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.
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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.
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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.
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Actor Jacob Vargas may not be a household name but this familiar face has been a working actor with steady roles on television (Moonlight, ER, CSI:NY) and in major Hollywood films, starring alongside Jason Statham (Death Race), Jake Gyllenhaal and 
Jamie Foxx (Jarhead), and Jennifer Lopez (Selena) for over 20 years.
With his latest indie science fiction thriller SLEEP DEALER arriving on DVD, the actor tells CineMovie his secrets to staying in the Hollywood game and tips for aspiring actors.
Q: Is it a struggle to get roles?
Jacob: It’s always a challenge. Unfortunately there are more actors than are roles. You just have to go in and do something different. You have to be on top of your game.
Q: Besides having an agent and manager constantly looking for new projects, how are you active in searching for projects as well?
Jacob: I’ve been fortunate to have a group of friends who are also actors and we all plug each other into other projects. If I hear of a project, I’ll let my friends know and vice versa. On set, you make good relationships with other people on crews and you find that most cinematographers want to be directors and so forth. And everybody’s got a project. So as soon as you open up that door, then you find out there are all these projects. Eventually you become part of that project early on.
Q: How has the writer’s strike early last year and the recession affected you?
Jacob: I do feel that there are less projects out there. And the studios know that and know actors want to work. That’s been an issue. Honestly I’ve been taking this slow time to spend with my family. I’m bonding with my daughter which I haven’t been able to do in the last five years. So I’m just sitting it out and waiting out this recession.
Vargas’ SLEEP DEALER, now on DVD, has a lot in common with DISTRICT 9 the low-budget sci-fi film out of 
South Africa which was a surprise summer hit. Both independent films were shot in a foreign country with a limited budget and both share a message about immigration issues. SLEEP DEALER, a critical hit at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, however, was made for a lot less than District 9.
VIDEO INTERVIEW: SLEEP DEALER director and Leonore Varela (Blade II)
Q: How was the experience shooting the film?
Jacob: It was a challenge in itself. I loved the subject matter and the political messages behind it. I had never seen a film set in a border town in Tijuana which is something you’ve never seen before. With the success of District 9, you might see it more often now. But I hadn’t seen anything like that before. So I thought it would be something interesting. But really the challenge on shooting the film was the budget or lack of. You had to beresourceful when you were doing things on green screen. There are a lot of unknowns but you have to commit and give yourself to the project and trust the director or visual director that everything will turn out okay.
Q: Do you have an acting method?
Jacob: I’m a big people watcher. I love going to a crowded place – sitting there for hours watching people interact. In my mind, I kind of create little scenarios in each conversation. You wonder what they’re talking about, what their history is, what they have just gone through. I don’t know if that’s an acting technique or just voyeurism? We’re all actors. I believe that human beings are always acting for one reason or another. Either to impress somebody, to make somebody laugh. We’re always in some shape or form performing.
Q: Have you tried method acting for any roles?
Jacob: I have in the past. I tried but for some reason it’s always back-fired for me. That doesn’t work for me.
Jacob: I would love to do the bio pic on Cesar Chavez the organizer and another great story is the Joaquin Murrieta story. It would be like the Charles Bronson revenge film set in early California.
Q: What would be your best advice for those starting out?
Jacob: Find another profession. (Kidding) Patience, resilience and just learn as much as possible. Read as many books on acting and take lots of classes. But not just on acting. Now it’s not enough to be an actor. You have to understand the business and technical side of it – lenses, camera angles, lighting, etc. in order to be a good actor. You have to understand all of that.
And we can understand why this young actor will be have a long Hollywood career. Currently, Jacob Vargas can be seen in his latest film SLEEP DEALER on DVD and next up for the Latino actor, Kerosene Cowboys, a Mario Van Peebles film set for a 2009 release.
Musician and director Rob Zombie brings killer Michael Myers back to life on the big screen once again in HALLOWEEN II August 28th but it may surprise you to know the helmer has not watched any of previous films in the franchise except for the original.
CineMovie sat down in a one-on-one interview with the writer/director to discuss his new vision for the latest installment of the horror franchise and why he’s not a fan of the Halloween franchise. Watch Halloween II trailer
Q: This is the 10th movie in the Halloween franchise....
Zombie: Is it really?
Q: Yes.
Zombie: Oh, god! If I had known that.....
Q: So how do you keep it fresh?
Zombie: Well that's the trick. I always say to myself, 'what has this character not done a million times?' So for me, the biggest way to keep it fresh was the approach to it - the way the movie looks, the way the characters act, and making people see it a different way.
You still have Michael Myers, a faceless killer that doesn't talk. He's a tough character because you don't see his face hardly and he doesn't really talk so what the f%&# you going to do with him after a while. So it's the stuff that surrounds him that has to create the experience and make it different. That's what I tried to do.
Q: What do you think about Halloween's release date in August instead of October?
Zombie: It is what it is. Everyone's like 'why is it coming out in August and not Halloween' but I don't know. It's not up to me.
Q: So you didn't have any input in that area?
Zombie: No. The executives deal with it. The schedule was so crowded with films that they looked at the August 28th which looked light at the time. I know Final Destination movie is coming out the same day. You can move it to the next week, then something else will come up. You can't win. You just have to go for it.
Q: And what's on the music front?
Zombie: I have a new album that I finished before I did Halloween II. So as soon as Halloween comes out, we start touring in October for the new record.
Zombie plans to also take on another two films as a writer/director with The Haunted World of El Superbeasto based on his own comic book and Tyrannosaurus Rex set for 2011.
For now, Halloween comes early this year starting August 28th in HALLOWEEN II.
Death is back and this time it's taking lives in 3D in the fourth installment of FINAL DESTINATON opening Friday, August 28th. CineMovie sat down with the Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, and Haley Webb, new cast of THE FINAL DESTINATION to talk dying and acting in 3D.
Watch User Reviews & Movie Trailer
Movie Synopsis:
On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O'Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave... escaping seconds before Nick's frightening vision becomes a terrible reality.
Thinking they've cheated death, the group has a new lease on life, but unfortunately for Nick and Lori, it is only the beginning. As his premonitions continue and the crash survivors begin to die one-by-one--in increasingly gruesome ways--Nick must figure out how to cheat death once and for all before he, too, reaches his final destination.
(New Line Cinema)
Release: 08/28/2009
Genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy And Suspense/Horror
Starring: Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, Nick Zano, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella
Directed By: David Richard Ellis Produced By: Craig Perry
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Adam, a socially dysfunctional young man (Hugh Dancy) begins a relationship with the woman of his dreams (Rose Bryne) in a quirky love story that will inspire even the men to shed a tear.
Described as funny, sad, and sweet, the film's stars Hugh Dancy (CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC), Rose Byrne (KNOWING) and director Max Mayer (The West Wing, Alias) tell our CineMovie's Alysha Del Valle what to expect from this emotional roller coaster movie. Break out the tissues for this interview.
For more information, please visit http://www.foxsearchlight.com/adam
| Studio: | Fox Searchlight | |
| Genres: | Comedy, Drama And Romance | |
| Release Date: | July 29, 2009 (limited) | |
| MPAA Rating: | PG-13 for thematic material, sexual content and language. | |
| Starring: | Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison, Mark Linn-Baker | |
| Directed By: | Max Mayer | |
| Produced By: | Christina Weiss Lurie, Dean Vanech, Miranda De Pencier | |
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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CORALINE, the first stop-motion feature film shot in stereoscopic 3D comes to DVD and Blu-Ray Tuesday, July 21st. Henry Selick, director of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, worked on the film for over three years alongside a team of artists including Georgina Haynes, the Character Fabrication Supervisor on CORALINE.
Haynes, a veteran of stop-motion animation, worked on Tim Burton’s CORPSE BRIDE (first stop-motion film shot digitally) and MARS ATTACK!, and she takes CineMovie through the process of creating stop-motion animated puppets.
Q: As the Character Fabrication Supervisor, what does your job entail?
Haynes: Character Fabrication Supervisor gathers together a team of people to work alongside the director and animators to fabricate the puppets off screen. First a static puppet is made from illustrations and then the static finished puppet is passed on to the animators for movement.
So I deal with Henry (Selick) and with the creative decisions such as costumes, color of paint, hair…. I also work closely with the director and animators with the kind of movements they want because each of the puppets have full metal skeleton inside called amatures. So we have to build, design and engineer those from scratch.
Q: Are the sets computer-generated or are they also built from scratch?
Haynes: They were all built by hand. In fact, Coraline has very few computer-generated effects. Some of the background skies were computer-generated but a lot of those were hand-painted as well. Everything you’re seeing is made by a person.
We did use computers and technology to help us in certain processes. Coraline and many of the other puppets have replacement faces for their facial animations. And the way it’s been done in the past is by hand sculpting each one of these faces but it limits the amounts of expressions and faces on a puppet. On Coraline, we used a 
3D printer, so we modeled the character in the computer almost as you would with a computer animated movie but we went in and added more detail, more in betweens that you would get in an animated feature. And then we printed them all out on a machine (3D printer) much like an inkjet printer but it actually sprays out resin instead of a flat photograph. And then we built it up into a 3D model. Once all of those pieces are printed out, we hand painted every one of those. So they still have that hands-on, sort of feel to them.
Q: Was CORALINE shot on 35 mm?
Haynes: No, this is all shot digitally. We actually used the red camera which I think was initially used for medical use but it’s a very high definition camera.
Q: Is that what gives the film it’s look?
Haynes: It does make it crisper than 35mm but I think part of it was how it was designed - the colors, the fabric… Coraline’s hair zings because it’s real hair and real lighting on it. I don’t think the camera gives it the look completely. I think it’s more the fact that everything was hand-made and a lot of thought went into the colors that were used to get that feel.
Q: Did you have to design the puppets differently because of the 3D aspect?
Haynes: We didn’t really know initially because it was the first time a stop-motion animation was made in 3D. So we were really doing a lot of tests and found out it didn’t really affect how we made the puppets. The only things we had to be careful of were stripes and spots on the puppet’s costumes because if they were too intense, too diverse in color, it could jar the eye - make you feel a bit sick. We used that a little bit on the mother when she gets into her checkered outfit… to sort of disturb the eye a little bit.
Q: How many times did you have to go back to the drawing board or reshoot a scene?
It was a three year process and during the last year, the script changed because Selick was continuously working on the script.
We didn’t have to reshoot. The voices were recorded pre-animation. Although after the first viewing of film, there was a question about the character of Wybee and how it related to the ghost children. From that, we built a new puppet - the grandmother which you see at the end of the movie. Just to make a little more sense. We built that in 3 weeks where as Coraline took a year.
Q: What is your favorite scene from the movie?
Haynes: I think the downstairs theater. It’s the most controversial scene in the movie but I absolutely love it. There’s not much clothing in that scene but the whole thing just makes me laugh.
Q: And the hardest?
Haynes: Anything with the mother three - the last stage of the other mother when she turns into insects. It took us the whole film to actually get the design because until we knew how the third act was going to play out, we could not design that character. She came about the last year of filming. She was a tricky one to make – she’s got four spindly legs, was semi-translucent, yet a hard-look to move. She was a challenge.
Q: And everyone loves the bonus features on DVDs but do the b-roll crew ever interfere with the process when they’re present with their cameras?
Check out the CORALINE DVD Extras
Yes, it’s always a battle. You always feel sorry for the people who are doing that because that’s the last thing you want – to have a camera shoved into your face while you’re trying to make all these puppets on the stressful deadline. But these things are so fascinating that it needs to be done.
Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler started out as stand up comics and roommates. While funny man Adam Sandler's fame rose on Saturday Night Live which led to a successful movie career, Judd Apatow gave up on becoming a comedian and opted to become a writer on the Larry Sander's Show with Gary Shandling.
Apatow struggled through some false starts until his writer-directorial film debut The 40 Year-Old Virgin became a break out hit and Knocked Up propelled him to the top along with his successful producing efforts (Pineapple Express, Superbad). Now he's on the same A-List pool with his long-time friend Adam and they've teamed up for Apatow's third directorial effort in Funny People. CineMovie sat down with the original funny people.
Q: With Judd knowing you so well, did he know how to motivate you?
Adam: Judd knows a lot about me and it did help. He knows stories and used them to bring me to different places.
Q: Was the relationship between Seth's character and his roommates in the movie based on your experience living 
together?
Judd: Some of the texture of how the people communicate is. Some of it's based on how we were as roommates, how we were with other roommates. Like Seth's relationships, when you are first starting out, everyone's friends but you're mad when they start moving ahead of you. So there's that subtle competition. 'How come they're getting better spots at the Improv. How did he get that cheapy commercial?'
When I lived with Adam, I remember he got a commercial with Visa. . .
Adam: . . . Mastercard
Judd: . . .Mastercard and it was a big and very expensive commercial where Adam is shopping. It's funny. I can't say I didn't think, 'how come I can't be the Mastercard guy. I can be the Visa card guy or the Discover Card guy.'
Adam: And you stole an audition away from me with Jim Henson.
Judd: That's right. We all auditioned for Jim Henson who was doing a reality show where you drive around the country with your old video cameras...
Adam: Around this time you said you didn't even want to be on camera anymore. He was starting to say, 'maybe I'll be a writer' or something like that. I didn't even know what he was talking about. I was like 'What's a writer?' But then we auditioned for Jim Henson and I was so cocky. 'I can't wait for that callback.' And then Judd said they were interested in him and got a callback.
Judd: But then ultimately I didn't get it. Jim Henson said I lacked warmth.
The competition wasn't just among friends. Judd also recalled when they were roommates, Adam didn't like to hear about other stand-up comics.
Adam: Now if I see someone (comic) else kill, I don't get jealous but twenty-years ago when I saw someone else I was like 'I gotta figure something out.'
Judd: When we lived together, I would always try to show Adam other comedians I liked because I was such a fan. Because I wasn't such a good comic, I could be a fan. And I said to Adam, 'hey, come see this guy Norm MacDonald.' And he would just go, 'who cares. Why would I want to see another comic? I'm working on my act.'
Q: How do you find doing stand-up now versus then?
Adam: Doing stand up when your 42 years old is a lot more pressure then when I was in my 20's. I had a goal to become a movie star. I was pretty crazy. I don't know why. I would go on stage - if I did great, 'Alright we're getting closer to what I need.' When I did bad, I thought - 'people just don't understand how great I am.' At 42, when you go on stage and say a joke and no one laughs - this is very humiliating. I was too dumb when I was young to even notice what was good or bad.
For the movie, Apatow had Sandler do stand-up using a lot of profanity but the guilt set in as a married father of two girls.
Adam: I hadn't talked that filthy in front of people. I've been around a long time. People recognize me. I go on stage, these nice people who know me as a certain type of person and then I'm on stage as filthy as can be. Some people are into it. Some people are, 'no, don't ruin it for us.' Then I would drive home. I have my two little kids sleeping and I felt like the biggest dirtiest human being. I was mad at Apatow. Why am I doing this movie?
Judd: The idea behind the way the stand-up would work, is that this man is ill and the way to avoid dealing with it is that he goes on stage and tells the dirtiest filthiest jokes. So I pushed Adam much harder into the dirty area. I like to make movies that have a hopeful message. That shows some potential for redemption. And in this movie, the point of it is that it's really hard for this guy, harder than most people, and you root for him to pull it off. And I want you to care about him trying.
The role of George Simmons in Funny People is Adam Sandler's darkest role to date and he admits it was not enjoyable at times.
Adam: Certain scenes were heavy. Judd went through this stuff with his mom and me with my dad. We saw first hand what goes on with poeple who are incredibly sick so I wasn't excited about that but it had to be done.
Q: Would you tackle another role like this?
Adam: It was a lot of work this movie. And when I finished it, I loved Apatow and we hugged. And I was very relieved to take a break. I don't know how these actors go movie to movie and lose their minds in their roles and have a real life. I was happy to jump back into my real life with my kids and wife and work on that part. When it comes down that road some day, if Judd thinks its right and someone else thinks it's right - I'll get back in it. At night I'm not thinking I have to get there again. I'm happy I got this one.
On a lighter note, Sandler's next film Grown Ups brings together his comedian friends for more classic Sandler. However, it's in Funny People that Adam Sandler the actor does some growing up and you can catch him along with a cast of Funny People (Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Eric Bana, and Apatow's real life wife Leslie Mann) starting July 31st.
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Michael Bay has no hidden agenda when it comes to making a summer blockbuster. And when it came to facing a room full of journalists including CineMovie eager to find out the meaning behind “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Bay only had to remind us “it’s summer fun.”
Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, and newcomer Ramon Rodriguez joined the seasoned blockbuster director (The Rock, Armageddon, Bad Boys) for the Q&A at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Noticeably absent was the star of the film Shia LaBeouf who was making an appearance on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien at Universal Studios. 
As you would guess, most of the questions were directed to media darling Megan Fox and the one director critics love to attack, Michael Bay.
Q: Michael, in the movie, you destroy national monuments like the Egyptian pyramids and the Smithsonian Museum. Did you have any trepidations about it?
Michael: It’s called summer fun. It’s a robot movie.
Q: Megan, do you get a choose what you wear in the movie? And do you have those moments where you’re asking yourself why you have to wear something?
Megan: Yes, I have those moments on a daily basis. I don’t get to pick my outfits. I remember Mike auditioning Ramon and some other men in his office and I had to go in…
Michael: Two young guys.
Megan: No, it was Shia, Ramon two other actors, and you (Michael). I had to come in and try 18 different outfits; a white tight jeans, pink belly shirt, and like motorcycle boots. And Mike was selecting them in the process…
Michael: It’s called multi-tasking.
Megan: But I have to say he clearly has an eye for what should be and should not be in the movie.
Q: Do you see your character as the sex symbol of Transformers? 
Megan: I just saw it a few days ago when we were at the London premiere. I usually don’t watch myself. I don’t watch myself in playback, nor in stills. I have a phobia of it. I basically shot an entire glass of champagne so I can get through the sitting of it and I was really, really, pleasantly surprised. Half way through I was overcome with genuine emotion and wanted to hug Michael in gratitude.
The character is sexy but women in movies are generally sexy especially in Michael’s movies and if it’s part of the formula…
Michael: If you look at the movie, we got that first (sexy) shot out in the beginning for the young boys and moved on. The rest of the movie is not about sexy.
Josh: Tyrese offered to introduce himself in the second film by appearing shirtless in a car wash scene on Optimus. But Michael didn’t go for it.
went balls to the wall. He did things that were not safe for him to do but he wanted this film to be real as possible.
Michael: That’s the shot we used.
Ramon: Thank you, Michael.
Tyrese: I sprained my left pinky toe.
Q: Michael, in the film, you have dozens of shots of military planes flying over and taking off aircraft carriers. Do you use stock footage or shoot all the footage yourself?
Michael: I don’t like using stock footage. All that stuff was shot by us. We had 
incredible access from the military which is very rare. They flew 100 feet over our set. There were 6 F16 out doing missions and we timed their mission for when we wanted them to come over our set four times and timed explosions down below.
Q: What was the budget on this film?
Michael: My budget was $200 million but I came under at $195 million. I put the rest into effects. I don’t carry a second unit with me and shoot 12 hour days.
And we’re sure Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will have no problem doubling their budget when the film transforms into a mega hit at the box office this summer season.