Tribeca Film Festival: Cast of "Baby Mama" Celebrates at the MoMA

(Photo by Peter Bixler)

The Tribeca Film Festival is off to a strong start, with the stars turning out for last night's world premiere of "Baby Mama" at the Ziegfeld. We were in attendance at the official after-party, held at the Museum of Modern Art, which could have been mistaken for a "Saturday Night Live" reunion. In addition to Lorne Michaels and "Baby Mama" stars Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, guests at the MoMa included a long list of present and former cast-members, like Jimmy Fallon (who eventually left the party with former "SNL" player Chris Kattan), Rachel Dratch, Jason Sudeikis, Fred Armisen, Molly Shannon and even Chevy Chase. But the superstar of the evening was Steve Martin, who sauntered in wearing a panama hat, spent most of his time at a table with Lorne and Chevy and later departed without obliging the fans who were waiting outside for an autograph. (That said, Martin's role in "Baby Mama" is much funnier than the rest of the movie.)

Other big name guests included Poehler's hilarious husband, Will Arnett, Seth Green (of "Family Guy" / "Austin Powers" / "Robot Chicken" fame), and Dax Shepard (whom I profiled in an interview piece last year), who doted on girlfriend Kristen Bell, star of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," most of the night.

Several sad people outside were hoping to catch a glimpse of Robert De Niro, who wasn't even there. One such fan informed me he was also there to see Frank Oz (better known as the voice of Yoda), who was my next-door neighbor on the Upper West Side for many years, and who I didn't see at the MoMa. Just as I was breaking the news that the Oz / De Niro gala must have been on the other side of town, Lorne Michaels walked outside. One eager fan yelled, "Lorne, can I get a picture?" to which Lorne responded, "I'm good, thanks," and jumped in a car.

A 30-second clip from inside the party, taken on my date's cell-phone from the future, is below.

A Citysearch Special Report: Places We'd Like To See Squashed by the "Cloverfield" Monster

Lady Liberty is just one of the New York City landmarks that takes a beating in the highly anticipated new monster movie, "Cloverfield," which hits theaters today. From what I can surmise, the premise goes something like this: Young, fun-loving crowd of New Yorkers are at one of those cheesy parties where the hosts videotape their guests talking about how totally awesome the party is, when all hell breaks loose. Suddenly New York is under attack by a savage, futuristic-Godzilla-style monster. Chaos and massive destruction ensue as said monster proceeds to obliterate everything (and everyone) in its path, all but leveling the city. But every movie has a hero (although judging from the "Cloverfield" cast, that hero needn't be a celebrity), and ours turns out to be one of the dudes who was at that party before all the madness began. Ultimately, that guy, whoever he is, leads a mission to defeat the monster, thereby restoring order and saving the city.

With any luck, "Cloverfield" will deliver at least one good old-fashioned impaling--perhaps one that involves the Empire State Building needle, for example--but suffice it to say that there will be blood. So, at the risk of offending a broad spectrum of our audience, we're paying tribute to this epic movie with a little hit list of our own: Places We'd Like to See Squashed by the "Cloverfield" Monster.

Duane Reade (any and all locations)
Sorry, "Cloverfield," but we've already got a monster that's hell-bent on destroying this town!

Manhattan Mall
This unfortunate attempt at an urban strip mall has only one redeeming characteristic: Keeping property values down in Herald Square--and to be fair, some of the credit for that also goes to Penn Station, Madison Square Garden and Macy's.

Southern Hospitality
JT, JT, JT... Like we said a few weeks ago when your restaurant snagged the No. 1 spot on our list of the 10 Worst Restaurants of 2007: Just because you can do everything, doesn't mean you should.

Dave and Buster's
A D&B is just fine in a suburban mall--or a suburban anything--but if this is the "new" Times Square, we'll take the seedy strip joints, panhandlers, and meth-heads of yesteryear.

MacDougal Street (Between West 3rd and Bleecker)
Ever wondered what it would look like if a drunken fraternity convention plopped itself down in the West Village and refused to leave? Well, this is what that would look like.

Mars 2112
I'd sooner volunteer to be mangled by a rabid pit bull than spend five minutes at this space-themed travesty of a restaurant.

Staten Island
Relax, we don't literally want to see S.I. crushed by a monster, it's more of a figurative thing. Like, if the five boroughs were stranded on a desert island, and they had to eat one of the boroughs to ensure the survival of the other four ...

Agree? Disagree? Send us your beef via email, or leave a comment here and tell everyone what places you'd like the see squashed by the "Cloverfield" monster.

Movie: Death Sentence

After making his wildly successful directorial debut with the low-budget horror film Saw, young director James Wan returns with Death Sentence, a revenge-thriller about a family man (Kevin Bacon) who takes matters into his own hands after his son is murdered. I caught up with Wan to discuss Death Sentence and his approach to filmmaking, and here’s what he had to say.

WWW.FOXMOVIES.COM

A FEW WORDS WITH DEATH SENTENCE DIRECTOR JAMES WAN

Q: Tell us about the basic story behind Death Sentence.
A: Kevin Bacon plays a father whose path crosses with a street gang when his son is murdered in an initiation killing, and in a fit of rage and in the heat of passion he makes a mistake and goes after one of the people that was responsible. I describe the film as a revenge tragedy – it just spirals out of control. It’s not an outright revenge movie from start to finish. The first half of the film plays more like a thriller, while you watch this normal, everyday, white-collar guy just slowly losing control over the world that he knows, and getting caught up in a world that is very opposite his own. It’s basically a story about two different families when worlds collide – you have the family of the gang and the suburban family of Kevin Bacon. It really is a moral tale. He does what he does but he ends up paying dearly for it. ‘How far would you go to protect your family?’ If I was the marketing guy, that would be the tagline.


Q: You’re best known for making horror films. Why did you decide to switch it up?
A: I was really starting to be pigeonholed as a guy who only makes horror films, and that is so not me. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a movie fan as opposed to just a horror fan, and I felt like the revenge-thriller genre was a good stepping stone for me to try something different and concentrate more on the drama of an everyday life, performances and all that stuff, and I got the opportunity to work with a lot of really good actors. I wanted to show another side.


Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring filmmakers?
A: The best advice I can give would be things I experienced myself, and I say the best thing one should retain is naivety. When you’re young and stupid and you don’t know any better, you just go and do it; you don’t let anyone discourage you, you just follow your heart. You should do what you believe in – just go for it. Especially in today’s world, where studios and producers are willing to take chances on young, up-and-coming directors.

Movie: The Brothers Solomon

The Solomon brothers want to put a baby in you, and goddammit they will, even if it’s the last thing they do. When their dying father expresses one final wish to have a grandchild, Dean and John Solomon (Will Forte and Will Arnett) must find a way to procreate, stat. And it’s not going to be easy. That’s because until now, they’ve grown and developed (or rather, not developed) in the social equivalent of a concentration camp: a remote arctic location where they were home-schooled by their father. Miffed to find that the ladies aren’t exactly swooning, Dean and John explore other options, such as kidnapping (“We were trying to coax that little girl into our car, but her mom’s being a real pain in the ass,” Arnett explains to the police) and adoption (“What is your return policy?”), before they find Janine (SNL’s Kristen Wiig) on Craigslist, and convince her to serve as a surrogate. Written by Forte and directed by the legendary Bob Odenkirk (Mr. Show), this late-summer gem has all the right ingredients for comedy gold.

WWW.SCREENGEMS.NET

Movie: Superbad

-Popular Girl: "You know, you scratch our backs, we'll scratch yours."
-Fat Nerd: "The funny thing about my back is, is that it's located on my cock."

Once again, director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) proves that good things happen when you combine a funny script with funny actors. Superbad tells the tale of Evan and Seth (played by Michael Cera of Arrested Development and Knocked Up’s Jonah Hill), two socially inept best friends and high school seniors who must make the most of their days together before enrolling at different colleges in the fall. With no social skills, less than no sex appeal, and nothing even resembling a cool bone in their bodies, the boys realize that if they want to make it as college men, they’re going to have to turn around their luck with the ladies – starting tonight, on the eve of their graduation. Not to be mistaken for a classic coming of age tale a la Stand By Me, Superbad is about as heartwarming as a funeral. But thankfully, it’s a whole lot funnier.

Read the exclusive interview with Jonah Hill
Watch the uncensored Superbad trailer

WWW.SONYPICTURES.COM

Movie: I'm Reed Fish

In his breakout role, Jay Baruchel (Undeclared, Knocked Up) proves to the world that Zach Braff isn’t the only geeky leading man who can pull off a romantic comedy without making us want to puke. Baruchel plays Reed Fish, a small town radio personality with a hot fiancée (Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel) and a solid 10-year plan, whose life is turned upside-down when his former high school crush suddenly reappears on the eve of his nuptials. With DJ Qualls (Road Trip, Hustle & Flow) and SNL alum Chris Parnell at the helms, I’m Reed Fish takes a not-so-original story and turns it into a not-half-bad picture.

WWW.SCREENMEDIAFILMS.NET

DVD: Kung Fu Hustle

What would the late Bruce Lee have to say about Steven Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle? “It’s no Enter The Dragon.” Maybe not, but KFH manages to hold its own - so well, in fact, that it received 26 nominations (including a Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Film) and 17 awards at a slew of international film festivals when it was released in 2004. Set in 1940s Shanghai, KFH is the story of Sing (Chow), a pitiable would-be gangster with high hopes of joining the city’s most notorious crew, Axe Gang. But a series of events finds Sing going toe-to-toe with the powerful gang, leading the unlikely hero to discover his inner kung fu master. If you think Drunken Master beats Rush Hour any day of the week, then Kung Fu Hustle is like the Jackie Chan movie you’ve been waiting for, sans Jackie Chan. Check out the DVD before KFH 2 rolls out in ‘08.

WWW.SONYPICTURES.COM/HOMEVIDEO

DVD: Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas

Perhaps you missed Bickford Shmeckler’s Cool Ideas when it, um, wasn’t released on the big screen, but have no fear, because this August you’ll have the opportunity to experience Bickford on DVD. An A (and B) -list cast features Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous, Saved!), Olivia Wilde (The Black Donnellys, The Girl Next Door), Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby Doo) and John Cho (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle). Fugit stars as college student Bickford Shmeckler, whose journal of unbelievably awesome theories and ideas is stolen by his smoking hot classmate Sarah Witt (Wilde), effectively altering life as he knows it. Now, Bickford has to channel all that nerd-juice into a plan of action to get his book back. Make sure to check out the exclusive Dungeons and Dragons bonus feature. It’s what all the cool kids will be talking about this summer.

WWW.SCREENMEDIAFILMS.COM



PHOTO COURTESY OF SCREEN MEDIA FILMS

Movie: I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

When the fine print in his insurance plan prevents NY firefighter and widower Larry Valentine (played by Hitch’s Kevin James) from naming his own kids as beneficiaries, he and his best friend Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler) devise a foolproof plan to get around the technicality: they tie the knot, claiming to be gay domestic partners. So far so good, until a suspicious official starts snooping around, and Chuck and Larry’s personal life is suddenly front-page news. Enter Jessica Biel, the firecracker lawyer who feels so comfortable around her gay client, Chuck – who is of course actually straight and single – she doesn’t think twice about getting undressed in front of him or making sure he knows first, uh, hand that she doesn’t have breast implants. A bit of a hokey premise to be sure, but everything Adam Sandler touches turns to gold, and Kevin James’s ass is no exception.

WWW.UNIVERSALPICTURES.COM

Movie: Knocked Up

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF NBC UNIVERSAL

“Knocked Up is about a guy [Ben], played by Seth Rogen, who is starting a website, is kind of a slacker, who goes out to a bar one night and is lucky enough to end up back home with Katherine Heigl’s character [Alison], and what should have been nothing but a one night stand, next thing you know she’s knocked up. So it’s the story of the two of them coming to terms with the fact that they’re sorta stuck together,” says actor Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), who, along with Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Martin Starr, plays one of Ben’s four roommates in this summer’s Knocked Up.

Jonah Hill offers a somewhat different take on the movie. “The plot is basically like Letters from Iwo Jima. We actually ripped off the same plot, and we just added a few ‘fucks’ every now and then,” he jokes, when asked whether there is more to the story than the title and movie trailer suggest. But Jason and Jonah (whose characters also happen to be named Jason and Jonah) do agree that what makes Knocked Up work so well is largely writer/director Judd Apatow’s approach to movie-making. Both have worked with Apatow before (Jonah had a small but memorable role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Jason starred in Apatow’s television cult classic Freaks and Geeks, among other things) and credit the success of his films with the fact that he trusts his actors enough to let them improvise.

“We spend a lot of time rehearsing and improvising and then the script takes the shape of the direction the improv took. It’s great because by the time you arrive on set, nothing that’s coming out of your mouth feels forced; it’s all sort of in your words. And that’s part of what Judd recognizes – that the acting turns out best when the actors are comfortable,” Jason says, adding, “Anytime Judd comes calling, I’m there. Judd is my mentor and sorta my professional idol as well.”

Instances of spontaneous humor aren’t necessarily the only benefits of the improv approach to a movie like Knocked Up. “Even in the more intense scenes, Seth and Katherine did a lot of improv, and it makes the fights seem more real. That’s how I like to work, and Judd is the best at that in my opinion. I think the best stuff comes from being in the moment, just off the cuff,” says Jonah, echoing the sentiments of his co-star.

Most people would agree that waking up from an alcohol-induced sleep coma in the bed of a girl who looks like Katherine Heigl (or even someone half as hot) is pretty sweet, even if you can’t technically remember her name or how you got there. And there are only two things that might ruin that feeling of self-satisfaction: one would be discovering that you not only had the best night of your life, but you also have the clap; the other would be learning that the girl is pregnant with your seed. So what exactly do Ben’s roommates have to say when they find out about his alcohol-induced, life-altering one-night stand? “We’re basically the devil in his ear. We’re kind of giving him advice that’s crazy. Obviously we’re all ill-prepared to handle one of our best friends having a child, and I think we’re even more immature than he is, so I think we give him terrible advice, [we] just don’t know how to handle it,” says Jonah, 23. “It really freaks us out, and also the big inspiration for me at least was, I was just picturing that this was Seth in real life since I’m friends with him. In real life, he’s obviously way more mature than his character, but it would freak me out if one my best friends was having a kid because I would feel like things wouldn’t be the same, and I would kind of feel like our friendship wouldn’t be the same... it would just be super frightening.”

Super frightening indeed, but if Knocked Up the movie is any indication of the real-life experience, then take solace in knowing that if one of your drunken, idiot friends accidently impregnates a hot girl he met at a bar and they decide to have the kid together, it can also be super hilarious!

KNOCKED UP HITS THEATERS JUNE 1ST

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Movie: Spider-Man 3

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES

This spring, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) returns in Spider-Man 3. In the new flick, Spidey’s suit suddenly turns black, augmenting his existing powers and drawing out a more sinister side of him, one that is focused on retribution and vengeance. As he struggles to resist the power of the black suit and remain on the side of good, he must also throw down with two of his most dangerous opponents, Sandman and Venom. Can Peter overcome the forces of evil that threaten to pull him away from his family and his dreamgirl, M.J. (Kirsten Dunst), or will he hold it down and regulate on his enemies? Since this is Hollywood (and since we’re not retarded), we already know the answer, but with Tobey Maguire dancing around in a glorified leotard, Spider-Man 3 is like watching a demented version of Billy Elliot with high-budget special effects and action sequences. In other words, it’s worth it.



SPIDER-MAN 3 HITS THEATERS MAY 4TH




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Movie: Evan Almighty

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

We first met Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) in 2003’s Bruce Almighty, in which he played Bruce’s (Jim Carrey) office rival at a local Buffalo, N.Y. television station. When Bruce lost his job to Evan, he blamed God, prompting the Almighty Himself to come down from the heavens to teach Bruce a lesson. Now, Evan is a United States congressman, and he’s about to get his very own visit from God (Morgan Freeman). And what does God want with Evan, pray tell? It’s pretty standard, really; He wants Evan to build an ark in anticipation of a great flood, and He won’t take no for an answer. Thus it is that Evan becomes the modern counterpart to Noah, as he sets about building an arc, much to the dismay of his wife and kids. Co-starring John Goodman, Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Jonah Hill (Knocked Up; The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms (not to mention a variety of elephants, giraffes, and other members of the animal kingdom), Evan Almighty is laugh-out-loud funny, which is certainly the best thing the Bible has done for us lately.

EVAN ALMIGHTY HITS THEATERS JUNE 22ND


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Live From Springfield: The Simpsons Movie

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

If you don’t like The Simpsons, there is something very, very wrong with you, and you ought to consult a doctor immediately. Medical conditions notwithstanding, if you do nothing else this summer, you must go see The Simpsons Movie. Nerds have Star Trek and cool nerds have Star Wars, but the one thing we can all agree on is our common love and appreciation for The Simpsons. In the movie, Homer is charged with saving the world from an impending disaster that he is responsible for having created in the first place. Sounds like a classic in the making.

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE HITS THEATERS IN LATE JULY

WWW.FOXMOVIES.COM

Movie: Fanastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben are as fantastic as ever in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the latest installment of the Marvel Comics- inspired films. In the sequel, the astronauts-turned-superheroes must face-off with a new enemy: the evil, intergalactic Silver Surfer, who has touched down on Earth with the intention of destroying the planet and anyone that stands in his way. As in the first film, expect some fancy, hi-tech special effects and an a few hours of entertainment, but don’t lose too much sleep wondering whether the Silver Surfer will succeed in his efforts or whether the Fantastic Four will prevail and save the world. Something tells us they will.

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER HITS THEATERS ON JUNE 15TH





WWW.FOXMOVIES.COM

Movie: Live Free or Die Hard

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

After Sylvester Stallone brought retro back with last year’s Rocky Balboa, this summer, Bruce Willis, 52, is back as Average Joe-turned-hero John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard. In this, the fourth Die Hard flick, the plot has been updated to accommodate a post- 9/11 world, and focuses on a terrorist group that is using the Internet to wage war against the United States. Live Free or Die Hard boasts the same entertainment value of the first three Die Hard movies, but with better technology and action sequences. In short, failure to go see Live Free or Die Hard would be downright unpatriotic – and these days, that’s enough to land you an open-ended stay at Guantanamo.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD HITS THEATERS JULY 4TH




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DVD: Smokin' Aces

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Simply put, Smokin’ Aces is Pulp Fiction meets Saving Private Ryan – if the objective hadn’t been so much rescuing Private Ryan as it was tracking down and killing him. With an A-List cast, Smokin’ Aces features excellent performances by Ryan Reynolds (yes, we are as surprised as you to see Van Wilder coming into his own), Jeremy Piven (as Buddy “Aces” Israel, the powder-nosed, Vegas illusionist with a $1 million bounty on his head), Ray Liotta, Alicia Keys, Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Jason Bateman (who has a small but ingenious role), and even a cameo by Lost’s Matthew Fox. The long list of characters and complex web of relationships á la The Usual Suspects might seem confusing at first, but before you realize that you’re not totally sure what’s going on, the movie is over and it all makes sense. With everything you could possibly want – violence, drugs, hookers and mobsters – we venture to say Smokin’ Aces is one of the best movies thus far in ‘07. And it gets better every time you watch it, so copping the DVD is definitely the way to go.

BUY SMOKIN' ACES ON DVD MAY 15TH

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DVD: The Messengers

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA / SCREEN GEMS / GHOSTHOUSE PICTURES

Although this horror flick didn’t break any records when it was released in early 2007, The Messengers did hold down the top spot at the box office over Superbowl weekend and was generally popular among horror fans. The Messengers (which stars Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller and Panic Room’s Kristen Stewart) tells the story of the Solomon family and the events that transpire after forces of darkness begin to infiltrate their formerly tranquil North Dakota farm. Special features on the DVD include a featurette on the making of the film, interactive commentary with the actors and more. And don’t be skeptical about the film’s fright factor just because it’s rated PG-13; kid-approved movies are allowed to be terrifying – they just can’t contain excessive nudity or profanity. Which totally makes perfect sense.


BUY THE MESSENGERS ON DVD APRIL 3RD

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Movie: 28 Weeks Later

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF FOX ATOMIC
The sequel to 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later picks up six months after a deadly, blood borne virus was released from a London laboratory, devastating the city and transforming those infected into ferocious, murderous predators. Now, the U.S. Army has come to restore order, claiming to have eradicated the virus, but as the surviving refugees begin to return to the city it seems the nightmare has only just begun. A new cast of characters is led by Rose Byrne (Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones; Troy) and although 28 Weeks Later may seem like little more than a vaguely altered version of the first film, the story carries over quite well and suspense levels remain high. Don’t be surprised if this one sticks with you after you leave the theater, but be sure to remain seated until the final credits role – you wouldn’t want to miss another famous alternate ending.


28 WEEKS LATER HITS THEATERS MAY 11TH

WWW.FOXATOMIC.COM

Interview: Wes Craven

BY JUSTINE GOODMAN
PHOTO: CARLY FEINGOLD, COURTESY OF FOX ATOMIC

Believe it or not, Wes Craven made quite a few movies before Scream (“You mean Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?” jokes Wes), including the original versions of The Hills Have Eyes and The Hills Have Eyes 2 in the ‘70s and ‘80s. We recently caught up with Wes to discuss his latest film and his approach to scary movies.

JG: What is required to make a good horror film? Do you just need to have a morbid imagination to make a movie like Hills?
WC: I don’t really have to have a morbid imagination these days – I just have to read the newspaper… It’s basically doing something that’s intriguing to you at the moment that you find frightening. Not that there’s Hills Have Eyes people running around in the United States. But if you nudge that just a bit, you can understand what it’s like, say, for an American soldier in Afghanistan, encountering people that will literally skin you alive or cut your head off in the middle of the mountains. The Hills’ underlying concept is, ‘What do Westerners do when they confront people who would like to kill them, and follow none of the rules they were trained to fight by?’ What does that do to your own sense of personal confidence and morality?

JG: So you’re tapping into our very real, collective fears.
WC: The first maniac that the audience should be frightened by is the filmmaker. You have to have a sense that you are not in the hands of someone who is going to be considerate of your deepest fears – in fact they’re going to take you there. And they will cross all sorts of lines of taste and gentility and morality and take you into the dark side of things, and it’s a very painful and terrifying part of life to see the dark side of life, of our personalities, of our friends, our nation, and just the way that mankind is. We build and we build and everything’s beautiful and then we tear it down or blow it up, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to stop it, that sort of madness. These kind of pictures are scenarios of societal nightmares, and the human spirit needs ways of encountering these things… In real life if any of these things happened people would be devastated and traumatized and everything else. But in attenuated form of the fatal, you’re able to go through it with other people, in the safety of a theater. And you scream and you’re terrified but you know that you’re gonna walk out intact at the end. I think to the extent that you identify with the central character of almost all horror films, they survive. So you have that template of, ‘OK, this is not only the worst thing that I could imagine but the worst thing Wes Craven can imagine, and if that character can survive and that character seems a lot like me, then maybe I could survive that too.’

JG: Would you say there’s almost a hopeful element involved?
WC: I really think so. And most reporters you say that to just sort of stare at you and think you’re nuts. But why else would humans have retained nightmares? We’re involved in a war with all the military might of the United States, and the fact is that with all those resources we have not been able to defeat this enemy. And they continue to kind of have their way with us, and that is a profoundly frightening thing; everything that you think of as being there to protect you, if it cannot do that, then you feel incredibly vulnerable. And there’s a lot of kids from the core audience that will go into the armed services and will have to face these things. So it seemed to me very, very germane. But on the surface of it, I don’t think anybody’s gonna see that. It’s just a very scary movie.

JG: Is it different for you to make a movie that has a sort of supernatural element as compared to the Scream movies?
WC: I don’t consider anything in Hills to be supernatural. They’re just people. In a way, that’s one of the key statements being made. You can refer to these people as mutants, but they’re mutants in the same way as a person who was born with six fingers because of being exposed to radioactivity. The shock of recognition is that they’re not that different from us in most ways; they are part of the human family. I think that kind of stuff makes audiences think. The other thing I struggle mightily do is not put anything on screen that the audience has seen before, which is, I think, a common flaw of so many horror movies – ‘Let’s do something that’s a combination of Saw and The Ring.’ And the audience recognizes it in the first five or 10 minutes and then they’re bored. So we try to come at it from a totally new direction.

JG: Do you go to a lot of horror movies?
WC: I see the ones that do very well, as kind of homework. Ironically, by and large I don’t like to go see horror films! It’s just that I don’t enjoy watching suffering. It’s funny. I go to see a lot of movies and watch a lot at home, but it’s more the whole spectrum of films, not just scary movies.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN YRB MAGAZINE. COPYRIGHT © 2007

Movie: Rescue Dawn

This April, Christian Bale (American Psycho, The Machinist, Batman Begins) stars in Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn as U.S. Fighter pilot Dieter Dangler, whose plane is shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War. He is soon captured and subjected to extensive torture – as is the audience, during a difficult first hour that is virtually free of any dialogue whatsoever. The second half of this docu-drama focuses on Dieter’s stay in a prison camp (along with fellow POWs Gene (Jeremy Davies) and Duane (Steve Zahn)), where he devises and ultimately executes a complex escape plan. Rescue Dawn is not a Bruce Willis-style action flick, and it does not even begin to achieve the magnificence of its predecessors, Vietnam classics such as The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now. Bale, Zahn and Davies all give excellent performances against a visually stunning backdrop, but in every other sense Rescue Dawn simply comes up short.

WWW.GIBRALTARFILMS.COM

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN YRB MAGAZINE. COPYRIGHT © 2007