18 months ago Dan Fogler broke the news to us about his new film DON PEYOTE. 6 months ago he gave us a little update. Last week I finally got to see it. Well, most of it. The film is currently unfinished with 10 shooting days left and a handful of special effects that need to be added. For obvious reasons, this should not be considered a review of the film.

DON PEYOTE tells the story Warren Allman (played by Fogler), an unemployed stoner who finally finds a purpose in life after an unpleasant encounter with a homeless man preaching the end is near. Fueled by vivid apocalyptic dreams, Warren becomes obsessed with 2012 doomsday theories and decides to make a documentary on the subject while his fiancé is busy planning their wedding.

The film expertly weaves together a narrative storyline, Warren’s increasingly bizarre dream sequences and documentary footage. Many of the documentary elements are real interviews with people like Daniel Pinchbeck with Fogler in character. There are also some staged interviews such as Warren interviewing his friend’s drug dealer, played perfectly by Jay Baruchel in a quick cameo. Speaking of cameos, Anne Hathaway & Wallace Shawn both pop in for funny but all too short roles.

The brilliance of the film is that no matter how ridiculous the theories are, every character plays it straight so it is up to the audience to either laugh at or embrace the ideas presented on screen. Personally, I laughed. So did most of the audience. There are some absolutely hysterical scenes starting off with the opening sequence. I cannot wait to see it with the special effects added in because it is a truly unique and hilarious way to kick off this film.

Fogler likes to call his directorial debut HYSTERICAL PYSCHO “rock n’ roll Hitchcock on acid” which is a fairly accurate description. If he wants to continue the same motif for DON PEYOTE, I’d like to suggest “rock n’ roll Woody Allen.” Hopefully things come together quickly for this film because it will be a juggernaut on the festival circuit when it is finally finished.

Until then, you can stay updated by liking the Facebook fan page HERE or following the man himself on Twitter at @MrDanFogler.

 Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

Last weekend YOUNG ADULT opened on 8 screens with a solid $40k per screen average. Today it expands to theaters nationwide. I recently attended a press junket for the film written by Diablo Cody & directed by Jason Reitman. Below are the highlights from the press conference with Diablo Cody, Charlize Therom & Patton Oswalt. (Check out highlights from the Jason Reitman press conference right HERE)

DIABLO CODY on YA novels:  Well, I’ve been an avid consumer of young adult literature since I was one. And I think some people leave that stuff behind when they become old adults, but I never did. And I was always interested in the fantasy world created in those novels, and that I think is the kind of thing we see reflected in pop culture more now than ever, with reality shows and these weird, fully made-up people living these fake fairytale lives on camera. And I think the idea of somebody whose priorities were completely screwed up, who wanted to live in that world, even though it’s completely unattainable, that was intriguing to me.

DIABLO CODY on research:  You know, I actually, I didn’t talk to anybody, which is probably pretty lazy of me.  But the feedback I’ve gotten has been really interesting. I actually, since we’ve started showing the film, I’ve heard from a couple people who are not only young adult writers, but are in the position that Mavis is in, where they are writing books that are credited to another person or to a creator. And they were very enthusiastic about the movie, and said that I nailed it, which felt good.

DIABLO CODY on Francine Pascal:  You know, I’ve – kind of working with Francine right now.  I wrote the “Sweet Valley High” movie that is currently progressing toward production, I hope.  So I was kind of inspired by that world – the idea of anonymity behind art.

PATTON OSWALT:  And you did like a Hard “R” “Sweet Valley High”, too, which I thought was really courageous of you.

DIABLO CODY:  We’re hoping for the Hard “R”.

CHARLIZE THERON on Mavis Gary: I’ve never been a fan of labels, you knowI just, I think it’s very easy to kind of look at somebody and just kind of throw a label on them, they’re crazy or they’re – you know. And I’m not a big fan of overly justifying bad behavior, or why people are the way they are.  I think that it’s a cop-out. And I don’t have a lot of empathy for that. So I didn’t really think of her – I thought the things that she did were pretty despicable; but then again, not like to the point where I was like disgusted by her. I never had a hard time not liking her  I would love to go and have a beer with her. I mean, I would never let her hang out with my boyfriend. But I would love to hang out with her. I think she, you know, she’s entertaining about all of her stuff

DIABLO CODY on women behaving badly: I’m certainly not going to call it a step back, because that would be the opposite of what I’m trying to do as a writer, and also as a female. I feel like maybe – it’s funny, when people talk about “Bridesmaids”, they always talk about, “Oh, we’re seeing raunchy women.” And I say, “No, you’re just seeing women.” Like that’s what feels fresh about this, is you’re actually seeing women in complicated, funny situations where you would normally see male characters. So I don’t really see it as – seeing women behaving badly so much as just seeing more multi-faceted female characters.  And I hope there will be more of that, because I’m enjoying it.

PATTON OSWALT on women behaving badly:  You have finally made progress as a group if you can be depicted as fully – as the full spectrum.  Usually, any kind of sub-group or smaller group in a movie goes from being made fun of and victimized.  And then it swings too hard the other way, where they’re like amazing and always positive, which is just as dehumanizing.  And then you finally like, “Hey, a single individual can be a hero and a villain and funny and an asshole at – well, just like we all are every second of the day.  So you know, that’s definitely progress, too.

CHARLIZE THERON on a possible Academy nod: I know it sounds so unbelievably cliché, but I haven’t worked in three years. And to have the opportunity to come back and do something like this, with Diablo and with Patton, with Jason, who I really, really wanted to work with, and this kind of material – and to see people respond to it, has been the greatest gift. And so I can’t, I can’t even like think beyond anything like that.  It’s just really nice to have people come up to me and have these little tiny anecdotes with like what they connected with in the movie. And the movie kind of puts them in this, a little bit of a Mavis mood, so they feel like really free to kind of, you know, admit that they’ve done things like Mavis – which is just so endearing. And I love it so much because I just feel like that is proof that we all kind of set out to do the thing that we wanted to do, and that we succeeded in that. And so that is really the greatest gift for me. Plus, I have an Oscar, so – [LAUGHTER] That was such an asshole thing to say.

PATTON OSWALT: Keep in mind, you don’t have an Oscar for the “Guest House”, so just keep that in mind.

CHARLIZE THERON:  True, that.

DIABLO CODY on music selection:  That’s what was so fun about it, was getting to sit down with Jason, and – Jason and I are the exact same age, so we were able to say, “Do you remember this one?” “Do you remember that one?” And when characters enter a space in this movie, a lot of this time, there’s like music playing, and it’s almost always a song from the 90’s, which was Jason’s wink at the genre.  But yeah, it was – in fact, I was just thinking about that Teenage Fan Club song that Mavis is totally obsessed with and listens to in her car. And like that was probably my favorite song when I was 19 or 20, and I was a college radio DJ, and I would just play it constantly. Plus, it’s like six minutes long, so you could go to the bathroom.

PATTON OSWALT on his high school mix tape: I’ve got to say my high school mix tape would be, for me, when I was growing up, would be just the Repo Man soundtrack, because that is – that is such a mix tape for safe, suburban rebellion. And also for me, that was ten years behind punk, and I got to spend the summer of ’84 letting people in on, “You’ve got to listen to these punk bands.” Like, “Patton, we know, we – it’s been around since ’79.” “No, you don’t know, man, there’s this band called Black Flag.”  “Yes, we know.  Patton, they’ve already broken up.” “No, listen.” So it was just that kind of – that was my high school experience, is being ten years behind everything. That’s my mix tape right there.

DIABLO CODY on getting the film made:  I really don’t think this film would have ever come into existence if it weren’t for, you know, the combined power of Jason Reitman and Charlize, and Patton.  And -

PATTON OSWALT:  I had no – trust me, – what, my Twitter followers helped get this thing made?

DIABLO CODY:  Patton’s vast Twitter following willed this movie into being. [LAUGHTER] And so on my own, it would have been a no go. I mean, it’s a challenging movie; it’s a small movie. I feel like there has been – I have felt this pressure to write a big budget, romantic comedy, basically since I rolled into town. And I try, and it’s – it just doesn’t seem to be in my skill set. I just write small and weird.  And so I did sense some resistance, but at the same time, you know, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people who believe in me. And then when Jason gave the material his vote of confidence, that meant a lot, because he is, you know, very selective about his material, and the guy has never made a movie that’s less than great, in my opinion.  So suddenly, we had a little more firepower.

CHARLIZE THERON on a high school crush: I didn’t have any boyfriends, but I had a massive crush on this guy who – this interviewer, that just did a story on me for Vogue, actually found, and -

PATTON OSWALT:  What?

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah, he found the guy that I had said – this guy did not know I existed, by the way, in school. And then he was all, like, “Yeah, tell her the crush was mutual.”  Fuck that.

PATTON OSWALT:  Yeah.

[LAUGHTER]

CHARLIZE THERON:  The crush was so not mutual.

PATTON OSWALT:  What was his name?

CHARLIZE THERON:  And then he was like, “Oh, and I remember, she wore those glasses.” And I was like, “Hrrrmmmm.”

PATTON OSWALT:  What was the guy’s name?

CHARLIZE THERON:  Oh, I can’t do it.  I’m -

PATTON OSWALT:  Tell me the name.

CHARLIZE THERON:  No, this guy’s gonna get hunted down.

PATTON OSWALT:  Oh, okay.

CHARLIZE THERON:  I can’t do it.

DIABLO CODY:  It’s in Vogue; you can -

PATTON OSWALT:  Oh, is it in Vogue.

CHARLIZE THERON:  Hint, hint.

PATTON OSWALT:  I have a subscription.  It’s waiting in my house right now, I – it’s my Bible, people.  I mean, look at how I’m dressed.

DIABLO CODY on UNITED STATES OF TARA cancellation: You know, it was one of those things that wasn’t a – it wasn’t shocking, because we never really had the audience that we wanted, in terms of numbers. And so I honestly was really grateful that we survived as long as we did, and really grateful to Showtime that they would support something that was that offbeat and interesting. And it was, you know, some of the most satisfying work that I’ve done. But it’s – you also have to understand that when you’re dealing in the realm of small and weird, like things don’t always survive. So you just appreciate them as long as you can, and treasure the experience, I guess… sometimes I think about the, like mythical fourth or fifth season, and where it would have gone.  And I think we still had a lot of stories to tell. But I think it wrapped up nicely, considering we didn’t know that was going to be the last episode.

PATTON OSWALT on reading with Charlize:  We were – we kind of got along right at the first table read.  We were teasing each other and kind of, you know – we just, there was just something, a kind of a rapport there.

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah, I don’t like rehearsal and Jason doesn’t like rehearsal, either. And I hate table reads. I hate anything where you have to say the words out loud.

PATTON OSWALT:  And I can’t read.

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah.  [LAUGHTER]

PATTON OSWALT:  So -

CHARLIZE THERON:  That was a huge problem.

CHARLIZE THERON on the Africa Outreach Project:  Thank you. It’s going great.  My director is actually down there right now, looking at three new projects. And we’re just continuing to find projects that are really encouraging prevention care. And it’s just – I don’t know, I think if you do this kind of work, it’s like anything in life – if you don’t love it, you shouldn’t do it. And I just – I really love what we’re doing, and I really believe in it. I – you know, growing up in a country like that, and seeing how prevalent AIDS is, and understanding the immediate need, but feeling this kind of horrible neglect for people who just have no tools to understand how not to become HIV positive, just seemed so wrong to me. And it felt like a missed opportunity. And so we’re just really trying to encourage already existing NGOs to really support prevention care.  So it’s been great.

PATTON OSWALT on comedy: Well, I mean, you were talking about how much you love Jason Reitman’s movies. And you watch his movies. And I think because you know you’re in the hands of someone that knows how to edit a film and how to edit a scene, and so when you – because we just knew, subconsciously, we were in such good hands, directing-wise, that we could relax enough. And that relaxation is what I think gets – the comedy was never needy. It was just like – we were never going for a laugh; it all came very naturally. And a lot of times, what was so great about the way that she played Mavis, was the laugh comes from her not giving me any response, and then I get more nervous, which is a really real thing, that a lot of actors really don’t have the balls to do.  They don’t – like, they always want to be saying something or listening and reacting.  And she was able to just go, “You know what?  My character’s just not engaging in this scene at all.” And that is where the humor came from.  So again, it was – you know, it came from knowing we were working with a good director. I got to play off somebody that really understood human nature, which is – that’s what’s important to comedy.  Not knowing – comedy is knowing human nature. And then, so all of that kind of swirled together, and created a thing, and fade to Golden Globe. [LAUGHTER] I don’t know what I’m saying.  I literally, I lost my own train of thought.  But you know what I’m saying there?  You asked a really smart question, and I answered it so stupidly.

PATTON OSWALT on choosing roles:  Well, first, thank you for implying that I have any control over my career, that I get to choose projects. “Tell Spielberg to get ready to be disappointed; I’m going with Reitman on this.” I was very lucky to be offered this script. I was there at the – I got to know Jason through just, we both love film; we both own French bulldogs. So that’s kind of how we got to know each other. And then I started doing these table reads early for the script, so you know. But as far as my intentions, I just – I’m so beyond like genre, drama, comedy – I just want to do really good, interesting projects. And that can mean something like this script, which was so good when I read it, so good; or something like that little adult swim show that I just did, which was the most bizarre, but also a great script and a – just stuff that constantly rolls the dice down the felt and just goes for it. And this – man, this script went for it.  So I was, you know, I – hopefully, someday, if I’m ever at a point where I have the luxury of intention, I will make the right choices.  But so far I’ve been lucky enough that the choices I have been given have been really, really good.

PATTON OSWALT on meeting Jason reitman: We met at an awards ceremony and we were just gabbing about movies, and I was presenting an editor’s award. And I actually knew all the editors. Like that’s how much of a nerd, like those guys are like rock stars to me. And you could – it’s like the music geek that knows the bassist’s name, like that’s how excited I was.  So then we started talking.  And then he was – he saw on my phone, I had a picture of my French bulldog.  And he goes, “I have a French bulldog,” and we started showing back and forth.  This is – this is like the lamest.

PATTON OSWALT on getting the role: [Reitman] has these screenings at his house every Sunday. And then it just kind of led – basically, you know what, I did all the early readings, so I got this movie the way a squatter gets an apartment. I was just there. You know, like, “Ah, he’s got his mattress and his hot plate. Let him have it. He’s nice. The kids like him. He sweeps up the hall. Come on.” So, yeah.

For the final question, someone asks if the main character’s name is a reference to Lyla Garrity on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Diablo corrects him that the name is actually Mavis Gary and not mavis Garrity.

PATTON OSWALT: Let’s have a different final question, because he kind of got the Garrity thing wrong.

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah. Way to end this press conference, dude.

PATTON OSWALT:  Wow, Dude. Her name is Mavis – her name is Mavis Vader – is that a – no, it’s not Vader.  Oh, sorry.

So they allowed one more question, which lead to the most aimless & conversational answer of the night. What would you do if you could add 10 more minutes to the end of the film?

CHARLIZE THERON:  I don’t know if I could add it straight on to this movie, because I like that Mavis leaves Sandra.  But I do like the idea of like Sandra eventually, like in a sequel, Sandra and Mavis finding each other and taking that little fucked up Mini, on like a Thelma and Louise – Like, the two of them just like cross country driving, just damaged, just -

PATTON OSWALT:  They just have an eye-rolling spree.

CHARLIZE THERON:  Carnage.

PATTON OSWALT:  They just -

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah.

PATTON OSWALT:  – drive, you know, and just roll their eyes at things, until the police -

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah.

PATTON OSWALT:  – kill them.

[LAUGHTER]

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah.  No – yeah.  Nobody gets raped or anything like that.

PATTON OSWALT:  yeah.

CHARLIZE THERON:  They just like roll their eyes in the -

PATTON OSWALT:  “Oh, great.”

CHARLIZE THERON:  Yeah.  Yeah.

PATTON OSWALT:  Well, you know, every screening I’ve been to, people will come into the lobby and I’ll watch them talking.  Here’s what I love about this movie, is that everyone has very specific ideas as to what happens [at the end]. They’re all completely different, and they’re all right.  Like, it’s one of those movies where people keep – so – and then what – like what happens in the next scene, it makes – this is a great like, go to see the movie and then hang out and go, “What do you think she did?”  “Oh, she totally is on the way down.”  “Oh, I think she makes it.” Like that’s, again, that’s a testament to the writing, and to the – her performance.

CHARLIZE THERON:  But seriously, Diablo, what are you going to write for the sequel?

PATTON OSWALT:  Yeah, what is the sequel going to be?

DIABLO CODY:  You know, I think, if I – you said specifically, I could add only ten minutes to the movie. I think I would do the Mini – either the Mini flying off a bridge and pausing in mid-air, a la Dukes of Hazard or Thelma and Louise.

PATTON OSWALT:  [SOUNDS LIKE] Thank you.

DIABLO CODY:  Or crazy credits.

CHARLIZE THERON:  Crazy credits?

DIABLO CODY:  Like funny credits for that ten -

PATTON OSWALT:  Oh, nice.

DIABLO CODY:  Like bloopers.  Does that count for my ten minutes?  Yeah, like an out take reel.

CHARLIZE THERON:  That’s just lazy; you didn’t write that.

DIABLO CODY:  I know.  You see how I operate.

CHARLIZE THERON:  You have to write it.

DIABLO CODY:  Like -

PATTON OSWALT:  Well, we’ll see you guys in 20 years for the Grumpy Old Adult panel. We’re very excited and we’re already working on that now.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

Last weekend YOUNG ADULT opened on 8 screens with a solid $40k per screen average and it expands to wide release tomorrow. I recently attended a press junket for the film written by Diablo Cody & directed by Jason Reitman. Below are the highlights from the press conference with director Jason Reitman.

JASON REITMAN on Charlize Theron:  I was only going to make this movie if I could make it with Charlize. I had read the script and I thought it was phenomenal, but I knew how tricky this character was and I knew how easily it would be to misinterpret this character.  You know on the page she was written perfectly. She was nuanced and complicated and she wasn’t just some mean girl.  She was a woman with deep wounds that like anybody wanted to be loved and was searching for her place in life who really only knew how to find it by going back to high school to the last moment where things kind of made sense to her, but she was looking for an on road, you know, an on ramp to the highway. And it’s one of those things that in the hands of the wrong actress would just be a mean girl.

JASON REITMAN on Patton Oswalt:  I needed someone who was going to be the accessibility point to this movie and I think this movie works because of Patton Oswald.  I think the audience strangely sees the movie through Patton Oswald.  He says the things that everyone in the audience wants to say and his rare combination of like brilliant comedy, but also his pathos, his ability to go to these really sad places makes the whole thing work.

JASON REITMAN on Movie Night: I loved that Scorsese probably screens these great Italian films for his cast and the only thing I ever sent Charlize was season’s one of The Hills of Laguna Beach. Oh yes. Following in the footsteps of giants. I have a movie night at my house every Sunday night and it really came out of my own embarrassment of the amount of films that I had not seen and I presumed that if there were a lot of films that I had not seen that my friends perhaps had not seen them either. So what I did was every Sunday night I show a classic movie that you’re supposed to have seen that I have not seen and I just invite my friends and say hey here’s a moment for us all to stop being embarrassed and start seeing these films. And it started a couple of years ago and we watch films like and now I’m going to embarrass myself for all of you.  Cool Hand Luke, which I had never seen, Patton I had never seen, Say Anything I had never seen.  I know, that’s always the shocker.

JASON REITMAN on Casting Patton Oswalt:  When I went to do the table read for this film I called on friends at first and Patton is a friend and I said hey would you read this role?   And watching him do it was just so – - he was so perfect and then when he read it with Charlize they had this unbelievable chemistry. It was actually the moment I realized this was a romance was watching the two of them together and a heartbreaking romance.  It’s like a Romeo and Juliet because it’s a romance that cannot be.  But anyhow yeah, that’s, that was the research and that’s how I know Patton.

JASON REITMAN on Diablo Cody: I have the rights to Diablo’s life. In a deal that really benefits me more than her. I always feel and I’m not sure if directors or writers will get more upset at me for saying this, but I feel like they’re all part of the same thing.  I see my job as storytelling and that starts with simply an idea, a feeling I want the audience to have and it travels through writing, directing, shooting, cutting, post, doing this to the whole thing.  And so if I don’t write the script I get to personally skip one part of the process.  And with Diablo, I don’t know, we get along so well and we trust each other so much, there’s never been a question of whether or not she was going to be on set.  So when she could be on set it’s great.  I put her to work, you know.  I say, you know, I need this, I need a line, I need a scene and she does it.  But there’s also enough trust that if she’s not there, she knows I’m not going to screw up her script.  And I’m a writer myself and I strangely feel as a writer on set the job is to be a tailor.  It’s to, you know, and I know Sorkin would be pissed if I said this, but if an actor can’t say the lines, in my opinion it’s not the actor’s fault.  If you put on a pair of clothes that don’t fit, it’s not your fault, it’s the clothes fault.  And the clothes should be tailored and that’s how I feel about dialogue.  If I’m with an actor and they’re struggling with the words, then I tailor the words for the actor.  Very rarely would I say this is the line, you need to say the line.

JASON REITMAN on directing theater:  You know I spent last year in New York making this film from start to finish, including post. And it was a great moment for me ‘cause for the first time in my life I had seen most of the shows that were playing and it was really exciting to be able to get into a conversation and actually know what I was talking about for a very brief nano-second and certainly looking at great plays made me want to try to direct a play.  That said I know nothing about theater so it’s a little presumptuous of me to think I could do it. But yeah, although on the other hand what I love about directing movies is I have the final say, you know. I get to cut the performance and the idea that you just hand off the play to your actors, that seems insane. I mean I would literally be on stage.  Let’s do that again.  You know let’s just hold on audience and it would be a ten hour play of just me all right one more time, all right that was great, continue the scene from there.  That would be like me directing.  It would be a boring play.

JASON REITMAN on Women Behaving badly: Women behaving badly is, excuse me, I’m not trying to be rude, I think is just kind off a cheap term and look, I’ve always been interested in making movies about women. They interest me far more than men.  And I’m interested in honesty in filmmaking and I think the darker moments are far more interesting than the cheerful ones.  And I guess that’s my approach and I don’t know why they made Bride’s Maids and I don’t know why they made Bad Teacher.  That’s certainly why I made this movie.

JASON REITMAN on the film’s message: First and foremost I don’t have a message in any of my movies.  You know if I have a message and hopefully there’s a continuity of that in all my films it’s think for yourself and come up with your own opinions and I certainly don’t want to tell you what to think. That is the core theme of Thank You for Smoking and since then hopefully people draw their own conclusions and that’s always been kind of the case. On Juno pro life people thought it was their movie, pro choice thought it was there’s and I’ve certainly got a variance of opinions of where George Clooney goes at the end of Up in the Air and that makes me happy. That lets me know I’m doing my job.  I really just want to – I’d rather inspire the conversation than tell you what to think.  So on this movie I’m certainly not saying this is my message to women.

JASON REITMAN on writing: As far as how we treat her life, I thought it was a fairly true and, you know, I’m speaking to a room of writers, point view on what it’s like to write, which is it’s a really lonely existence, man or woman. Often it feels like a trip to Office Depot, makes me feel as though I accomplished something today. I did something and it’s the only – - and you do it for the pure reason of if I didn’t do this it really would feel like I did nothing, but I had an adventure.  I picked up toner. And being a writer is tricky in that your sense of accomplishment is always so varied. Is it by page count?  Is it by that you wrote something special? Will anyone ever read this? Will anyone ever see this?  And I don’t think that changes no matter how much success you have. Every time I write I feel like this is awful, no one will ever see this or if they do they’ll think it’s, you know, they’ll never hire me again.

JASON REITMAN on parental advice: There were a couple times we’re on set she would say something that was so mean that we just had to cut the line of dialogue. It was just, at that point it wasn’t even interesting anymore, it was just that’s really bitchy. I mean, you can’t, you know, the audience is just going to hate her for no reason and it all of a sudden is actually out of character and dishonest because it’s just so mean. It’s mean for no reason. All of this always goes back to a piece of advice that my father gave me and he literally gave it to me the night before I started shooting Thank You for Smoking. And he said “always remember it’s not your job to be funny. Your barometer for comedy is nowhere as good as your barometer for truth. And the only thing you’re trying to achieve on set is honesty.” You look at a performance, you look at anything the way people interact, the location, the way you’re shooting it, does it feel truthful because you’re not going to be able to tell if it’s funny. Ever once in a while it’s okay that’s hilarious, but you always know when it feels like bullshit or not. Even with people you know when they’re being truthful with you and so it’s the greatest piece of directing advice I’ve ever gotten and it plays, it feeds everything and if I’m ever unsure I can always go back to that and think about what my father told me and say all right does this feel honest. And that plays into is this too mean because if it’s so mean that it feels otherworldly then it’s not right.

JASON REITMAN on music selection:  You know one of the great parts about working with Diablo is that she’s so specific in her writing; the production design, wardrobe, specific as her dialogue seems, the description work is even stronger and the songs are there. And so the only question there is then, you know, do I agree with them or not and I usually agree with them. And on this movie, even though we love the same music and we come from the same era, there’s a few songs that I’m not a huge fan of including the Teenage Fan Club song.  But I knew it was right for the movie so that’s kind of all that mattered. [The song mentioned is The Concept]

JASON REITMAN on tone: I wanted – - to do something that I hadn’t done in my other films.  And I think as a director I try to grow with each film.  I try to do something different to the audience.   In the first movie I just wanted to make people laugh.  Second film, I wanted them to feel romance.  In the third film I wanted them to feel lonely.  And on this one, I wanted people to feel uncomfortable.  I wanted them to look at the screen and be so in the moment that they felt like they were standing there on the lawn watching Charlize break down right in front of them and they don’t know what to say because you feel sorry for her, you’re not sure if you’re part of the cause of this.

JASON REITMAN on audience reactions: I know with my films I don’t want to judge anybody. I don’t want to judge any of the characters. It’s very important to me. If the audience feels as though they know how I – - my judgment of a character that I considered, then I think I failed.  I think my job at the end of the day is to create honesty and truth and real moments that instead of telling you to think, just push you to think about something. And nothing gets me more excited than an audience arguing over what I was trying to say or having a thoughtful conversation about the film rather than walking out. I would be much more disappointed by someone walking out of my film and thinking and now I believe this because that strangely isn’t my job.

And finally, this next quote isn’t an answer to a question but rather Reitman’s response to receiving some praise prior to a question. I wanted to include it because it was so genuine & I really enjoyed seeing this reaction in personal.

JASON REITMAN: Okay. First of all, thank you for saying those really kind things.  That means a lot to me. That’s nice to hear. Sorry, I just, you know, I just did an interview earlier. I was just talking about how I became a director and I just remember a moment where I thought I’ll be lucky if I ever get to direct a commercial and that’s a really cool thing to hear. Thank you for saying that.

Check back tomorrow for highlights from the YA press conference with Diablo Cody, Charlize Theron & Patton Oswalt.

 Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated 3D adventure, HUGO, was officially released nationwide today. (Check out our review right HERE) Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the NY press junket. Even without the presence of Martin Scorsese, the amount of talent at the press conference was intimidating. Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Asa Butterfield, Sir Ben Kingsley, producers Graham King and John Logan & author Brian Selznick were all in attendance. A lot was covered during the 40-minute event. Here are some of the highlights of what was said…

SACHA BARON COHEN on his character:  Well, there is actually, there is a bit of romance between myself and Emily’s character, which is actually the first romantic plot I’ve had that’s not been with a black prostitute or a man. So it was actually my first.  We didn’t actually have a kissing scene, but there was a bit of romance in there. So that was a little bit different.  And as for the rest, playing an authority figure, well, he’s a bumbling authority figure. And he’s dark, but he does have some beauty and softness underneath him. So a bit like my other characters.

ASA BUTTERFIELD on the difficulties of playing Hugo:  Well, Hugo, he’s an orphan and because he’s had to grow up far faster than anyone else his age should have, I found it quite hard to relate to him because of all the hardships he’s gone through in his life. So I just had to come up with false past for him that was similar to mine and relate to him in that way.

CHLOE GRACE MORETZ on her accent: I’d probably say the hardest part about it was I was trying to conquer the accent. That was probably the most challenging thing I had to do as a character…. My brother Trevor and I kind of created the voice, and we worked together on the whole thing really.

EMILY MORTIMER on Martin Scorsese: He doesn’t sort of tell you what to do, and guide you through every step of the performance. He just shows you all the people’s movies. He did that on Shelter Island as well. So it’s more like he just helps you to understand the world of the film by showing you other people’s films, which is his inspiration anyway.
(One of the films everyone was asked to watch is UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS)

SACHA BARON COHEN on the root of Evil: I mean certainly when I sort of approach the character of the station inspector; I wanted to know why was he so obsessed with chasing children? Was he actually, you know, a classic villain or was there reason for his malice? And, I sat down with John and Martin and we started talking about perhaps he was World War I veteran, and maybe he was injured. So we came up with the idea of the leg brace. Originally, it was a false leg, which the audience wouldn’t have realized until it was going to be the first chase. Then I was going to turn a corner and then my leg was going to fly off and go into camera in 3D. And that was going to be the first big 3D moment. Unfortunately, practically I was made aware that I would have had to kind of strap up my leg for four months in order to do that. So we kind of abandoned that, and I started wearing a leg brace instead.

SIR BEN KINGSLEY on staying in character:  I tended to stay in character because so many of many of my major scenes were with Asa. And in order to feed that relationship because action and cut can be shockingly short, that space you have to establish a deep rapport with your fellow actors. So I think I tended to. Also, my shape was so defined as older George. So like it was very difficult for me to snap back into Ben because I mean it just didn’t happen. I just stayed because I was stuck with George.

JOHN LOGAN on film: Brian Selznick’s amazing novel he talks about movies as dreams, as ways to dream, as ways for all of us to dream. I know, when I was a kid growing up, that’s what they were for me because I was asthmatic. I couldn’t go out and play. I have to be in a dark room, and watching movies on TV allowed me to liberate every thought I’d ever had. And when I read Brian’s book for the first time that’s really what struck me more than anything was it was touching the 8-year-old me. And so, for me it was always about how does that damaged child find the place that he belongs?

SIR BEN KINGSLEY on wounded souls:  Well, I think the core value of its magic is its fearlessness in putting wounded characters on the screen. That’s a very brave move.  It’s not very fashionable. It’s not sugar coated. A wounded man who is totally retired from his life. He almost committed suicide of the spirit, orphan, orphan, a girl who lost her brother in the Battle of the Somme in 1914, a dreadful way to lose a brother, and a chap who lost his leg. Wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded. And I think that’s an incredibly bold move to make in the present context. That’s where the magic comes from. And as Sacha was saying, where’s the wound? Because if there is no wound, the healer has no function and the healer is the youngest person on the screen who pulls all these threads together. But you won’t have an audience empathizing with you if nothing needs comforting. It won’t happen. So I think all of this individually paradoxically nourished that scar inside us in order to make the magic, in order to make him the greatest magician on the screen and make all the magic happen.

EMILY MORTIMER on technology: I was saying yesterday that there is something about Scorsese using the latest 3D technology to push the boundaries of filmmaking in 2012 or 2011 or whatever. To make a film about the very first technology ever used to put magic on the screen over 100 years ago is just so perfect.  And somehow you get a sense of every film that was made in between Mêlées and Scorsese.

SACHA BARON COHEN on the use of 3D:  If I could just continue that. It felt like here’s the logical extension of filmmaking that if Miller was alive that he definitely would have been using 3D.  That was the interesting thing because of the whole debate in cinema at the moment whether 3D is a gimmick or not.  Scorsese really showed that it was a logical development of the filmmaking process.

CHLOE GRACE MORETZ on Scorsese: You know, not only did I grow as an actor on this film with Scorsese, I grew in my knowledge of film history, which I’ve always been a history buff. Of course, I walked on the set knowing a little bit about it thinking oh I can have a conversation with him. And then you get into the conversation and he’s like dah-dah-dah-dah. And I’m like, “Okay, I’m not prepared for this.”

SACHA BARON COHEN on collaboration:  I think that’s the key about Scorsese that he’s totally collaborative, which I was surprised about.  Because I expected him to be some incredible author, which he is an author. But part of his power and part of the reason why his films are that successful and that enduring is the fact that he’s ready to collaborate fully with all his actors.

BRIAN SELZNICK on writing the book: I made this book thinking it could not be filmed because the book at the end of the story, the object of the book itself actually becomes part of the plot. And what happens when you turn the page because a big chunk of the narrative in my book is told with images like a movie.  But even so, it’s celebrating movies. It’s really about what happens when you turn the page, and the power of the book itself.  So I just imagined it couldn’t be a movie. And like I said, I got the call that Scorsese wanted to make it. And I thought, well, maybe this actually can be a movie. And, I realized I never would have thought of him. Like if someone had asked me, “Who would you imagine directing this movie?” But, of course, the second we hear his name, we all realize there was no one else who could have made this movie. It was if I had sat for 2-1/2 years at my desk during which time in real life I was thinking I was writing something no one would read because it’s a book about French silent movies for children. Which isn’t a guaranteed best seller.  You know, but it’s as if I did all of that for Marty.

BRIAN SELZNICK on his cameo: I had the great thrill of being put into the last scene of the movie. I got a line. I think a lot of you saw the movie. I’m sure you’re excited to meet me now because of that. But Sir Ben was incredibly generous with me. I suddenly found myself next to Sir Ben saying my line to Sir Ben. And we spent a lot of the day filming the last tracking shot in the kitchen waiting for the action and to do the three-minute tracking shot again. And the camera never goes into the kitchen, but we would open the cabinet doors and it was fully stocked with food.

SIR BEN KINGSLEY on the sets:  It’s a huge gift to us. It constantly fed us.  Between takes I used to wander around the station, and the detail was extraordinary. You never left that world, did you? I mean it was so embracing and so sustaining, a huge gift to the actors, all to scale and not a lot of CGI really. I mean compared to what there might have been, very little.

ASA BUTTERFIELD on the sets: And, the working clocks were incredible because they were real. You could actually wind them and they had weights on.  And it was just incredible. I mean, as Sir Ben said it was a gift to the actors to work that way.

SACHA BARON COHEN on the film’s target audience: It seems to me that Marty makes films for himself.  He is an artist, a true artist and he makes the movie that he wants to see. So my first line in the movie had the word malfeasance in it, which I barely understood. And I said, “Aren’t you worried that some of the children won’t understand this let alone the grown ups?” He said, “No, it’s the right word to use there.” And he’s one of the last remaining artists that is out there. And I think we should respect that. The movie is not focus grouped, and it’s not tailored for a 7-year-old in Iowa or Berlin or anywhere to appreciate it. Marty has made a work of art in the same way that Melies did.  So I think that is a beautiful thing and it’s an incredible achievement for a filmmaker still to be able to do that. Thanks to Graham for being able to fund that.

HUGO is now playing in 3D & 2D nationwide!

 Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

This weekend I will be attending press conferences for the films HUGO and YOUNG ADULT. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of press conferences. I much prefer 1:1 interviews since I like to have a conversation rather than just ask questions. Plus, I always get the feeling no one cares about the strange questions I come up with. That’s where you come in!

In the comments, post your questions for the cast & crew of either film. Press conferences can get pretty chaotic but I’ll try my best to get some of them answered. Check out the trailers below for some inspiration!

HUGO opens November 23rd

YOUNG ADULT opens December 16th

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

On Saturday I had the pleasure of interviewing actor Brian O’Halloran. He is best known for playing the character of Dante in Kevin Smith’s CLERKS & CLERKS 2. He also recently appeared in BRUTAL MASSACRE and the upcoming CALENDAR GIRL. He was at the New York Comic Con this weekend signing autographs and agreed to an impromptu interview. We talked about the convention, theater, horror films and more. He even offered some great advice for indie filmmakers. After he interview, I ended up hanging around the booth another 15 minutes talking with him and some other fans who stopped by. Check out the full interview below!

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

BOY WONDER is a psychological thriller about a boy obsessed with finding his mom’s killer. This weekend some of the talent behind the film were at NYCC to promote its upcoming theatrical and DVD release. Below is an interview with writer, director and producer Michael Morrissey.

Here’s the official synopsis of the film:

A young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer. Thus begins his life as a quiet, straight-A student by day and a self-appointed hero at night. But what is a real hero? And who decides what is right or wrong? As the boundaries blur, Sean’s dual life wears on his psyche and his two worlds careen dangerously close to colliding. Like a graphic novel you can’t put down, Boy Wonder challenges morality, distorting perceptions of what is right and what is justified, as it races to its shocking conclusion.

BOY WONDER will be in limited theaters in NY starting October 21st & Chicago October 28th. BW will be on DVD & VOD November 8th!

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

I’m not going to even try to write a description for them but here are the best of my photos from NYCC. Which ones do you like best? Can you guess which are my favorite?

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

My second day at NYCC started off with a 25-minute wait on a line that wrapped almost entirely around the Javits Center. I later found out there was a separate press / VIP entrance I could have used but the volunteer I asked apparently did not know about it either. The line wasn’t too bad though considering how many people in awesome costumes I got to see while I waited.

Once inside the convention, I saw the reason for the massive lines. The place was packed. Some aisles on the show floor were impossible to navigate and even the press rooms were full. I knew Saturday would be the biggest day at the con but I just was not prepared. The massive amount of foot traffic made taking decent pictures of people in costumes much more difficult but I still managed some decent shots.

After a quick hello with some fellow press, I began wandering the show floor aimlessly. Eventually I did fall into a little bit of a schedule based on a few booths and panels I wanted to check out. On my way to the BOY WONDER booth, I passed Magnet Releasing and noticed that writer/director/actor Ti West was signing posters. Being a fan of his work, I waited to meet him. We talked horror movies for a few minutes and he gave me some advice on a script I recently finished.

From there I headed over to my interview with Michael Morrissey, writer & director of BOY WONDER. We discussed the origins of the film, what it is like promoting it at conventions and more. I will post the full interview soon but here is a trailer for the film.

Following the interview, I made my way to a booth that actually has very little to do with movies but I want to mention anyway. IAmAStuffedAnimal.com is a website that makes a custom “little buddy” which look like the stuffed wrestling dolls I used to have as a kid. For a pretty reasonable fee considering all the personalization, they make these really cool stuffed dolls of anyone or anything you want. They first came to my attention when actress Felicia Day was posting pics with her buddy that they made for her. I found them on twitter (@StuffYourself) and saw they made custom buddies of a lot of the celebrities at the convention. In fact, the doll Seth Green & Macaulay Culkin were posing with in my video on Friday was from these guys. I loved that promotional idea and stopped by to do a quick interview with them. Check it out:

After the interview, I made my way to the EAGLEHEART panel at the other end of the building. This was a strange one. For anyone who has seen the show, you know how insane and hilarious it is. If you haven’t, the show is essentially a WALKER TEXAS RANGER parody with some of the most absurd humor you will ever see. Obviously, it is part of the Adult Swim lineup. The show stars Chris Elliott, Brett Gelman and Maria Thayer, who were all on the panel along with creators Michael Kolman and Andrew Weinberg. So why was the panel so strange? Well I guess such a crazy show deserves crazy fans. I taped the entire panel (except the preview clips) for you to check out. My favorite questions are the ones involving Brett Gelman’s beard. Yes, there were several questions just about his beard. Enjoy!

Because of this panel, it was impossible to get into the WALKING DEAD or AVENGERS panels. On my way to EAGLEHEART, I had to pass by the IGN Theater. No one was leaving in between panels there and the standby line to get in was massive. In fact, to get through the crowd I had to follow a man with a life-size fully functional R2D2 as if he was my police escort. I didn’t feel like spending all my time on a line anyway and going to the other panel gave me a chance to catch up with Chris Elliott for a few minutes. We have been friends for a few years but it has been a while since we last saw each other. They had to clear out the room pretty quickly but it was great seeing him again.

Missing the AVENGERS panel also opened up my schedule to go explore the convention center some more. I discovered the reason I couldn’t find any of the celebrity autograph tables was because it was in an entirely different section of the Javits Center with literally only one sign advertising it. It was an open space with much smaller crowds than any other section of NYCC. In addition to the signings, there were a lot of sections for kids, as well as an area for photos with the Delorean from BACK TO THE FUTURE & two different Batmobiles. There was also a small Quidditch field where I witnessed the last 20 seconds of what was surely an epic match between Batman and a Stormtrooper.

Walking through the signing area, I learned one very important fact. Mark Hamil is the king of convention signings and he truly cleans up. It was $100 for a ticket to meet him and at least 100 people were waiting on line when I passed by. That is damn impressive. Unfortunately both Eliza Dushku and Felicia Day were not at their tables when I checked. However, I did get to see Brian O’Halloran, who is best known as Dante from CLERKS. I actually met him a few years ago at a special event in Red Bank, NJ. He signed my Mooby’s Funployee nametag & even wrote in Dante. That year I wore it on my Funployee shirt and went as Dante to a Halloween party. I did not tell Brian this though because I did not want to creep him out. He was kind enough to grant me an impromptu interview that I will post very soon. After the interview I stuck around his table another 20 minutes chatting with him and some more fans who stopped by. He is extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. He offered some great advice and it really was a pleasure talking with him. I hope that we keep in touch because I would love to work with him someday.

I pretty much ended my day on that high note. I did pass by the Troma Entertainment booth on my way out just to thank Lloyd Kaufman for the quick interview from Friday and to find out how the Graham Chapman panel went since I was unable to attend it. Completely exhausted, I made my way home and passed out immediately on my bed. The interviews and photos will be posted soon.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

As I left the Javits Center tonight, I realized that I did not have anything to eat or drink in nearly 10 hours. That just goes to show you how time seems to get away from you at the New York Comic Con. It also explains why I did not get to do nearly as much as I planned for the day.

I arrived at NYCC about 2 hours after it officially opened and I was off to a good start with absolutely no wait for press check-in. I thought I knew what to expect since I attended (and COVERED) NY Comic Con in 2009. The first thing I realized walking onto the show floor was just how massive this event has become. It has expanded to take up pretty much the entire Javits Center.

Unfortunately, it seems like the film presence at the festival has not increased much. I was surprised by the absence of booths for Fox & After Dark Films, which were two of my favorites in 2009. Most attendees probably do not care though since I know I am in the minority of those who attend the convention mostly for film rather than comics, anime, toys, collectibles & video games. Regardless, I still spent the first 4 hours wandering around the show floor and there are still film booths I need to hit up tomorrow like the one for the indie film, BOY WONDER.

I will do a full photo spread on Sunday with all the incredible costumes. For now, here are a few highlights from the show floor.

Really cool Amazing Spider-Man display as soon as you enter.

Part of the always crowded AVENGERS display.

Legendary Entertainment’s booth is full of awesome props like this one.

Furry Walls!

Around 5 pm, I made my way over to the IGN Theater for the ROBOT CHICKEN panel and waited on what may have been the longest line I have ever been on. But it was worth it. The presentation started with a preview of Season 5.5, which will be hilarious and so very wrong. I don’t want to spoil anything but one of my favorite sketches shown can best be described as a mashup of PRECIOUS and ATTACK OF THE 50 FT WOMAN.

The crowd erupted in cheers when they brought out the panelists: Seth Green, Matt Senreich, Geoff Johns, Kevin Shinick, Doug Goldstein, Macaulay Culkin, and Clare Grant. Early on Green warned the crowd that they do no prep for these panels and that they are here to meet the fans and answer questions. One of the very first people to the mic instead said “things I’d like to see” and began describing some sketches. The panel humored him at first but then Seth joked that this was “not a pitch session.” It was also added that if anyone suggests a sketch to them, they legally can’t do it. However, if you are a female writer, the ROBOT CHICKEN team is hiring. Next week they will post a tab on their official FACEBOOK PAGE where female writers can submit material.

Some other highlight from the panel was Seth doing a Peter impression following it up by saying “I don’t do Peter’s voice. Please don’t tell Seth (MacFarlane) I did that.” Someone asked if comedy in the Star Wars universe has been exhausted. Seth said it definitely wasn’t and he cannot wait for everyone to see the Star Wars animated series he has been working on. He also added that “George and LucasFilm have been pretty f-ing lenient” in terms of what they can get away with in sketches. Someone with a Green Lantern logo asked a question and several of the panelists reached over the table to take pictures. One of the final announcements of the panel was that the next ROBOT CHICKEN special will be about DC Comics. Based on the preview, which was edited together using DC Comics sketches already on the show, it will be called RC/DC.

The battery on my camera would never have lasted the full panel but I did get to record this very strange moment after a fan asks Seth Green and Macaulay Culkin to make a sexy pose.

ROBOT CHICKEN season 5 will be out October 25^th on DVD & Blu-Ray, and it will include 9 episodes that have not even aired yet. They are also about to launch RobotChicken.com.

Following the panel, I made my way to the TROMA booth in hopes of running into low budget horror icon, Lloyd Kaufman. Lloyd actually made a small cameo in my film STUCK LIKE CHUCK, which you can watch right HERE for free! I ended up hanging out at the Troma booth for the last 40 minutes of the day since our conversation kept getting interrupted by fans that wanted a picture or autograph. (From Lloyd, not me) He will actually be at the booth for most of tomorrow and Sunday so I highly suggest anyone attending to stop by Booth 2007. Lloyd will also be moderating a panel from 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM on Saturday for A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, which is an animated 3D film from EPIX about Graham Chapman from Monty Python.

I could give you some more reasons why you should stop by the Troma booth, but instead I’ll leave you with this video of Lloyd telling you himself.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

New York Comic Con officially kicked off yesterday for press, professionals and anyone with a 4-day pass. In a few hours I will be heading to the Javits Center to attend the first full day of the convention. Contrary to the event name, NYCC has a lot more to offer than just comics. Below are just a few of the movie / TV related panels, screenings, guests and booths that we recommend checking out. Be sure to keep checking back on WAMG for more NYCC coverage. And follow me on twitter (@GetStuck) for some tweets and pics from the show floor.

PANELS

Comics, Hollywood – What Creators Need to Know

Friday, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Location: 1A03

Description: More comics are being turned into films, & creators have important questions about how Hollywood works. Get actionable information from top creators who have navigated the TV & movie business. Featuring special guests: Jimmy Palmiotti – Comic book writer Jonah Hex & Screenwriter Painkiller Jane, Ken Levin – Hollywood entertainment attorney, co-founder First Comics, Jane Espenson – Screenwriter Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Angel, The O.C. Host: Buddy Scalera of Comic Book School.

DC Universe Animated Original Movies gives an early look at Batman: Year One, Catwoman & Justice League: Doom

Friday, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Location: IGN Theater

Description: Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation proudly present an action-packed hour of first looks with the premiere of the animated short Catwoman, an inside glimpse of Batman: Year One, and the New York Comic Con exclusive first footage of Justice League: Doom, the highly-anticipated next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Panelists include the ultimate voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, executive producer Bruce Timm, casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano. Moderator Gary Miereanu will offer a first-look glimpse into the 2012 DC Universe Animated Original Movies slate, give away some exclusive prizes to inquisitive audience members, and quite possibly introduce a few surprise guests. Warner Home Video will distribute Batman: Year One and Catwoman on Blu-Ray™ and DVD on October 18, 2011.

Robot Chicken

Friday, 5:15 pm – 6:00 pm

Location: IGN Theater

Description: Seth Green (co-creator), Matthew Senreich (co-creator), Doug Goldstein (head writer and co-producer) and Zeb Wells discuss their popular series Robot Chicken and provide a sneak peek of season 5.5, premiering on Oct. 23rd on Adult Swim.

Comedy Central

Friday, 6:15 pm – 8:30 pm

Location: 1A22

Description: We’ve had a big year here at Comedy Central. So big, in fact, we’d like to give back to the fans by celebrating South Park’s Year of the Fan! We might be showing exclusive video outtakes from 6 Days To Air: The Making of South Park and we have another BIG surprise! As if that’s not enough, brush up on your South Park Trivia for a chance to win exclusive South Park memorabilia or just drop by for some free Cheesy Poofs. Recommended for mature audiences.

Attack the Block

Saturday, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Location: 1A22

Description: From the producers of Shaun of the Dead, winner of the Audience Award for Midnighters at 2011 SXSW and one of the best reviewed films of 2011, ATTACK THE BLOCK is a fast, funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen street gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. Join writer/director JOE CORNISH and star JOHN BOYEGA for a first look at the ATTACK THE BLOCK Blu-ray and DVD, coming October 25th.

Eagleheart

Saturday, 4:45 pm – 5:15 pm

Location: American Airlines Theater, 1A06

Description: Join series star Chris Elliott and co-star Maria Thayer, along with executive producers Jason Woliner, Andrew Weinberg and Michael Koman, as they discuss the live-action comedy Eagleheart and show never-before-seen footage. Produced by Conan O’Brien’s Conaco Productions and Dakota Pictures, the series premiered in February and recently wrapped production of its second season.

AMC’s The Walking Dead

Saturday, 5:15 pm – 6:15 pm

Location: IGN Theater

Description: Join Robert Kirkman (Creator/Writer of The Walking Dead comic) along with Greg Nicotero, Gale Anne Hurd, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Lauren Cohan, Laurie Holden and more from The Walking Dead…as they discuss the success of season one and what to look forward to in season two. The panel will also include a special sneak peek at the new season. The Walking Dead returns October 16 at 9/8c. Only on AMC.

MARVEL STUDIOS: Marvel’s The Avengers

Saturday, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Location: IGN Theater

Description: Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” in “Marvel’s The Avengers” the world’s greatest Super Heroes must assemble to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security. This special presentation will feature never-before-seen footage and appearances by special surprise guests.

SCREENINGS

Pizza Man

Friday, 8:45 pm – 10:00 pm

Location: MTV Theater, 1A10

Description: Join Joe Eckardt, producer/director and stars of the family superhero film PIZZA MAN, starring Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle), Stan Lee, Adam West, Shelley Long, Corbin Bernsen, Diamond Dallas Page & Rowdy Roddy Piper. PIZZA MAN is a film for all ages to enjoy. The panel will include Frankie Muniz and Diamond Dallas Page!

Boy Wonder

Saturday, 6:45 pm – 8:15 pm

Location: 1B01

Description: In this riveting and gritty psychological-thriller, a young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer. Thus begins his life as a quiet, straight-A student by day and a self-appointed hero at night. But what is a real hero? And who decides what is right or wrong? As the boundaries blur, Sean’s dual life wears on his psyche and his two worlds careen dangerously close to colliding. Like a graphic novel you can’t put down, Boy Wonder challenges morality, distorting perceptions of what is right and what is justified, as it races to its shocking conclusion.

Meet the Cast & Crew in Booth 1839!

AUTOGRAPH SESSIONS

There are a lot of people signing all over the convention. Some are ticketed events and some aren’t. Here’s a link to see for yourself who will be signing and when – http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Whos-Coming/Autographs/

Personally, I’m looking forward to meeting and hopefully interviewing Brian O’Halloran, Eliza Dushku and Felicia Day.

BOOTHS

Alternative Cinema – Booth 2511

Anchor Bay – Booth 430

Bad Kids Go To Hell – 2505

Boy Wonder Productions – 1839

Magnolia / Magnet Releasing – 1925

NBC Universal – 2507

Oni Press – 1236

Troma Entertainment – 2007

* Low budget horror icon Lloyd Kaufman will be on hand at the Troma booth. If you see him, be sure to ask him about STUCK LIKE CHUCK!

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

4 years ago, I attended a screening of SUPERBAD the day it came out. Immediately after that screening, I was inspired. The film was a series of long conversations. The story had been done a million times. But it worked because the dialogue was brilliant and everyone could relate to the characters. I have been a fan of CLERKS. & Kevin Smith for years prior to this but something just clicked. It had gone mainstream. So I started thinking about what the simplest idea for a story could be that would showcase the characters and the dialogue. I immediately came up with the age old idea of people stuck in a room. I began to realize that this was actually something I could do so I started working on the idea. A week later I started writing the script. 6 months later we started shooting. A year and a half after that, we premiered at our first film festival and went home with Audience Choice Comedy. And now, exactly 4 years after the idea was born, the film is now available for free online. Watch it. Enjoy it. And get inspired!

If you like the film and would like to help out, you can make a donation of $1 or more right HERE. As a token of appreciation, everyone who contributes will received access to nearly 10 hours of bonus features including deleted scenes, a feature length making of, behind the scenes videos, a commentary track and more. You can also help out by purchasing a t-shirt from DIRECTOR’S CAMEO. Several of the shirts featured in the film are available on that site, as well many more shirts designed specifically for filmmakers, movie geeks & pop culture junkies.

Now that it is finally available, what did you think of the film?

Jerry Cavallaro – JerryCavallaro.com

Although I don’t get to contribute nearly as much as I’d like to, I have been a part of WAMG for almost 3 years now. During that time, one film that I always liked to talk about was STUCK LIKE CHUCK and the reason why is simple. It is an awesome film… and I also happen to be the writer & director. In the past, I’ve posted stories about new trailers and festival screenings. Our very own Travis Keune even wrote a fantastic (and non-biased) review that you can read RIGHT HERE. But this news is much bigger.

I’m very excited to let you all know that starting August 17^th, STUCK LIKE CHUCK will be available to watch for free. Free streaming. Free download. FREE. It will launch on StuckLikeChuck.com but the player is embeddable so hopefully it will pop up on websites and blogs all over.

To celebrate the free release, on August 17^th I will host 3 separate “live-tweets” of the film. Just start watching the film at 8 PM, 10 PM or Midnight EST & tweet about it using #LiveChuck. You can also just tweet me anytime (@GetStuck) and I’m usually pretty good about responding.

Since no future DVD or Blu-Ray release is planned, I will also be releasing nearly 10 hours of bonus features. This includes a version of the film with audio commentary from myself and Nic Baisley from FilmSnobbery.com, an 88 minute fly on the wall behind the scenes documentary, the original 2 hour rough cut of the film, over 30 minutes of deleted scenes and much more. In order to access all these extras, just make a donation of $1 or more on StuckLikeChuck.com starting August 17^th.

Check out our newest teaser trailer below to see what you can expect in less than two weeks…

So who’s excited?

- Jerry Cavallaro, JerryCavallaro.com

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT just came out on DVD & Blu-Ray today so it is the perfect time to share the rest of my hilarious interview with Mr. Dan Fogler.

(You can view part one HERE)

This may be one of my favorite interview videos that I’ve done with Dan. We talk about TMHT, promoting with Topher Grace & how much fun it was creating the awesomely eighties music video for Atomic Tom’s cover of Don’t You Want Me. Dan also challenges Topher Grace to a Marty McFly-off!

Check out the interview below!

And just in case you haven’t seen the music video yet, here it is…

So who do you think does the better Marty McFly?

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

Even our most casual readers seem to know that we are big fans of DAN FOGLER at WAMG. I love chatting with the man and our interviews always seem to go off topic in the best possible way. I recently got the chance to talk with him about a slew of projects he is working on.

HELLBENDERS

MAN UP

HYSTERICAL PSYCHO & MOON LAKE AT COMIC CON

DON PEYOTE

FATHERED!

@MRDANFOGLER talks Twitter

RANDOMNESS

As I already said, our interviews tend to go way off topic. Here are some random but strangely hilarious moments from our chat.

DAN FOGLER ON SCULPTURE

Dan talks about a new hobby he picked up.

We also talked a lot about TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT & the awesomely 80s Atomic Tom music video. I will post that footage when the film is released on DVD, Blu-Ray & VOD on July 19^th!

Jerry Cavallaro – www.JerryCavallaro.com

It has been one week since the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival came to a close and I wanted to share with you one last look at my festival experience. Here is the good, the bad & the ugly of Tribeca 2011.

HIGHLIGHTS

There were a lot of great films and moments at this year’s festival. Here are some of my favorites.

• RABIES – My favorite film of the festival. Smart, funny, inventive & surprising. A slasher that removes the killer from the start and toys with genre conventions.
• THE DUNGON MASTER – It won best online short, which was well deserved. My favorite short of the festival and one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Bravo Rider & Shiloh Strong.
• JANIE JONES – This film is like most road trips in that you may know where it is gong but it is the journey that really counts. Sweet, heartwarming, well made and full of great performances.
• SAINT – This is an above average horror comedy that reaches levels of perfection at times but sadly those scenes are spread far apart.
• GRAVE ENCOUNTERS – There is nothing original about the characters or story in this flick but the fantastic execution by the Vicious Brothers makes this one of the best “found footage” films I’ve ever seen.
• THE TRIP – A very funny, mostly improvised English comedy starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as themselves.
• Interviews – A big thank you to Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola, Rider Strong & Shilog Strong for sitting down and talking with me during the festival. It was an honor speaking with each of them. I’d also like to thank Dick Maas for answering questions about SAINT via email.
• Parties – While most are drawn to them for the free alcohol, I actually look forward to the networking opportunities. Festival parties are a great way to meet people within the industry. Thanks to Tribeca, I got to spend some time with awesome people like Peter Gutierrez & Ben Umstead from Twitch.com and Alan LaFave from the Hell’s Half Mile Film + Music Festival. Also, at the JANIE JONES after party I got the chance to watch Abigail Breslin & Alessandro Nivola perform live.
• Tribeca (Online) Film Festival – A fantastic way for people nationwide to enjoy films from Tribeca & even vote for audience favorites. This is something all film festivals should be doing.
• Free Magnum Ice Cream And Kind Fruit & Nut Bars – Everyone loves free food, especially when it tastes good.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

When seeing films at a festival like this, there is often not much information available about them. Many of them don’t have a trailer or an official website and sometimes all you have to go by is the description in the program guide. The same goes for some of the events as well. Because of this, there is bound to be some big surprises but there will also be some disappointments. Here are a few of mine.

• DETACHMENT – I’m not sure what I was expecting but it certainly was not what I got. It almost feels like Ridley Scott made an art film about public education.
• HIGHER GROUND – A lot of times a festival darling like this one will leave people divided. I was on the other side of the line for Vera Farmiga’s debut as a director.
• RABIES – This is my favorite film of the festival. I’m just disappointed it did not win Best Online feature because it absolutely deserved it.
• Chambers Press Pass – It is the lowest level pass one can have at Tribeca and it severely limited the number of events I was able to attend.
• Online Press Screening Room – In addition to having a public screening section, there was another screening room site only open to press & industry. This is an absolutely brilliant idea that I wish more festivals would adopt. However, I was shocked to discover that this screening room was closed before the festival ended. Because I had the Chambers Pass (see above), there were no screenings I could attend on the last two days of the festival. I saved a bunch of shorts & features to watch online on those days only to find out that it was no longer available Saturday morning. Since this is meant for the press, it would be smart for it to be available when most of us have extra time due to limits on our passes. Ideally, this screening room would be available before and after the festival so that more films could be covered.
• The Filmmakers – I have said it before but I am extremely upset in how filmmakers promoted their films at the festival. It seems as if there was mostly an attitude of “my film is playing Tribeca so I don’t have to promote it” and that is just not true. There were a few exceptions, such as the Vicious Brothers and their intense online promotion of GRAVE ENCOUNTERS. They really went out of their way to spread the word about their film and it worked; people were talking about the film that did not even attend the festival. Unfortunately many of the filmmakers did absolutely nothing.

WHAT I MISSED

It is impossible to see every film and attend each panel at a festival like this. It is just too massive that you must make tough choices when creating a schedule. Talent availability, overlapping screenings and having the lowest level press pass made creating my schedule especially difficult this year. Here are some things I wish I were able to check out at this year’s festival.

• TURN ME ON, GODDAMNIT – With a title like this, your film is sure to get talked about but the buzz around this flick was insane. It left the festival with some awards / honorable mentions and nearly everyone there I spoke with could not stop raving about it.
• JESUS HENRY CHRIST – It was cute that they had the press screening on Easter but that unfortunately meant I could not see it. I’ll be honest, I heard nothing about the film from anyone at the festival but I still think it looks great.
• THE GUARD – My choice was to either cut the Rider & Shiloh Strong interview short or skip this dark comedy starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. I made the right choice but I hope to see this soon.
• GOD BLESS OZZY OSBOURNE – It’s Ozzy open and uncensored. What more do you need?
• NEWLYWEDS – I am a huge fan of Edward Burns and was upset that there were no press screenings for his latest offering.
• TROLLHUNTER – Whoever approved the press screenings for TROLLHUNTER & GRAVE ENCOUNTERS to be at the same time sucks. I have heard some amazing things even before the festival and look forward to eventually checking out this Magnolia release.
• A GOOD OLD FASHIONED ORGY – What the hell is a film like this doing in the Tribeca lineup? I’m not sure but I am mad as hell they did not have a press screening for it. I’m also very curious as to what the after party was like.
• CHEAT – I got an email asking me to check out this short film starring Bill Burr, Colin Quinn and Rich Vos. With comedic talent like that, I was really looking forward to checking it out but this short ended up as one of the casualties of the Online Screening Room problem I mentioned above.
• YEAR ZERO – A 24 minute short zombie epic made by a fellow New Yorker. Another unfortunate casualty of the online screening room.
• PREFERABLY BLUE – A short animation about a feud between the Easter Bunny & Santa Clause that claims to be based on a real story. Yet another online screening room missed opportunity.
• Meet the Filmmaker At Apple Store SoHo – One of the really cool things Apple does with Tribeca is invite some of the filmmakers and actors from the fest to do a Q & A at the nearby Apple Store. Luckily all these events are available to download as audio podcasts. Just search for MEET THE FILMMAKER on itunes.
• Opening Night – The festival kicked off with a free outdoor screening of THE UNION by Cameron Crowe followed by a concert from the film’s subject, Sir Elton John. This is all kinds of awesomeness that I unfortunately was unable to attend.

While there was a lot that I missed and some that I wish I missed, this was still a very cool festival experience. I’d like to thank everyone at the festival for putting on a great event and letting me attend. I’d also like to thank all of you for reading my coverage throughout the festival. There will be a few more reviews coming in as I have a chance to write them but this will be my final posting about the festival itself.

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com

I unfortunately missed filmmaker Dick Maas while he was in town to promote SAINT at the Tribeca Film Festival but he was kind enough to answer some questions via email. Here’s what he had to say:

• Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about SAINT?

Hello MovieGeeks, my name is Dick Maas and I’ve been making movies for the past 30 years, mostly in Holland. I’ve made comedies, like the FLODDER series and KILLER BABES, action flicks like AMSTERDAMNED and horror/thrillers like THE LIFT, DO NOT DISTURB, DOWN and recently SAINT.

SAINT is a thriller/horror about the St. Nicholas legend. St. Nicholas is the biggest yearly celebration in Holland. It takes place on the 5th of December.  Children put their shoes in front of the chimneys and when they were not naughty in the past year, they find them filled with presents the next morning.

St. Nick himself is dressed like a bishop, red gown, and rides his horse over the rooftops, throwing present into chimneys, assisted by his helpers, the Black Petes.

• What was the inspiration behind this film?

I thought this iconic Dutch figure, more popular than the queen herself, would make a nice subject to turn into an evil childmurderer. He is always portrayed as the epitome of goodness, and it seemed fun to turn this around.

• You worked on the story for many years. How has it changed in that time?

I started working on the script about ten years ago. I went through several drafts.  I didn’t want to go the serial killer way, a guy dressed up as St. Nick slaughtering the usual bunch of teenagers. I wanted to give the movie an epic feel, the story should be rooted in history, somewhere in the past.  A legendary figure that turnes up in the present time.

So I made up this legend of St. Nicholas, a rogue bishop that was burned alive by villagers in the 15th century.  Every time it’s a full moon on the 5th of December he will return to take revenge. And that happens on an average of once in every 32 years.

• What was the production of the film like? Favorite moment? Least favorite moment?

It was a tough production. Mainly because we had a limited budget.  We needed a lot of visual effects in the movie, so we had to come up with inventive ways to achive them.

We did a lot of shooting at night on the rooftops of Amsterdam at freezing temperatures. That was really complicated and not really a fun way to spend the night.  Also shooting on the water, on the canals of Amsterdam, was sometimes a real drag. But I had experienced that on AMSTERDAMNED, in which we shot a long speedboat chase for weeks in the canals.

• Could you tell us about some of the controversy surrounding the film?

I expected some controversy, but not to this extent. I knew there would be parents that would be offended by this grim portrayal of this cult figure.

Even before we started filming, St. Nicholas societies (they really exist) in Holland and Belgium were opposing the movie.

When we made the poster, the protests really took off.  A fellow director of mine was organizing the protest and even took it to court. They wanted to ban the poster from the street and cinema’s in Holland.  The court ruled in our favor and judged there was nothing wrong with the poster and we didn’t cross the boundaries of good behavior.

Needles to say, that because of all the commotion, the awareness of the movie was very good, and that of course helped us at the box office.

• Which filmmakers influence your writing and your directing?

A lot of directors and movies have influenced me.  Among them Spielberg (Jaws), Hitchcock, Carpenter (Halloween), DePalma, Polanski (Repulsion, Cul de Sac), Tony and Ridley Scott, Kubrick (Clockwork Orange), Wes Craven, Fincher.

• Do you think about foreign audiences when making a film or do you just make your films for a Dutch audience and hope it translates well?

In the case of SAINT I didn’t forget about the foreign potential.  I knew it would be difficult for a foreign audience to grasp all the details surrounding the St. Nicholas celebration, but I knew the basic premisse was one with international appeal.

I also put in some information about the St. Nicholas celebration in some of the scenes, so people would have a better understanding.

• Do you have plans for a sequel or continuing the story of St. Niklas in some way?

We have some storylines for a sequel. But I let it all depend on how well the movie will play abroad. But the St. Nick definitely has the possibility to grow out into a slasher icon like Freddy Krueger or Jason.

• Why should audience go see SAINT and what do you hope people get out of watching the film?

People who go to SAINT expecting an all out gore fest will be disappointed. It’s more an action and suspense driven thriller with some gory moments and a few scares.

• What was it like playing at the Tribeca Film Festival?

It was fun to see that their was not much difference in the understanding of the movie between a Dutch and foreign audience. People were laughing at the same time and jumping out of their seats at the same moments.  Of course some stuff gets lost in the translation and not all the details of the celebration translate, but on the whole the Tribeca audience reaction was as expected, very enthusiastic.

• What are you working on next?

At the moment I’m working on a thriller called QUIZ.

QUIZ is a thriller about a famous game show host who has a dinner appointment with his wife and daughter in a restaurant. They don’t show up. After some time a strange man presents himself at his table and he claims to have kidnapped the wife and daughter.  He shows a photo on which we see his wife and daughter tied up.

The game show host has to answer ten questions correctly within one hour if he wants to see his family back alive. So the man turns the tables around and plays the part of the game show host and the game show host is becoming the contestant. That is the start of an evening full of surprises, twists and turns.

We are currently casting and are aiming to start shooting in july/august. The Dutch release is scheduled in the beginning of 2012.

• Do you have any websites you would like to plug?

I have many websites to plug:

www.dickmaas.com

www.parachutepictures.nl

www.quizdefilm.nl

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quiz/151163131610463

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-the-Film/114458121941450?ref=ts

http://www.saintthemovie.com/

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

I saved this question for last because it has a major spoiler. If you have not yet seen the film, please save this question until after you do.

From what I understand, the children St. Niklas captured are on his ship in the harbor, which Frank blows up. Did Frank kill all those kids by blowing up the boat?

He probably did. But it’s not entirely sure he blew up the boat although it was his intention. If you had to choose between blowing up a boat full of children and thus preventing more child murders in the future, or not blowing up the boat and allowing the killing to continue, what would you do?

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com

You can tell how massive and diverse a festival like Tribeca is by the fact that I saw 10 features and a whole bunch of shorts, yet only one film I saw won an award and none received special mention. I want to congratulate Rider & Shiloh Strong for winning best online short for their amazing film, THE DUNGEON MASTER. I have been pushing it as my favorite short of the festival and apparently many people agreed with me. Below is the list of all the winners & special mentions. Congratulations to all of them and congrats to everyone who just played at the festival, which is a huge honor by itself.

WORLD NARRATIVE COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

The jurors for the 2011 World Narrative Competition were Souleymane Cissé, Scott Glenn, David Gordon Green, Rula Jebreal, Art Linson, Jason Sudeikis and Dianne Wiest.

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – She Monkeys (Apflickorna), directed by Lisa Aschan, written by Josefine Adolfsson and Lisa Aschan (Sweden). Winner receives $25,000 and the art award “Anna Christie Entering the Bar, 1965-1967” The award was given by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro and Larry Korman from AKA Residences.

Jury Comments:  “Haunting, resonant, but never posed. Conventional shots become dangerous. With balanced storytelling that moves between danger and innocence, this film speaks of sex, adolescence, power, and ambition. It is original and authentic.”

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film – Ramadhan “Shami” Bizimana as Yvan in Grey Matter (Matière Grise), directed and written by Kivu Ruhorahoza (Rwanda, Australia). Winner receives $2,500. The award was given by Rula Jebreal.

Jury Comments: “In a world shattered by genocide, this performance was so pure.”

Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film – Carice van Houten as Ingrid Jonker in Black Butterflies, directed by Paula van der Oest, written by Greg Latter (Germany, Netherlands, South Africa). Winner receives $2,500. The award was given by Rula Jebreal.

Jury Comments: “There are a million colors in this complicated performance. We award this honor for bravery and fragility, and for showing tremendous range and strength throughout.”

Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film – Luisa Tillinger, Artificial Paradises (Paraisos Artificiales) (Mexico).  Winner receives $5,000 and $50,000 in post production services provided by Company 3. The award was given by Rula Jebreal.

Jury Comments: “A beautiful portrait of landscape and emotion.”

Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film – Jannicke Systad Jabobsen, Turn Me On, Goddammit (Få meg på, for faen) (Norway). Winner receives $5,000. The award was given by Rula Jebreal.

Jury Comments: “This jury was unanimous. Hands-down this is the best screenplay.”

BEST NEW NARRATIVE DIRECTOR:

The jurors for the 2011 Best New Narrative Director Competition were Paul Dano, Atom Egoyan, Zoe Kazan, Anna Kendrick, Rainn Wilson.

Best New Narrative Director – Park Jungbum, writer and director of Journals of Musan (Musan Il-gi) (South Korea). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by American Express; $50,000 in post production services provided by Company 3; and the art award “Double Happiness” by Nate Lowman. The award was given by Zoe Kazan and Jessica Igoe from American Express.

Jury Comments: “This film is an extraordinary study of an outcast, one that examines a complex journey with compassion and grace. The jury was unanimous in honoring this rare film, which is both emotionally arresting and an important social document. We are proud to commend this auspicious debut from an extremely talented filmmaker.”

Special Jury Mention – Kivu Ruhorahoza, writer and director of Grey Matter (Matière  Grise). The announcement was made by Anna Kendrick.

Jury Comments: “For its audacious and experimental approach, this film speaks of recent horrors and genocide with great originality. We wanted to give a special commendation to this filmmaker for his courage and vision.”

WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

The jurors for the 2011 World Documentary Competition were Amir Bar-Lev, Michael Cera, RJ Cutler, Abigail Disney, Whoopi Goldberg, Louie Psihoyos and Peter Scarlet.

Best Documentary Feature – Bombay Beach, directed by Alma Har’el (USA, Israel). Winner receives $25,000 and the art award “Nathans” by Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao. The award was given by Louie Psihoyos.

Jury Comments: “Our unanimous award for the film’s beauty, lyricism, empathy and invention.”

Best Editing in a Documentary Feature – Purcell Carson, Semper Fi: Always Faithful (USA). Winner receives $5,000. The award was given by Amir Bar-Lev.

Jury Comments: “The film skillfully weaves journalistic investigation with emotional personal narrative.”

BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR COMPETITION:

The jurors for the 2011 World Documentary Competition were Margaret Bodde, Jared Cohen, J.D. Heyman, Lauren Hutton, Annie Sundberg.

Best New Documentary Director – Pablo Croce for Like Water, (USA). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by American Express; and the art award “Path to the Stage” by Inka Essenhigh. The award was given by Lauren Hutton and Jessica Igoe from American Express.

Jury Comments: “The film opens up a violent world in an unexpected way through its sensitive and seamless portrayal of its complex hero, ultimate fighter Anderson Silva.”

Special Jury Mention – Michael Collins, director of Give Up Tomorrow (UK, USA). The announcement was made by Lauren Hutton.

Jury Comments: “A powerful work of investigative journalism. We honor the filmmakers six years of hard work in illustrating how a society can clash with justice, and the impact on an individual life. Everyone should see this film.”

SHORT FILM COMPETITION CATEGORIES:

The 2011 Best Narrative Short Competition jurors were Nora Ephron, Ceci Kurzman, Denis Leary, Fran Lebowitz, David O. Russell, Paul Schneider and Jimmy Wales.

Best Narrative Short – Man and Boy, directed by David Leon and Marcus McSweeney, written by David Leon and Rashid Rasaq (UK). Winner receives $5,000, sponsored by Persol; 5,000 feet of film stock donated by Kodak; and the art award “Gold Dust (Undeclared) by Taryn Simon. The award was given by Denis Leary and Victor Melendez from Persol.

Jury Comments: “The jury liked this film’s marriage of brilliant acting, superb technical prowess, and provocative subject matter, and it’s a movie memorable for upending expectations.”

Special Jury Mention – The Terms, written and directed by Jason LaMotte (UK)

Jury Comments: “Dark, original and beautifully written.”

The 2011 Best Documentary and Student Short Competition jurors were Ahmed Ahmed, Agnes Gund, Zoe Kravitz, Nicole Lapin, Lisa Shields, Christine Vachon and Patrick Wilson.

Best Documentary Short – Incident in New Baghdad, written and directed by James Spione (US). Winner receives $5,000, sponsored by Persol; 5,000 feet of film stock donated Kodak; and the art award “Big Penny” by Tom Otterness. The award was given by Nicole Lapin and Victor Melendez from Persol.

Jury Comments: “The winner is a film that bravely explores the residual effects of experiencing trauma in war in a truthful and fearless manner. Using a mixture of archival and current material, this timely film is the story of one man’s struggle to reconcile war, his place in it, and the legacy he will pass on to his children.”

Special Jury Mention – Guru, written and directed by Jonathan VanBallenberghe (USA).

Jury Comments: “Congratulations to a film that started in one direction and ended up going in another. This unexpected journey was well crafted and followed a unique character for whom we were rooting.”

Student Visionary Award – Rooms, written and directed by Joanna Jurewicz (USA). Winner receives MacPro Desktop with Final Cut Pro and a 24-inch monitor provided by Apple; and the art award “Study: Northern City Renaissance (Mass MoCA #79N)” by Stephen Hannock. This award was also given by Ahmed Ahmed.

Jury Comments: “A simply told story with great depth that examines an average day in the life of an ordinary person living through other people. We applaud this director for her focus, attention to detail, and nuanced acting.”

Special Jury Mention: Eva – Working Title, written and directed by Dor Fadlon (Israel)

Jury Comments: “Characterized by bold directorial choices, this film is a disturbing and intriguing story of an actor’s struggle, and examines the price paid for realizing one’s dreams. We congratulate this filmmaker for his ability to fully realize this story in a unique structure.”

TRIBECA (ONLINE) FILM FESTIVAL CATEGORIES:

The 2011 Tribeca (Online) Film Festival winners were voted on by visitors to tribecafilm.com.

Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Feature Film: Donor Unknown, directed and written by Jerry Rothwell (UK). Winner receives $25,000, sponsored by American Express, and the art award “Untitled” by Sarah Crowner. The award was given by Geoffrey Gilmore and Jessica Igoe from American Express.

Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Short Film: Dungeon Master, directed by Shiloh & Rider Strong (UK). Winners receive $5,000, sponsored by Accenture. The award was given by Geoffrey Gilmore and Dr. Gavin Michael from Accenture.

HEINEKEN AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER – GIVE UP TOMORROW

Give Up Tomorrow received a Special Jury Mention in the World Documentary Competition at this year’s TFF and played to rapturous response and standing ovations.  The film was also supported by the Tribeca Film Institute’s Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, and the filmmaker is an alumnus of the Tribeca Film Institute’s Tribeca All Access program.

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com

The final event I attended of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival was the After Party for the film JANIE JONES. It was a very fitting conclusion to my festival experience since I saw the film on my first day and interviewed stars Abigail Breslin & Alessandro Nivola halfway through the festival.

When I arrived at Marquee, I realized this was unlike the other parties I had attended at Tribeca. This was less of a networking event and much more of a celebration for cast, crew, friends & family. I immediately felt out of place but I’m used to that. The guest list included stars of the film Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola and Frank Whaley, as well as other celebrity guests including Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, and Emily Mortimer.

Towards the end of the night, I had a chance to spend some time with Alessandro who remembered me from our interview. He mentioned that he has been checking out our coverage of the film and that he really enjoyed my review of JANIE JONES. It is always gratifying to receive compliments about your coverage from someone associated with the film so that was very cool.

In addition to getting to talk with some really cool people, I also got to watch Abigail Breslin and Alessandro Nivola perform a short acoustic set.  Below are some photos from their performance. While I did take video of them, I was asked not to post any audio or video from the night. Sorry but I have to honor their request. However, if you would like to hear one of the songs Abigail Breslin performed from the film, “Fight For Me” is now available via iTunes.

While I have many more, these are some of my favorite images of the night. I also included a few random shots of the crowd before they lowered the lights. The guys in the last picture thought I was the event photographer and asked me to take a photo. Sure, why not?

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com

For anyone that follows me on Twitter (@GetStuck), you know that I made a major error this morning. My final screening of the festival was going to be the 2 pm press screening of THE BLEEDING HOUSE. The only problem is that screening was actually at 12pm. Luckily I realized my error before I made the 90-minute commute to the festival. Since that was my only screening for the day and I had no interviews scheduled, I declared Thursday my last day actually at the festival. A few hours later, I was back on the bus to the city anyway.

I received an invite to the JANIE JONES after party and knew it would be fun to attend. Since I arrived at the festival about 45 minutes early, I decided to take one last walk around the Chelsea Theater, which is where I spent most of my Tribeca Film Festival experience. I walked around looking for more promo materials and didn’t find anything new. I mentioned it in a previous post but I am extremely disappointed in how filmmakers represented themselves and their films at this festival. I also thought I’d pick up a Tribeca Film Festival shirt that has been tempting me the entire festival. Then I saw the price and decided I already have plenty of shirts from smaller film festivals that I’d rather support anyway.

On my way out the door, I ran into the beautiful and talented Maria Rusolo. She is a NY based actress/producer that I am friends with and we have been trying to meet up the entire festival. It turns out we were in the same theater at least once and completely missed each other. We talked a little about the festival before I made my way over to the JANIE JONES party.

Rather than load this recap with photos, I created a separate post for the JANIE JONES party that you can view right HERE. The party turned out to be my final event of the festival and it was a perfect way to end it. While I am finished with the festival, my coverage will continue into next week. I have reviews to catch up on, as well as interviews to post. Be sure to keep an eye out for my continuing coverage and thank you for reading my daily updates on my festival experience.

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com