasons steamed on quickly and Whelan grew from a little girl to a young woman on camera.

Hanging out on the Pacific Princess, weekly seeing new guest stars who were amongst the biggest names in show business, acting as a living – it all seems like an unusual childhood.  Strangely, though, not to Whelan.

“I don’t know anything else.  For me it seemed completely normal.  To, you know, grow up in front of the entire United States,” she laughs.

Her youth also kept Whelan from getting too overwhelmed by what was happening to her.

“The thing was, because I was so young I didn’t have the same perspective as I do as an adult now.  Being able to know about this sort of stuff.  It wasn’t until I did become an adult…,” Whelan laughs.”I worked with Dick Van Dyke when I was an adult, after I had children.  I was so star-struck.  I could hardly contain myself.  I was just a complete fool and an idiot, tripping over myself.  So I’m really glad that I wasn’t doing [The Love Boat] as an adult, because I think I would have had a hard time.”  She laughs again.  “I respect everybody else for their ability to do things very professionally.”

She ended up appearing in 190 episodes over the years.

“I think probably the best episodes that we all loved the most were the musicals that we did.  We did a couple of those.  Then, other than that, I think the most fun were the cruises that we did.  We really had an amazing opportunity, because we got to cruise for six weeks a year.  That was phenomenal.  That was absolutely phenomenal.”

Of course, the older actors made a point of helping make things as easy as possible for their young co-star.

“They were very protective,” Whelan recalls.  “Very protective.  Very wonderful.  They’re just great people and all were really good friends.”

So there were no bad influences on set, getting her into pranks or feeding her sugary snacks?

Whelan laughs, “No, you know they really weren’t….  They are very good people and they wouldn’t do that.  Second of all my mom is there the entire time, therefore her influence was very strong.”

Of course, it helps that the seedier sides of the Hollywood experience never really held any attraction for her.

“I’ve been pretty transparent my whole public career,” Whelan says.  “I’m a big homebody.  I spend a lot of time at home entertaining with my friends.  I’m not a big clubber.  I never have been.  I always feel like a fish out of water in those places.”

Also, much of her time on set was spent, through necessity, learning.

“I had a tutor on the set,” Whelan says.  “For three hours a day I was required by law to go to school with her.  Three solid hours.  It was almost like home-schooling in a way, but I also went to a regular school on the days that I wasn’t working.  My mom tried to make it as normal an experience for me as she possibly could.”

As normal as growing up working on a luxury liner can be.  And for herself, Whelan has taken some cruises since leaving the world of the Pacific Princess.

“I’ve done a couple of cruises since the show ended, which have been really fun,” Whelan says.  “I got married on a Princess Cruise, which was the prettiest wedding ever.  The wedding didn’t last, but the memories of the cruise are amazing.”

When The Love Boat finally docked the last time in 1987, Whelan was ready for a serious shake-up in her life.

“I was living in Los Angeles,” Whelan recalls.  “I just finished doing a movie of the week [called Babies Having Babies] with Martin Sheen directing it.  One thing your parents can’t protect you from in Hollywood is the fact that you’re only as good as your last project.  So, for me, I felt this pressure of: What are you doing next?  What are you doing next?  I didn’t know.”

She was of college age, so naturally that was a serious consideration.

“I wanted to go to school,” she continues.  “I got accepted to USC, but I wanted to leave, so I decided to go to New York.  When I came back, I went: Nope, I still feel the pressure here.  So I moved to England.  I did a couple of semesters at a University there called GuildfordUniversity….  It was a fantastic experience.  I had just an amazing time in England…. Then I just came back to Los Angeles and said: Nope, still not feeling good.  So I decided to move to New York altogether.”

Eventually she ended up in Philadelphia, and her career took a side step into radio.

“Living in Philadelphia, it’s not the center of the entertainment world,” Whelan says.  “But that’s all I knew how to do.  I just started meeting people.  They asked me to come and guest on Michael Smerconish’s show.  So I did.  Then the program director there and I became friends.  They said just come in and start trying to do some Saturdays and see how that works for you.  I was scared to death.  I’d never done radio in my entire life.

“I spent two hours just talking by myself,” she laughs.  “It was a challenge, but I thought that it would be really something fun to try.  Especially about politics, not about pop culture.  So I did.  I enjoyed it.  It was great fun.”

Radio led her back to Los Angeles.  Brian Phelps, half of the long-time syndicated radio duo Mark and Brian was looking for a new partner, because Mark Thompson was retiring and moving to North Carolina with his new wife.

“[Brian] and I had been very close buds for a very long time,” Whelan says.  “We had always wanted to work together and always had been looking for that opportunity.  It just came up that his show was ending with his partner.  He asked me if I wanted to take his partner’s place.”

Whelan was ready to join the show, which was based out of KLOS-FM in Los Angeles.  However, right before she was supposed to start, Phelps had a slight change of heart.  Not about working with Whelan, but about working on radio.

“72 hours before we were going to sign a contract, he was like: ‘No, I can’t get up at 3:00 in the morning anymore.  I’m tired.  Let’s do a podcast.’”

They did.  The Brian and Jill Show soon after debuted on the web, running nearly two years with hundreds of episodes.  Brian and Jill decided to call it quits in February this year.

“We both have other projects that we’re doing,” Whelan explains.  “I’m bringing my musical act back on tour.  I’ve also got some other projects with my other writing partner that are getting kind of hot and heavy, so we really have started to work on other stuff.”

That one-woman show is called “Jill Whelan: An Evening In Dry Dock.”  It is a musical look back at her life and her work.

“It’s great fun.  I’ve been singing as long as I’ve been acting.  The first time I stepped on stage was a musical.  So for me it’s like coming home.  It’s my favorite medium.  It’s what I feel the most comfortable with.  It’s just such a gift and such a joy to be able to be doing my show and getting back out there with it.  I just love it, even though it scares me to death.  That’s the funny thing, you go onstage and before you go on, you go ‘Why am I doing this to myself?’  Then you go onstage and you’re like: Yay!”  She laughs.

She has also gotten back into filmmaking, doing a couple of movies in the last couple of years.  One was a horror film called 6 Degrees of Hell and one was a holiday film entitled A Christmas Tree Miracle.

“Runs the gamut,” she laughs.

Is it fun to get back in front of cameras?

“Yes, one was a horror film with a buddy of mine who is very talented.  His name is Harrison [Smith], as well as my son.  I did that.  Then I did with another friend of mine the other film, which is also really sweet and really wonderful.  [It] just came out at Thanksgiving.  It had some wonderful reviews.  So that’s been great as well.”

So is Whelan enjoying film work or stage work more?

“It’s so hard to choose,” Whelan says.  “It’s so hard to choose.  One is immediate gratification.  The other one you get the opportunity to do it over and over until you feel like you’ve done it right.  So, God, it’s really hard to choose.”

Of course, those are not even the most important things in Whelan’s life.

“I guess I am most proud of is my role as a mom,” Whelan says.  “I have two boys.  One is nine.  One is 19.”

The 19 year old is even following in the family footsteps, well, sort of…

“He’s in film school,” Whelan says.  “He doesn’t really care whether or not he’s an actor.  He really just wants to be a writer and a director.  He is quite good as an editor, as well.  It’s been really fun to watch him.

“I just sent out a Tweet the other day, because I was walking by my bathroom and I looked in the tub and I saw my son’s toys in the tub.  I had just spoken with my older one about a job.  And I thought, wow, time sure does go by fast.  That made me really nostalgic and I tweeted out a picture of the toys.”

Time goes by fast, indeed.

Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 27, 2014. 

Into the Woods

INTO THE WOODS (2014)

Starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, Mackenzie Mauzy, Chris Pine, Billy Magnussen, Christine Baranski, Lucy Punch, Johnny Depp, Tracey Ullman, Tammy Blanchard, Mackenzie Mauzy, Simon Russell Beale, Annette Crosbie, Richard Glover and Frances de la Tour.

Screenplay by James Lapine.

Directed by Rob Marshall.

Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.  124 minutes.  Rated PG.

Director Rob Marshall seems to have made it a career goal to revive the great American musical by committing some of the greatest Broadway titles in history onto celluloid.  I suppose that makes a certain amount of sense, because Marshall got his start on the Great White Way.

His filmmaking career started with a bang when Marshall brought Bob Fosse’s Chicago to life with wonderful success (and six Oscars, including Best Picture).  After a sidetrack to make an unsuccessful adaptation of the popular book Memoirs of a Geisha, Marshall returned to Broadway with a version of the early 80s hit Nine.  Sadly, that film turned out to be a whiff – not coming close to capturing the charm of the play.  After another sidetrack on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Marshall has returned to the well of his original inspiration once again.

This time out, he may have taken his biggest chance yet, taking on Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s classic lampoon of Grimms’ Fairy Tales.  However, this time out, Marshall’s excessive ambition ended out working to his advantage.  Into the Woods is arguably his finest work, even better than the fantastic Chicago, if for no other reason than the fact that the source material was so much more complex.

Of course, then again, maybe I’m grading on a curve because Into the Woods comes hot on the heels of the gawdawful adaptation of another classic Broadway musical, Annie.

The basic idea of Into the Woods is the mashing together of a few classic fairytales – “Cinderella,” “Jack & the Beanstalk,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Rapunzel” – as well as an original tale of the baker and his wife.

Though officially considered children’s stories, the Brothers Grimm’s output tended to be a lot darker, more violent and downbeat than typical kid’s fare.  Into the Woods embraced this dichotomy, taking witty and decidedly mature looks at these classic parables.

It also takes a refreshingly cynical look at the idea of “happy ever after.”

Anna Kendrick plays Cinderella, a beautiful and sad skullery maid whose life is made miserable by her evil stepmother (Christine Baranski) and stepsisters (Lucy Punch and Tammy Blanchard).  She finally has the opportunity to get dressed up and visit the royal ball, but is disappointed to find that Prince Charming (Chris Pine) is a vain, shallow pretty boy.

Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) escapes her tower and finds love with her own vapid prince (Billy Magnussen).

Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) is a bit of a shoplifter and has a ravenous sweet tooth, however she does not realize the dangers that lurk in the woods, including a vaguely pedophilic, predatory wolf (Johnny Depp).

Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) is trying to save his poor (and slightly cross) mother (Tracey Ullman) by selling his beloved cow (though he is more like trying to pawn her temporarily).  He trades the cow for magic beans, with which he is able to grow a huge beanstalk and steal gold from giants in the sky.  However, when the giants come down to get restitution, the whole kingdom is in danger.

All of these characters are tied together through the story of the baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt).  They are living a barren existence when they are told by the blue-haired witch next door (Meryl Streep) that they have been cursed to not have children, however she will lift the curse if they retrieve four things from her in the woods.

The acting is wonderful and the singing is mostly above average as well.  Not surprisingly, Streep steals the film (doing a much better job in musical work than she did a few years ago in Mamma Mia!)  Blunt and Kendrick also have surprisingly supple voices, which is all the more impressive because of Sondheim’s tricky lyrics and complicated tunes.

While it goes on a bit too long (much of the last half hour could have easily been cut), Into the Woods is a rousing bit of entertainment.  It’s certainly the best movie musical since Les Miserables.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 26, 2014.

Big Eyes

BIG EYES (2014)

Starring Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, Danny Huston, Terence Stamp, Jon Polito, Madeleine Arthur, Delaney Raye, Elisabetta Fantone, James Saito, Guido Furlani, Emily Bruhn, Alan MacFarlane, Tony Alcantar and Jaden Alexander.

Screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.

Directed by Tim Burton.

Distributed by The Weinstein Company.  106 minutes.  Rated PG-13.

In the 1990s, screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski created a small cache of wonderful oddball film biographies.  Unlike the expected Hollywood stance of honoring the lives of great heroes, Alexander and Karaszewski took a look at lives of quiet desperation.

The characters that fascinated the duo included arguably the worst director in film history (1994’s Ed Wood), a pornographer and unexpected first-amendment hero (1996’s The People vs. Larry Flynt) and an eccentric comedian who died young (1999’s Man on the Moon, about Andy Kaufman).  The scripts attracted terrific directors – Tim Burton helmed Ed Wood and Milos Forman filmed Flynt and Moon.

However, despite the fact that all three films got terrific reviews and some Oscar notice, they were mostly overlooked by the movie-going public, as People vs. Larry Flynt became a minor hit and the other two sank with little wake in the box office pool.  When those films did not become bigger hits, Alexander and Karaszewski turned their attention to more traditional movie fare, stuff like the dumb Norm MacDonald comedy Screwed, the kid-flick Agent Cody Banks and the actually very decent Stephen King adaptation 1408.  After 1408 became a reasonably-sized success, the writers faded into the background again, with no films or TV projects since.

Seven years later, the guys are back in a big way.  They have co-written a film version of R.L. Stine’s popular Goosebumps young adult horror books.  They are also putting together a TV series called American Crime Story.  But most excitingly, they have returned to their eccentric biopic sideline with this movie.  Reuniting with Ed Wood director Tim Burton (and, despite his impressive reputation, this is easily the horribly uneven Burton’s best film since that movie 20 years ago) the duo takes a look at yet another forgotten pop culture phenomenon.

Big Eyes turns it’s wide-eyed gaze on Walter and Margaret Keane.  Margaret (Amy Adams) was an early 60s divorcee who was trying to use her talent as a painter to raise her young child.  She had a very distinct and oddball style, painting pathetic looking small children with huge, limpid eyes.

Margaret fell in with Walter (Christoph Waltz), a charismatic charlatan who was trying to peddle a bunch of derivative Paris street scenes to San Francisco art dealers.  When Walter and Margaret got married, he started taking her paintings along with him to try to sell.  But when Margaret’s work started getting significantly more attention than his own, Walter claimed her work as his own.

Soon the paintings had become a sensation, making the couple a huge amount of money.  However the meek Margaret was constantly feeling guilty about the fact that she was letting her husband take credit for her work and committing a massive fraud on the public.

It’s an odd, small, intricate story, which is probably why this film works so well.  It takes a look back at a pre-equality world where a woman like Margaret could be so concerned about her career and her daughter that she would let her husband steal from her.

Adams plays the character with a heartbreaking tentativeness and sense of worthlessness.  Waltz does a good job also playing the glad-handing huckster, a man capable of great cruelty covered by a slickster smile.  He also does a good job at defining the man’s delusion – the fact that his character is not able to distinguish that the kitschy paintings are not fine art, as well as his ready willingness to grab the spotlight from his intimidated wife.

Burton’s direction is definitely less fussy than it has been in quite some time (though a short scene where Margaret sees everyone in a grocery store with her trademark big eyes has the director written all over it) and takes a sweet and fun look at the worlds of both fine art and pop art.

Big Eyes is certainly not a vital story, but it is an intriguing and enjoyable one.  It fits in quite well with Alexander and Karaszewski’s rogue’s gallery of beautiful losers.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 31, 2014.

Top Five

TOP FIVE (2014)

Starring Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, J.B. Smoove, Sherri Shepherd, Anders Holm, Romany Malco, Leslie Jones, Michael Che, Jay Pharoah, Ben Vereen, Hayley Marie Norman, Karlie Redd, Luis Guzmán, Charlie Rose, Bruce Bruce, Taraji P. Henson, Gabourey Sidibe, DMX, Jim Norton, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler and Jerry Seinfeld.

Screenplay by Chris Rock.

Directed by Chris Rock.

Distributed by Paramount Pictures.  101 minutes.  Rated R.

As a stand-up comedian, when he is on – which is often – Chris Rock is a force of nature.  A shooting star across the audience.  A walking and talking exclamation point.

This fact has made his complete inability to translate his odd brilliance to the screen even more perplexing.  At this point, Rock has made well over 30 films – six of his own and the rest as a gun for hire – and not one has come close to capturing the staggeringly potent mix of intelligence and wit that he regularly displays on stage.

That is, until now.

Top Five is not a perfect film, but it is head and shoulders above anything he has done previously.  And it works because he finally takes himself on as his subject.

In fact, Top Five pretty much succeeds at what his good friend Adam Sandler attempted and failed at a few years ago with Funny People.  It takes a complex look at the existential toll taken on a talented comedian who has sold out for years for an easy paycheck in Hollywood.  (Sandler also shows up here for a good-natured cameo as himself, together with Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Whoopi Goldberg at a strip club for Rock’s character’s bachelor party.  It is the most effortlessly funny that Sandler has been for years – perhaps ever.)

Some critics have suggested that Top Five is Rock’s Woody Allen film, and they are not completely wrong (though technically Rock’s earlier I Think I Love My Wife was also a stab at this type of film, it just didn’t succeed).  It is a New York-based look at a comedian who despises his work (and is starting to despise himself) trying to come to terms with his life and his career by revisiting the place where it started.

Specifically like Woody in Stardust Memories, Rock’s character of Andre Allen is known for dumb-but-funny films (specifically a series of cop-in-a-bear-suit films called Hammy the Bear), but he sees himself as more of an artist.  He wants to make serious films, but everyone is waiting for the next Hammy film.  (He is constantly recognized on the street as Hammy, despite the fact that he is covered in a bear suit during the films).

Part of the problem is that his serious films are not particularly better than the stupid ones.  Top Five shows Allen in New York doing press for a horrible looking film called Uprize!, a pretentious historical piece about Haitian slave revolutionaries.  He is four years sober and starting to doubt his talent.  The only heat his career is generating at all is appearing on the reality series about his bridezilla fiancée (Gabrielle Union) preparing for their nuptials.

It is at this crossroads that Allen is pressured into an interview with Chelsea (Rosario Dawson), a sweet and hip Hispanic writer for Rolling Stone who wants to find out who the man really is.  He agrees to allow her to tag along with him all day as he juggles the film junket, the wedding and the old neighborhood.

Chelsea has her own problems going down, including identity issues (she has at least three “pen names” that we hear about), problems with her career, her family and romance.  As the two travel up and down Manhattan, starting off guarded but becoming more and more truthful as the day goes on, they recognize in each other another lost artistic soul.

So what is it that makes Top Five (the awkward title comes from a running argument in which Andre’s family and friends debate the five best hip hop artists of all time) succeed when so many other Rock films have failed?  Previously in his career, Rock appeared to be making a specialty of doing bad remakes of films that had already been done much better – such as Down to Earth (a remake of Heaven Can Wait), The Longest Yard, Death at a Funeral and I Think I Love My Wife (a remake of a French comedy called Chloe in the Afternoon).

Here it is obvious that he uses his own life as inspiration.   I’m not saying that Top Five is necessarily completely biographical, but it certainly takes a hard look at a world with which Rock is intimately familiar.  In doing so, it brings out that elusive star power that Rock so regularly taps when performing live.  Finally, Chris Rock’s movie career is living up to its infinite potential.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 8, 2015.

Ben Stiller at the New York press day for “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.” Photo copyright 2014 Brad Balfour.

Ben Stiller, Rebel Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Dan Stevens, Owen Wilson and Shawn Levy

Director & Cast Come Alive with the Third Edition of Night at The Museum

by Brad Balfour

In the latest, most adventure-filled Night At the Museum edition (which hit theaters near the year’s end), security guard Larry Daley travels from New York to England – with animated crew in tow – to save the mystical artifact that animates these characters and several new ones. He embarks on an epic quest to save the magic before it is gone forever  so he has to unite the Egyptian Prince – who is in NYC – with his father the Pharaoh in the British Museum.

Though it sometimes goes beyond silly, verging on the ridiculous at times, these films have really funny moments. This edition – Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – is no exception. If the Night at the Museum trilogy’s silly concept – a mystical force animates New York’s American Museum of Natural History’s displays after its closing hours – gets more kids to come to this great museum, then it deserves all the support it’s gotten.

As Daley (and his alter ego, the Neanderthal Laaa) Ben Stiller leads the ensemble through various twists and turns which take them from the New York Museum to the British Museum in London. And what a cast! Besides Stiller, it includes Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Dan Stevens, Ben Kingsley, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, and Rebel Wilson.

The successful series – based on the children’s book by Milan Trenc – transforms Manhattan’s Museum of Natural History into a nightly party for various diorama inhabitants, Neanderthals, dinosaurs, a Capuchin monkey named Dexter (played by a girl monkey named Crystal), a wax Theodore Roosevelt (Williams), and tiny cowboy Jedediah (Wilson) and Roman Centurion Octavius (Coogan).

When the story shifts to the London location, it adds British security guard Tilly (Rebel Wilson), errant knight Sir Lancelot (Stevens). Another denizen of the museum is Egyptian Pharaoh Merenkahre (Kingsley), who reconnects with the animated mummy of his son Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek). The effects are state-of-the-art and add a lot to the film’s overall impact.

This latest chapter is also endowed with a certain poignancy, because it offers the late Williams’ final screen appearance. Also, that of 93 year-old Mickey Rooney, who appears here in a cameo and died shortly after.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb ends a franchise that began in 2006 and had a 2009 sequel (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian). All three were helmed by director Shawn Levy, who has had quite a string of family oriented comic hits including Cheaper By The Dozen, The Pink Pantherand Date Night.

Not only have the films celebrated the museum, it has spawned a trend there. In honor of the film, the museum has scheduled sleepovers occasionally for the kids and their parents.

In town to promote the film were cast members Stiller, both Wilsons, Gervais, Stevens (very slim and different looking from his Downton Abbey character) and director Levy. The following Q&A comes from a press conference held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel just before the film’s New York opening.

When you did the first Night at the Museum eight years ago, did you have any idea that the series would be so popular? Why do you think it is so popular with adults and children?

Shawn Levy: I don’t think you can ever go into making a movie and presume that it would ever be this popular. It’s some kind of fantasy that something you create will be embraced to this extent. So, no. We knew we had a really great idea at the core of this, but the way that it was embraced worldwide and to this extent was this incredibly fantastic surprise. As for why, I don’t know. Ben, what do you think?

Ben Stiller: I have no idea. You never know. You make movies. You do your best and you hope they connect. Every time you go out, you hope something’s going to connect. You have an idea of why you think it might connect. I thought when I read the movie, this is an idea I would love to see. Something that made me feel connected with my childhood and fantasies I had as a kid, of things coming to life. So it’s nice that that thought process actually connected with the rest of the world. It doesn’t always happen.

This third film in a way, comes full circle, with a father and son story at the heart of it.

Shawn Levy: That was a conscious decision. I remember years ago – it has been five years since our last movie – Ben and I talked and discussed wanting to centralize this father and son story. It grounds all the zany activity in something relatable. That was a very conscious decision to place that back at the heart of the story.

As for Rebel and Dan, you’re newcomers to the family here. What was it like jumping into the rhythm of this team that’s been doing this for quite a while?

Rebel Wilson: It was good once the hazing was over. That was quite brutal. Especially Ben. He just has a lot of weapons. No, I’m just kidding. I was a little bit intimidated to come in to such an amazing ensemble of actors. I was pretty scared before I had to do my first scene with you.

Ben Stiller: Really? I couldn’t tell.

Rebel Wilson: I tried to be super confident and be like, “Hey Ben…” But like really inside, I was like, “Oh, my God.”

Ben Stiller: I was actually amazed at how confident and self-assured you were on the set, not knowing you. Walking into that situation, taking it upon yourself to try things and feeling free to throw stuff out there. You seem to really have no problem with that.

Rebel Wilson: Even though it was like, below zero degrees, I just had no problem improvising for very long amounts of time.

And how about you, Dan?

Dan Stevens: It was obviously a little daunting stepping out there. But it’s also a wonderful thing to have two movies ahead of you. So, even if Lancelot didn’t know what world he was stepping into, I kind of did. I loved the first two movies, so I knew what world I was thrown into.

Ben, your doppelgänger – the Caveman Laaa – is hilarious.

Rebel Wilson: And sexy.

Very sexy! That’s a ringing endorsement… How long did it take you to get made up and do scenes with yourself?

Ricky Gervais: He’s made up now. He’s like that naturally! This is him. He’s been waiting to do that for ages. He just does that.

Ben Stiller: It was three hours the first time. It was fun, because there’s a freedom there. I loved the cavemen from the first two movies. It was fun to bond with them and hang out. Just learn from them a little bit.

Ricky Gervais: Who’s the guy without the teeth?

Ben Stiller: Jody!

Ricky Gervais: He’s amazing! He’s always in character! I just love how we were watching him jump around and we were going, “You’re amazing!” and he went, “I’m 48.” [Laughs]

Ben Stiller: That’s the funny thing. We all aged as actors, but the creatures are supposed to not age, so everybody gets frozen in time.

Rebel Wilson: If you look closely at Sacagawea [Mizuo Peck], you might notice a diff… No! She looks great.

Ben Stiller: It was great to have a chance to jump into that. Figure the scenes out. It’s a weird thing, where you have to figure out which character is doing more of the action in the scene. Then you do that character first. But Shawn is an actor too. I don’t know if you guys are aware that Shawn is an actor…

Shawn Levy: There is a reason why I switched to directing in my early 20s.

Ben Stiller: It’s the reason why YouTube is so much fun.

Ricky Gervais: Tell me the credits!

Shawn Levy: Zombie Nightmare.

Ricky Gervais: And what was it, Beverly Hills…

Shawn Levy: Beverly Hills 90210

Ricky Gervais: Oh, that’s amazing.

Shawn Levy: And Liberace: Behind the Music. Before Matt Damon!

Ben Stiller: Shawn can act and he enjoys getting that going. He’s always played off-camera creatures. That’s what we did with the Laaa scenes. He would be me and I would be Laaa. I’d be Laaa, he’d be whatever. And then we’d figure it out. It was really fun.

Do you all have memories of museums that are meaningful? What were your experiences and what did you discover when you were at the museums? You didn’t get to go to New York, but…

Rebel Wilson: Sadly, no. We just have a lot of bush in Australia. We actually don’t have any museums! We did have one theme park and then they closed that down.

Ricky Gervais: Good tourist poster, isn’t it? “Come to Australia, we have a bush.”

Besides your museum experiences Rebel, how was your kissing experience with whichever version of Ben Stiller you ended up with?

Rebel Wilson: When Shawn brought up the idea maybe I’d kiss Laaa in the movie, I was like “great.” So Shawn yells, “Action,” and I come in. I don’t know whether you remember this, Ben, but you pushed me away because you didn’t think it was a real take. You didn’t want me to ruin your prosthetics.

Really? Did you feel rejected in that moment?

Rebel Wilson: Yeah, I was like, really rejected. Then Shawn was like, “Yeah, that was a real take.” You thought it was just rehearsals. I went in very passionately.

Ben Stiller: I do remember! Well, there was so much energy there. I wanted to harness it on camera. I actually feel like we pushed the envelope in terms of…

Rebel Wilson: There were some very sexy outtakes. Too hot for PG.

Well, that kind of overshadows the museum question. It got lost in the depths of Rebel’s recollections….

Ricky Gervais: I love museums. I’ve always loved museums.

There’s a usable quote. Ricky Gervais: “I love museums.”

Ricky Gervais: Yeah, do that. Now you’ll have two.

Ben, could you describe working with Robin Williams on his last film.

Ben Stiller: I was always excited to work with Robin. I’ve always been a fan of his since I was a kid. Since I was about 12 when Mork & Mindy came on. So I never got over working with him on any of the movies. It was always such a thrill for me. He was amazing. For me, the thing that I take away from working with him is that he was so kind and generous to everybody. Every single person that would come up to him in any way. It was pretty amazing to watch. He set a really high bar for that. He was a really genuine person.

Shawn, did Robin Williams’ death affect your editing choices? Williams appears in more sequences than in the earlier films it seems.

Shawn Levy: I knew that the movie would have a layer of poignancy that was not anticipated. I didn’t want to compromise the movie because of its bitter-sweetness. Robin loved the emotionality of the franchise and in particular loved the emotionality of this movie. So I took out two sentences of dialogue that were a little too close to home. But the warm-hearted poignancy of these movies, and this movie in particular, it was arguably Robin’s favorite part. So I was not going to compromise that. I’m happy that audiences thus far have appreciated the love and the warmth and understand where it’s coming from, which is a very sincere love for this performer and this character he’d done.

Do all of you have a scene that you weren’t in that makes the film special to you? Something that you really like about the film.

Dan Stevens: I think the scene with Ben and Dexter at the end of the movie is quite… it’s one of the most moving scenes I’ve seen in cinema, let alone in the movie. It’s one of the most special scenes between a man and an animal in cinematic history.

Ricky Gervais: The second kiss wasn’t even scripted. Ben didn’t have to go in for the second kiss, it wasn’t in the script. It felt right, didn’t it?

Rebel Wilson: That was really lip-on-lip.

Ben Stiller: Oh yeah. We both had our shots, so…

Are there plans in the works already for a fourth film? And Rebel, will you be back?

Ricky Gervais: We’re actually going straight to the fifth. The fourth is going to be awful, so we’re just going to do our fifth.

Rebel Wilson: We’re just going to do fifth and seventh. I’m just filling in between lengths at home.

Shawn Levy: Right now there is no such plan. We really felt like this movie is about letting go. It brings a certain closure for these characters. I suppose I can’t predict whether that resolution will change. Right now, I’ve just been focused on telling this final story as well as I possibly can. No plans for beyond.

Ben, when you did the first movie, the museum actually had overnights, which are pretty cool. Was that fun for you at the time, and are you doing it again for this one?

Ben Stiller: Yeah. I’ve never done it myself, but it seemed like a really fun and cool thing. I think that they – do they still do them?

Shawn Levy: They do them here and they do them all over the country now.

Ben Stiller: I met Martin Scorsese once and he said he did the overnight.

How come you didn’t do it?

Ben Stiller: Well, maybe I will if I can get a part in one of his movies, I don’t know.

Since this is, in fact, the last one, what you will miss the most about the monkey Crystal?

Shawn Levy: Crystal? Crystal, who plays Dexter? I’ve always marveled at the fact that even though these movies have the most insane cast of brilliant stars and talent, I have seen, men, women, and children push their way past the movie stars to get a selfie with Crystal. No one is immune. That monkey has a strange hold over people. I’ll miss how she seems to inspire grown adults to act like fools because they’re so smitten.

Owen Wilson: Well, you know there’s something about a monkey in little trousers that just kind of everyone’s a sucker for.

With so many great comedians together, do you challenge each other to make the other person crack? Who’s the worst one for breaking?

Everyone: Ricky…

Ricky Gervais: That’s my job. That’s my job.

Shawn Levy: Is that not self-evident already?

Rebel Wilson: Ricky laughs really loud.

Ricky Gervais: If something’s funny, I laugh.

Owen Wilson: Sue me.

Ricky Gervais: And if I say the thing that’s funny, I laugh at that as well! My main job is to make other people laugh so it looks like they’ve ruined the take. I try and do stuff that maybe the director doesn’t see, just one little thing, and make them fall apart. Most of my scenes have been with Ben over the three movies. It’s a funny relationship between McPhee and Larry Daley. I’m the boss. I’m older. I’m meant to be the grown-up, but it’s reversed because I’m such an idiot. I’m such a child that he takes the role of adult. It’s such a lovely dynamic between us.

Ben Stiller: But he definitely tries to make people laugh. Me, in particular, when we do those scenes together. Actually, there’s a moment that for some reason isn’t in the final movie, where you say, “I’m an automaton,” and you start doing this like, robot character.

Ricky Gervais: The more ridiculous they get – I feel like I have to go big to make you laugh.

Ben Stiller: But the commitment to it and how long it would go on…

Ricky Gervais: It is ridiculous. What’s amazing about this job is, when I had normal jobs, if I mucked around and things like that, the boss said, “Stop muckin’ around.” Whereas the boss here says, “Brilliant, do it again.” It’s just the greatest job in the world for me.

Because it’s been eight years and there have been so many huge leaps in CGI, did that make doing this third film’s special effects easier or were there still challenges to made it the hardest one of the three films?

Shawn Levy: I wanted this movie to have more action and scale than the other two. And visual effects have evolved to a point where they can deliver on that. With every movie I make, every year you have to reeducate yourself on the technology because it changes. The MC Escher sequence, it was so, so hard to figure out. It took us five months to figure out how to do an action sequence in a three-gravity environment. It just became this great challenge. I had to reeducate myself on the “how.”

Ricky Gervais: Isn’t it even harder? Because everyone’s doing such great stuff that you have to keep raising the bar. It’s nearly impossible now to surprise people with effects.

Shawn Levy: That’s why I think for these movies, to the extent that they work, it’s that hybrid. It is a comedy. It’s also adventure. It’s also visual effects. We’re not going to be one thing. We’re going to be this strange alchemic blend of these things.

Ben Stiller: It’s harder, because you have to worry about that. When you’re doing those visual effects sequences or these action sequences, you wonder how much of it is going to hold the audiences’ attention. When they come to see a comedy, people have a very specific idea in their head that they want to laugh. So you can’t really go away from that for too long, or you lose the tone of the movie. That’s another element that Shawn always has to be thinking of.

Ricky Gervais: The most important thing is, wherever technology goes and how amazing it [gets], people want to be told a story. You’ll never lose that. You could be bored stiff with special effects, but a human interest story with two people sitting down and talking is always going to be around. This has got both.

Shawn Levy: That’s what brings you back to the heart [of the film], which is the father and son aspect.

Rebel, as the newcomer, and Ben, having been there from the beginning, what were the surprises or challenges that you faced doing the role?

Rebel Wilson: The biggest challenge in filming was the freezing temperatures because we were really outside in the snow filming. But for me, it’s just…

Ben Stiller: Where did you grow up?

Rebel Wilson: Australia.

[Laughter from all]

Ben Stiller: It’s wasn’t that cold. We were in London. It was like, kind of cold.

Rebel Wilson: I was wearing like, five layers of clothing in the movie. Which meant I couldn’t sit down properly, because it would gather here. You just couldn’t bend at a ninety degree angle. So I would kind of perch. But more in terms of coming into the ensemble and just knowing so many great and iconic comedians were part of it, I just felt a little bit of pressure. I wanted to do my best and represent a bit of girl power in the movie, so that was fun.

Ben Stiller: We were excited to have both Rebel and Dan and what they brought. Watching the process happen. Especially with Dan, watching you sort of find your way, it was really fun to see. Because the tone is so specific and not easy to define. He’s a real guy. He has a sense of humor and this irony about things but still playing it for real. It was fun to watch you do that and see your confidence grow.

Dan Stevens: I was nervous that first week. But actually, most of that first week was me on the horse in Trafalgar Square, so I had enough to worry about there. Then by the time we got up to Vancouver…

Shawn Levy: You have to share that anecdote about in Trafalgar Square with the trainers.

Dan Stevens: Oh yeah! So that night, it’s pouring with rain. It’s London, of course it is. I was anxious enough as it is. Trafalgar Square has a lot of marble floor. The trainer came round, checked the bridle and said, “Everything’s fine. It is raining, it’s wet underfoot. If you fall, you will break your neck.” And, “Action!” So yeah, there’s a lot to be scared about. That particularly. But my confidence did grow. Learning to improvise like that with world-class improvisers. Learning to be more playful. I think by the last week Shawn couldn’t really shut me up. At the beginning I stuck to the script.

Shawn Levy: You soon learned that in this franchise there is such little respect for the script.

Dan Stevens: So little respect for the script and the director! [laughs] In that sense, play is really, really encouraged on the set. It was wonderful to see. I hadn’t really been on a set like that.

Do you guys relate to your characters in any way?

Ricky Gervais: Definitely. I love McPhee [the museum director]. I like him because we’re all a bit socially awkward deep down. I like the fact that like all of us, he wishes he was a bit cleverer than he is. A bit more articulate. He wishes he was witty. He tries too hard. All he wants is a bit of a hug. I’ve always liked those sort of characters. You want to go, “You all right? Just chill out.” And he’d go, “Yeah?” He’s alright. I like him.

Ben Stiller: As a dad, I can relate to Larry. Just being a father and especially over the eight or nine years that we’ve been doing the movies and watching my kids get older. There’s that protective feeling you have. Also, Larry’s relationship with all the creatures in the museum is sort of a fatherly one, too. For me, the reason I did the movie was because when I read the script I thought this was the coolest thing ever. If I was ten years old I would love this. I actually love it as an adult. I grew up going to museums, so for me it’s always been a real thing.

And what about Laaa?

Ben Stiller: I definitely relate to Laaa. Laaa’s me in the morning.

And Owen, what about that special relationship between your character and Steve Coogan’s – with the looks between you two and all?

Owen Wilson: All my scenes were with Steve. We had a great time working together. I think it’s sort of what these guys were talking about, the sense of play and fun. The way Shawn encourages you so you feel confident to try things. I know that we certainly did. I’d see Shawn, but I wouldn’t see any of these guys when I was doing the scenes. So for me it’s always been like Steve and I are doing a movie together. I’m always surprised when I show up and see these other guys.

Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 19, 2014. 

Photo Credits:

#1 © 2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

#2 © 2014 Jessica Miglio. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

#3 © 2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

#4 © 2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

#5 © 2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

#6 © 2014 Joe Lederer. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

#7 © 2014 Joe Lederer. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

#8 © 2014 Kerry Brown. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

#9 © 2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

#10 © 2014 Kerry Brown. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

#11 © 2014 Kerry Brown. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

Marta Kristen and Mark Goddard starred in “Lost in Space.”

Marta Kristen and Mark Goddard – Fifty Years Later and Still Lost in Space

by Mark Mussari

Fifty years ago this year, families across the United States sat down on a Wednesday evening to watch the premiere of a new science-fiction series on CBS: Lost in Space. When it first appeared — on September 15, 1965 — it was the most expensive television pilot ever produced. No one had ever seen anything like it.

In retrospect, it turned out to be much more than that. In 1965, LBJ was president, the Beatles were all the rage, and the space program was in full gear. The first year of Lost in Space was broadcast in black and white. The show’s dark, at times expressionist, filming captured the pervasive fear of the unknown as we ventured farther out into the galaxy.

In its early, relentlessly eerie episodes, Lost in Space functioned like an extension of The Twilight Zone. But instead of fighter pilots or superheroes,Lost in Space thrust a family, the Robinsons, into the great abyss: a father and mother (both scientists) and their three children.

Lost in Space featured a cast with an impressive acting pedigree: Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Angela Cartwright, Billy Mumy and Jonathan Harris. The show also gave the world some enduring catchphrases, among them, “Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!” and “That does not compute.”

Marta Kristen and Mark Goddard played eldest daughter Judy Robinson and spaceship pilot Major Don West. The two actors were supposed to have a romance on Lost in Space. The show was also supposed to be an adventure series about a family and their pilot.

But life (and the whims of the show’s imperious creator, Irwin Allen) took a sharp left turn with the addition of Jonathan Harris, as effete expedient stowaway Dr. Zachary Smith, and the Environmental Control Robot (played by Bob May and voiced by Dick Tufeld). Before long, Allen turned the majority of the show’s plots over to Harris, the gifted Mumy as young Will Robinson and the Robot.

Despite three years in space, the romance between Kristen and Goddard experienced very little thrust. In addition to their striking looks — they were one of the most attractive couples ever to grace the small screen — both actors had an impressive acting résumé.

Trained in theater from childhood, Kristen had appeared on such popular series as Dr. Kildare, Wagon Train, two Alfred Hitchcock Presents (one at the age of 16) and The Loretta Young Show, and as the mermaid Lorelei in the film Beach Blanket Bingo. Born to a Finnish mother and a German father killed in World War II, Kristen was sent to an orphanage in Norway; she remained there for four years before finally being adopted by a couple from Farmington, Michigan.

“My mother said I got off the plane from Norway walking like Charlie Chaplin,” she says of her early dramatic proclivities. “It was in my blood.”

When she was only 15, producer Jimmy Harris asked her to audition for the title role in the film Lolita — but her parents had read Nabokov’s book and refused to grant permission. Still, Harris was so impressed he got Kristen Elizabeth Taylor’s agent. Her stints on a number of shows led to her being cast on Lost in Space without ever having to do a screen test.

“I’m thankful for the show now,” Kristen says today of Lost in Space. “Of course, there’s a nostalgia and that nostalgia has been passed on to the children of the people who first watched it.” She also cites “the morality tale that was always given at the end of each show” as another reason for its endurance. “It was all about the family,” she adds, “and that’s why it still lives.”

Fans still laud Kristen’s performance in “Attack of the Monster Plants,” an episode in which she played her evil twin, produced by a Deutronium-guzzling plant.

“For me that episode embodies my love of acting,” says Kristen. “I’ve been acting since I was five — and becoming another person. The distrust and hidden agenda Judy has on that show — it shows in my eyes. I’ve always studied dance, and there’s quite a beautiful piece of movement in that episode when I’m hypnotized and go into the giant plant. I appreciate it now in retrospect.”

Kristen can actually laugh now about the way she was underused on the show. “On one episode I go into the spaceship and all I say is: ‘Will,’” she remembers. “I complained to Irwin, who said I was absolutely right and promised to give me more to say. So, in the next episode I said, ‘Will … Penny.’”

Today, she also ponders whether Irwin Allen was afraid of her natural sensuality. “Even though I was pretty young, I think a real sexiness comes from a kind of innocence,” she explains, “and that’s what I had. The network was very afraid of that, especially in my scenes with Mark.”

Kristen had even tested for a role in The Sound of Music (in which her friend and co-star Angela Cartwright had starred) but says she was deemed “too sexy for it,” citing her Finnish looks as the source of her attraction. “I’m not the all-American type,” she adds.

Today, Kristen paints and coaches young actors. “It’s really thrilling to teach somebody all the different things I’ve learned in the past,” she observes, “and that I can cull from my own experiences. I’m fortunate to be able to do what I wanted to do most of my life.”

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts and trained at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts on New York, Mark Goddard arrived in Hollywood in 1959 — and within three weeks landed a part on the western series Johnny Ringo.

“That was really fun for me,” he remembers. “I didn’t even know how to ride a horse or handle guns. It was produced by Aaron Spelling.” That part led to a number of one-shots on such successful series as The Rifleman, Gunsmokeand The Rebel — and eventually to a part on The Detectives.

“As an actor you take what comes,” recalls Goddard. “It’s a job — and you adjust to it. I had two good years on The Detectives.” Ironically, he was joined in his final year on The Detectives by Adam West, who would go on to play Batman. “They were going toward the youth movement with me and Adam,” he adds.

After he filmed the Lost in Space pilot, Goddard had little hope that it would be picked up. “Before I went into it I didn’t particularly want to do it,” he says today. “I thought, that’s science fiction — I wanted to be Paul Newman not Buck Rogers! And then the pilot sold, and I was not happy.” Seeing himself in wardrobe the first time — a tight, silver lamé spacesuit — made Goddard cringe. “I looked like a baked potato in the oven,” he recalls. “But it all worked out great. We had a wonderful cast of people.”

With such a stellar cast, the show looked promising in its darker early episodes. “Some of the early black-and-white shows had an Outer Limits quality to them,” remembers Goddard. “That’s the way we thought the show was going to go. Irwin Allen thought that the show had to compete with Batman, so it became campy instead of staying true to a science-fiction show, which would have been more like Star Trek. But it went the way it went. I don’t fault anyone.”

For years following the end of Lost in Space, though, Goddard refused to even talk about the show. “After it went off the air,” he admits now, “I didn’t realize that anyone had ever seen it. I thought the audience had all been children. I thought nobody watched it. Years later, I was signed to The Act with Liza Minelli on Broadway. I never even mentioned Lost in Space in the show’s Playbill. I didn’t want the show to be a career buster, because Guy Williams told me at the time: ‘This show’s a career buster.’”

Eventually, after numerous other guest spots in the 1970s, including a stint onGeneral Hospital, Goddard returned to his home-state of Massachusetts and received his master’s degree in education. He went on to teach special education for more than 20 years.

Yet, after attending science fiction conventions and hearing from fans over the last few decades, Goddard began to realize the show’s cultural impact. He concurs with Kristen: “It’s nostalgia. Fans out there who are in their fifties and sixties grew up in a time when there wasn’t that much on television. Lost in Space was a family show. People like the family, and they hooked onto the characters they could relate to. Characters that could become part of their family.”

Goddard views this as a cultural phenomenon, particularly when the show went into reruns. “They recall coming home after school and wanting to see the show,” explains. “It brings you back to a time in your life that was good for most people — and for some not so good — but they have Lost in Space to fantasize about.”

While fans often tell Goddard how much they enjoyed seeing him play his wicked doppelganger in “The Anti-Matter Man,” he cites “The Condemned of Space,” the season-three opener with Marcel Hillaire as a guest star, as one of his favorites. Yet, he admits that many of the episodes are, indeed, lost to him. “Those were the sixties, and I wasn’t smoking or anything, but many of them I do not remember.”

Today, fans can visit a Mark Goddard Appreciation Society Page on Facebook. “We’re kind of mini-icons,” he realizes. “We did have a large viewing audience. It’s 50 years and people are still talking about it.”

In 2008 Goddard released his memoir, To Space and Back. “It’s a very candid book,” he explains, “and that’s what people love about it. There is one chapter on Lost in Space.”

In 1998 New Line Cinema released a major motion picture of Lost in Spacewith a new cast. Kristen, Goddard and Cartwright had cameos. The movie featured some never before seen special effects, but it lacked the heart of the original show (despite some powerful acting by Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith). In 2004, director John Woo made a pilot for a new television series of Lost in Space, but the pilot never sold.

Still, as John Updike once wrote in Rabbit Is Rich, “That was good, solid space they were lost in.” Somewhere in that space, maybe the Robinsons finally return to Earth — and Judy and Don finally had that romance that never really materialized.

The surviving cast members of Lost in Space — Kristen, Goddard, Lockhart, Mumy and Cartwright, will gather to celebrate the show’s 50^th anniversary at this year’s Hollywood Show, held January 23-25. The panel is scheduled for Jan. 25 at 11:30 a.m. at The Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, located at 5400 West Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. Admission is free with purchase of a ticket for the Hollywood Show (click on link to find out how to order), but only 200 will be admitted to the “Lost in Space” event.

Mark Mussari, a freelance writer, translator and educator living in Tucson, Arizona, is also the author of an educational book on the history of Popular Television: American Life & Television: From I Love Lucy to Mad Men.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 14, 2015.

Photos courtesy of Living Legends Limited. All rights reserved.

Zero Motivation

ZERO MOTIVATION (2014)

Starring Dana Ivgy, Nelly Tagar, Shani Klein, Heli Twito, Meytal Gal, Tamara Klingon, Yonit Tobi, Yuval Segal and Elad Scemama.

Screenplay by Tayla Lavie.

Directed by Tayla Lavie.

Distributed by Zeitgeist Films.  100 minutes.  Not Rated.

There is a long history of films mocking the drudgery and soul-crushing bureaucracy of military service.  The line goes back to films like No Time For Sergeants, Dr. Strangelove, M*A*S*H, Catch-22, Stripes, Private Benjamin, all the way up to more recent films like Three Kings and Jarhead.

This Israeli import is not on the level of those classics (well maybe it is up with Jarhead), but it does give us a look at military malaise from a different land.

Also like Jarhead, Zero Motivation is about the banal, deadening boredom of life as a grunt.  The soldiers, for better or worse, get to see some action.  However, what is life like if you are assigned to become a low-level pencil pusher in the human resources section of the Administrative office of a military base out in the middle of nowhere?

Daffi (Nelly Tagar) and Zohan (Dana Ivgy) are two of the members of this not-quite-top-level troop.  Both are trying to make it through their two-year military service (all young Israelis, women as well as men, must spend at least this amount of time in service).

Unfortunately, they quickly find that their duties mostly revolve around making their superiors snacks and coffee and trying to make some sense out of decades of completely muddled records.

They are not exactly highly motivated.  Zohan spends hours playing ancient video games like Minesweeper and Solitaire on the office computer.  Daffi spends most of her free time writing her superiors, begging to be re-assigned to a more interesting post in Tel Aviv.

They are friends, sort of, in the way that people thrown into situations they can’t stand cling to others who share their hatred of what is happening to them.

They are openly insubordinate to their superior (Shani Klein), an anally retentive woman who is eating constantly when she isn’t yelling at her subordinates.  The only real danger they have to deal with are the industrial strength staple guns which could be used as a weapon, if one were so inclined.

Zero Motivation is broken down into three sections – each about 40 minutes long – which cover pretty much the first year of their service.  They aren’t both there the whole time – Daffi is reassigned temporarily and Zohan spends some time in the brig for one of her more in-your-face acts of insubordination.

The first segment shows the two women and their bunkmates trying to come to terms with life in the military, until a lovesick civilian sneaks on base and commits suicide.  The second part is after Daffi has been sent to another base and the other women find out that Zohan is a virgin, and they decide that they need to get her laid, despite the fact that the commander has given them a nearly impossible job of filing and cleaning the office.  The final bit had Daffi returning, having proven herself as a soldier, and being given the commanding position, causing serious friction between her and Zohan.

It’s interesting and sometimes very funny stuff, though in the long run the film seems a little like its protagonists: not exactly sure what it wants to do or get across to people.

I have to reuse a line I used to close out my review of Jarhead nine years ago, just because it is so apropos to this film: In the world of Zero Motivation, war isn’t hell, it’s just a real drag.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 16, 2015.

Wes Anderson at the NY press day for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Photo copyright 2014 Brad Balfour.

Wes Anderson

The Director Gives Us a Guided Tour of The Grand Budapest Hotel

by Brad Balfour

On the surface, the narrative driving Wes Anderson’s eighth film is pretty simple. During the fictional glory days of The Grand Budapest Hotel (starting back in 1932), its exacting Concierge Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes) fiercely maintains its high standards and demands exceptional services from all his staff. In turn, he offers personal extras to his older, fabulously rich female patrons – including Madame Céline Villeneuve “Madame D” Desgoffe und Taxis (Tilda Swinton), whom he spends the night with prior to her departure.

A month later she dies and leaves him an incredibly valuable painting. Her family, particularly son Dmitri (Adrien Brody), are enraged that he’s been bequeathed the artwork. Gustav so fears for the painting that he steals it in the dead of night. Through a series of convolutions, he is imprisoned, not so much for the theft, but for her murder. With the help of his loyal lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori), he escapes in order to prove his innocence, all the while dodging assassin J.G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe) efforts to kill him.

Further complications ensue as he’s exonerated and avenged. All this takes place as the impending World War gets underway and further tragic events ensue.

This action is bracketed by prologues and epilogues set both in the present and in two sequences set in 1985 and 1968. Therein lie the intricacies that the 45 year old director injects in this simple adventure story, which makes this film obviously the unique work of Wes Anderson.

Besides the plot overlays, stunning visuals and particularly arch performances, what makes this film truly unique is Anderson’s elaborate conceptual latticework. No wonder it received nine Oscar nominations and other award wins.

This veteran director can’t help himself. As the great grandson of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, fantastical ideas based on the life of an outsider have always been in his blood. Ever since the Texas native began making films, he’s made quirky movies that have divided audiences between those who can relate and those who can’t figure out what the hell he is doing.

Growing up in Houston, he discovered film-making in high school. However, it was at Austin’s University of Texas where he was a philosophy major that he really immersed himself in cinema with buddy Owen Wilson. His initial release Bottle Rocket – a crime caper gone quirky – achieved cult status, but little else. Then came Rushmore, a film that confirmed Anderson’s love for the odd man out, embodied here by an obsessive high student played perfectly by Jason Schwartzman.

Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, a 2001 comedy-drama about a successful artistic New York City family and its ostracized patriarch, became Anderson’s biggest success until 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom. With a domestic box office of more than $50 million, the film was nominated for an Academy Award and ranked by an Empire poll as the 159th greatest film ever made.

Anderson’s 2004 feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou – about a Jacques Cousteau-esque documentary filmmaker played by Murray – is a classic example of Anderson’s style, but the critical reaction was less favorable than previously and its box office didn’t match that of The Royal Tenenbaums.

He next created The Darjeeling Limited, about three emotionally distant brothers traveling together on a train in India, which reflected the dramatic tone of The Royal Tenenbaums, but faced similar criticisms to The Life Aquatic. Anderson has acknowledged that he went there to film the 2007 movie, partly in tribute to the Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, whose “films have also inspired all my other movies in different ways.” (He dedicates the movie to Ray). Starring Anderson staples Schwartzman and Wilson (who co-wrote the script with Wes and Roman Coppola as well) in addition to Adrien Brody, the film was as much a unique travelogue as well as an odd narrative. Then came the stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr. Fox – adapted from Roald Dahl’s book – which was nominated for the 2009’s Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Following Fantastic Mr. Fox‘s critical huzzahs, Anderson made Moonrise Kingdom, perhaps his best received film until now – the opener for 2012’s Cannes Film Festival. Emblematic of Anderson’s style, the film was financially successful and earned him an Academy Award screenplay nomination.

Initially released in Spring 2014, The Grand Budapest Hotel was loaded with Anderson stalwarts including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman as well as key cast members such as Fiennes, Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, among many others. Surprising for a film that appeared so early in the year, Anderson’s “literary geek chic” – which has won him both praise and derision – has brought this film to the top of many best-of lists and award nominations or wins.

The following Q&A is edited from a small roundtable interview Anderson conducted shortly before the films’ release.

At some point you have to go from “I have this idea” to “I have to get to there” in realizing the idea. How long does this process take, from the universe you imagine in your head to putting it on paper and beyond?

With this one, the script was first. I had some parts of it a long time ago. My friend Hugo wrote the script with me. We had a section of the movie years and years ago, but we didn’t really know what to do with it. Then I figured out the setting. What we had written wasn’t even in the past or anything like that. [Then] we figured out what to do with this character. [After that], we made the script pretty quickly. But the process of figuring out how to make the movie was very long. It was a lot of research and wandering, and gathering ideas. I think that’s really the answer: [it] comes very slowly and gradually. That’s how the thing was put together.

What feeling does this particular project evoke, compared to say, Fantastic Mr. Fox or The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou?

Overall, there’s usually some personal thing with the movie – something that I’ve experienced – that’s making me want to do this. In this case, it’s because I’ve been living in New York for the last 10 years or so, mostly, and it’s still new to me. I live as a foreigner most of my life these days. I’m interested in what I’m seeing every day. The history of this region became particularly compelling to me over that time, along with people I met, Europeans, and that one person in particular who is the model for Ralph’s character. Along with this historical backdrop for this story, and it having a bit of a plot and so on, there’s a set of personal experiences that make me want to make the thing in the first place.

You had a friend who inspired the role of master concierge Monsieur Gustave H. that Ralph Fiennes plays?

Well, he’s not a hotel person. He’s not a concierge. But he wears the perfume, quotes poetry spontaneously, and sometimes you don’t know he’s doing it. Then, suddenly, “Oh, I see, we’re quoting.” He recites, and he talks like this character. Ralph knows him too. The character in the movie is more Ralph than this guy. Ralph took over and it evolved into what it is. But there’s still this inspiration in him.

What was his reaction?

A lot of, [quoting] “I would never say that… Wouldn’t happen darling, just wouldn’t do it!” But then a lot of [quoting again] “Good, very good.”

Is he self-aware?

He’s a good friend of mine and my friend Hugo [Guinness], who wrote this thing with me. He sat with us while we were writing the thing. He would just sit and encourage or discourage us. He had a lot of thoughts about the casting; he was very happy with Ralph. I think he’s quite pleased with this movie. He’s seen all the movies I’ve done over the years, and he and Hugo both are people who will say, “No… not your best.” This one, he likes it. He relates to it.

One thing your actors have consistently said about making this film is the sense of camaraderie you generate in the ensemble and in the experience of making the film. 

For this movie we all lived in a hotel together. It was a very close-knit. I think that makes a difference. It’s more fun, but also I feel like everybody does better. Everybody gets more into it. People who haven’t done movies with me before, after a couple days say, “Hmmm… [I’ve] never done anything like this before.” But the main thing is that it’s more fun, I guess.

Did you always envision Ralph as Gustave? We’re not used to seeing him so funny…

I had wanted to work with him, just in the abstract, because he’s such a great and powerful actor. I had seen him in a couple of funny things, like In Bruges – he’s very funny in it – and I’d seen him in a play that he was very funny in too. I also knew him a little bit. I’d gotten to know him a little over the years, and just thought he would be the guy. I didn’t have any question about it. I will say, people were kind of like, “Are you sure? Is that right for this?” I think we put people in a category because of what’s familiar about them. I feel most actors, if they make the character feel real, then they can probably take it anywhere you want. [That’s what makes] a great actor. I don’t really see a clear line between comic and dramatic… I sort of see them as the same. It’s just you shift it a little this way or a little this way.

Is that also true for you with the real and animated? There are some things that one would assume would be shot realistically that are not, and vice versa. What determines where that curve happens?

It’s that somewhere along the way. There are certain things that I think maybe if we use an old-fashioned technique, let’s say, for a way to express some part of it. It might let us design something from scratch that we otherwise would be trying to adapt – for instance, the whole exterior of the hotel. Well, the whole mountain where this hotel is, or whatever it is, is a painting. That was really because I didn’t find what I wanted. I found ideas for what I wanted, but I didn’t find the real thing. So then I thought, “Well, let’s just make a miniature,” because we know how to do miniatures, because I’ve done them on the animated movie.

There was this painter, Caspar David Friedrich, whose work I didn’t really know before, but got interested in during this movie. I thought, “Well, maybe we could make a Caspar David Friedrich painting of this thing, and it would be a way to express exactly what I would like it to be.” The question is, why do I think it’s okay to do that, when probably almost any filmmaker would say, “I don’t think that we can get away with this.” I’m not sure why I feel that I am going to get away with it. We have this ski chase at the end of the movie. I want you to think it’s scary or whatever. I want it to be like a real chase. These characters are in danger and you’re afraid of what’s going to happen to them and all that stuff. At the same time, the methods we’ve used to do it, you can see what the tricks are. I think on some level, I just do it because I like to see that stuff. I’m trusting that enough people will feel the same way. But I don’t know if that’s a very safe bet or not.

The whole style validates the movie. Without the style, it might not be as interesting a story, but once the style is there, it informs the whole thing.

Well, that would be good if people feel that way.

The theme of ruined grandeur seems to appear a lot in your work – and particularly with this film. Do you feel you have a fascination with this idea?

[I don’t know if that’s the case but…] I had this experience of trying to figure out how were we going to make this movie, and in particular, looking at lots of old photographs on the United States Library of Congress website. They have this thing called the Photocrom collection. It’s an amazing, huge archive of images from around before and after the turn of the century. They’re black and white pictures that were colorized, printed and distributed. You can travel all over the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia. All over the world. In fact, it’s like Google Earth of that time. I looked at lots of these pictures, and then went to the places. Sometimes it’s very sad to do that, but interesting. A part of it is that there’s just so much more there now, and it’s not necessarily all beautiful things that we’ve done.

It was noticeable that every single house was the hotel. Even the diagram of the outside of the hotel, the prison, all looked exactly the same. Beyond the practicality of reusing set pieces, was that just for play, or for some symbolism like, “We’re in this world…?”

Well, it was something that just happened. One thing is there was a sort of architectural motif that just happened with places that we found, which I liked. This house has this open thing with a stained glass ceiling, and the hotel lobby is an open atrium with a big stained glass ceiling, and the prison is an open atrium with a glass roof. It was nice. So we did some similar kind of staging in those, and something kind of connecting these things to each other.

You have quite a fascination with symmetry. Why is that?

I guess that’s probably some form of autism or something like that on some level. It’s a personality type or something like that [for sure]. Ralph has a similar thing. This was something he used in the character. His character is very precise and fastidious, and he would organize all these things. We share a bit of… a desire to make order. Probably anybody who makes a movie, they’re doing that in one way or another. They’re arranging a thing here for you to look at. I think I have a particular kind of visual thing that I like to get, that probably kind of jumps out at people. The thing is, as much as I try to get these things designed and prepared, we figure it all out in advance and have it all ready, but when the actors come in, to me it feels like chaos. They take over. We usually do lots and lots of takes very, very quickly, and we work very fast. It’s not like a meticulous, orderly experience of shooting. It’s instead a very wild, frenetic experience, which I like. But there’s no question that what’s happening in advance is rather particular.

There seems to be a continuity of themes throughout your films, but there’s this evolution as well. Do you see that in what you have done?

I don’t like to think about themes or interpretations or meaning. Usually I have some kind of feeling that I want to get across, or that I want to somehow share in one way or another. Mainly, I want to make some kind of experience that the audience is going through – and each person has their own way of interpreting that experience. I don’t want to define it too much because that will limit it.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 25 2015.

Photo ©2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Lovesick

LOVESICK (2014)

Starring Matt LeBlanc, Ali Larter, Adam Rodriguez, Chevy Chase, Ashley Williams, Kristen Johnston, Rachael Harris, Jennifer Rhodes, Elizabeth Ho, Kate Gorney, Louise Griffiths, Debra Garrett,Connie Sawyer, Rebecca Naomi Jones and Raymond Ochoa.

Screenplay by Dean Young.

Directed by Luke Matheny.

Distributed by Gravitas Ventures.  100 minutes.  Not Rated.

Lovesick starts off with a potentially intriguing, sort of subversive premise.

What if the handsome,charming, sweet but unlucky-in-love guy in a romantic comedy can’t find true love because it turns out he scares off every perfect woman who crosses his path with his almost pathological jealousy? Can an audience root for a man who is borderline-psychotic to find true love?

It’s kind of a funny idea, because if you get technical, aren’t pretty much all guys in romantic comedies sort of crazy? I mean what kind of break from sanity does it take to physically run on foot across a major metropolitan area to try to beat someone from getting on a leaving plane? Or to declare your undying true love to a woman you barely know in front of dozens of strangers?

So why not take this romantic mania to the obvious extreme? Maybe the Mr. Right making the grand, dramatic romantic gesture is just doing it because he is so delusional that he does not realize that he is acting cray cray.

However, this is where Lovesick makes it’s biggest miscalculation. They have all the characters in the film seem to think that Matt LeBlanc’s crazy neediness is kind of cute. It’s not like he’s a dangerous psychopath, he’s a cuddly one. They also seem to expect the audience to agree. He’s doing some pretty seriously messed up stuff, but he’s doing it for true love, right?

After all, stalking just shows you care, right?

Umm… no….

And what could have been a very funny black comedy ends up being a slightly odd and overly sitcom-feeling rom-com in which every audience member thinks the woman should run – not walk – fast and far away from this crazy man.

This madman in love is Charlie Darby, a handsome, sweet 40-something elementary school principal who is universally beloved by everyone – except for the women who inevitably dump him flat.

His married best friends (Adam Rodriguez and Rebecca Naomi Jones) can’t understand why he can’t just settle down with a nice girl. (They don’t quite get the fact that he imagines each of his lovers is having affairs with TV reality show stars.) His crazy next door neighbor (Chevy Chase) thinks he should just stay home, eat cereal and watch porn.

The new lady in his life is Molly (Ali Larter), a pretty dancer whose nephew goes to his school. Once he starts dating her, he becomes irrationally jealous of: A) a hotel concierge, B) an old high school buddy, C) an Italian male nurse and D) Dr. Mehmet Oz. He follows her (not just locally, he even flies 13 hours from San Pedro, CA to Tuscany, Italy), searches her luggage and her parents’ house, and uses his professional position to pump Molly’s sister (Ashley Williams) and 9-year-old nephew (Raymond Ochoa) for information about Molly’s life.

And this guy is making a living taking care of children? Scary stuff.

However, Molly’s parents, her sister, her nephew, her grandmother, all her friends and all of Charlie’s exes think that she should ignore all the red flags about the guy and just give in to the love she feels for him. After all, he is a nice, quiet guy. Keeps to himself. He’s either the perfect man or a serial killer.

Now in fairness, LeBlanc is such a likable actor that he makes Charlie much more bearable than he has any right to be. It is through his charisma alone that Lovesick almost sells its tricky premise. However, it is hard to root for a happily ever after for a couple when you can’t help but have a sneaking suspicion that someday she will end up in a shallow grave out back.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 5, 2015.

The Voices

THE VOICES (2015)

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Adi Shankar, Ella Smith, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Sam Spruell, Valerie Koch, Gulliver McGrath, Paul Brightwell, Alessa Kordeck, Michael Pink, Ricardia Bramley, Alex Tondowski, Harvey Friedman and Stephanie Vogt.

Screenplay by Michael R. Perry.

Directed by Marjane Satropi.

Distributed by Lionsgate.  103 minutes.  Rated R.

No one can say that Iranian-by-way-of-Paris director Marjane Satropi didn’t take some big chances in her debut American film.  After all, The Voices is a serial killer comedy complete with slapstick violence, talking animals (and severed heads), conga lines, body parts stored in Tupperware, and a colorful oddball musical interlude that even included a cameo by a singing Jesus.

The only problem is that it apparently did not occur to anyone that the term serial killer comedy is something of an oxymoron.  Psychosis and homicidal rage are rarely what one could call amusing.

Therefore, despite the fact that The Voices does have some humorous bits and some interesting things to say, it makes for a bit of an uncomfortable muddle.  The violence tends to overwhelm the black humor of the film and the fanciful jokes tend to blunt the killings.

The offbeat whimsy that The Voices was trying to capture would seem to be in the wheelhouse of director Satropi – and she did as well as anyone could be expected to – after her long history with graphic novels and then moving into animated films, such as the Oscar-nominated Perseopolis (2007) and Chicken with Plums (2011, her live-action adaptation of her earlier graphic novel).

For the record, perhaps The Voices would have captured the illusive fancifulness they are striving for better as an animated film.  The Voices also marks Satropi’s first attempt to film another writer’s ideas, which also may have hampered her normally sure-footed style.

The Voices does look nice enough visually, but the direction of the story also clashes between the color-saturated dream landscape of the main character’s work and the dank and filthy squalor of his own home.  (And yes, I get that this was intended symbolically, but it is still a bit awkward.)

The person hearing “the voices” is Jerry (Ryan Reynolds).  Jerry is almost supernaturally perky and enthusiastic, at the same time that he is also extremely insecure.  He works at a huge pink and white factory, building and shipping bathtubs.  He is always excited about his work, also going out of the way to throw himself into any extracurricular event he can.

He also has a deep dark secret.  He is a full-blown schizophrenic and off of his meds.  When he gets home every night, he is brutally berated by his cat Mr. Whiskers at the same time that he is unconditionally loved by his big old hound dog.  Both are also voiced by Reynolds, the cat with a broad Scottish accent and the dog sounding something like Wilfred Brimley.  As a cat lover, I’m not sure why the cat has to be the evil one, but okay, I will allow the movie its conceit.

Jerry has a crush on the hot British girl Fiona (Gemma Arterton) who works in accounting.  She just as obviously has no interest whatsoever, though her cute but less stunning co-worker Lisa (Anna Kendrick) seems to be intrigued.  Mr. Whiskers assures Jerry that she is way out of his league, and sure enough, when Jerry screws up the courage to ask Fiona on a date, she ends up standing him up.

Later that night Fiona has car trouble and accepts a ride home from Jerry.  An automobile accident quickly escalates and suddenly Fiona’s head is in Jerry’s refrigerator, also speaking to him.  And she wants a friend to keep her company, an idea concurred to by Mr. Whiskers.

You get the idea.  Things start to unravel quickly.

Reynolds actually does a pretty good job in this hard-to-warm-up-to role, getting a similar jittery, eager-to-please vibe to Tony Perkins in Psycho.  Kendrick is also just terrific as a lonely woman gambling on just the wrong guy for true love.

However, as the body count rises and Jerry becomes more and more erratic, the sweetly off-kilter vibe of the early scenes gets smashed to pieces.  I give everyone a certain amount of credit for trying out some edgy material that is just soooo out there, but in the long run it really doesn’t connect in the way that the filmmakers were obviously hoping.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 6, 2015.

Rosewater

ROSEWATER (2014)

Starring Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodnia, Dimitri Leonidas, Haluk Bilginer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, GolshiftehFarahani, Claire Foy, Amir El-Masry, Nasser Faris, Kambiz Hosseini, Numan Acar, Ayman Sharaiha, Zeid Kattan, Ali Elayan, Nidal Ali and Jason Jones.

Screenplay by Jon Stewart.

Directed by Jon Stewart.

Distributed by Open Road Films.  103 minutes.  Rated R.

At first glance, Rosewater would appear to be an odd choice for The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart to make as his first film as a screenwriter and director.

After all, despite the fact that in his day job as a TV writer and host Stewart does have to make light of some very serious issues, it certainly is out of his wheelhouse on film.  Previously, Stewart’s background in the movies has pretty much been limited to doing cameo roles as himself, playing small roles in the awful likes of Big Daddy and Death to Smoochy and producing some documentaries.

It seems like a stretch for Stewart to break into film writing and directing a movie based on a true story about an Tehran-born London-based reporter for Newsweek who returns home to cover the controversial 2009 Iranian election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The reporter, Maziar Bahari (played by Gael García Bernal), is falsely arrested as a spy and tortured for months because he had the audacity to do his job and shoot some footage of a popular uprising in the streets of Iranian citizens who insist that the election was rigged.

Yet, Stewart had a very personal connection to this story which made it his passion project – causing him to spend six months on hiatus from his TV show to film the story.

The back story of the filming of Rosewater is almost as interesting as its tragic foreground.

Stewart was aware of Bahari’s plight through his anchor desk at The Daily Show.  In fact, to a certain odd extent, the show was partially responsible. In the days leading up to the arrest, Bahari did an appearance with one of theDaily Show colleagues.  Part of the skit had the man accusing Bahari of being a spy.  It was just a joke, a silly one at that, but the Iranian officials clung to it as a main excuse for showing up at Bahari’s mother’s (Shohreh Aghdashloo) home and arresting him for espionage.

He was placed in solitary confinement and tortured by a middle-aged Iranian civil servant who Bahari knew only as “Rosewater” (Kim Bodnia), a nickname he gave the man due to his cologne.  Through the months, they were able to break Bahari’s spirit – convincing him that he had been forgotten by his mother, his pregnant British wife (Claire Foy) and the world.  The only people left in his world were Rosewater and the imaginary ghosts of his father and sister, both of whom had also been arrested for political reasons.

In an attempt to appease his captors, Bahari agreed to come out as a spy on camera, however they reneged on their promise to free him.  Soon Bahari realized how pathetic and weak they were and became able to play on their weaknesses – such as Rosewater’s fits of anger and his unnatural interest in stories about sex – to manipulate them.

Little did he know that on the outside, his story was picking up steam. His wife and mother had been going to news agencies and eventually even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was insisting upon his release.

It is a fascinating, depressing, sordid story and Stewart does a good job of capturing all of the pathos.  Yet, as should not be surprising with his day job, Stewart is also able to leaven the story with a certain amount of humor.

The acting is terrific, particularly Gael Garcia Bernal, who does an amazing job as the hero, and the always dependably good Shohreh Aghdashloo as his strong-willed mother.

It’s interesting that Jon Stewart has announced that he was leaving The Daily Show on the very same day that Rosewater was released on video.  If this is the new direction of Jon Stewart’s career, that would not necessarily be a bad thing.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 10, 2015.

Hugh Grant at the New York Press Day for “The Rewrite.” Photo copyright 2015 Brad Balfour.

Hugh Grant, Chris Elliot & Marc Lawrence

Work Out The Rewrite

by Brad Balfour

Whether as a heartthrob or villain, the 54-year-old Hugh Grant plays most of his characters with a wry approach, imbuing his alter-egos with a genial humanity. Though never taking the job of actor too seriously, this British actor nonetheless has been taken all too seriously having had the media spotlight fall on him – whether by infamously being caught with a hooker years ago, or fighting against reporters hacking into his calls and emails. Weary from such conflicts, Grant shifted from high-profile roles in such hits as Bridget Jones Diary, About a Boy and Love, Actually to the more low-key, amiable comedies of director Marc Lawrence, such as Two Weeks Notice and Music and Lyrics.

That makes playing Keith Michaels in Lawrence’s latest film, The Rewrite, all the more appropriate. He plays a down-on-his-luck film professional, the formerly award-winning Hollywood screenwriter Michaels. The veteran actor turned in a convincing portrait of a man at wits’ end from the effects of divorce, a string of unsuccessful films, bad debts and blank pages.

Thanks to his agent, he lands in upstate New York at Binghamton University as a guest screenwriting professor. Initially he gives minimal effort to teaching (being more interested in a fling with a young co-ed) so he can focus on his next script. Soon Michaels unexpectedly becomes invested in his students, especially single mom Holly (Marisa Tomei), who is looking for her own revival through being in school.

Among an all-star cast that features J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Allison Janney (Mom) and Bella Heathcote (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), is also comic Chris Elliott (Groundhog Day), who plays a colleague that combines his comic skills with a sensitive performance.

Grant, Elliott and director Lawrence joined a small cadre of journalists in a discussion of the film’s merits and each personality’s career developments in Manhattan’s London Hotel a couple of day’s before its theatrical release.

Both of you have been thought of as comic personalities but both of you have done a lot of other things. How do you guys decide when to be serious and when not to be?  

Chris Elliott: I’ll speak for Hugh here. (laughs) I honestly feel like I’ve spent the last ten years of my career trying to get smaller and smaller with what I do, comedically. I think that’s been noticed a little bit. I’ve been able to move from doing the crazy and goofy stuff I was known for doing in the ’80s and early ’90s into maybe doing something where I’m a little more believable. I never thought I was a believable actor; I always thought I was a bit of this goofy guy.

There are comedians that I do believe on camera. I believe Robin Williams, Steve Martin and Bill Murray. I never believed myself when I was actually trying to act, so it’s taken me a while to find that balance. I think I did it in this movie, and that’s because of working with Hugh – and with Marc, who pulled in the reins pretty tight.

Hugh Grant: Well, I can only vaguely perform in a kind of live comedy tone. I try other tones and it’s a disaster. So I’m more stuck here; having said that, I have attempted to render some emotions in this film. At least I tried.

Marc Lawrence: We cut all of that.

Hugh Grant: Richard Curtis (director of Love Actually and writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral) used to cut those as well.

Hugh, did you go to a college to research a screenwriting class or ever learn from a master class?

Hugh Grant: No, I’ve never been to one of those. I did get persuaded by a pretty girl to give classes at some college in acting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the power trip and I liked exploiting the students.

Hugh, you once brought to life one of Jane Austen’s classic serious characters, Edward C. Ferrars. How do you feel about your connection with Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility?

Marc Lawrence: I’ll speak on that. I don’t think we thought much about [Hugh’s] connection in regard to that movie. It just worked for Allison [Janney]’s character to be a Jane Austen [devotee] because of the various connotations. I actually do like Jane Austen a lot. I think we didn’t do enough with the Sense and Sensibility connection.

Hugh Grant: No. I know it is one of Marc’s favorites – you watch it most nights.

Marc Lawrence: Sense and Sensibility? Yes, way after everyone goes to sleep. Because I like to be alone when I get dressed a certain way. (smiles)

Dressed in a certain way?

Marc Lawrence: Absolutely. I like to be in period dress when watching any kind of period film. But the favorite thing about Sense and Sensibility is at that golf store.

Hugh Grant: Oh, yeah.

Marc Lawrence: Hugh, you and I were doing a movie, Two Weeks Notice, and for some reason you, Sandy [Bullock] and I went out for lunch. You wanted to go to a golf store to buy something. We went up, and the golf guys who ran the store were there. They recognized Sandy and recognized you, and they were the least likely people to [do so]. Really, the film of yours that they loved wasSense and Sensibility. It was the most unlikely place to get that reaction.

Hugh, a lot of your movies are more targeted to a romantic audience, but a lot of guys like the Two Weeks Notice sort of films, even if they don’t admit it. Do they confess that to you?

Hugh Grant: Never. No. You are actually the first.

What was it like working with this younger generation of Hollywood and technology obsessed individuals?

Marc Lawrence: For me, it’s actually about watching my kids. Clyde is a 21-year-old senior in college who also wrote the score for the film. My daughter Gracie is a high school senior. I also have an 11 year old. Watching them was the best education for me.

Even some of the things like when Bella [Heathcote] – who plays the student that Hugh’s character has a relationship with – she says  stuff [that] I found Clyde and his friend would say in terms of slang like: “I’m totally down with that.” “Down with that” is a term that’s made a resurgence. Or like, “I’ll see you later.” And then the other person would go, “Word.” There’s a lot of that.

Honestly, it was through observing them and how they talk that kept me writing. I’d go visit [Clyde] at his school a lot and see him and his friends [interacting]. I was seeing my daughter in high school with her friends. I was around it enough to peek in, watch and listen when I could. That kept me writing what folks sound like now as opposed to when I was their age.

Hugh Grant: But I sometimes wonder if you can’t make a romantic comedy any more because I don’t think people under 25 or 30 maybe talk much. I mean how would you do it?

Chris Elliott: You mean [with everyone] texting?

Hugh Grant: Yeah, every shot would be a close-up of their phone. There was a movie where I think most of the communication on-screen was of people who were texting.

That was Jason Reitman’s Men, Women and Children.

Chris Elliott: I didn’t get to see the film, but I understand what you’re asking. I don’t know. They do still talk, actually, they just talk while they’re doing that.

Hugh Grant: When I meet young people, they frequently say: “Can I get a picture? Can I get a selfie?” Sometimes I’m not in the mood and I say “Well, I don’t really want to do a selfie, but I’ll have a chat with you.” – “But what about a selfie?” “No, we could just meet, where are you from?” “But what about a selfie?” There’s sort of a desperate look in their eyes. It’s a strange set of…

She was going ask you for your photo. Never mind.

[Everyone laughs.]

This is a comedy, but there’s a more serious subtext about creative freedom vs. creative control in Hollywood for meaningful art. Did you relate to that personally in your own career?

Hugh Grant: I’ve never had any standards in particular. I’ve always asked myself: did this thing make me laugh? Do I get bored reading the script? If I didn’t get bored and I did laugh, it came into that narrow little area where I might be able to perform it.

I’ll tell you what I am quite proud of, actually. Since Four Weddings and a Funeral, I’ve never done a job just for money. I now have to like the job. I had always done jobs just for the money before.

You talked about not confusing celebrity and work in the past, so I thought that was a theme in this, too. Is that something that appealed to you?

Hugh Grant: Well, I suppose it did. I like the way my character learns that there are other metrics by which to judge yourself from other than money, how much you are wanted and how much you’re wanted in one particular trait. My character realizes that he’s wanted by his students. He’s valued by them and by the university. I think that’s rather touching.

As for my children, it’s been a huge surprise that they value me despite the fact I don’t make many films anymore. They still like me anyway – and that’s rather like what happened to Keith in the movie.

You and Marisa had really nice chemistry in this; how was it working with her?

Hugh Grant: Well, actually, I was frightened of her. I still am, because she’s so good at what she does and is much the opposite of me in terms of how she comes at me in a role. She’s a proper New York method actress, so she knew exactly why she said every line she said.

I had never thought of it. But she’s really into all that stuff. One does sometimes roll their eyes when it’s four in the morning and you’re very cold and she’s wondering, “Why do I say this line?” And I’d say: “Oh, because then we can all go home.” But it does pay off for her; she’s brilliant.

Was this entirely shot in Binghamton, New York?

Marc Lawrence: No, we only shot there for four days. I would have loved to shoot it all there. But in the bizarre world of movie economics, it was actually prohibited to go up there with a 150 people for two months because it’s not a film hub. So we would have had to bring everything with us. It would have been very expensive.

Strangely, it would have been very expensive to shoot in a place [like that] where, for the average meal in Manhattan, you can buy most houses in Binghamton. Yet we shot there for only four days because we couldn’t bring everyone.

What was the university like? What challenges did you face and how did they welcome you?

Marc Lawrence: Chris wasn’t there, but Hugh and I were there for the Binghamton premiere. It’s a bizarre experience watching your movie where every recognition and mention of Binghamton in the theatre would get a standing ovation from over 1,200 people. I’ve never screened a movie in a theatre so huge. I don’t know what they thought of the film, but they were very, very energized about the fact it was shot at Binghamton. When you live in a place like that, you’re so starved for any version of attention that you can’t believe that’s your own town on screen.

I loved it up there. When I went to school up there, I met my wife and most of my best friends there. It was fun being there.

One of the funniest parts of the movie was Marisa Tomei showing up in different places with various odd jobs and commitments. Was there any time in your careers where you had to do crazy jobs to survive?

Chris Elliott: Present, yes. Unlike Hugh, I still do work for the money. I’ve actually been so lucky to go from one thing to another. I worked for David Letterman for eight years before I had my own TV show and then a movie. I have always seemed to be able to secure some job to survive on during the year and make money. I have done some horrible movies for a quick buck, but my crazy jobs weren’t even “that” crazy.

I was a tour guide at Rockefeller Center and a PA and a runner on couple TV shows. The times have changed in this business and the numbers have gone down, especially for people like me in the business. I still certainly try to be choosy. The idea of working with these two guys was too much to turn down – I really did it for below what I usually get paid. (laughs)

Hugh Grant: I’ve cleaned a lot of lavatories. I was rather good at it, but I did hate it. I remember I was cleaning lavatories at IBM in London. I was on my way to work one day and I thought, I really can’t stand this another day. I wish the place would just burn down. As I turned the corner, it was burning down! I didn’t know I had that power, and I tried not to use it too much since.

Where did you go from there?

Hugh Grant: I delivered new cars, in those days. We had to run them in slowly, so we were told to drive them at 20 mph. And we drove them at 120 mph. I crashed one and was fired from that job. I was a very good waiter in a gay restaurant on Kings Road, and I got a lot of tips because I was very flirty and I wiggled my bottom.

It was a gay restaurant? Were straight people are not allowed there?

Hugh Grant: No, it just happened to have a very large gay clientele.

You collaborate with a lot of the same people like Hugh and Sandra Bullock. What is it about that narrative that makes you want to work with them again?

Marc Lawrence: I don’t like meeting new people. (laughs) I almost never leave the apartment. (laughs again) I live a kind of hermit-like existence. I’m a creature of habit in every aspect of my life. Actually, I do get comfortable around certain people like Chris [whom] I had done something with a time back, and have always wanted to work again. In this situation, the people you’re doing stuff with are the absolutely best at what they do, so it all worked out.

Hugh Grant: Marc has had the same lunch every day for what is it, 30 years?

Marc Lawrence: Yeah, Sandy [Bullock] always used to say, “Everything you eat is white.” But I do like working with the same people. For the kind of stuff I write – which has way too many words – there’s not that many people who really do it all that well, so when you find them you cling [to them].

What do you think of the idea of rewriting your life so that you can do this if you just commit to it and believe in yourself?

Marc Lawrence: We’ve had more questions on that than whether or not we believe what the movie says about it. I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. What I like about the aspects of the movie is that it raises that question, and I don’t think it can ever definitively answer them. If you don’t have an ear for music, I don’t think any amount of time, focus or practice is ever going to compensate for that. If you do have an ear for music, then I absolutely think you can get better, and that focus and hard work will do something.

Back when I started, which was on a TV show called Family Ties, people would send in scripts for us to read because they wanted to write for the show. Obviously, if they were from writers you knew, you’d read the script. But when you got scripts from people you didn’t know, within two pages you knew whether or not they were writing on the level that we at least perceived or hoped that we were at. I think that’s still true and I get caught up in that debate. You need to have certain wattage on the light bulb in order to shine.

Then I think that Marisa’s argument in the movie that’s it’s about focus, hard work and whatever… You know, those geniuses like Edison, didn’t he say that it was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. I think there’s something to that.

Chris Elliott: I think to a degree as a performer, I’m trying to recreate, restart and change that parameter. I’ve always wanted to paint and draw and do that kind of stuff. But I couldn’t start right now and be a painter. I could do it for the fun of it, but I don’t think I could go in and commit a lifetime of focus towards it – at least not at my age. I think age does have a little something to do with it.

Hugh Grant: I don’t know the answer to that. We did have a crazy art teacher at my school who thought that art died in 1900 and swore that he could teach anyone in the world to draw perfectly. And he used all of the academic techniques. He used all of the old academic techniques: you had to draw a bowl with the right shading and a cone, and a pyramid and all these things.

There’s actually something to that, because the flip-side of his argument is that maybe we all rely too much on inspiration and the artist and his [inner talent]. Actually he felt that if you [applied] an unbelievable [amount of] hard work and learned a trade, the equivalent to it is a sort of whipping the feet of the student which does produce beauty in the end. That idea is very unfashionable.

Chris Elliott: And the whipping is fun, too.

Hugh Grant: Very fashionable, actually.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 13, 2015.

Photos 1-3 ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Photos 4-11 ©2015. Courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment. All rights reserved.

What We Do in the Shadows

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2015)

Starring Jemaine Clement,Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stuart Rutherford, BenFransham, Jackie van Beek and Rhys Darby.

Screenplay by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

Directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

Distributed by Unison Films and Paladin.  86 minutes.  Not Rated.

Years of stories have made vampires seem cool, romantic, adventurous, dangerous and sexy.

But is the undead life really all that intriguing?

Leave it to Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords to make the This Is Spinal Tap of bloodsuckers.

Filmed as if it is a giant documentary, What We Do In the Shadows follows a shared home of four (eventually five) longtime vampires trying to hide in plain sight in an old flat in modern New Zealand.

However, instead of romanticizing bloodsucking, What We Do In the Shadows shows the dirt and disgust of spurting blood.  It delves into the boring minutiae of being a vampire, like trying to shave and brush your teeth when you do not have a reflection, or how do you get bloodstains out of flowing silky shirts.

Instead of gorgeous maidens lounging in lingerie, they tend to run across street hoods and bums.  Instead of lavish parties, they have to keep going to the same dive bar. (They can’t get into the good clubs because they have not been invited inside.)

They can’t let on their identities for fear that the villagers will come to kill them.  Instead of a bloody civil war with werewolves, their relationships with their fellow creatures of the night tend to be a tug-of-war of macho pranks.  They have labor relation problems with their familiars.

Most of their old friends are long dead.  The dishes haven’t been washed in five years and are caked with blood. And Petyr, the oldest vampire, never cleans up the body parts left in his room.

Plus, they’ve missed all the good technological enhancements, like cell phones, the internet and selfies.

It’s a wild, funny idea, and pulled off with much more verve than you may imagine.

Eventually the movie, even at slightly under an hour and a half, runs out of steam and gets away from the filmmakers a bit.  However, their are enough seriously hilarious scenes that the slightly blah ending doesn’t matter so much.  In its own oddball deadpan way, What We Do In the Shadows is the funniest movie comedy so far in this young year.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 13, 2015.

Michael Keaton at New York Comic-Con 2014.

Michael Keaton Soars To Heights of Award Season Through Birdman

by Brad Balfour

Of all the Mexican new wave directors who emerged in the ’90s, Alejandro González Iñárritu always pushed the envelope further than cohorts Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro. He does so once again with Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance), a dark comic tragedy co-written with Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo.

Few films deconstruct the effects of mega stardom in such a unique way, with its long singular tracking shots, hallucinatory superpower sequences (exhibiting levitation and telekinesis), and fourth wall-breaking monologues.

Famous for portraying iconic superhero Birdman, actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) struggles to mount a Broadway play. He sees it as a form of redemption from having played this one-dimensional character in three mega-hit films.

In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego, family miasma, his career record and himself. While doing the play, Thomson copes with neurotic co-stars — particularly the difficult and demanding Mike (Edward Norton) and the insecure Lesley (Noami Watts). He also has to deal with his  on-again/off-again girlfriend Laura (Andrea Riseborough), close friend/manager/producer Jake (Zach Galifianakis), ex-wife Sylvia (Amy Ryan) and daughter Sam (Emma Stone).

If any actor could possibly play Thomson, Keaton was the man. The Pennsylvania native has had the kind of career the film deconstructs — in and out of the media spotlight, coping with and running away from the mayhem of Hollywood.

Keaton’s own career turns have, at times, been surreal. He’s gone from being known as a great comic actor to a favorite of wacky director Tim Burton. Burton transformed him from the cranky miscreant ghost Betelgeuse (in Beetlejuice) into an emblematic Batman. Keaton (and Burton) evolved the franchise, then left it before it become a self-parodied costumed-geek series.

Keaton himself has been in the wilderness. Literally, he lives far away from the spotlight on his Montana ranch. Being tapped for this part has brought the 63-year-old actor back into the spotlight but also at the forefront of the awards season. He has already won a Best Actor Golden Globe and several other awards, and is currently in the running for the Best Actor Oscar.

Thomson wonders in Birdman whether he has the talent or insight to be the both the actor and artist he believes he can be. So has Keaton. Playing Batman made him an iconic figure, one that could earn the big bucks just if he wanted to (working the conventions; reprising his iconic Tim Burton-directed roles). But he has shied away from Hollywood, instead trying directing (The Merry Gentleman) or doing interesting indies (Game 6 based on a Don DeLillo story).

Besides, few films that address superhero worship actually star two people — Keaton and Edward Norton (who starred as The Incredible Hulk) — who have played two superheroes that stirred fan obsession.

This Q&A is culled from a Birdman press conference, the 2014 New York Comic-Con Birdman panel and some remarks to the press after his Golden Globes win.

What does your amazing career resurgence feel like for you? 

How does it feel…??? It feels good!

How did you get involved with Birdman?

I got a call that Alejandro [González Iñárritu] was making this movie. When I asked what it was about, I was already working on another movie. [The producers of that film] said, “Unfortunately, you can’t fly home because you’re in the middle of this movie.” But when [Alejandro’s] name was mentioned, I thought, “Well, maybe I should find a way to fly home.” I was a big, big fan of his movies. So, I flew home.

They couldn’t tell me what it was about. Now that I’ve done the movie, I understand why they couldn’t explain it, because I’m not sure what happened. I went and had dinner with him. It was very pleasant and really interesting. [Alejandro] is a really interesting, extremely passionate guy, which is contagious. At the end of the meeting, he said, “Here, read this.” It took me about 27 seconds to decide, “Yeah, I probably want to do this.”

What do you think of the Riggan Thomson character? Is he crazy? Is he depressed? 

The character is Alejandro, so you should ask him… No, the character is really one of the most difficult things I’ve done. Not in terms of the character necessarily, but in terms of how the film was made. Within sometimes 30 or 49 seconds, you have to surf a lot of different emotions and fit them into this giant picture. Because this picture is always shifting and moving, and it’s got so many levels, therefore, it was really, really difficult. But I like that. I like “difficult” most of time…

Did the director make you suffer?

He tried. I go through what Alejandro goes through, the same thing. I think, “You’re the greatest. You’re wonderful.” The difference is, I go, “No, you’re actually more than that, Michael.” (jokingly) It keeps getting bigger.

There’s a lot of underwear shown in Birdman…

That’s Alejandro. (Smiles)

What were rehearsals like?

In this, as hard as it was, and as grueling as it could be, we had the luxury of saying the words over and over again. As you start to hear them, being in a play, you go, “Oh, I never heard that line coming out of my mouth.” You find another level to it, without sounding totally pretentious and obnoxious. That was a great luxury to have. It was hard, though.

Riggan clashes with an influential Broadway critic. You were also involved with a movie called Game 6, which also dealt with how a critics can affect a Broadway show. What are your thoughts on how critics can affect careers?

This is where I’m a dope. I make it really simple. The first play I ever did, in Pittsburgh, someone walked up and said, “Hey, I read the thing in the paper. Someone said you were real good” or something like that. I hadn’t even thought of that part. I still often don’t think of that part. What I thought originally was, “You should be courageous and read everything.” I did that a couple of times. Then I thought, “I don’t want to do that anymore.” That’s just miserable, so I don’t really bother. I just don’t do it.

Admittedly, when someone says, “Hey, you got a really nice review,” I’ll read it. I’m willing to make myself feel better. I ain’t going to fight that. It’s real simple for me. I think — unless I’m really stupid here, and there’s a strong possibility that’s true — I’ve basically been treated fairly. But I’m the wrong person to ask. There’s probably a lot of you out there going, “Oh no, you haven’t.” I think it’s been pretty fair. I don’t know. I’m the wrong guy to ask. By the way, I really liked Game 6. That was a Don DeLillo story.

Is this a movie about a man going through a crisis/breakdown, or is he kind of becoming enlightened?

Not “kind of.” There’s no “kind of” about it. It’s tricky. I don’t want to be coy by saying, “I don’t want to give away too much.” I really don’t, because it would be unfair, frankly. But yeah, that’s the thing that you get. I’m in the movie and I read the script. I did all the discussions. I did all the rehearsals. Yet when I saw it, I go, “Wow, he had to go that crazy to get that sane.” He had to go that crazy to find that little sweet spot.

How would you describe Birdman to people who haven’t seen it?

When people ask me, I always tend to say, “It’s not like anything you’ve ever seen before.” Then I say, “No, literally, it’s not like anything you’ve seen before.” It’s not just a glib expression. I don’t know that I’ve seen any of my movies in ten years, outside of looping and little bits and pieces. But I’ve seen this movie two-and-a-half times…. I’m going to watch it all the way through tomorrow [at its premiere]. And I’ll watch it many, many times after.

I was watching it the other day, and I kept looking at the screen. I noticed things that I didn’t really get [before]. I think, “Man, I could love this movie.” Then you realize, “Wait a minute. I’m in this movie.”

Did you get to keep your Birdman costume?

No, and what a great idea! How stupid am I not to keep one of those? Now I’m thinking of a way to get one.

The superhero genre is part of the debate about and within this film. Having starred in superhero films — Batman and Batman Returns — what did you think of them? 

When Tim [Burton] called and I took the original Batman script home, I was mostly unfamiliar with the superhero books. [I] wasn’t that big a comic book reader. I thought, “I can’t imagine anyone making this movie the way I see the character, but I’m sure glad to read it.” I told Tim what I thought. Tim was just nodding, his long hair going up and down. He was smiling and looking excited. I said, “Okay, they’re not going to make that, are they?” He said, “I don’t know. Let’s find out!”

Would you star in another superhero movie in the future?

[I’d have to ask,] Who’s directing, what’s the cast and is the script good? What’s it all about [before I could say.]

You’ve always given spectacular performances, especially in comedies like Night Shift where you were cutting your comedic teeth. In a movie like that as opposed to a movie like Birdman, do you approach them the same?

When I saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High, I had seen this kid as a young guy. Holy moly! This guy’s approach to comedy was so good and authentic. I called and said, “I saw this guy in this movie. I want to do a movie with him.” As it turns out, he was this wonderful actor Sean Penn. He happened to be funny. But what I dug about it was how authentic it was. Jonah Hill is the same way, so committed to the comedy. So I approach them the same: Do your homework and go to work.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 15, 2015.

Photos 1-3 ©2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Photos 4-8 ©2014. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. All rights reserved.

Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane and Richard Linklater at the New York press day for “Boyhood.”

Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane & Richard Linklater

Boyhood Is About Growing Up

by Brad Balfour

Far too much of the buzz and ballyhoo about this season’s indie awards darling Boyhood has focused on the fact that the film was made in real time – sort of. Director Richard Linklater took his core ensemble – Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane and Lorelai Linklater – and reconvened them once a year for a few days over a 12-year span to shoot this family drama of a divorced couple and their two kids going through life’s ups and downs. Shot intermittently from 2002 to 2013, it depicts a young boy in Texas growing up with divorced parents, ending with adolescence and the advent of adulthood.

Linklater is a native of Houston, Texas. So he told a common story about an ordinary family in a relatively conventional place. This might not have merited all the attention had not media and taste makers seized on its unique process of construction. The reaction has been so arch that it’s  overshadowing other, more subtle but equally important, qualities of the film.

Yes, if this 2-1/2 hour story had simply documented a family’s disarray and aftermath with its eye-opening dissection, it might have earned as much praise. However, the film did something far more essential when it changed focus from the family dynamic to Mason’s (Coltrane) personal evolution. He takes up photography, which helps define himself beyond the family’s trials. That move distinguished the movie from being just another domestic drama.

Creating Boyhood seems perfectly in character for a such a unique creator as this distinctly Texan director. His second film, Slacker, established his approach to filmmaking. Linklater worried less about plot and action than taking his audiences along a voyage into his consciousness, whatever it was into at the time.

As Linklater has moved along, his storytelling skills evolved while his films have retained a certain signature tone and attitude. Often working with the same actors such as Hawke (who has done the Before Sunrise series with him), Linklater has put his faith in his actors and they in him.

The 44-year-old Hawke – one of his most veteran collaborators – helped anchor this project as he took risks with the two younger actors who played the kids. Both he and the 46-year-old Arquette have done the breadth of work in acting from television series to a range of indies and major studio movies.

Of course all have been rewarded for this unique venture. The film was then nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress for Arquette. It has also received six Oscar noms, including Best Picture, Best Director, and acting nominations for Arquette and Hawke.

After Boyhood‘s 2014 Sundance Film Festival premiere, it competed in the 64th Berlin International Film Festival’s main section, where Linklater won the Best Director Silver Bear. Once it was released in July, 2014, it was declared a landmark film by many notable critics, who praised its direction, acting and scope.

This Q&A is culled from a press conference held at The Crosby Street Hotel in 2014 just before the film’s initial release.

Has Boyhood changed the way you think about cinema, what cinema could and should be?

Richard Linklater: Embarking on this, I had never seen this type of film before. I figured that by this point, people would be pointing out to me how this type of film had in fact been made before in some country, but it’s never has happened. No one came forward with the film that felt original to me that I had never seen before. It felt like a huge idea – very simple – but an idea I had, based on years thinking about it.

Cinema in general, narrative storytelling, the possibilities of it in, relation to time and structure – I had spent my for my adult life thinking about that kind of stuff. With this film, I was solving a particular problem, so I liken it to – it sounds arrogant – a scientist who goes to sleep at night and then dreams of the formula for his whatever that solves his problem.

If you’re a scientist and you’re thinking of a problem, you get the answer that’s obvious. I’m kind of in that same boat, but I’m a storyteller who was trying to figure out how to tell the story, given the limitations I was confronted with. I think about this all the time in cinema: boundaries of narrative and filmmaking. I was excited about it. When I first got involved with film, it had all these really unique storytelling possibilities. I loved the medium so much. I think film is still a wide-open frontier for storytelling.

Patricia Arquette: As far as cinema goes, I feel like I’ve watched a really strange shift over the course of my career. I’ve seen it become the business of bankers and spreadsheets. I feel like with the restraint in which Rick directed this movie – the structure coupled with the collaborative openness and the balance of those two things – he didn’t tell the obvious dramatic story. Most people would say, “You’re not following the formula of storytelling. You’re not catering to this demographic.”

There’s a philosophical element to the human connection and communication and space for the human relationship. If this movie does well, first of all, financers will have to re-examine and be a little more supportive of exploring. I also think young film audiences actually enjoy this. The more we move towards technology in our human communications, the more we need as human beings to see movies that are about humans.

Ellar Coltrane: There’s this tendency or need to gravitate towards hyper-dramas as the only thing that makes a story worth telling – these big, fantastical moments that don’t happen to most of us. I think it’s powerful to dwell on the little things.

Ethan Hawke: It’s interesting that the movie actually does get a lot of power off our pre-conditioned experiences at the cinema of thinking something big is going to happen. There’s unbelievable attention to the minutia of the movie because we’re so conditioned to think, “Something horrible must happen. We wouldn’t just be watching some people drive to this university if there isn’t going to be a car wreck, right?”

What I love about that is that’s actually how I feel about my life. A lot of my life is wasted worrying. The movie actually captures the feeling of, “Well, he’s spending the night camping and it’s so scary.” How do any of us survive those nights? But there’s something about how the movie works, in its relationship not just to its own storytelling. The storytelling doesn’t live in its own vacuum. It’s in response to other things.

Despite its 12-year spread, there’s a really consistency to the arcs of the four main characters in the film. What did you see as the subtle and big changes to these characters?

Ethan Hawke: It depends on how you define big or small. They’re certainly small, by any normal standards of storytelling. My character goes through some pretty significant changes: who he is and the end, versus who he is at the beginning. Certainly we all do, but they’re very humanist changes.

Ellar Coltrane: There are a lot of small things after 12 years. Like, you age 12 years, but day-to-day, you’re just one day older.

Ethan Hawke: If he wanted to do a movie about transsexuals, he did a bad job. (laughs) I was trying to be funny, but that really wasn’t. Now it’s going to be all over the Internet. Please forgive me. Delete that comment.

Richard Linklater: The whole movie is this little collection of intimate moments that probably don’t fit into most narratives. They’re not advancing the character or story enough or the plot that it would all add up to some things that are much bigger. That was the feel to the whole movie – but that mirrors our lives. Everything has a life corollary in that way.

What was the experience of meeting over the 12 years to film Boyhood? Did any of you ever have any doubts about making this movie? Apparently, Lorelai Linklater reportedly had her doubts…

Richard Linklater: That was kind of a fleeting thing. Had she not been my daughter… She approached the director and asked if her character could die. I explained to her it was a little dramatic for what we were trying to do. But that was a fleeting thing. She really enjoyed the movie. It was special for us to work on it. It was special to get together every year. The crew felt it and the cast. We all committed. It was a life project. It never felt like anyone wavered, ever.

Ethan Hawke: I think I can say that we collectively grew to love it more and more and more. At first, seemed a little bit like a fun experiment, and then it turned into something I love so much. I remember years ago being in a rehearsal room with the great Tom Stoppard, and he was talking about how plot is this unfortunate device that the audience just needs. What’s funny about plot is that over time, you don’t even remember it. He talked about the obvious example of Lawrence of Arabia.

You can watch that movie and 25 years later you still remember him [Peter O’Toole] standing on top of that train, expressing this feeling of power. What happens as he was becoming fully actualized of who he wanted to be in this kind of close-up. I couldn’t even tell you where in that story that is, or what’s going on. I just remember that I was moved by it. He cited Gena Rowlands in a certain movie. He couldn’t remember the plot.

Rick was daring with this movie to forego what [Tom] Stoppard thought was necessary, a bogus plot. Our lives don’t have plot, but he felt the narrative does. This movie skirts around that.

Richard Linklater: I replaced the plot with structure. I think it’s much more innate to how I think. We’re more adept to think, “Structure is plot.” Humans put structure in everything, [such as] time.

Ethan Hawke: Structure often doesn’t have line to it, whereas plot often does.

Richard Linklater: It’s not so much a construct. It’s innately human.

Do you see Boyhood as an intimate character study or something more sweeping than that?

Richard Linklater: Both. It’s very specific and intimate to this family and to Mason and all that. It is intimate, but it’s very common. I always thought it is very universal, within that specific world. This could have been made in any country, at any time. There’s such a commonality there. I’ve always thought of as a very universal, big story about life and time and all that.

Patricia Arquette: Also, Boyhood was not the [original] title.

Richard Linklater: No, we didn’t call this Boyhood for 12 years. It was a name on our call sheet.

Patricia Arquette: Sometimes it was The 12-Year Project.

Richard Linklater: Or Growing Up. We thought that was a little too vague. It was from a boy’s perspective, but it could be everything.

Ethan Hawke: This question even illuminates the answer, which is: it’s an epic about minutia. That’s what it is. It’s difficult to title because of that. It’s a family seen through one boy’s eyes, so that title makes as much as sense as any other.

Richard Linklater: Titles are difficult.

While the title of the movie is Boyhood, there could also be secondary titles, like Motherhood and Fatherhood. What was going inside the heads of Mason Sr. and Olivia? Was that something you set out to do?

Richard Linklater: It was always going to be a portrait of growing up and parenting and aging. You never stop growing up, especially when you’re a young parent. Their characters are still growing up still. I saw it as bumbling through parenting and also growing up. As adults, we have our own childhood experiences to draw on, we had our relations to our own parents, and we had ourselves as parents. While filming, we had five children born between us, and that was an ongoing part of life. As kids, you have that perspective in that moment and thinking about your parents, but you’re not a parent yourself. It was this multi-generational collaboration always.

Life was all around. I really wanted to see the parents’ perspective. That scene at the end when [Mason Jr.] is leaving his mom – we all did that at some point. I remember the inability as a teenager to totally comprehend my mother’s point of view at that age. You’re so self-absorbed. You can be the most empathetic person, but you don’t have the life experience at that age to fully understand what they’re going through. You can acknowledge, but you can’t fully feel it. We see that contrast in that scene so well, I think. We spent a lot of time talking about, all of us.

You mentioned before that Boyhood is an epic of minutia. Does the vastness of this movie allow for those powerful moments of silence more than other films because it intertwines realism?

Richard Linklater: I hope so. The playing field here was real in that way. I didn’t want anything to feel like it wasn’t earned or tethered to some kind of reality. I don’t think there was anything in the movie that didn’t come out of my life or their lives or something real-world-based. So within that, once you get people accepting it as real, it really opens you up to an incredible realm of possibilities of your experience of the movie, because it just relates to your own life and looking at that emotional spectrum. Once you’re hitting some people’s own lives, that’s an incredible area. It was designed to do that.

You can’t specifically say what anyone can experience at any given moment. But once you get to thinking about life in general and your own life and lives of loved ones and your own experiences, it’s triggering all kinds of wonderful things, I hope. Painful and wonderful, maybe. Who knows?

Was it difficult to get back into character every time you met up for Boyhoodover the years? Did you watch any dailies?

Ellar Coltrane: I wasn’t acting in other movies. I get asked that a lot. It was a very long buildup every year. We always had a couple of months to think about what we were doing. Then a solid week of workshopping and building the character and figuring out where the characters were that year. By the time we got to filming, we were just already there.

Ethan Hawke: We had a very good director. My father is a mathematician. Usually, mathematicians have their breakthrough ideas really young. [He says to Linklater] It’s interesting that you were in his 40s when he started this. I don’t think your style of filmmaking has changed that much, but you’re a lot more experienced. If you had done this movie when you were 26, working with Ellar was different than the way you worked with Lorelai. Which was different than the way you worked with me, and different from the way you worked with Patricia.

I’ve worked with [Linklater] eight times now. I’ve watched Rick learn how to speak to people the way they need to be spoken to. That’s what helps you be ready to play. We were always prepared to play. You brought up something that I’m surprised that people don’t write about more, which is how awesome it is to see Patricia’s character in this movie. To see a woman who is a mother and a lover and more than one thing in a movie. I’m so proud to be a part of a movie that respects her character in the way this movie does. It’s so real and it’s so true.

It’s true in life – we see it all the time – but I don’t see that woman in movies. [A woman in movies] she’s in the background or an ancillary element to give some encouragement in some way to some studly guy. But this [Olivia] character is a real, three-dimensional human being, which is so exciting. The women in my life who have seen the movie so appreciate it. But she’s also not just good. She does stupid things and smart things.

Richard Linklater: There’s a complexity to Olivia.

Ethan Hawke: I just love her… We’re used to people in movies being one thing all the time.

Richard Linklater: She’s a great woman at the end. She’s worked toward that. There’s so much complexity to her. We’re all human. There are flaws. To work with someone like Patricia, who’s so ferociously real, it was super-inspiring.

Mason Jr.’s interest in photography changes his life. Was that a conscious decision to have him pick up photography? Did that parallel any of your own experiences when you decided to become an artist? Frankly I feel the is the crux of the film far more than the time-span concept or a simple study of marriage, divorce, and its effect on families. Without this development the film would have been far more pedestrian.

Richard Linklater: I always thought that we’d see Mason get into some kind of art, some form of expression by junior high/high school. Somewhere in there, he would start to express himself. I didn’t know exactly what form that would be. I thought maybe it would be writing or maybe music. If I had to bet, I thought Ellar would be in a band. But he actually did become a visual artist. He was very interested in photography. I personally liked that. I thought, “That’s great!” I was taking pictures at that age, and I thought that was a perfect segue and a perfect thing for his character to get into.

Ellar Coltrane: Absolutely. I think being lost in the artistic process is a very therapeutic thing. An outlet that’s incredibly valuable, no matter what it is, to throw yourself into creating something.

Ethan Hawke: The most beautiful experience for me about making this movie is watching Ellar become this creative entity unto itself. If the movie didn’t work, it would’ve been a stunt or gimmick around time. It’s Ellar’s performance and his creativity and passion in the movie that elevate it. It makes it more than structure. The structure is working, but it requires a certain level of inspiration. Watching [Ellar] survive adolescence and let the movie not just be Rick’s expression, but also [Ellar’s]. That was happening in the movie, and it was happening on the set in different. Ellar is not Mason; they’re different people, but there’s a similar development.

[Patricia] and I discovered the arts young. Much has been said about how transformative and healing that can be. But there are other ways to be creative. You can be creative in athletics. You can be creative in a lot of different ways, if you find a passion for it. You can express yourself with baseball. You can manifest your personality with your team and with your coach in the same way that you can in the arts. I could wish for two things for my kids: decent friends and a passion that’s so exciting.

Patricia Arquette: The beautiful thing about art, whether you’re getting paid for it or not, it is a little spark of a life force, whatever that is. It’s miraculous, some of the great biblical art in churches. Some of our greatest musicians may have been flawed humans, but were somehow connected to something beautiful.

In acting, you have to get past your own head and your own ego and all of these fucking barriers and walls. Get to a place where you can hopefully be present enough to be in a scene in someone to get out of your own way. To listen to a director who has a beautiful vision and just be there. Chilling out with these people every year, meeting each other, building on each other… It was collaborative and built upon itself. I felt safe with everyone, and I trusted their process. It was jumping into the void from the get-go. When you’re in the right hands and you jump into the void together, really great things can come of it.

Boyhood is a movie about growing up — one way or the other. Ethan and Patricia, what do you remember about your first kiss?

Ethan Hawke: Our first kiss? My first kiss was with a girl named Cindy at the Hamilton Roller Rink, during the slow skate. She said to me afterward, “Do you like Jack Daniels?” I said, “Yeah, too bad he died.” I didn’t really know what Jack Daniels was then. I think I thought it was Jimi Hendrix.

Patricia Arquette: I do not remember my first kiss. That doesn’t mean I’ve had a lot of kisses. I think I was pretty young. I’m sure it was a peck. But I do remember one kiss. I don’t know why, but I really didn’t like the way this guy kissed me. He was a friend of a friend. He was a pro skater, and he was the only guy I ever gave a fake phone number to. Years later, he murdered his girlfriend.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 16, 2015.

Photos 1-5 ©2014 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Photos 6-10 ©2014. Courtesy of IFC Films. All rights reserved.

Kingsman: Secret Service

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (2015)

Starring Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Sofia Boutella, Sophie Cookson, Jack Davenport, Edward Holcroft, Mark Hamill, Samantha Womack, Jonno Davies,  Geoff Bell and Alex Nikolov .

Screenplay by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn.

Distributed by 20th Century Fox.  129 minutes.  Rated R.

Despite it’s action-based premise, Kingsman: The Secret Service is a film that appeals to many different audiences.

At its heart, Kingsman is the story of an underdog who gets a second chance to turn his life around. This classic storyline is given a fresh spin when the second chance comes in the form of a competition that brings light to an important issue.

The competitors, with the exception of the films hero, all come from money and impressive background. One of the ideas that the film stresses is that where you come from isn’t what matters. Instead, it focuses on loyalty, heart and bravery.

Now of course, that doesn’t mean it is lacking in the action/spy movie department. Samuel L. Jackson stars as the typical villain, Richmond Valentine. Valentine hopes to destroy the world, (yada yada yada) but what he really brings to the table is humor. Jackson’s character, a lisping billionaire who wears ridiculous outfits and has an equally ridiculous personality, adds a self-aware parody nature to the film.

In one scene, he mentions his love of old Bond movies and says that spy movies of the modern day simply aren’t as good. This one certainly gives those a run for their money however, with bulletproof umbrellas and special gadgets, beautiful people, and an overarching story about redemption and loyalty.

Kingsman shows that a spy movie doesn’t have to be all villains and heroes. It’s better to have fun along the way.

The film stars Taron Egerton, a newcomer to the acting scene, as Gary “Eggsy” Unwin, the main character. He’s rough around the edges in the beginning, but as his character develops throughout the story, Egerton becomes both believable and genuine.

Part of this change in character is due to the influence of Colin Firth’s Harry. Firth gives an outstanding performance in a new genre: action. He’s funny, lighthearted, and most of all: badass. For a man who hasn’t seen much action in such a lengthy career, he  certainly is comfortable in this role.

What makes a good spy movie? Well, it depends. A good spy flick comes in many forms. Kingsman sets out to show that a new type of spy film, a good hearted, classy, funny parody of sorts can be just as good as the classic and more serious spy movies that are typical of the genre.

Ally Abramson

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 20, 2015.

Dumb and Dumber To

DUMB AND DUMBER TO (2015)

Starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Kathleen Turner, Rob Riggle, Laurie Holden, Rachel Melvin, Steve Tom, Tembi Locke, Paul Blackthorne, Michael Yama, Nancy Yee, Grant James, Taylor St. Clair, Don Lake, Patricia French, Lindsay Ayliffe, Eddie Shin, Atkins Estimond, Billy Snider, Brady Bluhm, Cam Neely, June Shannon, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Bill Murray.

Screenplay by Sean Anders & John Morris, and Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly, & Bennett Yellin, & Mike Cerrone.

Directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly.

Distributed by Universal Pictures.  110 minutes.  Rated PG-13.

About fifteen years on from the brief window when their so-dumb-it’s-funny style of comedy briefly made Peter and Bobby Farrelly the biggest names in film comedy (due to their run of hits which included Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and There’s Something About Mary) the brothers have been flailing around looking for some kind of relevance.

For well over a decade after Mary, the Farrelly’s helmed some of the worst and most tasteless films coming out of Hollywood: Me Myself & Irene, Shallow Hal, The Heartbreak Kid and Stuck on You.  The fact that the guys’ last couple of movies – Hall Pass and The Three Stooges – were just kinda bad, and not actively awful, was an odd triumph for them.

However, the Farrellys had a higher goal in mind than just not to suck.  They wanted to recapture their Hollywood zeitgeist, to become a force to reckon with again.  Therefore, they decided to do what was technically their first sequel, a look back after 20 years at Harry and Lloyd, the moron heroes of Dumb and Dumber.

I say technically, because Dumb and Dumber To (the misspelling of two in the title gives you an idea of the level of comedy here) is actually the third Dumb and Dumber movies.  The Farrelly Brothers want to pretend that the 2003 prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd never happened.  In fairness, most people who saw Dumb and Dumberer also would like to pretend it never happened.   Also in fairness, the Farrelly Brothers and the stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels had nothing to do with the prequel.  So while technically this film is Dumb and Dumber Three (sorry, I can’t think of a clever way to misspell the number), we’ll give them a pass.

Now, I’m going to come clean here.  I’ve never seen the original Dumb and Dumber.  This is because I honestly find Jim Carrey an annoyance, not the least bit funny and a simply horrible actor.  And, honestly, Dumb and Dumber To is not going to really change my mind about that.  Yet, a funny thing has happened.  When the original Dumb and Dumber came out, Carrey was ubiquitous, you were expected to bust a nut seeing him doing the same stupid shtick over and over again.  However, as the years have gone by and his career has sunk deeper and deeper into the muck, what used to be actively annoying about him has become somehow less objectionable.  It’s still not all that funny, but now its more pathetic than annoying.

Jeff Daniels, on the other hand, can act.  And seeing him throw himself so willingly into a moron role that is so far out of type for him – remember, this sequel originally came out as he was winding down his Emmy winning role in Aaron Sorkin’s whip-smart The Newsroom – that it was kind of a hoot to see.

The truth is, finally catching up with Dumb and Dumber To on Blu-ray (I missed the brief theatrical run) I did laugh a lot more than I expected I would.  It wasn’t a great (or even good) movie, for the life of me I can’t see how it took six people to write and like most Farrelly Brothers movies it ran out of steam long before the film ended.  However, I have to admit it, at least sporadically it had the goods and was laugh out loud funny.

Besides, any movie that would snag Bill Murray for a cameo (Murray had worked with the Farrellys in Kingpin and I guess he liked them), and then have him do his entire role in a hazmat suit so that the audience could not see who he was – that is a movie that has some cracked genius behind it.

Dumb and Dumber To will make you laugh, even though you may be ashamed of yourself later.  Come to think of it, that pretty much defines the entire Farrelly Brothers filmography.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 20, 2015.

Adam Carolla stars in “Road Hard.”

Adam Carolla

Road Hard and Put Away Wet

by Jay S. Jacobs

They always say to write what you know, and Adam Carolla knows life on the road.

Therefore Road Hard, which Carolla not only stars in but co-wrote and co-directed with his long-time collaborator Kevin Hench, tells the story of a stand-up comedian who has a lot of similarities to his creator.  Bruce Madsen is a craftsman-turned-caustic comic who is still remembered for a popular sketch comedy show from about a decade and a half ago.  His former co-host has become a huge success with a nightly talk show, but Bruce is still fighting in the trenches of the comic wars, flying from town to town taking soul-crushing gigs in big cities and small towns all over the world.

Carolla has long been very vocal about how tough life on the road can be.  He too had a popular TV series – co-hosting The Man Show on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2003.  His Man Show co-host, and still one of Carolla’s best friends, was Jimmy Kimmel, who has found even greater stardom as the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

So, Adam Carolla, how much of Road Hard is real and how much is fiction?

“I don’t really know how to really break that down,” Carolla admitted recently.  “In a weird way, everything I do is both.  The stuff I’m saying is stuff I’m going through or stuff I’m feeling.  On the other hand, this guy is a character that is not me, but possesses a lot of the qualities I possess.  I don’t have an adopted daughter.  I’m not divorced.  But, I do have an ex-partner who is very successful on late night TV.  So I grabbed a lot of stuff from my own life and threw it in here.”

Adam Carolla stars in “Road Hard.”

Of course, there is nothing all that surprising about mining your real life for comic inspiration.  Carolla tends to think that it is the rule, not the exception.

“There’s probably not an episode of Seinfeld and not an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where what’s coming out of Jerry’s mouth or Ray Romano’s mouth isn’t something that one of his writers, or even the guy himself, hasn’t experienced at some point,” Carolla explained.

Real life has always been an inspiration for Carolla.  However, that is only part of the story.  Unlike his protagonist, Carolla is not just floundering around waiting for his next gig.  Carolla has been plenty busy over the years.

Other than The Man Show he also co-hosted the popular MTV advice series Loveline with Dr. Drew Pinsky.  He has also had the popular Comedy Central series Crank Yankers.  He showed his diverse interests by hosting the home-improvement series The Adam Carolla Project on TLC and The Car Show on Speed-TV.  Hell, he even did stints on Dancing With the Stars and Celebrity Apprentice.

He has written two best-selling books – In Fifty Years We’ll All Be Chicks and Not Taco Bell Material.  Perhaps his most impressive success has been as a pioneer in the brave new world of podcasting, where The Adam Carolla Show is listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the most-downloaded podcast on the internet.

Adam Carolla stars in “Road Hard.”

However, Road Hard does put a face upon Carolla’s long-time complaint about life being tough as a traveling stand-up comedian.  Still, he recognizes that it is part of the job and so he trudges along.

“I do it because it’s part of what I need to do financially for my family,” Carolla said.  “The other part of it is I’ve sort of transitioned from doing standup to doing live podcasts.  Transitioned from playing clubs to playing theaters.  So it’s gotten a fair bit easier being on the road.”

Not always, however.  Carolla can quickly come up with a personal low point on the road.

“Definitely my worst experience is I was on the road, I was playing Atlantic City, and I had a one-nighter that was in Mansfield, Pennsylvania,” Carolla recalled.  “We were staying at a place where leathernecks hung out.  All the guys worked on the pipeline, oil refineries and stuff.  The place was a mess.  Really crappy little single story motel with a bunch of blue collar dudes.  I was playing Mansfield University.  There’s an auditorium with about 30 people in it.  Kids who were there for free.  It was snowing outside.  I’m sitting in the back and I saw the guy who was going to bring me up on stage.  He had about three pages of IMDb crap.  It was The Man Show and Crank Yankers and Loveline and New York Times best sellers, syndicated radio.  Blah, blah, blah.  I said to the guy: Look, man, don’t read all that.  Just say, ‘He’s got a podcast, you met him from The Man Show – Adam Carolla,’ and bring me out.  I just sat there backstage and listened to this guy read my entire history off.  Which all sounded pretty good, except I was standing in Mansfield and there were only like 30 people there.”

Adam Carolla stars in “Road Hard.”

Still, Carolla has always known that he has to do whatever needs to be done to make a living.  In fact, he did not become a comedian until very late.  Previously he had been a craftsman and an amateur boxer.  In fact that was how he originally met Kimmel.

“When I met him, he was my boxing instructor, and I couldn’t believe how funny he was,” Kimmel said about Carolla when I interviewed him several years ago.  “There are a lot of people out there who never even think about going on television or going on the radio, who would probably be better at it than a lot of people that work for it their whole lives.”

So at what point did Carolla start thinking seriously about comedy as a career?

“When Jimmy told me to,” Carolla laughed.  “I always wanted to do comedy, just I never could.  I never could figure out how to do it.  When I met Jimmy, he helped me figure out how to do it.”

And does Carolla miss boxing?

“No, I don’t,” Carolla said.  “I mean, I skip my rope.  I do a little shadow boxing.  But, no, I don’t miss that world, because you got punched in the head and you didn’t get paid.”

Of course, getting punched in the head and not getting paid could potentially also describe filmmaking.  Carolla did return to the boxing world for his first independent film with Hench, The Hammer.  (Carolla and Hench co-wrote that film, but did not direct it.)  While The Hammer never reached as wide an audience as Carolla would have liked, it was a learning experience.

Adam Carolla stars in “Road Hard.”

“There is nothing like making an independent film to know how to make an independent film,” Carolla said.  “The first independent film we made, The Hammer, we had never made an independent film before.  So there was a steep learning curve.  Once we got that under our belt, we figured out a few things we wanted to do and a whole bunch of things we didn’t want to do this time around.  We were able to approach it from a slightly different place.  A place of experience.  I remember what it was like sitting in the edit bay working on The Hammer and realizing we didn’t have some b-roll or some coverage or some whatever.  It’s just a lot of little tricks and things that you try to learn.”

And learn he did.  Road Hard looks more confident and focused than The Hammer.

“When we went into Road Hard, now I was keenly aware of let’s make sure and get this, because I kept fast forwarding to being in the edit bay.  I even started editing as we were shooting.  When I did the scene with Jay Mohr, there was supposed to be a second scene where I came back up to his room at night and he kind of gave me what for.  But we never shot that scene, because I said: You know what?  Once this guy gets thrown over the desk, he is never coming back.  We’re going right back to the road.  That’s an instance of editing on the fly without being in an edit bay.”

Another change was that he kept control of the film this time around.  Road Hard was made with the help of fans through crowdfunding on the site fundanything.com.  Carolla is not sure if these sites are the future of indie filmmaking, but it worked for him.

“I can only speak for my experience, which is that’s how we made this film,” Carolla said.  “I don’t think I would have done it the conventional way.  I’d already done it the conventional way [with The Hammer].  That means I rattle a can, beg people for money, get the money, make the film, sell the film to the Weinsteins [Harvey and Bob, heads of The Weinstein Company], give the people their money back and the Weinsteins bury it and never give us any accounting.  And everyone gets paid but me.  That was fine to do once, but I didn’t want to do it twice.”

Jay Mohr’s character of Jack Taylor was loosely based on Kimmel, the old comic partner turned late night talk show host.  However the inspiration for the role was able to see the humor in the character.

“Jimmy loved the movie,” Carolla said.  He knew it wasn’t him, so he didn’t take any offense to it.  We actually shot in his studio.  We didn’t shoot in his offices, we shot in his studio.”

Howie Mandel and Adam Carolla star in “Road Hard.”

Mohr was just one of many of Carolla’s comedy buddies who took roles in Road Hard.  Other well-known faces that show up include David Alan Grier, Jay Mohr, Larry Miller, Dana Gould, Howie Mandel, David Koechner and Illeana Douglas.

“I’m very proud to say that they came aboard because I asked them to come aboard,” Carolla laughed.  “It was really, really nice of them.  I wrote each part, by and large, with that person in mind.  When I asked that person to do it, they said, ‘Let’s do it.’  And they all just did it.  It was really nice.  It worked out really nicely.”

Another person from Carolla’s past who shows up in Road Hard is actress Diane Farr, who played Carolla’s love interest.  Farr, who is well-known as an actress on TV series like Rescue Me and Numb3rs, has known Carolla since they worked together as co-hosts on Loveline back in the day.  However, Farr’s role was one of the few that was not specifically written with the actress in mind.

“I can’t remember when I decided [casting her] would be a good idea,” Carolla admitted.  “We didn’t go through any casting process.  I knew Diane Farr was a really good actress.  The thing that drives me nuts about Hollywood is you take people like Diane Farr – who have been at it for 20 years and are really good at what they do – and then you bring them in and put them on the other side of a mahogany desk and you make them sweat.  Dance for me.  I don’t like that.  I know Diane Farr can act.  We’d be lucky to have her in this film.  We were lucky to have her in this film.”

Adam Carolla and Diane Farr star in “Road Hard.”

Farr plays Sarah, the normal woman who represents Bruce’s escape from the road.  She is a widow who lives in New England and meets him at one of his more hellish club shows, saving him from her drunk friend.  Not exactly a fan of his work, she does meet him again when on a business trip to Los Angeles.

“I didn’t need to worry about anything other than writing her good material.  She’s a very substantial person and I don’t think she would have taken well to be playing the ditzy love interest.  I wanted to give her some teeth.  Make her character interesting and have her own story.  I knew she’d be good with that.  I don’t think she would have been good if we just fed her junk.”

Of course, their relationship had to survive some bumps.  When she recommends Bruce for a corporate show and realizes that he had not even bothered to prepare for the show, she feeds him false information on her co-workers, embarrassing them and getting him fired.

“That’s a prime example of something that never happened,” Carolla said.  “I completely came up with that gag from whole cloth.  Thinking that would be a funny thing for this woman to do to this guy.”

It seems that it would be difficult to forgive someone who did something like that, but Bruce fell in love with her.

“First off, my character was pretty lonely,” Carolla admitted.  “Secondly, her character was pretty attractive.  As I was writing it, I was thinking to myself this is just the kind of ball-busting I would have done.  If somebody would have asked me, or Jimmy Kimmel, or his cousin Sal, or any of these guys I hang out with: ‘Give me a couple of beats on this person or that person,’ we would have definitely screwed with them.  In a weird way it’s a double standard.  Why can’t a female make prank phone calls?  I liked it that my character was intrigued with her character’s sense of humor.”

Adam Carolla and Diane Farr star in “Road Hard.”

Of course it also served a much more basic plot purpose, Carolla acknowledged.  “Her character said, ‘Look, you make more in one night than these guys make in four months.  You can’t do 20 minutes worth of homework?’  I wanted something to put my guy, who was feeling sorry for himself, into perspective.”

Road Hard was a way for Carolla to get a lot of things into perspective.  For instance, throughout the film, Bruce was stopped by people who told him how much they loved his old show.  So, do people still ask about the Juggies and Bill “The Fox?” from The Man Show?

“It comes up,” Carolla said.  “I [also] get some Loveline stuff.  I get some of that.  Probably a little bit less every year that we soldier on.  But, yeah, I get it.  I don’t mind it.  I understand it.  People liked the show, you know?  Good for us.”

However Bruce Madsen was completely burnt out.  He really just wanted to be a normal guy, live in the country and build furniture.  Luckily, Carolla has found an out that his fictional alter-ego did not have.  He has become arguably the shining light in the newest explosion in entertainment – as a pioneer in podcasting.  Now lots of the people who used to recognize him from The Man Show have another outlet to remember him from.

“As we sit in Manhattan, I got up and walked down the hall trying to find a bathroom,” Carolla said.  “I happened upon an office and a woman – by the way, very attractive, very exotic looking – I said: I’m looking for the bathroom.  Is there a bathroom around?  And she said ‘Adam Carolla?’  And I said yes.  It’s usually something from The Man Show or whatever.  She said, ‘I love your podcast.’  I was like, wow!  Okay.  Good.  I didn’t know, not only were there were people listening to it in Manhattan, but good-looking exotic people?”  He laughs.

Adam Carolla stars in “Road Hard.”

But could Carolla chuck it all and be content as a hardworking craftsman, like his fictional doppleganger is considering?

“I do know I could because I certainly did for over a decade of my life,”  Carolla said.  “That’s what I did.  So, technically, I can confirm to you that it is possible for Adam Carolla to live as a craftsman, because that’s what Adam Carolla did from age 19 to age 31.”

Did he do woodworking or carpentry or build furniture like his character?

“I wish I’d built furniture.  I built houses.  And I did a lot of carpentry and finish work and stuff like that.  But I built houses.”

Which makes sense.  His character in The Hammer also worked building houses, didn’t he?

“Yeah, I did.  He did.  It makes it a lot easier, because I know the subject and I have the tools,” Carolla laughed.

Most importantly, Adam Carolla is a normal guy, and that is all he aspires to.  Work is work, but real life is what really matters.  Carolla is just a ordinary, nice man.

“I think everyone thinks I’m a douche bag,” Carolla admitted.  “So I think they’d probably be surprised to know that I’m a pretty good dad.  Pretty generous and pretty easy.  Pretty loyal friend.  I pet my dog a lot.  I throw the ball to my kids a lot.  I’m really generally an easy guy whose favorite Saturday is take my kids to the warehouse, wrench on some cars and throw the ball around.”

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: March 6, 2015.

Photos ©2015. Courtesy of FilmBuff.  All rights reserved.