PLUME: Are you looking forward to reprising the role in two more films?

OZ: Oh yeah. I said to George, “I’m there” and he plans to bring him (Yoda) back. If he brings him back in CGI…and I just do the voice…that’s okay too.

OZ: How did he first get involved with John Landis?

OZ: John was a fan of Grover on Sesame Street and, while doing The Muppet Movie, Jim and I became friendly with him and went over to his house. John and I have become friends.

PLUME: Have more acting roles come up?

OZ: Not yet – not lately. I asked John if he’d be in my movie, and he asked me if I’d be in his movies – just for fun. But it hasn’t happened for awhile.

PLUME: How do you think the Internet has changed the ways you promote and protect a film project?

OZ: I don’t know about protection. I’m not that smart. I can’t speak of that.

PLUME: Do you feel more nervous about a sneak showing of early rough cuts because of sites like AICN (Aint It Cool News)?

OZ: Yeah. I think that’s really shitty. It’s like saying to a writer, “Okay, I want to see your first draft,” and then criticizing the first draft when you have 18 more drafts go. It’s bullshit.

I think it’s unfortunate because the Internet has become so powerful…and is becoming even more powerful…that it has a bearing on how the film is marketed, how much money is put into a movie, and it has a bearing on how the executives feel and how the actors feel.

I think it’s really shitty that people make judgements on a movie that’s not finished. For crying out loud, wait until we’re ready to present it to you! That’s all. Unfortunately, for some reason, people feel that they’re able to comment on movies before they’re finished. It’s crazy. You’ve got to give the artist the opportunity to finish his f***ing work. You can’t all of a sudden say to a painter who’s just drawn the pencil sketch, “I don’t like that. There’s not enough color.” Well, I haven’t put the color in yet!

It’s really shitty. These people have no idea what the post-production process can do to a movie.

PLUME: And it’s also based on large part on the personal opinion of the reviewer…

OZ: Of course. And also – the audience on that particular night, and also how much this one person who writes on the Internet wants to be self-aggrandizing. It’s a clich?, but hey, everybody’s a critic.

PLUME: There are also people who hate something for the sake of saying they hated it…

OZ: Exactly, and that’s why I don’t work with focus groups. Because the truth is, after you see a movie, a focus group is asked, “What are your favorite characters?”, “What do you like about this,” “What do you like about that,” and they’re forced into becoming a critic. Normally you wouldn’t be asked those questions, because usually when you leave a movie…and you’re there with your date…or your wife…or whatever…you say, “How’d you like it?” That’s it.

That’s why I listen to focus groups kind of like a wash. If there’s one thing that comes out of the focus groups that everybody kind of intuitively feels, I’ll listen to that, but that’s it. Nothing else. I’ve got to go by the seat of my pants in the long run.

PLUME: Do you think that gut-instinct, seat-of-you-pants attitude has been lost in most films today because of focus groups?

OZ: I can’t speak for other films. I know the way I do previews, I don’t allow that to happen. I can’t. I’ll listen to cards if, again, if the cards react in the same intuitive way I did. They can guide you in certain things and occasionally can be helpful, but in the long run, it’s the seat of your pants.

When you sit in the audience and it’s the ebb, flow, and rhythm of the laughter and the feelings and the coughing. That’s what it’s about to me.

PLUME: What can you tell me about your next film, “The Score”? It sounds like a bit of a departure for you.

OZ: Right now we have Robert De Niro and probably Edward Norton and we’re working on the script. Basically, it’s a change of pace for me. It’s a film about an older thief being blackmailed into doing a heist by a younger thief.

PLUME: Would you describe it as a drama, or a comedy or a dramedy?<

OZ: It’s not a comedy or a dramedy at all, there’s no humor in it. If there’s any humor at all, it’s only by natural human interaction. It’s a definite drama. A thriller/drama/heist movie kind of a thing.

PLUME: So definitely a departure for you…

OZ: Oh definitely, yeah.

PLUME: Something you’re looking forward to?

OZ: Oh yeah, I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. I’m in a very good position. I haven’t f***ed-up comedies yet, so I keep getting the best comedy scripts. But I haven’t gotten the best opportunities in drama yet, and now here’s an opportunity to do something where I think the bones are really terrific, and now we just have to flesh it out with more writing.

PLUME: And it’s a good way to expand your range as well?

OZ: Yeah, I mean I love mashed potatoes like I do comedy, but I don’t want to eat mashed potatoes every day of my life. I look forward to going back to comedies, like I look forward to hopefully doing the next Muppet movie – then going back to another comedy. But you want to have a career like Billy Wilder…who went from comedy to Lost Weekend…just all over the place. That’s what you want to do, and have fun.

PLUME: How does it feel to realize that you have a hand (quite literally) in three American institutions (Sesame, Muppets, Star Wars)?

OZ: I don’t know – I guess it’s a proud feeling. I don’t think about it very much. Now that you bring it up – if I even thought of it, it’s a proud feeling. There’s a pride there that I was a party to that. Of course, I am only one of many who are a party to all those things – but I’m proud of my part.

(continued below…)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Comments: None