Bruce McDonald directs Academy Award nominated it-girl Ellen Page in the explosive TRACEY FRAGMENTS. The film follows Page as an emotionally unstable teenager navigating through a dangerous urban metropolis in search of her missing younger brother. Creatively edited in split-screen style, some have called this surreal story a modern day CATCHER IN THE RYE - McDonald takes a second to elaborate on that as well as some of our other questions below. THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS opens May 9 at the Village East Cinema.
Q: Did you have Ellen Page in mind to play Tracey before officially beginning the casting process?
A: We auditioned many actresses. Ellen was always on the radar. We met in person and discussed our mutual admiration for Patti Smith and the search was over.
Q: Do you think the success of JUNO will help draw new Ellen fans to the this film?
SNOW ANGELS writer/director David Gordon Green and star Sam Rockwell stop by the Angelika couch for a quick interview. Click the still to watch the interview.
Young @ Heart is a senior citizen’s choir group. They have been described as “old fogies singin’ songs”, but they aren’t singing Mary Had a Little Lamb. Tackling Kid Rock, Coldplay, The Clash, The Ramones and some choice disco, these folks are not the grandparents next door.
Two lovely choir members, Dora B. Morrow and Jack Schnepp, choral director Bob Cilman and the film’s director Stephen Walker, stopped off at the Angelika Dallas during a press tour to answer a few of our questions. Watch what they had to say below.
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!
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?
Rising star Taylor Momsen makes her indie film debut next month in PARANOID PARK, Gus Van Sant’s totally enthralling new film that has critics (and regular people who were lucky enough to catch it on the festival circuit) raving.
Fourteen-year-old Momsen, who recently shot to enormous fame with her role as Jenny on the Gossip Girl , invited us to chat with her about her role in this moody, adolescent drama that will make you glad you’re not in high school anymore.
Click the PARANOID PARK still below to watch the video interview.
PARANOID PARK opens March 7 @ the Angelika New York and March 14 @ the Angelika Dallas and Houston.
Jeff Bridges hit the Angelika Dallas & Plano last week to promote his new film THE AMATEURS. The legendary actor took a few minutes to sit down and chat with us - enjoy the video below!
John was nice enough to take a minute between trying on cowboy hats, making the social rounds in our cafe and watching his film on the big screen to sit down with us for a brief one-on-one interview and a behind-the-scenes look at ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES. Watch the video below.
