Darren: Oh really? That’s what they told me you’re supposed to do.

Was it cool?

Yes, yes it was…

Darren: Is it good?

It was good…

Darren: I don’t think it will stop people from coming to see the movie. I think it will probably make them want to see more. Unless it sucked.

Was it confusing?

A little bit…

How was it confusing?

Ummmm…..What the hell is the tree?

Darren: That’s what the film is about is finding out what it is. It’s a mystery.

[To Rachel] Were you confused, while you were making it?

Rachel: No, I obviously read the script many times. I figured it out.

Is it non-linear?

Darren: Well, emotionally it’s linear. It’s non-linear in time. You’re basically following one character, Hugh Jackman’s character, through the course of the film and it adds up and it makes sense but it’s told in a very PULP FICTION sort of way.

How many drafts, how many revisions has this movie gone through?

Darren: There were probably about 50 official drafts around. Official. Which means when I was just tweaking away there were a lot of drafts. Well…50 drafts and 30 official drafts.

Did you ever feel that you were getting to the point where you felt like you were at the point of overworking the material?

Darren: I think that we did over think it at times. That’s part of the process is that you go too far and you have to come back. And you go too far and you have to come back. So, it’s a slow balancing act to get to the place.

Was it significantly rewritten?

Darren: Yeah, when it went from a 95 million dollar film to a 35 million dollar film it changed a lot. And that was my move because I realized they wouldn’t have made it at that level so I had to come up with the cheapest version they could make it with.

Did that help you creatively?

Darren: I think what kicked in was some kind of independent, guerilla filmmaker. So it was probably something more of who I was versus what I was becoming.

So, would either of you characterize this filmic experience as a guerilla… I think I would say it. It’s a 35 million dollar guerilla movie. Absolutely.

[To Rachel] How was that experience for you?

Darren: You’ve done a lot of those big movies, so how did it seem?

Rachel: The thing about that is that you’re talking about money in a way. So, the green’s green is the green’s green. So, for however much money is spent in post is irrelevant to me as an actor. The guerilla aspect of it is just the style in which Darren directs. He’s very passionate and very (laughs) guerilla.

The budget thing doesn’t affect me as an actor.

Darren: Well, were we crappy to you? You had a trailer, though. You were all set.

Did you have to work fast?

Darren: Yeah.

Rachel: We worked long hours.

Darren: We didn’t work that long, did we? Did I go over time a lot? It really should be a 90 million dollar movie so hopefully it looks a lot bigger than 35 million. When you think that an average Hollywood film is, how much, 60 million without P&A, 60-70 million for your average Hollywood movie, this film looks big. I think that’s because we spent 6 years, 5 years, in pre-production and we figured out how we could do everything smart and cheap. Every single dime is on that screen.

Me: How close was it to never being made?

Darren: Yeah, in October 2002, an actor quit and the movie fell apart and it was basically dead and that’s when the graphic novel began because I just wanted to get the story out there somehow. So, we worked on the graphic novel and during that time period I was like, “There’s got to be a way to make this that I can do, that’s make able.” And that’s when I wrote the most guerilla version of it and what came out I showed to Eric, the producer, and he’s like, “Let’s go make it.”

Me: What happened with Hugh where you all of sudden thought, “I gotta get that guy”?

Darren: What happened with Hugh is that, to be frank, he wasn’t really on my radar because he had done X-MEN and he was great but hadn’t done much else.

Then, I went to his Broadway show. Even though that performance, “The Boy From Oz,” is so different than THE FOUNTAIN but there was so much passion and energy and charisma…he’s such an untapped talent. I mean, in this film, we really show every side of Hugh Jackman and he just really went for it.

So, I went backstage afterwards and he was really nice and I asked him what he was doing next and he said, “I want to do an Aronofsky film.” “Yeah? Prove it.”

(Laughs)

Then, I showed him the script and, what time do Broadway shows end, 10:30, he read it that night, called me at 10 am the next morning…he really got it. As you can tell that this is not your average film to get. So we talked about it and it meant that we had to wait another 8 months, we were ready to go at that point, but he had so much passion and I decided that outweighed the other stuff.

Why was this film right for the Comi-Con audience?

Darren: Well, there’s also the graphic novel.

So, not only is it this movie, it’s also this graphic novel. I mean, I am a comic fan and this just fits right into, you know, what we like. I’ll use the word “we” sparingly but it’s sci-fi, it’s got sword and sandal, and it’s got a love story.

Rachel: Is that a term? Sword and sandal?

(Laughs)

Darren: Isn’t it? It’s a genre.

Rachel: (Surprised) Really?

Thinking of the space portion of the movie? What were some of the challenges in making that part of the movie?

The challenges were, from a production point of view, is that you had to spend a lot of money for a third of the film. So that’s where it was a difficult film to make. It was kind of fun. The only challenge was that if you fuck up when you shave…when you make Hugh Jackman go bald, if you fuck up you’re screwed. Are there any kids here?

Rachel: No…

(Laughs)

Darren: If you don’t do anything with the Conquistador thing, then you messed up. We had to make sure we had everything before we changed his hairstyle.

For Rachel, what was the most challenging thing for you?

Rachel: I guess the most challenging thing was that it was very emotional, very raw, very exposed part. And it’s a good challenge because it’s a real acting job even though it’s housed inside a real science-fiction movie. I’m not playing an action babe, or whatever, I’m playing a very emotional character so that’s what drew me to it and that’s what was a challenge about it.

Me (Seconds before feeling like a dumb-ass for asking a dumb-ass question): Rachel, how close were you to not being in this movie? It has gone through so many changes, co-stars, etc…, did you ever say to yourself, “You know, I don’t think I want to put any more time into this picture”?

Rachel: I hadn’t been attached to it in its initial incarnation. Darren just recounted the story of how he cast Hugh and after he cast Hugh he only then went through the process of casting a female lead. And that’s when he came to me. I hadn’t been attached to it for a long time.

Can you tell us about your character?

Rachel: She’s a woman living in contemporary America who’s married to Hugh, they’re deeply in love and she finds out that she’s terminally ill. It’s about how she comes to terms with dying and leaving her partner. So, that’s why it’s a very emotional role. It’s about love…and death.

Darren: And it starts with the fountain of youth.

Rachel: Yep.

Darren: It will all make sense when you see it.

What’s been the reaction of people you’ve met here at the Con?

Darren: (Affecting the sound of a fan boy uncontrollably moistening his Jockey’s at the sight of Rachel) AAAuuuaaahhh!!!

(Laughs)

Rachel: Really passionate and really enthusiastic, everyone I’ve met. Very polite.

Darren: Everyone’s polite.

Rachel: …Being asked if there is going to be a MUMMY 3, which I don’t know the answer to. I really enjoyed it. I’m going to hit the floor later, I got a Catwoman mask.

(Laughs)

Darren: Shhh!!!

Rachel: There’s gonna be so many Catwoman’s out there…

Darren: Catwoman may NOT be popular. It was a big bomb.

Rachel: It was a big bomb?

Darren: It was a big bomb. I’m not sure it would be popular.

Me: Lessons learned from this whole project?

Darren: I think persistence and patience are two virtues of this film. I mean, the film is about rebirth. It’s about coming to terms with life and death. And the film died and was reborn again. So, that was a great process to witness because I think we had to go through that to make it. It was just too out there of a project to have it happen right away. It had to struggle. I think the only films that happen right away are if you do your comedy, do your action film, that’s what happens right away.

Director: Philip Zlotorynski
Writer:Chris Gore (screenplay), Adam Schwartz
Cast: Paget Brewster, Neil Barton, Eric Hoffman, Darren Reiher, Ashley Head, Brian Krow, Neil Hopkins, Rob Schrab
Release: Fall 2005
Synopsis: “My Big Fat Independent Movie” is a spoof along the lines of “Scary Movie” and “Not Another Teen Movie.” It includes parodies of some of the indie film world’s most renowned movies such as “Memento,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Magnolia,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Amelie,” “Run Lola Run,” “El Mariachi,” “The Good Girl,” “Pi,” “Swingers” and many others.

Prognosis: Positive. Of all the “First off” and “Before I begin” statements I could make, none could make me happier than saying that I love seeing the red banner trailer notice. There’s always an air of dangerousness about it because someone made the conscious choice to say, “You know, we could do it the way these people want us to make it…” but then go about how they want it done. Be it good, bad, sleazy or dirty, with regard to how well it turns out, you just have to respect the decision, you know?

With that said, the trailer’s damn sweet.

The slippery thing about starting a film with scads of WINNER/OFFICIAL SELECTION wreaths is that since this is a comedy and the voiceover is this jaunty man who begins his spiel with the words “Once in a great while” you’re almost inclined to disregard the display as the first of many jokes. This is perhaps the only point that needs clarification: this part of the trailer is the serious bit. A little research finds out that this flick HAS garnered all that attention and adulation legitimately. This is the one and the only time when the trailer takes anything seriously and so we now return you to the regularly scheduled R-Banner trailer.

You know I wish I wouldn’t say this and if I was really trying to be cool I wouldn’t but I love that things start off with Pauly Shore. I am a drunken fan of IN THE ARMY NOW and that bazooka scene at the end of the flick just ties together the simpleton narrative of the movie so nicely. That’s why I appreciate when we see Pauly getting annihilated by the very same extender bazooka. I may have lost all cred in the world with this paragraph but I can’t deny what’s funny to me.

Some of the confusion I felt at the first incarnation of this trailer when I reviewed it last year (!) was that I really didn’t have an idea of where this story was going. Sure, I understood that we had all these parodies but a parody does not a movie make. That’s why I was so pleased to see the goofing on SWINGERS which takes place. Not only does it profane the hip Daddy-O linguistics which the original flick embraced but I am finally getting somewhere with the story.

What’s more is that convention is being spoofed here and not so much just the emblems of the independent era. To put it another way, what movies like NAKED GUN did was just to be absurd for absurd’s sake. What this trailer is doing, with every subsequent goof, be that PULP FICTION or THE GOOD GIRL, is to make light of the story mechanics that pervaded all these movies.

That’s not to say, though, that there isn’t a good laugh to have here. There are lots to point an index finger at while laughing. I particularly enjoyed the meeting between AIMILE and our hero from DESPERADO. The quick exchange between our two protagonists, before one is dispensed with in a most marvelous fashion, is worth watching just for this.

The special effects that are employed throughout this trailer, though, are understandably low budget. The explosions and gun fire which punctuate a lot of this trailer look independent in nature but that its charm.

What you have here is a movie, which is understandably independent, and, instead of going the route of most every first-year film student, the movie looks to capitalize on the more eye-rolling conventions of the independent landscape.

Also, and I don’t want to go too far without noting this, you can never go wrong with lesbians in lingerie. Hell, I enjoyed it and even though those two women on the screen couldn’t be more hetro you throw a snippet like that in a trailer because you know what kind of reaction it will get, from the one segment of audience who you know will gobble that up like a bowl full of kibble.

And Clint Howard. How can you go wrong with a character actor like Slinky whose performance in TANGO AND CASH was so egregiously overlooked by the Academy.

In all, this trailer fires on the right notes and does what it is supposed to do. With subjectivity looming large over the heads of anyone trying to thumb what will play with the greatest amounts of people I can reasonably say that an orgy scene with more chicks in their underwear and depicts a midget getting all up in it with someone trying to ascribe the proper PC designation for him is perhaps the best way to end things.

I just wish this flick finally would come out before its material gets too old for its own good. Weird Al Yankovik understood the timeliness of a good parody and I hope this one does as well.

Director: Rupert Wainwright
Cast: Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, Rade Sherbedgia, Selma Blair
Release: October 14, 2005
Synopsis: Exactly one hundred years ago, off the rocky shore of an isolated Northern California town, a ship of lepers was horribly wrecked in an eerie fog when the founders of the town purposefully misguided the ship, dooming everyone aboard. Now, tonight, the ghosts of the long-dead mariners have returned from their watery graves to exact revenge. Shrouded within a supernatural fog, the ghosts trap the residents of the remote community, intent on seeking out the descendents of those who founded the town…and killing anyone who stands in their murderous path.

Prognosis: Positive. Alright, everyone get it out of your system.

Scream out loudly about how it’s such in poor taste and how it’s so lazy that someone’s decided to remake John Carpenter’s classic in a shameless attempt at cashing in on a property like this. How it’s such a bad idea to tinker with something that should’ve been left alone. Now, I understand where the initial defiance comes from but the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake of last year should’ve been a good sign to a lot of purists out there that there can be solid reinventions of movies that many cultists revere.

After seeing this trailer, though, I have to admit that the rest of you can scream all you like but I think I may have to miss the protest in favor of seeing Maggie Grace walk around in her Victoria Secrets. Honestly, this really looks like a grand day out.

From the moment the trailer opens, and I am thankful, thankful, there isn’t a voiceover involved, the trailer takes its time. We get established early on with the place we’re talking about and the threat of what’s about to come.

The little man who is stationed at his radar, and you’ve got to give it up to all those bit actors who are the ones who sit at the radar screens, the one who tells everyone else about the impending doom (Consult for further reference: the guy from INDEPENDENCE DAY, the guy from TOP GUN, the dudes from THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER and CRIMSON TIDE, all sweaty from their time at the controls), informs who is probably going to be the first victim: Selma Blair. She looks like a late night disc jockey who questions why the fog bank that’s coming towards their sleepy little hollow of an island is doing just that. I mean, she’s a disc jockey. Hell, I wouldn’t know that fog doesn’t roll in. You could tell me that fog spontaneously appears wherever it wants and I’m pretty sure I’d believe you. But, whatever, she’s voicing the reason that causes us all to stir in our collective Underroos.

We get a little late night wind chime action to show how the wind’s picking up (Ooo…how spooky! Wind chimes!) and some fog outside a four pane window; I have to admit that the later is creepier than all shit as I get flashbacks from SALEM’S LOT. That scratching on the window from those two brothers who turn into vampires still scares the hell out of me.

From here Superboy and Maggie Grace, the two of them looking indelibly lost from an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog shoot, stir from their late night sleep. Maggie has a vision in her sleep; it looks like sunny pond water and algae but it wakes her up, scares her.

Flash to Selma driving home, still at night, and the fog forces her to stop her car. She can’t understand the fog’s appearance. As she’s wondering and hoping to her God to get out of it, her beater is slammed into by a semi (isn’t that always the way?) and it’s really sweet. The effect is nicely done as she’s jettisoned into a deep body of water and her panicky cries for help are just faded to black as Superboy, Maggie and a little kid, one you know won’t be killed (and what gives little kids the right in movies to stay alive? I was, and still am, pissed that Jason didn’t get to whack at least one in Part 6: Jason Lives.), wander the empty streets, Superboy knowing full well that the fog has already killed some people. How does he know that? Dunno, but we’re quickly hurried to our requisite crazy priest who asks that Maggie get herself off the island quickly. He looks like he, himself, has been hitting the blood of Jesus a little too much but when Maggie seems unconvinced I would have to agree.

And after we see a brother get it (Is that always the way in horror movies? Robert Townsend got that right a long time ago.) and even a kid seems in danger, we get it.

Maggie Walking around in her skivvies. Yes, while I have to admit it’s wholeheartedly needless and out of place and sexist and only proves that we live in a world where physicality and objectification of women’s bodies is still alive and well, I do also say it works. Shame on me, yes, but damn, that’s hot.

The doling out of the money shots work well, too, as there really does seem like a lot of work went into creating an experience that is at the same time enjoyable and a bit on the spooky side. Now, using the remake of Kevin Dillion’s THE BLOB as a point of reference, the genre of making films that all take place in the nighttime is a small but complex genre. You have to find ways of using the dark to your advantage as there is really only so many ways your DP can help light “dark” but when remaking something like this you not only have to execute the retelling really well you have to also come correct with a new way of envisioning a single tone.

The parting shot of a victim to the spooky fog, all frozen-like and mummified, is a good one and I hope it’s only prelude to some genuine thrills. The remake to THE BLOB wasn’t very entertaining but I hope Superboy and Maggie can add something that Drama couldn’t.

Director: Lexi Alexander
Cast: Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren , Leo Gregory
Release: September 9, 2005 (Limited)
Synopsis: A wrongfully expelled Harvard undergrad moves to London, where he is introduced to the violent undeworld of soccer hooliganism.

Prognosis: Positive. Favorite deranged character from a modestly budgeted film which launched the career of a virtual unknown into the stratosphere of big films and even bigger flops? That’s tough but I would have to go with Begbie from TRAINSPOTTING.

One of the things I liked about Robert Carlyle’s performance as the kind of sod who should have been tossed on his ass by his mates was that he was crazy insane and no one seemed to mind. The part where he tosses his pint glass over his shoulder and nonchalantly couldn’t have cared less about its trajectory? Pure class. I still find that moment one of the best ever captured on film. Ok, not the best but it sure is funny.

That brings us to this little film with Elijah “Homoerotic or Homosocial, You Figure It Out College Boy” Wood. You can tell immediately that the production value isn’t LORD OF THE RINGS but it’s nice to see him again after his very solid, very awesomely executed role in ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Elijah thankfully takes the voiceover reigns on this one as he explains who he is and why he’s in the UK; he was kicked out of Harvard, for reasons we’re not given, but he’s there and he’s looking to go to a proper football match.

Now, his host, who is sharply dressed, bribes a member (maybe?) of the family to take Elijah to a game but the near skinhead objects about bringing a Yank to a match. Here’s where things get interesting. The reluctant tour guide has a little go at our diminutive envoy from the US. They’re play fighting, again for reasons which we’re not given, and Elijah is even kicked to which he responds that was the 1st fight he’s ever been in. He seems amused by this admission and our surly chaperone obviously points out that was no fight.

It’s game day and pints of beer, hopefully Guinness, are clinked together in a celebratory fashion. Everything about this scene in the pub denotes certain edginess. You’re not quite on even ground with the way things are going but you can see that things are going to get rough.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for the thugs in this football pep squad to devolve into a horde of ass kicking troglodytes. It’s awesome. Elijah protests ever so subtly that the dozen or so dudes who are swaggering in their general direction are probably going to start some shit. His minder doesn’t care and even yells at him to stand his ground.

Elijah comes correct as he swings his fists and just lets loose into the crowd. Here we were, thinking our boy was the innocent one, as the skullduggery just proves us wrong. He just melts into the fabric of his new crew and he takes part in their wanton, destructive acts and even tattoos his allegiance to these people into his chest.

The rest of the trailer drops some notable notables from a few publications, giving this movie some unneeded pimping as the product here sells itself to the right consumer. You’ve got a nice electronic beat behind everything, some violence mixed in for piquant of shock value and the lure that Elijah may take these things way too far by the end of the film.

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