INTERVIEWS
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- Published: Friday, 16 July 2010 19:56
Hall Pass Star Shocked By Farrelly Brothers Gag
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- Published: Thursday, 24 February 2011 16:04
- Written by Lupe Haas
When you work on a Farrelly Brothers movie, actors can expect to be put in awkward and often raunchy situations on screen. Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, and Jenna Fischer were ready Peter and Bobby Farrelly's brand of humor in HALL PASS but Jason didn't expect one scene to go beyond what he imagined, he told CineMovie at a recent press conference with the HALL PASS stars and directors.
Add a commentThe Family Film Hollywood Didn't Want To Make
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- Published: Saturday, 17 July 2010 12:07
True stories about underdogs overcoming all odds are concepts Hollywood has made into movies many times. The Blind Side is a recent example of a true story adaptation which won Sandra Bullock her first Academy Award as a leading actress and topped the box office for weeks.
A new film THE PERFECT GAME has many similar elements to The Blind Side except the sport is baseball, the story originates in Mexico and moves to the United States, the leads play Mexicans, and no A-List stars. Hollywood passed up THE PERFECT GAME perhaps because of these elements but the filmmakers continued to play ball and eventually hit a home run after six years. THE PERFECT GAME hits movie theaters starting April 16 but the trip from first base to the home plate was a rough run.
In 1957, a rag–tag group of boys formed a baseball team under the guidance of Cesar, an aspiring Major League Coach thwarted by discrimination. Armed with the dream of playing a real Little League game, the young players defy a lack of resources, disapproving parents, and widespread prejudices of the time to score a major victory at the Little League World Series.
Surprisingly the story had never been told on celluloid except for a 1960 Mexican documentary, Los pequeños gigantes (The Little Giants). Cheech Marin plays the warm-hearted priest helping the kids achieve their dreams in THE PERFECT GAME and he told CineMovie he was in Little League himself when he saw the documentary and felt inspired by the film. "They were like the Beatles for us."
MOVIE CLIP: Cheech Marin's Priest Helps The Boys Recruit
Writer and producer William Winokur also felt the inspiration after watching Los pequeños gigantes in 2004 and decided to bring the story to life. He wrote a book based on the true events and screenplay to shop around Hollywood.
"We wanted to make a commercially viable film for kids. The reality is, unfortunately, that Mexicans in movies are stereotyped as drug dealers, gang members, and maids. We wanted to show that culture in a heroic light not a stereotypical way," said Winokur.
In addition, Winokur and Dear decided to shoot the true story in English for universal appeal. Despite it's marketable value, the filmmaking team struck out with the studio system and THE PERFECT GAME was financed outside the Hollywood system.
Actor Benjamin Bratt (Blood In, Blood Out, Miss Congeniality) has his own experience with Hollywood rejection. His new film
project La Mission directed by his brother Peter Bratt tells the story of hard-core Chicano played by Benjamin struggling to accept his son's homosexuality. La MISSION is in limited theaters in New York and Los Angeles with expansion to more cities throughout April but like THE PERFECT GAME, the journey to the big screen was a struggle.
"It's a question of commerce. The number one thing that dictates what gets made in this town IS money", said the Piñero star. "Large studios and very large independent companies won't take on the subject matter if they can't see a market. Surprisingly when we first took the story [La MISSION] out to what are considered traditional forms of funding, they didn't get where they could market it. If they can't understand where and how to market it, they are not interested because they can't make money."
While La MISSION'S subject matter is quite different than THE PERFECT GAME, THE PERFECT GAME'S family-friendly and baseball-themed premise should have been a shoe in for pick up from a studio or indie labels but the answer kept coming back 'no.'
In 2007, the independently-financed production began on THE PERFECT GAME in Monterrey, Mexico - the real location of the story but four weeks into shooting, the "money stopped" according to Cheech Marin who jokes that he felt "broke" when it happened. However, the producers assured Cheech they would resume immediately. "'So we're going to regroup and back in two weeks in L.A.' they told me." Eight months later, I thought the movie was gone but they called me and told me the film has been revived and we're gonna start all over." 
When funding resumed, they started from scratch with new cast members and a new location -- Santa Clarita, CA but the adult cast was worried the boy's puberty might have set in.
"That was my fear when we came back eight months later. But when they came back, they were a little bit bigger but they all grew in proportion to each other so they kind of looked the same and they're voices hadn't changed."
Moises Arias (Disney's Hannah Montana), Jake Austin (Wizards of Waverly Place), Ryan Ochoa (iCarly), and Heroes' Hayden Panettiere's little brother Jansen play some of the team members. In our recent sit down with the boys, the three year lapse since production is evident in their physical appearances. They are almost unrecognizable with braces, deeper voices, and 2 to 3 inches of added height.
While shooting the film, their characters and story had special meaning for the boys. Ryan Ochoa felt an added "pressure to play the character as best you can." And Miley Cyrus' sidekick in Hannah Montana Moises Arias knew it meant something positive for Latinos. "To show the world that Latinos aren't in movies about gangsters or stuff like that. They're actually doing something that changes the world. They achieved the impossible."
Once the film wrapped, everyone waited for news regarding the release but after some false hope in 2008 and 2009, the film failed to open after Lionsgate backed out of releasing the film for reasons not made public.
The cast had lost faith the movie would ever see the light of day. "Once every 6 months, one faction of the producers would call me and tell me they had the picture," revealed Cheech. "So when they said we're going to release the film, I said, 'well send the car first and then I'll believe you.'"
Ryan Ochoa texted to his on screen coach played by Clifton Collins, Jr (Star Trek) news about a possible release but Clifton also weary of the news texted back, "Dude by time that movie comes out, you guys will be in college or getting married," according to Ryan.
According to Clifton, he did tease the tweens about being in college before seeing the release of the film, Cheech interjected. "I thought they'd have kids by now." Clifton added, "Some of them do. They're just not allowed to talk about that."
Eventually the film found a distributor with Vancouver based IndustryWorks and a release date set for 2010. After many years and a lot of work, THE PERFECT GAME finally reaches home plate without the Hollywood hoopla on April 16 but positive word of mouth will hopefully carry this little inspiring film out of the ballpark.
Add a commentCheech & Chong 2.0: Tamer, Wiser, and Digital
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- Published: Thursday, 29 April 2010 17:00
- Written by Lupe Haas
Director Taylor Hackford Says Hollywood Ignores Latinos
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- Published: Wednesday, 14 July 2010 20:44
Out of a handful of successful films about Latinos, two of them involved filmmaker Taylor Hackford.
La Bamba (1987) is the highest grossing Latino film in the United States and Blood In, Blood Out (1987) starring Benjamin Bratt remains a cult favorite among urban Latinos. Since producing La Bamba (Esai Morales, Lou Diamond Phillips) and directing Blood In, Blood Out, Taylor Hackford has always set out to capture the real America through his films.
Add a commentNew Website Launches For Filmmakers
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- Published: Friday, 16 July 2010 18:58
- Written by Lupe Haas
Launched in April 2010, SneakOnTheLot.com™ players compete throughout the year for their shot at producing a $20,000 short film in Los Angeles in a studio-lot environment with filmmaking tools, a screening room, access to a music and sound effects library, script library, virtual chat rooms and much more.
Add a commentMiranda Cosgrove Wants Tina Fey's Job
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- Category: Interviews
- Published: Wednesday, 14 July 2010 20:15
iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove is not looking to be the next Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera after she outgrows Nickelodeon. Instead, the 17 year-old actress and one of the voice actors in DESPICABLE ME aspires to be the next Tina Fey.
Add a commentJack Black Belt
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- Category: Interviews
- Published: Wednesday, 04 June 2008 20:52
- Written by Lupe Haas
Kung Fu Master
"Kung Fu Panda" opens nationwide this weekend starring Jack Black as Po, the cuddly bumbling Panda obsessed with being a Kung Fu hero like the Furious Five. Cine Movie sat down with Jack Black at a recent publicity event in Beverly Hills.
Q: Seth Rogen said you were perfect for the role of a panda because you have panda-eque qualities. Do you agree?
Jack: Yeah! I feel like I'm panda-eque. We are both rolley polley, cuddly, furry AND my beard has black and white in it now that I'm getting older. So I'm like a panda in that way.
Q: Was this role a way to live out your kung fu fantasies?
Jack: In a way, it was my living out my kung fu fantasy. When I was a child, I took one year of obligatory karate and I believe I graduated to a yellow belt and then I quit. Don't know why I quit. Then I did some judo and believe I made it to the green belt but never kung fu and I always wanted to do kung fu.
I had seen the movies with Bruce Lee and the great television series with Mr. Carradine. I've always been really interested in the mystical art of kung fu, the most wise of martial arts. So this was my chance to explore that world.
Q: Could you break a board?
Jack: With my mind. I don't have to use my hands. It's the highest level of kung fu.
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Q: Po the Panda has a catch phrase of "skadoosh" which you came up with. How much were you allowed to improve?
Jack: I was allowed to go crazy. I would do what's on the page as written but they encouraged me to explore all the different things, which I did. I don't know how much they used but they did use "skadoosh". So I have to take some credit... some writing credit!
Q: What was it like not being able to use your entire body like you did in Nacho Libre?
Black: I did use my b
ody an awful lot, actually. They're filming us during our vocal recordings and they use it for reference. And to get the proper sounds, I would really do the things that I was supposed to be doing. Like if I was supposed to be tired from running, I would run around.... it was very method acting that way.
Q: During the development of the story, one of the film's directors was influenced by your Tenacious D song ,"Cosmic Shame."
Jack: I was allowed to go crazy. I would do what's on the page as written but they encouraged me to explore all the different things, which I did. I don't know how much they used but they did use "skadoosh". So I have to take some credit... some writing credit!
Q: What was it like not being able to use your entire body like you did in Nacho Libre?
Black: I did use my b
ody an awful lot, actually. They're filming us during our vocal recordings and they use it for reference. And to get the proper sounds, I would really do the things that I was supposed to be doing. Like if I was supposed to be tired from running, I would run around.... it was very method acting that way.Q: During the development of the story, one of the film's directors was influenced by your Tenacious D song ,"Cosmic Shame."
Jack: That's what he said to me too. I suspect he said that to get me to do the movie.
Producer Melissa Cobb intercedes and confirms that the crew did listen to his song very early on.
Melissa: He wanted the crew to understand the essential dilemma of Po, which is really explained well in that song.
Jack: The idea in the song is about following your heart. Sometimes you'll follow your heart and it wont lead to anything BUT you have to try. You have to try because if you don't, you'll always regret not chasing your dreams. It's a theme that I was exploring before this movie.
Q: Kung Pu Panda's dilemma mirrors Jack Black's real life problem early on in his career.
Jack: Po becomes the Dragon Warrior when he realizes he doesn't have to imitate his heroes. He just has to be himself and be the best he can be and that would make him a master of his craft. For me...Jack Black...I didn't really have a real career going on until I found my own voice because for many years I imitated other actors and comedians that I loved. It wasn't until I started writing my own scenes and music and finding my own voice that I became a Master (jokingly) of my craft.
Q: You've played a shark in "Shark's Tale" and now a panda, what's next?
Jack: I'd like to be a winged creature like an eagle although I kind of was an eagle in Nacho Libre or I had eagle powers. So maybe next I'd like to be a chee-TAH. It's always been my favorite animal because of it's speed. The fastest of all creatures. My favorite superhero is Flash because he's the fastest. He runs the speed of light. I don't know why I like the fastest of all things because I'm certainly not the fastest.
Q: What films will you be shooting next?
Jack: There's an impending strike so I don't want to mess around.
Q; Think it'll happen?
Jack: I hope not.
No cheetah or Flash roles are in the near future for Jack but catch him in "Kung Fu Panda" this Friday and later this summer in Ben Stiller directed comedy, "Tropic Thunder".
Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds Starts Production
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- Category: Interviews
- Published: Thursday, 16 October 2008 17:32
- Written by Lupe Haas
Rob Zombie's Top 5 Horror Films
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- Category: Interviews
- Published: Saturday, 15 August 2009 07:15
- Written by Lupe Haas
element into his music, art, and films. With his second Halloween movie set for release August 28th, CineMovie sat down with him for his views on the Twilight craze, remakes and we thought it befitting to ask the Halloween II helmer to name his top five horror films of all time.
Q: What do you think about this whole 'teeny bopperizing' as we like to call it, of the vampire genre with the Twilight mania and now a tv series (Vampire Diaries).
Zombie: I don't know. Truthfully, I was sort of oblivious to it. I saw Twilight two days ago for the first time out of curiosity and True Blood I watched once on a plane. Everything goes in waves. I guess people always lean towards vampires because they are the easiest to make cool and marketable. Whereas if you make people werewolves they always look goofy.
Q: That would explain why the Benicio del Toro werewolf movie is being delayed again.
Zombie: Maybe. But it's an easier thing to keep vampires since they exist through time, it's easier to update them than other monsters.
Q: So it doesn't bother you that they're turning it into a tween thing and moving away from the horror aspect?
Zombie: I could care less. It's like the Lost Boys again.
Q: What do you think about people boycotting the new Nightmare on Elm Street movie?
Zombie: It's fine. I used to be like that ten years ago when I would say, 'why are they remaking these movies?' It seemed so stupid to me. Now I'm so numb to it that I don't even care. I look at it this way now - there are so many movies that I love that are remakes of other movies. Christopher Lee's Horror of Dracula is a remake of Dracula which is a remake of Nosferatu. And I love all those movies so why do you get all close-minded about remakes. To me, if it's a really good movie - great! If not, whatever!
Q: Speaking of good movies, what are your five all-time favorite horror movies?
Zombie: I like classic stuff mixed in with 70's stuff. 
Some of my favorites are the original Frankenstein movie, Todd Browning's Freaks, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original Dawn of the Dead. And then something like The Shining even though it's maybe not a horror but I love Stanley Kubrick so much. I love the fact the he decided to make the ultimate science fiction movie, the ultimate horror movie and the ultimate war movie. I just find that incredibly awesome.
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Zombie's re-imagining of another popular horror movie Halloween has it's latest incarnation in Halloween II in theaters August 28. In October, look for Rob Zombie the rocker on the road in concert to promote his latest solo music project.
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