EXCLUSIVE: Jesse Peretz Talks Our Idiot Brother Blu-ray

Nov 28, 2011 by B. Alan Orange

Paul Rudd stars in the charming hit comedy Our Idiot Brother, which finds one wayward drifter disrupting the lives of his three sisters (Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer) after a stint in jail.

We recently caught up with director Jesse Peretz to celebrate the film's release on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, November 29th.

Here is our conversation.

Talking to Paul Rudd, he explained that there were a couple of different dogs playing Willie Nelson. Also, it was pretty hot during the shoot, so you didn't always get the performance you were looking for out of them...

Jesse Peretz: At the end of he day, it's hard to get an animal to do what you want it to do. If you talk to people who work on sets, who work with animals, there is always that depressing reality about how much trial and error there is. How much edit room, and how many hijinks during the takes there are, that you have to cut together to get the emotional trajectory of this animal. Its always frustrating, hard work to make that happen.

It had to be frustrating when you learned that there would be more than one dog playing Willie Nelson...

Jesse Peretz: There was really just one dog...for most of it. I don't like to dwell on it. The dog does figure as a prominent character and its nothing I am particularly psyched for audiences to be thinking about, "Oh, there are three different dogs playing Willie Nelson."

I have a dog that looks a lot like Willie Nelson. I'm interested in that aspect of the film. Because at the end of the day, the dog is, probably, the key relationship in the film. That's the love story in this particular romantic comedy...

Jesse Peretz: I grew up with a Golden Retriever. That is part of the reason we ended up with a dog that looked like Willie Nelson.

Speaking of looks, I love Rashida Jones in the movie, and her style is very hip and fresh. How did you hit upon her particular look for Cindy?

Jesse Peretz: Interestingly enough, Cindy's look was based on one of my good friends, who is actually...She is less than five feet tall, Chinese, and super butch...A chain wallet, I don't know...I had this really firm idea in my head about who this character was going to be. For me, with Rashida Jones, it took a leap. I am such a huge fan. I love Parks and Recreation. And we've known each other for a long time. But I remember when my casing director came up to me, and she said, "What about Rashida Jones to play Cindy?" My initial response was, "No way! She is one of the most beautiful women I know. How could she play such a butch character?" But then, I thought about it more. I knew she'd find another version of this character. Rashida fundamentally has that toughness to her. This super decisiveness. I let go of this idea that I had, and I talked to Rashida about how she interpreted the character. I ended up so-loving the way she played Cindy. Obviously, the style is a little different than what I had in my head. She and my costume designer really nailed a specific look for her. It helped to push the idea that she wasn't playing a caricature. She really carved out her own character.

My favorite part of the movie is when Cindy and Ned go to free the dog. The chemistry between Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones is just so inviting and, for lack of a better word, kind of magical. I wanted to see more of them together. Do we get to see more between them on the deleted scenes?

Jesse Peretz: I wish! We set out to make an ensemble movie. Which is always this frustrating thing. You fall in love with your characters, and you want to see more of them. Certainly, in our early drafts, there were a hundred and forty pages, so there was more of them together. But the nature of having an ensemble movie is really about being economical with each of the characters. They have to handle the various storylines in such a way, so that the movie doesn't end up becoming this long, winding thing. I wish there were more scenes between the two of them. But there really aren't. I did love the chemistry that the two of them had. Its funny, too, thinking about the fact that they so famously played fiancés in I Love You, Man. And how different these two relationships are, which they are playing within just a few years of each other. Both of their characters, and their relationship, are just so different.

Its interesting that you bring up that movie, though. When I watched them here, they're union as a couple in I Love You, Man was so far from my mind. It's night and day. Most of this cast has worked together, quite a bit, in the past. How valuable was that for you, as a director, to have that preexisting friendship and camaraderie already established on set?

Jesse Peretz: It was one of the reasons this movie happened. I was friends with a lot of these cast members. Paul Rudd and I go so far back. We were always such good friends. Then, whichever actors had never worked with Paul...He is such an actor that other actors enjoy, and want to work with. Just as a starting point, that is what caused the movie to be able to happen in the first place. Once we all got on set, it was...Just day after day...Such a joy to get this opportunity to play, and hang out, and try to get each other to laugh. The actors had so much respect for each other. They enjoyed making each other laugh more than anything. It went beyond just thinking about making a movie. It was also about being in a situation where they could play with each other and make each other happy.

I don't know how much input you have on the special features section of the home video release, but when you have that type of environment on set, how come we don't see bloopers or outtakes on the Blu-ray?

Jesse Peretz: I don't know. There are deleted scenes, aren't there?

Yeah. A couple. But why isn't there more behind the scenes footage of this cast goofing around, making each other laugh?

Jesse Peretz: I didn't get that much input on the nitty-gritty of the DVD release. I knew what the deleted scenes were going to be. We did throw some bloopers onto the end credits, there, so you do get a sense of it. Its there.

I totally forgot about that. Now, when I saw this in theaters, Katy Aselton got quite a few cheers when she came on at the end. Why did you see her as the perfect female doppelganger, or match, for Paul Rudd and his character?

Jesse Peretz: From the things that I have seen her in, she just seemed like someone that could play that character. She seemed like she could thread that needle of being someone who an audience would feel...Someone the audience could project on, "Oh, my God! She is beautiful, she is open...I want him to be with her!" At the same time, she could project that she was open, and crunchy, but without seeming, in any way, like his ex-girlfriend. I don't know...I think Katie Aselton is really funny, she's a great actress, and I feel that she has that...In my mind...70s, All-American quality to her. Which is what Ned is a little bit of a throwback to. That post-50s way of thinking...

Now, I'm not sure if this has become a topic in Hollywood. But I am noticing it more in both film and television lately. Characters, like Ned, seem to only have a few select pieces of clothing. They repeat wear shirts and other items. They don't have a whole new wardrobe from scene to scene, which plays realistically to an audience, especially in this current economic climate...

Jesse Peretz: I do totally agree with you. But, ultimately, what it comes down to is...People are hardwired. They break down a script. And you have screen days. Someone tries to figure out how many different days are accounted for in the script. They don't need to be consecutive. So, a movie might have thirty-four screen days. The way costumers were taught to do costumes is that there is a different wardrobe for each of the screen days. Then there is a decision made, in this case, and I can only speak for us...We really made a decision with Paul Rudd...His character would only have this knapsack. It would be unrealistic for him to have a different change of clothes every day. On the other hand, with Rashida Jones, our costumer got so into painting a picture of who Cindy was...With her sense of style...Even though she is playing a more butch male type of character, we still didn't do repeat costumes with her, because we didn't have enough film days for her character, to use all the awesome stuff that we were psyched to have. I'm not sure if that answers your question. But...

Our Idiot Brother makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut Tuesday, November 29th.

Our Idiot Brother was released August 26th, 2011 and stars Paul Rudd, Nick Sullivan, Francesca Papalia, Bob Stephenson, Elizabeth Banks, Peter Hermann, Adam Scott, Kelly Briter. The film is directed by Jesse Peretz.

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EXCLUSIVE: Alexa Vega Talks Spy Kids: All the Time in the World Blu-ray

Nov 23, 2011 by B. Alan Orange

Alexa Vega is a grown adult, married and continuing to establish herself as a much sought after actress. But when she walks down the street, she still gets recognized as Carmen, from Robert Rodriguez's immensely popular Spy Kids franchise. Some fans can't shake the fact that she's all grown up. It's been since 2003 that the OSS has taken on a new mission. But now, the original Spy Kids are returning in All the Time in the World to take on a new adventure, and it showcases what fine actors both Alexa Vega, and her onscreen brother Daryl Sabara, have grown up to be.

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World arrives on Blu-ray and DVD this week, just in time to enjoy with the family over this long holiday weekend. We recently caught up with Alexa Vega to chat about the movie, the fact that she is no longer a 'kid', and to find out what it was like for her to pass the OSS torch to a whole new generation of children.

Here is our conversation.

You have that moment, when you first arrive on screen, and the new kids ask about Juni. He's been missing, and you give this disgusted look before saying, "We shall not speak of him!" I couldn't help but think you were referencing Daryl Sabara's performance in World's Greatest Dad...

Alexa Vega: (Laughs) Oh my God! I refuse to see that movie. I was just talking to Daryl about it two days ago. I said, "I heard you were fantastic in that...But I will not watch it. I am proud of you. I am sure you did a great job. I cannot, as your sister, watch this movie."

So that is the look you have in your eyes at that moment!

Alexa Vega: I didn't think about it too much at the time. But now that you say it, I think somewhere, deep down, that is were my anger is coming from.

Does he feel the same way about Repo: The Genetic Opera?

Alexa Vega: I don't know if he's seen it. I didn't do anything too crazy in that movie. It is overall, a crazy film. I don't know how he feels about it. That movie is one of those things were you really love it, or you hate it. It has a really cool cult following. I don't expect people who've enjoyed Spy Kids will enjoy Repo! the Genetic Opera!

I imagine it's a little bit like whiplash, especially if you're a kid, to go from one to the other...

Alexa Vega: It could work if you're bi-polar.

What does a day on the Spy Kids set entail? I have to imagine this is a little bit different than your average movie set?

Alexa Vega: With Spy Kids, we were so lucky. We had such an unreal experience. We were truly family. Growing up on a set is completely different than coming onto a brand new set for the first time. You are learning the ropes of that set. You are meeting the crew for the first time. You are getting to know the people that you are working with. With these movies, we did so many of them with the same crew, because Robert Rodriguez uses the same crew on every film. It was a family experience. You would hang out with everybody, and you would hang out with everyone's family. They bring their kids on set. It was almost like a summer camp. It was the most extreme example of a summer camp that you could possibly have. When that ended with Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, there were a lot of tears shed. You get to know all of these people, and you've worked so hard, when you learn its the end, it's a very sad experience. When we heard that we were coming back for a forth movie eight years later...It was so surreal. Walking back up to that set, seeing old props that I hadn't seen since I was thirteen or fourteen, and seeing gadgets that I hadn't held since that time...The best part was seeing the crew again. People were literally crying. They were saying "You are so grown up!" At the time, I had brought my fiance, who is now my husband. They were all freaking out, saying, "We need to meet this guy! We need to make sure he is right for you." That is the protective quality that comes from having a real family on those sets.

I've heard that Robert brings his own kids onto the set. Do they ever stand off stage, offering ideas while you shoot? Are they pretty hands on with the whole process.

Alexa Vega: That is funny! I love Robert's kids! They are very creative. And they have some great opportunities, being on some of the craziest sets ever. But they are so nice and so sweet. I didn't know the youngest girl very well, because she was born after the last film had been shot. I didn't get to know her as well as the first three boys. After the premier for this film, she came up to me and sat in my lap. She looks up at me and goes, "I love you Carmen." I go, "Thank you!" She can't figure out the differnce between Carmen and Alexa. She knows that Alexa is different than Carmen. But she doesn't really know why. She knows she likes me. For them growing up, they have a very cool thing going on.

You are playing a pretty great character that has survived through four films now. At the end of this latest adventure, its set up so that Carmen and Juni are now the head of the OSS. Does this mean you will continue to star in Spy Kids movies for the foreseeable future?

Alexa Vega: Its one of those things, where, whatever Robert is involved with...We have such a trust in his creativeness, just as a person, that we are in. If he asks us to do anything. We trust that he can make these life decisions for us, and we will make another one, hopefully. But you never know. He is constantly coming up with new ideas and new things. He's at such a wonderful place in his life creatively, you are going to see a lot of new, unbelievable things coming from him.

In the movie, we see that scene where Carmen returns to the OSS and all of the costumes, and vehicles, and gadgets are sitting out. Is there a Spy Kids museum there, in the studio?

Alexa Vega: There really is. The studio looks just like a set from Spy Kids. You walk in, and there are cool gadgets and cool robot costumes everywhere. That was the weirdest thing about walking onto this set after eight years of not being a part of these films. They have a whole room, which is the scene where I am showing the kids all the gadgets in the OSS Spy Kids room...Me and Daryl were just looking at each other, just looking at these things, going, "Where has time gone?" I literally felt like we were there yestrday. It was a really weird experience. But it was great.

That kind of fits in with the theme of this particular movie. And I know what you mean. I couldn't believe that Spy Kids 3 came out in 2003. That sounds like a long time ago, but it feels like last year...

Alexa Vega: People are expecting me to still be fourteen years old. It cracks me up, especially when people see me walk by with my husband. They're like, "What? You're married? You're not old enough to be married." Thank you. I'm glad that you think that. I'm glad that I still look young. Everyone else pictures you as a little kid. I'll take it. I want to play young as long as I can. Its fun to freak people out with stuff like that, though!

I talked to Daryl a couple of days ago. He explained that, when he was a kid, acting in these movies, he was pretty much playing himself. As an adult, he had to go back to that performance, to relearn some of those characters nuances he had as a child. Did you experience the same thing in rediscovering Carmen?

Alexa Vega: You know...For me, it was more about fining out what had happened to Carmen and Juni over these missing years. This is eight years later, and Carmen and Juni have had a falling out. Where are they? If you notice, you're not sure if Carmen is bitter. If she's still nice. Robert told me that she was concentrated on the good old days, and that she wanted them back. Juni is a bonehead, and he messed up somewhere. You kind of see that. At the beginning, you can tell that she misses the old days. She's not the bright, happy person that she was right away, but she eventually gets there. She takes these kids under her wing, hoping to get back what she used to have. For me? I sat down with Robert and said, "Tell me what is going on, so I can do it!" I definitely watched the old ones just to see them, because I hadn't seen them in years. I remember watching them when I was young, and that feeling of excitement. Robert had created the coolest characters. We got to be everything that kids wanted to be. Growing up, we'd watch Mission: Impossible and James Bond. Kids were constantly playing that in the neighborhood. We would spy, or get together and come up with cool characters on our own, and play dress up. To be able to have those characters out there, and to have other kids looking up to those characters that you played...It was such a crazy experience. I remember when Daryl and I were watching the movies for the first time. We were both like, "Holy cow! Those characters are really cool!" We couldn't compare them to ourselves, because it didn't feel like we were watching us. We genuinely loved the movies so much. We didn't know how we got so lucky being involved in this kind of experience. When I showed the films to my husband, that was the first time I had watched them in a really long time. He'd never seen them. He was like, "Honey, these are great movies!" I'm like, "Aren't they?" It was great to sit and watch them with someone who'd never seen them before.

What was it like for you to pass the torch onto these two new kids?

Alexa Vega: It was a little happy-sad moment. We were excited, because we were able to bring back this old franchise, and make it new. Hopefully get it started again. I loved playing this Carmen character, and I loved playing her as a kid that could save the world. The biggest thing when you're a kid is having adults tell you, "You can't do this! You can't do that!" Carmen was just such an awesome character. And now she is grown up. She's not a kid anymore. I think we will see a lot of cool things from Carmen in the future.

You had to be a little bit jealous that these new kids got a robot dog?

Alexa Vega: We were cracking up. We didn't know that Ricky Gervais was the voice of the dog until eight months after we shot the film. At that point, we were like, "Sure, they had a dog...But we had Ralph, we had a jetpack..." We were going on about all the cool gadgets that we had. But the second we heard that Ricky Gervais was the voice of the dog, we were like, "Aaaaaah! They got a DOG!" He really nailed it. There are some great jokes for the parents in there.

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World was released August 19th, 2011 and stars Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Jeremy Piven, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Danny Trejo. The film is directed by Robert Rodriguez.

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EXCLUSIVE: Emmanuelle Chriqui Talks 5 Days of War Blu-Ray

Nov 28, 2011 by B. Alan Orange

Coming to Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, November 29th, is director Renny Harlin's riveting drama 5 Days of War, which stars Val Kilmer, Andy Garcia, Rupert Friend, and Emmanuelle Chriqui. We have an exclusive look at this action-packed international thriller, with an all-new interview from star Emmanuelle Chriqui. Check it out below.

Inspired by the real events of the swift, but devastating, five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008, this action-packed international thriller centers around an American journalist (Rupert Friend) and his cameraman (Richard Coyle) caught in the combat zone during the first Russian air strikes against Georgia. Rescuing Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a young Georgian schoolteacher from the attack, the two reporters agree to help reunite her with her family when she loses them in the chaos in exchange for serving as their interpreter. As the three attempt to escape to safety, they witness, and document, the devastation from the full-scale crossfire and cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians. They desperately attempt to broadcast the footage they've captured while under attack from the Russian soldiers and local mercenaries, but are met with resistance from American and international networks either shorthanded from covering the Beijing Olympics or simply fatigued by war news. The trio realizes their survival is paramount, so they can live to broadcast the truth.

Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Renny HarlinDeleted and Extended Scenes

5 Days of War debuts on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, November 29th.

5 Days of War was released August 19th, 2011 and stars Rupert Friend, Val Kilmer, Andy Garcia, Dean Cain, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Heather Graham, Mikko Nousiainen, Richard Coyle. The film is directed by Renny Harlin.

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EXCLUSIVE: Jalmari Helander Talks Rare Exports

Nov 8, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is certainly on its way to becoming a new holiday classic, in a very non-traditional way. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, which will surely make great a stocking stuffer for anyone in your family who appreciates a Christmas tale served up with a genre flair. I recently had the chance to ask director Jalmari Helander a few questions about Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, the origins of the story, a potential sequel, and more. Here's what he had to say below.

When you made the first Rare Exports short film in 2003, were you setting that up as a proof of concept for a feature film down the road, or did it all branch off the popularity of that short?

Jalmari Helander: I had no idea that the short film would be so popular. It was meant only as a Christmas present for our clients. After the succes I made another one and I was planning to do a third short film, but the idea was too big for a short film. Everybody were saying that I should make a feature film about it. So I did.

Onni Tommila starred in the original short's sequel, and you have a few other cast members from both the shorts in this feature. Were you writing the feature with them in mind the whole time, and can you talk about assembling the rest of the cast?

Jalmari Helander: Of course it was clear that I will use the same actors. Onni is actually my sister's son and his father in the film is his real father. The third person of the original Rare posse was a gaffer and not a real actor. So I had to change that to have a Piiparinen in the film. Greene is the narrator of the shorts. The elves are a norwegian man choir.

We ran a Blu-ray special feature showing part of the rehearsal period for Rare Exports. How much time did you have to rehearse before shooting, and how did that process help when shooting actually started?

Jalmari Helander: It helped a lot. We were training maybe a week or two. It was very nice to see how the scenes finally came to life because they had only existed on paper and my head. We actually made very few changes to the script and almost no changes after the rehearsal. After that period I watched the videotapes many many times in my home, and knew exactly what to do in the actual shots.

I personally love Christmas movies that don't exactly spread holiday cheer, like The Ref, Bad Santa, even Die Hard 2: Die Harder. Do you see Rare Exports being this kind of cult Christmas classic 10 years down the road, the kind of movie that the adults in the family watch after the kids are put to bed?

Jalmari Helander: I really hope so.

Do you have any plans for a sequel, either in feature-length or short form? How would you like to see this story evolve for a sequel? Are there any other movie projects you're developing aside from Rare Exports?

Jalmari Helander: I am currently writing my next feature. It is not Rare Exports. But maybe some day. I know what is going to happened in the sequel and it's not going to be pretty...

Rare Exports is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale was released December 3rd, 2010 and stars Per Christian Ellefsen, Peeter Jakobi, Tommi Korpela, Jorma Tommila, Jonathan Hutchings, Onni Tommila, Risto Salmi, Rauno Juvonen. The film is directed by Jalmari Helander.

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EXCLUSIVE: Larry the Cable Guy Talks Cars 2 Blu-ray

Larry The Cable Guy stands as the proud voice of Mater, a shabby little tow truck that brings a lot of heart and soul into the Disney Pixar animated franchise sequel Cars 2, which is set to make its Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD debut this Tuesday, November 1st. We recently caught up with Larry to chat about the movie and life in Nebraska.

Here is our conversation.

Larry The Cable Guy: It's been such a long time since I last heard your voice!

It seems like yesterday. Are you in Los Angeles right now?

Larry The Cable Guy: No, I am in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Good. I was wondering what you were doing outside. It's cold and rainy here in L.A.

Larry The Cable Guy: I know. Believe it or not, here in Lincoln, Nebraska, it's about seventy-two degrees. But the wind is blowing at about 25-30 miles an hour.

Geez. That's a little crazy. Is that where you're living now? Out in Nebraska?

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah. I just moved out here. I'm from here originally. I lived in Florida for thirty-three years. My little boy just started school, so I moved to Lincoln. I decided to put him in school in Nebraska.

What's that like for the other kids at school, when he shows up with Mater? That has to be pretty exciting for them?

Larry The Cable Guy: It is pretty awesome. However, I have been working so much, since he started, I have only gotten to take him to school twice.

Mater's almost, if not has, outgrown your stand-up routine in popularity...

Larry The Cable Guy: Dude, Mater has been awesome. It introduced me to a whole new market of people. I love doing the character. I never got a sound-alike, when they did the games and the toys. So, everything that is Mater is my voice. Which is even better! I thought, "Man, if my kids are going to get the toys, I want it to be my voice!" Everything is about Mater...I gotta tell you, though. I don't know if my kids tell everybody, or if they keep that down. I have no idea. (Laughs)

Yeah, I remember when I was a kid, you'd get the Mork doll, and you'd pull that string on the back, and it wasn't Robin Williams' voice coming out. It was a sound-alike. But even as a kid, I knew that wasn't him. Its so much cooler when you get Mater, and its actually Mater's real voice coming out...

Larry The Cable Guy: Wait a minute, let me take that last statement back. My wife did tell me that a kid brought a Mater truck for Show and Tell. My little boy pointed at it and said, "Hey, that's my dad!" That was cool.

How old is your son? What grade is he in?

Larry The Cable Guy: He's a senior in high school this year (laughs). He's a senior and he is trying to figure out which college he wants to go to...No! He is five.

Some kids might find that a little strange, if one of their peers is pointing at a tow truck going, "That's my dad!" And they don't have a point of reference. "You're dad is a tow truck? You're crazy!"

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah, right! He is five years old. My little girl is four.

You know David Koechner, right?

Larry The Cable Guy: Yes. We did the movie Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector together...

He did the voice for the Polar Express toys, as the train conductor. He was Tom Hanks' sound-alike...

Larry The Cable Guy: Oh, David did that? That is pretty awesome. David is a really good guy. He was with my agency for a little bit. I think he was with Parallel for a year and a half.

I really enjoyed Health Inspector. I think that's a great little movie....

Larry The Cable Guy: Yes! Thanks! You know what? It has turned into a comedy cult classic. It has a lot of quotable lines. Everywhere I go, people tell me how much they like Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector. It was very underrated. It should have been nominated for something! (Laughs)

Yeah, my brother, Dave, is the biggest Larry the Cable Guy fan there is...

Larry The Cable Guy: Your brother is a good American!

It's funny. He always has to wear that fishhook on his hat. For the longest time, I didn't know what he was doing...

Larry The Cable Guy: (Laughs) Man, that is so great! Where does your brother live?

He lives up in Oregon, in a town called Independence.

Larry The Cable Guy: That is an outdoorsy state. The man should have a fishhook on his hat!

Yeah, except that never goes fishing. Hardly. Ever.

Larry The Cable Guy: You don't have to go fishing to have a fishhook on your hat. It just says, "I'm outdoorsy!" He is a country kid!

He does like to go shoot his gun out in the woods.

Larry The Cable Guy: Well, there you go!

When the original Cars came out, they developed the character first, and then fit you around that. With this sequel, I have to imagine that they really fashioned Mater around you and your persona this time. That the animators were really working for you...

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah. In the first one, Mater was just a small part. I went out there, and they really liked how Mater sounded. They liked the character, and they thought he was sweet. They knew that people would like it. So they added a lot more Mater this time. When the second one came along, they had been selling all of these toys, and Mater was the highest selling toy they had. They knew people really liked Mater. Mater was really the heart and soul of that first movie. They wanted to give him a bigger part of the action. They wanted to focus on him. Mater had never left Radiator Springs, so they wanted to focus on that aspect this time. What it is like when he goes to another country. That is kind of based on John Lasseter. This is his baby. He patterns it after himself. John is a regular dude. When he goes to foreign places, he is at a loss with the true customs. He is a fish out of water, so he goes off of that. In the first movie, Mater was the heart and soul. So they figured, now, they will put Mater in these new situations, and he will be a bigger part of it. And it worked out great. People have really enjoyed it.

There is a really interesting dynamic there, between you and Owen Wilson. You are yin and yang. Do you think you'll ever appear together, in the flesh, in a movie? I like this combination.

Larry The Cable Guy: It would be really great if we did. I have to tell you, Owen and I, when we were sitting around waiting for interviews, being in the same room together...We got along really well. I made him laugh. He made me laugh. It was almost like we'd known each other for a long time. I had met him very briefly on the first one. Just very briefly. But on this second one is when I got to spend more quality time with him. He is a great guy. I really liked him. You're right, we have a good chemistry. And it would be really cool to do something together.

Often times, when you guys are recording these voices, you're not even in the same room together. So, onscreen, in the movie Cars 2, you are really creating this chemistry that you share with Owen Wilson out of thin air...

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah, that is what makes John Lasseter so good at what he does. He is so good at explaining the situation. And explaining what is going on. He knows. He listens. When you are doing the voice, he will close his eyes, and he will listen to you, and he will put himself in that scene. You can see him, his wheels are just turning. As soon as you get into it, when you are about done, when you get to the middle...And he starts to smile and laugh...You know you've hit on a good line. We had a lot of those. John is really good at getting the best out of you. He explains it in such a way that it helps you out.

Are you still continuing to do Mater in the Cars Toons?

Larry The Cable Guy: Oh, yeah. I do all of the Cars Toons. All of the shorts, and mini-movies. Those did really well for Pixar. Out of all the Pixar movies...I know that they are for adults, too...But out of all the movies, this is a project that John really likes. He is a big car guy. He loves cars. When he was a kid, he always thought of this. He would sit and think of a world of talking cars. What would these cars, and this world, be like? Obviously the adults like it, but kids really like this movie. I think he patterned this one a little more for the kids. The kids love the Cars Toons. They are on the Family Channel, and on the Disney Channel. They show those Cars Toons, and they show Mater's Tall Tales. The kids really love those things. We'll keep doing them as long as people keep watching them. I enjoy them. They are fun little things. My kids, when they sit down and watch something, nine times out of ten, they'll want to watch Mater's Tall Tales. There are thirteen or fourteen of these on DVD. They are short, and they are quick. They are perfect for a kid's attention span. Some of them are seven and a half minutes, some of them are three minutes long. They are not too long, they are not too short. They are just perfect. We will be doing another round of those soon. They keep Mater fresh in everyone's mind.

I like them, because I remember as a kid, going to the movies, you'd always get an animated short before the movie would start. Pixar and Warner Bros. are really starting to bring that back in a big way...

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah. Pixar, before Cars 2...They had a really funny Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation short. That one is really funny. I always like it when they are quick and short like that.

I have to imagine that you guys are already talking about Cars 3?

Larry The Cable Guy: You know what? I have no idea. John makes the movies because he likes the movies. If John thinks there is a funny story line, and it's a good storyline, he will do a Cars 3. It just depends. I know that this and Toy Story are something that he really enjoys. There was a Toy Story 3. Will there be a Cars 3? I have no idea. I will say this. I was happy to be a part of the first two. They came out exactly like we wanted them to come out. I really enjoyed voicing Mater. If there aren't any more? Well, then, that is fine. We'll still do Mater's Tall Tales. I will be up to my ears in Mater stuff for at least the next three years.

You're Pixar royalty...

Larry The Cable Guy: Those guys are really good to me over there. Every time I go to Pixar, they are all really nice. I was so glad to be a part of this. Anytime I do a show, the whole cast comes out to watch. All of the animators come. We hang out back stage. They are such good people.

Now, is it in your contract that when you are in a live action movie, your character has to be named Larry? I am looking at your list of credits, and Mater is the only non-Larry you've played...

Larry The Cable Guy: Well, you know, that's pretty much what I do. People know me as Larry The Cable Guy. If all of a sudden we did Tooth Fairy 2 starring Dan Whitney, I don't think a lot of people will know who that is. But if it's Larry The Cable Guy, they'll know who is in it. I keep everything Larry. It's working. I enjoy doing it. I've always been under the assumption that life is too short. People like what I do. I don't take myself that seriously. It's just a movie. I'm not running for Congress.

I'm talking about the actual names of the characters that you play in these movies...

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah, his name is Larry.

The Rock was in the first one. Now, you are taking over the franchise?

Larry The Cable Guy: Yeah. And I have to tell you. It is a really good movie. It's my first G rated kids movie. And there are a lot of really funny gags in it. I am really proud of this movie. I think people are really going to like it. Of course, it's going straight to DVD. Its one of my better ones. There is no doubt about it. I really enjoy it. I had a good time making it. If you notice, that is my character. He's in every one of them. In Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, I was Larry Stalder. In Delta Farce, I was Larry...Funny story about Delta Farce...That was originally made for me, Jeff Foxworthy, and Bill Engvall. Jeff caught Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, so he couldn't do the movie. My part was DJ Qualls' part. They moved me to Jeff's part. I took the script and tried to rewrite as many lines as I could, to cater it to me. Then we hired DJ Qualls to do my part. That was the first time I'd ever taken over someone's part, and someone else did my part. In Witless Protection, I was Larry as well. And now, in this new one, Tooth Fairy 2, I am Larry. (Laughs) You know what, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

No doubt. DJ Qualls is a good ol' Memphis boy. He's a good fit in that group.

Larry The Cable Guy: DJ was a lot of fun. We had a good time working with him. Anytime you can do a movie, it's just a good time. I never dreamt in a million years that I would be doing a movie. I never pursued them. I never said, "Hey, lets do a movie." They came to me and said, "We have a movie we'd love for you to do." So I did the movie, and obviously it worked really well. My fans have really enjoyed them all.

Yes, please, keep doing them. I've seen all of them, and I enjoy them quite a bit.

Larry The Cable Guy: My fans like to buy my DVDs. I have a great DVD audience. So, that is why we did Tooth Fairy 2. So it would go direct to DVD. But, as far as the name Larry goes, that's why we do it. People? They know Larry The Cable Guy. They know me doing that. It's easier to do it that way. Than to throw them a wrench, and throw my real name in there.

I didn't even know that wasn't your real name. I was solely talking about the fact that all of these characters are named after you. Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by! It's been a real pleasure.

Larry The Cable Guy: Thank you! And tell your brother: Get-R-Done!

Cars 2 is available on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVDstarting this Tuesday, November 1st.

Cars 2 was released June 24th, 2011 and stars Larry The Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro, Brent Musburger, Joe Mantegna. The film is directed by John Lasseter, Brad Lewis.

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EXCLUSIVE: Declan O'Brien Talks Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings

Oct 24, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

Back in March, I had the chance to visit the set of Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, where I got to meet director Declan O'Brien and his cast. I recently had the chance to speak with Declan O'Brien again, to discuss the Blu-ray and DVD release of this horror prequel, which will arrive on October 25. This new movie takes us back to the early days of the cannibal brothers Three Finger, Saw-Tooth, and One-Eye, as they feast on a group of young college friends who lose their way. Here's what the director had to say below.

You directed the third movie, and you talked a bit on the set about what you wanted to do with this fourth movie, bringing it back to the roots of the franchise. Can you talk about crafting that initial concept?

Declan O'Brien: What I really wanted to do with this one, is to give audiences another turn. If we keep on going down the same road, with the same type of movie, and there's nothing different, well, why would people want to come back? The good thing between Wrong Turn's 1, 2, 3, and now 4, is each one is different. Each one has a different tone, each one has a different setting, a different cast of characters. With this one, I wanted to go back and do a prequel and tell the origin story of how these cannibal hillbillies came about, and why they're there. We explained all that in the pre-title sequence, and it's quite a long one, about 10 minutes before the title. Then we cut from 1974 to 2003, before the events of the first movie took place, the winter before.

That was quite a find you had, with that hospital. It was cool just walking around and exploring and seeing how naturally creepy that place really was. Can you talk about how big of a find that place was for you?

Declan O'Brien: Finding the Brandon mental health facility, which included the original equipment in it, and 250,000 square feet, four floors, original shock machines, it was just huge. You can't really recreate that. It was built in 1910 and it was a scary place to shoot too.

I was getting creeped out just walking around there.

Declan O'Brien: Well, I'll give you a little anecdote. You know the earphones I listen with, the headphones that pick up the boom microphones and stuff like that? Well, every night, we would usually change floors. I would usually have one thing on one floor, and another thing on another floor. Instead of going back to my trailer, because that would take too long and it's too cold, I never saw the inside of my trailer, I would just set up a little room, with a desk and my laptop and my coat, all that stuff, on each floor. I would set up a room on each floor we were shooting. We were set up on the second floor one night, and we finished up on the first floor. I forgot to change out all my stuff from the second floor to the first floor, so it was still sitting up there. We call wrap, and I'm finding myself walking down a very dark second floor hallway with a flashlight in my hand, like one of my characters, when I hear something whisper into my ear. I don't know what the words were, but it was something like, 'Where is he? Did you find him?' It was something like that, and you could've peeled me off the ceiling, because somebody was talking into the boom microphone on the other floor, but it sounded like they were right in my ear. So I ripped off my headphones, grabbed my stuff, and ran for the bus.

(Laughs) That's awesome. Can you talk a bit about finding this cast? I believe they are all local Canadian actors, so can you talk about assembling this team together, and what they really brought to the table?

Declan O'Brien: We looked all throughout Canada, Vancouver, Winnepeg, Toronto, Montreal. It was kind of like a nationwide Canada casting search. I went to various places and auditioned people, and I was just looking for the right mix of personalities, and I think we found a very, very good cast. Each and every person is very distinct and brings out the characters' personalities, and they're a bit like their characters. It was natural.

I thought it was cool, because you often see, in movies like this, there's the jock and all these other archetypes. You have these characters set up, but they're not quite the same ones we're used to seeing.

Declan O'Brien: Yeah, they're not on the nose. I think they're a little more realistic of what college kids are like. They're individual enough that you get to actually understand their motivations and care about what happens to them. Yeah, they're not your classic cardboard characters you just kill.

It was impressive, watching on the set, the amount of blood you were using. I just got to see the film, and it was a lot of fun and there are some really bloody moments in there. How far did you really want to take the level of blood and gore in this?

Declan O'Brien: It was like Carrie times 10, right? For that hanging scene? Where Victor (Zinck Jr.) is underneath her and trying to pull her down? I had to shoot some continuity of what he would look like after, before the scene. The makeup people said to me, 'We don't know how he's going to look after the blood falls on him, so how do you want to do it?' I said, 'It's simple. Take a bucket of blood and dump it over his head.' (Laughs) He's going to be covered. That way, you don't have to worry about continuity so much (Laughs). That shot where he turns around and looks at his girlfriend's neck still pumping, and we push into him with that huge scream, that's one of my favorite shots. It's hysterical.

Yeah. You have some great screamers on this cast too.

Declan O'Brien: Oh yeah. Jennifer (Pudavick) is always good for a scream and, of course, Dean (Armstrong), when he's dying during the fondue scene...

Oh, man...

Declan O'Brien: That was pretty brutal, wasn't it?

Yeah. I was not expecting that. When I was on the set, I saw the hanging scene, so it set me up a little bit, so I knew it would be very bloody and very gory. I was cool with that, but that fondue scene, I was not expecting at all. That was really awesome though.

Declan O'Brien: It takes it to a whole other level. What's funny, for me, is I find it really, really horrific, but perversely funny at the same time. They have a guy dying, being eaten alive, and the other one wants to take a vote (Laughs), whether or not they want to go.

The thing I liked about the fondue scene, is when you think of cannibals, you think about these guys gnawing on flesh. With this, it's like they're cooking. It was hilarious to me. I guess it's kind of wrong that I thought it was hilarious, but it was still hilarious.

Declan O'Brien: It is hilarious. One of our promotional items is the Cannibal Cookbook, so make sure you get a copy (Laughs).

Is there something about the production, either a scene you shot or something else, that will really stick out when you think back about Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings?

Declan O'Brien: Well, listen, I just have to say, Brian, I had a really fun time shooting this movie. I had a very good cast, very nice people, and a really hard-working crew. There were horrible conditions, but no drama. We got lucky with the Brandon site. I mean, being out in Brandon for 10 days, that's like going on a camping trip from hell. It was just so much fun. I really, really enjoyed making the movie, and I think everybody else did too, and everybody really stepped up. For doing a movie in 19 days, of this scope and size, it was pretty challenging.

Do you see this as the end of this franchise? If there's a way, would you come back to direct a fifth one?

Declan O'Brien: Sure. I mean, it really depends, I'm sure, on the numbers for the DVD, but if it does as well as Wrong Turn 3 did, I'm sure we'll be talking about it again. Fox really likes the franchise, and it's really fun and challenging, thinking up new ways to kill people on film that hasn't been seen before. I don't think we've seen the fondue scene, I don't think we've seen the snowmobile shredding scene, so that sort of stuff makes me happy, gives me a sense of accomplishment. I wouldn't mind trying to top myself.

Where would you see the brothers though, story-wise? What do you think would work with them, coming off of this movie?

Declan O'Brien: Oh yeah. You set the next one in between this movie and the first movie. You still have the three brothers alive, and a whole new story to tell, how they get that cabin in the woods of theirs.

Very true. That would definitely work. I believe you're also writing a movie called Hijacked. That has a really good cast as well. Is there anything you can say about that, or where you are in the process right now?

Declan O'Brien: Yeah, Vinnie Jones and Dominic Purcell are in it. This is a movie I wrote some years ago that I was going to direct, some years back. We were getting a star attached and I had to go off and make another movie. What the producers did is they brought another writer-director in, so they shot in Louisiana, I think, last month. It was a pleasant surprise to get the call saying, 'Hey, we're making your movie.'

Finally, what would you like to say to either fans of the franchise or horror fans in general about why they should pick up Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings on Blu-ray or DVD on October 25?

Declan O'Brien: I think Wrong Turn 4 gives you a great mix of suspense and terror, along with gonzo, over the top horror. It mixes pretty well, so for fans of slasher films, they'll get what they want. For fans of traditional horror, they'll get the frights that they wanted as well. Hopefully they'll like it.

Great. Well, that's all I have, Declan. Thanks for talking to me. It was good speaking with you again.

Declan O'Brien: Good talking to you again too. Thank you so much.

You can pick up Declan O'Brien's Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings on Blu-ray and DVD starting October 25. In case you missed it, you can to read my set visit report for Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings.

Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings was released October 25th, 2011 and stars Terra Vnesa, Dean Armstrong, Tenika Davis, Katlyn Wong, Jennifer Pudavick, Kristen Harris, Victor Zinck Jr., Scott Johnson. The film is directed by Declan O'Brien.

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EXCLUSIVE: Jake Kasdan Talks Bad Teacher Blu-ray

Oct 19, 2011 by B. Alan Orange

Bad Teacher Blu-ray + DVD combo pack, Blu-ray, and DVD are available in stores now. Jake Kasdan directs this hilarious hit comedy starring Cameron Diaz as Elizabeth, a drunk and disorderly educator hoping to land the sugar daddy of her dreams.

We recently caught up with Jake Kasdan to chat about this release, wet spots, and his hit series New Girl. Check out our conversation below.

Out of all the teacher movies made in the past couple of decades, Bad Teacher reminds me most of 1984's Teachers, with Nick Nolte. Why was that left off Elizabeth's personal collection of Educator-based VHS tapes that she uses for her curriculum?

Jake Kasdan: Part of it was...We wanted to look at the most ridiculous things she could be showing in class. Which is a slightly different criteria. We wanted movies that depicted "good teaching".

Its probably for the best. I think Teachers has been out of print forever...

Jake Kasdan: Oh, is it not even available?

Last time I checked, it hadn't been released on DVD. It's theme and tone reminds me of Bad Teacher. Of course, I'm solely going off my childhood memories of it.

Jake Kasdan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...

What was your intentions with Elizabeth's overall arc in this story? A lot of people complained about the fact that she gets away with her bad behavior, and that she never has to account for cheating the system, or her students by the end of the film. I thought the resolution was, maybe, more realistic than most comedies would dare to be.

Jake Kasdan: When you make a movie like this, to stay true to it, you cannot have her transform into someone else all of a sudden. In a way, you don't want to see that. The idea was that she has the smallest modicum of growth by the end of the movie. The smallest amount of self-awareness, which sets a new direction for her.

We never do learn what Ms. Squirrel was up to in 2008. Did you have an idea about what she did? Does it justify Elizabeth's cruel intentions towards her?

Jake Kasdan: We talked about a lot of different ideas for that. We thought it was funnier to leave that unknown.

Personally, I don't see Elizabeth staying with the Gym teacher. The next rich guy that comes along will obviously catch her eye. She hasn't changed that much, but that obviously opens up this story for the further adventures of Elizabeth. Has that been discussed?

Jake Kasdan: (Laughs) Yeah. You know, people have talked (about a sequel). If we had the perfect story for it? Possibly. It was a total pleasure to make this movie. It would be fun to work with these people again. But, to be honest, I don't really see it happening.

You've made three great comedies with Zero Effect, Dewey Cox, and Bad Teacher. But they all land in different genres of comedy. Has it been your goal to sort of plunder the various different sub-genres found within the comedy genre in furthering your career as a director?

Jake Kasdan: It's about what makes you laugh, and what you are drawn to. I want to do all different kinds of things. I'm reluctant to make the same movie repeatedly. I want to try new things, and try different modes. But I am drawn to comedy. Most of them have been somewhat unconventional, in some way or another.

Bad Teacher is very unconventional, especially in that, for a long time, the audience isn't sure if they like Elizabeth or not. How did you and Cameron Diaz collaborate in bringing this particular performance to the screen, because this isn't a character we've seen before. Not as a lead, anyway...

Jake Kasdan: Basically, we thought this was a really funny person, a really funny dilemma, and it was something we'd never seen before. She is someone, on some level, that you want to hang out with. I think having Cameron Diaz play her enhances that. She brings this incredible charisma and draw to everything she does. She is a hugely appealing person. The funny thing about this is watching her play someone that is not likeable. That is so far from what she is actually like, and her actual persona. Yet, the joke was so closed to her heart, It was irresistible to me. And her, luckily. We were focused on finding a reality level that would allow you to follow her, enjoy her, and then root for her a little bit. Even if she is doing all of this crazy stuff.

Justin Timberlake's character is likeable. Until the dry hump scene. After that, I kind of hated him. That curveball helps us, as an audience, gravitate back towards Cameron's Elizabeth...That is a rough scene...

Jake Kasdan: (Laughs) Yeah. That's right. That is a scene you haven't seen before. I felt that way when I read it. She has this moment of self-realization in the midst of this bad sexual experience. The selfish guy. I thought it was a funny idea, and a funny way of doing that. And of course, Justin Timberlake is just so funny playing it.

Back in the early 2000s, I was doing some work with the organization that handles test screenings. And in the original Scary Movie, there is a 'wet spot on the jeans' joke with David Lander, which got cut out of the movie and never made it to the deleted scenes on the DVD. We saw a similar scenario with the movie Out Cold. And Bubble Boy. Back in the early 2000s, the wet spot joke was too controversial for mainstream audiences, even after the hair gel scene in There's Something about Mary. Now, we've seen it in She's Out of My League, then Bad Teacher. Why are audiences okay with the wet spot joke now? What is your take on the evolution of that?

Jake Kasdan: (Laughs) I don't know. The evolution of the wet spot joke! I think it depends on the context. And the context that we were using it? I think that is a really funny sequence. Up until that point, and then after, the function that it plays into the story is an important moment for Elizabeth. And like I said, it's a very funny scene. This is the point where Elizabeth realizes that this is not the relationship she wants it to be in. She finds herself slightly questioning her agenda. Hopefully, it sets the story up in a way that it doesn't just feel like a gratuitous, gross joke. It's more like a bonus gross joke.

It did a lot for that character. It gave him a 360 twist that made me hate him. He's a jerk. You don't like him.

Jake Kasdan: You don't like him because of how he is treating her. And Justin is just so good at doing that scene, his whole approach to it...

That scene also makes you feel bad for Ms. Squirrel. It seems as though he is in love with her. But he cheats on her in this really gross, weird way, that he must have justified to himself. That aspect is shocking as well...I have the DVD with the unrated version. It's five minutes longer than the theatrical cut. Did you have a hand in putting that together? And of the two, which version do you prefer?

Jake Kasdan: I did put this together. I don't like it more than the other. In either case, they both work. They were separately prepared by me for their respective purposes. I think it's a cool thing. It lets you put a few extra things in there that you felt inhibited the audience's initial experience with the movie in a theater. For fans, there are great little extra moments. Its subtle stuff, but its real stuff. There are a few additional jokes, a few additional scenes. There are some slightly harder moments. It's the accumulation of hard moments. When I say hard, I mean very edgy jokes. We had certain ones in the theatrical cut that served as tent poles. That is what you are building the thing on, and you don't want to repulse people. But for people that know the character, and like the movie, its fun to have some more of that.

I find that it's the cut I see first that I like the best. If that makes sense...

Jake Kasdan: That's interesting. Yeah. I think that sometimes, there are people that feel that way. Some people will only watch the extended version of it. I'll watch the extended cut if I had a positive feeling about the first one. With certain films, I don't usually go back to see the unrated version.

How involved were you with the special features that we see on the disc?

Jake Kasdan: Somewhat involved. I approve everything. I put together that gag reel thing that I think is pretty funny.

The supporting cast of Bad Teacher is so great. Even in the smallest roles...

Jake Kasdan: When you have a really funny piece of writing, when you are making one of these things, you find a bunch of little parts. You sit there and think, "If I could have anybody, who would it be?" Then you try to get them. That is what we did. A big part of this was me calling people up, and convincing them to do it. Because of that, we got this amazing group of people. It took them just a day or two to do it. We had Molly Shannon, and Eric Stonestreet. John Michael Higgins, and Thomas Lennon. A couple of my favorite guys. Two of the funnest guys in the world. John Michael Higgins is someone I worked with on Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He was just amazing. We went through and fond the right people, and got them to come out.

The scene where Eric Stonestreet hits the car with his scooter is so well done. That's obviously a stunt guy, right?

Jake Kasdan: Uh...Yes. It was just one moment. On the scooter. The actual slamming into the thing? It was only a stunt guy for a second and a half. The majority of that is Eric Stonestreet. He was doing more than any of us were comfortable with. The actual, most dangerous moment, we were not going to risk it. We got a professional.

How happy have you been with the response New Girl is getting?

Jake Kasdan: Delighted. It has been this incredibly cool thing. We are deep in the mist of making it right now. It's been cool, we keep going and we try to make it good.

How worried were you guys about losing Damon Waynes Jr. after the first episode? He's so good in the pilot. I didn't want to like the new guy. It took me until the third episode to warm up to him. That's a pretty powerful thing to do with just a pilot. But I like him now. I think Lamorne Morris is a good fit.

Jake Kasdan: Yeah. We were really sad to lose Damon Wayans Jr., but we were also very relieved that Lamorne Morris was around, and that he was available. He had been someone that we'd seriously talked to about the part when we were doing the pilot. Then he got another job. We ended up finding Damon Wayans Jr.. That ended up working out great. Then, when Damon was no longer available, which was a surprise to us that it worked out that way, we were grateful to have someone so great that could step in. It was a story challenge in how to introduce a new character in just the second episode. Without complicating the premise. We did our best. So far, people seem to be sticking with it. Hopefully they will continue to watch.

Both you and Zooey have fathers that are quite well established in the movie business. Did you two know each other since you were kids?

Jake Kasdan: I've known her since she was a teenager. I am a little older than her. But I have known her for a long time, yeah. I'd always wanted to work with her. I'd tried to find stuff to work on with her before. This was the natural, perfect part for her. Elizabeth Meriwether called me up and asked if I'd direct the pilot. In that same couple of days, we thought the first thing we should do is get Zooey Deschanel to play this part. We were just excited that she wanted to.

Does that make it easier for you, when you already have that long standing relationship with someone, and you set out to take on a new project with them?

Jake Kasdan: Yeah. It is, a little. Its great to have a relationship like that. And to be able to turn it into something. Maybe, the fact that we did know each other, and we'd been trying to work together for along time...I like to think that helped bring her into this. Primarily, she fell in love with the role. I was there telling her that it would be everything she hoped it could be. And that I was going to do everything I could to do that with her.

I think, right now, Zooey might be the funniest girl on TV. She certainly is giving Kaitlin Olson a run for her money...

Jake Kasdan: That is nice to hear. She is amazing. We have some really fantastic episodes coming up that we are really excited about, and proud of. It's a unique thing. Here is an actress that really inspires the writers. She sets the tone for the whole thing, and she gets it all going.

Do you have a lot of story input as you guys build towards that season ending arc?

Jake Kasdan: You know, I am in the conversations with them. I am not writing the show. But I am around, helping them produce the first couple of episodes.

It almost seems as though Jess is going to hook up with the Nick Miller character. But you keep turning that convention on its head. Are you going to keep Zooey from hooking up with anyone in the house for a while?

Jake Kasdan: People are going to have to keep watching to find out what happens with those two. They have great chemistry, and we love writing for them. They are both seeing other people in the upcoming episodes.

Three's Company was on the air for almost ten years. Jack never got with any of the girls.

Jake Kasdan: (Laughs) Exactly. There is a long, great tradition of people not hooking up on television.

Bad Teacher Blu-ray + DVD combo pack, Bad Teacher Blu-ray, and Bad Teacher DVD are available October 18th.

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EXCLUSIVE: Mike Cahill Talks Another Earth Blu-ray

Nov 16, 2011 by B. Alan Orange

Director Mike Cahill talks Another Earth on Blu-rayOne of the most unique films of the year is coming to Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack on November 29th, from 20th Century Fox Home Video. Another Earth stars Brit Marling as Rhoda, a young woman that falls into a deep depression after killing a mother and her son in a tragic accident. She decides to seek out the widowed husband just as the astounding discovery of Earth 2, a planet that mirrors our own, is announced. As this parallel world begins to enter our Earth's atmosphere, Rhoda sets out to change her life, and possibly her own destiny.

We recently caught up with director Mike Cahill, who co-wrote the screenplay with Brit Marling, to chat about the endless possibilities of Earth 2. Here is our conversation.

With the concept of Earth 2 comes a thousand different story possibilities. How did you and Brit Marling hit on exactly what type of story you wanted to tell, using Earth 2 as your backdrop?

Mike Cahill: It is in the background. That is true. That is a great question. Because when we came up with the concept, we came up with the other earth first. It was a duplicate earth. All seven billion of us are living there. Really, you could tell seven billion different stories if you want to. People confronting themselves. We were into that first. But then, we thought, "What story is the most important story to tell?" We latched onto this character. A young female protagonist. Because we knew that Brit was going to play the lead. We wanted to tell a story about someone who needed to meet themselves the most. That would be someone having a hard time letting themself off the hook about something. Ultimately, it is a story about forgiveness. She is burdened with guilt. Her antagonist is this guilt, more than anything. As this protagonist, without any self-pity, she has this war like way of tying to get rid of that guilt. To eliminate it. We thought that was an interesting story to tell. The only person that can free you from that, is yourself. In a way, perhaps. At least, we do leave the hope of that at the end.

Did the concept ever become overbearing during the initial phase of story development? Just thinking about Earth 2, in terms of telling this particular story, seems like a slightly daunting task. It opens up a wormhole of conversations, and it hurts the brain...

Mike Cahill: (Laughs) Yeah! You ponder forever. But I love the Hollywood high concept that allows you to speculate and come up with ideas. It lets your imagination run loose. But then, I also like keeping it very restrained. Keeping it as one complex drama. Your brain could run forever about what this means. There is a huge paradigm shift, as you have this other earth in the sky. We were using it as poetry. A metaphor for the changing of perception about one's self. Something we can't really do is get outside of ourselves, and objectively view ourselves. Perhaps we can be forgiving. We can be kind to others. We can be hardest on ourselves. If our self was another person, how would that change things? How would that change one's perception of their selves? Even the story she tells about the Russian Cosmonaut. That is a changing of one's perspective, again, as annoying as that sounds. If you can somehow get outside of that, the first time you see the earth...If you can get outside of that, and change her perspective on it, maybe it can be something beautiful. We try to black out all the other complications that come with Earth 2. Nuclear warfare. Human resources. La, la, la...

Another Earth pushes science fiction in film to a place we haven't quite seen it go yet. We also have the movie Melancholia that came out this past week. It really seems like sci-fi is evolving and being pushed in a new, exciting direction...

Mike Cahill: I like that idea. I'll say this. Originality is a very hard thing to find. I don't think the goal of art is to create something original. It should be to create something that is emotionally moving. But, that being said, originality can't come from just one thing. It's a juxtaposition of two things. So, taking sci-fi...I think people would have expectations considering the history of the genre...You take that expectation for one thing, and you combine it with something totally outside the realm of that. But there is a history of thinking man's sci-fi. Like Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Still, this is more poetic, I guess. I like that mash-up. I think combining two different things came make something original and meaningful.

It is breathing new life into the genre that we haven't seen in a long time. I think that's necessary to keep the genre alive. In truth, we don't even get that many true science fiction films nowadays. Its all goofy superheroes and giant robots.

Mike Cahill: It's become all about the spectacle. Its two or three hours of explosions. Yeah.

Maybe the last really interesting one before Another Earth and Melancholia was where those two guys invented a time machine in their storage shed...

Mike Cahill: Yeah, Primer!

Prime hurts my head. It's too intelligent for me. It's beyond the thinking man's sci-fi...

Mike Cahill: It's hard to follow, that one. I was at a Q&A screening, and I felt bad for the director afterwards. The first person to raise his hand said, "I didn't get that...At all..." I thought it was very clever. And a great use of limited resources.

Having co-written the screenplay of Another Earth alongside you, what do you think Brit Marling, as an actress, was able to bring to this role that another actor may not have achieved?

Mike Cahill: Sure, yeah...Brit Marling is a very unique human being. She is probably the smartest person that I know. She has very high emotional intelligence, along with book smarts. She was Valedictorian of Jonestown. She is also, incredibly emotionally intelligent. The beauty of her writing the screenplay with me...She ended up having a lot of time to do the character exploration that some actors aren't allowed. Some actors have a week before they have to go shoot a project. Here, she had six months of imagining and living this character's life. Which was useful. But I think what makes her such a great actress is her ability to speak through her eyes without using dialogue. There's maybe twenty minutes of the film where she doesn't even say a word. But yet, emotional beat by emotional beat, moving forward, it just plays in her eyes. And we can follow that. It's a huge challenge for an actor. The other thing she does that is extremely sophisticated...Her character? She doesn't even exhibit one act of self-pity. Self-pity is something that is very alienating. If a character has self-pity, it is isolating. It's hard to empathize with them. She carries this burden of what she has done, very much on her own shoulders. She tries to figure out how to make things right. Her choices are questionable. But you get the sense that she is trying to do what is right. That was such a smart play by her as an actor.

Having worked in documentaries before directing Another Earth, did you approach the material from the viewpoint of a documentarian?

Mike Cahill: Yeah, absolutely. There was a certain amount of confidence in capturing the fly on the wall, in the scene, without having to storyboard. It was a 'capture the moment' feeling. I operated the camera, which gave me a great deal of comfortability, to keep it fresh, while we were shooting it. It also influenced the aesthetic choices. For example, I had 35 mm prime lens at my disposal. It gives a very cinematic, beautiful field...I tried not to use it. I used a stock lens, to give it more realism...If you have a more documentary, hand-held camera aesthetic, and you lift up and see this other earth in the sky, something about that makes it feel more real. I wanted it to feel as though it were real. I wanted audiences to leave the theater and look up, "There's the moon...Where's the other earth?" I try to make it poetic realism. I want it to be real, but I want it to be a certain moment of poetry. These wide, landscaping shots that emphasize her loneliness. But still, keep it in the realm of realism.

The movie is beautiful in terms of that. The way Earth 2 is shot, it's so quaint, but amazing to look at...How did you use the special features on the Blu-ray to expand this particular universe that you are presenting?

Mike Cahill: One of the cool things is that we have Dr. Richard Branson on there. I loved listening to his books on tape. Like a nerd, instead of bumping music, I would drive around, listening to him talk about the stars, and the creation of the universe. At the beginning of this project, I wrote him a passionate letter, saying, "I know you don't know me. I am making this film. Can we meet and talk about it." He was so gracious. He added such a beautiful element...He can talk about space and the cosmos. He can talk about it in an emotional narrative that the layperson can connect to. So he lent his voice to several things for the film. He is on the DVD extras. I could listen to him for hours. He brings a cool angle to the multi-verse. These questions of science that we deal with.

Another Earth arrives on Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack November 29th, from 20th Century Fox Home Video.

Another Earth was released July 22nd, 2011 and stars Brit Marling, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, DJ Flava, William Mapother, Meggan Lennon, AJ Diana, Bruce Colbert, Paul S. Mezey. The film is directed by Mike Cahill.

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EXCLUSIVE: Tyrese Gibson Talks Fast Five

Oct 2, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

When actor Tyrese Gibson signed on to portray Roman Pierce in 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious, it was only his second movie role after Baby Boy in 2001. Now the actor can't stop working with blockbuster movie roles, a best-selling book ("How To Get Out of Your Own Way"), and a new music album due out next month. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the talented actor (and unabashed fan of MovieWeb) to discuss Fast Five, which hits the shelves on Blu-ray and DVD October 4. Here's what he had to say below.

After your involvement in the second movie, were you ever approached to appear in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift or Fast & Furious? Can you talk about how you were brought back in for this one?

Tyrese Gibson: Yeah, they reached out to me for the fourth one, but with scheduling and all sorts of other stuff, it just didn't work out. I'm glad I came back for Five, because, I believe, along with everyone else in the cast, that this is the best one in the whole franchise. If four would've happened, it would've been cool, but Five is the best one.

I think a lot of the fans agree with that too. It's grossed the most out of all the other films in the franchise, which is pretty amazing. That normally doesn't happen.

Tyrese Gibson: Like fine wine, it gets better with time, I guess.

It's cool because you can see all of these connections. It's cool to see that these characters are all connected. Was it fun just reading the script to see how all of these guys come together?

Tyrese Gibson: I just think that's a reflection of the director, who is brilliant, Justin Lin, and the writer, Chris Morgan. To have so many personalities and energy all in one movie, the question is how can all of them make sense? How can all of them have an arc, a beginning, a middle, and an end? What is the purpose and plan behind each character in one movie? I think, at no point does anybody say, 'Well, why are they there? Who is that? What's the point of them being in the movie?' I just think they did a great job executing on that level, and I was just honored they called me to come back. 2 Fast 2 Furious was my second role as an actor, ever, in my whole career, after Baby Boy. To go from an urban movie to a full-on international movie was the biggest leap, ever, in my career as an actor. I go to Germany and they go, '2 Fast 2 Furious! 2 Fast 2 Furious!' They don't know my music, they just know I'm the guy in 2 Fast 2 Furious. That's a real blessing, man, for people to connect with you overseas like that, through films.

It must have been great reading the script too, because you have almost all of the best lines here.

Tyrese Gibson: (Laughs) Well, a lot of that stuff was on the fly. There's only so much stuff that can be written. A lot of that stuff was on the fly, we just kind of were in the moment. I'm cool with everybody so they just let me play around a little bit and come up with stuff in the moment. We just figure out the funniest way and the most clever way to capture it and then you just hope that it works. I'm not a comedian. I'm just a guy who kind of catches you off guard with some funny shit (Laughs).

I know you were filming both this and Transformers: Dark of the Moon at the same time.

Tyrese Gibson: Seven months. Seven months of magic.

Yeah. I was reading all your stuff on Twitter and I thought that was insane, pulling off two huge movies at the same time. Did it take a lot of finesse with the scheduling for both of these movies?

Tyrese Gibson: Well, the woman who made all of that happen is named Isabella Castro, she's the magic woman behind the curtains. She's my VP of Operations. She handled all of the communication between directors, producers, executives, studios. I don't know how SHE pulled it off. I think what I was doing was much easier than her. To be honest, it was one of the best summers of my life, ever. I was just hoping that I didn't get sick. It's one thing for them to commit and say, 'Do you really want to do both movies at the same time, because we can schedule around?' Then you sayd, 'Yeah' and end up being fatigued and tired and sick. Then they say, 'Well, he wouldn't be sick if he wasn't shooting two movies at the same time.' So, I never wanted them to be able to say that and, fortunately, they didn't. The good thing is, it's not like I'm in every single scene in both movies. That's how it worked out. If I was Shia LaBeouf, I couldn't have shot both movies at the same time, so it worked out. I loved it.

Justin Lin really took this franchise to new levels with the three movies he has done. What would you like like to say about working with him as compared to any of the other directors you've worked with?

Tyrese Gibson: Well, I can say that Justin Lin, I've never seen him sweat. I look at him like a Zen master, somebody like (L.A. Lakers coach) Phil Jackson. I don't say that in a facetious way. You've got Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, and everybody else on the movie set. How is it possible that, at no point, any of us, felt like we didn't know what was going on, where we were supposed to be, what we were supposed to be bringing for a scene, and, no disrespect, but he happens to be one of the smallest people on the set, in height? So, you're the smaller guy on the set and you have all of these big people with muscles walking up to you saying, 'What do you want me to do in this part? What do you want me to say?' He became like the Zen master on the set. It was a lot of fun, I never saw him sweat, and he just made us feel good about everything we had going on. I think he has a very unique way of making everybody feel like a star, that they're bringing something special to the screen. You have a lot of directors who are called 'star-f*&$ers.' It's like you're on the set and you can tell, it's so blatantly clear who the director favorites are. Sometimes I've been the favorite, other times, other actors have been the favorites. I don't think any actor deserves to feel like another actor is the favorite. We all deserve to feel like, somebody may be getting more camera time, but everybody uniquely feels special and significant while they're all working on the same movie. Justin Lin made us all feel very important while we were working on this movie.

There is a gag reel on the DVD, which I haven't had a chance to check out yet...

Tyrese Gibson: Well, you're gonna gag (Laughs).

How much are you responsible for the material on the gag reel?

Tyrese Gibson: Well... you're gonna gag. That's all I have to say (Laughs). Listen, it gets wild on these movie sets. I'm just in the moment, bro, having fun. Trust me, they didn't even capture half of the magic that they could've captured in this movie. It would've turned into a straight comedy hour if they kept all that stuff in.

I know they brought Chris Morgan back to write Fast & Furious 6. I know it's pretty early still, but have you been in talks for that yet? Is there anywhere you would like to see this franchise go in a sixth movie?

Tyrese Gibson: I just hope that they keep the concept of the heist going. I hope they allow me to be more a part of the decision-making, how we're going to get this mission accomplished, instead of having the mission thrown at us and we become disgruntled about the mission (Laughs). I just hope they allow Roman to be Roman Pierce, have some fun and play my part. I'm not fighting for camera time, but we had a lot of fun promoting it (Fast Five). We went to eight different countries, and I just love it. I have a girlfriend who's from Dubai. She was overseas and she said, 'Every theater was sold out, for weeks and weeks and weeks, because of Fast Five.' We were all speaking in Arabic and they were still laughing and having fun with all of the shit we were doing in the movie. These are things I couldn't imagine doing and being a part of as a kid, so it's all kind of unreal.

Five Brothers has been circulating for awhile. Is there any movement on that?

Tyrese Gibson: You know what, I just really hope that Paramount considers and understands the cult following behind Four Brothers. All of our careers have sort of went to another level since Four Brothers, with Mark Wahlberg, myself, André (Benjamin) has been kind of low-key, but Garrett Hedlund, even though he passed away in the first one, his career has blossomed. I hope that they're able to press the button on it. To be honest, I think it just takes one meeting with (producer) Lorenzo di Bonaventura, (director) John Singleton, myself and Mark Wahlberg at Paramount, and they'll green light it and we'll be ready to go. The script is already written and we all really want to do it. We just have to get Paramount to press that button. Maybe the fans from your website can write Paramount some letters about how they were able to relate and identify with the movie, and how much they love it and how much they would love to see Five Brothers be made. The script is already done and ready to go. I would love to do Five Brothers, love to do it.

I would love to see that. Is there anything you're lining up right now that you can talk about?

Tyrese Gibson: Something I'm very, very passionate about is my new album, which is coming out. It's called Open Invitation and if you go to my Twitter page, you can actually see my album cover on the main page. It's called Open Invitation, and it's my best R&B album to date. It's coming November 1, 11/1/11, and we've got two #1 singles already. The first single is called "Stay," and my leading lady in the video is Taraji P. Henson. On YouTube, you can watch the trailer for my video too, we did it like a movie. We're going to launch the actual video and I just shot the video for my other single called "Too Easy" featuring Ludacris. The album is coming November 1 and I'm very, very excited to be doing music again.

You're becoming the new King of All Media.

Tyrese Gibson: Yeah, man, it's fun. I've got a New York Times best-seller, my book How To Get Out of Your Own Way, which is available on Nook and Kindle and iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, you name it. I don't know, man. I think, ultimately, you have a lot of people who talk, and a lot of people who do the work and walk. They walk and get opportunities and blessings and they're looking to be an inspiration and motivate folks to take advantage of our America. We have a lot of access to a lot of shit out here. For people to be broke, hungry, lonely, and miserable, there's no excuse. This is America. Let's move!

I was also curious if you've heard anything about the future of the Transformers franchise. It seems Michael Bay and star Shia LaBeouf are moving on, but have you heard anything else about what they're trying to do with the franchise?

Tyrese Gibson: My humble prediction would be that... we're at $1.1 billion. This is the biggest year of my life. I'm on the other side of $1.7 billion in box office receipts, between both films. I think, with the success of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, both Michael Bay and Shia probably want a break from the franchise, but there's no way, I believe, that, at some point, they're not going come back to do Transfomers 4. Maybe they need a few years to get a few other creative things out of their system, which is understandable, but for people to love this franchise around the world like they do, it's damn-near crazy to not give the fans what they love and enjoy again. So maybe two years, maybe three years will go by, you never know, but I believe, and hope, that we are able to do another Transformers. I'm a real Transformers fan, outside of the fact that I'm in the movie, but I just hope we're able to do it again one day. It's the first film in Paramount's 99-year history that has ever grossed $1 billion. I hope we're able to figure this out.

I know you've been writing scripts for some time now. Is there any movement on that front as well?

Tyrese Gibson: You know, there's a lot of heavy buzz about my reality show that I'm producing called K-Town, which is like an Asian version of Jersey Shore. We're in talks with a lot of major networks, the E! channel and a few others. We're just trying to figure out all of the particulars, and blast off.

Awesome. Finally, what would you like to say to the few people who didn't get to see Fast Five in theaters, about why they should pick up the Blu-ray and DVD on October 4?

Tyrese Gibson: I think the Blu-ray and DVD of Fast Five really turns up and you feel a part of the process in a major way. They've got Tyrese TV, they've got Paul Walker TV, Vin Diesel TV, behind-the-scenes. The cameras just followed us around and it's just a lot of fun. I don't want to give it away, but it's definitely a lot of fun. The fans should pick that up. Fast Five is the movie to watch with your family during the holidays. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, this is the DVD to get.

Awesome. Well, that's about all I have. Thanks so much for talking to me. It's been a pleasure. It's great to get to talk to you, especially after chatting on Twitter for so long.

Tyrese Gibson: (Laughs) Yeah, follow me! Tell them to follow me. I ramble and ramble on Twitter, but tell them to follow me. It's adventurous. I've just got to get my spell check button right, but I'll get it together (Laughs).

You can watch Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce in Fast Five, which hits the shelves on Blu-ray and DVD October 4.

Fast Five was released April 29th, 2011 and stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot. The film is directed by Justin Lin.

Fast & Furious 6 comes to theaters May 24th, 2013 and stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel.

Five Brothers comes to theaters in 2013 and stars Mark Wahlberg.

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EXCLUSIVE: Pam Grier Talks Jackie Brown Blu-ray

Oct 4, 2011 by Brian Gallagher

Actress Pam Grier has had an incredibly diverse career, starring in 1970s blaxploitation classics such as Coffy and Foxy Brown to 1990s cult classics such as Mars Attacks and Jawbreaker. For many movie fans, though, Pam Grier will always be remembered as Jackie Brown, the title character in Quentin Tarantino's fantastic crime drama, which makes its Blu-ray debut October 4. I recently had the honor to speak with Pam Grier about her experiences making Jackie Brown, and much more. Here's what she had to say below.

Hi Pam. How are you doing today?

Pam Grier: I'm great. I'm just really excited about the release of Jackie Brown on Blu-ray. We made the cut! Some films never make it to Blu-ray, and I think Quentin would've been so upset if we didn't (Laughs). With the Blu-ray, we'll have a whole new audience of young people and maybe some of the old guard who may want to give it a shot now. Those who are sticklers for their Beta. You remember Beta? Those people still have cassettes for them and they trade them! They have Beta clubs. Did you know that?

Oh yeah, absolutely. It's kind of like the Atari for movie geeks.

Pam Grier: Exactly!

I'm really glad this is coming out on Blu-ray as well. It's hard to pick a favorite Quentin movie, but this one was always special for me. It was his first adaptation, and I'm a huge Elmore Leonard fan as well, so maybe all those elements stuck with me.

Pam Grier: Did you do a comparison? If you compare Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch, if you revisit the book, the story, and then you see Quentin's work, you see the complexity that he made so seamless. It's extraordinary. I don't know if anyone could've adapted that piece so well.

I remember reading, I believe it was the liner notes on the first DVD, that Quentin was very nervous to hear Elmore's reaction to casting you, since Jackie was white in the novel. Can you talk about your initial reaction to the novel, and then Quentin's version of it?

Pam Grier: I was familiar with the novel and, when he was talking about adapting it, I thought it would take someone with brilliance to do so. I had no expectations, I knew he would work wonders, but you never know until you see it. When I read the script, I said, 'Oh my,' and I went back and read it again. It was fantastic. Then to see it come to life was amazing. I don't think certain writers could do that. I really don't.

Elmore even said that, despite some of the changes, it was still one of the most faithful adaptations of any of his novels, and it probably still is to date.

Pam Grier: Really? Well, you know there's Get Shorty, Out of Sight, but I think this is the best one. I think you're absolutely right. It literally makes you want to go back and revisit Rum Punch after you see it, just to see how well he did. It blows my mind.

I talked to Robert Forster recently and he said there was this fairly expansive rehearsal period, where you went to all these locations before shooting and go through the scenes together. Can you talk about that process and how that helped once you started shooting?

Pam Grier: In a way, it's similar to a theater. When you're on the stage, you see the set. For Jackie's apartment, Quentin had changed the paint on the walls at least three times so that it would be a great composition with the blue of the uniform, with the color of my skin, the mood of the story and the music. He had what Jackie would have collected, to create her history, things on the table, memorabilia, salt and pepper shakers from a lounge (Laughs). I got to stay in the apartment and I also went to the jail, to get a sense of what it would be like to be stripped of everything and put everything in a plastic shopping bag. You're leaving, and you're going where? You didn't show up for work, you have no job, a man wants to kill you (Laughs). He made it really extraordinary for the actor.

Did you ever find yourself revisiting the novel on the set, or did you pretty much stick to Quentin's version of it?

Pam Grier: I wanted to look at it for myself. There were a couple of emotions which would emerge in a scene, which would come from my part and from my soul, but you really want to work with his vision, because he's the one that's cutting, he's the one who has to maintain a clarity and a coherence of the story and the characters. He's fine-tuning and putting the scenes together, so you really want to stick to his direction.

Robert also said that he would often play the music which we hear in the film, on the set. Was he playing these Delphonics songs when you were in those scenes?

Pam Grier: All the time. When we were shooting and between shooting, we were playing music. It relaxed the crew and made them work effortlessly. When we shot a scene, he'd play a song he was planning on using in the soundtrack, which would add to the mood and the beats. He's like a choreographer, for the physical body of a dancer or actor, because I found myself almost doing a dance, if you will, of breathing and body movement, when Ordell comes to her apartment to kill her. To get the cigarette out and get the gun and put it in my waistband and turn. Quentin would say, 'I don't want to see the gun. Get it out, he's coming to kill you. You may have to shoot him first before he shoots you or strangles you.' Knowing Ordell, I'm going to be strangled, shot, and suffocated (Laughs). Look what he did to Chris Tucker. You know he's going to do worse to Jackie, and she has to be so cool, negotiate with him, get him on her side and out of the apartment. That's a lot! That's a lot of direction. It was exhausting. He didn't even know what happened to him. He left his balls on the sofa (Laughs). That was an intense scene. I fell down on the floor and had to take a nap.

This cast is just phenomenal. Even in smaller roles, like you said before with Chris Tucker, everyone brings such an amazing presence to this movie. Can you describe just being on the set with all these amazing cast members?

Pam Grier: Well, it's like being a little kid at the amusement park. I get to play with him too? (Laughs). They bring such a history and legacy to their passion, and they want to work with me and Quentin. You can't ask for more, you just can't. It would be like an $80 billion movie if they all got what they normally get (Laughs).

I was wondering if you could talk a bit about another project you have coming up called The Man with the Iron Fist. I'm pretty excited for that one, with RZA directing. Could you talk about your character in that movie, and your thoughts on the overall experience on the set?

Pam Grier: I play RZA's mother, in the mid-1800s. He went to Quentin and said, 'I want to direct.' The next thing you know, he's calling me to work with him in China, to play his mother. It was wonderful and, of course, Wu Tang Clan, their work is just so poetic. He's an amazing director. My character gives up her freedom to save her son. It basically starts out his journey, to a new land. It was very, very moving. Shooting in China was extraordinary. The people were so warm and so smart. My interpreter, who was with me during the time, wanted to be called LeBron James, because he was very tall and he loved basketball. You could watch HBO and CNN and NBA all day long there. I asked him if he liked Nike and he said, 'No, I don't like Nike. It's not made in the USA.' They wanted anything made in the USA. If you had something with made in the USA on, they'd buy it from you. We could get our economy back on track just by selling everything made in the USA to China.

Is there anything else that you're working on or looking to sign onto in the near future?

Pam Grier: I just finished a film in New Orleans. It was produced by T.D. Jakes and I play a detective in the bayou, who is looking for a serial killer. She's a real indigenous, Creole, tough detective. Then I did one with Ving Rhames in Pittsburgh called Mafia. We're developing a reality show, there's so much going done. I'm just trying to get it done! I also had my memoir released last year. It made the New York Times best-seller list, and it's going to be a film as well.

Is the deal already in place for that?

Pam Grier: The deal is in place. We're have to find the director and screenwriter and cast and all of that process is moving.

Is there anyone you have your eye on to play you then?

Pam Grier: It's not who I choose, it's what the role demands, and who is the actress can be comfortable with telling the story. Things are very, very traumatic, and not all the actresses have the depth or the confidence to play in certain scenes that demand craft. For example, when I did The L Word, and some actresses came aboard to play Jennifer Beals' love interest, on paper they said they could make love and kiss another woman, but when they got there, they couldn't. You have to really take into account the actor's ability, and often their personal life and religion and whatever they're about. It's not me choosing, it's the actress saying they can do it. That's how real casting is complete.

Are you writing the adaptation as well?

Pam Grier: I am writing the first draft, and whoever will be the director will do their own take.

Great. Well, that's my time. Thank you for speaking with me. It was a real pleasure.

Pam Grier: It was a pleasure speaking with you. There will be more. Wait until The Man with the Iron Fist comes out. RZA is a martial artist, and he's a fantastic martial artist in the film. He's excellent.

I can't wait to see it. Thank you so much, Pam.

Pam Grier: All right. Thank you.

You can watch Pam Grier as the fantastic title character Jackie Brown, which can be seen on Blu-ray for the first time October 4.

Jackie Brown was released December 25th, 1997 and stars Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro, Michael Bowen, Chris Tucker. The film is directed by Quentin Tarantino.

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