“God, that was amazing when Steven was talking about Close Encounters.”
– Nick Frost
Whenever Nick Frost and Simon Pegg get together, funny stuff happens. Some of their best work has been under the direction of Edgar Wright, as seen in Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Still on their own they make the magic happen, like in Paul, which they also co-wrote.
In The Adventures of Tintin, Frost and Pegg work under the tutelage of Steven Spielberg, so that’s not bad. The film is based on the Belgian comic books by Herge. They’re a big deal in Europe, but they’re perhaps best known in the US thanks to references in Spielberg’s own movies. The sprawling adventure of Raiders of the Lost Ark was compared to Tintin in reviews, sparking Spielberg’s interest in the original source from 30 years ago.
Normally it’s easy to tell Pegg and Frost apart. Pegg is blonde and Frost has dark hair – what did you think I was going to say? In Tintin they are virtually identical. They each play the Thompsons, a duo of inspectors who bumble their way through life, attempting to help Tintin (Jamie Bell). Since the film is shot with performance capture, Frost and Pegg look nothing like themselves.
Frost was in New York for the U.S. premiere of The Adventures of Tintin, which has already opened to huge box office success abroad. He got on the phone to talk about his work on the film, the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman, and his future collaborations with Pegg and Wright.
INTO: Lust., photography, herpetology, Soft Air, manga, WoW, RPGs, video games, and stupid stuff. I love rats, and I know I will have surgery when I start looking old and ugly.
NOT INTO: Politically correct speaking. I always say what I think, and the best part of it is if I say “I like you,” you know I really do!
MAKES ME HAPPY: Holidays! 😀
MAKES ME SAD: Stupid people.
HOBBIES: Drawing, modeling, photography.
5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Lovers, food, animals, passion, friends.
VICES: Beautiful pics of girls, and chocolate – I love chocolate.
NOT INTO: Navy blue, bad smells, stubbing my toe, Pepsi, war.
MAKES ME HAPPY: Bonfires, thunderstorms, breakfast, loud music, bruises, personal style, healthy skin, grossing people out, fast car drives, good graffitti, nice eyebrows, black and white animals, living in the moment.
MAKES ME SAD: Music not in my ear (makes my body hurt), homophobia, children with sad faces, drama, bad graffitti, people being taken for granted, pets being treated badly 🙁
5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Music, body jewelry, Mary Jane, tattoos, cereal (in no particular order, just all the same.
VICES: Saying too much.
I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Not worrying about the things I’m supposed to be doing.
“For me at least, with comedy, it’s mostly about friction.”
– Todd Strauss-Schulson
Todd Strauss-Schulson is a filmmaker whose journey to directing features is inextricably tied up in his journey into manhood; it all began when his grandpa bought him a video camera for his Bar Mitzvah. From those humble beginnings, Strauss-Schulson has gone on to nab Panavision’s New Filmmaker’s Prize, has traveled to Asia for an extended gig directing MTV’s Whatever Things, a reality show billed as “a more stylish version of Jackass with an all western cast.” His comedy shorts have played South By Southwest Film Festival and the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. Most recently, he directed his first feature, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, in which everyone’s favorite stoners are getting older and facing the responsibilities of career and fatherhood.
After a quick discussion about whether or not guys who are half-Jewish need to only be half-circumcised, SG caught up with Todd Strauss-Schulson in a bar in downtown Boston, down the street from his alma mater, Emerson College.
“I wanted to keep this movie grounded in reality.”
– Diablo Cody
Screenwriter Diablo Cody’s greatest achievement with her latest project, Young Adult, is to bring her audience to a point where they sympathize and empathize with the film’s in many ways distinctly unlikable central character. Mavis Gary (played by Charlize Theron) is the seemingly successful author of a series of young adult novels, who on the page has everything going for her. Yet, despite being blessed in both the looks and career department, happiness eludes her.
When an invitation arrives in her inbox to the christening of the daughter of her high school sweetheart, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), Mavis decides to return to her hometown to reclaim her former glory – and her former boyfriend. Blinded by her own narcissism, Mavis chooses to ignore the fact that Buddy is now happily married as she obsessively engages in the shameless pursuit of her unavailable ex.
A chance meeting with a former classmate she barely remembers, Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt), provides Mavis with a drinking buddy, and a voice of reason. However, despite forming an unlikely bond with Matt, who in the wake of a high school beating is left as physically challenged as she is mentally, Mavis is unwilling and unable to retreat from the comfort of her self-delusions to see her world as it really is.
As with Cody’s Academy Award-winning screenplay for Juno, Young Adult combines subtle storytelling with unconventional choices. An exercise in nuance and tone, which sees Cody reunited with her Juno cohort, director Jason Reitman (Up In The Air), the film features award-worthy performances from both Theron and Oswalt that – as with the script – are remarkable for their realness.
SuicideGirls sat down with Cody in New York to talk about the film.
“It just goes to show you that someone with some real talent is not just a one note kind of guy. Anyone that versatile is always going to succeed.”
– Matt Fleckenstein
When I first called in to talk to Matt Fleckenstein, someone answered the phone Drake & Josh. I got very excited because for some reason even though I’m 30 years old I am obsessed with that show. I think that both Drake Bell and Josh are enormously talented plus it’s created by Dan Schneider, the heavy set dude from Head of the Class!
When I got Matt Fleckenstein on the phone I quizzed him about working on Drake & Josh and Dan Schneider. But then we settled into what he hopes will be a regular gig, working on Family Guy. Currently Fleckenstein only has a few writing credits to his name when it comes to the Family Guy TV series but hopefully that will change. Right now he has the prime gig of writing the upcoming Family Guy comic book.
