Kevin Smith

Blu-Ray Review: Beloved Kevin Smith Films Released in High Definition

BrianTT — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:38:26 -0700

CHICAGO – Very few filmmakers provoke the same kind of passionate adoration as the sometimes-great Kevin Smith, a man who has such a following that he can sell out large theaters filled with people who merely want to ask him questions for hours. Smith is a charismatic, interesting, clever filmmaker and his best work reflect his gregarious personality. Three of his best are captured in “The Kevin Smith Collection,” including two films with all-new Blu-Ray material.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

If you were designing the Kevin Smith set and could only pick three films, what would you choose? The man has directed eight full-length feature films and we can probably cut “Jersey Girl” from consideration from the beginning, leaving seven to choose from. Personally, I would go with three different periods of his work and choose “Clerks,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” but then that would leave out his best film, “Chasing Amy”. As if they were on the same page, the producers of “Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection” swapped out “Zack” for “Amy” and have selected three of Kevin’s best, all must-owns for fans of the filmmaker.

The Kevin Smith Collection featuring Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 17th, 2009.
Photo credit: Buena Vista Home Video

Smith’s first film, “Clerks,” is not only his most influential but one of the most influential that anyone made in the ’90s. It’s been copied ad nauseam (some would argue by the filmmaker himself) and still stands as a great testament to the power of independent filmmaking. I wonder if “Clerks” looks the same to a new generation raised on films with the same kind of pop-culture sensibility as it does to those of us who first saw it in theaters. It may look dated now, but it was ahead of its time when it came out.

The Kevin Smith Collection featuring Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 17th, 2009.
Photo credit: Buena Vista Home Video

“Clerks” is presented in 1080p High Definition with its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. There’s something about the guerilla style of filmmaking that made “Clerks” being presented in High Definition that seems a little off - it’s an expensive way to watch a cheap movie. The audio track is a perfect English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix.

Special features on this 15th Anniversary Edition of “Clerks” include a new introduction by Kevin Smith and “Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party: The Making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” an 87-minute documentary included on “Clerks” and not the relatively-devoid-of-special-features “Jay and Silent Bob” basically because they’ve run out of bonus material for this film and Smith didn’t want to rip fans off after they bought the three-disc Special Edition DVD.

All of the special features from that release have been imported including the theatrical and first versions of the film, a classic commentary circa ‘95, a trivia track, a first cut commentary track, a 2004 Kevin Smith intro, “Clerks: The Lost Scene” animated short, “The Flying Car,” MTV spots with Jay & Silent Bob, theatrical trailer, Soul Asylum “Can’t Even Tell” music video, “Clerks” restoration, original “Clerks” auditions, “Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks,” “Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary” with intro by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier,” outtakes from “Snowball Effect,” and a 10th anniversary Q&A.

Smith’s best film, “Chasing Amy,” is the second in the set and the film has held up remarkably well over the years, still standing as Smith’s best blend of raunchy humor and honest emotion to date.

“Chasing Amy” is presented in 1080p High Definition with its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and has been accompanied by a Dolby English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track.

Special features include the new & exclusive to Blu-Ray commentary with writer/director/actor Kevin Smith and producer Scott Mosier, “Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc,” “Was It Something I Said? A Conversation with Kevin & Joey,” and “10 Years Later Q & A - With Kevin Smith and the Cast”. Imported features include deleted scenes, outtakes and the film’s trailer.

Finally, the underrated and fun “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” which reportedly ended Smith’s time with these characters (at least until “Clerks II” came out) comes relatively bells-and-whistles free with just a commentary track. Jay and Silent Bob get no love. The film is presented in 1080p High Definition with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and accompanied by an English 5.1 Uncompressed English track.

Ultimately, with a hefty $60-plus price tag, only very diehard fans will make the upgrade and at least two of the Blu-Rays include enough new bonus material to make the jump a little less painful.

‘Kevin Smith: 3-Movie Collection’ includes “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy,” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and is released by Buena Vista Home Video. “Clerks” stars Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, and Lisa Spoonaur. “Chasing Amy” stars Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, and Jason Mewes. “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” stars Ben Affleck, Eliza Dushku, Shannon Elizabeth, Will Ferrell, Ali Larter, Jason lee, Jason Mewes, and Chris Rock. All three films were written and directed by Kevin Smith. The films were released on Blu-Ray on November 17th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Five Questions For Craig Robinson of New Film ‘Miss March,’ TV’s ‘The Office’

PatrickMcD — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:53:45 -0600

CHICAGO – Craig Robinson is one busy character actor. Besides his recurring role as Darryl Philbin in the popular NBC show “The Office’, he co-stars in the comedy film “Miss March” (releasing on Friday) as the strangely named Horsedick.MPEG.

HollywoodChicago.com recently had five questions for the talented Mr. Robinson, including a reference to his role in the upcoming sequel “Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian”.

Craig Robinson as Horsedick.MPEG in “Miss March”
Photo credit: © Twentieth Century Fox

HollywoodChicago.com: In playing a broad character like Horsedick.mpeg, what kind of standard do you see in real life rap or hip-hop lifestyle that helps to bring alive such a archetype?

Craig Robinson: We all see the blinged out guys, the entourage, the girls, so that was already built in. But what [writer/directors] Zach [Cregger] and Trevor [Moore] did with this particular character was amp up the ridiculousness of the personality by making him repeat the same thing over and over for an entire song. I really responded to that. He less of a rapper and more of a repeat ‘liner’.

HC: If you were to compare this film to the Wizard of Oz, with the Playboy mansion being Oz, which of the characters would Horsedick be in this film and why?

CR: Horsedick is the Cowardly Lion. He comes off like he’s going to kick some ass, but he’s actually scared of stuff. His whole thing is like he portrays myself through his name, but does the name really define him?

HC: You’ve worked with an interesting variety of TV and film directors. What kind of directing style makes you as an actor most comfortable? For example how is Tyler Perry [”Daddy’s Little Girls”] different than Kevin Smith [”Zach and Miri Make a Porno”]?

CR: I like a ‘hands-on’ person, meaning that if the script is clear and the vision is clear, then I don’t find myself wondering whether or not I’m doing something right. Once I have clarity, then I can add on or bring more in. Some mystery is good, but clarity is what I want.

Tyler Perry is very ‘hands-on,’ throwing out joke after joke. I would then catch it, put in the voice of my character and spit it out. Even after I was finished, he put me in another scene, just because it got a laugh.

Kevin Smith is very laid back. He was like ‘the cast does the magic, I do my thing in the editing room’. He didn’t have to say too much, because he knew what he wanted. He also knew when to challenge me.

HC: You played an stereotypical rapper in Miss March, in the Night at the Museum sequel you are portraying a Tuskegee Airman from that heroic boundary breaking period during World War 2. What do think a Tuskegee air man would say about the portrayal of African American men like Horsedick in the media?

CR: I think they would scoff and say ‘C’mon young brother.’ Get it together, what are you doing? (laughs). But ultimately he would understand that the actor is on his hustle and has to make his money.

Craig Robinson in “The Office”
Photo credit: AP Photo/NBC

HC: One question about “The Office”. I think one of the most fascinating elements is that the creators have chosen to highlight vulnerabilities in even their most heroic characters (like Jim and Pam’s insecurities). How do you feel about that direction in a comedy context and how does that make the show richer?

CR: The show will always have a lot of heart even though it is set in a world where the most outrageous things can happen. I am actually surprised sometimes on how much heart they put in it, balanced with the humor.

The awkward moments, the heart, the humor kind of combines with some real-life situations. They take these issues and mix them up to create the direction of the show.

“Miss March” opens March 13th at area theaters.. It features Craig Robinson, Zach Clegger, Trevor Moore, Raquel Alessi and Hugh Hefner. “The Office” is on NBC-TV Thursdays nights 9pm/8 Central.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

TV Review: ‘Reaper’ Finally Returns From the Dead With Disappointing Season Premiere

BrianTT — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:01:20 -0700

Television Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – I adored the first, underrated season of “Reaper” and was as puzzled as any TV viewer that the CW saw in their wisdom to delay season two until nearly ten months after the last episode aired. More than ever, television viewers operate in an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality and I don’t see how the delay and the brief season (just 13 episodes) could possibly do anything to build a following for this nearly-cancelled gem.

With all the time off and the anticipation over what is clearly the last chance for this clever program, I have the worst possible news about the second season premiere of “Reaper,” titled “Episode IV: A New Hope”. It’s not that good. In the history of the show, it’s below the median line when it comes to episode quality and I just don’t see how this is going to give “Reaper” the boost it needs to stave off a trip to TV Hell.

Bret Harrison, Rick Gonzalez, and Tyler Labine in Reaper.
Photo credit: Jack Rowand/The CW

If you’ve never seen the show, Bret Harrison stars as Sam, a servant of the devil (Ray Wise) himself. Sam’s parents sold their only son’s soul to the big man down below and now Sam is forced to help Satan capture lost souls with the aid of his two buddies Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez).

Meanwhile, Sam has to deal with daily life at The Work Bench (where Sock and Ben also work and get into regular trouble) and his love for his old friend and co-worker Andi (Missy Peregrym). Love, work, friends, and the forces of evil - it’s a balancing act for “Reaper”.

The first episode of “Reaper,” directed by Kevin Smith, was great but the show dipped into a bit of a creative valley before coming back very strong at the end of year one, thanks in part to great guest turns from diverse actors like Patton Oswalt, Jamie Kennedy, Jessica Stroup, Ken Marino, and Michael Ian Black. Ratings never rebounded like they should have and the series didn’t get enough press, but it was one of the more consistently entertaining on the air in early 2008.

Eriko Tamura and Tyler Labine in Reaper.
Photo credit: Jack Rowand/The CW

In the second half of the first season of “Reaper,” the writing was tighter, the chemistry of the cast was better, and the blend of episode-specific plotlines with the overall arc about Sam learning that he is truly the spawn of Satan was perfectly balanced.

So why does the premiere of season two, “A New Hope.” feel like such a step backwards?

The opening moments hint at a series reboot. Sam loses all his money, his job, his place to live, and his girlfriend. But, of course, we can’t lose Andi or The Work Bench, so that’s very quickly back and it kind of feels like the second half of season one never happened.

The episode features two plots - a generic demon-of-the-week bit in which Sam has to use a cattle prod to take down some angry men and a slightly funny but overdone bit with Sock having the hots for his new stepsister. Only the end of the demon-of-the-week plotline really grabbed my attention.

Yes, there are plot elements related to what happened at the end of last season, but the cast all look like they’re going through the motions, uninspired by a lackluster script. Even the show-stealing Ray Wise, robbed of a Supporting Actor Emmy nod last year, looks a little bored in “A New Hope”.

If “A New Hope” had been stuck somewhere in the middle of a season, it wouldn’t be disappointing, but the unusual situation that the show and its fans find themselves in makes me think the talented cast won’t have much longer on the air. There’s enough talent to save it, but the writers really need to understand the do-or-die pressure and deliver scripts better than “A New Hope”. (A second episode, “The Sweet Science,” that will air March 17th, was sent but not reviewed.)

Where does “Reaper” go from here? Harrison, Labine, Gonzalez, Peregrym, and Wise make up one of the most likable ensembles on television and the team behind the show has proven they can dig themselves out of writing holes in the past. The only question is will they have time to do so before the clearly misguided powers that be at The CW send them back to development Hell.

‘Reaper,’ which airs on The CW, returns on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 7PM CST. It stars Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Rick Gonzalez, Missy Peregrym, and Ray Wise. The show was created by Tara Butters & Michele Fazekas.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Cult of ‘Donnie Darko’ Extends to Two-Disc Director’s Cut

BrianTT — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:53:13 -0700

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Most movies come and go. Even some of the most critically and commercially acclaimed films of the last few years have essentially been forgotten already. I knew Richard Kelly’s “Donnie Darko” was a film that was not going to go away quickly the first time I saw it and the Blu-Ray “Director’s Cut” simply extends the shelf life of this riveting cult classic.

Where does one even begin in recapping “Donnie Darko”? It’s kind of a psychological thriller with time travel and some pretty funny ’80s material. It’s like a John Hughes movie meets “The Matrix” interpreted by David Lynch. And that only begins to capture the mesmerizing weirdness of one of the hardest to forget movies of the ’00s.

Donnie Darko: Director’s Cut
Photo credit: Fox

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the lead in “Donnie Darko” with Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Mary McDonnell filling out the all-star cast. Donnie is an average high school student who starts having end-of-the-world visions and sees a man in a terrifying bunny costume named Frank who tells him that the world is going to end in just over 28 days.

Donnie Darko: Director’s Cut
Photo credit: Fox

Going deeper into the plot or interpretations would be futile. “Donnie Darko” is a movie that means different things to different viewers. For me, it’s more of a mood piece, a dream, than something that should be interpreted literally and that’s what has given the film surprising staying power and a growing cult following in the eight years since its release.

One very notable thing about “Donnie Darko” is that the film has a markedly different “Director’s Cut” that runs twenty minutes longer than the theatrical version and actually answers a lot more questions than the original version. Some fans prefer the original version and Fox wisely includes both on the film’s Blu-Ray release, giving both the HD treatment.

The theatrical version of “Donnie Darko” includes a commentary by the cast and crew and one with Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhaal. When the “Director’s Cut” was put together in 2004, Kelly actually got friend Kevin Smith to stop by for an audio track and it’s still one of my favorites in the history of DVD. Smith acts more as an interviewer, prodding Kelly along to talk about the movie. It’s great and a must-listen for anyone who likes commentaries.

The second disc of “Donnie Darko” on Blu-Ray includes the supplemental material, starting with a nearly hour-long production diary about the making of the film which includes a pretty dull commentary from cinematographer Stephen Poster. A commentary on a production diary is the definition of DVD overkill.

There’s a featurette called “They Made Me Do It Too - The Cult of Donnie Darko” which is essentially a “Darko” fanboy interview piece. The ultimate fanboy, Daryl Donaldson, winner of a “Donnie Darko” obsessiveness contest, is spotlighted in “#1 Fan: A Darkomentary”. The second disc is rounded out by a storyboard-to-screen comparison and the film’s trailer.

As for the film(s) themselves, the transfer of both versions of “Donnie Darko” is a little lackluster. The HD image isn’t as vibrant as it should be and doesn’t seem nearly as remastered as it would have been in another studio’s hands. The transfer simply doesn’t have the level of detail I expected. The audio is better with the English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio being the best track yet produced for Mr. Darko and his friends, both real and imaginary.

“Donnie Darko” was almost never released in theaters and didn’t even break even on its initial run. And yet it has a shelf life unlike practically any other film released in 2001. Even though the transfer could have been a little better, the excellent supplemental material combined with the quality of Kelly’s film itself makes “Donnie Darko” a great addition to any Blu-Ray collector’s catalog.

‘Donnie Darko: Director’s Cut’ is released by Fox Home Entertainment and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, James Duval, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was written and directed by Richard Kelly. It was released on February 10th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Kevin Smith Makes a Good Blu-Ray With ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’

BrianTT — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:28:43 -0700

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The inevitable merging of the Judd Apatow-verse and the View Askew-verse headed by Kevin Smith happened in the underrated and under-seen “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” new on Blu-Ray this week and joined by a Special Edition release of “Clerks II”.

Smith’s best film since “Chasing Amy” comes home to Blu-Ray this week in a release that gets the job done but will likely leave Smith fans a little disappointed. Oddly enough, The Weinstein Company also released “Clerks II” on Blu-Ray this week in a much more impressive 2-disc special edition, proving that the quality of the movie and the quality of the Blu-Ray aren’t always a perfect match.

Seth Rogen (Zack) and Elizabeth Banks (Miri) star in Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make A Porno.
Photo credit: Darren Michaels

Kevin Smith himself has credited “Knocked Up” with showing him that not only was Seth Rogen born to deliver the “Clerks” creator’s dialogue hybrid of pop culture references and dirty jokes but that the ceiling on his brand of humor may not be as high as first thought.

Actually, it might be because “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” topped out just barely above Smith’s last string of flicks. Five movies in a row have made between $24 and $32 million, not a huge number but more than enough for these low-budget comedies that surely do very well on the home market.

Seth Rogen (Zack) stars in Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make A Porno.
Photo credit: Darren Michaels

There’s an element of heart that Smith is still missing that Apatow seems to get right and they both need a better editor, but “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” does show a writer re-invigorated by his own style.

There is much to like about “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” but a lot of it goes back to the best performances of the great Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks’ careers. The two star as the title characters, a pair of friends caught waist deep in our current economic crisis. They realize that the only way to make ends meet is to make, well, other things meet.

Zack and Miri become inspired to make a porno movie after running into the gay porn star lover (Justin Long) of an old crush of Miri’s (Brandon Routh) at a reunion. At first, the pair merely plan to sell their adult movie to their old classmates under the idea that anybody would watch their old school colleagues going at it (which is probably true).

The two friends gather a ragtag team including Zack’s co-worker at Bean ‘n’ Gone (Craig Robinson of “The Office”), a stripper named Bubbles (Traci Lords), and, of course, a character played by Jason Mewes who may not be Jay but isn’t too far down the character spectrum. The team prepare to shoot “Star Whores” and Zack and Miri realize that there may be more to their on-screen chemistry than a need for cash.

“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” works more often than it doesn’t for one simple reason - it’s pretty damn funny. Rogen, Banks, Robinson, and even Mewes all have excellent timing. Rogen and Banks are the two best leads that Smith has ever had and the power of their comic timing goes a long way. They also, shockingly, sell the romance. You won’t believe me until you see it, but one of the best and most believably intimate love scenes of 2008, and arguably THE best, is in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”.

There’s also something deeper here that I believe Smith is reaching for even if he doesn’t quite get there. Between the boob jokes, there’s something interesting being said about how sex, friendship, and general needs can blur over time. When you’re financially co-dependent and sexually intimate, is actual love inevitable? Zack and Miri need each other in every way, just not physically, until they make porno. Smith may be trying to say that adding the physical element to friendship and co-dependence equals love.

Seth Rogen (Zack) and Elizabeth Banks (Miri) star in Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make A Porno.
Photo credit: Darren Michaels

I like what Smith has done with “Zack and Miri” but the main reason it’s held back from true comedy greatness is that the great writer and director really needs a better editor. Anyone could cut ten to twelve minutes from “Zack”. Smith will almost always go one joke too far. If a scene needs four or five fake porno names, Smith will do nine or ten.

In the end (no pun intended), “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” will definitely be a home run for Kevin Smith fans and could be a surprise rental for people who haven’t liked Smith in a while (although they should make sure they’re okay with NC-17 dialogue). Let’s hope it’s not a quickie and Smith has a few more like it in the near future.

The Blu-Ray release of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” would be above average if it were not a part of the Smith-verse but we’ve come to expect lavish releases for his films. “Clerks II” was also released on Blu-Ray this week with over 6 hours of bonus features, including two full commentary tracks that feature the talkative Smith himself. The special features alone make “Clerks II” definitely worth a pick-up for comedy fans looking to enhance their Blu-Ray collection.

With Smith being so talkative, where is he on the “Zack and Miri” Blu-Ray release? There’s no commentary track from a man who regularly speaks to sold-out crowds. It’s odd. What is included - “Popcorn Porn: The Making of Zack and Miri,” deleted scenes, Money Shots webisodes, Comic-Con 2008, outtakes, ad-libs, bloopers, and “Seth vs. Justin: Battle For Improvisational Supremacy” - is good, it just seems oddly light for a Kevin Smith movie.

The special features may be light for a Smith movie but “Zack and Miri” and “Clerks II” both look fantastic in HD. These are the kind of flicks that you wouldn’t expect to be that enhanced by the format, but I was struck by how good they both looked. Both films comes with English 5.1 TrueHD tracks. Now you can hear dick jokes in surround sound.

‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ is released by The Weinstein Company and stars Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Jason Mewes, Traci Lords, Jeff Anderson, Katie Morgan, and Ricky Mabe. It was written and directed by Kevin Smith. It was released on February 3rd, 2009.

‘Clerks II’ is released by The Weinstein Company and stars Jeff Anderson, Brian O’Halloran, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach, and Jason Mewes. It was written and directed by Kevin Smith. It was released on February 3rd, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Cancer, Cameos, Cuts With ‘Fanboys’ Director Kyle Newman

BrianTT — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:55:15 -0700

CHICAGO – Kyle Newman’s “Fanboys” has had one of the most legendary post-productions in the history of film. The director opened up to HollywoodChicago.com about the six-year journey of his labor of love on the eve of his world premiere: a day that Newman admits he once thought he would never see.

Jay Baruchel (Windows), Dan Fogler (Hutch), Chris Marquette (Linus), Sam Huntington (Eric) and Kristen Bell (Zoe) star in Kyle Newman’s Fanboys.
Photo credit: John Estes

The definition of a “fanboy,” courtesy of “Fanboys” director Kyle Newman - “It’s a term for a group of people, no matter what age, who are really into sci-fi, fandom, comic books, a certain genre of film. And they are unafraid to wear that on their sleeves. I don’t think fanboys are closet nerds. They are people who embrace it, sometimes flaunt it, and are proud of who they are.

They are heavily represented in the online community. They’re tech-savvy. They’re cutting edge for what they’re into. They’re people unafraid to talk about what they’re into. Even at a nice dinner, they’ll talk about Star Wars, Go-Bots, whatever.”

Kyle Newman
Photo credit: Linda L.Crispien

Newman was going to make it to Chicago for an in-person interview but rumors of snow the following day forced him to stay in L.A. and do a phone interview. As he said, “Tomorrow is the premiere and I’ve been working on it for six years. If there was anything that delayed my trip, I’d regret it forever.”

And what a long, strange trip it’s been.

When “Fanboys” wrapped in the spring of 2006, it was a tender comedy about a quartet of friends who travelled cross-country to break into Skywalker Ranch and see an early cut of “Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace”. They weren’t merely criminals. One of them, Linus (Chris Marquette), was dying of cancer and he had been waiting his entire life to see George Lucas’ prequel. His friends were committed to making that dying wish come true.

The film co-starred Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler, Sam Huntington, and Kristin Bell, and featured cameos by Seth Rogen, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ray Park, Kevin Smith, and William Shatner.

Test audiences adored the movie. The Weinstein Company did not. As Newman says, “Here, I’ve made a movie that I’m really proud of. I screened it in London to 1400 fans at Star Wars Celebration to three standing ovations and I videotaped it and I showed everybody, but I guess nobody ever showed Harvey [Weinstein].”

“Fanboys” was originally scheduled to be released in the fall of 2006. The first delay was to February of ‘07, then August of that year. Then the floor fell out as rumors of reshoots and massive changes surfaced online, pushing the film back until at least 2008.

Newman himself was baffled. “I’m getting all this support online and they’re talking about changing it and it just didn’t all add up. I was afraid. I knew I had made a great movie. The actors, producers, writers - we were all happy with what we had pulled off. We were smart about how we cast the movie. We had tremendous foresight considering the people we cast who took off. We were on the right track.”

Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Dan Fogler and Chris Marquette star in Kyle Newman’s Fanboys.
Photo credit: John Estes

It turned out that a year-and-a-half after the first shoot, director Stephen Brill came in to do massive reshoots. The cancer plotline was eliminated entirely and the film was turned into a generic road movie. And it was not pretty.

Newman pulls no punches, saying that “There was a lot of negative stuff and the people they brought in to work on the film were, in a very low class way, criticizing the actors and the casting and the directing and kind of demeaning Star Wars fandom. Here we’d done all this grassroots awareness and built support and, suddenly, there are polls on StarWars.com debating “How worried are you about the fate of Fanboys?””

“It was very disheartening to watch everything that you’ve done positive be undermined in a week by a bunch of idiots, this team that was brought in to do this. Mainly just the director who they brought in to re-shape it who was opening his mouth online and really offending our core audience. So, I was shocked. I was like, “Oh my God.” It was just getting out of control and here we are on the sidelines and I’m watching the movie fall apart. I’m watching our fanbase dissipate.”

Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler and Sam Huntington star in Kyle Newman’s Fanboys.
Photo credit: John Estes

The internet community that adores “Star Wars” and supported “Fanboys” went to work. An online campaign called “Stop Dark Weinstein (From Ruining Fanboys)” popped up and thousands of fans e-mailed the Weinstein Company.

It led to more delays but also started to build buzz around the movie. The Weinstein Company brought Newman back on board and let him and the original creative team back in the editing room. The cancer subplot came back.

The idea that one of these young men was dying was always essential to Newman. “It was a rallying call for these guys. While the trip, in conceit, was very zany, it had this emotional core to it because it was coming from a grounded place. I thought the movie was unhinged without it.

You couldn’t get behind these guys. To me, it became soulless. There was no heart and little purpose. And there was no ticking clock. Ultimately, where did it end up? It ended with them watching the movie on a laptop and then throwing it out the window and saying “That sucked” and driving off. It didn’t culminate in anything. There was no substance. It was hard to watch.”

Kyle Newman has been a Star Wars fan his entire life. In fact, he claims that his first memory is of Star Wars when he was under two years old. It wasn’t the movie itself, but the energy that the film created. “I remember my brothers and sisters, my cousins, everyone had gone to see it. There was this electric energy.”

Newman felt that energy again when “Phantom Menace” was coming out and that inspired “Fanboys”.

Of course, a lot of the anticipation leading up to “Phantom Menace” disappeared when fans saw the movie. But Newman is still a fan. “When you’re a kid or a teen and you’re seeing these movies and you’re hearing the idea of prequels, you’re imagining what they’re going to be in your head. I think, invariably, it will never live up to the expectations of your own imagination tailored to what you want it to be. I probably like them more than most people it wasn’t really the medium in which it was presented. I was more interested in what the story was. Star Wars could be oral tradition, they’re such good stories.

So, I went and found out all the spoilers. I eased into it. It wasn’t like a big culture shock. “Whoa, that wasn’t what I imagined.” So, I think that was a factor. I think people who did that - eased in after 20 years of anticipation…if you don’t do that, you’re bound to be let down.”

Fanboys Poster
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

“Star Wars” isn’t Newman’s only love. He also admits excitement for the upcoming “Star Trek” movie, saying, “The cast is incredibly exciting. I like that new trailer. A good buddy of ours, Zachary Quinto, is playing Spock. I’m incredibly excited for him. I think it’s a perfect role for him. I think the cast is great. There’s a lot of life left in Star Trek. I think they’re gonna kick off something good.”

And Newman loves “Close Encounters, Blade Runner, 2001, Alien, Aliens, and all those type of films, Goonies, Gremlins - but Star Wars holds a unique place. It exists in different mediums. I think the reason that Star Wars has such longevity is the fan community. The people have responded to it and taken it on themselves to keep it alive.

George Lucas was smart in recognizing that there are a lot of people who want to play in the world he created. So, let them write books and comic books and design toys and video games and expand the series into television. I think he knows the universe has gotten bigger than anything he can control.”

It seems like everything about “Fanboys” has been about anticipation, that of the characters for “Phantom Menace” and now for the film itself. The anticipation will finally pay off when “Fanboys” is released on Friday, February 6th, 2009. But that may not be the last version you see. Newman admits that there are some changes in the current version that he’s not thrilled with and there may be a director’s cut on DVD some day.

“It was give-and-takes. I got to put the story in but I had to give up on little nuance beats which I think make the story richer. If I was ever to do a master cut, it’s all waiting there.”

“Fanboys” may finally be coming out, but the end of this story may yet be unwritten.

‘Fanboys’ stars Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler, Chris Marquette, Sam Huntington, Kristin Bell, and Seth Rogen. ‘Fanboys,’ which was written by Ernest Cline and Adam F. Goldberg and directed by Kyle Newman, opens on February 6th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Exclusive Photo: ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ Director Kevin Smith at Chicago International Film Festival

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:17:43 -0600

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com captured a photo of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” director Kevin Smith at an audience Q&A on Oct. 21, 2008 as part of the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival. The film stars Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Traci Lords and Justin Long.

Smith has also directed “Clerks,” “Clerks II,” “Dogma,” “Chasing Amy” and “Mallrats”.

“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” director Kevin Smith at an audience Q&A on
Oct. 21, 2008 as part of the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Hookup: 50 Admit-Two Passes to Chicago Screening of ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ With Seth Rogen

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:09:34 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the hilarious Chicago screening of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” which stars Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Traci Lords and Justin Long from director Kevin Smith.

To win your free pass to the advance screening of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” in Chicago courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is be one of the first 50 people to submit a comment in this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup. That’s it!

The screening will be held on Oct. 28, 2008 at 7 p.m. near downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” features Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks and Traci Lords from director Kevin Smith.
Image credit: The Weinstein Company

Here is the “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” plot description (source):

Lifelong platonic friends Zack and Miri look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required.

Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this simple question:

Do you or have you ever crushed on your best friend? If so, tell us about it!

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: The first 50 people to comment below win! We will be in touch with the 50 winners to distribute your passes. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” opens on Oct. 31, 2008.

Update at 11:31 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2008: Due to popular demand, we have received authorization from the film studio to increase this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup from 40 admit-two passes to 50 admit-two passes.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Seth Rogen to Play Lead in ‘Zack & Miri Make a Porno’

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:35:17 -0700

I just received official word from the Weinstein Company and Dimension Films that Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad”) will play the lead in “Zack & Miri Make a Porno” from writer/director Kevin Smith and producer Scott Mosier.

Seth Rogen
Photo credit: WireImage.com
Elizabeth Banks (“40 Year Old Virgin,” “Invincible”) will star opposite Rogen as Miri. The film will begin shooting in Jan. 2008 in Pittsburgh. The announcement was made on Friday by Weinstein Company and Dimension Co-Chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein.

“Getting Seth in this flick is like suddenly growing an extra six inches in the crotch,” Smith said on the announcement. “As if that wasn’t awesome enough, we scored the comedically and aesthetically gifted Elizabeth, too. Cast-wise, I’m now extremely well-hung.”

He added: “I wrote the part expressly for Rogen because he’s a funny as [f***] comedy god and we’re insanely lucky he said ‘yes’. Dude, coming on board is a total mitzvah. In order to show my appreciation [and] fit in better with Seth, Harvey and Bob, Scott and I will be converting to Judaism. Bar Mitzvah invites are in the mail.”

In the film, Zack and Miri are two lifelong platonic friends who are heavy with debt. They seek the help of their friends to make a porno for some fast cash.

As everyone starts “doing” everyone, though, Zack and Miri realize they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

“Once again, Kevin has written a daring and entertaining screenplay that has attracted some of the most talented comedic actors working today,” Bob and Harvey Weinstein said on the announcement.

The studios say additional cast will be announced soon.

‘TMNT’ Director Kevin Munroe Envisions R-Rated CGI

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:56:04 -0600

CHICAGO – “CGI is getting hampered by being defined as a ‘kiddie’ medium,” said “TMNT” writer/director Kevin Munroe in an interview with Adam Fendelman.

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael in “TMNT,” which opened on March 23.
Photo courtesy of Imagi and Warner Bros.
Rather than solely because their kids lugged them to the movies, he envisions adults also flocking to engage the high-tech, highly immersive medium for themselves.

“In this small step with the [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles], you start to show that there’s a broader audience for it than just kids – when it’s done right,” Munroe said. “I’d love to be in the position where eventually we’d have an R-rated CGI horror or fantasy film.”

In the meantime, the experience for Munroe was an evolutionary process that he views as a glimpse into the next generation of film. He landed the Warner Bros. project from Turtles creator Peter Laird through aggressive tenacity.

“While working on a separate project with Imagi, I heard they were getting the rights to the Turtles,” Munroe said.

He continued: “I just kept on bugging them. I would send them e-mails in the middle of the night to keep pestering them. After I had a meeting with Peter, he signed my Turtles comic issue No. 1 from 1985: ‘Dear Kevin: Make a good movie or else…’”

Giving justice today to a brand that achieved cult status with its comic books required going overseas.

Art director Simon Murton (left), writer/director Kevin Munroe (middle) and environment and color design artist Steve Jung analyze storyboards for “TMNT”.
Photo courtesy of Imagi and Warner Bros.
In the process of removing the actors from the actual spotlight and merely using their voices, Munroe had to staff a gargantuan team of animation artists to artificially bring characters alive in a manner that’s reminiscent of real life.

The film’s makers decided to create and then bridge their own digital divide. While some computer artwork was done in California, the majority was done in an entirely different time zone, on an entirely different continent with people of an entirely different culture.

Munroe found his wealth of talent in Hong Kong. Until the artists learned to understand “Kevinspeak,” though, he recalls early confusion in response to his direction.

American words such as “cool,” for example, were misinterpreted there to mean the temperature rather than his stamp of approval. As such, the Hong Kong artists were given a crash course in Americanisms.

“For one of the warehouse scenes, I wanted to have wooden palettes in the background,” Munroe said, who speaks in a lot of slang. “Instead, they kept sending me pictures of people with their mouths open.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar provides the voice for April O’Neil in “TMNT”.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
Beyond the language barrier, traversing the long road that has added $71.3 million in the film’s worldwide piggy bank required massive technology demands.

The last time the sewer-dwelling bipeds captured audiences in 1990, its makers couldn’t have remotely conceived of today’s advances. The 2007 incarnation faced an entirely brave new world.

Munroe used a fat T-3 pipe, which flies data at speeds up to 44 Mbps, to communicate back and forth between his two hubs.

Rendering is done one frame at a time, and for “TMNT,” Munroe was sent 24 two-megabyte files for every second of film. A fight scene in a garden, which comprised just one of the film’s 91 minutes, took one year to complete.

Even an enormously high-tech film with a production budget of $34 million feels the sting of modern-day failure.

Splinter and Leonardo in “TMNT”.
Photo courtesy of Imagi and Warner Bros.
“Just as we were getting into the crunch of the movie, there was an earthquake in Taiwan right after Christmas,” Munroe said. “We had hundreds of thousands if not millions of images coming over, and when the earthquake happened, our T-3 got cut out. We actually had people flying in from Hong Kong with hard drives on their laps. They were delivering the film by hand.”

The computer-modeled magic for the film, which came alive through researchers developing musculature and details such as skin translucency, doesn’t necessitate the enterprise-level equipment you might expect. Munroe added: “At the core of it, we just had a bunch of regular PCs.”

The project worked in a Linux environment using software such as Maya and RenderMan.

“We designed full-on muscle systems for the Turtles because they’re essentially wearing nothing but a sash and a half-shell,” Munroe said in the film’s production notes. “We also gave them unique characteristics. For example, on Raphael, he actually has veins that pop out whenever he flexes and Michelangelo has freckles.”

For help with all the minutiae, Munroe enlisted veteran art director and concept illustrator Simon Murton whose work ranges from “I, Robot” to “The Matrix Revolutions”.

Patrick Stewart provides the voice for Winters in “TMNT”.
Photo by Peter Winterstellar and courtesy of Warner Bros.
Voice work went to Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Smith, Laurence Fishburne, Ziyi Zhang and Chris Evans. Mako was announced as the voice of Splinter the day before he died. By then, he had finished the majority of his acting.

A “pseudopod” in 1989’s “The Abyss” marked CGI’s foray into the industry.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com