I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.
Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp
NOTE BENE, MUY IMPORTANTE
For those of you missing what I used to do every single week here inside the Trailer Park need to look no further than the new writing space/temporary housing at Slash Film.com’s This Week In Trailers. They have been more than gracious in letting me speak to their audience as I still spend time here with my other many projects which seem to consist of giving away free screenings, free DVDs and bringing you interviews with some fairly interesting people.
I do hope you check me out over there every Friday, as I do here, and I hope to be a parent who tries to keep their children wondering whether they’re their favorite.
I love you all equally…
COUPLES RETREAT – SCREENING
I know, it’s been some time since I’ve had a screening around these parts. Well, I am delighted to say that there are finally some that I will be able to invite all my readers in Arizona (the 1 of you) to attend.
This screening, however, is for the new film COUPLES RETREAT starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman and Jon Favreau, all three of which represent a potential of great comedy. Bateman is a great choice solely for his output as of late. There is great promise here so if you want to see it, shoot me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll get you entered to win.
The screening is happening this October 6th at 7 PM at Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, Arizona. Hope to see you there…
Description of film below:
Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love star in Universal Pictures’ upcoming comedy Couples Retreat. The comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resort’s couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. What follows is a hilarious look at real world problems faced by all couples. The film also stars Kali Hawk and Jean Reno.
30 Rock, Season 3 DVD Giveaway
It took me a while to get into 30 Rock.
I think I have become so used to formulaic comedies on major network television that I didn’t know how to respond to its writing, its language. For those of you who are already hooked on this program know that there is a reason it has been nominated in so many different ways for an Emmy.
If you’re looking to add this to your collection and don’t have the scratch to get yourself a copy shoot me an e-mail to Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and you’ll get entered into a drawing for the fill season on DVD. For those looking to get an idea of what happened this season read the DVD description:
Warning: The third season of 30 Rock may cause fits of “lizzing” (an elevated state of hilarity that involves laughter plus whizzing) with its brilliantly loopy word play, “what the what” situations, and deft turns by a stellar roster of A-list guest stars. Liz Lemon (Emmy-winning geek goddess Tina Fey) trying to avoid jury duty by dressing as Princess Leia? Jenna (Jane Krakowski) starring in a biopic about Janis Joplin (or Jackie Jomp-Jomp due to rights complications that forbid use of Joplin’s name and music)? Steve Martin as a fabulously wealthy agoraphobe? I want to go to there! This season, Liz increasingly yearns for a normal life outside of the demands of her sanity-testing job as head writer of TGS, a Saturday Night Live-esque comedy show. Happiness will find Liz, but not before two hilariously doomed relationships, one with a little person (guest star Peter Dinklage), whom she initially mistakes for a child, and the other with a neighbor (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm) who doesn’t realize people have allowed him to skate through life because of his impossibly good looks. She also has a rude awakening when she joins a group of Ladies who Lunch while on forced administrative leave. Her friendship with Master of the Universe mentor Jack Donaghy (indispensable Emmy-winner Alec Baldwin) is the series’ endearing sweet spot
30 Rock is unlike any other workplace comedy on television. Dancing to its own comic rhythms, the series takes great delight in tweaking sitcom clichés and conventions. In “The Bubble,” the scene is set for a montage of Id-driven Tracy Jordan’s (Tracy Morgan) wackiest moments on the show. Instead, Liz dreamily reflects, “I’m thinking of some of them right now.” Family Guy’s got nothing on 30 Rock when it comes to the surreal arbitrary gag, as when naive NBC page Kenneth (Jack McBreyer) realizes he is being sexually harassed by a Miss Vierra (Meredith from The Today Show), or when sociopathic, narcissistic Jenna is taught a lesson by the writers who have banded together as the feathered Fedora-clad Pranksmen. 30 Rock makes truly inspired use of the actors, TV icons, and musicians who appear this season. In “Believe in the Stars,” Oprah Winfrey, smelling of “rose water and warm laundry,” hilariously appears as herself, kind of. In “The One with the Cast of Night Court,” Jennifer Aniston is upstaged by Harry Anderson, Markie Post, and Charles “Mac” Robinson. Salma Hayek makes for an exotic love interest for Jack in a multi-episode arc.
The season finale features Sheryl Crow, Clay Aiken, Elvis Costello (a.k.a. Declan McManus, international art thief), Adam Levine, and others brought together for a benefit to find a kidney for Jack’s long-lost father (Alan Alda). But the joy of 30 Rock is not the stars, but such brain-tickling lines as, “I watched Boston Legal nine times before I realized it wasn’t a new Star Trek,” and the charming character grace notes, like seeing the world as Kenneth does, populated by Muppets. In the season finale, Liz remarks that she figures TGS (30 Rock?) has two years left. Say it ain’t so!
Those who march to the beat a different drummer never met Power, air drummer savant.
DAVE BOYLE: Hi Chris. How are you?
CS: And to that point”¦James Lee [HEROES] is a household name in nerd circles for those who know. Did you really luck out in that sense that if you hadn’t made it when you did that James wouldn’t have been available? But maybe in the summer they get time off I would assume.
BOYLE: Hey, thanks.
BOYLE: In BIG DREAMS LITTLE TOKYO I was pretty stylish with the camera but for this time around I decided to trust the actors a little bit more and take a back seat with the style aspect of it. I did a storyboard of the movie. I blocked the actors, rehearsed the scene and my cinematographer decided where to put the camera from there. I really enjoyed working that way. It was a different way of working than Big Dreams. It was a big lesson and every movie has it’s own working style that works best to accomplish the goal that you are trying to reach.
I didn’t start watching The Office until this summer. I’m really late to this party.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: I apologize to you in advance. In doing research on this, trying to figure out how this compares to previous works I looked at your resume and it was like a scene out of SNEAKERS when they open a file and there’s nothing in it”¦
ACKER: It was really fun. I came from architecture school, so I have a strong design background as well as study in sculpture and painting and things like that. That’s why I love the animation medium because it combines all my interests together into one thing. When you see the film, I think you will see that the architecture influence on it. It’s really about world making and there is a sense of reality to this world and like the real world it’s pushed, it’s a little different. The industrial revolution was allowed to progress for 300 years and never got to digital. Always stayed in this analog space. So for me, that’s the fun stuff.
It’s just trusting the process and trusting the artist. You can’t do it all yourself. Empower and educate them in a way so they can make the right choices and solutions and understanding what the core idea is and the aesthetic that we are going with.  I think a lot of that is that I spent a lot of time as a teacher, as well. Design classes and 3D classes and it’s really about educating and empowering and playing to people’s strengths, lifting them up and giving them the best crib space and environment. So, I try to do that. As an artist myself, no artist likes to be told what to do. No one wants to paint by numbers. You are just trying to give them the creative space and give them the right direction and let them solve it. You are always going to get the best work that way. So, yea, for me it was difficult and challenging but I was always respectful to the artist to try and keep us all on the same playing field. Anyone could come in and see the film and offer criticism or suggestions. Because that’s how I did the short. I showed it to so many people and always solicited opinions and advice because you never know who is going to have a great idea. Everyone has a valid opinion.
It really is an Oppeheimer/Geppeto tale at the heart of it all. It’s about the scientist who was blinded by the pursuit of technology to create something that turned the wrong way. It ended up destroying the world and as sort of the lack act that he did as the world was collapsing was to create new creatures that was the opposite of that represent all the hope and humanity and they are vessels for soul and he sends them out after all the humans fall apart as the way of making up for the sins of his past. Much like Oppenheimer after inventing the bomb was full of regret. He knew what the thing was that he was doing, but it was that blind pursuit of technology. It’s an incredible thing, but yet a horrific thing that he made. It changed the landscape of the world. So that’s what’s at the core but the story of the rag dolls is them looking back and figuring out their father was the one who brought the world down. What does that make them and will they make the same mistake that the humans made or will they create a new world in the ashes of that.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Thank you for talking to me. I am a huge fan of your work, from the early work to the work you’ve done in the last year. How did you become involved in this picture?
BECKMAMBETOV: Has to be delicate because we are directors too. It’s kind of unique. Two directors for a movie. That’s why we were trying to be very delicate.
BECKMAMBETOV: Yes, it’s the theme of the movie. What is soul for us? Can we transfer our soul to a machine? We really trust this machine and but people can make a mistake. And the moment you push a button, you stop the process. We take a picture and then we don’t remember because we know it’s there. It’s very dangerous because it can be broken, you can lose it, and we are losing. We are losing abilities. By Googling everyday, you don’t have to learn. Because you can Google all day long and our skills, our abilities to create everyday. And we make these machines and transfer our intellectual abilities, to remember, but there is no soul. And one day the star of the movie can try and explain this. I hope it will be not so soon.
PATTON OSWALT: Hi Chris.
OSWALT: It was the act of him coming to me to do the movie that gave me confidence that I could do it. He had written such a good script. He’s such a good writer. His instincts to be there for that meant a lot to me that he thought I could pull this off. It just gave me confidence.
CS: What kind of insecurities? You’ve got, not to put you over, but as I was getting prepared I didn’t realize how rich of a resume you now have.
OSWALT: Exactly. We had no idea. We didn’t know if we would have money to complete it let alone get distribution. I looked at it like this was just something I wanted to do for myself. The rest was secondary.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: I love this movie. And it seems to be a real hit with those that have come in contact with it and I wanted to start off by talking about how close the grittiness feel the way the film looks like THE WRESTLER. It has that, I don’t want to say, dirty quality, but it’s so close to reality. Can you talk about that?
I don’t know if you are a fan of his stand up. He’s not a sports fan but understands the psychology of obsession. There’s not that big a difference is what the Giants did on 4th and goal vs. ranting about the comic book equivalent. From what I can tell Patton is a big comic book-phile, not a sports guy. I didn’t have him read for the part. I just hired him. It was something of a leap of faith. He’s such an intelligent guy. When I first met with him we had a long conversation about 70’s movies and people have different reactions to the script and people read it and think it’s a comedy. And it could have been.
SIEGEL: Sports radio is where the movie starts. Listening to sports radio, I used to listen to WFAN religiously and I still listen to sports radio but not religiously as I did back then and when you listen to it you hear these callers and you got to know them because they would call every night. And then you couldn’t help but wonder what their lives were like and where they were living. Most of those guys were the guys that populated the movies that I loved. The guys you would hear, Murray from Regal Park, or Joe from Flushing, calling on the FAN. Probably the kind of guys that wouldn’t hang out in the bar on Mean Street. They are just regular guys from outer burrow New York. So the movie is definitely a fusion of my level of listening to the radio, listening to sports radio but also these kinds of character studies that I got into when I was probably a teen-ager. It’s definitely a personal movie for me.
I really was a bad student in high school. Not horrible in the classical sense but I was absolutely a C student and I couldn’t grasp mathematical or scientific in ways that made me wonder if I was functionally retarded.
People will try and take pot shots at this series which has certainly had issues with trying to find its footing and voice but it still is trying to be something that geeks and nerds can call primetime goodness. This season finds itself marred in various storylines that seem to drag the series down a bit but it is still ballasted by its intriguing premise and the hope that they’ll actually listen to the fans who made this series last this long and get the train back on its proverbial course. There’s stuff to love and there’s stuff to, well, not love about this series but Season 3 still deserves a look see and what better offer out there today to do such a thing than with my contest to win Season 3 on DVD.
In OFFICE SPACE writer/director Mike Judge deconstructed the white collar workplace that has now become a classic in a way that some films never achieve on their own; the film has embedded itself underneath the collective experiences of those having to endure the pains of modern working life. IDIOCRACY explored the way in which our culture seems to be on a slow steady shuffle off the mortal coil of intelligent living. Who could disagree that the one of the more colorful choices of a future president of the United States was found in Terry Crews’ President Camacho? It was an honest examination of our descent into the banal, the bast and just plain stupid.
I am in love with this movie.
For those of us who love Bruce Lee’s influence on modern Asian cinema you’ve probably seen many incarnations of program in some form or another. Like an 80’s DJ who is ultimately limited by the fact that there is a finite number of tracks they can play, there seems to have been so much overlap with footage we’ve seen with regard to the man who was wickedly charismatic and destined for far more than we were given.
Some of you may know of Sun Tzu’s Art of War from its many incarnations from how it plunder’s Tzu’s theories on warfare and misappropriated them for self-help books all the way to manuals on how to get ahead in business. These derivative works are appallingly poor interpretations for what is, really, a how-to on using philosophy and intelligence to win battle.
Who here wants to win a movie?
I could stay awake for days on end watching clips from World War II.
When I bought Bobcat Goldthwait’s “Meat Bob” back in 1988 on cassette it was one the very first comedy albums I owned. I put Bobcat up there with Eddie Murphy and George Carlin but, here’s the funny part, I never bought Bob’s shtick. Yeah, he absolutely used that voice that made him famous as Zed in those POLICE ACADEMY and plundered that character for all it was worth but his comedy was brutally funny and honest. To wit, he has a bit in his set where he gives a glimpse of what it’s like to be a comedian. It’s subtle but you can hear how people’s perceptions of him shapes his comedy and it leads into a wicked joke that concerns a monkey, an alcoholic beverage and genitalia. You can hear his honesty, you can feel his true self and it’s what attracted to me to the guy’s work for over two decades.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Thanks for doing this interview. I’m going to go out on a geek limb and tell you that I dug out my cassette of Meat Bob that I’ve had since the 80’s and revisited that and your old HBO comedy special which I still had on VHS tape”¦
CS: And Robin, himself, he’s a sympathetic character. I felt downright sorry for the guy. He’s trying to make good decisions, do the right thing. Explain to me the idea of the character, the twists of the film come in later, but what launched his character. Was it Robin himself? Or was it the twist that came and you thought that would be a good premise for a movie so let’s build around that?
GOLDTHWAIT: I think it’s what we are talking about ““ the sense of entitlement and the inability that their actions affect other people. They are just exposed to everything. We are becoming a culture with no consideration of couth.
GOLDTHWAIT: There were two different companies came to me and said we were trying to make changes and I actually walked away from these two deals that were in place. They proceeded to tell people in LA that I was crazy and that the movie wasn’t going to get made but honestly it was nothing I was ashamed of. I already have plenty of that.
Ari Gold, the man who created the very funny ADVENTURES OF POWER, passed along an e-mail message to let me know that 
I’ve got some DVDs to give away. Want some?
Director: 
Once again we’ve got passes to see a sneak preview of a film that’s about to drop soon. This time it’s for the new Ang Lee film, TAKING WOODSTOCK.
I remember my first time learning what satire was in college.
This movie deserves a place.
I would remiss if I didn’t mention the untimely passing of John Hughes.
Bernie Madoff.
Those looking for love won’t ever find it and those who don’t believe it exists never had a child who dotes on them. It’s a slippery thing, love, when you think about the way it finds some and the way it ignores others. Growing up, I was enchanted by films like ONE CRAZY SUMMER and BETTER OFF DEAD by director Savage Steve Holland or the suite of films from John Hughes where characters were placed into every embarrassing situation as it pertains to the courting rituals of the modern American teen. As you head into older age, it would follow, should “love” be as elusive as it was during the awkward years of prepubescence you would start developing the jagged edges of those burnt-out on bad relationships while developing an acute distaste for all things sweet and lovey-dovey.
JASENOVEC: It made sense because she performs all around Los Angeles and is comfortable on stage and everything. She’s really funny and charming and she has a unique comedic voice so it just made sense. A lot of our favorite documentaries always feature the document writer on camera in the primary role and once I found out how she felt about love I thought the audience should really experience the journey through her eyes. Because she had these specific feelings and that’s what drives the film. So once we decided that we started working on the idea and came up with the sort of scripted story line to tie everything together and give the story some sort of arch for Charlene and just for story line.
CS: Now that begs the question, when you had about 300 hours footage and you said, “OK, we have 300 hours and we need to make a movie that’s 90 minutes and change.” Where do you start? Obviously you start with your story.
CS: Does it help that you guys did this independently?
I have some wonderful giveaways since leaving all of you for Comic-Con.
Again, this movie = missed boat for me. I was a big fan of the silliness that was THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and could not have dug the loud and flashy film even more than I did. What had started as a curious indulgence has now come full circle as Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are back again to show how “teh” awesome their whips are.
Honestly, if I have to explain this one you don’t deserve to have it in your collection.
I would harpoon anyone who has anything short of great praise for this film. Henry Selick really is one of those masters of his craft who has taken a style of animation like stop-motion and turned it into an art form of which he’s in a small group of those who can turn lifeless figures into breathing individuals that just happen not to be real. Toss on the fact that this edition includes glasses so you can enjoy the immerse experience at home and you’ve got yourself a sale. On that note, I have a few copies to give away to those who want to see the film that should have received more love at the box office this year. Send me an e-mail and I’ll enter you in the drawing.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: I’m fascinated from top to bottom with your ideas and what you are thinking about where we are going with our free culture. Could you tell me how this book germinated for you? How it came about?
ANDERSON: Yes and this is not a theory and The Long Tail is not a theory. Obviously, The Long Tail existed before my book and the free economy existed before my book. It’s simply a framework to simply explain why it works and how it came to be and where it’s going. So there are no testable theories for free. There is the existence proof all around us. The book largely explains why the free economy came to be and it’s not based on somebody’s philosophical position, more based on the law of gravity in the digital market. And then it focuses on how to make money around that, the sort of paradox that people have a hard time getting their head around that you can make money around free, which those of us in the media business shouldn’t be surprised at all. Radio is free. Television is free. I’m standing here on a street corner looking at boxes of free weekly newspapers, so nothing new about making money around free in the media business but people beyond the media are sort of stunned that it might work, that it’s crazy and silly.
CS: Are you finding more advertisers more receptive to online advertising insofar that there is something more tangible that people are getting, that there’s an ROI where you can at least prove people are seeing it, people are clicking and acting with it. 
CS: Do you make a distinction, is it semantic – I’m just spittballing here – is it semantic when people talk about piracy vs. it being out there for people to consume – you should be in trouble if you think about touching that free product that’s out there? I don’t know how to put it in words, but is there a difference between piracy and let’s say an album is out there and I take it, is it bad and should I go to jail for it because it was out there to begin with? Who’s to blame?
So, wi-fi sucks and so does every hotspot that wants a 10 spot to log on to their already crappy service. Before heading out for my Friday activities (1:1s with a mess off great people and panels that I hope are worth waiting for) I wanted to let you know that you can follow my stream of consciousness through my Twitter strteam: STIPP. Some of the highlights from yesterday include:
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.
So, who’s going next week? I know many of you are planning to descend on the land that is known for its temperate climate and willingness to let hoards of geeks and nerds pick apart San Diego in a frenzy that only would have heightened my sense of geekery had I started attending when I was 13.
Many of you in Phoenix and beyond who have been hitting me up for screening passes have been just great in showing up and enjoying these films. Since the response has been so good on my end in getting these tickets out to those who love a good free film I once again have passes to see a sneak preview.
When I last reported on this site, I happen to mention I would finish up my take on a few other gems from the Phoenix Film Festival. I find it sad that so many turds have made their way to the screen with marketing budgets that nearly rival the film itself while smaller and vastly more entertaining fare has been virtually ignored. I guess it’s the way of the business ““ a fine female body draped over a motorcycle and nondescript machinery plowing into one another over a down-to-earth story that could actually makes us feel human again.
Believe me, the irony of talking to Jeremy Renner of THE HURT LOCKER in a restaurant that was located right next to an armed forces recruiting station was not lost on me.
CS: Mark Boal helped write this film. He’s phenomenal at removing the political elements by simply focusing on characters. With the flood of war movies that have come out his have stood out because he’s able to separate that. When you first got the script and met with Mark, did he break it down and tell you that he wanted this film to be specifically about these guys and their job and not focus on the ancillary aspects?
CS: So what is it about your character? You see these movies where you have the maverick ““ the “You’re out of line, soldier!” cliche ““ it sort of begins that way because you want to sleep with unbarricaded windows where the mortars might come in, but there’s that moment, that sniper moment, which was not only genuine but it was heartfelt. How important was that to you to show that sort of swagger but then show that element of, “I’m here because I really want to make a difference and I want to protect my crew as well?” How hard was it to strike that balance?
CS: And I’m glad you fought for that little nuance with him collecting the little bomb parts. These were brilliant choices and if you had a say in keeping that in, I think it’s important. It’s who he is and who he wants to be.  And it’s interesting towards the end where you save the life of Owen and shoot him accidentally and he says are you doing it because it’s a thrill for you and it is hard to try and reconcile that it wasn’t.
CS:Â I would have figured the character for some Nine Inch Nails.
One of the things that instantly sprang to mind this past week when the first ever pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick with their new brood hit the public hungry for celebrity photos wasn’t that here was a gorgeous family. No, my first reaction was, “When did Ferris Bueller start sporting mutton chops and a swooping, graying bob of a haircut that makes him look like an extra in a stage production of The Pirates of Penzance?”
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Where to begin? It’s probably best to start where you and everyone else came together to want to do this.
CS: When you first started rolling tape and you don’t have a real thesis in mind other than to find out the cultural impact of John Hughes, what were you finding in your dailies and going back finding out what people were saying, were there any surprises when you started to take a look at the footage?
CS: That aside, about whether or not you talk to him and whether or not you had any conversation with him, what were some of the thoughts and reflections on some of the people you talked to as to why he made all these really rock solid films and then just pulled a J.D. Salinger?
FACCIOLO: And you know, he was a writer. Before he was a director I think his true talent was in writing, and as director Howard Deutch said, he directed to protect the writing a lot of the time.
HOLLEND: It’s a combination ““ the setting, the costumes, the characters, the writing, the directing.
Girl Talk is without question one of the more progressive musical artists of the 21st century and it’s an abomination that current laws prohibit this man from fully realizing his potential.
Watching PUBLIC ENEMIES last week put me in the mood to take advantage of watching a series that out some reality back into my television watching.
The very thing that makes PUBLIC ENEMIES a fresh entry into the summer movie dogfight is its Achilles heel.
I remember seeing 
I am reminded, every so often, of Frances ‘Chainsaw’ Gremp from SUMMER SCHOOL. You may recall, from this paragon of a film, that Frances had sunglasses that were constantly breaking. So, with a little prodding from Shoop Frances rattled off a missive to Cool Dudes Sunglasses to let them know how he felt. At the end of the letter writing campaign, and many pairs of free sunglasses later, Frances exclaims, “Power of the pen!”
TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN – Review
I know, it sucks when you don’t live in New York or LA.
No, I haven’t been able to see this documentary about all the lovely things that go into making our meals but word’s been good for this movie and now you can feel free to talk directly to the director himself. Now, I’m still on the fence about how “interviews” on Twitter can be effective but if any of you give this a whirl and find it useful please let me know. The information for this follows below…
There’s a moment in the movie when you realize that basing a review on its actual mechanics would be a fish/barrel situation.
So, is it bad that I hope this is the real summer movie that Christian Bale is in?
It’s nice that my parents finally have a summer movie to call their own.
Ed Helms brings a unique flavor to the funny served up in THE HANGOVER.
HELMS: OK, so the tooth is totally real in the movie. I actually have an implant here that I got when I was about 15. It’s been there for about 20 years and when we were discussing how to make the tooth look like it was gone, we tried to black it out, we did some camera tests and then they made a prosthetic for me but it made me look like a donkey so there was no way we were doing that. Then I just thought “Hey, why don’t I just ask my dentist what’s the deal with this?” and he said, “Yeah, I think we can actually do that safely.” So we took the tooth out for three months and I had a removable tooth for those three months and now that the movie wrapped it went right back in and this is the new one and it’s permanent again.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: I think the very last one. You mentioned it last night.
Like when we come back to the hotel after Mr. Chow beats us up with the crowbar and we get to the door of the hotel room and Zach goes what about the tiger? And Brad is like, “Oh yeah, the tiger.” And I say “I wonder why” or something like that and then Zach goes, “That’s one of the side effects of herpes, you forget things.” Brad says “I keep forgetting about the tiger, how did the tiger get in there” and I look at Zach and go, “I don’t know, I don’t remember. ” Doesn’t pick up on it, just “Yeah, one of the side effects of herpes” and I go “You are literally too stupid to insult” and he goes, “Thank you””¦just completely straight. We must have done that about 15 times and always different with different riffs and tangents but over a series of takes, Todd would say “Take that out” or “Do this” and our own discretion would filter in and we wound up with a really quick little exchange that has a couple of great beats in it. So, that’s a little bit about the process.
Q: In 100 words or less describe Heather Graham’s kiss.
It was really cool because in Chicago the impov and standup worlds are very competitive and separate. It’s a different world. In New York they just reinforced each other in a really cool way in a symbiotic kind of relationship between the improve world and the standup world. The UCB was hosting standup shows at their theatre and I just worked my way up and took all the classes and I joined a team there so I could perform regularly. The improve training, as great as UCB is I don’t think anyone has a monopoly on these ideas but I did happen to learn at UCB about being incredibly present in the scene or as an actor listening to the other actors in the scene because that’s what improve is all about. They hammer it into you. It’s almost like a weird ““ something bigger than the individual ““ an energy ““ a good energy ““ a good improve scene is bigger than anyone in it. Something happening that everyone is contributing to. It’s like jazz. People make that analogy a lot. Good jazz is everyone doing their own thing and putting a little spice and flavor in places and creating something that no one could have created by themselves.
THE HANGOVER – Review
DR. WHO? 
DRAG ME TO HELL – REVIEW
And now, you can follow me on Twitter under the name: 
There absolutely shouldn’t have been any blessing given from James Cameron with regard to TERMINATOR SALVATION. The only religious intonations given over this movie should have been its last rites.
Have any of you ever sat in wonderment at a cartoon?
One of the most strange and wonderfully enrapturing series to air this year has to be Modern Toss. The best way to explain this show to someone who has never before come near its beauty is imagine a live action and animated program that uses foul language in ways that are not only creative but wicked, toss in a British sensibility, some strange series regulars, weird premises and wrap it all in laughter. What you come up with is Modern Toss, a program, 
CS: Where did this begin? Where did the real genesis for Modern Toss come from?
CS: And then from there, one of my favorites is Alan, who doesn’t say hardly anything but where did he come from?
CS: And now you just released the newest comic, Volume 5?
I think people like him is because he does what he wants. He’s got a good attitude for work. It would take like an English plumber to get some of the jokes.
Let me queue you in, I have never been a documentary fan, although I have been more open-minded to them of late. I think I was originally turned off to any educational media at an early age with a combination of far too many viewings of “Mr. Wizard” (a kid’s science show in the late 50s and 60s) and Disney’s “Jiminy Cricket” children’s educational show, “I’m No Fool” ““ the 16mm reel still endlessly rattles in the back of my head. Much later in life I was to discover that documentaries could be as powerful and more effective than the average cinematic experience with my first viewing of 1978’s “Scared Straight!” a group of cocky juvenile delinquents (Are there any other kind?) spend a no holds barred day with actual convicts ““ “Oh Bubba, I’m too young to be somebody’s bitch.” Fast forward to this year’s crop of fine documentaries at PFF. What a pleasant surprise had by all. It was no easy feat picking “Best Documentary”. It eventually came down to a couple of emotionally powerful one-two punches, “The Way We Get By” and “Shooting Beauty”.
As mentioned before, I am not taking anything away from the winner, but the later film, “Shooting Beauty” goes beyond the call of duty as a documentary and as a film in general. There are few times in cinema history that one is swept away with a wave of emotions and taken on a journey that is so unique, the experience sets it apart from the rest. The films that come to mind; “Elephant Man” “Cinema Paradiso” “Life is Beautiful” and dare I say, “E.T.” (Set aside the crass commercialism that accompanied it) These are films that are to be experienced and not just seen with a bag of popcorn and soda. They put us through a meaningful emotional journey and that is exactly what “Shooting Beauty” does with one exception ““ it is not scripted. Director George Kachadorian and his partner/wife, Courtney Bent beautifully captures the human drama (and comedy) of their tale of triumph of the human spirit, unconquerable by adversity.