With Warner Bros. Ninja Assassin set for release next week, the studio held a press day this afternoon here in Los Angeles.  While I’ll have plenty of video interviews for you to watch over the next few days, the first one I’d like to share is with producer Joel Silver.  Also, since Silver is producing tons of other projects like Sherlock Holmes, The Losers, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, Unknown White Male, and The Book of Eli, I figure his interview is the first one I should post.

While I didn’t get any major scoops, I did find out what’s up with Lobo and what does he think of Jeffrey Dean Morgan for the role.  Also, we talked about how Francis Lawrence landed the directing job on Sgt. Rock and does he think it might get made next year.  Of course many other subjects were talked about so watch the interview after the jump:

Finally, here’s a link to some clips from Ninja Assassin.

Joel Silver

• Did he always want to be a ninja
• What was the importance of showing Ninja Assassin at Comic-Con
• Lobo talk - talks about the test they just made and how it’ll play at Comic-Con
• When will we hear about casting on Lobo?
• I ask if he likes Jeffrey Dean Morgan for Lobo
• How does he balance all his movies coming out with stuff he has in development
• Says they are starting to film Unknown White Male in Berlin in 2 months
• What’s been his reaction to the footage from The Losers
• Sgt. Rock talk - how did Francis Lawrence get the job and what kind of film will it be. Says it takes place in the future and it’s a different kind of war film
• Does he think it’ll get made in 2010. Says he hopes so.

-

While many fans of The Twilight Saga just want to hear Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson talk about the mega-successful franchise, the person who can give you the news you really want is producer Wyck Godfrey.  Stewart and Pattinson star in the film, but they aren’t the ones making the big decisions about the franchise, and they definitely aren’t the ones who can tell you if Breaking Dawn is going to be two movies, or if the teaser trailer for Eclipse will be on New Moon.  But Wyck Godfrey can.  And that’s why at The Twilight Saga: New Moon press junket, I specifically requested an interview to talk with him.

After the jump is my extended conversation with the man bringing the Twilight movies to the big screen.  We talked about the constant demand by fandom for knowing everything now, could David Slade or Chris Weitz be brought back for Breaking Dawn, does he think Breaking Dawn could be two movies (”it’s certainly possible,” he says), is the Eclipse trailer on New Moon, piracy talk, and if he and the other producers already have plans for Comic-Con 2010.  It’s cool if you love hearing from Pattinson and Stewart, but this interview with Godfrey is the one that Twilight shouldn’t miss.

Wyck Godfrey

• The difficulty of balancing the medias appetite versus giving the fans what they want
• Talks about why it was smart to film New Moon and Eclipse back to back
• Breaking Dawn talk - are they talking about making the film.  What’s the status?
• Is he thinking about David Slade or Chris Weitz coming back for Breaking Dawn
• 4:05 - Are they thinking about two films for Breaking Dawn.  Says it’s certainly possible.
• On New Moon, how did he juggle as the producer the story, the budget, and the bigger worldwide scope of it
• 6:00 There has been a lot of talk that the Eclipse teaser trailer is on New Moon. Is that true
• I mention that a good idea would be to attach the teaser trailer for Eclipse after the movie has been out for a week, that way fans would maybe want to go back. He smiles and says that’s a good idea.  Could that be the plan?
• 7:05 Piracy talk
• 8:05 - Comic-Con 2010 talk - Since Eclipse will already be out, do they have any plans to be there yet for the DVD or maybe Breaking Dawn

–

[[Show as slideshow]]

–

With Twilight a worldwide phenomenon, Summit Entertainment sent some of the stars of their mega successful franchise around the world to help promote the movie.  One of the places they went was Brazil.  As most of you know, when you watch any video on Collider, you see two logos.  One is ours and the other is for our Brazilian partners Omelete.

So when Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner were in Sao Paulo, Brazil last week, our partners at Omelete got to interview the two of them on camera.  They talked about going to Brazil, would they want to film part of Breaking Dawn there, and what’s been the changes from the first movie to the second.  While you may get to watch tons of interviews with the stars of Twilight here in America, how many of you have seen one that was filmed in Brazil!  Check it out after the jump:

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner

• What’s been their experience so far in Brazil
• What’s been the changes from the first movie to the second.  They talk about they now know what to expect and how they had more time on the 2^nd film
• Sexual tension talk
• Some of Breaking Dawn takes place in Brazil. Do they want to come there to film

–

[[Show as slideshow]]

–

During last weekend’s junket for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, I got to speak with Twilight producer Wyck Godfrey for an extended amount of time.  Since we covered not only the Twilight franchise, but some of the other major projects he’s developing, I decided to break the interview up into two parts.   I felt this news was worth a separate article since we talked about D.J. Caruso’s adaptation of the video game Dead Space; developing Len Wiseman’s adaptation of the video game Gears of War; and writer-director Dan Rush’s Everything Must Go starring Will Ferrell.

The big news is Everything Must Go starts filming March 1st and he calls the project Leaving Las Vegas with the humor of Bad Santa!  Also, for fans of Gears of War, he says Wiseman is working on a script and “we’ve done a ton of visual references and he’s sort of put together a whole presentation, so we should know pretty quickly if this version is going to move forward or not.”  What he said about all three projects after the jump:

–

[[Show as slideshow]]

–

When I first heard director Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage were going to make a remake/re-imagining /reboot of Abel Ferrara’s insane 1992 film Bad Lieutenant, I’ll admit I wasn’t excited.  For some reason I thought they’d fuck it up or the movie would be another Nicolas Cage performance where he was just going through the motions

I couldn’t have been more wrong.   The fact is, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a great movie featuring one of Nicolas Cage’s best performances.  He’s absolutely fearless; it’s like he stepped back in time to when he was an up-and-coming actor with nothing to lose.  If you want to see a great performance, you need not go any further Nicolas Cage’s latest role.

So when I sat down to talk with director Werner Herzog, we discussed how he got involved, working with Cage, how he shot a lot of the movie using just a few takes, what he has coming up, and with this being Werner Herzog, he said some quotes that must be heard.  It’s a great interview with a filmmaker I truly admire.  Watch it after the jump:

Werner Herzog

• I tell him how much I loved the movie and ask when did he come up with the movie.  Talks about how fast this project came together.
• I tell him thank you for bringing the great Nic Cage back and we talk about his performance
• Talks about how most of the movie was done on just a few takes.  Also how he didn’t shoot a lot of coverage.
• Did he delete a lot of footage and does he like extended cuts on DVD
• What did it mean to have 2 films in Toronto.  He says it meant more to have 2 films in Venice
• What’s up with My Son, My Son, What Have You Done
• 8:15 - What is he going to do next.  Gives a great answer
• Says he has 5 or 6 feature film projects and 2 or 3 documentary projects he wants to do
• Does he want to do doc than feature and back again. How does he pick
• What does he think of digital filmmaking and 3D
• I try and find out what he is going to do next and he says he is about to leave for Jordan to see if a film he is planning is doable but doesn’t want to talk specifics until he knows if it is

-

]]> http://www.collider.com/2009/11/17/werner-herzog-exclusive-interview-bad-lieutenant-port-of-call-new-orleans/feed/ http://www.collider.com/2009/11/17/exclusive-interview-with-producers-gabe-and-alan-polsky-bad-lieutenant-port-of-call-new-orleans/ http://www.collider.com/2009/11/17/exclusive-interview-with-producers-gabe-and-alan-polsky-bad-lieutenant-port-of-call-new-orleans/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:22:57 +0000 Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub http://www.collider.com/?p=11206

While brothers Gabe and Alan Polsky launched Polsky Films three years ago, they’ve been very busy.  In a very short amount of time they got their first movie made, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and they’re developing biopics of Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, as well as an adaptation of Flowers For Algernon.  They’ve also got Sam Mendes attached to direct an adaptation of Butcher’s Crossing for Focus Features.  So while they might be new to the industry, they’re clearly aiming to be around for awhile.

With Bad Lieutenant getting ready for release this weekend, I recently got to sit down with the brothers for an extended conversation on where they came from, how they got into the business, how Bad Lieutenant came together and what was it like on set, what other projects they’re working on, and could there be more Bad Lieutenant’s in other cities.  It’s a great conversation with these two rising producers.  Watch it after the jump:

Finally, as I said when I posted my Nic Cage interview, Bad Lieutenant is a great movie and Cage deliverers one of his best performances.  Go see it this weekend.  Here are the brothers:

Alan Polsky and Gabe Polsky part 1

• Who they are and how they got into producing
• 3:00 - How did they get Nic and Werner.  They talk about how much Nic and Werner did to the script and story
• 6:20 - Gabe talks about how he wanted Werner
• 7:55 - is the talk of taking Bad Lt. to other cities true
• 9:35 - they demonstrated how much freedom they gave Nic and Werner.  Do they think it’ll help them if they wanted to make another Bad Lt. and have they gone out to other people to do another version

Alan Polsky and Gabe Polsky part 2

• How difficult was it to get financing for the film
• Were they on set every day and what was that like.  They tell some great behind the scenes stories
• 4:20 - They talk about what they are developing.  They say they have a Einstein project and a Sigmund Freud project.  They say they’d like to do a Charlie Kaufman type movie for Freud.
• 7:00 - Do they think it’s going to be easier for future projects to get made since they can point at Bad Lt. and show what they did on that
• 8:30 - did they approach Charlie Kaufman for Freud and they say they did ask him but he didn’t want to do it
• 9:15 - Gabe says they are developing a project at Focus with Sam Mendes called Butcher’s Crossing.  Calls it a “revisionist western”.
• 9:40 - Flowers for Algernon talk.
• 10:20 - what might be on the DVD/Blu-ray

As I wrote this summer when I posted my exclusive Comic-Con interview with The Twilight Saga screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, she has the difficult task of trying to bring Stephanie Meyer’s insanely popular book series to the screen. So while writing any movie is difficult, writing one that has so many passionate and knowledgeable fans is taking it another level. Luckily for her, the Twilight fans I’ve spoken with have really enjoyed her work and are anxiously awaiting the sequels.

When I spoke to Melissa Rosenberg a few months ago we talked about how the increased budget changed the way she writes and what did she have to edit out of books two and three to make them into movies.  This time I decided to ask about her reaction to watching New Moon, has she seen any of Eclipse, who came up with the way to keep Rob Pattinson in the movie as a ghost-type image, and I also tried to find out, hypothetically speaking, if she thinks more would have to be changed from the book in the eventual fourth movie, Breaking Dawn.  I also asked if she has an opinion on Breaking Dawn being two movies.  If you’re a fan of The Twilight Saga, you’ll love the interview.  Take a look after the jump:

Melissa Rosenberg

• What was her reaction to seeing the film for the first time
• How hard has it been to find the voice of the movie versus the fans expectations
• Who came up with the way to keep Rob Pattison in the movie as a ghost type image
• Has she seen any of Eclipse
• How similar are the movies to the books and did she add anything
• 7:00 Breaking Dawn talk - hypothetically speaking, does she think more would have to be changed from the book in the 4^th movie
• Does she have an opinion on the 4^th movie possibly being two movies

-

One of my favorite movies is director Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused.  While many filmmakers try and make moments feel real, Dazed and Confused is like watching a documentary.  Everything feels like it’s really happening and nothing feels forced.  I think it’s one of the most accurate portrayals of high school ever made and I cannot recommend the film enough.

While Dazed didn’t exactly do well when it got released, it’s one of those films that’s consistently played on cable and always sold well on DVD.  It’s the kind of film any studio would want to have in its library.  So when Richard Linklater announced he was going to make That’s What I’m Talking About, a “spiritual sequel” to his 1993 film and it would take place on a college campus in the 80’s, I thought there would be a bidding war among studios wanting to build off the massive cult success of the original.  But there wasn’t, and a film that many of us were dying to see never got off the ground.

So earlier today when I sat down with Linklater to talk about his new film Me and Orson Welles, we discussed what happened to That’s What I’m Talking About and he told me a lot more about the film and what really happened.  The good news: it’s still a project he really wants to do and he has a plan to make it happen!  Watch what he had to say after the jump.  And Universal, if you’re reading this, make this film with Linklater and then you can package Dazed with this one!

While I strongly recommend watching the interview below, here are some of the highlights:

• He got the budget of That’s What I’m Talking About down to 14 million.  He had the financing in place but due to a lack of distribution, the project fell apart.
• When I asked him what it’s about, he told me, “I carefully called it a spiritual sequel to Dazed cause it’s not the same characters.  If Dazed was my High School, this is my college.  It’s about a weekend in college in that time period.  It’s funny…I think it’s the funniest thing I ever wrote.”
• The next time he tries to get the film off the ground, he’s going to get actors attached, then try and get the money together.
• Says he took one meeting with Jack Black about School of Rock 2 and everyone reported they were making the sequel.
• Says a possible next project is a true crimes story that is also a black comedy.

Finally, what you’re about to watch is only part of my extended interview with Richard Linklater.  Look for a lot more from this great filmmaker over the next few days.

Richard Linklater

• I ask was he really going to make a Dazed and Confused type movie that took place in the 80’s?
• Further in the interview he says it’s about young men behaving poorly.  Says it closer to The Hangover than anything else out there.  Says it’s about young guys really getting plowed with crazy behavior.
• Says it’s a bad time to get films made right now but thinks he will be able to in the next few years.
• Says the working title was That’s What I’m Talking About
• I ask if it was the budget that did him in and he says he had it down to 14 million.  He even had financing but what did him in was no distribution!
• I ask if he had cast attached - says he didn’t but the next time he takes a run at it he’ll try and get people attached
• We talk about future projects and he tells a story about how he’d had one meeting with Jack Black about a School of Rock sequel and it was all over the trades.
• I ask what he might do next and he says he has a few projects in development, one is a true crimes story that is also a black comedy. He also mentions That’s What I’m Talking About.

I think Michael Sheen is one of the best actors working in Hollywood. No matter the role, he disappears into his character to the point where you forget he’s acting. Think about it: Sheen has played real people (Tony Blair in The Queen, David Frost in Frost/Nixon, and Brian Clough in The Damned United, among others), and he’s also managed to work in genre movies like Underworld and its sequels. And while he’s been in a couple dozen movies over the last decade, he’s about to appear in some very high profile films like Tron Legacy, Alice in Wonderland and some vampire movie called The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Sheen plays Aro, the leader of the Voluri (the vampire governing council). And while I am still under embargo from talking about the movie, I don’t think anyone will be upset if I tell you he’s great in the movie and fans are going to love his portrayal.

Last week, I managed to get an exclusive interview with this fantastic actor and we talked about working on New Moon, his upcoming movies like Alice in Wonderland and Tron Legacy, how he prepares for his roles, and he tells some great stories about how he came up with his character in New Moon and what happened with his driver who took him to the hotel (It has to do with Twilight). If you’re a fan of Michael Sheen, I promise you’ll love the interview. Take a look after the jump:

Finally, in the coming days I’ll have some more exclusive interviews for The Twilight Saga: New Moon so make sure to keep checking back.

Michael Sheen

• How have the last two weeks been (I recently interviewed him for The Damned United)
• Is it nice to be able to talk about the movie now that people have seen it
• I mention how much I enjoyed his performance and ask if he enjoyed being a part of this phenomenon
• How did his previous “genre” work help him prepare for his New Moon role
• What is his secret as he is able to bounce from genre movies to movies that critics love
• Has he been asked to appear in Breaking Dawn yet
• Is he looking forward to promoting Alice in Wonderland and Tron Legacy
• Some great actors still use acting coaches. Does he still use one?
• How did he prepare for New Moon, Tron, Alice and Damned United
• 7:35 talks about New Moon and how he came up with his character. Make sure you watch 8 minutes in.
• When was the first time after getting cast he noticed the Twilight phenomenon. And the Twilight moms
• 9:20 - tells a great story about his driver and his reaction to learning Michael Sheen was in Twilight

-

Opening tomorrow is director Roland Emmerich’s 2012.  As you probably know, 2012 is about a global cataclysm that causes massive destruction to our planet.  If you’re keeping count, this is Emmerich’s third time blowing up the world (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) and I think he’s learned from his previous efforts to deliver his biggest spectacle yet.  Trust me, this movie is loaded with some of the craziest special effects you’ll see this year and if you want to have some fun, go to a movie theater this weekend.

Anyway, to help promote the film, I recently covered the international press day for our partners at Omelete.  So after the jump you can watch our exclusive interview with Roland Emmerich where he discusses going to Brazil to film part of the movie, the alternate ending that will be on the DVD/Blu-ray, and he talks about his next project which will be a film about William Shakespeare.  He says he starts to shoot this March and the budget is around $30 million.  He also told me he’s using the same special effects people from 2012.  It’s a great interview so take a look:

Roland Emmerich

• Has he been to Brazil before? Tells me he went there to shoot part of 2012
• Was the film exactly what he pitched to the studio
• What was the most challenging special effect
• I ask a question given to me by one of my twitter followers…when are you going to be “a man” and blow up the universe
• DVD/Blu-ray talk - what will be on it. Says an alternate ending will be on the DVD but not many deleted scenes
• Shakespeare project - his next film that he starts to shoot in March. Says the budget is under 30 million and he’ll be shooting in Germany. Also says he’ll be using the same technology as 2012 on the movie. Same visual effects people.
• Says the plan is for the Foundation trilogy to be his next project after Shakespeare
• Reveals what the alternate ending is on the DVD

-

When you sit down to conduct an interview with someone, you never know what’s going to happen.  Sometimes, you can have the best questions, yet the interview is boring.  Other times, you can walk in with nothing prepared, and the interview is amazing.  It all depends on the person you’re speaking to and how interested they are in talking.

So when I walked in to interview Amanda Peet as a reporter for our partners at Omelete, I had a few questions ready, but was prepared for anything.  And thank God I was, because the interview you’re about to watch is one of the craziest I have ever done for a major movie release as we did not talk about the movie once!  Keep in mind I tried…but when I attempted to ask a 2012 question, she just wasn’t having it.  So instead of talking about John Cusack or Roland Emmerich, we discussed Brazil and the differences between Twitter and Facebook.  Seriously. While you’re not going to learn anything about 2012 in this interview, I suggest watching it just to see how crazy this conversation was.  Hit the jump to check it out.

Finally, as I’ve written before every interview, 2012 opens tomorrow and as most of you have seen in commercials and trailers, it’s about a global cataclysm that causes massive destruction to our planet.  If you’re keeping count, this is Emmerich’s third time blowing up our planet (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) and I think he’s learned from his previous efforts to deliver his biggest spectacle yet.  Trust me, this movie is loaded with some of the craziest special effects you’ll see this year and if you want to have some fun, hit a movie theater this weekend.  Click here to watch a five minute scene from the film.

Amanda Peet

• How has the promotional process been treating her
• Has she ever been to Brazil
• I try to get to the movie…when that failed I asked her about Twitter
• Then we talked about Facebook

-

-

Opening tomorrow in New York City, and next week in Los Angeles, is writer/director Owen Moverman’s first movie  The Messenger.  The film is about two U.S. Army officers (Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson) who are responsible for notifying families when someone has died while serving our country.  Foster plays an officer who has just returned from Iraq and he’s assigned to Harrelson to learn how to do the job.  Through these two soldiers, we learn how military families get notified after losing a loved one in war.  While the film deals with strong subject matter, I cannot recommend the movie enough.  The performances are incredible across the board and it almost feels like a documentary, rather than something scripted.

One of the reasons it feels this way is director Owen Moverman didn’t rehearse the notification scenes.  While the actors knew their lines and how the scene would play out, they didn’t practice how to deal with people’s reactions after hearing the news.  They had to play each scene in the moment.  It’s truly powerful stuff.   So to help promote the film, I recently spoke to Ben Foster/Woody Harrelson as well as Samantha Morton and Director Owen Moverman.  Both sets of interviews are after the jump:

Here’s the full synopsis before watching:

In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband’s death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.

Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Moverman, THE MESSENGER brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity.

-

Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson

• I mention how much I loved the film but wanted to know how we can get people to see movies about Iraq and war
• I ask if it’s true they didn’t rehearse the notification scenes and how they affected them as actors.
• I ask about going to Walter Reed Medical Center
• They talk about each other and how much they respect one another

Samantha Morton and Director Owen Moverman

• Why is it that so many people are making important films about the war and what’s going on but people are not embracing the films
• Owen didn’t want to direct the film at first and explains why
• No rehearsal talk

If you ask any interviewer, they’ll tell you the same thing: some people are easy to interview, and some are John Cusack. While I love Cusack’s work, I’ve interviewed him a few times and none of them are what I consider great interviews. I don’t know his deal, but every person I spoke to at the 2012 press junket had the same thing happen: we walked in ready to talk, and we walked out wondering if anything was usable. Thankfully, I got him to answer a few of my questions, but compared to some of the other interviews I did for this movie, this didn’t turn out as well as I hoped.

Saying that, if you’re a fan of John Cusack, I think it’s still worth watching.  He talks about all the 2012 stuff and does he believe in any of it, making the movie, working in Vancouver, and a bit on Hot Tub Time Machine.  Finally, a big thank you to our partners at Omelete for making this interview happen.  Take a look after the jump:

John Cusack

• Has he been to Brazil
• Does he believe in any of the 2012 stuff
• Did he know the shoot was going to be so physically demanding
• What was Roland like to work with
• Working in Vancouver
• Working on the blue Screens
• Hot Tub Time Machine talk
• Say Anything 20^th Anniversary

AFM* fun continues with the first images and full synopses for All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, Pirhana 3D starring Elisabeth Shue and Richard Dreyfuss, Shanghai starring John Cusack and Ken Watanbe, and The Fighter starring Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Amy Adams.  These are all films that should be on your radar because there’s a good chance that these films will be getting some major marketing when they hit theaters.

I write and read about films every day and with the exception of The Fighter, these films weren’t really on my radar.  After reading the synopses and seeing some shots from these movies, I’ll definitely be on the lookout for further news about them.  Hit the jump to check out debut photos and what you need to know about these upcoming flicks.

ALL GOOD THINGS

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Jarecki (Capturing the Friedmans), ALL GOOD THINGS teams Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) with Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man) and Oscar nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) in a romantic thriller that unlocks the mystery of a unique man who could have had it all.  The film is a love story and murder mystery based on the most notorious unsolved murder case in New York history. The original screenplay uses newly discovered facts, court records and speculation as the foundation for an imaginative spellbinding story of family, obsession, love and loss.

THE FIGHTER

From acclaimed director David O. Russell (Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings) comes THE FIGHTER, the powerful true story of professional boxers Dickie (Christian Bale) and Micky (Academy Award Nominee Mark Wahlberg).  Although they are half brothers, their careers take very different courses.  Older brother Dickie does not suffer fro ma shortage of talent or confidence, but his lack of judgment and humility lead him down a path of self-destruction.  After blowing his shot against one of the greatest fighters of his generation, Dickie descends down a dangerous road of drug addiction that robs him of his career, alienates his brother, and eventually lands him in jail.  Meanwhile, discouraged from yet another defeat, younger brother Micky, whose talent never seems to match the size of his heart, vanishes into early retirement.  But his itch to fight never goes away, and when a rehabilitated Dickie is released from prison and takes over as Micky’s trainer, Micky transforms himself from an underdog into a world champion prized pugilist.

PIRHANA 3D

From acclaimed director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) comes the new action thriller PIRHANA 3D, in the latest eye-popping 3D technology.  A new type of terror is about to be cut loose on beautiful Lake Victoria.  After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers, including hot local cop Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue), must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents.  But our heroine is seriously outnumbered, and with only one chance to save the lake and her family from totally being devoured, she must risk everything to destroy the aquatic carnivores herself.

SHANGHAI

From director Mikael Håfström (1408) comes the epic espionage thriller SHANGHAI starring John Cusack (1408) and international superstars Gong Li (Miami Vice, Memoirs of a Geisha) and Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai).  Nothing is what it seems in this Casablanca-style international thriller set in the ancient Chinese city a week before the attack on Pearl Harbor.  U.S. Secret Agent Paul Soames (Cusack) has just arrived to investigate the murder of his best friend, only to become quickly immersed in a web of conspiracy and lies that beset the city.  Shadowed by a Japanese intelligence officer Tanaka (Watanabe), Soames’ investigation quickly centers on a charismatic local gangster, Anthony Lanting - and Lanting’s beautiful wife, Anna (Li).  Before long, Soames and Anna are involved in an affair that will put everything they have at stake.  As national loyalties are traded fast-and-loose for those of the heart, Soames and Anna must race to solve the mystery and make it out of occupied China before the city’s collapse.

*AFM (American Film Market) is where film buyers from around the world come once a year to buy movies and also pre-buy films in development.  Simply put, this is where a lot of money changes hands in the film industry and it’s where many decisions about what you and I get to see are made.  In an effort to try and raise a film’s profile or attract film buyers, many of the studios distribute full synopses and still images for their movies.

Opening this Friday is director Roland Emmerich’s 2012.  As most of you have seen in commercials and trailers, 2012 is about a global cataclysm that causes massive destruction to our planet.  If you’re keeping count, this is Emmerich’s third time blowing up our planet (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) and I think he’s learned from his previous efforts to deliver his biggest spectacle yet.  Trust me, this movie is loaded with some of the craziest special effects you’ll see this year and if you want to have some fun, grab a popcorn and soda and hit a theater this weekend.

To help promote the film, our partners at Omelete were invited to the international press day and they sent me to cover it.  So after the jump you can watch my interview with American Idol runner up Adam Lambert.  He provided a song for the film.  During my interview we talked about nail polish, Twitter and Facebook, Guitar Hero and Rock Band, making his first record, and a lot more.  Take a look:

Adam Lambert

• Mac nail polish talk. You’ll see….
• Twitter or Facebook
• Guitar Hero or Rock Band and is he the ringer that friends call for help in the game
• I suggest doing a twit video of him playing Rock Band
• How difficult was it to pick the songs for his album with the limited time to make it. Talks about how he wrote some of the songs
• We talk about the tracks that didn’t make the album and could they be B-sides
• Could any of his music be in Rock Band and how hard would it be to sing

I absolutely loved director Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.  The film is his first foray into stop-motion animation and it’s like he brought the genre to him rather than attempting to adapt to the genre.  Trust me; if you’re a fan of his previous work like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, you’re going to love this movie.

As most of you know, Fantastic Mr. Fox is based on the best-selling children’s book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach) and it features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson.  But unlike some animated movies that cast famous actors to help sell tickets, everyone who provides a voice is perfect in this film.  Again, this is a great movie that you should check out as soon as you can.

So to help promote the film, I recently had the chance to speak to Jason Schwartzman and we talked about his reaction to the film, the unusual way they recorded the voices, working with Bill Murray, and I asked him if he’s seen Sofia Coppola’s new movie Somewhere. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Finally, Fantastic Mr. Fox opens this Friday in very limited release and it expands next weekend to more areas.  And if you missed what  Jason Schwartzman had to say about Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, click here.

Below the interview is the official synopsis.

Jason Schwartzman

• We talk about the challenges of trying to sell this film in a trailer
• Talks about his reaction when he first saw the film
• We talk about how this is a Wes Anderson movie even though it’s animated
• How they recorded on a farm and not in a recording booth
• Reveals that he always thinks he’s going to get fired
• 4:44 or so. Fade in after me asking Jason about what it’s like to work with Bill Murray
• 6:45 - Has he seen Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” (her new movie)

Here’s the synopsis:

Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson).  But after twelve years of quiet domesticity, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr. Fox’s wild animal instincts.  Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community.  Trapped underground without enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost.  In the end, he uses his natural instincts to save his family and friends.

Twentieth Century Fox presents, in association with Indian Paintbrush and Regency Enterprises, an American Empirical Picture, FANTASTIC MR. FOX.  Directed by Wes Anderson and written for the screen by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, the film is based on the book by Roald Dahl.  The film is produced by Allison Abbate, Scott Rudin, Wes Anderson and Jeremy Dawson with Steven Rales and Arnon Milchan as executive producers.

The production team includes animation director Mark Gustafson, director of photography Tristan Oliver, production designer Nelson Lowry, music composed and conducted by Alexandre Desplat, supervising editor Andrew Weisblum, music supervisor Randall Poster and puppets fabricated by MacKinnon and Saunders.

Opening this Friday is director Roland Emmerich’s 2012.  As most of you have seen in commercials and trailers, 2012 is about a global cataclysm that causes massive destruction to our planet.  If you’re keeping count, this is Emmerich’s third time blowing up our planet (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) and I think he’s learned from his previous efforts to deliver his biggest ride yet.  Trust me, 2012 is loaded with some of the craziest special effects you’ll see this year and if you want to have some fun, grab a popcorn and just go for the ride.

To help promote the film, our partners at Omelete were invited to the international press day and they sent me to cover it.  So after the jump you can watch my interview with Chiwetel Ejiofor where we talk about what this year has been like for him, 2012 theories, making the movie, Salt, and a lot more.

At the beginning of the interview we talk about Sundance.  That’s because at this year’s Festival I did an extended interview with him.  Click here if you missed it.

Finally, this is the beginning of a lot of 2012 interviews on Collider.  Check back each day for more.

Chiwetel Ejiofor

• We talk about our Sundance interview
• What has his year been like
• Talks about filming Salt
• What did he think about the 2012 predictions before filming and did his opinions change during or after filming
• What was making this film like and was it more challenging than he expected
• Working on the crazy sets

One of my big films in 2010 is director Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”.  As the director of “Spaced”, “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, Edgar Wright has proven that he’s one of the best directors working today.  While I’d be interested in whatever project he chose to do as his next film, the fact that he’s making the fantastic comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley is just awesome.  Anyway, people have been shown footage from “Scott Pilgrim” and the mini-reviews have been crazy.  Director Jason Reitman pretty much lost his mind after seeing 30 minutes.  And I’m beginning to figure out why.

I think the reason people are so excited for the film is Edgar Wright is pushing the boundaries of narrative storytelling.  While every movie has moving cameras and interesting shots, I’ve heard rumors that “Scott Pilgrim” is going to use a lot of split screens and animation to help tell the story.  And after speaking with Jason Schwartzman the other day, I can now confirm it.  While I do not know how many scenes use split screens, I think it’s a big part of the movie. Perhaps it’s all about trying to make comic book frames work on a movie screen. Anyhow, if you’d like to see Jason Schwartzman talk about seeing the first 19 minutes of the movie, working for Edgar and with Michael Cera, and what’s up with “Bored to Death”, hit the jump to see the interview.

Finally, this interview is part of a much larger interview I did with Jason Schwartzman for “Fantastic Mr. Fox”.  Look for what he said about Wes Anderson’s new movie closer to release.

Jason Schwartzman

• Scott Pilgrim talk. I mention how the movie is going to be a lot bigger than people think.  Jason talks about his love for Edgar Wright and Michael Cera
• Has he seen any of the movie. Says he saw the first 19 minutes
• I mention how I’ve heard the movie will have a lot of split screen and animation and he’s throwing a lot of unusual stuff at the screen
• Jason talks about how you could see on set how it was all going to come together as Edgar had a special effects team on set so you could quickly see what it might look like
• Bored to Death talk - says they start shooting the next season in March

–

Earlier today I spoke with Michael Fassbender for his upcoming movie “Fish Tank”. While I’ll be posting the full interview closer to release, we talked about his upcoming Roman action flick, “Centurion”, directed by Neil Marshall’s (”Doomsday”, “The Descent”, “Dog Soldiers”) and he had some very cool stuff to say about the movie.

While the film isn’t going to be released until sometime next year, “Centurion” sounds like a very cool film and it should definitely be on your radar. Fassbender calls it “a Roman chase film” and when I asked him what it’s about, he said, “It’s basically about a group of Roman soldiers trying to get back across the border. It sort of surrounds the legend of the Ninth Legion. What happened in this myth is the Ninth Legion went over the border into the highlands to suppress this tribal community that was wreaking havoc on their outposts. They were trying to suppress this race. It was kind of like the Gaul situation where they couldn’t manage to suppress this tribal sort of community in France. So they sent the Ninth Legion in, which was one of the best Legions they had, and they disappeared. Five thousand men got wiped out. They never came back. So it’s basically Neil’s take around that myth.” For more on what he said a few images from “Centurion”, hit the jump:

Here’s what he told me.  Further down are the images.

-

Earlier today I sat down with director Terry Gilliam to talk about his great new movie “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”.  Since the movie doesn’t get released until next month, I’m going to hold off on posting the full conversation till close to release.  However, since Gilliam gave me a bit of an update on his next project, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”, I figure that’s worth posting today.

According to the Gilliam, he’s cast someone to play Don Quixote, but he wouldn’t reveal who it is.  Also, while I didn’t get Gilliam to say it on camera, I heard he wants to begin filming this April, assuming financing comes together.  As most of you know, trying to make “Don Quixote” has been something of an endless challenge for this talented filmmaker.  If you’d like to see what Gilliam had to say, hit the jump.

Finally, if you’d like to learn more about Gilliam previous “Don Quixote” project, read this.  It’s pretty crazy what happened.