'The Fifth Estate': Half WikiLeaks Documentary, Half Dramatic Narrative
The Fifth Estate is, quite literally, the people who aim to keep other estates (such as the government, wealthy elite, press/media, etc) in check. These people are called whistleblowers, citizen journalists, watchdogs and, now infamously, WikiLeaks.
The film begins in 2010, just as WikiLeaks is becoming a recognized website. Julian Assange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness) teams up with an early thirties tech-guru Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl, Inglorious Bastards), and the two swiftly get WikiLeaks into the mainstream. The film’s climax comes when classified military documents are leaked to the website, which could alter U.S. history and the battle between what’s right vs. wrong plagues Julian and Daniel.
Julian and Daniel have competing views as to which course of action to take next. Julian wants to publish the original documents sans editing; while Daniel feels innocent lives could be at risk if certain facts are not omitted. This tension, however, doesn’t have enough of an emotional pull to get audiences to feel strongly one way or the other. In fact, the most interesting part of the film was not the dynamic between these two semi-flat characters, but rather it was the explanation into what WikiLeaks actually was. The infographics setting up the scenes were a good touch, as well as the unexpected surreal moments that took cues from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Being that national security and whistleblowers are a hot-button topic right now, this film should have been a knockout-opening weekend, but even a hot topic can’t overpower a weak story.
The Fifth Estate is based on actual events, taking some liberties, of course, but nonetheless tells the story of the rise of WikiLeaks and the crazy life of the man behind the madness. Rumor has it that real-life Julian Assange was completely anti the film's production so much so that he tried to persuade Benedict Cumberbatch to drop out. Being that national security and whistleblowers are a hot-button topic right now, this film should have been a knockout opening weekend, but even a hot topic can’t overpower a weak story; the film opened at a lousy $1.7 million.
Overall, The Fifth Estate is spread thin, focusing more on the personal life of Julian and Daniel rather than investing in the crux of their morality crisis. This noncommittal viewpoint of a "half WikiLeaks documentary/ half dramatic narrative" made for, ultimately, one mediocre film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT1wb8_tcYU
Benedict Cumberbatch Talks 'The Fifth Estate'
*The transcription was provided by DISNEY during the showing at the Toronto International Film Festival 2013*
PRESS: So, Benedict, we heard you were described by Daniel as a real Sherlock. He would see you in the morning, you would sit there and say all of these things you managed to observe that were totally accurate. So you’ve taken the role to heart or the role was just something that was inevitable in your life because you are Sherlock Holmes.
He’s very flattering, but no, I’m a far way off his brilliance.
Okay. And you’ve got so much this fall coming out... Have you had a week off in the past year?
Apparently I had ten days in the summer, but they went by in a bit of a blur. It’s been a very, very busy year, but it’s an embarrassment, the riches. I’m loathe to complain about them, I’m really enjoying it, and you know, as my erstwhile character Sherlock says, you know, a new job is as good as a change, or change is as good as a rest even. I think that’s what he says. He says it in signafore, so you guys can look it up and see how badly I can misquote him, let alone behave like him. But yeah, it’s been an amazing – it is an amazing time at the moment, and I’m really enjoying it.
How did you enjoy the hair in this movie?
I kind of did, I kind of did, and the eyes were a little bit more arduous. I quite liked, I had a kind of skunky badger thing with white run hair my normal sort dark hair on top – I did love the fact that for about six months last year, both in August: Osage and in 12 Years a Slave, I had my own color hair, which is great. But I really, I quite enjoyed it, I quite enjoyed putting the wigs on.
Does it take you there, like when you put on [the wig]?
It does a bit. Yeah, of course it does. I think the first time I put it on, and I kind of came into the room, people were like “Oh, wow!” And that’s a great thrill when you think, okay, well, something’s working. I mean, I think he’s got softer features, and I mean, I think I’m a little more angular, which sometimes makes me look a little weird and creepy with some of the wigs, and that’s not the intention at all. I just think that’s just the way I look and that’s not, you know, we weren’t trying to do that, but that’s just the different bone structure. I’ve got a longer face, he’s got a rounder face, so you know, it was a challenge. The harder thing was the contact lenses because I’ve never worn them before. They’re brilliant at it now –
What color are your eyes?
It’s just when you get to – brown eyes? No, blue. Well, I’ve got light aquamarine, greeny kind of things. It changes, whatever kind of light, I guess, is stronger, or color is stronger. But mine are lighter, that’s the thing, much, much lighter than his, and in certain lights his are just this really deep, rich kind of blue, and in other lights, they’re kind of slatey gray or dark, and so I wanted to kind of tone down my eyes a little bit, so that, as well as the teeth here, as well, I had a new set of kind of prosthetic teeth and a slightly bigger lip here to kind of push that forwards ‘cause I’ve got a very big bottom lip and it’s just we have a slightly different structure to our faces, so I wanted to try and experiment with that a little bit.
[INDISCERNABLE]
But that with the accent and the dialect, and also you know, the slight lisp as well, the hard ridge lisp, so it’s not a frontal, it’s like a shh, so it’s like that, you know. That was a huge change, I had a fantastic dialect coach called Sarah Shephard that helped me with that.
Did you talk to Bill about making Julian Assange somebody that the audience, if they couldn’t quite identify with him, they wouldn’t hate him?
It was important to me to portray him as a three-dimensional human being and not get into a slagging match about whether he was good or bad. I wanted to portray human characteristics about a man at the forefront of an incredible media revolution, with incredible ideas, whose controversy was born out of that primarily and not get bogged down in character assassinations which is so easy to come by, because people want a headline, they want to grab something and run with a two-dimensional story. And I like the way the film tackles that and I like the way that Julian talks about his appraisal in The New York Times as getting equal bidding for the state of his socks, as for collateral murder, kind of highlights that idiocy. So it was important to me to portray him in a balanced way.
I read that you communicated with Julian and at one point he attempted to dissuade you from doing the project. Can you describe your communications with him and what ways those informed you?
I tried to justify my reasons for doing the project and that was where that ended.
How do you see Julian’s relationship with Daniel? I mean, is it kind of like a master/slave thing?
I think it’s really complicated and it’s really for those two to disseminate it, not me as an actor outside of it. I think, you know, but in a moment of drama, you have empathy for your character, so I see his perspective as strongly as I can as now as an audience see both perspectives. It’s a very complex relationship, and two very complex characters. Daniel is no stooge, you know, he’s not this follower, he’s a smart guy, he’s an activist, he’s incredibly, you know, pragmatic. He’s not just a sort of blind acolyte. I think Julian has a magnetic hold over people and I think he’s an incredible spokesperson for an extraordinary idea that was borne out of his realization of it. And you know, he has very complex relationships with people because of that.
What was it like working with Meryl [Streep in your upcoming film August: Osage County]?
Well, because you know, I was about to – what was I about to do? Assange, I think it was, I think Julian was the next project. So I said, you know, where do you start with – ‘cause obviously with Julian, I’m not Australian, I don’t have the same speech pattern as him, other physical attributes and differences, his withholding himself, his gestures, all that sort of thing. So I kind of said to her, ‘cause she was just doing this incredible delivery, she was playing someone with esophageal cancer, it was high on drugs, downers, it was getting drunk at her husband’s wake, it was turning vulnerable into attack into lost into knowing into sexy, vampy. The gear shifts were sublime. And I just wondered how she was playing this orchestra of a performance, you know, and I said, well, chicken and egg, cart and horse, what gives? And she went, “I don’t know. I don’t really, I mean, with this it was different, I mean, all of it came at once. How about you?” Oh, thank fuck for that, ‘cause I don’t have a method, I wasn’t schooled in a method necessarily. I mean, I’ve got tools that I carry around very gratefully from my time at drama school and also what I’ve learned by working with people like Meryl and great directors like Bill and Danny Boyle and Tomas Alfredson and Richard Daystrom, I been so spoiled with the roster of talent I’ve worked with. So and like we both agreed, if you have one way of approaching it, it kind of limits what you do and also what other people can do with you, so it was reassuring, it was really reassuring. It’s a really nice moment.
'All The Boys Love Mandy Lane': Sex, Drugs, and Murder Starring Amber Heard
Mandy Lane is a blonde bombshell, the most popular girl in high school.
She's the fastest runner on the track team and she's admired for her disciplined, pure lifestyle. It's easy to see why all the boys (and girls) love "good girl" Mandy Lane although, in director Jonathan Levine's ( 50/50, The Wackness) independent film, Mandy exposes herself to her unsuspecting friends as being "not so innocent." This now-infamous horror film is finally being released after being shelved since 2006, and even though the release was delayed, the message still reads the same: Sex, drugs, and murder.
Most of the drama takes place during a getaway with Mandy Lane, played by Amber Heard (The Rum Diaries), and her group of popular friends: Red (Aaron Himelstein), Bird (Edwin Hodge) Jake (Luke Grimes) and their girlfriends, Chloe (Whitney Able) and Marlin (Melissa Price). The group stays in a remote cabin, sans neighbors, to just get drunk and unwind with each other. That first night alone is when the horror comes into action; slowly but surely, Mandy's friends are being brutally killed off, one by one.
The grainy footage adds to the horror element, making it purposefully unsettling to watch at times.
The live-in ranch hand Garth (Anson Mount) does his best to protect the teens from whatever it is that is terrorizing the group, but his efforts fail as another kid is killed. Part "who-done-it" mystery, part "wow that's a lot of blood" terror, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is nothing short of intense. The film does a great job of keeping the audience guessing until the very last second; it's full of twists and surprises that give the film edge and its cult-like status.
Amber Heard plays the fresh-faced Mandy Lane with conviction; her beauty juxtaposed with a (literal) killer instinct keeps the audience intrigued as to what's going to happen next. The grainy footage adds to the horror element, making it purposefully unsettling to watch at times. For die-hard fans of horror films, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane may fall short, however, it does it's best to artfully pay homage to the horror genre, making it at least an enjoyable film to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9lA94P7shQ
Review: 'Dislecksia: The Movie'
What do Billy Bob Thornton, founder of Tae Bo Billy Banks and director Harvey Hubbell V all have in common? Based on their outward appearance… nothing, but their similarities lay beneath the surface. All three are dyslexic, and share their story about living with their "learning difference" in Hubbell's documentary, Dislecksia: The Movie.
Dislecksia: The Movie is a comedic documentary that's goal is to educate audiences on the truth about dyslexia, as well as a way for those struggling with the condition to realize they're not alone. The film begins as a throwback to the 1950's informative video; exaggerated voice-over with cartoonish effects make the statistics easy to comprehend. Most of the documentary has the aesthetic of a 1990's sitcom filming on location; I was instantly reminded of an episode of "Full House." It doesn't seem like a very "modern" documentary in terms of look, but it is possible that was an artistic decision.
Most of the documentary has the aesthetic of a 1990's sitcom filming on location; I was instantly reminded of an episode of "Full House."
Hubbell, who directs the film, is also the pseudo-star; his struggles with dyslexia are at the forefront of the film, even though I personally found it more interesting to hear the stories of famous celebrities who have the condition, like Thornton (Sling Blade), actor Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos), soap opera star Sarah Joy Brown ("General Hospital") and author Stephen J. Cannell. Thornton recalls the only way he memorizes lines in his scripts are when they are read aloud to him. Brown confessed she didn’t read a book until high school. The film does a good job of motivating those who may feel discouraged by dyslexia; all the while, not making it seem like a mandatory school film.
I walked away with some interesting knowledge, like the fact that Albert Einstein was dyslexic and didn't even talk until he was seven years old. However, because I personally am not affected with the condition, I had a hard time 100% connecting to the film. At times, Dislecksia: The Movie tends to feel a bit “exclusive,” which can translate as a bit off-putting. Overall, as an audience member, you'll be inundated with facts about dyslexia and how to manage a happy, healthy life despite the struggle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_EIk6ebDDc
Ken Marino & Gillian Jacobs talk 'Bad Milo!'
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If you're looking for a new cult "Halloween Horror" film, than look no further than "Bad Milo." Part comedy-part horror film, "Bad Milo" is the surreal story of Duncan [Ken Marino] who is living with a demon in his butt that comes out during stressful situations and wreaks havoc on Duncan's family, friends, and life. The Four Seasons Hotel is where I meet Ken and Gillian Jacobs, who plays Duncan's wife Sarah, and our interview is nothing short of amusing. We begin:
I'M CURIOUS WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS WERE FOR THIS STORY WHEN YOU WERE FIRST PITCHED, BECAUSE IT'S NOT YOUR EVERYDAY TALE...
GILLIAN JACOBS: Yeah, ‘I would like to work in the future, so let’s do this ass demon movie and call it a day.
KEN MARINO: As an actor in this town, you always wanna do the next big thing, you know? Like what’s the next big project that everybody’s going to relate to, and everybody relates to taking a crap.
[LAUGHTER]
KM: Mark Duplass called me up and asked if I wanted to do it, I said yes, absolutely, I read the script and said ‘oh, wow, this is outrageous.’ I thought it was a special kind of script. It was ridiculous and silly and horrific, but there was something special about it.
GJ: Yeah and it does come from a personal place from Jacob [Vaughn, Director]. When you talk to him you see that this is something he is really passionate about, and I really like the fact that he wanted to play a lot of it very straight and real… and Ken’s performance is very grounded and that allows for you to be in a movie about an ass demon and not just have it be a goofy, stupid movie.
ARE YOU SURPRISED AT THE KIND OF REACTION YOU'RE GETTING NOW?
GJ: People actually seem to like this movie! I was certainly nervous about it before we watched it at the SXSW premiere, because we didn’t get to see the whole thing edited... and it was so gratifying to watch it with an audience and hear their responses and you people don’t seem like you’re bullshitting us!
[LAUGHTER]
HOW EXCITING WAS IT FOR YOU TO HAVE THE ACTUAL PUPPET [MILO] THERE AS OPPOSED TO A GREEN SCREEN?
KM: It was great, the first day I met Milo was actually the day I wasn’t working and Milo was beating the crap out of you…
[Turns & points to Gillian]
GJ: Umm Hmm…
KM: I was so excited to meet him. There’s no substitute for a monster who’s actually there as opposed to a green screen or CGI thing. When you’re performing with the puppet you can actually play back and forth.
GJ: I’m really bad at imagining things, which is sucky cause I’m an actor, so for me yes, having a physical thing there to interact with was so much easier than looking at a golf ball or whatever you look at… I’ve never done a large budget film so I wouldn’t know…
[LAUGHTER]
GJ: So yeah, it was hugely helpful.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE THE AUDIENCE GETS OUT OF SEEING THIS MOVIE?
GJ: I hope that they laugh, that they are touched by the story and the characters, and that they want to buy a Milo figurine.
KM: For me, this movie is kind of like… a throwback in tone and feel and texture. That was one of the appealing things to me when I read the script; it was kind of like [an 80’s movie]. There are some really funny people in it, a really talented group of people, and I just hope people enjoy it.
Adam Scott & Clark Duke Talk 'A.C.O.D.'
Adam Scott and Clark Duke walk into the interview room smiling, two of Hollywood’s funniest comedians have been doing interviews nonstop for their film A.C.O.D. and if they were tired, they certainly fooled us. Adam (Parks & Rec) and Clark (The Office) play brothers Carter and Trey who are both A.C.O.D.s, or Adult Children of Divorce. The chemistry these two actors have in the film is spot on, and that same dynamic is seen here at the press day, cracking jokes and having us laughing the entire time. We begin:
THE CHARACTER THAT YOU PLAYED WENT THROUGH HELL, WHAT WAS IN YOUR MIND WHEN YOU READ THE SCRIPT?
ADAM SCOTT: I think a lot of the movie is very painful, but I think that’s where a lot of really good comedy comes from… I thought it looked like a lot of fun and luckily it was.
CARTER HAS SUCH A MESSED UP RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PARENTS, HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT YOU DO A GOOD JOB AS A DAD?
AS: I had a great example from my parents who split up when I was very young, but did it in a way where it didn’t really affect [me].
CLARK DUKE: They just put you up for adoption, right?
AS: Yeah they put me up for adoption, left me out on the front doorstep, which was really positive!
[LAUGHTER]
CLARK, DID YOUR ROLE FEEL LIKE THE COMIC RELIEF OF THE FILM?
CD: A little bit, I hate to say that though because everybody in the movie is so much funnier than me, when you have Catherine O’Hara and Richard Jenkins… but yeah, just because [my character, Trey] is naïve and a loveable simpleton.
AS: I think one of my favorite parts in the movie is when I say to Clark, ‘You guys are getting married? You just met, like, three months ago’ and, it wasn’t necessarily written this way, but he said the line like, ‘yeah… it has been three months!’
[LAUGHTER]
AMY [POEHLER] IS YOUR WIFE ON PARKS AND REC, DID YOU GUYS HAVE ANY LAUGHS ABOUT THE FACT THAT SHE'S YOUR STEPMOM IN THIS MOVIE?
AS: Yeah, it was really fun to just hate each other’s guts. And it’s not like we have some sort of redemptive ending… we just still hate each other at the end of the movie.
ADAM, I ACTUALLY SAW YOU AT THE UPRIGHT CITIZEN'S BRIGADE A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO AND YOU HAVE A GREAT IMPROV STYLE...
CD: [To Adam] Hey dude, do you wanna borrow some money? Is everything OK?
[LAUGHTER]
AS: Yeah, that would be great.
CD: OK, we will talk after.
WERE THERE ANY SCENES IN THE FILM THAT WERE IMPROVISED? ANY ONE-LINERS?
AS: You know, there are little, tiny things here and there but not really…
CD: Just small bits like the thing he said about my line.
AS: Yeah, but with a script that’s as good as this one you don’t necessarily need to [improvise].
I LOVED THE CASTING- YOU GUYS WERE BRILLIANT AS BROTHERS. WHEN YOU CAME TOGETHER FOR THE TABLE READ, DID YOU FEEL THAT [CHEMISTRY]?
AS: We had worked together before and were friends and had briefly dated…
[LAUGHTER]
AS: I think once the cast was assembled it was like, you can’t really go wrong with all these people. They were so good.
Adult Children of Divorce Unite in 'A.C.O.D.'
For some, watching A.C.O.D. may be like realizing there’s a club out there that you didn’t know you belonged to; a group of adults who have successfully, or unsuccessfully, integrated into mainstream society despite their unconventional childhood (blame placed on the divorced parents). These people are called “A.C.O.D.s,” or “Adult Children of Divorce”. Carter, played by Adam Scott, is one of these people.
Carter is seemingly a well-adjusted guy, running a successful restaurant, in a long-term relationship with his supportive girlfriend (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and has a great dynamic with his divorced parents, but only when visiting them one at a time. His parents (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara) are ridiculously childish, with their banter making up a good portion of the film’s comedy, and their awful behavior towards each other presents a problem for Carter, as news of his little brother Trey’s (Clark Duke) wedding day approaches.
Carter wants nothing more than for his parents to be able to enjoy Trey’s wedding together, so he stages an “intervention” to bring the two back to speaking terms. What Carter doesn’t plan on, however, is their re-sparked chemistry, which leads to an affair, and now Carter’s problem isn’t how to bring them together, but rather, how to peel them off of each other.
In a room full of movie critics, I even heard several laugh out loud… which is a good sign for any comedy.
The characters in the film are what make it such a solid comedy; first off there’s Adam Scott, the quintessential sarcastic anti-hero. Then there’s Jane Lynch, the wacky pseudo-psychologist who tries to help Carter deal with being an “A.C.O.D.” Amy Poehler is a genius as Carter’s stepmom, Sondra, although a bit of a strange dynamic since us “Parks & Rec” fans are used to seeing Poehler as Scott’s lover. Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara round out the comedic roster. If any actor were missing from this film, it wouldn’t be half the success I project it to be.
A.C.O.D. is a genuinely funny film with an all-star cast, an obvious success for first-time director Stu Zicherman. Although it's not flawless, Jessica Alba's character is seemingly pointless and the script does tend to drag on at times, but overall, it's a very enjoyable film. In a room full of movie critics, I even heard several people laugh out loud… which is a good sign for any comedy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hRpWVw6fEU
Director Stu Zicherman on 'A.C.O.D.'
Even though this is Stu Zicherman’s directorial debut, you’d never guess it. With A-list comedic talent and his show-runner background, Zicherman knew exactly how to prep and shoot his indie comedy A.C.O.D., (he claims being a show-runner is harder than being a director). He is very enthusiastic and energetic as we sit down for his interview. Behind his left shoulder is a poster for A.C.O.D and I immediately ask him about what it’s like to see his name amongst some of Hollywood’s finest actors, like Adam Scott, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, and Richard Jenkins. We begin:
THIS BEING YOUR FIRST FEATURE FILM, YOU LOOK AT THE POSTER AND SEE ALL THE NAMES… IS THAT SURREAL TO YOU?
Oh yeah, the whole thing’s surreal. The other night Adam [Scott] was on Jay Leno and they showed a clip of the movie and Jay Leno was saying ‘ACOD’ and I was like, this is just crazy!
WHEN DID YOU HAVE THIS IDEA?
I think when you’re a kid you don’t really have any perspective, you’re just kind of in it. It feels scary and weird at times, but for me, it also felt funny and irreverent. Then you get to a point where you grow up and you start fucking up your own relationships and you’re like, ‘What is wrong with me?’ Then you realize, oh I had no role models. My parents made a mess of it and I have no idea what I’m doing. And that was the inspiration for the movie.
WAS A.C.O.D. ALWAYS SET OUT TO BE A COMEDY?
Yeah, it was. I always had this idea for an opening of a movie that started with ‘Fuck you.’
[LAUGHTER]
I wanted to make something you could call a comedy but it’s also about a subject that you can’t completely make fun of… At the end of the day, the intention of the movie was not to be solely about divorce. The message of the movie at the end is that whether you’re from married parents or divorced parents, you’re not destined to repeat the patterns of your parents.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CASTING PROCESS?
Well, it started with Adam… Adam to me was the classic anti-hero, he’s got a very cynical, funny point of view on things and I love that. And once I got Adam, I started looking at other people I really loved, like Richard Jenkins. We got him, and once you start to get those kinds of people, it starts to roll. I went after Jane [Lynch] and Amy [Poehler] to play parts that were not straightforward and funny.
WOULD YOU CONSIDER A SEQUEL IF THIS WAS SUCCESSFUL?
Haha, I don’t think there’s a sequel, although at one of the screenings in New York, Christie Brinkley came up to me and said ‘I think you should do a sequel, I have lots of stories for you about divorce.’
[LAUGHTER]
That’s been fun for me; since Sundance, it’s been really fun having people come up to me saying, ‘I didn’t realize I was part of this ‘thing’,’ or ‘My parents got divorced when I was blah, blah blah,’ and it’s kind of funny. I’m not a shrink by any means, I have no answers for anybody, but it’s been fun.
Catherine O'Hara & Jane Lynch on 'A.C.O.D.'
Catherine O'Hara and Jane Lynch have been friends for years, they're part of the original "Brat Pack," starring in classic Christopher Guest films such as Best in Show and For Your Consideration, and they're reunited once again for "A.C.O.D." O’Hara plays Carter’s selfish (and slightly horny) mother Melissa, and Lynch plays Dr. Judith, Carter’s wacky therapist. As to be expected, they fit the roles perfectly. Catherine and Jane walk into the interview with the biggest smiles on their faces; they command the room so much so that the men stand up to shake their hands, a nice gesture that both ladies appreciate. We begin:
YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, JANE?
JANE LYNCH: Tell me…
[LAUGHTER]
JL: Again and again, please.
YOU'RE THE TYPE OF CHARACTER THAT CAN GET AN EMOTION, WHETHER IT'S ANGER OR LAUGHTER, AND YOUR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS...
JL: Oh that’s great, I’ll have to watch myself next time.
WHERE DO YOU GO TO GET SOMEONE LIKE THAT?
JL: I think it’s the oblivious, blind ambition that people have sometimes and it doesn’t even really matter how you may hurt somebody else, and [my character] just saw an opportunity and jumped on it. Basically, [my character] said, ‘I’m gonna use you to resurrect my career.’
CATHERINE, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, HOW'D YOU GET OFF ON [PLAYING MELISSA]?
CATHERINE O’HARA: Oh, I got off all right….
[LAUGHTER]
JL: Yeah, she and Richard Jenkins got off…
CO: Haha, well the last thing a parent should be is selfish, but we’re only human and this mother is just so selfish. The fact that Carter’s parents have bad-mouthed each other for all these years and tried to turn their children against each other is just so beyond immature. But you know, people behaving badly is kinda fun, especially when they so don’t think they’re behaving badly.
HOW DID YOU REACT IN THE SCRIPT WHEN YOU [AND RICHARD JENKIN'S CHARACTER HUGH] FINALLY GOT BACK TOGETHER? AND THEN CARTER'S LIKE, 'WE'VE GOT TO STOP THIS!'?
CO: It was kind of sad that [Carter] was so repulsed by us, that’s not very flattering…
[LAUGHTER]
JL: Yeah, they’re awful people
CO: Aww, come on!
WELL THERE IS THIS SAYING, 'THE GREATER THE ANGER, THE MORE POWERFUL THE LOVE.'
CO: Oh yeah, well you have to care to get mad. So [our characters] really care about each other, because we’re still after 20 years…‘Ahhh!’
IN A ROOM FULL OF CRITICS, HEARING THEM LAUGH OUT LOUD IS A REALLY GOOD SIGN...
JL: Oh that’s great!
CO: Oh good!
DID YOU SENSE THAT AT THE FIRST ROUNDTABLE READING THIS WAS GOING TO BE A SUCCESSFUL FILM?
CO: Oh yeah, when I read it for the first time…
JL: Yeah, me too.
CO: Yeah, it’s got great stuff in it. It’s real because it comes from Stu Zicherman [director] and Ben Karlin’s [writer] real lives! It’s all based on real pain…
SO MANY PEOPLE ARE REACTING TO THIS FILM, ARE YOU GUYS PREPARED NOW TO HEAR PEOPLE'S STORIES [OF DIVORCE]? YOU'RE GOING TO BE REAL-LIFE SHRINKS NOW.
CO: I’ll just tell them to get out of my face.
[LAUGHTER]
JL: I think this is the first generation of adult children of divorce who are now adults. Now since divorce has become this viably acceptable option, we now have, as my character says, ‘the most un-parented generation in history.’ [Marriage is] a social meme that doesn’t work for everybody; It didn’t really work for my parents, although they were of a generation where that’s what you did, you stay together no matter what. Now, we have this option where you can come in and leave if it doesn’t work.
CO: You shouldn’t be made to feel like you have to get married. Really, you shouldn’t get married unless you’re ready to, and you love yourself already.
Controversy Surrounds Third-Trimester Abortions in 'After Tiller'
A good documentary is one that doesn't leave you as soon as the lights come up; you get in your car to go home with an unsettling feeling of what you just watched still lingering.
Expect to feel this way with After Tiller, the controversial documentary from directing duo, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson. After Tiller profiles the four remaining American doctors who perform third-trimester abortions, and their daily struggle with the public scrutiny they face.
The women Shane and Wilson profile who are seeking out these late-term abortions are not the “16 and pregnant,” careless girls you may expect. Most of them are women who desperately want to have a family, who are mentally ready to become parents, yet discover their unborn child has birth deformations that would severely affect their quality of life or ability to sustain life at all. Bones that won’t bend and lungs that will never work on their own are just some of the futures these unborn children would face, and while every child deserves a chance to live, what is life if you’re bound to machinery from a hospital bed from birth?
No matter what side of the fence you sit on, After Tiller does a great job of providing insight and compassion for the other side.
After Tiller paints an incredibly emotional picture of women struggling with the biggest and most painful decision of their lives, as well as how extremely difficult this job is for the doctors that perform the abortions. From their perspective, these doctors believe that if they are not able to safely help women perform abortions, some women may become desperate and try to do it on their own. In this sense, the filmmakers are very fair with their representation of abortion; there is no clear "left" or "right" views forced into the audience's mind.
What was most captivating to me was the day-to-day life the doctors lead; when they walk out of their office, they expect to be assassinated. They receive death threats in the middle of the night. They're constantly living in fear for their lives, yet they continue to go to work every morning, truly believing that they are helping women who need them.
No matter what side of the fence you sit on, After Tiller does a great job of providing insight and compassion for the other side. You may not leave the theater with a different view, but that's not the point. A good film is one that starts a conversation and provokes thought, and After Tiller is certainly one of those films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf3rETOO62s
Catalina Film Festival: Kate Bosworth and 'Big Sur'
Day 2 of the Catalina Film Fest was all about the independent drama, Big Sur. We talked to director Michael Polish and actress Kate Bosworth, who recently got married after meeting on the set, about the adaptation from novel to film. Plus, Michael lets us in on a couple of "Michael Polish" surprises. We also chatted with Jean-Marc Barr, who plays Jack Kerouac, about his admiration for his character.
Big Sur opens in theaters on November 1st.
'Best Man Down': Catalina Film Fest, Day 1
The Catalina Film Festival kicked off last week and Cinemacy was in the front row, covering the highlights of the independent festival. We catch Patricia Arquette who was receiving the "Catalina Career Tribute Award," which highlighted her most memorable roles in Hollywood. We also talk with Ted Koland, director of the independent dramedy Best Man Down, starring Justin Long (Accepted) and Jess Weixler (Teeth). Best Man Down is a film about one newlywed couple's last-minute decision to cancel their honeymoon in order to make funeral arrangements for their best man, who unexpectedly dies after their wedding ceremony.
Best Man Down opens in theaters October 3rd.
Director Bryan Fogel & Ivan Sergei Talk 'Jewtopia'
Bryan Fogel and Ivan Sergei seem like best friends, I walk into the interview room and I’m immediately greeted with great energy and Max the dog, sleeping in the corner. “Jewtopia” is Fogel’s feature film as a director; his past credits include playwright, producer and author. Ivan Sergei, while not quite a household name, is soon to launch into celebrity-dom. He plays Christian O’Connell (although his name is oddly missing from the IMDB page), the love-struck gentile who pretends to be Jewish to win the attention of Alison Marks, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt.
CINEMACY: What took 8 years to finally come to this point? How was that possible?
BRYAN FOGEL: Uh, 8 years! Haha. This is something I wanted to do so badly and for me, creatively, I felt like I couldn’t move on until I got this film made. And I fought like hell to get it made.
IVAN SERGEI: Yeah, it was a play…
FOGEL: And the play and the movie are so, so different [but] the concept and the comedy is similar. I think when your will is strong enough you can get something done and that was certainly the case here.
CINEMACY: And it took you less than a month to actually shoot?
SERGEI: Yeah, 21 days.
CINEMACY: So was it like, every single day you were filming something?
SERGEI: Yeah but all the actors are really professional, they all know what they’re doing. They came to work knowing what they wanted to do… and that’s where the real fun things happened.
FOGEL: [Especially] knowing that there wasn’t going to be a lot of stuff on the cutting room floor. When I went into the edit, my director’s cut of the film was like, 97 minutes! I knew that what I was shooting was going to be in the movie…haha.
CINEMACY: Silly question, was the catering kosher?
FOGEL: No, haha. I think if you see the film, this is not a…
SERGEI: Kosher film
FOGEL: Kosher film by any stretch of the imagination.
CINEMACY: I wrote a note here, I kind of pictured it as like the new “Tyler Perry movie for Jews.” I thought it was pretty funny and such a great ensemble cast, what was the table read like for both of you?
FOGEL: The table read was the first time that I heard the movie… and everyone was just cracking up.
SERGEI: Yeah I’ve always said that Jamie-Lynn Sigler stole the table read by far, she was awesome.
CINEMACY: Bryan, what was it about Ivan that made you cast him as your leading man?
FOGEL: Ivan was just the best for the role; it really came down to that. And once I saw him with Joel [David Moore], they played so well off of each other and they looked good on camera together, it all meshed.
SERGEI: It was a compliment too, there are a lot of great people in [the film] and I’m sure it would have been great to get a big name in that role, and they probably could’ve gotten one too, so it was really a compliment for me to get it.
FOGEL: That process of when I want something and have passion towards something rather than somebody sitting on the sidelines, and Ivan, being so involved and me knowing how much he liked the film and how much he wanted to do it, on top of me thinking he was incredible, was what pushed it over the edge for me.
CINEMACY: What was it like working with Jennifer Love Hewitt?
SERGEI: I actually did “Party of 5” with her way back when… She’s an awesome girl, she’s maybe what you think she is and maybe she’s not what you think she is from her characters. We had really good chemistry; it was a lot of fun to work with her.
CINEMACY: Going into [the film], did you have any reservations about possibly offending anyone?
FOGEL: That’s been the core of “Jewtopia” along the way, if it’s not offending some people I’m not doing a good job. I think comedy in general, you either love comedy or you’re the person who gets offended by comedy. With “Jewtopia” it’s either people are like, ‘this is the funniest thing in the world’ because it’s so offensive, or ‘oh my God, this is so offensive, how could somebody do this,’ and I’m happy when people have that reaction cause that means it’s striking a chord.
Jewtopia is in theaters September 20th.
Jon Lovitz on 'Jewtopia'
Jon Lovitz is one of the best-known comedians in the universe… well, according to his cats and his About Me biography. Lovitz stars as Dennis Lipschitz in the upcoming film “Jewtopia” and not only is his comedic timing and delivery spot on; he steals every scene he’s in. Yesterday I got the chance to talk to Jon one on one and from the moment I walked in the room and saw him sitting on the couch, cross-legged and petting his Pug-Chihuahua hybrid, I knew this was going to be an awesome interview.
CINEMACY: Oh, I have a pug at home. His name is Preston and he’s like 30 pounds so… yeah, he’s kinda big.
LOVITZ: Haha.
CINEMACY: The film was really funny; I’m curious how that initial table read went with all these comedians? Bryan [Director] and he said that you were surprised by Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
LOVITZ: Oh God yeah, Jamie-Lynn Sigler! I met her in the movie, I knew her from “The Sopranos” but she was like a kid. We were all blown away by how hysterically funny she was, and I don’t mean like “good, ” I mean, I said to her, ‘you could be a great comedian-actor, why don’t you have a sitcom?’
CINEMACY: Yeah, the whole cast is full of top-notch comedians.
LOVITZ: Yeah, I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t expect anything and I definitely didn’t expect that!
CINEMACY: When did you first become attached to the project?
LOVITZ: My manager called me and told me ‘they’re doing a movie version of this play that I saw and the play was hysterical. You should be in this.’ So I met with Bryan and I said to [him], look, I think it’s really funny but I don’t want to play a stereotypical Jewish person that you see other actors do in movies. You want to play [the character] funny and neurotic but in a way that people really are.
CINEMACY: Not a caricature…
LOVITZ: Right, not like [Jewish tone] “What are ya talkin’ about, what do ya mean…”
CINEMACY: I’m sure Bryan loved having you give your input into the character. Did you have any reservations going into this movie, because it is “making fun” lightheartedly of the Jewish culture?
LOVITZ: No because I’m a stand-up comedian and I make fun of myself… I think part of Jewish culture is their humor and also their ability to make fun of themselves and laugh at their mistakes. That’s how my whole family was.
CINEMACY: Has your family seen the film?
LOVITZ: No, not yet.
CINEMACY: Are you excited to show them?
LOVITZ: Yeah, parts of it I acted a lot like my own father.
CINEMACY: Is there any medium that more satisfying to you? Either stand up comedy or film acting?
LOVITZ: When you perform live the people can laugh and it's fun but when you're doing a movie, you have to wait for "action" and until they say “cut” then they might laugh afterward. Or the director goes, ‘oh that was funny.’ But you really want to hear a lot of people laughing, that’s what I love about comedy, making people laugh.
CINEMACY: Yeah…
LOVITZ: And hearing it, that’s very satisfying.
'Enough Said' Offers a Fine Performance From the Late James Gandolfini
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the latest indie film from director Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money), and rightfully so.
Enough Said is not just a refreshing comedic love story, it’s also the second to last film starring James Gandolfini before his unexpected passing in June.
Enough Said tells the story of Eva, a divorcée played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Seinfeld”), who’s been unlucky in love. She meets Albert (Gandolfini), a fellow divorcée at a party and isn’t initially interested, but, in the following days, hesitantly agrees to go on a date with him. It’s at the same party where Eva also meets Marianne, played by Catherine Keener (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), an interesting woman who instantaneously befriends Eva. The humor comes into play when Eva discovers that Marianne is Albert’s ex-wife, and thus, she finds herself at a crossroads as to which relationship to pursue, friendship or love.
It is emotional to see Gandolfini as a romantic lead; he does such justice to the role that it’s a shame he could not continue to play these types of characters.
The on-screen chemistry between the characters is what makes this film so worthwhile, with dialogue that is both conversational and organic from these veteran actors. Gandolfini plays the gentle giant compared to the wisecracking, pint-sized Louis-Dreyfus, and while the pair may seem like an unlikely couple, their chemistry is undeniable. It is emotional to see Gandolfini as a romantic lead; he does such justice to the role that it’s a shame he could not continue to play these types of characters.
If I had one complaint, it would only be the predictability of Eva’s conflict, however, the film is so captivating that the audience is willing to embrace the suspension of disbelief. On a personal note, it is also pretty heart wrenching to see Eva poke fun of Albert’s weight like calling him “Fat Albert,” a not-so-subtle reminder of Gandolfini’s untimely death.
Enough Said is definitely a directorial success for Holofcener. A perfectly cast ensemble, including Toni Collette, Ben Falcone, and newcomer Tavi Gevinson round out this indie comedy that’s sure to leave you satisfied.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R09EnVNGnio