It’s my personal belief that Aquaman gets a bad rap. While he’s not one of my favorite superheroes by any means, I don’t think he deserves all of the jokes made about him and the sad cameos in shows like “Family Guy.”

That popular McSweeney’s article (“Aquaman, King Of The Seven Seas, Has Fucking Had It With You, Man.”) that made the rounds a while ago really nailed it when it comes to the misunderstood nature of DC’s trident-wielding superhero, but let’s face it: Aquaman is swimming against the tide (pun totally intended) when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of the general public.

I recently spoke with Aquaman writer Geoff Johns about the new, in-joke world that the King of the Seas inhabits in his series, and why the character has had such a difficult time making the leap from page to screen over the years. It was a fascinating conversation to have with Johns, who’s not only a great guy to talk comics with, but also clearly loves these characters and their history as much as (if not more than) many readers.

Here’s an excerpt of the interview:

IFC: There’s one particular scene in the first issue that has Aquaman answering questions from a blogger character that clearly represents some of Aquaman’s critics and the people who made him into the punchline he’s perceived as today…

JOHNS: [Laughs] Yeah, that was an easy way to take on some of that…

IFC: In the scene, Aquaman gets visibly angry with the character who’s peppering him with ridiculous questions, and it left me wondering if that was a representation of your own feeling about all the Aquaman jokes. I know you’re a fan of the character, but how do you feel about Aquaman being the butt of jokes all the time?

JOHNS: No, the jokes don’t bother me. I actually like the jokes. There was a quote I read on Vice recently that said “finding Newt Gingrich at the head of the presidential pack is like turning on ‘Super Friends’ and finding Aquaman in charge.” The fact that this was in an article about politics just says everything you need to know about Aquaman. I think that once you’re in on the joke and understand what he deals with — after all, he’s the easiest target in the world, but he’s a bad-ass and he can take it — you’re almost more justified in liking the character.

You can read the rest of the interview at IFC.com…

Oh, and if you want to read one of my favorite “Sad Aquaman” stories, check out Mike Doughty (yes, that Mike Doughty) and Danny Hellman’s contribution to the Bizarro World anthology.

It’s also the studio that cast Raquel Welch in “One Million Years B.C.” — and gave us what is arguably one of the hottest movie posters (and actresses) of all time. (It’s the one that famously hides Andy’s escape tunnel in “The Shawshank Redemption.”)

I interviewed Hearn as part of the marketing for The Hammer Vault, a new book that collects a lot of never-before-seen promo material from the studio’s archives. It’s actually a really fascinating book, and along with all of the great horror movie memorabilia, it also includes a nice behind-the-scenes photo of Welch on the set of “One Million Year B.C.” (Note the expression on the guy’s face directly behind her.)

Here’s an excerpt from my interview:

IFC: Looking at the posters and other promotional material in the book, there’s a lot of art in there that simply wouldn’t be allowed in today’s market or might not have much success with today’s audiences. What was different about the period when Hammer realised that art made it so successful?

HEARN: Some of the pre-production artwork from the 1970s is very explicit, and is all the more surprising because it mixes sex with violence. We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that sexual violence was considered inappropriate by censors in those days, just as it is now. Just because it appeared on pre-production artwork, such as “Hands of the Ripper,” doesn’t mean it was ever intended to be used on a finished poster. It was supposed to be attention-grabbing, and even shocking. But it wasn’t necessarily for public consumption.

IFC: While working with all of the Hammer memorabilia over the years, what was the biggest surprise for you?

HEARN: It was a surprise to discover what a prolific and innovative publicity machine Hammer was from the 1950s onwards. The digital age has made it rather easier, and cheaper, to aggressively market films, but Hammer launched some remarkably extensive campaigns in the days when everything had to be printed. By no means all that material has survived, but there was an incredible array of material for us to choose from for The Hammer Vault.

You can read the rest of the interview at IFC.com…

Here’s an excerpt from the post that went up on IFC.com yesterday:

Asked why he’s had to adjust his expectations and push back the project’s timeline, the “Pineapple Express” director attributed the delay to timing and the current less-is-more movie climate.

“I’ve been trying to make it for four years and trying to find the support entity to finance it. It’s a very specific movie and the horror genre is in a very specific place right now that’s very much inspired by the success of movies like ‘Paranormal Activity’ that show you can make a very economical killing at the box office, so to speak,” he explained. “This movie is substantially different than that. So it’s hard to point at what’s out there now and working commercially and say, ‘Yeah, but not like that, like this.’”

You can read the full story at IFC.com…

“The Sitter” hits theaters today, and I spoke to the film’s director, David Gordon Green, for IFC. Green was also the director of “Pineapple Express” and “Your Highness,” so I was fairly sure going into the interview that we were speaking the same language, more or less.

My suspicions were confirmed when Green got on the phone and immediately asked, “Hey, did you know you have the same name as a guy in ‘Land of the Lost’?”

We ended up talking about my infamous name dilemma for a bit, and then had a great conversation about why “The Sitter” is an homage to the raunchy comedies of the ’80s, the balancing act involved in creating an R-rated movie with child actors, and the wild experience of working with Sam Rockwell (one of my favorite actors).

The first segment of the interview is up on IFC.com now, and there will be more coming next week that offers some updates on his other projects in the works — including a comic book movie that I’m dying to see.

Here’s an excerpt from our conversation about “The Sitter” and why he considers it a family movie:

IFC: When we were talking about the trailer for “The Sitter,” you mentioned that it was the product of your love for 1980s comedies. What was it about those films that you tried to capture with “The Sitter”?

DAVID GORDON GREEN: I like movies about guys who have poor decision-making skills. Movies like that provide a lot of comic opportunity. “Risky Business” is a great example of a movie that starts with a bad idea. It starts with a bad phone call that Tom Cruise probably shouldn’t have made, and then a series of events that are the result of that. It’s a guy trying to dig his way out of the chaos he’s inspired. I think that’s kind of great.

IFC: Jonah Hill’s character really seems to share a lot with the leads from some of those types of movies, too.

DGG: Well, the other thing I like is despicable characters. In “Uncle Buck,” John Candy shows up as a gambling, smoking relentlessly obnoxious human being, but by the end of the movie, when we’ve gotten to know him as an audience and the kids have gotten to know him, we’ve seen how they affect his life. He goes from a despicable human being to a real sentimental, sensitive, interesting guy that we’re glad to be on the inside of rather than looking at this asshole from the outside.

You can read the rest of the interview at IFC.com…

Earlier this week, I interviewed Jason Segel about “The Muppets,” which he co-wrote with Nicholas Stoller. As I’ve mentioned many times already, I really enjoyed the film, and it definitely pressed all the right nostalgic buttons for me.

When I was talking to Segel about the film and his early memories of the Muppets, I thought it was interesting that it was his mother who introduced him to them. I found that interesting because it was my mother who introduced me to the Muppets, too — and it was that connection prompted me to use “The Rainbow Connection” as the song my mother and I danced to during my wedding.

This got me wondering how many other mothers out there introduced their children to the Muppets. Is this a common thing?

While I wait for an answer to that one, here’s an excerpt from my interview with Segel:

IFC: Jason, you’ve talked about growing up with the Muppets and how this is such a passion project for you, so what’s your earliest Muppets memory?

JS: My mother is a comedy dork like me, but I was a bit too young for “The Muppets Show.” I was born in 1980, and I think the show ended in ’82 or ’83, but my mom had very dilligently taped all the episodes of “The Muppet Show,” and as soon as I was old enough to watch them, she started showing me the VHS tapes. So my earliest memory is really me and my mom sitting on the couch and watching “The Muppets” together.

IFC: They say you can learn a lot about someone by knowing his or her favorite Muppet. Do you have a favorite Muppet?

JS: Yeah, it’s Kermit. I know that’s the easy answer, but when I was a kid, Kermit was Tom Hanks. He really formed my opinion of who I wanted to be as an actor.

You can read the rest of the interview at IFC.com…

Honestly, I think that one of the main reasons I interviewed Carpenter last night was so that I could talk about “that time I interviewed John Carpenter on Halloween weekend.”

Still, the interview was also a way to promote his appearance at this weekend’s Long Beach Comic Con, which is a great show run by some colleagues of mine. He’ll be at the show with his new comic, Asylum, which looks like exactly the sort of thing you expect from the guy who brought us “Halloween” and “The Thing” and amazing movies like that.

Here’s an excerpt from the article I wrote last night:

When it comes to the Halloween season, there are few directors whose films get more mileage than John Carpenter.

So, how is the filmmaker responsible for horror classics like “Halloween,” “Christine,” and “The Thing” celebrating the holiday this year? By attending this weekend’s Long Beach Comic and Horror Con and showing off his latest tale of terror, apparently.

IFC caught up with the director ahead of his appearance at this weekend’s show to get more info on John Carpenter’s Asylum, the upcoming comic book series he helped create with his wife, Sandy King, and actor Thomas Ian Griffith. (You can check out a teaser for the book at digital publishing site Graphicly.)

“It’s essentially a horror comic about a conflict that involves the most powerful evil of all, and a plan to open a portal in Los Angeles that would be the beginning of the end for mankind,” said Carpenter of the series. “The stakes are big, but I love shit like that. I’ve loved that type of stuff since I was a kid. It’s irresistible to me.”

You can read the rest of the article at IFC.com…

“Captain America: The First Avenger” hits DVD and Blu-Ray next week, so I got on the phone with the film’s screenwriters yesterday to talk about the movie, as well as the new “Avengers” trailer and their upcoming “Captain America” sequel.

This is the second or third time I’ve interviewed Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and it’s always been a fun, impressively geeky conversation, filled with more random asides than the average episode of “Family Guy.” Last time we spoke, we ended up spending a significant amount of time debating whether Batroc could be a viable live-action character in “Captain America,” and this time around, we ended up going back and forth about MODOK and Arnim Zola‘s robot body for five minutes or so.

The MODOK- and Zola-heavy portions of the interview will run next week, since that segment has a lot to do with the DVD/Blu-Ray release, but the more newsy portion of the interview — which touches on the “Avengers” trailer and “Captain America 2″ — ran today on IFC.com. Here’s an excerpt:

With the recent debut of the “Avengers” trailer, the timing couldn’t be better for “Captain America: The First Avenger” to arrive on shelves next week. Marvel’s upcoming team-up film directed by Joss Whedon will feature soldier-turned-superhero Steve Rogers in a prominent role – possibly as the team’s leader – alongside fellow heroes Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and the rest of Marvel’s movie-verse stars.

IFC spoke with “Captain America” writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely about the October 25 release of the film on DVD and Blu-ray, and got an update on their script for the sequel, as well as their thoughts on seeing Steve Rogers back on the screen in the first “Avengers” footage.

“It’s exciting, because at least from the scene where he says something about Tony Stark underneath his armor, you can tell he’s still 1940s Steve Rogers,” said Markus of Cap’s return in the “Avengers” trailer. “He hasn’t become gum-chewing, wise-cracking, internet guy – so I’m glad we started him off in a sufficiently character-driven way that now we can pop him into the present and it will serve him as a character. He doesn’t just vanish into the woodwork.”

You can read the rest of the article at IFC.com…

If you’re not able to check out La Luna at one of the festivals it’s being screened at, make sure to do so when it eventually becomes available as the lead-in to next year’s big Pixar film, Brave, or when any other opportunities arise. It’s really, truly amazing, and I can’t say enough good things about it.

Here’s an excerpt of my article and interview with Casarosa for Spinoff Online:

La Luna, the new Pixar short written and directed by Enrico Casarosa, has been the subject of much praise lately thanks to a series of well-received screenings at recent film festivals. Planned as the lead-in short for next year’s Brave, La Luna is being screened on its own to ensure awards eligibility — a wise plan considering how impressive the short is.

The seven-minute film tells the story of a young boy who finally gets the chance to accompany his father and grandfather to work. After rowing out to sea in a small boat, the trio drops anchor and begins waiting for the workday to begin. Even after the puzzled boy discovers his family’s very unusual line of work, he can’t help being pulled back and forth between the two generations, each believing his methods are best.

Spinoff Online recently sat down for a chat about the short with Casarosa, who served as a storyboard artist on Up and Ratatouille and was recently named the head of story for Pixar.

Spinoff: This short seems like it must come from a personal place. What can you tell me about the origin of La Luna? Does it draw from your own experiences with your family?

Casarosa: Very much so. At the core of it, I looked to my childhood. We lived in Italy, and I grew up in Genoa. We lived with our grandfather, and my dad and my grandfather never got along very well. I was that little boy, stuck in the middle with two people talking to him who wouldn’t talk to each other. It’s something that felt like it could be explored, because it was personal and somewhat relatable in some way and universal. It’s just a little boy trying to find his own way. He doesn’t want to pick sides.

You can read the rest of the article at Spinoff Online…

]]> http://www.mindpollution.org/2011/09/13/la-luna-qa-enrico-casarosa-on-his-new-amazing-pixar-short-film/feed/ 0 http://www.mindpollution.org/2011/09/11/doctor-who-interview-arthur-darvill/ http://www.mindpollution.org/2011/09/11/doctor-who-interview-arthur-darvill/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:43:00 +0000 Rick http://www.mindpollution.org/?p=4437 Last week, I participated in a conference call promoting the most recent episode of Doctor Who and the remainder of the current season. On the call was Rory himself, Arthur Darvill.

Here’s the article I wrote about it for Digital Trends:

The second half of the Doctor Who season is in full swing, and we’ve already seen The Doctor and his companions tangle with killer jellyfish robots, creepy laughing dolls, and even Adolf Hitler. And though The Doctor (Matt Smith) has been the focus of much of the action thus far, this weekend’s episode promises to offer a companion-centric tale with Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill).

In “The Girl Who Waited,” The Doctor finds himself confined to the TARDIS and unable to search for Amy after she gets stuck in an alternate, fast-moving timestream. That means it’s Rory to the rescue — and Darvill couldn’t be happier about playing the hero.

“It’s funny the way Rory deals with things, because he’s quite nervous and he doesn’t really want to himself in danger, but as soon as there’s anything to do with Amy being in danger he’ll throw himself in straight away,” laughed Darvill during Thursday’s press call promoting this weekend’s episode.

In a wide-ranging Q&A with various outlets, Darvill discussed “The Girl Who Waited,” as well as the remaining season, Rory’s frequent deaths, and recent revelations regarding Rory and Amy’s daughter, among other topics. Here are the highlights from our chat with Rory… er, Darvill:

1. On Karen Gillan’s role in “The Girl Who Waited” and their action scenes together:

She has to play something very different from what she normally plays. That was a real challenge for her and she really pulls it off. She’s great. . . They let us do as many of our own stunts as possible.

As well as testing Rory and Amy’s relationship, it tests The Doctor and Rory’s relationship quite a bit as well, because The Doctor can’t actually do anything. . . Rory does all right, though. He kind of mans-up a bit.

You can read the rest of the article at Digital Trends…

The interview was interesting to me for two reasons…

First, though I haven’t watched Game of Thrones, Dinklage seems like the perfect choice for the role given what I’ve heard of his character in the television series. I can’t imagine M.O.D.O.K. being an easy character to cast, and I imagine he’d be an even more difficult character to pitch studio executives on including.

The other reason I found the interview interesting is because I brought up the possibility of M.O.D.O.K. making an appearance in the Captain America movies way back in March, when I interviewed Markus and his co-writer Stephen McFeely for MTV Splash Page. I remember both writers being extremely excited about the prospect of adding M.O.D.O.K.’s big, floating head to the Marvel movie-verse, and they even mentioned the need to save him “for the future.” From our brief chat, though, it was pretty clear they were hoping the first movie did well enough to both warrant a sequel and mandate the addition of some of Captain America’s more interesting rogues.

Sadly, this portion of the interview passed under the radar of many outlets at the time, since at that point the film’s premiere was still several months away, and early impressions of the movie made it seem like a sequel probably wouldn’t happen. We all know better now, though.

While it isn’t much, here’s what was said about M.O.D.O.K. in our conversation (excerpted here since MTV didn’t reference it in their coverage of the Dinklage/M.O.D.O.K. story):

MTV: Okay, here’s one I think you can answer: Will M.O.D.O.K. fans be pleasantly surprised by any cameos in the film? After all, he’s intimately connected with HYDRA…

McFEELY: [Laughs] Let’s hold him for the future…

MARKUS: [Laughs] I am so pro-M.O.D.O.K., you wouldn’t believe. I want a M.O.D.O.K. television show. He would just be hosting it. It would be like, “Heeeeere’s M.O.D.O.K.!”

It’s also worth noting that we discussed a few other well-known Captain America villains earlier in that interview, too — villains that they said were best saved for future films. For example, Batroc the Leaper and Baron Zemo…

MTV: You just mentioned Batroc, and we’ve seen Arnim Zola in the “Captain America” trailer. You’re taking some nice dives into Cap’s supporting cast, it seems like…

McFEELY: Absolutely. There are some other ones that will go unnamed that didn’t make the final shooting script, too.

MARKUS: It’s painful because Cap had all of these great villains in World War II. Obviously, the guy no one’s talking about because we’re not using him in the film is Zemo. He’s huge in the WWII story, but you eventually get to a point where there are too many elephants in the room.

MTV: Plus, you probably want to save some of them for future films, right?

McFEELY: True, true…

So there you have it. It’s certainly not “stop the presses” material, but I thought it might be a nice bit of additional context/background for all the M.O.D.O.K. news floating around this week.

Now back to your regularly scheduled reading…