interview Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Harold Ramis is the comedy writer and director everyone's cribbed from, from Sandler to Apatow. After leaving "Second City TV," Ramis went on to write, direct, and occasionally star in comedic touchstones like Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Groundhog Day, and of course, Ghostbusters, which have starred a slew of loveable losers fighting to get their sh*t together in the army, on the golf course, or in the middle of a war with supernatural beings. After taking a few years off, Ramis is taking it back to the beginning with this summer's Year One, which stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as loveable loser cavemen who, when Black's Zed accidentally burns down the village, find themselves in the middle of a very familiar holy war. Read on and find out what the big daddy of buddy movies had to say about evolution and self-improvement, male full frontal nudity and the lack thereof, and what the heck is up with Ghostbusters 3.

Year One opens nationwide this Friday, June 19th.

Cinematical: How much more stressful is it to deal with marketing a summer blockbuster and competing with the other movies that are out?

Harold Ramis: You know, it's the same level of stress every time you make a movie, because you've pinned all your hopes and dreams on it and you've fantasized what success will be like, but at the time you can't escape fantasizing what failure will be like. [laughs]

I conceived this movie on a big scale, to do a Biblical epic comedy. I knew it was ambitious and when the studio said "Yes, we'll do it," and it became real, I thought, "Oh my God!" [laughs] It's one thing to fail small, but to make a big movie that doesn't work is so risky.

Writer-director Rian Johnson burst onto the scene when his high school-set noir riff, Brick, took home the Originality of Vision prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Now, after bouncing around Summit's release slate like the proverbial beach ball, his follow-up -- the romantic, romanticized con man caper, The Brothers Bloom -- is finally receiving a NY/LA bow this Friday before rolling out to more markets in the weeks to come.

Johnson obliged us to do a follow-up interview this week to complement our original chat from last November, and between the two, the filmmaker discusses everything from making the festival rounds and absorbing critical response to the glory of talking monkeys and just where he likes to stick his tea kettle...



Download Part 1 (31 mins.) by clicking here



Download Part 2 (12 mins.) by clicking here

-Score samples by Nathan Johnson, the film's composer and the director's cousin.-

At 21, High School Musical star Zac Efron's old enough to drink ... and, well, old enough to roll around in the mud for some grungy cheesecake photos for Interview magazine. The pics accompany a story by director Gus Van Sant for the magazine's March 24 issue, in which Van Sant appreciates Efron's "well-scrubbed young mannishness."

Efron's obviously working hard to transcend the teen-dream persona that's made him a star, and it looks like it's a shaky transition. The next HSM film will feature a whole new stable of Disney-fresh teen faces, and while Efron's too old for the tween set, he's still stuck acting younger than his age -- his next films will be 17 Again, an abominable sounding comedy in which he plays a magically rejuvenated Matthew Perry, and Me and Orson Welles, a period comedy from Richard Linklater about a teenager who's cast in a Mercury Theater production of Julius Caesar, circa 1937 (read our review here).

An excerpt from the Interview piece is available online, and it's notable for two things -- Mikael Janssen's hunky photos, reminiscent of Bruce Weber's 1980's Calvin Klein pin-up boys, and that Van Sant is, unsurprisingly, far more interesting than Efron.

VAN SANT: And so the play that they're putting on in the film is Julius Caesar?

EFRON: Yeah. Orson Welles was doing Julius Caesar, but he had a unique adaptation. I don't know if you're familiar with it, but Stalin was Julius Caesar in the Orson Welles adaptation, so it put a whole new practical spin on the play at the time, which was really neat.

(...)

VAN SANT: How old is Orson Welles in your movie?

EFRON: He's in his mid-twenties, but he's got the wisdom and the presence of a 50-year-old . . . Well, you know, a 30-year-old guy. [laughs]

My first South By Southwest was actually my second film festival ever. But I had my festival partner (Erik Childress!) there, as well as a bunch of movies to watch, so it's not like I was worried or miserable or anything. The year was 2003, and I was just about to meet Matt Dentler. Only a few weeks removed from my first Sundance, I simply wasn't prepared for the Austin hospitality. Once Mr. Dentler knew who Erik and I were (online film critics, big woop) he never stopped being a prince. Thanks to Matt and his awesome girlfriend Jarren, Erik and I became SXSW superheroes almost overnight. So it only took about six years for me to come up with the idea, but here's an interview with my friend Matt Dentler, powerfully good guy and ridiculously hard-working producer of the South By Southwest Film Festival.

Cinematical: You've been the producer of South By Southwest for the better part of a decade now, and the festival has seen huge growth in that time. How'd you score such a sweet gig, and (more importantly) how do you keep the festival chugging along year after year?

Matt: I've only been the producer since 2003, but I did start working at SXSW in 1997 as an office intern. I've seen the festival go through various stages of growth and it's really exciting. I guess I got the gig because I worked my way up the food chain and was just relentless about doing a great job. I dunno what it is, but something about this place and this job fit really well with me. The great thing about each festival, year to year, is that there are always new films and new filmmakers and new audiences. That keeps things fresh all the time, and you never feel like you're just doing the same job over and over. It really does feel like a new challenge each year, especially as we've grown.

Cine: How important is it for a festival producer to be a hardcore movie freak? Does your love for cinema ever start to wane when you're faced with 45 brand-new screener discs?

Matt: A programmer at another festival once used this analogy and I think it's appropriate: To do this job, you have to love movies like it's a marriage. You have to love it through thick and thin, sickness and health, richer or poorer. You have to be ready to embrace it during the good times and bad. And, that's very true. It can be a daunting gig, but I don't take it for granted. I love the idea of discovering great new films or a great new voice. That keeps it constantly interesting and usually entertaining.

Easily one of my favorite films from the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, A Complete History of My Sexual Failures follows Chris Waitt; a jobless slacker who attempts a quest to find out why he's been dumped by every girlfriend he's ever had. As I said in my review, it's like the documentary version of High Fidelity, if that film had stayed in the UK where the novel was originally set. Throughout the doc, we follow Waitt from one ex-girlfriend to another, from an S&M Mistress to the streets of London -- all in the hopes he will finally learn why he sucks at relationships and, maybe, find a new love at the same time. Cinematical sat down with Waitt during this year's Sundance fest to find out what the hell he was thinking when he set out to make this very personal, yet extremely hilarious documentary.

Note: There are spoilers contained within this interview, so read at your own risk.

Cinematical: Ya know, I have to admit it's a little awkward talking to you an hour after watching you butt-naked, being whipped in the balls by an S&M Mistress. I mean, dude -- what was up with that?

Chris Waitt: [laughs] At that point, I think I had the realization that I had lost sight of what I was doing. And we cut from it, but I kept looking at the cameraman, sort of 'Can you do something to stop this?' And of course I was just there with the cameraman and he wasn't going to stop it -- he found it hilarious. The camera kept shaking; we had to cut between the bits because his hand was shaking so much. But yeah, she got really carried away ... that woman. But I was actually in that dungeon for two hours -- we had two hours of footage from that. Deeply painful.

When I started at Cinematical, I had never conducted an interview before. I bought my first digital recorder with trembling hands, and in my first interview I stuttered more than Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda. But I pulled through it, didn't embarrass myself, and got smoother with practice. What I've learned is that no matter how intimidating the interviewee may be, as long as you are reasonably pleasant, professional, and well-prepared, the discussion won't go totally off the rails.

For an example of an interviewer not being well prepared and a discussion that does go totally off the rails, I direct you to this hilarious clip of a young woman (judging by the youtube comments, she's a communications student at USC) starting an interview with John Cusack. I won't spoil it for you, I'll just say it's safe for work, it's brief, and it's as cringe-inducing and awkward as anything on The Office. You will be screaming at this reporter to just...stop...talking. Enjoy! And friends, please, do your research!

(Note: This interview was originally conducted back in October when Persepolis was screening at the New York Film Festival. We are publishing it now to coincide with the film's theatrical release this week.)

Based on the popular graphic novel, Persepolis tells the story of a young girl coming of age during the Islamic Revolution. The film was France's selection for the best foreign language Oscar, and Persepolis was just recently nominated for a best foreign language Golden Globe. Originally written by Marjane Satrapi (based on her own life growing up), the brilliant adaptation was penned by Satrapi and her best friend Vincent Paronnaud, both of whom also directed.

On screen and in the books, Marjane comes off as a lively gal full of questions and good-natured spirit. In real life, she's exactly the same way; she speaks fast, with passion and brutal honesty, and makes sure to remind you that she's an artist first and foremost. Cinematical sat down with both Satrapi and Paronnaud shortly after France announced Persepolis was their Oscar submission, and what follows is our conversation. Keep in mind their accents are thick (Paronnaud spoke only in French, which was then translated for me by Satrapi), and so the transcription is a bit rough around the edges.

Cinematical: Congrats on being selected by France as their submission for a best foreign language Oscar. How does that feel?

Marjane Satrapi: Well, it was incredible. Out of the fact that you're always happy you're movie is selected, it's very nice. It also means this border -- this line between who is French and who is not -- it becomes more international in a way. If you live in a country, you can come from a different background and still be French. Which I think is a very good thing. In this time of life when everyone is extremely nationalist, and you know, is going back to the roots, it's very archaic in a way to have countries deciding that even if a movie doesn't happen in their country, it can come from their country. This is a very good thing.

Cinematical: How did the graphic novel originally come about? Why the decision to write about your life in that form?

MS: It's not so much about my life, you know, I use myself as a basis to talk about the other one. If I didn't use myself, it would become like a political or a sociological or a historical statement, and I'm none of that. I'm just one person, and you see what I saw. It's not a statement. This is an artistic work. The graphic novel form became an obvious choice because words are not enough for me. I love to use the image -- ya know, I make art school. And why not? So yeah, it was an obvious choice.

In the spirit of "better late than never," over the weekend I watched a couple of the films that were released on DVD last Tuesday and also found a review of one of the more obscure titles that came out. As I noted in my Indies on DVD post, Steve Buscemi's Interview received mixed critical notices; after giving it a spin I can understand the reservations but I feel it's worth a rental.

Buscemi plays a reporter who's miffed to be assigned to interview a rising starlet (Sienna Miller). He arrives to their interview totally unprepared, matched by her arriving more than an hour late. The scene seethes with realistic resentment, after which the film segues into an extended fantasy in which Miller takes Buscemi back to her apartment to recuperate from a minor traffic accident. It's as though Buscemi's journalist, suffering from a slight head injury, dreams about all the questions he would ask a celebrity if there were no holds barred. Buscemi's character is not as important or superior as he thinks he is and Miller's actress is not as innocent or sympathetic as she imagines herself to be. Forget about realism and it's easy to get lost in the dramatics of two people who clash more than they mesh. As director, Buscemi keeps things fresh with his imaginative staging.

Latitude Zero, an English-language production made by Japanese filmmakers in 1969, which I wrote about in my Asian Films on DVD post, sounded like it might be a risk to rent if you're allergic to cheese. Glenn Erickson (AKA DVD Savant) at DVD Talk gives a complete rundown on the film -- which he calls "the most eclectic, disorganized thriller Toho ever produced" -- and the features. It's a great, detailed, respectful review, and an excellent example of Erickson's genial, informed writing style.

Ready to explore the wonderful world of indie films you've heard about but haven't seen? Me too! Though I haven't seen these particular titles, the first two come well recommended by others, starting with Moolaadé, the last film by the esteemed director Ousmane Sembene, who passed away earlier this year. Cinematical's Kim Voynar described it as "a film about courage, survival, and the strength of the human spirit ... perhaps one of the most socially relevant" of the decade. The DVD from New Yorker Video includes a "making of" feature, interviews and additional material, and a deluxe collector's booklet.

Whisky Romeo Zulu is an Argentinean film that dates back to 2004, when it debuted at the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival. My curiosity was piqued at the time by Deborah Young's review in Variety, which described the intriguing premise revolving around an airplane accident: "Former pilot and whistleblower Enrique Pineyro expertly recounts a crash in full behind-the-scenes detail in his double role as director and main actor (playing himself)." Andrew Wright of The Stranger also had a positive reaction when it played at the Seattle film festival. The film was never picked up for US distribution, but Home Vision has now released it on a bare bones DVD, evidently with just a trailer, that sounds worth seeking out.

Both Interview and The Rocket received mixed critical notices. Our own Ryan Stewart said Interview "turns out to be a mediocre 'night to remember' film in which the half-intrigued, half-bored actress [Sienna Miller] and the caustic journalist [Steve Buscemi, who also directed] try to get the best of each other." The Sony Classics DVD includes an audio commentary by Buscemi and a feature on Dutch director Theo Van Gogh, who directed the film that served as the source material.

The Rocket tells the true story of legendary ice hockey star Maurice Richard, played by Roy Dupuis. I heard good things about the film when it played at the AFI Dallas festival earlier this year; it may be a good bet if you're looking for an inspirational sports story -- or if you're Canadian. The DVD from Palm Pictures features deleted scenes and a tribute to the great Richard.

Good things sometimes happen when you behave in a geeky and enthusiastic fashion. For example, from the minute I heard that four brand-new Futurama movies were going into production, I wet myself a little and then went insane. (Examples of the aforementioned insanity can be found here, here and here.) So not too long ago, I got an email asking if I'd like to express my Futurama obsession in the form of an interview piece, I said "Yes!" Which is how I got to ask a bunch of questions to:

• Claudia Katz -- Partner at Rough Draft Studios and producer of the Futurama movies and TV series.
• Dwayne Carey-Hill -- Director of Futurama movies one (Bender's Big Score!) and three (Bender's Game) and season four of the TV series.
• Peter Avanzino – director of Futurama movies two (The Beast with a Billion Backs) and four (Into the Wild Green Yonder) and seasons one through four of the TV series.

Not bad, eh? So knowing that I was about to chit-chat with three of the more "hands-on" creators, I set out to create some questions that were as interesting as they were amusing. So here's how the conversation(s) went down!

Futurama freaking rocks. Everyone in the universe knows this -- except for the small handful of people who used to work at Fox who canceled it. How painful was it when the final news came down? Did anyone make a beeline for the prototype suicide booth? At that point, did anyone hold out any (REALISTIC) hope that the series would be re-born in some fashion?

Claudia Katz: Well, the sad truth is it took a very long time for the news to officially come down. And even then we were lodged in limbo (between no pick-up and not canceled) and eventually got the hint. I believe, after what seemed like an eternity, they let Matt [Groening] know we were not getting a pick-up "for now," and we all figured it was time to move on. Before we reached this point, I felt it was a good idea to remove the studio's suicide booth. In retrospect, I consider this a very prudent decision. By Season 4 we had assembled the perfect crew [but] unfortunately the series came to an end. At Rough Draft we've always held out hope for its return. Right after the series ended, there was some brief talk of a possible theatrical Futurama feature. This, of course, is my new Futurama hope!

Dwayne Carey-Hill: Futurama came to an end in such a non-definitive way that there was a lot more standing around scratching heads than there was taking of one's own life. It was more like the ending to our Halloween parties. You don't want it to end and a lot of people hang around talking and laughing. But eventually, all the conversations come to an uncomfortable end and everybody just turns and goes their own separate ways.

How many DVDs had to sell before someone (new) at Fox said "Heyyyy, there's still some more money to be made here! Someone politely get Matt Groening on the phone!"? When discussing the new Futurama projects, does the word "vindicated" come up very often? Is it pretty much the same crew from the series that's working on the movies? And do you haze the newbies like in a frat house?

CK: It's very hard to get the numbers on DVD sales, but clearly for Fox to consider producing more, they must have sold well. Understandably for Fox, it come down to a business decision, and we're thrilled they decided to go ahead with the DVDs. We've always had a great relationship with Matt, David [X. Cohen] and the writers, and this time around there's also been a great collaboration with the Studio (Fox). We feel vindicated, but more importantly, it feels like you can go home again. As far as the crew, we're super-fortunate to have a lot of great return talent. In addition to the other Rough Draft partners Rich Moore, Gregg Vanzo and Scott Vanzo, both Dwayne Carey-Hill and Peter Avanzino who directed on the series are back. Scott is back as the head of CG, as well as our lead CG artist Eric Whited. Our color supervisor Samantha Harrison and colorist Rachel Stratton returned, as well as our digital producer, Geraldine Symon, and our associate producer Elise Belknap. Luckily some layout artists returned, but we geared up for the DVDs in the midst of production on The Simpsons Movie. So we hired a largely new crew, which was some initial cause for concern, but they've done an incredible job. I can't release any exact hazing details, but we try to curtail them to activities that don't leave any marks or cause lifelong therapy needs.