by Nicole Powers

“I like dangerous stuff.”
– Noah Hathaway

Noah Hathaway is one of the nicest people you’ll ever have the pleasure of seeing tortured – but a least he’s only suffering for his art. In Sushi Girl, a bloody stylish homage to ‘70s Grindhouse, he plays Fish, a participant in a diamond heist gone bad. For his trouble he gets six years inside, while his partners in crime remain free thanks to his silence. On the night of his release, they lay on a special dinner, which involves more pain than pleasure for Hathaway’s intriguing character.

Hathaway is perhaps best known for his role as Atreyu in the 1984 fantasy film Neverending Story. He spent his formative years within the Hollywood system – most notably playing Boxey at the tender ages of 6 in the original Battlestar Galactica TV series – however he’s refreshingly unaffected by it. This might be because, unlike other child stars of his generation, he quit while he was ahead and got out of dodge, at least for a while. Sushi Girl marks Hathaway’s return to Hollywood. Aside from an appearance in To Die, To Sleep, which filmed in 1992, it’s his first major film roll since Troll in 1986.

I meet Hathaway in an elaborate looking, but musty smelling defunct Chinese restaurant near Universal CityWalk, which serves as the location for much of the Sushi Girl action. The film was co-written and produced by longtime friend of SG Destin Pfaff, which is why this special all-access set visit is on the menu. Despite its shoestring budget, the project has an incredibly high caliber of cast, which includes Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Tony Todd (Candyman), James Duval (Donnie Darko), and martial arts legend Sonny Chiba (Street Fighter). It also features smokin’ hot newcomer Cortney Palm in the title role.

Having already chatted with Pfaff, Chiba and Palm, I sit down for my final interview of the day with Hathaway as he’s munching on a craft service chicken dinner between scenes. Our conversation quickly takes us to places one might not expect to go with the wide-eyed kid from Neverending Story. We chat about his own street fighting skills, his love of chopper bikes, his apprenticeship in the art of tattooing, and his passion for women with ink.

Read our interview with Noah Hathaway on SuicideGirls.com.

Sushi Girl premieres at Mann’s Chinese Theater on Tuesday, November 27th, and is available on VOD. For more info visit: sushigirlmovie.com.

by Blogbot

“Our movie is very serious, and it’s juicy and pulpy and wonderful.”
– Destin Pfaff

“I like horror movies, that’s all I really wanted to do,” said filmmaker turned Millionaire Matchmaker Destin Pfaff when SuicideGirls first spoke to him just over a year ago. “I was so against getting sidetracked. And she sidetracked me – magically,” he said of his reality TV star boss, Patti Stanger. “I love matchmaking, and will always do it,” Pfaff adds, however, 2011 is the year he gets his film career seriously back on track.

His first full-length feature film, Sushi Girl, has just gone into production. Co-written and produced by Pfaff, the title of the film refers to the female (played by newcomer Cortney Palm) that serves as the centerpiece of a reunion dinner for members of a gang who we’re involved in an ill-fated diamond heist.

The cast features an eclectic and surprising mix of names, which includes Mark Hamill, a.k.a. Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, Noah Hathaway, who played Atreyu in Neverending Story, and Sonny Chiba, whose breakout role was that of Takuma Tsurugi in the martial arts classic, The Street Fighter.

Pfaff was kind enough to invite SuicideGirls onto the Universal Studios set to meet the cast and get a behind-the-scenes perspective on the action. But first we stopped by his trailer for a quick chat about how Sushi Girl came to be on Pfaff’s menu.

Read our interview with Destin Pfaff on SuicideGirls.com.

**Update**

Sushi Girl premieres at Mann’s Chinese Theater on Tuesday, November 27th, and is available on VOD. For more info visit: sushigirlmovie.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“I’’ve heard of actors that give a better performance just for their close-up and I won’t do that because it’s ridiculous.” – Catalina Sandino Moreno

Maria Full of Grace tells the story of one young woman’s journey from a small Colombian town to the streets of New York. A bright, spirited 17-year old, Maria Alvarez [Catalina Sandino Moreno] lives with three generations of her family in a cramped house in rural Colombia and works stripping thorns from flowers in a rose plantation. The offer of a lucrative job involving travel – but, in fact, becoming a drug “mule” – changes the course of her life. Maria is transported into the risky and ruthless world of international drug trafficking. Writer/director Joshua Marston is an American but he decided to go to Colombia and cast and shoot the movie there. Moreno is a real find and is sure to be a big star. For her first performance, she is amazingly real.

Read our interview with Catalina Sandino Moreno on SuicideGirls.com.

A.J. Focht

It may have been Thanos who was teased at the end of The Avengers, but it looks like he won’t be the only threat in Avengers 2. An incarnation of the The Masters of Evil is rumored to join forces for the sequel. Perhaps Thanos will be finished off in The Guardians of the Galaxy or while leading the Masters of Evil in the Avengers 2. The sequel isn’t out until 2015 so there is a lot that could change before then.

In the meantime, part of the story for Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been revealed. The second movie will feature flashbacks that shed light on the mysterious Black Widow and her relationship with the Winter Soldier. The film will be released April 2014.

The latest photos from the set of Thor: The Dark World have given the first glimpse of film villain Malekith the Accursed and his army of Dark Elves. Videos from the set shows the filming of the fight between Thor and Malekith. Thor: the Dark World is set to release November 8, 2013.

One of the original members of the Avengers might be joining the team in Iron-Man 3. Rumor has it Stephanie Szostak will be playing The Wasp. The Wasp was not only one of the original members, she was the first female on the team (sorry Black Widow fans). Iron-Man 3 releases May 3, 2013.

Shooting for Amazing Spider-Man 2 will begin in February. The film is still in the casting phase, and it looks like they are down to a shortlist of three actors for the part of Harry Osborne. Brady Crobet (Melancholia), Dane DeHaan (Chronicle), and Alden Ehrenreich (Beautiful Creatures) are left in the running. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to release May 2014.

The Avengers might have been the top grossing movie of the year, but it’s The Dark Knight Rises that is going for the Oscars. Warner. Bros is campaigning the Academy to consider the film for 16 different categories. The Hobbit is also campaigning to be considered for 16 awards.

The season finale of the Walking Dead will introduce another fan favorite character from the comics. The current rumor is that they will be bringing in Tyreese, the former NFL linebacker. Find out for sure on December 2 when it airs.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is set for release on May 17, 2013. Zachary Quinto will be reprising the role of Spock in the film, but possibly for the last time. Quinto suggested he might leave the franchise after the upcoming film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. He doesn’t suggest that the character is being killed off, so who could be the next Spock?

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“It’’s funny, you do a dramatic role, and for a couple of years after that, people think that’s’ all you do.” – Tim Robbins

From talking with Tim Robbins about his film, Code 46, it seems like he did not have the easiest time acting in it. But I think he would do it all over because he has great respect for the director, Michael Winterbottom. But then again Robbins gets to respect his directors because many of them are some of the most brilliant ones ever. From The Hudsucker Proxy with the Coen Brothers to Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption to of course his Oscar winning role in Mystic River. With his choice of roles it is obvious that Robbins is an intelligent and charismatic person. Meeting him in person can be intimidating because he must be 6 foot 5 with the loud booming voice of a director.

Code 46 is a very interesting film with strong science fiction themes done on a low budget. Robbins plays an official who is investigating a woman [Samantha Morton] who creates fake passports but he soon falls in love with her without realizing she has the same genetic code as his mother.

Read our interview with Tim Robbins on SuicideGirls.com.

A.J. Focht

The Star Wars legend will continue with Star Wars: Episode VII. Michael Arndt, the scribe behind Toy Story 3, is currently working on a treatment. However, Disney is looking to ensure they have the best talent working on the new series of films, and has brought in Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams to supervise the development of the project.

Earlier in the week, there were rumors that Disney was looking to capitalize on another nerd market by buying out Hasbro. But those rumors appear to be just that. Hasbro doesn’t have any plans to sell out to Disney right now, and there’s no solid proof that this deal was discussed at all.

At a conference down in São Paulo, Brazil, Marvel Entertainment International President Simon Philips let some intriguing details about Iron Man 3 slip. Iron Man and War Machine won’t be the only ones suiting up in the film; Gwyneth Paltrow will be donning an Iron Man suit as Pepper Potts. It isn’t confirmed if the armor she will wear is the Rescue armor that Pepper wears in the comics, but one way or another, Pepper is getting in the action on May 3, 2013.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. television series may be happening sooner than anyone thought. The pilot –– which is being co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen –– is scheduled to go into production in January. At the rate they are moving, the series might be picked up as early as Fall 2013.

The Avengers brought together some of Marvel comics’ best known superheroes. The rest of the big names have been leased out by Marvel Studios. Most of these rights reside with FOX Studios, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. Due to the success of The Avengers, FOX has hired Mark Millar to work with the remaining FOX superhero properties to help develop some sort of Avengers-like cohesion. He will be working with directors like Josh Trank to help the Marvel movies fit together.

The long awaited World War Z trailer has finally hit the internet. It’s been five years between studios, but Brad Pitt is ready to take on the zombie hoards. The film is a new take on the zombie outbreak, although it does not follow the documentary style of the book. World War Z will be in theaters everywhere on June 21, 2013.

We’ve known that Neil Gaiman was in line to write a new episode of Doctor Who, but it has now been revealed that Gaiman is bringing back the Cybermen in his episode, which will be entitled, ‘The Last Cyberman.’ Gaiman talked in a recent interview about the challenges of bringing the Cybermen back and making them scary again.

DC Comics fans can now enjoy their favorite comics without leaving their home. The company has expanded their digital output to include the Amazon Kindle Store, the NOOK store, and Apple’s iBookstore. Each Wednesday, new DC titles will be available online at these locations, and online at Comixology and via the DC Comics app.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“I need to find a way to balance between commercial action films and making something I really want to make.” – Jet Li

I didn’’t expect Jet Li to hardly speak any English when I met him. It turns out that he spends hours learning to speak his lines in American movies in order for them to sound natural. But that didn’’t stop me from having a great conversation with the man. He’’s so intense in his movies but in person he was jolly and it was a real pleasure to make a DMX joke and have a smile break across his face.

I got a chance to talk with Jet Li about his movie Hero which is finally getting a release from Miramax in the United States, upcoming projects and kicking ass and taking names.

Read our interview with Jet Li on SuicideGirls.com.