by Daniel Robert Epstein

On camera the Jackass cast and crew always come off like psychotic eight year olds, which they are. But it also takes some talent to take this very motley crew, have them do all these insane and disgusting things to themselves and each other, and still be able to formulate it all into a movie. That’’s where Jackass co-creator and director Jeff Tremaine steps in.

Before the Jackass phenomenon, Tremaine was best known as the editor for Big Brother Magazine. Tremaine was the one who put all these lunatics together into the major franchise that they are now.

Read our exclusive interview with Jeff Tremaine on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Laura Dern is the talented and beautiful muse of many of David Lynch’s best films. Dern has starred in Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and most recently, Inland Empire.

In Lynch’’s three hour, shot on video opus Dern plays multiple characters all orbiting her main character of an actor who lands her first really great part in a long time.

Dern has not only supported many independent filmmakers throughout her career, she produced Alexander Payne’’s first film Citizen Ruth, scored an Oscar nomination for Rambling Rose and even changed herself into a femme fatale for Novocaine.

I got a chance to talk with Dern about Inland Empire from an undisclosed place in Manhattan.

Read our exclusive interview with Laura Dern on SuicideGirls.com.

by A.J. Focht

Muggles made Hollywood magic last weekend as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 took the weekend box office, and made box office history. Deathly Hallows had the largest midnight release ever, with $43.5 million earned that night, shattering The Twilight Saga: Eclipse‘s previous record of $30 million. Sparkly vampires suffered further at the hands of the wizarding world as Deathly Hallows also broke The Twilight Saga: New Moon‘s opening day record, raking in $92.1 million in the US. It doesn’t stop there; Harry Potter nabbed the opening weekend record from The Dark Knight with $168 million. The entire world showed its approval as it collectively shelled out $475.5 million to see the Harry Potter series – putting it one-sixth of the way to James Cameron’s Avatar lifetime gross record in just one weekend!

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have long been one of the most respected directors in music videos and commercials. But it wasn’t until 2006 when Fox Searchlight released their independent film, Little Miss Sunshine, that their names were on everyone’s lips. Sporting a dream cast that includes Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Toni Collette, the movie is about Olive a young girl who, by default, gets accepted to a beauty pageant. When her parents realize they don’t have enough money to fly her to the pageant, they decide to drive her in their rickety VW bus along with their voluntarily mute son, her suicidal uncle and her grandfather who snorts heroin and is teaching Olive her dance routine. The film has grossed nearly $60 million domestically and is a favorite to get nominated for lots of prestigious awards. I got a chance to talk with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris about the film.

Read our exclusive interview with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris on SuicideGirls.com.

by Fred Topel

Patty Schemel, former drummer for the grunge rock band Hole, is the subject of a new documentary. Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel profiles her time with the Courtney Love fronted band, her decline into drug addiction, and her subsequent resurrection.

What makes Hit So Hard more personal than the usual biography of a troubled rocker is that it is founded upon home video of Hole shot behind the scenes on tour. The film began when Schemel wanted to transfer her old Hi-8 video (a high end format from the early ‘90s), and director David Ebersole decided to follow the story in more depth.

Schemel’s story didn’t end with her drug addiction and recovery. She also struggled with coming out to her family, and now she is happily married to her partner, Christina Soletti. After leaving Hole, Schemel spent some time homeless, living on the street. Through her firsthand accounts, and commentary from fellow rock goddesses like Gina Schock and Nina Gordon, Schemel and Ebersole paint a portrait of her struggles, and a side of Hole you never knew. Some of the Hi-8 videos even feature Curt Kobain shortly before his suicide.

The film has played the festival circuit this year. It premiered in Austin at South by Southwest, where I sat with Schemel before the film even screened in competition. On her own, Schemel was a mature, reflective conversationalist, the evidence of her former life, her rock & roll tattoos only being visible when she rolled up her sleeves.

New Directors/New Films reunited Schemel and Love in person, and the film continues to play the country in festivals like Seattle International Film Festival and this month’s Outfest in Los Angeles.

Read our exclusive interview with Patty Schemel on SuicideGirls.com.

by Damon Martin

The saga known as Harry Potter comes to a close with the release of the 8th and final film in the series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in theaters this week. The whirlwind ride through J.K. Rowling’s rousing books that inspired children to read again, came crashing through the silver screen one last time and did not disappoint when it was over.

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

After years of interviewing Saw II and Saw III director Darren Lynn Bousman, finally we get to do it for SuicideGirls. I have been a fan of all the Saw films since I saw the first one in preparation for my interview with co-writer/director James Wan. I had no inkling that this gory little horror flick would change the face of American horror and put us into this torture porn cycle that we are still in three years later.

The Saw films have always gotten a lot of shit from the online press but it is hard to argue with a franchise that has grossed nearly $400 million worldwide. Bousman is the director of the two Saw sequels and Saw III is truly the one that ties them all together. With Tobin Bell’’s Jigsaw and Shawnee Smith’’s Amanda now front and center, the audience gets to really feel the precarious mental state of the serial killers and maybe even can sympathize with them. With Jigsaw on his last legs due to cancer, Amanda has taken over the task of testing their captives and pushing them to their limits. I got a chance to talk with Bousman about the new unrated Saw III DVD.

Read our exclusive interview with Darren Lynn Bousman on SuicideGirls.com.