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Date Night
By Jonathan Weichsel
The short of it: Date Night is a fun if harmless romantic comedy geared towards an older crowd. It should make a great 'date night' for parents who wish to get out of the house.
Date Night tells the story of a married New Jersey Suburban couple, Phil and Claire Foster, who get mistaken as criminal blackmailers while out on a date in the city. Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire (Tina Fey) still love each other, but are being worn down by the grind of suburban life. Between kids and work, they barely have any time for each other. Even so, once a week they schedule a date night. They always go to the same restaurant, order the same thing, and engage in the same embarrassingly boring small talk. In order to get out of the rut they are in, Phil and Claire decide to go out to New York and try a restaurant they had read about. When they get there, the two learn from an obnoxious host that reservations need to be taken months in advance. This is when Phil does something really crazy. He steals the reservation from a no-show couple, the Tripplehorns. Unfortunately, the Tripplehorns are wanted dead by the mob, and Phil and Claire spend the rest of the evening running for their lives through the harsh world of Manhattan.
Audiences should find it refreshing that there is barely any raunchy or gross-out humor in Date Night. There is also absolutely none of that annoying, cloying 1950's Rock Hudson/Doris Day revival thing that has been going on recently. Instead, there is a truthful story about a loving couple that is overwhelmed by the hectic pace of modern suburban life.
Carell and Fey are both most in their element when they can give honest, emotionally grounded comedic performances, and this is exactly what Date Night allows them to do. Date Night follows the old Hollywood trope of ordinary people being put in extraordinary situations, but it does so better than most of the movies that have come out recently, mostly because Carell and Fey are so good at being ordinary. Both are adept at finding what is poignant in everyday existence.
Of course, the real fun of Date Night comes from watching Carell and Fey being chased around the city by mobsters and crooked cops as they try to unravel a mystery that will get them off the hook. Date Night is an action comedy along the lines of Beverly Hills Cop or 48 Hours just as much as it is a romantic comedy. It features car chases, fights, guns, good cops, bad cops, and anything else you might want to find in such a movie.
Mark Wahlberg shines as a security expert and former real estate client of Claire's who agrees to help the Fosters out. Wahlberg's running gag is that he is shirtless throughout most of his scenes, causing Phil to alternate between being jealous and just plain uncomfortable. James Franco and Mila Kunis are great in all too brief roles as the real Tripplehorns, a fairly messed up couple. But then again, James Franco and Mila Kunis are always great. Ray Liotta plays (big surprise here) a mobster. I have been following William Fichtner's career from his work on the short lived Invasion through Prison Break and his cameo in The Dark Night. He is a wonderfully inventive actor, and here he gets to flex his comedic muscles as Frank Crenshaw, the wonderfully perverted and corrupt district attorney who it turns out is central to the film's mystery plot.
Date Night is a fun, well made comedy. It manages to be adult without being juvenile, and deals with issues of marriage and keeping the excitement alive in a long term romance. I can recommend it to married couples young and old as well as fans of Carell and/or Fey.
Date Night opens April 9th. It is rated PG-13.
Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Shawn Levy
By Jonathan Weichsel
According to Tina Fey, the most difficult thing about making Date Night was hopping around New York City in those high heels. Of course, she was joking when she said this, and of course, since I am not a humorist, it doesn't come through on the page.
I have just returned from a press conference lead by Steve Carell, Tina Fey, and comedic director Shawn Levy. It was far and away the funniest press conference I have ever been to, and was every bit as enjoyable as watching Carell or Fey on TV or the big screen. There were reporters rolling in the aisles it was so funny. Sadly, I do not have the talent to translate their humor into an article, and if I tried, said article would come across as ineptly written. For example, it was hilarious to hear Steve Carell talk about how he schooled Tina Fey on how to be a movie star. According to Carell, the number one rule for being a movie star is to disregard other people. But, when he met Fey she had no pretense, and was very courteous to everybody. So, he taught her how to be discourteous and pretentious. When Carell said it, it was hilarious. When I write it, it is not so much. So you, the reader, will have to take what you get.
Date Night tells the story of a married New Jersey Suburban couple, Phil and Claire Foster, who get mistaken as criminal blackmailers while out on a date in the city. Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire (Tina Fey) still love each other, but are being worn down by the grind of suburban life. Between kids and work, they barely have any time for each other. Even so, once a week they schedule a date night. They always go to the same restaurant, order the same thing, and engage in the same embarrassingly boring small talk. In order to get out of the rut they are in, Phil and Claire decide to go out to New York and try a restaurant they had read about. When they get there, the two learn from an obnoxious host that reservations need to be taken months in advance. This is when Phil does something really crazy. He steals the reservation from a no-show couple, the Tripplehorns. Unfortunately, the Tripplehorns are wanted dead by the mob, and Phil and Claire spend the rest of the evening running for their lives through the harsh world of Manhattan.
Carell's and Fey's respective performances in Date Night seem very natural, and I was surprised to learn from the director and cast that they kept to the script almost entirely, and did very little improvisation. Steve explained that the three of them had spent a year with the script before shooting it, so by the time it went into production the script felt natural to all of them.
In Date Night, Fey and Carell give honest, true to life performances, so I was not surprised to learn that like the fictional couple they play, both have trouble taking time out of their schedules for a date night. Tina Fey is married with small children, and said that she tries to get out on a date night with her husband once a month. Steve Carell, also married with small children, answered the question with his typical dry humor, claiming that he only gets to go out for date night during awards shows.
Steve Carell and Tina Fey are NBC's two biggest comedic stars, so they were naturally excited to work with each other. All it took were a few phone conversations between Carell and Fey to convince the two actors that they were on the same page creatively. And they are both on the same page- which is evident in the chemistry these two gifted actors share onscreen.
Date Night opens April 9th. It is rated PG-13.
Writer/Director Rob Shepyer Interview
By Jonathon Freeman-Anderson
Up and coming writer/director/ Hollywood socialite Rob Shepyr gives the world a glimpse into his life and art in this intimate interview including some rather interesting predictions for the future of Hollywood.
What do you have to say for yourself, Rob?
"I'm a writer/director and lived in Hollywood, till I was 13. Chillin' on the streets of Hollywood is a huge influence on my life. I worked at Graumann's. I memorized the entire grounds where every actor is located in cement. The golden age of Hollywood was a more powerful and non-diluted art form. The product was much more pure. Things are more calculated now and everything aesthetically is better, but before, everything was about a single director's image and vision. Today, it's about the producer. Cinema is capturing a 'dream' in real terms as a physical object. That's why cinema should not be structured. It shouldn't be as aesthetically calculated. What rules are in the dreams, none, so why does everything have to be linear? It's for marketing, but in the beginning, everyone was experimenting and any cinema fan will say that classic cinema and foreign films are superior as an art form."
What drives you, Rob?
"At 23, Creation and Isolation is my spirit. Taking an incredibly long amount of time to create a single project and not fearing the negatives of taking that time and developing the best project. Orson Welles said, 'a filmmaker has to be more concerned with what he's doing and creating than who he is;' more concerned with writing and creating this idea."
Where is your favorite place for inspiration?
"California is a huge motif in my heart. The culture north and south, I like the hippie movement in Nor Cal or L.A., with the Venice and Hollywood culture, is this giant cocktail of greed, expression, and partying; it's such an elaborate tapestry of what it means to be American. All I know is I couldn't have grown up in a better place. Here, you're eternally young. This is the fountain of youth. You may not look it at the end, but you may experience youth forever."
What projects are you working on?
"I'm currently rewriting three screenplays, and I've written nine so far, all feature lengths, and I'm working on a pilot. I don't watch TV, but I'm writing a pilot because it's an easier method of breaking in. I need a producer. If an artist were given full control over creativity, he'd never know when to stop. An artist's mind is constantly just thinking of the next thing to do. And they need someone to say that it's outside the budget, it's not marketable."
"I'm not afraid to explore provocative ideas with old values. I'm interested in uncovering what one generation sees as fine and put it under the lens of a generation that doesn't understand it. Right now, for example, California is in the middle of an onslaught of drug culture from every direction. Dope has always existed, but its being so pushed now in California that one generation embraces it, and one questions it. One of my films has society look at drugs and marijuana as what these experiences have to do with your life."
How do you work?
"I work alone. I want it to be my instinct. Truly, it's not me, but the characters. They should stay true to themselves and me. If someone else wrote it, regardless of how similar, it'll be different."
Any final words of wisdom that you'd like to impart to friends or family.
"I'll say this: the arts; music, film, painting, anything, are the most important institutions in the world. What helps us escape the world that is already a competitive illusion? We have to look to the arts to save us. Even during a dry spell, it will always come back because someone will always discover what is needed to bring cinema back or art to show us, teach us to be better."
Annie Gaia: A Free Spirit in Hollywood
By Jonathan Weichsel
Annie Gaia hails from Memphis, Tennessee, and being from The South defines her personality. From her laid back character, to her warm, inviting, but slightly wicked smile, to her way of tapping your knee when she makes a joke, Annie is a picture of Southern charm.
Like the city of Memphis itself, Annie Gaia is full of soul. She has a hard edge to her like many women who grow up in The South, but as her surname implies, she also has a free spirit, and her openness has a way of being contagious. I was completely captivated with Annie Gaia throughout our interview at The Bourgeois Pig in Hollywood, because simply talking with her is a liberating experience.
Annie Gaia studied musical theater at the University of Mississippi, and she has been putting her education to great use out here in LA. She is a member of the non-profit Vesper Theater Company, where she recently played Balthazar and a guard in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. The production went up in the old bear and lion cave at the LA Zoo, and the company had to set up the stage every day for an evening performance. But it was worth it, because the audience got to experience Shakespeare out in nature to sold-out performances. Annie is currently working with Vesper writing a stage musical based on Alice in Wonderland. They are writing it as a team, and she is working on the music and lyrics and helping out with the dialogue.
Annie got into writing at the University of Memphis, when they let her write some of their productions. She continued writing after college, making short films. Annie's first short, Spirit Guide, which she wrote, directed, and starred in, won the Jury Award at the Live from Memphis film festival. Many more shorts followed, including the award winning Paper Doll World.
I asked Annie what it is about writing that attracts her.
"People are so full of fear, but I like to live in the moment. Writing is one of the most fearless things you can do. Seeing other people performing your work, or singing your own songs, can be nerve wracking, but it's worth it."
Annie Gaia also performs vaudeville, and has developed a repertoire of comedic characters. These characters include a ninety-eight year old woman who has spent her entire life on the vaudeville circuit, as well as a frustrated French teacher who takes her aggression out by performing burlesque dances.
Annie sings with various bands around town. She brings her vaudevillian spirit to her music, dressing up in crazy wigs, sparkly pants, and fake mustaches. But her music is pure Memphis beat, the kind that gets into your blood and makes you move your feet.
I asked Annie what it is that first attracted her to entertainment.
"When I watch a movie or play, or listen to music, I am always captivated. There is something magical that happens when you can focus all your attention on something, and everything else that is going on disappears. I want to do for other people what movies and entertainment have always done for me. We are not supposed to worry about the world. We are supposed to enjoy it. I want to help people, and people ultimately just want to be loved."
Annie can currently be seen Saturday mornings through June as Miss Katty in a production of Pinocchio at the Glendale Center Theater. She can also be seen as Sally the Secretary in Woke up Ugly, a short film that has already won awards at the Red Rock film festival and the Indie Memphis Film Festival.
Annie's hobbies include drawing, photography, and reading people's fortunes.
To learn more about Annie Gaia, including upcoming shows, visit
her myspace page at www.myspace.com/annie1g. To see Annie's complete acting resume and view her reel, visit www.lacasting.com/anniegaia. To learn how you can receive voice coaching from Annie, visit
http://anniememphis.com.
'CLASH OF THE TITANS'
MUTINY AT MOUNT OLYMPUS
By Sean Chavel
Get ready for a battle between kings and gods, mortals and immortals in an action spectacle that impacts you with a thunderbolt. Clash of the Titans is Greek mythology updated, with a sense of verve and excitement (and a tad too many rattling edits and shaking cameras), for 21st century action-hungry audiences, but it keeps its criteria mission and objective in order: to tell a grand centuries-old story.
Gloriously, the filmmakers put the camera in the sky in many of its rousing scenes, but because we know we live in an age of CGI special effects, we know it is not really the sky. But it feels like we are really floating up there along with our hero Perseus (Sam Worthington), who was born of a god but raised in the man, and thus here is a fantasy film that does the exceptional job of suspending our disbelief.
With only a few scenes of actors standing around and waxing rhetorically, this new remake of the 1981 film (this is a forward leap improvement narrative-wise than the original), moves with brisk pacing while exceedingly following through on its foreshadowing. When the film promises well in advance a difficult battle to the death encounter with Medusa, whose hair is writing with snakes, the actual battle is a fantastic showdown that hurls with acrobatic ferocity.
Also included in the adventure is Perseus' capture of the flying horse Pegasus, duels with gigantic scorpions, encounters with Stygian witches with eyeballs in their palms, various winged demons and gargoyles, and Kraken the sea monster that is so colossal in size that he can prompt tidal waves capable of ravaging ancient Greek cities. Two things missing from the original is the mechanical owl (good omission, also a good self-aware laugh) and the two-headed wolf battle (a sorely missing omission). Perseus does not begin as the principle leader of the band of warriors, that authority belongs to Mads Mikkelson ("Casino Royale") as Draco in command, but surely enough he ascends to leadership.
This is also another successful vehicle for Worthington who has become a major star within the wingspan of a year. He brought much-needed gravitas to ill-conceived "Terminator: Salvation" and was the star of the worldwide box office behemoth "Avatar." Worthington is hardly the tallest man on screen, visibly shorter to Mikkelson, but he is as hard as a rock. And he brings integrity to the screen - in various times he appears he would die for a goddess simply because it is the right thing to do, the right thing for the better of mankind. He loves goddesses for what they represent to the foundation of the world, and Worthington's Perseus makes himself feel less than who they are. Worthington turns martyrdom into a masculine art.
Initially, Worthington begins humble (too humble and grounded to be honest), having survived at childhood being washed at sea within a closed coffin. He nonetheless becomes a warrior, defying if not practically rejecting his god genetics, and places the "common" people at higher importance than the gods. He is unmoved, if full of refutation, when Zeus (Liam Neeson, succeeding and exceeding Laurence Oliver in the original role) arrives and announces himself as his father. If they happen to share the same ideals, they both in a way have different definitions of the same objectives.
What Zeus and Perseus, father and son, will have in common is the desire and need to wipe out Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the vengeful god with the intent to wreck and destroy humanity as well as to seize all of Zeus' power and rule the underworld. The climax of the film is a little bit too "sensational" for its own good - with debris crashing, splashing here and there and everywhere - but as the camera swoops through the carnage and wreckage it inspires thrilling giddiness.
The film is playing in 3D in select theaters, but it is important to note that the film was not filmed in Real 3D but instead converted in 3D after studio test runs. The 3D glasses tint the film and the picture's colors become diffused in a dissatisfying way. This is opposite to "Avatar" which was filmed in Real 3D with the planned conception to view it in 3D IMAX. What Warner Bros. proves with "Clash of the Titans" is that converted 3D is not a good idea. See this in the original proper 2D projection. I unfortunately reviewed this in 3D, preferring the film when I took the glasses off.
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