With directors like Guillermo Del Toro, Zack Snyder, and Duncan Jones already part of their amazing Director’s Series of posters, Mondo Tees welcomes Wes Craven to the party.

Mondo will debut two prints inspired by the Wes Craven films, Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street.There are surely more to follow, so expect prints inspired by Swamp Thing, The Hills Have Eyes, and The Last House on the Left. The artist chosen to interpret these two iconic horror flicks is none other than the spectacular Alex Pardee. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Pardee, do yourself a favor. His takes on Star Wars and Watchmen both grace my walls. His art borders on some weird clash of violent and beautiful. Apparently, I am not the only one excited for these two releases. This is what Craven had to say himself:

“It’s an honor and great fun to be chosen by Mondo to participate in their Director’s Series. I think the posters brim with wild imagination and sly humor. Thank you so much – I’m pleased my films have earned a place in your gallery!”

The two prints release tomorrow April 14th, at a random time. Go over to MondoTees website or make sure to check out their twitter feed if you don’t want to miss these. Blink and these might pass you up, both are runs of 140. Check out both posters below:

If you are a movie fan, read this website regularly or have ever heard of Mondo Tees…then you know about their amazing poster series. If not, well go on eBay and take out a mortgage on your house to grab some of the older gems from the past.

Mondo Tees is always trying to deliver amazing new prints from amazing new artists, and their newest addition is no different. Sometime later today, Friday March 25th, Mondo will be releasing two versions of a new print inspired by the Zack Snyder film, Sucker Punch. These were created by Ken Taylor, who is one of my favorite Mondo artists. Not only are both of these awesome, but they come with some great news as well. Not too long ago, Mondo released their Director’s Series with a few Guillermo Del Toro prints.

I think it’s obvious with this post, but you can expect the newest Director’s Series to be inspired by the films of Zack Snyder. New prints will come from films like DAWN OF THE DEAD, 300, LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS and WATCHMEN. The details on these other prints haven’t been released yet, but knowing Mondo…you can expect some amazing artists to tackle prints for these visually arresting films.

Check out Ken Taylor’s work below:

Which one do you want?

In case you didn’t catch it, there was a pretty awesome art show back in November. This art show was called “Bad Dads”, and featured some art inspired by the films of Wes Anderson. If you caught it, you know it was awesome. Now we have an exclusive to show you of something even more awesomer.

“Bad Dads” was curated by SpokeArt and let me tell you, they don’t hold anything back. The show was an epic exhibition that grabbed any Wes Anderson fan and forced them to look in awe and fork over their cash. If you are curious about checking out the quality of work that graced the walls of the “Bad Dads” show, just head here. SpokeArt has announced their next endeavor, ‘Quentin Vs. Coen‘.

You may have guessed that this art show is featuring some art from the films of Quentin Tarantino and The Coen Brothers, and you would be right. Here’s the press release from SpokeArt:

Spoke Art is proud to present: “Quentin vs. Coen – An art show tribute to the films of Tarantino and the Brothers”, a followup to last yearʼs highly successful “Bad Dads – a tribute to Wes Anderson.” For “Quentin vs. Coen”, Spoke Art has arranged a battle-royal style art show featuring over 100 world class artists from the new contemporary art scene. Painters, screen printers and digital artists were invited to reinterpret their favorite scenes, characters and films from the heralded directors, resulting in an eclectic showing of inspirational fine art.

The first installment of our “versus” series, “Quentin vs Coen” looks to expand on the concept of a pop-culture themed art show by pitting together two directors who share overlapping or similar stylistic themes, and allowing the viewer to decide their favorites.

Here are some awesome images that you can expect from the show, including our very own exclusive image titled “Mia” by Audrey Pongracz (that first one right down there):

You can see this all in person for yourself with the info below, and if you show up…you are in for a good time. On opening night they will be serving complimentary “Caucasian Cocktails,” and having a costume party, so break out your yellow jumpsuit and Dutch boy haircut.

What: “Quentin vs. Coen – an art show tribute to Tarantino and the Brothers”

When: April 7th, 8th and 9th

Where: Bold Hype Gallery – 547 W 27th Street, fifth floor. New York, NY 10001

The Criterion Collection rebooted two of their early releases these past two weeks, re-releasing Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout on DVD and Blu-ray…and bringing us another amazing restoration of Fritz Lang’s M on Blu-ray. One of these films, I had never seen before. The other film, I have seen…but I have never seen it look or sound so good.

Walkabout

I never paid attention to Walkabout early in my Criterion obsession. I never really noticed that the film was one of the earliest entries into the collection, with spine number 10. Early Criterion films are usually the types of films that deserve a certain type of attention, and deserve this special distinction. Walkabout is no different. It’s not at all unlike some of the other early entries like Seven Samurai and The 400 Blows in that it features the themes of growth and transformation, and also the necessity to do so. The film, without doubt, is a great coming of age tale that challenges convention. I’m sure some of the attractions for the film in 1971 were centered around the fact that director Nicolas Roeg took audiences to a place seen by very few Americans, both literally and figuratively. With Australia as the backdrop, the film takes a chance at showing the developing attraction between a British girl and an Aboriginal boy. Roeg composes a touching story that is beautifully shot. I was able to see this one for the first time recently, and I hope you do too.

DISC FEATURES:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, made from a newly minted 35 mm interpositive and approved by director Nicolas Roeg (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary featuring Roeg and actress Jenny Agutter
• Video interviews with Agutter and actor Luc Roeg
• Gulpilil—One Red Blood (2002), an hour-long documentary on the life and career of actor David Gulpilil
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by author Paul Ryan

M

Some would argue that a film like Fritz Lang’s M has been unnecessarily added to Criterion’s new Blu-ray collection. Not that the film is undeserving, as it is one of the finest films to have ever been made. It’s just that the film is in Black and White, and it is Lang’s and Germany’s first film with sound. Now these aren’t my arguments, but simply arguments that people can make. Firstly, Lang’s ability to play with light for visual and expressionistic purposes plays a large part in the film and creates a larger impact. The grain from early film tends to be within darker settings, and Bluray was a means for Criterion to clean some of this masterpiece up. Secondly, while the film wasn’t filled with explosions or a robust orchestral score, M featured some sounds that were haunting and startling. Just the whistled tune alone still creeps me out beyond belief. So even if you have seen it, M looks and sounds beautiful with this new Bluray release from Criterion.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

• Restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary by German film scholars Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M, and Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife
• The long-lost English-language version of M, from a nitrate print preserved by the British Film Institute (on the Blu-ray edition)
• Conversation with Fritz Lang, a 50-minute film by William Friedkin
• Claude Chabrol’s M le maudit, a short film inspired by M, plus a video interview with Chabrol about Lang’s filmmaking techniques
• Video interview with Harold Nebenzal, son of M producer Seymour Nebenzal
• Classroom audiotapes of editor Paul Falkenberg discussing the film and its history, set to clips from the film
• Documentary on the physical history of M, from production to distribution to digital restoration
• Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and production sketches
• Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Stanley Kauffmann, the script for a missing scene, three contemporaneous newspaper articles, and a 1963 interview with Lang

Click here to visit The Criterion Collection on Amazon

The Criterion Collection debuted two great releases last week with Ang Lee’s Ride With The Devil, and Sidney Lumet’s The Fugitive Kind. We didn’t have a chance to check either of these titles out yet, but we think both are worth talking about. Ride With The Devil is available in both Blu-Ray and DVD, while The Fugitive Kind is DVD.

The Fugitive Kind

When you say the word “classic”, this is a film that could easily fit the mold you have in mind. The film features Marlon Brando, along with three other academy winning actors. It is also directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet, and written by the one and only Tennessee Williams. Seriously, I don’t know what better ingredients you could have for a great film. I have never seen The Fugitive Kind, anyone have some input on it? This is one that I want to check out right away.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DVD SET

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Sidney Lumet
• New video interview with Lumet
• Three Plays by Tennessee Williams, an hour-long television presentation of one-act plays, directed by Lumet in 1958, with Ben Gazarra and Lee Grant, among others
• New video program discussing the playwright’s work in Hollywood and The Fugitive Kind
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Thomson

Ride With The Devil

No matter what anyone else will argue, Ang Lee is a talented guy. I really respect a director when they exhibit the ability to branch off into several genres successfully, whilst maintaining their own signature on those several films. Ride With The Devil is a film with a lot of depth, both in story and performances. The film features a lot of actors that were “discovered” a few years later, but Lee was able to put together a young, diverse and talented cast. I think this is one of the more under-rated Civil War films you will find. One of the more interesting dynamics of the film is within Jeffrey Wright’s role as a former slave who sides with the South. This role brings a view that is seldom seen in American war films, an impartial observation…likely more factual than patriotic. Check it out, it’s worth a viewing even with a 160 minute director’s cut.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer of Ang Lee’s director’s cut, supervised and approved by Lee and director of photography Frederick Elmes (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Two audio commentaries, one featuring Lee and producer-screenwriter James Schamus, and one featuring Elmes, sound designer Drew Kunin, and production designer Mark Friedberg
• New video interview with star Jeffrey Wright
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critic Godfrey Cheshire and Edward E. Leslie, author of The Devil Knows How to Ride: The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill and His Confederate Raiders

Click here to visit The Criterion Collection on Amazon

If you haven’t seen the trailer for IFC’s newest, and probably creepiest looking film to date, film titled The Human Centipede, check it out here. We’ll wait… Now that you have seen the trailer, and I’m sure you are intrigued, you probably want to know where you can catch this film.

The film will be slithering its way into 14 cities this Friday, May 7th. Fortunately for those of you in any of those cities, you have the ability to grab a few free late night passes. For our readers in our place of birth, Cleveland, Ohio, we were able to gather up 16 passes in all. We have eight (8) sets of passes for the Capitol Theater in Lakewood, Ohio and eight (8) passes for the Cedar Lee Theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. If you’ll notice from the tour poster Film School Rejects will be hosting the two screenings in Cleveland, and I personally will be hosting the Cedar Lee screening and will have some prizes courtesy of IFC films. We know that most of you wouldn’t be able to make it to the Cleveland showing, but check out the tour poster to see showing times in your area.

To grab yourself a pass you only have to do two things:

1. Become a fan of Film School Rejects on Facebook, do your friends a favor and recommend them to us as well (it wouldn’t hurt).

2. Go to The Human Centipede’s Facebook Page and leave IFC a message on their wall. Tell them Film School Rejects sent you.

Below you will find the poster listing all 14 cities and our various friends around the web who are sponsoring screenings.

Don’t take this as a cue to whip out your heart ring, or rev up your Prius or anything. We just want to bring up several fun, and maybe not so fun, ways to help out this big old place we call home. Here are some choices that you can make to help the environment both at the movie theater, and at home:

Walk or Ride a Bike to The Theater

We all know that cars cause pollution, and use an important resource. So save both ways by finding a way to your local theater on foot, or by bike. Also, this will help work off that popcorn and candy from the concession stand. If you don’t live so close to your local theater, carpool your way there with some friends.

Bring the Popcorn Home

I’m not kidding, some people suggest using air popped popcorn in place of Styrofoam packing peanuts. It is probably worth passing up on the butter if you are going to try this.

Recycle or Reuse your 3-D Glasses

I know a lot of people think that it is dumb to recycle them when the theater charges you for a new pair no matter what, but at least keep them for next time. Yes it probably creates more profit for the theaters, but it also cuts down on the use of plastic. It’s just wasteful to grab a new pair every time.

Buy an LED TV

LED televisions save up to 40% more energy than conventional LCD televisions. So if you are going to end up with a hulking 55″ TV in your mancave, it might as well be a bit more conservative with power. While they may be a bit more expensive, your energy cost savings will be made up over the life of owning this environmentally conscious TV.

Make Sure Everything is Powered Off

Most don’t know that while the little red light on your TV means that it is powered off, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t drawing idle current. You can buy a power strip with smart power or auto-switching technology. These smart strips follow the lead of a “master” component, like when your TV is off…everything shuts off with it, and doesn’t draw any idle power.

Watch a Movie on Your Laptop

Laptops labeled with an Energy Star distinction use 70% less energy than standard laptops. Also, these portable computers use much less electricity than your big TV and home theater system. Streaming a movie with Netflix or Blockbuster Online saves on gas consumption and cuts down on those Netflix envelopes coming in the mail.

Move to Ypsilanti, Michigan

No kidding. There is a group of movie lovers that want to bike pedal every ounce of electricity needed to project movies outdoors in a local park. I don’t know how much attention I could pay to the film while pedaling a bike, but it could be fun with the right movie. I just wonder what happens when a few people have to visit the bathroom. Sounds fun, and maybe they’ll show American Flyers.

Read Filmschoolrejects.com

Seriously, why read magazines or newspapers when you can read the best movie commentary on the web?

Avoid Roland Emmerich Films

Not only is this good for your mental health, the guy seems to have a hard-on for destroying the world. Maybe he had some horrific Earth Day incident that caused him to wreak cinematic vengeance on Mother Earth. Or maybe it is easier for him to destroy, than to create.

It has been a while since The Criterion Collection has graced our shelves, but this week they bring us two films on Blu-Ray. Both films are imports from France, and both star a beautiful actress. One film comes to us from Legendary director Jean-Luc Godard. The other is a more recent film starring Juliette Binoche. These two films, of course, are Vivre Sa Vie and Summer Hours.

Vivre Sa Vie

The beautiful Anna Karina was Jean-Luc Godard’s feature actress. This was a very vulnerable role for Karina, as it featured her downward spiral as a prostitute. Godard doesn’t exactly make it clear as to what his view on prostitution is within the film, but does create a very strong character for Karina in the process. This was one of Godard’s earlier films, and came near the end of the French New Wave. This was also one of my favorite Godard films, and I can’t wait to see it on Blu-Ray.

Disc Features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary featuring film scholar Adrian Martin
• Video interview with film scholar Jean Narboni, conducted by historian Noël Simsolo
• Television interview from 1962 with actress Anna Karina
• Excerpts from a 1961 French television exposé on prostitution
• Illustrated essay on La prostitution, the book that served as inspiration for the film
• Stills gallery
• Director Jean-Luc Godard’s original theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring Godard’s original scenario, an essay by critic Michael Atkinson, interviews with Godard, and a reprint by critic Jean Collet on the film’s soundtrack

Summer Hours

This is a film I have not seen before. Directed by Frenchman Olivier Assayas, the film features three siblings trying to cope with the loss of their mother, and what to do with the estate left to them. The film looks to be touching and well done. Juliette Binoche is always fantastic, and makes this an instant interest of mine. I trust that Criterion chose the film for good reason, and when watching the trailer it is easy to notice the great camera work and beautiful scenery.

Disc Features:

• New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Olivier Assayas and approved by Assayas and cinematographer Eric Gautier (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• New video interview with Assayas
• Making-of documentary featuring interviews with Assayas and actors Charles Berling and Juliette Binoche, and showing the cast and crew on set
• Inventory, an hour-long documentary by Olivier Gonard, shot partly in Paris’s Musée d’Orsay, that examines the film’s approach to art
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones

Click here to visit The Criterion Collection on Amazon

Seeing a movie like Kick-Ass is a treat. You think you know what is about to be dished out, but in a very real way the film grabs you and takes you on an adventure through pitch-black comedy and bloody, badass action. Trust me when I say that you have no idea what you are in for. Along with all of the praise that Kick-Ass has been receiving though, there has also been some criticism and controversy in the mix. After talking to director Matthew Vaughn though, I think that’s just the way he likes it.

Being able to talk with Vaughn, in a way, is even more of a treat. You can tell he is a movie lover, and wanted to make a film for movie lovers. I also have a lot of respect for the guy in that Kick-Ass, which a lot of people still don’t know, is sort of a independent feature. Vaughn funded much of the film himself, and in the process made this almost anti-Hollywood action film that shows that you don’t need a bunch of bankable names to make a great film. Kick-Ass shows that one of the most important things is that you start with great writers and a great director…and Vaughn is both.

Later comes the brave part, choosing the right people for the roles…instead of the most popular people. Which the film, in the end, kind of ends up flipping that whole idea on it’s side…because everyone in this film is sure to become more popular because of their role. Don’t know who Aaron Johnson or Chloe Moretz is? Well, you will. Think Nic Cage is a sore spot for the movie? Go see it first, because great actors thrive under a great director.

Kick-Ass is the first great movie of 2010. Go see it …but read this interview first.

Film School Rejects: Thank you for sitting with us today. We really appreciate it.

Matthew Vaughn:  Oh, it’s my pleasure.  I like the name of your website.

Do you? Are you a film school reject or did you go to film school?

I’m a rejected film school apply-ee. I didn’t even get that far.

[Laughs] Well it’s a good thing that you did make it because a lot of our rejects did see Kick-Ass. And, like I said, we all loved it.  I was there at South By Southwest and it was just a great screening.

Great audience, shitty screening though. Fucking projection was shit. The sound was all over the place. Did you know it was missing a speaker on the left? So a whole lot of the jokes weren’t working because you couldn’t hear them. I was freaking out. But I think that people liked it still, so I couldn’t complain too hard.

So after seeing an audience reaction like that at South By, how has the process been since?

Well, it’s really weird because I should have been spoiled. You know, the first audience I was showing this movie to was actually in Austin at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon, you know, the Harry Knowles thing, and the reaction was incredible. And then South By Southwest was great.

But they are the sort of people…It’s a weird thing, because the audience I made this movie for, that was them. So them liking it made me feel unbelievably proud, and happy, and relieved. And then, it’s also been odd now showing it to a more general wide audience, and, to my amazement, they’ve been liking it just as much.

I am going to ask you not to be humble here, because I kind of see Kick-Ass as a game changer for the comic book movies.  So for audiences, how do you think a film like Kick-Ass stacks up to like the stock Fantastic Four’s and Spider-Man’s?

Well, for me, it is really a loaded question. One of the main reasons I did Kick-Ass was I was just like, you know, the comic movies, the superhero films I’ve been watching, the superheroes are old! You know, Batman is from the ‘30s, and Superman ‘30s, and Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, they are from the ‘60s, watched them in the ‘80s. And I just thought, “Gosh. Where is our modern-day superhero film? Where is our sort of post-modern look at all the movies that we all love?” I just felt too many of these films were regurgitating the same idea, so they are just not relevant to modern life in any shape or form. So I wanted to make a movie that I think kids are going to related to.

And we had unbelievably great reviews in England. And the harshest critic — I was terrified to read his reviews — said the thing that made me…I’ve never been so proud of a review because he described the movie as being the Clockwork Orange for this generation. And when I heard that, I was just like, “Cool.” That’s exactly what I wanted.

I just felt like, “Where have the edgy, cool movies gone?” You know, what happened? I think the film industry has just grounded them out of the environment. I thought District 9 was brilliant and one of the few films which I really, really enjoyed last year. And I said, “Look, I want to continue that vibe.”

I have to admit, when I first saw the trailer, I was expecting one kind of movie.  But then when I saw it, it just kind of punched me in the face and I fell in love with it. Do you find yourself having a lot of these conversations lately?

Yeah, well I think this is an incredibly hard movie to cut a trailer from because the really cool stuff you can’t show in the trailer. And I’m actually quite proud to say that the movie…I think that of the people that will go watch this movie, I don’t think anyone is coming out saying, like most films, “Well, the trailer was better than the film”. So I’d rather always make films better than the trailer.

I read somewhere that you’ve been having to defend the film a lot, like could you explain that a little bit?

It’s a huge amount of controversy about the fact that Hit-Girl, everyone says she…what makes you laugh is that a lot of people go, “It’s just disgusting how much she swears!” I go, “You know, she swears twice in the film.” They’re like,  “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, she swears twice.” And they’re like, “Oh, OK.” And it’s just amazing how people…the whole controversy is 99 cents and people who haven’t seen the movie. And those people…A lot people who have complained about it and then see the film, and then they just put down that knives because they sort of enjoyed it and realized that it’s a bit of a fun ride.

We’re not trying to change the world with this movie and we’re not trying to inspire kids to swear and kill people.We’re just saying, “Hey, go and have a laugh. It’s a movie for God’s sake.”

Was there ever a time in the process where you knew exactly that Hit-Girl is going to steal the movie?

When we were writing the script. I always knew that she was the Hans Solo of our film. And when once we cast Chloe, I knew that we had a very, very powerful secret weapon.

You mentioned that you weren’t able to put a lot of the great stuff that’s in the movie, obviously, in the trailer. Do you see the R rating as a strength or a weakness for the type of film that Kick-Ass is?

Well, I feel it’s a necessity. I mean, there’s no point in making Kick-Ass and doing like all the Hollywood version. Then it would have ended up being no reason to watch or make the film as far as I’m concerned. So I just wanted to make the version of the movie with the script I wrote, and I was told, “You’re going to get an R if you make this film.”  I was like, “So be it.”

I didn’t really think about the rating. I just thought about what the film I want to make is.  And whatever rating I was given, so be it.

That’s awesome. So you mentioned casting. It seems like a guy like Mark Strong hasn’t been really found by American audiences yet, but a lot of the directors in the UK seem to love him. Where did Mark Strong come from in the process?

I worked with Mark on Stardust. I can genuinely say he is one of the greatest. This is how acclaimed Mark is by the actor’s community, is when Ian McKellen came in to do the voiceover, do the narration, on “Stardust” and he watched the movie and I said I just couldn’t believe he agreed to do it. It’s a pretty big thing to get Ian to just come in and do your narration for the hell of it.

He goes, “I’ve always wanted to work with Mark Strong. He’s the greatest living actor England has.” I was like, “Wow.” That’s from Ian McKellen saying that? and I think Kick-Ass is going to do for Mark what Reservoir Dogs did for Tim Roth because, you know, well, the Americans were going, “Wow! who’s this new actor?” after Reservoir Dogs, because, you know, it was the first time he did the American accent.

And I think this is going to be the birth of Mark. Well, we’re already going to be seeing a lot more of Mark regardless of Kick-Ass because there are a lot of other movies coming out. But I think he’s going to be more in this, like, appreciation from now on.

You talked about Chloe and we just talked about Mark. I think you guys did an amazing job with casting. But if there were an alternate reality, could you have seen anybody else playing the parts?

Which characters?

Of any. I mean, I had a talk with Mark Millar and he was talking about fighting with the Scott Pilgrim guys over Michael Cera.

What was he saying about them?

He was saying that you guys were kind of fighting with the Scott Pilgrim guys to get Michael Cera for Aaron’s part.

Well, they filmed later than us. Mark’s…No, Mark’s wrong about that. We weren’t fighting over anyone like that. We were just… Mark was more keen on Michael Cera than I was and I…  People say I’m nuts, but I like to go for as much as an unknown character playing the lead role as I can, because I really feel, then, that that character is born and no one is like saying, “Oh, wow. That’s Michael Cera doing a great job.”

It’s just like that is Kick-Ass, or the guy who’s playing Kick-Ass. And the only… It’s funny. It’s hard to answer that question. I got all the actors I wanted. So literally, I think this is why the movie works because we cast people who were right for the role and not for what we thought…The studios cast whoever they think is right for box office and poster, not realizing most of the time and this is Will Smith. If they’re not right for the role then there’s no box office. I just cast whoever was right for the role. I’m pretty proud of what they did.

Speaking of Mark, do you guys find yourselves racing each other for a sequel?

So now I’ve got an idea that the film is going to work. So if the film’s a big hit, I mean I had so much fun making the movie that I had some ideas for a sequel. But my problem is, like others in the industry, I don’t want to make the sequel unless I think the films going to be good, if not better, than the first one. If I do a sequel, I want to do Godfather II of Kick-Ass. I want to do the Godfather III of Kick-Ass.

I’m really…Let’s see how it does this weekend and if the public wants a sequel I’d love to make one, but I’d have to figure out a way of doing a good film. It’s like car maintenance.

You talked about the Hollywood process earlier and, you know, like if you don’t cross the line then you’re not really doing what you want to do. Was there anything that you really wanted to squeeze into the film but in the end it just didn’t fit?

No. There’s a split scene that they cut out for pacing-wise, which I’m sure one day we’ll do an extended cut. It’s a really funny scene of Red Mist and Kick-Ass having sex with groupies in the Mist Mobile. And is really, really funny, but it wasn’t quite right for the…

The hardest thing about this movie was keeping the tone right. You know, keeping that balance between comedy, drama, and action. It was tough.  And so there was a few…There were two or three really, really cool things that I had to cut out because I just had to make sure the tone was right.

Obviously with this past few weeks of crazy press for you, is there anything that you haven’t had a chance to talk about or anything that you just want to get out there for the audience?

I want to expand on the Theory of Relativity but no one wants to listen. [Laughs]

Well, we’re here.

No, I’m being sarcastic. No, not really. I think I wanted to get the message out that it’s an independent movie that’s taken on the system.  And therefore, if the kids support us so that we are a hit, then more people will get to do that and I think movies will be better.

I think if you liked District  9 you will like this movie. I think you want to get the message out there it’s not just…  I think a lot of people are thinking it’s a kids’ movie and I’m like, “Jesus Christ! This ain’t a kids’ movie.”

And I love District 9 and I make movies in the sense for the audience which is me. So I’m convinced anyone who liked District 9 or Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill or Superbad, all the movies I love, they’re going to like this.

Around here, we’re unabashed fans of Broken Lizard. We’ve been with them through the good times, the bad times and that time they released Club Dread. And any time we get a chance to sit down with a member of the famed comedy troupe that gave the world Super Troopers, we don’t pass it up. Which is why you’re about to read our second interview with The Slammin’ Salmon director Kevin Heffernan, who you’ll know from his iconic characters like Farva and Landfill (Beerfest). And of course, his most famous role as Landfill II.

After chatting with him right before the theatrical release of The Slammin’ Salmon, we decided that he’s our kind of guy. So we’re back for more. And to celebrate the release of The Slammin’ Salmon on DVD and Blu-ray (it’s in stores now), we sat down to once again pick the brain of the first-time director. You should read what he had to say, then go pick up his movie. We’re confident that you’ll find pleasure in both tasks.

FSR:  I was able to watch the featurette on the DVD.

Kevin Heffernan:  Oh, cool, the interview thing?

Yes. And for those who haven’t been able to see the movie yet, where did this film come from, conceptually?

It’s based on the fact a bunch of the guys, as a lot of us do, waited tables for year.  And, you know, when you wait tables, you always say, you know, you gather up your good stories and say they make a great movie.  And so over the years, I think the guys just kind of gathered up these stories.

And we ended up writing this movie a couple years ago and holding it kind of in our back pocket.  It was kind of a lower budget idea movie, and we knew that, you know, if we had free time there would be the opportunity to raise some cash and go and shoot this movie the way we shot Super Troopers, kind of, you know, low budget on the fly.

And so we just kind of worked on it for a couple years and the opportunity arose and we went out and did it.

With some of the earlier Broken Lizard films, there wasn’t too much of a female presence, whereas with this film, you have two prominent females.

Yes, yes.

How was that different, as a writer, being able to bring that to the mix?

Well I think it is good.  We always try to do that.  We always wanted to be able to accomplish that.  For some reason it didn’t happen.  We had five guys who were doing the writing, you know.  And I think this world, obviously, it lends itself well to that in having, you know, guys and girls kind of working together in the same environment.

So I think we tried hard to write for the women this time, and I think to be able to cast the two of them we had.  It’s Cobie Smulders from “How I Met Your Mother” who is awesome, and then kind of a newcomer.  Her name is April Bowlby.  And they were just really great comic…You know, on top of being beautiful, they were great comic women and it just made it easy for us to have them be able to do the material.

So now with this film being your first opportunity in the director’s chair…

My debut; my directorial debut.

What would you say is the best part of being a director?

Power, man!  Power.  [laughs] I mean it was fun to call the shots. But, you know, it is a process that…we are always very collaborative anyway.  It is hard to create an environment where you work with five guys on equal footing, and we’ve been doing it for a little while now.  You know with past movies that Jay directed, it has always been very collaborative and people have been able to share their thoughts and stuff like that.  So that was the same environment.

And it is not that hard for me because it is all the same crew we work with and a lot of the same actors we work with.  So I wasn’t necessarily thrown to the wolves, so it actually was a very kind of pleasant, kind of fun experience.

That’s good.  So now that you know the plus side, what is the worst part of being a director?

[laughs]  The worst part of it is having guys who are also directors standing in the corner and second-guessing you.  [laughs] No, like, we make jokes about it.  Jay…Paul has directed a movie…Paul Soter directed a movie called Watching the Detectives just prior to this one, and Jay had directed a bunch of movies.  So it is kind of fun to have those guys who have that experience watching you, making sure you are doing the right thing.  So that was always kind of a source of humor for us — them criticizing my directorial choices.

How did some of the supporting cast come together, like Olivia Munn, and Jim Gaffigan, and Lance Henriksen?

Well, it’s kind of interesting.  We definitely went to, like, people who we’ve worked with in the past, like Jim was in Super Troopers.  And Will Forte came on board.  He was in Beerfest.  So we had relationships with some people.

The other kind of interesting part of it was the fact that when we shot this movie, it occurred kind of during the writers’ strike, the Writers Guild strike.  And so a bunch of television shows were shut down and a lot of actors were kind of sitting on their hands.  And it allowed us to go out and get some of these people who weren’t…who normally, like, had a TV show and weren’t working at the time because of this writers’ strike.  So Jim Gaffigan was one of them, and Cobie was of them, and Will Forte was one of them.

And then, it was also kind of interesting because the studios were shut down movie-wise, so there were these really cool actors who were available out there for independent films.  And, you know, a guy like Lance Henriksen is a guy we always loved, and we always wanted to work with him.  We tried to get  him in Club Dread and it didn’t quite work out.  So we’ve always been kind of wanting to work with him and we were able to get him to come do a part.

The other nice thing was this was the first movie we shot in Los Angeles.  Usually, we go out and we shoot on location.  Well, you know, in Los Angeles, it is kind of interesting because you have access to the actors because they are here.  So you can call people up and say, “Hey, can you come do a day?” and they will come up and do a day in your restaurant [laughs] movie.  And it gives you a great opportunity to have people like Lance, or Vivica Fox is another example, or Morgan Fairchild.

I don’t want to spoil anything, like I said, for people who haven’t had a chance to see it, but the joke that was kind of daunting in the entire movie and, I think, came together in the most magnificent way in the ending.  Was the twin bit put together solely for the intent of the final joke?

No, you know what?  The twins bit was kind of funny because what happened was in the writing of it, we had these two characters that we wrote, you know, and one was a chef and one was a new busboy.  And we started writing these characters and we didn’t feel like they were, as stand alone, they were big enough.  And so we were like, “You know what? Let’s do something fun and we will just combine them, and then one of us can play these two guys as twin brothers and we can create as dynamic two brothers.”

And then the jokes grew from there.  It just became kind of fun to be able to do that.  And Freaky Friday stuff and, you know, like you said, that kind of end joke thing.  And so it was actually…yeah.  It was a function of us wanting to have more for certain characters, and so we combined the two.

That’s awesome.  I’m glad I got to see it on DVD, because I had to pause it at that part.

Yeah.  That is a good laugh.  And like I said, the other fun stuff was doing that traditional, like, split screen twin thing.  It is fun to do that stuff. [laughs]

I have to ask, because like right at the end, the very last image, does a painting actually exist for that?

It does, yeah.

Oh, man!  [laughs]

Yeah, it does.  Actually, it was my brother who is an artist; he is a painter.  And he did a bunch of big portraits for us for Beerfest.  In our Beerfest hall, we had like old-timey German paintings.  And so we wanted to create that kind of LeRoy Neiman, end of Rocky 3, painting.  And so he did that for us, yeah.

That’s awesome. [laughs]  I thought that was hilarious, too.

Yeah, it was really fun because he just went and kind of recreated that style, you know.  And then what we did is we tried to get “The Eye of the Tiger” song for the closing credits and we couldn’t afford it on the budget of our independent film.  And so we wrote our own song, and it is called “Cry of the Cougar.”  And so if you’ve listened to the closing credits, it’s a song that we wrote.

I was going to say, it is sort of Survivor-esque right there at the end.

Yeah, to essentially rip off Eye of the Tiger, we did Cry of the Cougar.  [laughs]

What is one thing that you haven’t had the chance to talk about, as a director or part of Broken Lizard that you would like people to know?

In terms of the movie or in terms of the big picture?

Anything.  Whatever you want to throw out for our audience.

You know what, people have been asking about the upcoming movies, I think, the most.  That’s a question that we’ve gotten from people.  We actually…I’m tried to think of what the best thing to reveal is here.

We are actually…We get a lot of questions about what we are going to do next kind of thing, and one thing that we are working on is Super Troopers 2.  It is something that we debated whether to do or not, and now, recently, we’ve come up with an angle that we really like.  And so we are just trying to get the…We let people who have been asking the question that we are going to do a sequel to it.

Do you guys have anything big in mind for it, sort of, or is it pretty much still in the writing process?

We are about four drafts in, but we are going to pretty much pick up the last movie where we left off.

Awesome.

Yeah, so we will just kind of pick up the story from there.

Do you have any personal reject moments, or do the Broken Lizard guys as a troop have any reject moments that you think would be pretty funny?

You know, Chandrasekhar actually applied to film school; a bunch of them, I think.  And he got rejected from all of them.  And then we decided that we would go shoot our movie anyway and we shot the movie Puddle Cruiser.

But Super Troopers got rejected all over the place.  Super Troopers we had for like two years.  Every studio rejected it.  And that is why, ultimately, we had to go and just make it ourselves.  And then we made some folks some money off if it.

But yeah, we’ve had a lot of rejection [laughs] in our careers!  That’s the nature of the film biz, you know?

Yeah.

You just keep plugging away.

Editor’s Note: This article was part of our April Fools 2010 project, in which our site was transported back to April 1, 1980. To see all of the retro articles written for this event, please visit our April Fools 2010 Homepage.

Five years after the initial lukewarm reception and subsequent praise of Barry Lydon, famed director Stanley Kubrick looks to foray into the horror genre with The Shining this May.

1975′s Barry Lyndon was not well received well at first by critics, mostly due to pace and run-time. In the end though, the film ended up being nominated for seven Academy Awards, and winning four of those. Even with its success critically, Warner Brothers was not left happy with Kubrick’s trend of critical successes that have little commercial success. So what is the next move for an artistic auteur like Stanley Kubrick? Most people wouldn’t guess it, but Kubrick’s first film in five years will be a horror film adapted from creepy Stephen King’s novel The Shining.

I can’t say that I am surprised though, Kubrick has already aimed his lens at several genres. He made what might arguably become the greatest science fiction film of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey, an amazing historical epic in Spartacus, a hilarious war satire with Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, and the aforementioned period piece Barry Lyndon. This move could be a great one for Kubrick. He has been proven to create films with a psychological edge. With both his reputation and skill, Kubrick brings the type of legitimacy that Roman Polanski first brought to the horror genre in 1968 with Rosemary’s Baby. Meaning, horror films can be artistic and meaningful.

Artistically rewarding horror films don’t come around often. The Excorcist was an award winner in 1973, and audiences found another creepy and well crafted horror flick much more recently with the release of last week’s film The Changeling. What Kubrick should worry about though, is will The Shining make enough money to allow the legendary director to shoot other passion projects like his Napoleon biopic. I don’t think Kubrick needs a financially successful film to necessarily maintain his ongoing legacy, but he does need one to maintain his relationship with major studios. Two strong things the film already has going for it though, is the strength of the success of the original novel and the addition of the bankable star-power of Jack Nicholson.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to The Shining?

Editor’s Note: This article was part of our April Fools 2010 project, in which our site was transported back to April 1, 1980. To see all of the retro articles written for this event, please visit our April Fools 2010 Homepage.

There usually isn’t much of a reason for us to talk about films released almost a year ago, but I think it’s worthy to talk about a film only released on a different continent. Supposedly there is a big film movement in Australia, and they are churning out some awesome science fiction and action films.

The first one to make the trip across the pond is called Mad Max.

Mad Max is the directorial debut of George Miller and came out in its native country in April of last year. The film will be premiering in Los Angeles on May 9th. The film stars newcomer Mel Gibson and is a Dystopian story that features a man seeking vengeance as society starts to fall apart around him. From what I hear the film is pretty cool, but can Australian film connect with American audiences? I have never seen an Australian actor break through in a lead role, but maybe it is time. The film was reportedly made for only 400’000 AUD, and it has already been considered a huge success in Australia based on its box office earnings.

The word around town is that Mad Max is amazing, and the production photos show some really cool cars and this Mel Gibson guy looking pretty badass. I personally don’t know much about Australia, but from what I hear the country makes for a great setting in this story.

I have also heard that this was the first Australian film to be shot with a wide anamorphic lens, which some American directors have come to love because they can show a much wider scope of the action. The only downside to this foreign export is that American International Pictures is distributing the film, and feels that they need to dub the Australian actors dialog in favor of American voice actors. I personally feel like this may detract from the quality of the film, but who knows. We might even see the original film on VHS or Betamax.

Do you think Mad Max could cause an increase in Australian films or Australian actors?

Here is a pretty awesome deal from the folks over at Amazon. You can grab all 156 episodes, all 4524 minutes,  and 28 DVD’s of the original Twilight Zone television series. The Twilight Zone: The Complete Definitive Collection normally goes for $300, but today you can grab it for only $119.99. This is a massive set and has a five-star rating on amazon. Usually these old sets are not put together very well, but the Amazon customer base has spoken, and I am listening. I am picking mine up right now, check it out before its too late. The official product description is below:

Description:

For the first time ever, find all 156 complete episodes of Rod Serling’s groundbreaking series in one box set, packed with exciting extras! Travel to another dimension of sight and sound again and again through these stellar remastered high-definition film transfers. Extras include the fascinating Serling bio-documentary Submitted for Your Approval, compelling interviews with the show’s writers, the series’ unaired pilot, audio commentaries with Martin Landau, Leonard Nimoy, Cliff Robertson and much, much more!

Heat Vision is reporting today that Warner Brothers is (finally) ready to bring the video game Spy Hunter to the big screen. The film will be produced by Dan Lin and Roy Lee. This marks another video game adaptation that will happen sooner than you can see a Halo or Bioshock movie.

For those of you who don’t remember, or didn’t play the game, it pretty much starred a tricked out car. The game was basically like Knight Rider without David Hasselhoff mucking things up. I don’t remember asking for this, the game was pretty mediocre. It looks like Warner Brothers wants to cash in on their acquisition of Midway games. Really, it probably wasn’t too tough of a choice though considering Midway’s stable of titles. We could be looking at a Rampage! movie, or maybe a reboot of Mortal Kombat. There are several possibilities that all sound not so great.

They already have a screenwriter in mind with Chad St. John. There hasn’t been any mention of a director or actor yet. I’d probably get on that, because when Universal had this project a few years ago they had John Woo and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson attached…and it still died. Needless to say, this sounds like it could be another one of those video game adaptations that falls flat. This is, of course, unless Mr. St. John wants to turn this into a dark, citywide espionage thriller. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, for a while.

Your thoughts on a Spy Hunter movie?

I knew very little about this film, or the subject of the film. Needless to say, I had no expectations. When I walked away from the film however, I didn’t have to think long to know that it was one of the more enjoyable biographical films that I have seen in quite a while.

Mr. Nice follows the path of Howard Marks (Rhys Ifans), who started out a student at Oxford but ended up being one of Europe’s most notorious drug dealers. It is pretty easy to immediately compare this one to Blow, as it follows a normal guy from drug user to drug super-dealer. What Mr. Nice has that Blow didn’t, was heart and soul. With many drug related films, the subject tends to get tied up in a downward spiral involving a drug induced demise. Howard Marks though, dealt marijuana and the only addiction that he could claim would be greed.

Getting high on your own supply has been a cliche theme in drug related biographies. Because of this, it can be easy to feel alienated from or find it difficult to like or empathize with the main character. Howard Marks is very much a real man though. You could just as easily replace drug dealing with any illegal activity because it wasn’t the drugs that caused his downfall, it was that he just couldn’t quit his trade.

Caught up in the middle of all of this, is Mark’s family. This is where the story of Mr. Nice is particularly effective. You can tell how important his family was to him, and him to them. His downfall is rather emotional. None of this would have been possible though, if it weren’t for the amazing performance of Rhys Ifans. Ifans has been known to be more of a great comical character actor. It is irregular to see him as a lead, and that is unfortunate. He brings life, humor and pain to the film. It is his performance that makes leads me to think that Mr. Nice is better than Blow. Ifans is simply brilliant as Howard Marks.

Director Bernard Rose makes some very deliberate decisions in how this film would look and travel through time. The use of stock footage provided a very unique look, and cool tone. The film moved almost like a James Bond film through the first act. Another cliche in drug films is often the trip scene. I think Rose shot the ‘under the influence’ scenes very well, as they were unique and fun. Also, the film used score throughout while many films like this tend to use period music to set the tone. All of these choices led to what I felt to be a very effective film.

Click here for more from SXSW 2010

This is another one of those films with an interesting subject as well a title that isn’t so easy to pronounce. Neither of these facts keep The Taqwacores from being a coming of age tale that takes a fascinating look at a subculture that many people have never been exposed to.

Finding out that there is even a Muslim punk-rock scene was a surprise to me. What came as even more of a surprise was to see that while these punks lash out against the establishment, they also have a much greater understanding for what it is that they are lashing out against. Most punks just defy authority and conventional practices, without really having an alternative that makes sense. The film does a great job at showing that this subculture doesn’t exist for simply for anarchy, but exists to challenge ideologies and faith in a way that can help young Muslims understand and practice in a more practical and modern way. Make no mistake, the film is not all faith and ideals. The film closely follows a student, and his journey through the world of Taqwacore punk Islam.

We had a chance to sit with director of The Taqwacores, Eyad Zahra and actors Bobby Naderi and Dominic Rains. I was especially impressed with the direction of Zahra, as he found a good way to balance both the music scene and the challenge of faith in every day life. I really enjoyed the film, and thought it was a perfect film for SXSW because of how it shows the intersections of life, music and figuring out who you really are. Check out The Taqwacores, a harder and louder coming of age tale.

Check out out interview below.

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I had a chance to sit with the guys from Dance With the One, which was almost as fun as seeing the film. The film is one of those perfect storms in independent filmmaking when an exciting story, skilled director, and a good cast create an entertaining experience on screen.

We sat with the director of Dance With the One, Mike Dolan and actors Gabriel Luna and Mike Davis. It was pretty awesome to see the film with this audience, because the film was shot entirely in Austin, Texas. Some of the choices made by director Mike Dolan were just perfect. Dolan did a great job with the tone of the film especially in featuring some amazing music, which I was a big fan of. The film had the right amounts of darkness, love, nostalgia and thrills. From sitting with Dolan, Luna and Davis I could tell the level of passion and chemistry that went into the film. The real gem of the film though, was the performance of Gabriel Luna. His portrayal of a big brother, angry son and fierce protector was a dynamic performance that provides a solid foundation for the film from start to finish.

Check out our video interview below.

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I was able to see The Runaways here at SXSW, which is kind of a cool experience. One minute you are watching some kick-ass girls rock out on the big screen, the next minute you can see some of the impact those girls had on rock n’ roll out on the streets of Austin. I loved the film, and I was pretty excited to be able to speak with the woman behind the curtain. When sitting with The Runaways director Floria Sigismondi I could tell that she was very much in control of how to tell the out of control stories of Cherie Currie and Joan Jett.

Film School Rejects:  I am a big fan of rock and roll, so I think you did a great job kind of putting that to the forefront.  So speaking of music, what is it kind of like to go from doing music videos to doing like film?

Floria:  I’ve been wanting to do a film for a while now.  When this one came up, I felt very comfortable in the musical aspect of it and the musical performances.  It was very important to me, because I had worked with musicians, how authentic it was; how the girls fingers were in the right places, and how, you know, they would do their own singing and stuff.  So I think that kind of helps me kind of…because I already kind of new the world and I could kind of focus on the acting.

Now, how much collaboration was there between Joan and Cherie and Kristen and Dakota?

I think they spent a lot of time together, you know, getting to know each other and being on set, too.  I think it was a lot of support for the actors, you know, since they are playing real live people and having that responsibility to do that right.  So that was great to have them around.

How about the casting process?  You know, you can make one of two choices: either go for something really authentic with their ages, or was there temptation to go with a little bit older actresses that, you know, would cut down on limitations, possibly?

Well, I’d…Dakota became of age…became 15.  I think I met her when she was 14 just on the cusp of becoming 15, and I thought that was really important.  Not only is she an incredible actress, probably the best actress for her age in Hollywood or the world, so I was incredibly happy she was interested in doing this.  But also, being the right age, I think, really helps tell the story of this young girl who gets caught up in things too fast and kind of gets in too deep, you know?  And it kind of really helps that because you know her age.  You know her age, so that was really important for her character, I thought.  And also, you know, as more of an innocent character.  And that kind of helps, I think, with the arc, you know, where she kind of goes too far.  And then you kind of…”Wow.”  So hopefully it resonates on a deeper level with audiences.

Did you shoot any scenes that kind of went a little more in depth with like Lita or any of the other members of the band?

No.  I made it a very early decision that the story was going to be about Cherie and Joan.  So that was already in place by the time I was shooting.  And so that was a conscious effort, you know, to kind of really focus it and make it more personal on the two of them and their relationship.

Did you work at all with Kim Fowley or did you mostly come from the perspective…like Cherie’s perspective for the film?

I interviewed Kim Fowley.  We have his rights, so I interviewed him.  And that was an amazing interview. [laughs] It went on for hours!  And he brought lots of books, and photographs, and film.  He had a soundtrack that he made for me to play in the background while he spoke.  It was quite a theatrical experience.

And so, you know, how his character evolved in the script is basically…You know, I was juggling a lot of things, a lot of perspectives.  Joan has a very different perspective on him than Cherie does, and so that kind of formed the character in sort of how to take him.  But he is a little bit of all those things.  You know, Cherie looked at him maybe like he could have been a father figure, because her dad wasn’t really around.  And he obviously could not be a father figure, so she took things very differently from him.  And he was obviously very hard on them.

And Joan kind of looked at him as a friend-thought he was funny.  So, you know, the same experience could be experienced in totally different ways.

What you were talking about-how his character evolved.  Do you think that the film evolved at all from what you set out to create at first and what it ended up becoming?

No, I kind of…I was pretty close to the script, so it didn’t change.  I think I had to maybe omit some stuff for budgetary purposes, but I had other scenes that kind of said the same thing, so I think in the end it was OK.

How did you really want to set out to shoot the film visually?  It seemed like the stocks changed a little from time to time.

No.  I shot on Super 16 because I wanted to be very authentic ‘70s looking, and I wanted it to feel…you know, like you could almost smell the emotion.  I wanted you to feel what it was like with the texture very kind of tangible.

And what I had done is I designed the film so it had slowly changed a look.  And it, you know, started out in California in the valley-bright colors and, you know, a little bit more sunshine, and as the band kind of goes on tour.  And when they came to Japan it really starts to change, and the skin tones start to get cooler, and draining out some of the warmth tones.  I wanted to kind of really depict through the wear and tear of that one year; you know, what it has done to them.

How do you feel kind of going forward as a female director and seeing, like, Kathryn Bigelow, like, winning the Oscar?  What is that like for you and where do you think the direction is going for female directors?

Well, hopefully it opens up some doors.  It is so fantastic that she won the Oscar and, you know, most importantly because the work is so good.  But it is amazing how we are still talking about this and we are in the year, you know [laughs] 2000!

But hopefully it opens up doors.  You know, maybe it will encourage some girls to follow their dream.  It is possible.

Where do you think the next door is for you?

Yeah.  I want to…I think I want to still do film…I don’t know.  But I would like to do something fiction, something a little bit more fantasy based.  I am not quite sure right now.  I am just starting to read.  And after I rest up, I will start to figure that one out.  And I just finished a music video, actually, for Jack White’s band The Dead Weathermen.  So that should be coming out any minute.

That’s cool.  Now, the question I always like to ask, especially when you have to go through these press days, is there anything that you haven’t gotten to talk about with the film, or anything that, you k now, you haven’t really had the chance to elaborate on that you would like to talk about?

No.  I don’t know.  It is all a blur.  [laughs]  I’ve been talking about it for 10 days now!  You know, I had never written before, and so I was writing and directing and I found that I really, really enjoyed the research part of it.  You know, kind of going in…You know, that was obviously staying on the authentic track, but also what it has done to me kind of going back into my childhood and coming up with the feelings.  Like, how do I interpret certain feelings?  What does it feel like to be 15 and feel these…?  It is a time where you are changing and things are confusing.  And also, just being housed in the rock and roll world, which is the house of angst, isn’t it?  Like teenage angst and rebellion.  So there is, you know, I think a lot of me in there, too.  You know?

So what is it like as a director debuting the film at Sundance and then coming here at South By and having this musical crowd here?  Is it just as nerve-racking as Sundance was?

Well Sundance was more nerve-racking for me because I had never shown it before. So I didn’t know what to expect.  And the film wasn’t completely done.  You know, we had done just tape to tape transfer, and so I went back home and just got off the plane and just worked for a whole month and got it finished, and did a better sound mix and stuff.

But here I found the crowd really lively.  It was really amazing to experience.

As far as the film goes, would you say that it is more a rock film, like a girl power type film?  I mean who do you think you want…Like, what audience do you think you really want to identify with the film?

Floria:  Well, I don’t know.  I kind of don’t kind of step outside the film in that way.  But I think it is an inspirational story from both sides of the story, whether it is Cherie’s side or Joan’s side.  So hopefully it is inspirational for girls.  But, you know, it is just a relationship about these two girls in rock and roll, so the world is completely rock and roll.  So, yeah, it is a kind of coming to age story in the rock world.

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Despite the rumors, the world is a pretty ok place. Amidst the talk of global warming, fuel prices and the Kardashians…there is this whole “Green Initiative.” So what does it mean for a project or institution to go green anyways? Miranda Bailey would be happy to tell you what it means, and how it just might be more than you bargain for.

Director Miranda Bailey is a producer, and was told that her filmmakers wanted to make their film a “green production.” Since Bailey is not in the business to lose money, she wanted to know if doing so would be any cheaper or easier. I don’t think many businesses would want to operate with higher expenses or more time consuming practices. So she set out to find out how easy it is to balance social responsibility and running a cost efficient film production.

Watch our interview with Miranda Bailey, director of Greenlit, below.

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When you visit a film festival, you are sure to find plenty of films that seem odd in subject matter and some that have odd names. Marwencol can own up to both of those distinctions. In the end though, the film can call itself the Best Documentary Feature of SXSW 2010, and my favorite documentary of recent memory.

When I think of my favorite documentaries, Dear Zachary and King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters come to mind. Marwencol has now found a home in my top three. Marwencol was the first film I chose to watch here at SXSW, and it’s always great to start out with a winner. The documentary follows a man named Mark Hogancamp who survived a near fatal beating and has to re-learn how to do everything. Director Jeff Malmberg stumbled onto Mark’s coping mechanism. Hogancamp created an entire fictional town out of miniatures, and assimilates real people from his life into his own world called Marwencol.

Film is a beautiful medium. It is only once in a great while that you have a chance to see a subject matter that is so arresting, that it transcends the film and grabs your soul. Marwencol shows how in life, beauty and truth can come from hate and violence. The film affected me in a very great way, and I am sure some of you can agree. Hogancamp’s fictional town feels so true, and so genuine. Even though Marwencol is a static world, it is poetry in motion…A place where you can feel love, pain and and hope simultaneously. None of this would be possible however if it weren’t for the direction of director Jeff Malmberg.

This is his first feature and I can guarantee, not his last. He commands the film in a way most beginning directors fail at, he found an amazing subject and just let it speak to the audience, literally and figuratively. The film is easily one of my favorites of the fest, and I went out of my way to let a lot of people know that. My hope is that you watch the interview, see the film and take a stroll through Marwencol. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Watch our interview with Jeff Malmberg below.

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