Category Archives: Interviews

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Interview

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juancarlosAn Interview with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director of “28 Weeks Later”

BY KEVIN CARR

On May 11, Fox Atomic will be releasing “28 Weeks Later,” the follow-up to Danny Boyle’s 2003 thriller “28 Days Later.” Boyle hand-picked Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to spearhead the new film, which tells the story of an attempt to repopulate London after it’s been devastated by the rage virus. Robert Carlyle stars as the father of a family trying to survive another outbreak.

Excepts from the interview follow. Hear the entire interview here…

KC: HOW DID YOU GET CHOSEN FOR THIS MOVIE?
JCF: Danny [Boyle] was the man who was looking for me two years and a half ago. He loved “Intacto,” my first feature movie. And then he thought that I could be the man to make this movie because I know he was wanting somebody who could be introduced to the concept with fresh eyes. I accepted the project because it was very important to me to make my own movie, my personal point of view of this. And it was so helpful to hear from Danny to forget about the first movie and to make your own movie. In those terms of freedom, it was something really, really interesting to me.
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Scott Wiper Interview

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scottwiperAn Interview with Scott Wiper, director of “The Condemned”

BY KEVIN CARR

Hear the entire interview…

7M: HOW ARE YOU DOING?
Pretty good. This year, I’ve had a blast. Spent a majority of this in Austalia, where we filmed the movie. It’s like you don’t have to grow up. You go out in the wilderness, and you blow things up.

7M: WHY SO LONG FROM YOUR LAST FEATURE?
Getting a movie made and getting it financed takes so long. I made my first movie, “Captain Jack” in Granville. We shot that in ’93. And then shot “A Better Way to Die” in ’99. So it was almost the same gap. In between, you’re always trying to get something up and going and financed. I think after “A Better Way to Die” because I written it and directed it and acted in it, I went in many different directions and enjoyed it. Mostly I did a lot of screenwriting. I liked it, but it was just how I made a living. The majority of that time was eaten up by screenwriting.
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Josh Hutcherson Interview

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joshhutchersonAn Interview with Josh Hutcherson, star of “Firehouse Dog”

BY KEVIN CARR

Excepts from the interview follow. To hear the entire interview, click here.

7M: TELL US ABOUT FIREHOUSE DOG?
Firehouse Dog is about this dog who is a movie star. He can do all these cool, awesome stunts for these movies. One day, he gets lost doing a stunt, and he comes into my life and starts to cause all these problems, and through the movie we start to build a relationship together.

7M: DID THE DOG STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT?
He did steal the spotlight. Everybody wanted to love and pet the dog. He was great. There were actually four dogs that play the character of Rexxx. And each one of the dog had its own different attributes. One could jump really high, the other could run fast. One could look at marks, and one could speak.

7M: DID YOU DO THE TRICKS?
We had about a two week period before we started shooting where I had time to get used to being around the dogs and the trainers. There were a couple times during the movie that were too wide of a shot and the trainers couldn’t be too close to tell a dog what to do. So I had to tell it to sit or help it stay on a certain mark.
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Wes and Jonathan Craven Interview

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cravensAn Interview with Wes Craven and Jonathan Craven, writers and producers of “The Hills Have Eyes 2″

BY KEVIN CARR

Horror maven Wes Craven has joined with his son Jonathan Craven to write the sequel to the 2005 horror remake “The Hills Have Eyes.” This new film follows a group of partially-trained soldiers who stumble across a band of terrifying mutants in the hills of the American desert southwest. Wes Craven made the original “The Hills Have Eyes” and a sequel to it in the mid-1970s.

Excepts from the interview follow. Hear the entire interview here…

KC: HOW MANY EYES DO THESE HILLS HAVE?
WC: Thousands. As one character says in the film when another character says how many do you think there are, too many. I don’t know… too many.
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Julian McMahon Interview

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PREMONITIONAn Interview with Julian McMahon, star of “Premonition”

BY KEVIN CARR

On March 16, “Premonition” will open. The film stars Sandra Bullock as a woman whose humdrum existence is thrown into an uproar when she has premonitions of her husband’s death. Julian McMahon plays her husband, Jim, a man who doesn’t believe her messages about the future. Excepts from the interview follow.

Excepts from the interview follow. Hear the entire interview here…

KC: HAVE YOU EVER HAD A PREMONITION?
JM: I have actually, to a certain extent. I’ve had a feeling – a very strong feeling – about something that actually occurred a couple days later.

KC: WAS IT ODD TO FILM A MOVIE THAT TAKES PLACE OUT OF ORDER, SINCE MOVIES ARE ALREADY SHOT OUT OF ORDER?
JM: All movies are all shot out of order, so you have that concept of what came before and what came after. This was a little more difficult because the time frames were so skewed. This is all over the place. As much as it was all over the place in the movie, it was at least as much in the script, maybe even more. For me, because I come in and out of it consistently, I’d play a Tuesday before I even got to it. It was a little tricky, but it did span over a week, so you could kinda contain it.
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Nia Long Interview

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PREMONITIONAn Interview with Nia Long, star of “Premonition”

BY KEVIN CARR

On March 16, “Premonition” will open. The film stars Sandra Bullock as a woman whose humdrum existence is thrown into an uproar when she has premonitions of her husband’s death. Nia Long plays her best friend, Annie, who tries to be understanding in the face of fantastic claims. Excepts from the interview follow.

Hear the entire interview…

KC: TELL US ABOUT “PREMONITION.”
NL: It’s kind of a mind twister for the audience because the film goes from reality to Sandra Bullock’s premonition of her husband being killed in a car accident. The interesting thing as you watch the film is it’s sort f this journey between did this happen in real time or is it the premonition that it’s going to happen some time in the future.

KC: WHAT PART DO YOU PLAY IN THE FILM?
NL: I play Annie, which is Sandra’s best friend in the film. I kind of made a backstory for her because on the page, the character isn’t fully fleshed out. But you do get the sense that these two girls have been friends for a long time, that they went to college together. Annie’s still single. She’s still in search of the husband, the kid and the white picket fence, and Sandy’s character kinda has all that on lock-down. What connects them is that their lives are totally different, but they have that core friendship in common.
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Mark Fergus Interview

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markfergusAn Interview with Mark Fergus, director of “First Snow”

BY KEVIN CARR

Earlier this year, screenwriter Mark Fergus received an Oscar nomination for his adaptation of “Children of Men.” Now, he is getting ready to release his new film “First Snow,” a psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo and J.K. Simmons. Fergus took some time to speak with Kevin Carr about his Oscar nomination, his new film, and what inspired the movie. Excepts from the interview follow.

Hear the entire interview…

KC: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR OSCAR NOMINATION (FOR “CHILDREN OF MEN”). CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE?
MF: We adapted that novel quite a while ago, and it was a fantastic sort of surprise to have it come back and be such a great movie and to have found its way into such great hands. The next thing you know, you’re invited to the Oscar luncheon, and you’re on line with Spielberg and Scorsese and Clint Eastwood. Every person you ever idolized, they’re all just hanging around in a room eating lunch with you.

And then Oscar night, it’s this ridiculous pageant. None of the photographers or reporters really want to talk to screenwriters, but you give it a shot anyway. Some people will talk to you, and some people will wait for the big guns to arrive.

You’re sitting in there, and you try not to think of winning. As it gets closer, you just can’t help it. It’s great. It’s really something you’ve gotta do once in your lifetime.
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Craig Brewer Interview

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craigbrewerAn Interview with Craig Brewer, director of “Black Snake Moan”

BY KEVIN CARR

Craig Brewer is the director of the Oscar-nominated “Hustle & Flow” and the new drama “Black Snake Moan.” Brewer talks about his inspiration for the characters in the film, their connection to southern culture and why he sees himself as the frightened girl on the end of the chain.

Excepts from the interview follow. Hear the entire interview here…

7M: WAS THE CHARACTER OF RAE BASED ON A REAL PERSON, AND CAN I HAVE HER PHONE NUMBER?
Unfortunately, she is based on a real person, and you’re talking to him. To be honest with you, I’m putting southern archetypes and cliches into movies. I’m putting all of my southern obsessions into one stew and mixing it all up. Even though it’s got this girl that’s out of control sexually, it’s really about anxiety. It’s really about fear.

When I had just written “Hustle and Flow,” and I was trying to get it made, my friends were like, hey you’re big time, and I couldn’t pay my rent. And I was on a plane, and I had this crippling anxiety attack, and I’d never had one before. You think you’re having a heart attack.

Don’t think I’m Sam Jackson in the movie. I’m that sexy girl on the end of that chain going crazy. I just don’t look as good as her.
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John Stockwell Interview

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johnstockwellAn Interview with John Stockwell, director of “Turistas”

BY KEVIN CARR

John Stockwell is the director of “Turistas,” the new thriller from Fox Atomic, releasing on December 1. “Turistas” deals with the resentment of wealthy American and European tourists in South America, leading to horrific results for a small group of backpackers. Excepts from the interview follow.

Excepts from the interview follow. Hear the entire interview here…

7M: YOU GOT MUGGED WHEN YOU WERE FILMING YOUR LAST FILM IN PERU, CORRECT?
Not mugged. Robbed, shot at. Thirteen year old kids with guns, glue-sniffing, gas-sniffing kids. That occurred right before I read this script. And not only robbed, but I went to the police, and they said if you give us $300, we could kill the kids that did this. And I said, “No thanks, that’s okay.”

7M: DID YOU ENCOUNTER ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN BRAZIL?
A lot of good stuff happened. Some not-so-good stuff, but nothing quite as horrific as in the movie. Our first scout there, we left the airport in Rio, driving in rush-hour traffic at nine in the morning, we look over and there’s a kid with a gun robbing the woman in the car next to us. So that was our introduction. There’s a lot of poverty in close proximity to wealth in Brazil, and those two worlds collide often times, and you just have to be careful. Our approach was to be very low-key, very inconspicuous, not wear a watch, not wear jewelry, try and draw as little attention to yourself as possible.
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Tobin Bell Interview

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tobinbellAn Interview with Tobin Bell, Star of “Saw III”

BY KEVIN CARR

Tobin Bell plays the sinister villain Jigsaw in the “SAW” series. Bell talks about the upcoming “Saw III” and how things become more intense in this installment. Excepts from the interview follow.

To hear the entire interview, click here.

7M: TELL US ABOUT THE BLOOD ON THE POSTERS.
The theme of blood is a continuous one throughout the SAW legend, and Lion’s Gate had a blood drive with SAW I and SAW II. As a matter of fact, over 4,000 pints of blood were donated in connection with the SAW II blood drive. When they had this idea to take a vial of my own blood and put it in the poster that’s in theaters of Jigsaw, and we were coming up with a way to raise some money for the Red Cross. The way we’ve decided to do it is to put a certain number of posters on auction, and whatever money is raised will go to the American Red Cross. We’re hoping to double that 4,000 pints of blood on the SAW III blood drive.

7M: DO YOU SEE JIGSAW AS A VILLAIN, A HERO OR AN ANTI-HERO?
I try to be very specific in the choices that I make for John Cramer, which is what Jigsaw’s real name is. He doesn’t think of himself as a villain or a hero. He’s just a very committed guy who thinks very specifically. He’s very well read. He’s a scientist. He’s a mechanical engineer who has a lot of gripes about the world, as we all do. One of which is that for hundreds of thousands of years, survival of the fittest was an important concept. And I think he thinks the world is going to hell in a handbasket because it’s become survival of the mediocre. And it bugs him that people don’t appreciate their blessings.
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Heidi Ewing Interview

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jesuscamptalkAn Interview with Heidi Ewing, Co-Director of “Jesus Camp”

BY KEVIN CARR

Heidi Ewing is the co-director of the controversial new film “Jesus Camp.” Ewing talks about working with co-director Rachel Grady, finding their subjects and keeping objective in the process. Excepts from the interview follow.

Hear the entire interview…

7M: WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS PROJECT?
Our last film, The Boys of Baraka, is about a group of inner city kids from Baltimore who leave home and go to school in Africa, and it was out last year. One of the kids focused on was a 12-year old African American black Baptist preacher. And he was 12, and he was amazing – fire and brimstone. He was really into his church and really into prayer, and he was 12. And his sister who was raised in the same home didn’t feel that was. It was always something of interest to us to see a child with that kind of devotion. That was our initial inspiration, looking to do a film about kids who are really into their faith.

Once we found Becky Fischer and her ministry and then her camp, and the children who attend her camp and their families, I think it became a richer, more complicated movie that looked at how people raise their children with this very conservative world view and became a lot about the culture wars in this country.
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The RZA Interview

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rzaAn Interview with RZA, soundtrack composer of “The Protector”

BY KEVIN CARR

The RZA is the co-founder of Wu Tang Clan and the composer of several hot soundtracks, including “Kill Bill,” “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” and “Blade III.” Kevin talks with the RZA about his upcoming film, the Thailand import “The Protector,” brought to the states by the Weinstein Company. Excepts from the interview follow.

Excepts from the interview follow. Hear the entire interview here…

7M: WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS FILM?
I was actually supposed to have been in this film, but I couldn’t make it this time because of my schedule. So when the Weinstein Company acquired the film, they asked me to add some music to it. It was my pleasure because I always wanted to be involved in this film from its inception. Being that I missed my first opportunity to actually be a member of the cast in this film, I get to come in and help out this film in another way.

7M: DO YOU SEEK OUT MARTIAL ARTS THEMED MOVIES, OR DO THEY FIND YOU?
Both. Being a guy whose had a lot of time to view a lot of these films – and a movie geek as well, I love movies, the martial arts stuff is my favorite brand of movies. But being a guy whose been in that movie world for years, and a constant watcher of it, I think that maybe that translates a lot of things and taps into my source of values.

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Neil Marshall Interview

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2006 Sundance Film Festival - "The Descent" PortraitsAn Interview with Neil Marshall, director of “The Descent”

BY KEVIN CARR

Neil Marshall is the director of the new horror film “The Descent.” Kevin talks with Neil about how the film came about, what inspired the work and possible news of a “Dog Soldiers” sequel. Excepts from the interview follow.

Hear the entire interview…

7M: WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS PROJECT?
I was looking to do something really scary after my first film. My first film, “Dog Soldiers,” had come out more as a black comedy than a straight horror film, and I still had this hankering to fulfill the need to do a really, really dark and bleak horror film in the vision of horror films I grew up with and loved, and still love. Things like “John Carpenter’s The Thing” and “Deliverance” and “Alien.”

7M: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE AN ALL FEMALE CAST?
Just to be different, really. I thought it was something that was contemporary. I thought it was something that was unique, certainly within this genre of brutal action horror film. I thought it’d never been done before. I thought it’d be interesting to try something fresh, and I thought why not in this day and age.
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Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson Interview

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clerks2featureAn Interview with the “Clerks”

BY KEVIN CARR

Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson play Dante Hicks and Randal Graves in the new Kevin Smith comedy “Clerks II.” Kevin talks with Brian and Jeff about the success of the first film, what it is like playing the clerks and what it was like coming back to play them more than ten years later.

Excepts from the interview follow. To hear the entire interview, click here.

7M: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE FILM?
JEFF: I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Going into this, I was skeptical. I didn’t want to do this movie. They dragged me in kicking and screaming. Almost literally. And I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

7M: WHY WERE YOU HESITENT?
JEFF: I don’t know. “Clerks” was a weird movie. I always attributed a large part of the success sort of to the back story. The black and white look of it was just as big of a character in the film as we were. What are we going to do? How do you replicate that? Do you go back to shoot black and white? If you do that, you’re trying to do the same movie. Do you go back and shoot color? If you do color, then it’s weird, and you’re trying not to do the same movie.
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Stephen Tobolowsky Interview

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stephentobolowskyAn Interview with Stephen Tobolowsky, star of “Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party”

BY KEVIN CARR

Stephen Tobolowsky is a the veteran character actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and more than 150 television shows. Kevin discusses Stephen’s film “Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party,” an assortment of strange tales from his life. Listen to the audio file to hear the brand new, exclusive story of Stephen’s research into his role as a KKK leader in the film “Mississippi Burning.” Excepts from the interview follow.

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7M: HOW DID THIS MOVIE COME TO BE?
About seventeen years ago, I was standing in a kitchen, drinking a beer, telling stories from my life. And a whole bunch of my friends and coworkers were standing around laughing a lot. And a German friend of mine, Robert Brinkmann, who’s the cinematographer said, “You know what would be funny? If we did a film with you in your living room telling these stories.” And I thought, “Yeah, that sounds really great, like paint drying or grass growing.”

We kinda forgot about it, but it set the wheels in motion. About two years ago, Robert and I both had nothing to do, and he called me around Halloween, and he said, “Remember that idea we talked about like over a decade ago? Do you have time to do it now?”

We cobbled together this loose collection of stories from my life. The stories had to be true and they had to happen to me.
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