From Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island is the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the cost of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane.

Q: What were your influences that fed into the making of Shutter Island?

A: There were films that we looked at. The mood and tone of the Val Lewton (producer) films from the early 1940s are great. I showed I Walked With A Zombie and Cat People – terrible titles but great works of poetry. Both of these were produced by Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur and there’s another Lewton picture, The Isle of the Dead, which is directed by Mark Robson, and is also very interesting. And certainly we looked at (Roman) Polanski’s films – Cul-de-sac, Repulsion and the ultimate one of this kind, Rosemary’s Baby. Even when you know the ending of Rosemary’s Baby you can watch that film many, many times because it’s fascinating to see how everybody is behaving. The actors are extraordinary and the way he shot it is brilliant – it’s a film that keeps revealing itself through the behaviour of the characters. So that was a big one. I showed Leo and Mark two films right away – Laura and Out of the Past. Actually, I showed them to Sir Ben Kingsley, too, and he hadn’t seen them. At the end of Out of the Past, Leo started applauding and he said ‘I think that’s the coolest movie I’ve ever seen..’

Q: Does the nature of your collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio change over the years?

A: I don’t think our collaboration necessarily changes over time. But it is getting more intense. This film was very difficult for Leo because there was so much to uncover and the more we did uncover the further there was to go. And we would try things we hadn’t even thought of before, but it was really very complex. And Leo was so dedicated and for him it was like living in that world for so long.

Q: So it wasn’t a good place to be?

A: No, it wasn’t, no. That last night I remember we just looked at each other and I said ‘thank you’ and we gave each other a big hug and that was it. We just left and went our separate way. I thanked the crew and that was it, I went home. And I didn’t see anybody after that for like two months. Leo went away and then when he came back we were looping some scenes and he would look up at the screen and say ‘oh that scene – what a horrible day!’ Or ‘I remember we went through hell on that day, fuck it!’ And then another scene would come up and he would go ‘oh that was worse!” (laughs) And each scene that came up he would go ‘oh this was terrible..’ Meaning that it was a hard day and all the agony, the vomiting (in one scene), the running through the forest, the this, the that, the everything. It was just very hard work. We hadn’t anticipated it; we were like two novices going into this claustrophobic world. But he wasn’t afraid to go there and he took it.

Q: What was the mood like on this set?

A: The mood on set was very good and very positive. Until the last few weeks when it became difficult for all of us because we were subjected to some bad weather and it just didn’t let up. It was one of those things that every time we made a decision – a very thoughtful, carefully worked out decision – to move the trucks and go to another location we would consult the weather bureau, the satellites, everything. But whenever we made a choice it inevitably turned out wrong. And we’d just start laughing, it would be ‘OK, now what do we do? OK, we re-group..’ But that’s what made it become like a real heavy chore. And that was the same for the actors, too, because it was working up hill the whole time. But you know, I think it actually worked out fine for the film and for the performances.

There was one scene that Leo did with Jackie (Earl Haley) where he says ‘you’ve got to let it go..’ It was a Friday night and we’d been shooting all week and the weather was killing us and you can see it in his face, he couldn’t take it anymore. He just said to me ‘I hope that was good..’ And it was. It was great.”

Q: Is there an element of that with all of your films? That making them is kind of, it’s always tough?

A: Yeah, but other directors get it tough and they don’t say anything. But me, I like to complain and that’s part of the fun of it. It becomes like that Monty Python sketch, ‘we used to live in a corridor…’ ‘We dreamed of living in a corridor!’ But actually sometimes when it gets that tough it’s really good because everybody pulls together. It was tough in another way on The Departed – we kept being knocked out of different locations, we had actors who were leaving all the time for different pictures and it was crazy. But the end result was great. There was one time on Shutter Island when I was actually rock climbing at 7.15 in the morning trying to find the right place for a shot. And I’m going ‘what the hell am I doing?’ At a couple of points you get angry but at a certain point you think ‘well, how upset can I get?’ You have to go on and you have to just do it. But this one was pretty interesting and pretty intense and for me, physically, it was hard work. Actually, for everyone it was hard work! (laughs). And you know, I think the complaining thing is part of it, it’s part of the humour (laughs). It becomes part of the war stories from the movie. And you know there was a lot of wind and rain and people were really getting hit with it, and there was all this debris around, but I didn’t get it too bad because I was in a little van, so I didn’t get hit. They would ask for another take but the rain was so heavy it got to the point where they couldn’t see each other. But you know, you accept the nature of it and you realise that’s just what it is. But it was remarkable that in those last four, five weeks, all the decisions we made, the weather just went against us, so we always had to keep thinking of other scenes to shoot, jumping around. The actors had to be ready for anything and they were, it was great.

Q: Can we talk a little more about the look of the film and in particular some of the stand out scenes – one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams where ash is falling all around them. An incredible scene to watch, how did you do it?

A: Well, the ash in the room, which was in the script, and I think obviously comes from the book, but the ash was there, that’s real ash. We did tests and tests with different kinds of ash and that was the best one, then there was some digital enhancement, but not much.

Q: OK, how about the scene with Leonardo and the rats…

A: Again, the rats were in the script. We had about 100, we added some more later, but we had about 100 on the day…

Q: I don’t know how Leo is with rats, but it wouldn’t be one of my favourite ways to spend the day..

A: He didn’t like it – that was one of the tougher days. Or I should say weeks. (laughs) Especially when he put his hand and one of them touched it and he kind of recoils back – that’s all real. We had about 100 rats, and they were actually great – they were handled very well and they, we had to be very careful not to hurt any.

Q: You’ve had so much success. Do you see yourself at home in your slippers and retiring?

A: I’m always in my slippers, I’m never dressed, (laughs) I always have pyjamas and these slippers I have – that’s it. No, you know I want to work. But the thing is – and I was thinking about this the other day – I’ve had like three times that my career was down and came back up again. This is the fourth, I guess. Not that I think of it that way, with The Departed we really just tried to make a great gangster film but I didn’t think it was going to be a big financial success and be received the way it was. It was a damned good story and I loved the characters. It’s the same with Shutter Island – it was a real challenge but I loved the story and the characters and I hope it does well. I certainly want to make more pictures. That’s why I did the HBO pilot, shooting in 30 days. I haven’t shot in 30 days in 30 years…

Shutter Island opens in theaters on February 19th, 2010.

Shutter Island – Martin Scorsese Video Interview [ScreenRush]

Our friends over at ScreenJunkies have 10 rules how to survive “The Hangover”. Actually that’s an interview with stars of the movie Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Heather Graham and with director Todd Phillips.

Ed Helms: “I guess my character, Stu, is kind of a nervous nelly, rule follower of the group.
I can’t imagine why Todd [Phillips] thought I would be right for that part other than the fact that I’ve known Todd for sometime and I’m kind of a nervous nelly rule follower person in real life. So maybe that had something to do with it.”

Zach Galifianakis: “I play a character, Alan, who’s a well intentioned moron who is kind of trapped in adolescence. He wants friends but can’t get any really, can’t get adult friends.  I didn’t think that I could play it. The reason, it’s easy to play. When a role seems fun it’s easy to play. It kind of comes organically.”

Bradley Cooper: I play Phil who’s an English school teacher for boys and he’s a father. He’s kind of the guy whose bark is a lot bigger than his bite. He talks a big game, going to Vegas and that he’s going to get crazy and he loves sort of reliving whatever it is that he doesn’t live in his home life. It’s like a lot of fathers who talk a big game, but really they love their family and they’re actually good guys. He’s sort of the problem solver. There’s nothing that he can’t solve and tries to hold it together even when there’s nothing to hold together. I just sort of trusted Todd [Phillips] because I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can pull this off.’ But then about two weeks into it I started to get comfortable and I realized that I was figuring it out. But I’m glad that he thought I should do it because I probably wouldn’t have thought that I could do it.”

Heather Graham: I tried to personalize it more as a hippy stripper, with a New Age/spiritual attitude about sexuality, because the night before we had this true connection and even if he doesn’t remember, I still believe it was true. It’s like a lot of girls fall in love with the guy, but the guy doesn’t necessarily feel the same. But the girl is like, ‘I know it’s there.’ So, I kind of thought of it that way. Like I believe in it.

Todd Phillips: I have been a huge fan of Zach’s for a long time. He’s done standup in LA forever, and people that know standup in LA, he’s one of the top names and he has such a specific style and I always thought to myself, “How could we make this guy work in a movie? How can you take that and just make it work?” So I have been looking for something for Zach for a long time. Then you want people to come from a different place, comedically. Zach and Ed are super funny that they couldn’t be more far apart in the spectrum in terms of what they do. Bradley, I have been a fan of since Wedding Crashers, and I’m friends with David Dobkin, the director, and I remember that when were casting this, we were just talking about actors and his name came up. David was like, “Man, this guy, I’m telling you, he’s poised, he’s good-looking, he’s super funny and he gets it.” So we met and talked about it and went from there.

ScreenJunkies.com have the rest of the rules. Check them out.

The life of the UK’s “most violent prisoner” serves as the subject of director Nicolas Winding Refn’s biopic “Bronson“. We’ve got for you today interview with the director and also with Tom Hardy who plays Charles Bronson in the movie. Check out the trailers for “Bronson” below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Born Mickey Peterson but later renamed by his fight promoter, Charles Bronson’s sole ambition in life was to become famous. Surmising that the fastest means of accomplishing his goal with such limited opportunities was to cultivate a stylized persona as a hardened criminal, the ambitious do-badder embraced a desperate existence of extreme savagery. But who is the real man behind the warped persona?

Originally sentenced to 7 years in prison for burglary, Charles Bronson has been behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which have been spent in solitary confinement. Charlie has forged an outrageous reputation through violence, hostage taking and rooftop protests to become a notorious figure in the British public’s consciousness.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seeing as how twenty-eight of Bronson’s thirty-four years behind bars were spent in solitary confinement, that’s a difficult question to answer. The terror of the legend comes to vivid life, however, as director Refn explores the twisted alternate reality created by Bronson, and highlights precisely how the controversial criminal staged himself within that anarchistic world.

“Bronson” had its premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January and after that the movie has been shown at European Film Market (Germany), The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival and at Glasgow Film Festival.

The movie directed by Nicolas Winding Refn from the script by Brock Norman Brock also stars Kelly Adams, Amanda Burton, William Darke, Matt King, Hugh Ross, Matt Legg and Brendan McCoy…

“Bronson” opens UK theaters on March 13, 2009.

Bronson Trailer:

Bronson Teaser Trailer:

Coming Soon talked exclusively with Dustin Hoffman, Sigourney Weaver, Emma Watson and Matthew Broderick at the Los Angeles press day for their new film, “The Tale of Despereaux,” based on the Newbery Medal-winning, best-selling fantasy novel by Kate DiCamillo.

Shortly after its publication, DiCamillo’s book drew the attention of four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gary Ross. The two had one great thing in common: They both had a knack for telling stories about the most unlikely of heroes. For years, producer/writer Ross’ specialty has been discovering the relatable values and humanity of underdogs: a crippled horse who achieves greatness in “Seabiscuit,” a guy who becomes his better self by finding the boy inside in “Big,” and an everyman who redeems the decency of the Oval Office in “Dave.” When his wife, fellow producer Allison Thomas (“Seabiscuit”), brought the book to his attention, Ross felt the modern fairy tale would make a wonderful CG-animated movie.

He responded to the novel’s humanity and believed that it treated children with dignity and gave them credit for their intelligence and depth. Ross also loved that there are no purely evil figures in DiCamillo’s story. Indeed, several of the characters only become hurtful after being hurt themselves, and each is redeemed through forgiveness. When they acquired the book, Ross and Thomas committed themselves to preserving the tone and richness of DiCamillo’s fairy tale, ensuring that the qualities that had made “The Tale of Despereaux” an instant classic would translate to the big screen.

Four years later, “Despereaux” has arrived. Watch the interviews:

A modern fairy tale, ”The Tale of Despereaux” tells the story of four unlikely heroes: Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea (Emma Watson), a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father’s grief; and Mig (Tracey Ullman), a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer.

“Tale of Despereaux” follows a little mouse with a big ear. Outcasted by other mice due to his strange appearance, he tops it by doing what mice shouldn’t do, like befriends and falls in love with a human being, Princess Pea. But, by being different, Despereaux is up for a whole new adventure which will make him a hero.

“The Tale of Despereaux” opens Friday, December 19.

Bryan Singer, the director of “The Usual Suspects” and “X-Men” agreed to speak with MTV News for one of his first interviews since completing the film.

MTV: Is “Valkyrie” done?

Bryan Singer: The film is done! I looked at the first completed film print. That was pretty much the final process for “Valkyrie,” or so I’ve been led to believe. [Laughs.]

MTV: It’s been a long road for this one, with a lot of shuffling of release dates. Are you happy with where you ended up?

Singer: Ultimately, it was the right decision. By the time the release date moved up to Christmas, I was already on track to finish it. It all worked out probably the way it should have from the very beginning.

MTV: What was the toughest nut to crack when it came to tackling this story?

Singer: The big goal was to maintain the balance between a thriller and a historical drama. It’s a history that I find very important to maintain. The movie should never lose momentum. It should first and foremost be a thriller. It’s also my first historical film, and I never wanted to take that history lightly, even though the history isn’t known by many people outside Germany.

MTV: It looks to be a return for you to the thrillers that defined your career in the beginning, like “The Usual Suspects.”

Singer: It reminded me very much of the experiences in the beginning. I was working with ["Usual Suspects" writer] Chris McQuarrie again. You’re talking about a guy I used to make 8mm World War II films with in my backyard in Jersey. It also touched upon the Nazi subject matter that “Apt Pupil” and “X-Men” did. And I grew up watching Tom Cruise films!

MTV: It occurs to me that this is actually the first movie-star-driven vehicle you’ve helmed.

Singer: Yes, it’s the first time I’ve ever made a movie with a movie star. A lot of my friends say, “You’ve worked with movie stars before,” and I have to remind them that I worked with people who have become movie stars. A historical drama and working with a movie star were two things I had never done and two things I wanted to do. I’ve been talking with Tom about working together since “Mission: Impossible”!

MTV: Was there anything surprising about working with a star of his caliber?

Singer: The nice part is, we became friends. We spent a lot of time together researching the character and discussing the script and getting to know each other. By the time we were shooting, there was a familiarity that existed. He was pretty extraordinary at taking off his studio-head hat and his movie-star hat and just be an actor. He would do anything that I would ask. He wanted to get it right.

MTV: This film had more than its share of negative publicity, chief among it the conflict with Germany over whether they would let you film there because of Tom’s beliefs. Did all the negative hype get to you?

Singer: I’m used to speculation because of “X-Men” and “Superman Returns,” so it’s not something that was a surprise to me, but it does weigh on you. It’s an extra stress and an extra burden, because in the end, all the Germans really want from this story is it to be told well. When I would read speculation while I was making “X-Men,” I would remind myself that the best I can do for these people is make a great movie. I can’t do anything about their speculation. I’m not Hitler. I can’t blot it out. I want people to see the film. It’s a film that people need to see before they judge. It opens with a bit of a bang, and then, about a third of the way in, a little ticking clock starts, and it moves faster and faster right up until the last frame. And you get to see Tom Cruise come face to face with Adolf Hitler!

MTV: There’s a lot of confusion about whether you will be directing another Superman film. Can you set the record straight?

Singer: At the moment, I can’t really talk about that. I wish I could. From my perspective, I’m going to take a brief pause. This movie has taken a long time, so I’m going to take a pause. A movie like that takes some time to do right. That’s all I can say about that.

MTV: Have you ever talked superhero shop with “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan?

Singer: We had dinner, and [Marvel Studios founder] Avi Arad ran into us. Isn’t that strange? It was such a moment. The three of us were just sitting there thinking, “Isn’t this bizarre?” I should have called ["Spider-Man" director Sam] Raimi up and said, “We’ve got sushi. Get over here!”

“Valkyrie” will hit the theaters on December 26th 2008

More trailers, clips, posters and photos you can see at “Valkyrie” FF Movie Page

CinemaBlend has an interview with BURN-E director Angus MacLane:

Q: WALL-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth class. What does BURN-E stand for?

A.M.: BURN•E stands for: Basic Utility Repair Nano Engineer. I have since heard from some people that it actually be BURN•A because the “E” in WALL•E stands for “Earth-Class” and the “A” would be the appropriate “Axiom-Class”. Now I could argue that maybe BURN•E was a robot on earth that then was installed on the Axiom, but A: I would be lying and B: What is the point? If that is the biggest problem you have with the film, then I have done my job. Now put yourself in my shoes- you have to name this robot. The name BURN-E is funny and breaks the continuity of the film or BURN•A which is more accurate to the feature and is not funny at all. Which would you choose? I thought so. I do love that geeks pick up on this and I am happy to be creating this controversy. I’d probably do the same thing were I not involved.

Q: How hard was it to think of a name that sounded like a robot but was a pun for a human name (Bernie)?

A.M.: His name internally had been “Repair Bot” When I started the short, I envisioned him as being called WELD•R. About two days later Jim Reardon, the head of WALL•E Story handed me a drawing he had done of the word BURN•E burned into metal. After that there was no going back.

Q: Why’d you decide to give Burn-E of all the characters in Wall-E his own short?

A.M.: I thought he was a fun character to animate. After I had animated the shot with him in the feature I wanted to know what happened to him. I wanted to answer that question with this short.

Q: How did you go about choosing scenes from Wall-E that Burn-E could impact? Did you have to scrap any ideas that just wouldn’t fit with the existing story?

A.M.: I came up with as many places in the movie as I could think of to cut back to. We cut whatever wasn’t funny or slowed the pace down. Oddly enough the scene from the feature that sparked the original idea for BURN•E was cut from the feature. The scene is too complicated to explain. Maybe that’s why it never made it.

Q: How hard was it to get the right type of emotion out of a robot?

A.M.: It is always our goal as animators to make our work clearly communicate the thought process of the characters to the audience. It was particularly challenging for us on BURN•E as well as WALL•E because of the limited nature of the designs and the lack of dialogue. Both characters limited designs are are appealing, but more work must be done in the story process to communicate his intentions. With BURN•E and with WALL•E, if the audience can’t tell what the character is thinking or what is going on, then they lose interest very quickly. Read full story – CinemaBlend

Now take a look at these great WALL-E concept art – sketches of WALL-E and EVE and concept art for “Trash Planet.”

MarketSaw had an interview with designer and artist Mark Goerner and here’s an excerpt:

Mark Goerner has been most generous to share with us his experiences working on James Cameron’s 3-D “Battle Angel!”

The Battle Angel books combine a fantastic sci-fi artistic aesthetic with a story that delves into the timeless themes of love, loss, family, free will, and finding one’s path and place in the world. They are packed with hilarious and touching moments, and have some of the most amazingly cool action sequences in the medium of graphic storytelling.

MarketSaw: The thing I love the most about Kishiro’s Battle Angel graphic novels is how he creates such an incredibly immersive, detailed, cohesive, and unique world. Were you a fan of the Battle Angel graphics novels (the original 9) before starting work on Cameron’s project? If not, are you a fan now? If so, what do you like most about them?

Mark Goerner: The funny thing about working in the film business is that intense fans of the creative property are not always the best ones to be designing and developing the adaptive content. It’s like having a crush on someone for 8 years and then finally getting your chance…preconceived notions prevent growing into the reality at hand. After reading the series and absorbing the content in the first week of work, I couldn’t help but look for the influences that lead to Kishiro’s story and world he wove together. I loved most of it, and the few things that didn’t resonate gave it character that further set it apart from other post-apocalyptic works from the last 20 years of fiction. It is also important to think how young he was when starting to author this epic. His ability to create a layered fable of a poisonous caste system with the despair of fatherhood lost, and a cyber-youth in moral conflict, struck many chords with me.

MarketSaw: What was your creative working relationship with James Cameron? What was it like working with him?

Mark Goerner: Oh lord, can I skip this one? Honestly, he is one of the smartest and most resourceful people I’ve met. Had a few great, creative meetings, and Lightstorm Entertainment had some warm people that evolved into my dysfunctional daytime family on the west side.

MarketSaw: Which other artists worked with you in the Battle Angel art department? I believe James Clyne and Feng Zhu worked on Battle Angel as well. How did you all divide the enormous task of adapting Kishiro’s visuals for the screen–did each of you have a particular focus (i.e. one of you focused on characters, another on environments, another on props, etc)?

Mark Goerner: It turned out to be a bit of an art buffet with tasks being kicked around. James started a week before I did, jumping immediately into Alita’s form and outfits. I initially worked on some of the grand scheme city designs, and then as a few months went by, dove into everything under that world’s dreary sun. Seeing as James is my best pal, and one of my biggest heroes, I hope you get a chance to hit him up for further details. Feng was on shortly, and in my opinion was not utilized correctly; but that happens in certain studios and offices on a regular basis. As the last one on, I got to see the whole effort and did my most favorite piece in that last week…wish you could see it.

MarketSaw: When working on Battle Angel, did you mainly focus on producing photorealistic, detailed, finished paintings, or did you also do a lot of rough conceptual sketches?

Mark Goerner: For that phase of B.A., the focus was in creating exciting large scale visuals that where intended to excite JC when he was in town and available to check out the work and progress. In the process of developing those images, there were the usual rough sketches, but largely we used large printouts to create the biggest impact to push the drama.

Read full interview here [source: MarketSaw]

Check out the clip from DeNiro’s appearance here and catch the premiere of “What Just Happened” when it opens October 17th 2008.

“But this is a film based on nothing. It’s all invented, a generic city with characters who have no names and no past, who get a disease that doesn’t exist. After I got involved in the film, I realized, wow, this is like a trap.”

“In most films everything is based on the eyes. You cut to show where the character is looking, that’s how you tell stories. It’s all about point of view, and I wasn’t going to do this film showing only Julianne’s character’s point of view. So how do you get people involved with the characters when you can’t put them in the same position visually?”

So, his solution, he said, was: “I put the audience in this blind world, to try to deconstruct the image, if I can say that. Sometimes the image is washed out, sometimes it’s out of focus, sometimes the framing is totally wrong, deliberately and toward the end of the film I even tried separating the sound from the image, showing a character with his mouth shut, but you’re hearing his voice.”

“It was all very experimental. Very scary. But “Blindness” is not scary in a horror-movie way, this isn’t science fiction, really. It’s a metaphor.”

His movie is “not a story like that, about a disease and somebody looking for a cure. The plague here is just an excuse to explore human behavior, how this blindness affected people, how they’d react if nobody could see them and they could do anything, knowing that they won’t be judged.”

In the movie people attack each other because they all went blind at the same time and were quarantined, away from anyone that could see. They become helpless from not having any experience being blind. There is only one character who was blind before the epidemic and he is the second most powerful character in the movie, since he knows how to be blind.

In “Blindness”, disease-blindness manifests itself not as darkness but as total, blank-page whiteness.

So, Meirelles said: “This movie, is about how we lose our humanity and how we get it back, how we learn to see again.” In other words, the whiteness that this film’s characters see isn’t, or doesn’t have to be, merely blindness: it’s also the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“I agree with Jose Saramago. After all these years of civilization we’re still very primitive. In a crisis, we always seem to go back to our basic instincts, everything becomes about eating and sex. I want the film to remind us that we’re part of nature, not so special, we’re really animals.”

But, The American Council of the Blind released a strongly worded statement criticizing “Blindness” (“outrageous and offensive movie”) for its portrayal of blind people as “uncivilized, animalized creatures.”

Interestingly, director Fernando Meirelles was willing to revise the film in response to criticism from women regarding a scene of sexual violence. According to the LA Times, Meirelles changed a disturbing scene depicting a brutal rape after nearly 10% of his audience walked out of a test screening.

But that was not enough…Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind plans to protest the movie!

Blind people and their allies will hand out fliers and carry signs. Among the slogans:

“I’m not an actor. But I play a blind person in real life.”

“The movie portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie,” said Maurer, president of the organization.”

The protest will include pickets at theaters in at least 21 states, some with dozens of participants, timed to coincide with evening showtimes. Maurer said it would be the largest protest in the 68-year history of the NFB, which has 50,000 members and works to improve blind people’s lives through advocacy, education and other ways.

People are blind in lots of ways, not just in the inability to see.

Jon Favreau (JF): We’re playing with who the villain should be and what we should incorporate from the comic book. And how it will lead into The Avengers.

Question: What stage are you in right now?

JF: I’m working with Justin Theroux, a writer. He’s writing the first draft of the script. I’m working with a storyboard artist as well as designing the costumes for good guys and bad guys.

JF: Now that Marvel is making its own movies, every movie has to fit into the Marvel universe. The Avengers incorporates not just Iron Man, but Thor, possibly the Hulk and traditionally Captain America as well. As it is, it’s scheduled Thor will come out the same summer as Iron Man 2 and The First Avenger: Captain America will come out a few months before Avengers. All the films have to come together to create a consistent universe. That’s very important to everyone involved.

Question: This summer, two of the best films of the season are superhero movies. Both Iron Man and The Dark Knight work because the directors [you and Christopher Nolan] honored the source material. Why do you think it’s been so hard for so many previous directors of superhero films to understand that’s the only approach that will work?

JF: The reason superhero films [fail] is either the director was unfamiliar [with the] source material or the director chose to depart from it for personal reasons. Another reason is that the studios that had the rights to a particular franchise would never think twice about compromising the source material if thought it would enhance the commercial appeal.

JF: I think it’s important for all filmmakers working for Marvel to collaborate so there is a consistency in the films, so yes they should keep in touch. I had not been in touch really with Louis [Leterrier] during Hulk and I think that would have been helpful. I hope to be in contact with directors in the future.

Question: Is The Mandarin still in the front running? That would be sweet, but I have trouble seeing that villain lead into The Avengers though.

JF: Mandarin is still an important figure in the Iron Man universe. We have an interesting take on him that allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains. The whole 10 Rings thing in Iron Man was a good tease for it.

JF: No Dresden, but Marty and Elayne would make good supervillians.

Question: What sort of issues will Iron Man 2 address? Anything relating to arms trading?

JF: The sequel is shaping up to incorporate Tony’s vision for the future. What happens after he says “I am Iron Man?”

JF: I focus mostly on story and character. I put a great value on emotion, humor and natural dialogue. The effects are fun to explore in original ways, but without a strong story, they mean nothing.

Question: Hello. Do you think Iron Man and The Dark Knight will change the way comic book movies are made?

JF: The Dark Knight was a huge cultural event. It gave our genre a new found credibility. I have no doubt it will not be overlooked come awards season. Especially Heath. He was tremendous. So sad. We are very different films. They are similar as far as the underlying material, but are different in personality. I think they reflect the tastes of the filmmakers.

Question: Will Nick Fury be in Iron Man 2?

JF: Shield is important to the franchise, and what is Shield without Fury?

Question: Jon, Was it your decision to cast Sam Jackson as Fury?

JF: We all came up with Sam. I helped push for it.

Question: Not to take anything away from the special effects, but I thought that Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark made that movie. On another note, are we gonna get to see Rhodesy in War Machine Armor – C’mon, Shoulder Cannons!

JF: We need War Machine. Agreed. Shoulder cannons and all.

Question: Will Stark’s substance abuse issues play apart in the next movie?

JF: Stark has issues with booze. That’s part of who he is. I don’t think we’ll ever do the Leaving Las Vegas version, but it will be dealt with.

Question: Jon, before you were confirmed to be on Iron Man 2, you expressed concern about the date that Marvel chose for the sequel, especially before contacting you about it. Now that you are on, has the date changed or has your opinion about the date changed? Does it seem more realistic now?

JF: The date is daunting. We are making much faster progress than the first time around and have much less to design and fewer casting issues. I am confident that 2010 is achievable if we continue working together as we have for the past few months. It has to be great, though. It has to be great.

Question: Will you be bringing other comic book heroes to the big screen aside from Iron Man?

JF: The only other comic character I would do is Groo.

Question: Jon, I grew up a Marvel comics fanatic. Best memories as a child were collecting and riding the bus to Hollywood comic book stores. What is it like for you to actually bring a character like Iron Man to life for “real”?

JF: Robert brought him to life “for real.” I found a guy that embodied enough of the qualities of Tony Stark to imbue him with an emotional reality. Fergus and Ostby and Markum and Holloway added much to the equation as writers as well.

Question: Your character in Iron Man was Happy Hogan, as a director that prides himself on remaining true to his source material, was there ever any debate to include the Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts romance?

JF: Happy Hogan can no longer be a wall flower. I must marry Pepper someday. And let’s not rule out the Freak! I have tremendous leverage to make such demands! Stay tuned.

Question: Was using AC/DC’s “Back in Black” your idea?

JF: “Back in Black” was my pick. It cost a lot, but it worked.

Question: Do you feel like there’s more pressure on you to deliver with the sequel? Obviously, there’s always a certain amount of self-pressure to succeed for any project, but the first movie was sort of under the mainstream radar. A second one won’t.

JF: Much more pressure to do well, but The Dark Knight took the spotlight off us. I would be happy to be Pepsi to their Coke for the next ten years. “The choice of a new generation!”

Question: Sorry, haven’t seen Iron Man yet, but the good people at Netflix said it should be in my box today! I love Made and watch it often, any upcoming plans with Vince Vaughn?

JF: Yes. I’m writing Couples Retreat that will film at the end of the month with Vince producing and Peter Billingsley directing.

Question: How difficult is it to pass your script off to someone else to direct?

JF: I am thrilled to have Peter direct Couples. He has been a major force behind the scenes for both Vince and I since Made. He is also a dear friend.

Question: What about a Swingers sequel?

JF: Maybe a Swingers sequel in another 10 years. Like the Sunshine Boys.

JF: Swingers seemed like hell at the time, but all of the challenges in getting it made pale in memory. It was a wonderful experience that tested us all.

Question: Are you still attached to do Me and My Monster?

JF: I am attached to Me and My Monster. Stan Winston reached out to me to do it a few months before he passed away. It was his passion project and I really love it and want to do it.

Question: Anything happening with your involvement with John Carter of Mars?

JF: Not involved with John Carter of Mars. Visited [Andrew] Stanton at Pixar. He’s doing a great job. He will do a better job with it than I would have at that point in my career. Most importantly, after 100 years, it’s finally getting made!

Question: Speaking of The Dark Knight taking of the spotlight from Iron Man, have you seen the “I’m DC v.s. I’m Marvel” thing on YouTube? Up your alley?

JF: I LOVE the Marvel/DC YouTube bits on Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Awesome. The Marvel guys love them too.

Walt Disney Pictures has recently announced that they will be making a fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Johnny Depp will be again Captain Jack Sparrow but the question is would the rest of the cast return.

Keira Knightley said in an interview with MTV News that she has no idea what’s going on with the new installment and she thinks “it’s time to do different things.”

Check out the video interview with Keira Knightley HERE

Oliver Stone is not even trying to hide the fact that in his new movie “W,” Bush seems like the worlds biggest “goofy.” He stated that his movie is real satire. We’ll see!

Stone recently gave an interview for GQ

“My form always fits the function of every movie. Alexander is as different as World Trade Center as this is from those two. This is a different man; he’s not as dark or deep as someone like Nixon. The style is a time trip through three different eras, to give you a sense of young, middle, and old. It’s light.”

GQ: Wait, are you saying this movie is a comedy?

Well, it has to be done with an ebullience and a certain fun, because the guy is goofy. He’s a goofball! And I think he endeared himself to people because he couldn’t get anything right. Kubrick was an idol of mine. I grew up on Strangelove and movies like Network, and they made a big impact on me. So yeah, W. is a satire.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the plot: Whether you love him or hate him, there is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. In an unprecedented undertaking, acclaimed director Oliver Stone is bringing the life of our 43rd President to the big screen as only he can. “W” takes viewers through Bush’s eventful life, his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith, and of course the critical days leading up to Bush’s decision to invade Iraq.

Sounds pretty serious (satire).

Stone told GQ that they went through a lot of actors before settling on Brolin. One of them was Christian Bale! I mean, I just can’t imagine Bale as Bush, though I was surprised with Josh Brolin, also. Watching the trailers, photos etc. he did a good job as actor in the freakiest movie of the year (or more…) playing the most hated president in modern history.

OK, “W” is not the first Oliver Stone’s biopic. He directed many biopics and movies about historical events – “Nixon,” “Evita,” “Alexander“, “JFK“… but “W” – don’t tell me that you wan’t watch “W” movie.

Nice job Mr. Stone!

Jeremy Irons in Appaloosa

Oscar winning Brit Jeremy Irons is very picky when it comes to leaving one of his many British homes [and Irish castle] to take on a Hollywood role, but the idea of playing the antagonistic cattle baron in the Ed Harris-directed western, “Appaloosa“, was clearly roo good to pass up.

In a Toronto hotel room, in between puffs of a cigarette, Irons chatted exclusively to PAUL FISCHER.

Question: Was it irresistible to do something that kind of reminded you of why you might have become an actor in the first place?

Irons: Yeah. I’ve always ridden horses and like most people, I was sort of brought up on Westerns, and Westerns were movies., but I never thought I’d ever be in one. They don’t make many now and although Clint Eastwood had asked me to do Unforgiven–

Question: Which, the Richard Harris part?

Irons: Yeah. And I said, “No.” I think – I’d read the script, and I thought, “I think I’m too young for this. I don’t think I’m right for this. You should ask Richard Harris,” which he did. Of course, Richard made a great success of it and I think was a lot better than I would have been. So, I had another opportunity to do one. But, you know, when Ed asked me to do this, I’d just finished doing a play in London, and was feeling like doing a movie. I thought it would be a lot of fun. I could see that he had this dream to make this picture and Viggo was on board, and Renee was on board. And I thought, “Oh, we’ll have fun. It’s a nice bunch of actors, nice script.” And it was a real pleasure to be able to say yes to it.

Read more: DarkHorizons

Tropic’s Kirk Lazarus – Robert Downey Jr. spoke with Empire Online about Ben Stiller’s action comedy “Tropic Thunder” and how he prepared for the role. Check out this video

In fact Crowe was in talks to star as Professor Moriarty not Watson. That leaves the role of Watson still to be set. I mean, if Russell Crowe really is in the project!

New rumor is that Colin Farrell is in talks to star alongside Downey’s Holmes as Watson!?

While no official word has been said, JoBlo’s sources are saying Farrell is the guy.

This would be an interesting development.