Cinematical

Emily Mortimer, 36, first popped onto the radar as Hugh Grant's only decent bind date in Notting Hill (1999). She couldn't compare with movie star Julia Roberts, but she had a cute, unassuming quality; she could grow on you. And she grew on moviegoers throughout the rest of the decade, in Wes Craven's Scream 3 (2000), Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things (2003), Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) and David Mamet's recent Redbelt, as well as switch-hitting between oddities like The Pink Panther and Lars and the Real Girl. If she once had a sweet, shy quality, she eventually shattered it by appearing naked -- and hugely vulnerable -- in Nicole Holofcener's Lovely & Amazing and brandishing a big gun and an even bigger attitude in Ronny Yu's Formula 51. Her role in Brad Anderson's new thriller Transsiberian -- co-starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley -- draws on all that experience. She plays Jessie, a former bad girl now doubtfully married to a church-going, happy-go-lucky train nut. After a peace mission in China, they take the title train and wind up entrenched in drugs, murder and other unforeseen troubles. The charming Ms. Mortimer recently spoke to Cinematical in an all-too-brief, yet enjoyable phone conversation.

Speaking with the press in Beverly Hills, Guillermo del Toro casually tossed off a line that sums up the spirit of his most recent film, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and the tone he and his cast achieved: "When you go see a movie called "Hellboy," already there's an implicit, assumed certain sense of goofiness; you have to then say 'Look, we know we're pulpy, we know we're different, but we take ourselves seriously, and we want to entertain." Mike (Mignola, creator of the Hellboy comics) said it: He's not the Hell Knight, he's not the Hell Spawn, he's not the Hell Lord, he's the Hellboy. ... "

Much of the pleasure in the Hellboy series comes from the mesh and mix of the sensibilities of del Toro and Hellboy's creator Mike Mignola; I asked del Toro about the challenge of adapting someone else's material. How much of it is a struggle, and how much of it is a pleasure, to find ways to make someone else's creation yours? "I said in the past that, obviously, no matter how respectful you are of the material there's a moment ... I made the analogy that it's like marrying a widow; you have to be very respectful about the late husband, but at some point, you're going to get in bed, and the late husband is not gonna matter anymore, or it better not. And I think it's the same with material; there's a point where you go "I have only my instincts to guide me through this section ..." But, it's co-exploring. In the case of Hellboy, I've been blessed with a guy like Mike (Mignola), who is the most generous landlord of the Hellboy real estate; he says, essentially, move in, decorate as you want and make it yours."

The world changed on September 11, but Austin Chick's second film, August, focuses on the moments right beforehand. Starring Josh Hartnett as a young start-up entrepreneur deluded by power trips, the movie moves along with a subtle pace, letting the natural drama emerge from a situation about to veer out of the control with the crash of the stock market. Chick's first feature, XX/XY, explored a three-way relationship; August, which opens in New York on Friday, explores the relationship between money and power during a key time in American history. Supporting performances from Rip Torn and David Bowie elevate the movie, while Howard A. Rodman's script keeps its conceits in check. Chick spoke with Cinematical about envisioning August's themes and working with his talented cast.

Cinematical: The film uses a very specific setting -- August 2001 -- immediately before 9/11. What interested you about that time?

Austin Chick: It captures a moment on the eve of change. If Howard (Rodman) and I were to move it to any other time, we would probably move it further back. The market really started crashing about eighteen months prior to when the movie is set. But I feel like there was still a certain amount of momentum in New York up until 9/11, this sense that things were going to turn around. The market had completely crashed, but there was still this crazy sense of decadence. All that really changed with 9/11.

Speaking with Cinematical in Los Angeles, director and writer Guillermo del Toro was enthused and excited to talk about the challenges and triumphs of his latest film. "The biggest challenge (for Hellboy II: The Golden Army) was to say "Let's remain loose and interested and happy and crazier and more free in the second movie. ... And the second-biggest challenge was to make a 200-million dollar movie with 85 (million). ..." Del Toro also spoke about the film's mix of slapstick and the supernatural, the pleasures and pitfalls of practical effects and what he'd say to someone concerned that his upcoming task of directing The Hobbit would mean too much time spent away from him crafting his own unique visions for the big screen. (Warning: Brief snippets of foul language included within.)

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After an explosive entry to the cinematic world with the hard-hitting, Academy Award-winning Boys Don't Cry, Kimberly Peirce backed away from the movie spotlight. However, it wasn't a vacation. During her hiatus, she worked on a project that came to be Stop Loss, which hits DVD shelves today. Last week, Cinematical got the chance to talk to the director about the film, how she approaches filmmaking, and what her plans for the future are. It's a great discussion about how her life influences her work, and vice versa, and it's quite interesting when she discusses casting with a military metaphor.

However, her work's not done in the world of stop loss. While the movie is out to audiences, she continues to champion the soldiers suffering due to this practice. She's speaking in Washington, D.C. on the matter, and helping the cause through stoplossmovie.com -- where you can check out a collection of videos made by soldiers and their families.

After the record-breaking success of Night Watch and Day Watch (and an early film for B-movie maven Roger Corman, Arena), Khazakstan-born, Russia-based director Timur Bekmambetov makes his English-language big-studio debut with Wanted, a bruising, brawny action film starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. Bekmambetov spoke with Cinematical in Los Angeles about making the jump to big-money moviemaking, the hidden world of secrets behind Wanted's look, the action-film apprenticeship of James McAvoy, working with Angelina Jolie and how " .... we (film makers) are all vampires. ..."

Cinematical's podcast content is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

In Wanted, rapper-actor Common plays The Gunsmith -- a cool, deadly expert marksman who mostly lets his bullets do the talking. But meeting with Cinematical in Los Angeles, the veteran of films like Smokin' Aces and Street Kings is warm and obviously enthusiastic about his experiences, talking about everything from his preparation process for playing what he calls "a Samurai warrior" in Wanted to the challenges facing African-American actors -- plus what's good to drink in Prague and how holding a real gun to James McAvoy's head can get you in the moment for your scenes.

Cinematical's podcast content is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

His namesakes Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson made immediate genius debut splashes on the movie scene, but Brad Anderson, 43, has taken a slower, more indirect route, one more like the long, steady careers of John Ford and Howard Hawks. (By the way, none of these Andersons are related, and I am not related to any of them.) Brad Anderson has turned into a solid, dependable genre director, highly skilled and capable of making any kind of movie. Unlike most filmmakers today, his films are based on ideas, stories and characters rather than marketing concepts, and so they tend to hold up well past their sell-by date. So far they include the romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland (1998), the sci-fi romance Happy Accidents (2000), one of the decade's best horror films, Session 9 (2001) and the haunting The Machinist (2004).

Opening July 18, Anderson's new film Transsiberian is more like a classic thriller in the Hitchcock vein, even taking place on a train as many of Hitch's films did. Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer star as American couple Roy and Jessie, on their way back from China and taking the famous train. Ben Kingsley also stars as a Russian narcotics detective. Roy and Jessie meet a younger, traveling couple, Abby (Kate Mara) and Carlos (Eduardo Noriega), and find themselves entangled in a web of drugs and murder. Normally, the man is the hero in this type of story, but this time it's Jessie, a reformed "bad girl" making a go of it in her marriage with the simple, happy Roy (a train nut). Cinematical recently enjoyed a brief phone conversation with Mr. Anderson, and that's where we began:

Bringing TV properties to the big screen is a dicey proposition; for every success, there's a fistful of failures that didn't make the cut. (Hands up if you remember I Spy. ...) But gathered in Hollywood for a press conference, the stars and creative staff of Get Smart were relaxed and calm, fielding questions about everything from the tricky business of mocking intelligence in a post-9/11 world, what it takes to play a bad guy, and what it's like to make out with Steve Carell.

The cast was asked if they actually went back to the '60s TV show to get a sense of playing their parts; each of them had a different answer. Steve Carell explained "I didn't want to do an impersonation of Don Adams; I figured there was no way to improve upon what he had done, and I thought the more I watched of him, the more inclined I would be to do an impersonation, because he was so good, so definitive in the role; so no, I sort of backed off."

In the big-screen adaptation of the '60s TV show Get Smart, Alan Arkin takes on the role of The Chief, the spymaster originally portrayed by Edward Platt. Bold, resolute, and perpetually frustrated by the efforts and mistakes of the overly-enthusiastic Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), The Chief is an ideal part for someone with Arkin's slow-burn comedy timing, and a chance for the Oscar-winning actor to stand out in one of the biggest-budget films of Arkin's career. Cinematical spoke with Arkin in Hollywood about how he came on board the film, his long professional history of mocking the American intelligence establishment, doing his own stunts and if he'd be back for a Get Smart sequel.

Cinematical: I was reading in the press notes, which I'm never inclined to trust ...

Alan Arkin: I deny it; I never said anything like that in my life. ...

Cinematical: I read how Mr. Carell was how you got involved in the film ...

AA: I'm hearing that today for the first time; I've heard it from three people, so maybe it's true ...

In The Incredible Hulk, long-time character actor Tim Roth leaps onto summer's biggest stage as Emil Blonsky, a soldier brought in by General Ross (William Hurt) to hunt down Bruce Banner and bring him back alive. But when Blonsky learns that Banner isn't "just another fugitive," he begins to want the kind of power Banner has hidden deep within. Yet, with that power comes a very large price -- and if he's not careful enough, Blonsky could end up turning into an abomination. Cinematical managed to snag Roth for a few moments to ask him about the character and what it's like for him to be appearing in such a giant film, as well as whether he'd be down for Hulk sequels and more fun with his pal Quentin Tarantino.

Cinematical: Is it important to start the character in a very realistic fashion given the wild changes he goes through in Act III?

Tim Roth: Yeah, I think what's interesting -- and what was interesting about doing it -- was that there was a real arc to the character. He goes through many different versions of himself before he finally goes over the top in the end. So it would've been a little less intriguing for me as an actor if I had a couple of scenes in the beginning and then suddenly I'm the monster. Yeah, that would've been a little dull ... but it was really the opposite in this case, because we really got to develop the character and play around with different aspects. See him as he's becoming more addicted to this; I mean, it's kind of like the journey of a weird junkie in a way.

He goes by "Night," but it's hard to dispute his sunny disposition. Just a few minutes into a conversation with M. Night Shyamalan in a New York City hotel room yesterday, it was obvious to me that the director has managed to occupy such a unique niche in the Hollywood landscape because he's immediately likable. Of course, a little movie released in 1999 called The Sixth Sense didn't hurt, either.

After landing two Oscar nominations and international acclaim for his masterful ghost story, Shyamalan continued to market himself as a brand. Since then, the results have been mixed. Signs was an indisputable hit. Unbreakable has its supporters. Lady in the Water? Not so much. But that failure hasn't prevented the filmmaker from dealing with audacious material: His latest movie, The Happening, finds a married couple (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel) thrust into a world where people inexplicably become suicidal after getting struck by an ominous, unseen toxin. Forces of evil usually remain unseen in Shyamalan's films, and The Happening is no exception to that rule. I spoke to the 37-year-old Philadelphia resident about the personal philosophies guiding his career choices, the polarized reactions to his work, and what the future will bring.

It seems like just yesterday that the Interwebs were buzzing about the casting of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk (or as the French would say, Hulk Incroyable!).

In theaters June 13, this new Hulk movie sees Banner trying desperately to "cure" himself of the gamma radiation that unleashes the not-so-jolly green giant within, all the while struggling with his secret identity, dodging the industrial military complex, pining for his true love (Liv Tyler) and confronting a nasty enemy known as The Abomination (Tim Roth).

Who better to play such a multi-faceted Hulk than the versatile Norton, an actor who lives to play complex characters? How did he approach playing the role -- and what was his interpretation of the line "HULK SMASH!"?

You don't have to wonder -- you can ask him yourself. Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and director Louis Leterrier (known for the Transporter movies) have just agreed to huddle for Moviefone's Unscripted series, in which they'll interview each other using your questions.

You know what to do. Ask your question for any one of the three (or all three!) in the comments below, and be sure to include your first name and your city and state; then come back here on June 9 to see if your question got asked. The interview's happening on Monday, June 2 -- so submit by Monday morning, or else you'll make Hulk mad. And you wouldn't want to make him mad, would you?

I think I've made no secret elsewhere that I'm a huge Freaks and Geeks fan -- I still haven't recovered from the cancellations of this show, My So-Called Life and Sportsnight. So imagine my delight when I heard that Seth Rogen and James Franco, two of the stars of Freaks and Geeks, were reteaming for the stoner comedy The Pineapple Express, another Judd Apatow joint that's co-written by Seth Rogen.

Just like in Freaks and Geeks, Rogen and James get high ... a lot. And get up to a whole bunch of no good. It's like the high school reunion we never saw! Aside from that, obviously, Rogen's stock has been on quite a run since F&G, with his breakout starring role in last year's hit comedy Knocked Up, around which were sandwiched scene-stealing roles in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Superbad.

Franco's had success of a somewhat different sort -- his leading man roles haven't catapulted him to stardom, but he earned himself a nice chunk of change as Harry/New Goblin in the Spider-Man movies, so we're not feeling too sorry for him.

Before Pineapple Express hits theaters on August 8, Rogen and Franco will be sitting for Moviefone's Unscripted series to interview each other using your questions. Knock 'em on over here in the comments section, making sure to include your first name and the city where you live -- and the interview happens this weekend, so get those questions in by Friday, May 30.

Then mark your calendars and come back here on Monday, August 4, to see if your question got asked. Good luck. Dude.

James Toback's known for cult classics (Fingers, Black and White) and puzzling experiments (When Will I Be Loved); this year, he's at Cannes with his new documentary Tyson, focusing on the life and times of a curiously muted and repentant Mike Tyson -- which received a standing ovation when it opened the Un Certain Regard selection. James Toback spoke with Cinematical at Cannes about the genesis of the project, the challenges of dealing with Tyson as a subject instead of as a friend, and about the ongoing negotiations with his 8-year old son over a possible part in his next film.

This interview, like all of Cinematical's podcast offerings, is now available through iTunes; if you'd like, you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below: