The Angelika Film Center & Café at The Shops at Legacy celebrates its third year in operation as North Texas’ most upscale and stylish boutique cinema devoted to independent and specialty film. The Angelika’s elegant interior, comfortable auditoriums featuring leather seating, and uncompromising standards of service make the Angelika Plano the cinema of choice for even the most discriminating filmgoers.
Q: How did you become involved in the production side of CHAPTER 27? Were you cast in the role first, or were you involved in production from the beginning?
A: It all happened simultaneously. It was an unique opportunity to participate in a different way. But my main focus was the definitely the role. Secondary was helping, if I could, to bring the directors vision to life. The producers were very kind to let me apprentice, in a way, throughout the process.
Q: You obviously put on a lot of weight for your role as Mark David Chapman. Was that a difficult decision to make? Why did you choose not to just wear a “fatsuit”?
A: It wasn’t a difficult decision at all. I would say the difficulty came after the decision was made. It was important to take on the physical challenges of this transformational experience as well as the psychological/emotional. The weight helped indicate many things about the character for me. Although it was a very important and obvious part of the process it was still just one part of the overall journey. And one that I am definitely very happy to be finished with.
Q: You also adopted a sort of whiny, southern accent for the role. Did you have to watch footage of Mark David Chapman to really take on his persona accurately?
A: His voice was very specific. Jarrett and I spent a lot of time discussing his voice and the importance of including it in the performance. I spend most days for months listening to archival tapes and interviews of his voice. Also while in Decatur, Georgia I found someone who had a very similar accent. That proved invaluable.
Yes, archival footage was very important and very helpful. It taught me a lot about who he was. I studied everything I could about his behavior from the inside to the out.
Q: Why do you think CHAPTER 27 documented only the weekend before John Lennon’s murder as opposed to delving further into MDC’s life or psyche?
A: Probably best to ask director Jarrett Schaefer about this but he had a very specific vision for the film which I thought was incredibly interesting and non-traditional.
CHAPTER 27 opens this Friday, March 28 at the Angelika New York. Leto will be attending the 8:00pm and 10:20pm shows on both Friday, 3/28 and Saturday, 3/29. Don’t miss it!
PARANOID PARK, the new movie from the always compelling Gus Van Sant, has been garnering critical acclaim since it first made the festival rounds. New York Times critic Manohla Dargis continued the trend right before opening day with a categorically exceptional review in which she called Van Sant’s work, “…a haunting, voluptuously beautiful portrait of a teenage boy…”.
Click here to read the full review,
and here to see an exclusive interview with cast member Taylor Momsen.
PARANOID PARK opens tonight, March 7 @ the Angelika New York.
GIRLS ROCK!, opening this Friday, March 7 @ the Village East Cinema, is a rousing documentary about the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Portland, OR where girls ages 8 to 18 receive music lessons and life lessons of empowerment from a dedicated group of feminist indie rockers.
Director Arne Johnson answered a few of our questions about the making of the film below.
Q: What inspired you to make the documentary?
A: Well, I first heard about the camp through Sleater Kinney, the members of whom have taught at the camp various years. Carrie Brownstein, in fact, runs the assemblies every year and co-wrote the camp theme song. …
X-MEN writer Zak Penn does a 180 in directing his new movie, THE GRAND, a hilarious, low-budget poker-themed mockumentary that features an unbeatably witty cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano, Chris Parnell, David Cross , Werner Herzog and Richard Kind.
The always articulate director chatted with us last weekend about the making of THE GRAND….check out what he had to say below.
THE GRAND opens Friday, March 21 at the Village East Cinema! Visit www.villageeastcinema.com for tickets and showtimes.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for THE GRAND?
