Just post your question in our comments below, we choose best one, simple!

In the Land of Blood and Honey has been nominated for a Golden GlobeÂź for Best Foreign Language Film. Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s, the film tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kosti?) and Ajla (pronounced Ayla) (Zana Marjanovi?), two Bosnians from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict. Danijel, a Bosnian Serb police officer, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim artist, are together before the war, but their relationship is changed as violence engulfs the country. Months later, Danijel is serving under his father, General Nebojsa Vukojevich (Rade Ć erbedĆŸija), as an officer in the Bosnian Serb Army. He and Ajla come face to face again when she is taken from the apartment she shares with her sister, Lejla (Vanesa Glodjo), and Lejla’s infant child by troops under Danijel’s command. As the conflict takes hold of their lives, their relationship changes, their motives and connection to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. In the Land of Blood and Honey portrays the incredible emotional, moral and physical toll that the war takes on individuals as well as the consequences that stem from the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.

Read David Limacher’s interview with Darryl, here: A chat with Darryl Roberts

Limacher Low Down: America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments is a follow up to the 2007 Documentary America the Beautiful. The first movie dealt with the issues of Americans doing what they can to look better. America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments provides greater insight into Body Mass Index (BMI), the world of weight loss, diets, and the infatuation people seem to have with believing that being thin means that a person is healthy. The movie provides insight into these topics, and Director Darryl Roberts offers himself as a test subject to test some diets and hypotheses as well.

We start off the movie by gaining a better understanding of the Body Mass Index or BMI. This is the scale that dictates whether people are healthy, overweight, or obese. Did you know that stars such as Will Smith, Mel Gibson, and Christian Bale are considered overweight according the BMI scale? Hell, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is considered OBESE when measured by the BMI scale. The BMI scale says if a person is a certain height, they need to weigh a certain amount or they are overweight or obese! The movie offers a great insight into the falsities of the BMI scale and certain reasons why the scale has shown great importance to certain people.

The movie then moves to Darryl getting a physical by his doctor, and he learns that he has an irregular heart beat and high blood pressure. This is an alarming fact which affects more people than care to realize it. It gets worse for Darryl when the doctor prescribes him two medications which could result in a man’s WORST NIGHTMARE, Erectile Dysfunction! Darryl realizes that it is now up to him to do whatever he can to not need the medication, and cure his problems as well.

Darryl decides to attempt a “Raw” diet. Raw diets are a basic vegan diet in which foods are provided that starts with a 4 week cleanse of all the toxins in the system to start properly on the diet. After speaking with people who have succeeded on the diet, he decides to give it a try. The scenes in which Darryl is on the “Raw” diet offer a funny and honest portrayal of what most people experience. Darryl doesn’t stop there; he goes through a gauntlet of diets all of which provide the same results.

The movie next focuses on High Fructose Corn Syrup. There is great insight into the reasons behind the use of High Fructose Corn Syrup as well. When certain people are questioned about High Fructose Corn Syrup, the subject is quickly changed or the subject is just ignored all together. Facts are provided and should hold the interest of most viewers.

Next we meet Candi, a person so infatuated with looking good, and being a certain way that it has taken over her life. She works out in the morning, goes to work, and then works out after work as well. Candi is so infatuated that she and Darryl head off to the gym in the middle of a blizzard that closed down Chicago. She believes that all the work she is putting in will pay off. But where does it end? She hits her goal, and then sets a new goal. She gets questioned when her figure and weight will finally be good enough, and it seems only she knows just when it will be good enough.

There is one scene that has stuck with me, and will continue to stick with me for years to come. In one of the most heart wrenching scenes in the movie, Darryl’s half sister admits to him a secret that she never told him. She had the courage to tell him for the first time on camera as well. It took real courage for her to do it, and her Doctor gave her advice to help her with the problem she had in the past. Her doctor had told her that her BMI was too high to conceive a child. Her Doctor was transfixed on the BMI scale that he has her believing that if she wants to have a child, she must lose weight and be at a BMI of less than 25%. It really makes a person wonder if this is true, or what facts either party has to go off to show this is true.

Focus now moves to BMI and education. Schools in Ohio are now mandated to place the BMI number of students in 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 9th grade on their report cards so parents get more involved! Superintendents are interviewed about why they petitioned to no longer subject their students to placement of the BMI scale on their report cards. They provide some interesting facts, and provide good reason as to why they chose to do what they did. The State Senator who wrote and helped pass the bill into law was interviewed as well. He seemed so obsessed with living by the BMI scale, he seemed blinded by the facts Darryl provided thus far.

Darryl does a good job of providing facts behind the BMI, the people who lowered the number back in 1998, and also into the CDC. He provided interesting insight to different factors that may have been overlooked as well. The facts and figures are out there, it is just how a person chooses to view them that make all the difference. But Darryl is not done there. He chats with psychiatrists and nutritionists about weight loss, and the facts they provide are eye opening as well.

The movie does a good job of giving a better understanding into the obsession with weight and being thin. Is it healthy? Are diets healthy? Is there one solution to the problem? The questions may go unanswered, but are left for the viewer to decide. The humor flows freely, and it helps progress the movie along well. There are points when the movie doesn’t progress well, and the fact some questions are left unanswered left me with more questions than answers. The movie was well done, and I would suggest it for anyone who questions diets, or the reasoning why America has the infatuation with looking a certain way.

Click on each image above for the individual interviews!

I had the pleasure of joining Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez and Michael Pena for a little coffee table chat at the South Beach Ritz Carlton on Monday to discuss their upcoming sci-fi-action-thriller, “Battle: Los Angeles”.  It was a wonderful chance to meet some passionate actors and chew the proverbial fat for a few minutes with each.

I found Michelle to be well researched in her character, and dare I say, I could see the geek in her, of course I wouldn’t say that to her face, and I don’t advise you to either.  She is the essence of the action chick of our era, charming and lethal, with a wry smile and demeanor that says, hey, I am no thespian, save your “emotional studies” for someone who likes that shit.  And while she claims the “geek is the new icon” – for me, SHE is the new icon of sci-fi femmes to watch, earning the Avatar and now Battle: Los Angeles achievements, just to name a few.

Ramon was an actor’s actor, discussing his role and how he prepared for Second Lieutenant Martinez and the challenges he would face physically.  He didn’t understand how the military rank structure worked, where a boot Lieutenant (my word) could give orders to a hard-nosed, combat tested veteran of twenty years, like Staff Sergeant Nance (played by Aaron Eckhart).  He quickly realized the importance of playing an officer and mentioned it was nice to be able to actually confront and kill the enemy in this film, unlike Transformers where he was constantly running from the robots in disguise.

Michael was the funniest; several times we all busted out laughing, and you can hear it in the audio files, he was just a genuine Chicagoan.  It was interesting how he chose the Joe Rincon role, when there were more dynamic, but maybe less dramatic roles available.

You can check out each detailed interview by clicking on the image above, each section is broken down by the actor, and each interview has some audio files, and hell, if you listen to those, it’s almost like you were there with us, shooting the shit and getting to know each of these wonderful personalities.

“Did anybody see?”

Swift shot:  Even if you live your life in a vacuum, you are being watched – if you think about it, our lives are a constant exhibitionist experiment, with the man, or woman, upstairs kicking back with a cold one and either enjoying all of it or fast-forwarding all the mundane bullshit and getting to the good stuff.  Writer/Director Adam Rifkin allows the audience to become the Eye of Providence through the many lenses our modern society provides – from the cameras that keep us safe to the cameras that ensure our stock doesn’t walk away without reason.  Getting a grasp on the characters becomes a challenge, but as the story plays out and things start to connect, the challenge of figuring out who is noteworthy and who is just along for the ride, keeps this film entertaining. And, it makes you think about what role you may be playing in your own story – is it LOOK worthy?

Leading right off with T&A, Rifkin directs the Eye to two teenagers changing at the local mall, trying on tiny outfits – wearing nothing but thongs.  He effectively gets right to the heart of the voyeur and eliminates the anticipation of when the good stuff is coming. And, if you are easily distracted by T&A, you might miss some of the genuine dialog, but even if you hear no dialog, the character of these girls is immediately brought into question.  In fact, watching LOOK on mute won’t detract from the overall payoff – or watching it in foreign tongue, for example.  I think a scene where Rifkin actually uses a foreign speaking correspondent displays this well.

As mentioned before, the “guess the characters” game in LOOK is intriguing, so I don’t want to give you a break-down of each, because that is half the fun with LOOK.  You learn about each character through their actions more than their words, ultimately, words become pointless, because the actions dictate each character’s role in the film.  The actors pulled off a decent feel of authenticity, and I must say, by the end I was wagging my finger at a few of the characters and shaking my head at their choices – so, these actors managed to become their characters.  You can’t ask more from your talent than to be loved or hated as the writer intended.

What I didn’t really like about LOOK also has to do with two of these characters – they are killers, referred to as “The Candid Camera Killers”.  I wanted to know more about these characters, and only one scene had any chance of pulling that off.  Ron (Sebastian Feldman) wears a suit, the other looks like a grungy dirt-bag, Ace played by Rhys Coiro.  Feldman gave a forced performance, or at least if felt that way, because I don’t know enough about his character’s motivations.  Granted, a lot of the time, real life is like that, people do shit and you scratch your head and find yourself asking why.  LOOK suffers for this with a few of the characters.

Ultimately, the way everything plays out in the end is satisfying, because real life never has all the loose ends wrapped up.  LOOK is worth the watch, but it isn’t for everyone.  It doesn’t have a lot of action, the dialog is parsed together from several days of surveillance footage and some of the characters come across as uninteresting because of that.  Still, this one did well in college houses according to Rifkin (you can listen to our interview with him here) and I can see why.  The whole film I was reminded of a line from my dad’s favorite film, “That’s the trouble with surveillance, you never get to see nuthin”.  LOOK is like that, you only get to see these people through surveillance, so you only get snippets – but, it is disturbing how much can be gleaned about people from these little snippets.

Enjoy LOOK, because while you watch it, someone is watching you!

Welcome!

David Limacher and Rick Swift got to briefly, well not really briefly, chat with Adam Rifkin and Ali Cobrin of the Showtime series, “Look”.   Listen to the whole interview here!

We broke the interview up into sections below, because we know how few people listen to a full hour interview – even if it is the best damned interview you ever heard!  So, click on the snippets (section titles) you feel are worthy of your time, but definitely listen to the section where Adam explains what Look is all about, below:

What is “Look”?

Adam Rifkin:  “Look” explores the things that people do when they don’t think they are being watched.

What the show does is explore the intersecting lives of about six different main story-lines all from the point of view of surveillance cameras, but not just big brother it also incorporates “little brother” – cell phone cameras, webcams, flip cams, and Facebook, Twitter, YouTube all the different ways we voluntarily put ourselves under surveillance through these new medias.

Chicago born?

David Limacher:  I read that you are both from the Chicago area.

AR:  It’s true; we are both graduates of the Chicago Academy of the Arts High School.

DL:  So, how did you make your moves from Chicago to Hollywood?

AR:  I had always wanted to be a film-maker, ever since I was knee high to a cricket, as they say.  For as long as I can remember, that is all I have ever wanted to do.  I made films with my friends while growing up in Chicago, so as soon as I was old enough I high-tailed it to Hollywood to make real movies.  It’s just that simple.

AC:  My story is exactly the same, except in front of the camera side.  I grew up in the valley world and the theater world in Chicago, and when I graduated high school I came right out to Hollywood.

How is “Look” shot, and why do the actors feel it is more theater than film?

Ali Cobrin:  In a typical TV show or movie, you know the cameras are there, so you are acting for the camera, standing on marks, and worrying about sight-lines.  But in this show you are shooting while walking around and having dialog and engaging in natural conversations as students are walking around not knowing we are shooting.

AR:  One of the ways we shoot the show, unlike conventional means, like Ali was saying . . . we actually hide the cameras, and we never close the locations – the actors were wearing radio mics and would be off by themselves, saying their dialog, but it just looks like they were having a conversation.  Most of the time, people had no idea anything was being shot at all.

Why isn’t the show listed under “Series” on Showtime On Demand?

[Editor's note, right about here is where the NSA took a strong interest in our interview and tapped into the conversation (you'll hear hellacious feedback and echoes) - that is my story and I am sticking to it!]

AR:  It’s not in the Series section, because it isn’t a Showtime original series – how the series came about, the evolution is inside baseball stuff.  The series is based on the film I did in 2007 which was really popular in the college art house scene in 2008.  The series being on Late Night has more to do with how it got captured by Showtime and not an original series of theirs.

Ali, can you talk about the character you play on the series?  Molly

[Note, the NSA dropped us, but the TSA picked us up, probably wanted to hear more about Molly too, so I am transcribing word for word what Ali said, below.  –Swift]

AC:  Molly is a girl in high school and she starts off the year like this is going to be a totally new year for her.  She has new friends and is hanging out with like the popular girls, the jocks, and that type of thing.  And, she’s a little naive, and she’s kind of the pet project of the typical mean queen of the high school and she goes through a wild ride her, I guess, Junior year in high school.

About the acting, is the show completely scripted?

AR:  The show is completely scripted; I do give the actors freedom to make the lines their own.  You know with most shows, you write the episode and you shoot it, but I had the luxury of knowing I was going to be writing and shooting every episode.  So, I wrote the series like a five and a half hour movie and instead of going to the mini-mart 11 times, we went there once and shot it in two days, all 11 episodes worth.  We did that with the entire season, and it really lets us get a really big look, with lots of characters and lots of locations on a modest budget.

AC:  Well, Adam was really great about, I know, from watching the episodes I have heard from here or there that I had a feeling were not in the script.  There’s one line I know that I said that was not in the script, “My hair looks like a frizzball.”

AR:  That was between takes, and we used it.

How did iRATEfilms hear about “Look”?

DL:  I stumbled across “Look” on On Demand on the convenient mart concert.

AC:  That was fun, that was a fun day on set.

AR:  Can I say something about you saying that?  One of my closest friends is a film-maker also, Valerie Breiman, she wrote and directed the movie “Love and Sex” with Jon Favreau and Famke Janssen.  And I was showing her some of the rough-cuts of the series way back when we were still editing them, and she said with the episode with the concert in it and while watching the concert scene, “People are going to stumble on this when they are switching channels and go, ‘what the hell is this’ and keep watching.”  You just proved her right!

Concert scene, controlled chaos?

AR:  We had to run a pretty tight ship; we had very little time to shoot 11 episodes.  I mean, anytime you are doing any sort of production . . . it is chaotic.

DL:  See, that scene really interested me and made me want to get more into the show and watch it more and more.  That was one of the only times, that I can recall, where the main characters were all together, for the most part.

AR:  That’s the idea, the fact that all these character’s lives intersect whether they are aware of it or not.

AC:  It also happens a few more times throughout the series, which I think is really rewarding dramatically – if you watch the entire series through.

DL:  The way these people’s lives intersect, it shows that people are in other people’s lives more than they realize.

What’s the deal with the Security Guards?   Can I drink beer all day and ogle women too?

AR:  Those guys are based on real guys!  We were doing research at several locations, from government buildings to shopping centers, these guys were based on real security guards we found at a certain mall who were actually submitting images of their favorite security grabs to YouTube.

We now live in a society where we are constantly being monitored, it is just a matter of fact now.

AR:  In the old days, a mini-mart video would only be stored as long as it took to reset the tape, now every bit of footage is stored forever, somewhere, digitally.  You might not be doing anything that someone’s going to want to dig up ten years from now, but it is there if someone wants to find it.

Everything that is caught on camera is permanent!

AC:  When people look at their Facebook, they need to realize it is stuck there, permanently.

AR:  Right, every piece of our lives is retrievable now.  What we do with the show is to only use retrievable data, even the text subtitles are based on the fact that these digital texts are stored, permanently, somewhere  –  so we can use them in the show.

Why the time stamps on the footage?

AR:  You look at actual surveillance footage at a mall or a mini-mart and you are going to find the time stamps – all the different shots reflect all the way these surveillance camera films would look.  We perfected it after working on Look the film, in 2007.

As film-makers, are you for or against the extremely voyeuristic society we live in now?

AR:  The numbers of cameras are growing exponentially, and the amount of personal surveillance we put ourselves under is in no way slowing down.  With the series, and the movie, but specifically with the series I did not want to take a stand and say I am all pro-camera or I am all anti-camera.

I think there are compelling arguments for both – we’ve seen the London bombers get caught because of these cameras.  But, conversely we had that poor kid who just killed himself at Rutgers, because his roommate posted him having a gay tryst online – and he was completely humiliated.  The issue is so complex; it is impossible to say it is all bad or all good.

The TSA is only the beginning.

AR: I am sure you guys are aware of the current controversy of all the airport scanners that take pictures of you under your clothes.  Well, that is gonna play a big part in season two.

AC:  Adam, also, now you can be on the NET while flying, season two definitely needs characters skyping on the plane.

DL:  It is good to hear you talking about season two.

AR:  Well, I will tell you it continues to be the number one show for its time slot on Showtime, last week’s viewership spiked 84%, which is spectacular; I am so excited.

Has the knowledge of all these cameras made either of you change the way you live your lives?

AC:  Surveillance wise, no, because you are captured on countless cameras just walking to the bank or buying groceries.  But, what I am worried about and I am aware of is online stuff.  I remember growing up and hearing “The internet is a scary place; consult your parents, blah blah blah.”

AR:  Tell them about tweeting photos.

AC:  The new thing is to let everyone know where you are and geo-tag pics you send immediately, meaning there is a location and a google map and it like lets you know if you are on the same block and everything.

AR:  Even if you remove that geo-tagging setting, the URL itself is geo-tagged, so it will forever be tagged to the URL, so wait a little while before tweeting your location if you don’t want anyone to know where you are.

AC:  Oh, wow, I didn’t know that.

AR:  Even if you have just watched “Look” you can’t be constantly vigilant about all the different ways you are being monitored – so, eventually you just live your life.  I will say this; it is like the best time in the world to be a stalker . . . they have really come into their own now.

What the heck is Facebook Stalking?

AC: I have a lot of friends in college, and a favorite past-time they have they literally call it Facebook stalking – for sure, people are checking up on ex’s and friends seeing who they are with.  That’s Facebook stalking.

GET ME TO THE GODDAMNED LOOK!

DL:  Today’s age of technology, people can give you instant feedback.

AC:  Exactly.

AR:  That’s awesome.

DL:  For me personally, it’s like I have to wait for a new episode every Sunday night – Dexter, you are just re-hashing season’s one through three – just get me to the God-Damned Look!

AR:  You are our hero!

What do Adam Rifkin and Ali Cobrin think about imdb?

AR:  Love it; before we had to use these things called “books” and they were huge and still only contained a fraction of the information that imdb has.  Also, with imdb, your past is your past, you can’t hide from it.

AC:  As a culture, everyone should be more forgiving and understanding of everyone and themselves, because there are no secrets.

Rick Swift:  Yea, nobody can hide anymore.

Incidentally, here are links to their respective pages for Adam & Ali.

Did you know Adam Rifkin was Writer/Director of 1994’s “The Chase”?

AR: That is correct.

DL:  That is like one of my favorite movies of the 90s.

RS:  Ditto, you know I wanted to ask you a question about that, because as I was preparing for this interview I was thinking about that movie before I even knew you were involved with the film.  Because “The Chase” ties in with where we are now with “Look”.

AR:  I remember calling the Fox rep after the OJ Simpson chase and asking them to re-release it, but they felt it would be in poor taste to exploit the case.  Which, is funny, because that was arguably the most exploited event of the decade.

RS:  I remember actually seeing “The Chase” after the OJ case was unfolding.

AR:  Yea, that movie caught on big once it went to cable.

Did you know he also wrote the script for Zoom?

DL:  Rick Swift and I both liked the plot of “Zoom”.

AR:  Thanks; working on big studio films like “Zoom”, “Underdog”, and “Mousehunt” gives me the opportunity to tackle other projects like “Night at the Golden Eagle”, “The Dark Backward” and “Look”. But, I love working on big projects as well as the more personal projects and feel they both are essential parts in shaping my career.

. . . and directed Detroit Rock City, to name a few others . . .

AR:  Giuseppe Andrews and Miles Dougal are both in that as well as “Look”.  I have known Miles since my days at the Chicago Academy of the Arts high school, and our production designer, Brett Snodgrass, is also from the academy.

In fact, I wrote the roles in Look the movie and the series for Giuseppe and Miles.

Show sounds great, so, where can I find “Look” if I don’t have Showtime?

AR:  It’s all coming.  We don’t have dates, but it is definitely going to be on DVD and Netflix soon, just keep a lookout.

Where can we find out more about the series?

Here’s a link to Ali’s page, just click on the pic!

@AliCobrin

Here is Adam’s page, click on the pic, I mean, by now if you can’t figure that out . . . sheesh.

@AdamRifkin

@Looktvseries

Friends with Benefits and The Hole 3D!

AC:  I have a role in the Joe Dante thriller called “The Hole 3D” and that is out and about for people to see.  And I am guest starring in an upcoming NBC show, “Friends with Benefits”.

DL:  You aren’t a guest star in our eyes, you are a star in our eyes and that is how we are going to promote it, so we got to speak to you before the show releases.  What is that about and does it compare to “Look”?

AC:  Thank you, it’s funny, because you can compare “Look” to everything, because “Look” is about real life.  “Friends with Benefits” is about a group of friends in their mid-twenties who are in Chicago and hooking up and finding the benefits of being friends with benefits.

AR:  It’s a big show coming on NBC.

Goodbye and thanks for sharing your time with us at iRATEfilms.com.

DL:  For everybody who is listening, we have been speaking to Ali Cobrin, who plays Molly on the show, “Look” and Adam Rifkin, who is the creator, producer, director of “Look” and multiple other things that are excellent – the guy has the Midas touch!

AR:  Thank you very much.

AC:  Thank you.

RS:  We are very interested in finding out what else you are going to be involved in, and I hope we can keep in touch.

AR:  Absolutely.  We will.  Thank you, and we will definitely take you up on that and we should all keep in touch; that is really cool.

Check out all the ways to reach us, and we are free for any and all interviews!

Check out “Look” on Showtime now, and follow them on Twitter (@Looktvseries) or at their direct site – (www.looktheseries.com) and, of course, tell your friends – Remember you are being watched . . . always!  Be sure and check back soon, because Rick Swift’s review of “Look” the film will be up shortly!

I recently had the chance to sit down for a few minutes and talk to professional wrestler “Big Show” Paul Wight.  He has a movie coming out soon, which is the latest release from WWE Studios- “Knucklehead”

David Limacher: First question I have for you Mr. Show


Big Show:  Please, call me Paul!

DL: O.K., first question I have for you, Paul, is how did this movie come about?

PW: Good question! Well, I was in Afghanistan a couple years ago doing the Tribute for the Troops shows that WWE does for those troops overseas, and Vince McMahon (Owner and CEO of WWE) gave me the script. I know they had been looking for something for me to do for a while, and when I first read the script it was an R Rated movie. I went through and made some changes to the script and made it more family friendly as well.

DL: Since you bring up the “Family Friendly” title, this movie has a PG-13 rating to it, but it really doesn’t seem like it should be. I was wondering if you know why it was given the PG-13 rating?

PW: I’m glad you asked me this question, because I really was hoping that someone would notice that as well. I personally believe that the fighting scenes made it more of a PG-13 movie. There was no blood or anything like that, and while some of the fight scenes were meant to be funny, there were scenes that seemed more realistic and that might make them seem more violent and therefore the movie got the PG-13 rating. I expound upon the fact that the script was more R Rated when I first read it as well. The character I play (Walter) was mean, rude, and not a good person. I wanted to change that around and make Walter a nice person who just meant good, but bad things happen.  I took real life experiences that happened to me as well and incorporated them into the script. So, certain things that people will see in the movie REALLY did happen to me when I was younger.  I took a page from Chris Farley in “Black Sheep” in that regard. I mean, he wasn’t stupid and he meant well, but bad things just always seemed to happen to him which seemed to happen to me in real life as well.

DL: So, you took influence from Farley for your portrayal of Walter?

PW: Yeah I did! This movie is a family comedy, and I respect the comedic work that Chris Farley did while he was alive. I respect the comedic work he did, and he was really a great comedy figure for “big” people.

DL: Well, since we’re on this topic; who are some of your favorite actors?

PW: Wow, putting me on the spot here. (Laughs) I have three actors that I can watch every one of their movies and just be amazed at how they compose and refine themselves to take on differing roles and make you believe the emotions they are portraying on the screen; Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, and Denzel Washington. I mean Denzel is such a captivating actor that he makes you feel what he is feeling and just pulls you into the screen with him and makes you become part of what he is going through. Anthony Hopkins can be the antithesis of evil in one movie and then in another movie be the most well liked person in the world which is just captivating. Gary Oldman is one of the MOST underrated actors around today in my opinion. I feel it’s harder to find a poor movie choice or a movie you didn’t leave saying he didn’t steal the show, than there is a movie he has been in that you left saying He SUCKED! I just wish I had the talent that those guys have to give a performance that makes you believe that they are those people and draw you into the screen and make you feel like you’re in the movie instead of just watching something.

DL: Wow, I really appreciate Gary Oldman as well, and I agree with you about him.

PW: He is fantastic!

And now, a word from our sponsor . . .

DL: I’m running out of time here, so I have a couple more quick questions for you. First is, since you’re a wrestler which do you feel is easier; Acting or Wrestling?

PW: Finally, an EASY question to answer! Wrestling is much easier for me to do. I’m a big guy and I’ve been doing this for 16 years now. I can go in the ring and tell from the audience if I need to change things up to make it better if we’re losing them or to continue what I’m doing with my opponent to keep the crowd into the match. The rush of having tens of thousands of people cheering you or booing you really sets something off inside of me and makes me feel good. I just feel at home and natural in the ring and that is easier. The reason acting is so much more difficult is because you don’t have that audience giving you that live feedback about how they feel about what you are doing. The fact in acting you have a director who believes his own work is the greatest thing ever is different than the people themselves telling you. A director can think you’re doing a GREAT job, but the people can hate it and you won’t know until it’s too late. That makes acting much more difficult.

DL: I never really thought of it that way.

PW: I didn’t either until this movie. I’ve done movie shoots before but I was on set one day and then I’m done and I can go on with my life.

DL: You mean like the Waterboy when you played Captain Insano?

PW: Wow, you remember that? Yeah, stuff like that is easier than wrestling on Monday nights and then going out to New Orleans to shoot the rest of the week. When we shot “Knucklehead” it was summer and I was wearing a wig, and I had to constantly get sweat wiped away and make up reapplied during the shoot – which was a time staking process as well.  Now I have to ask you what you thought of “Knucklehead”?

DL: I really enjoyed the character development in the movie. The characters really grow on you over the course of the movie. That and I also literally laughed out loud when Walter was introduced.

PW: That was the HARDEST day of shooting for the entire movie.  Michael Watkins (Director) kept asking me how I was doing, and I just kept saying to him “keep it moving boss, I’m ready to get this done TODAY!” (I’m not going to spoil anything here, but I will just say it didn’t look comfortable!) So I’m sweating and uncomfortable, but if it gets people to laugh then it was worth it to me!

DL: Well, I wanted to thank you for your time today Paul because I’m being told our time is over.

PW: Wow that went fast! I really enjoyed talking to you, and I think I was more nervous than you were!
(At this point he stood up and I broke my neck looking up at him! To gain a better understanding he is 7’1” and 450+ pounds!)

DL: I don’t know how you could possibly EVER be nervous!

PW: I will tell you another quick story here, I always get asked to be the Big Bruising bad guy, and I only want to play the loveable comic relief person. I was reading a script recently and the producers said we want you to be the jealous ex boyfriend who is the “big guy” in the movie. I read the script and said I want to be the nerdy guy who’s funny and collects bugs and stuff!

DL: I’m sure you would do well at that!

PW: You telling me I’d be a good nerd? Are you calling me a nerd, David?

DL: NO, not at all! Well, I’m a nerd myself!

PW: I’m one too, don’t worry about it.

DL: Wow, I got scared I said the wrong thing there!

PW: Nah! (Laughs) One last story because I’ve enjoyed this interview so much! So, Dennis Farina is the bad guy in this movie, and I believe this is the first ever movie he’s NEVER been able to drop the F Bomb in. The writers got together and wrote him a special scene in which he could drop the F Bomb in that won’t be in the movie or extras or anything, it was just for him. We made sure there were no kids around and we shoot the scene, and when it was done he comes up to me and just said “FUCK! That felt GOOD!” I hope you can post that!

DL: We sure can, and I wanted to thank you for your time today Paul.

PW: Pleasure is all mine; thank you for the great interview!

Final Thoughts from D.L., Paul Wight was a great guy to talk to. He was very down to Earth and gave complete answers, and then some, to ALL my questions. The fact he had me call him Paul was an honor and the fact when we said goodbye his manager thanked me as well for asking questions he could expound upon instead of just yes and no questions. I didn’t get to ask as many questions as I had written down; I still got answers and extra stories that made up for it.

The film will have a limited engagement, only opening in six cities – NY, LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Miami & Minneapolis, check your local listings.

I dialed the phone, nervously, waiting to hear a ring – but immediately I was on with Mr. Vorhees . . . I mean, Crowley, one incredible “character actor” (I use that term with the utmost respect, please don’t kill me Kane)  I didn’t even get into the pleasantries, as I imagined Kane was every bit the man of few words and mostly action.  To whit . . .

SDiaz: As a legendary name in the horror movie industry, how did you think Hatchet’s villain, Mr. Crowley would be received as a new premiere killer?

Kane: I love playing the bad guy when it comes to films. Playing these killers gives me the opportunity to show off my talents. I enjoy the freedom of executing a variety of murders and show off my talents. With Crowley, I made sure, was as scary as, or more so than, previous killers. In Hatchet II, I get to show how frightening Crowley can really be.

SD:  When you play characters on-screen that cannot verbalize, how do you make them come alive with just make-up and gore?

KH:  In Hatchet II, there is a flashback with dramatic dialogue with me playing the father. I always say an actor’s main tools are his voice and his facial expressions. It really is something that is hard as heck to do. Everyone feels like it is something anyone can do but they could not be more wrong. You get people who exaggerate movements or sound and it turns the deep horror it should be into something comedic. I’d say they were just trying too hard to act. In acting, less is more, and you have to remember that. A subtle tilt of the head may have a greater impact than a quick jerk.

SD:  Did you see yourself wanting to play giant unstoppable killers when you first got into the acting arena?

KH:  I started as a stuntman and that is really all I expected to be. Gradually in my career, I began to play more parts, and I found myself liking it more. The characters I ended up playing were a lot of fun, and as the villain/killer I would be stunting and acting, playing the best of both worlds. A friend, John Beckler insisted I keep pursuing this path.

SD:  How was it filming in a sound studio/stage rather than out on location like in the first Hatchet?

KH:  The first movie was filmed outdoors in the spring, so the nights were not very long. I ended up not having to work as much because of the time limit we had. In the studio, we had to endure up to sixteen hour days, because we could control the environment there. I just remember thinking “fuck a Halloween mask”; prosthetics are hotter because of the weight and construction directly to your person.

SD:  There is something a little bit personal I have to ask you. I read in the production notes that you guys kept things lively by trying to constantly prank each other. However, in the midst of pranks, please tell the public how you managed to break two doors trying to scare someone.

KH:  Oh yeah, I do recall that. It was especially funny, because both times I was trying to startle my good friend RA Mahaillif from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III” who plays the role of the hunter hired by Reverend Zombie. One of the times, he was in the bathroom and I knew it, so I decided to try and scare him by kicking AT the door . . .  but I ended up kicking through it!  Needless to say, I had to pay for the damages. The second time, RA was in the dressing room conducting an interview, so I decided I had to try again because of the first one being a fluke pretty much. So, I try again, and this time kicked a hole in it. They said I had to pay to replace it, but I made sure to really fuck the door up so it wouldn’t just be patched up and the money pocketed.

SD:  There were so many injuries inflicted on you in filming. You tore your bicep and were close to being knocked unconscious. What in the world were you doing?

KH:  Both injuries actually came from the same scene and probably resulted from ad-libbing the fight scene along with the choreography we learned. We wanted to create the best looking fight scene we could, so we basically went at it. It took seven hours to film including all the takes. After just half an hour I tore my bicep but pressed on regardless, afterwards my whole arm was bruised. Largest bruise I’ve ever had!

SD:  When you were in the studios at Disney, the notes say you had to film in intervals because of the water being so cold. Along with that, there were comments that the water was contaminated. How was that experience?

KH:  It was just ridiculous. There had to be a medic on site to monitor the situation and make sure we didn’t come down with hypothermia.   Take into account that it was January, one of the coldest times of the year for L.A… It gets very cold and the temperature that night I think was below freezing. I had to film it in increments, because I had to keep getting out of the water to dry off and warm up. I hated it.

SD:  How would you compare Jason to Mr. Crowley?

KH:  Well Jason had to be decorated with more make up, and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Not to mention the work was so physically exhausting – barely made it through the days! Victor was easier to work as; he had quicker movements and is unpredictable unlike Jason.

SD:  Do you like stunt work more or do you prefer working in the horror scene acting?

KH:  Best is when it is all included in one. That is why I love being the bad guy in the horror movies. You still get to be dramatic along with having stunts that I coordinated myself. My perfect situation is when I play the killer and I am the stunt coordinator.

SD:  What has been your favorite role of your career?

KH:  My favorite role ever has been Jason. I had fun in “Monster” with Charlize Theron as well. I really enjoy every movie I have played in.

I thanked him for both not killing me and for taking his time to speak with iRATEfilms about his latest work, “Hatchet II”.  It’s unrated and only releasing in limited venues.  Check it out, if you can!

David Limacher: I just wanted to thank you both for taking the time to sit down and answer some questions for the readers of iRATEfilms.com today.

John Dowdle: You’re welcome.

Drew Dowdle: Pleasure is all ours to talk to you.

DL: So we’re going to talk about the movie you recently completed “Devil” here, but first I wanted some background information on you both. I heard in the session that you’re from the same home town as the Coen Brothers, are they mentors of yours to become filmmakers?

JD: Actually, the Coen Brothers are from Minneapolis and we’re from St. Paul, but it’s the Twin Cities and we just kept the answer short.

DD: I like that you asked this question, because I feel that we’re going to get a lot of this coming our way. The truth is we do enjoy the work of the Coen Brothers, but when we were growing up we had different interests. It just so happens that after college and such we both found we could help each other more working together, rather than separately. We didn’t exactly plan on our lives taking this direction, but I believe I can say for both of us, we are glad it did!

DL: Excellent answer. I now have to ask since you said you went in different directions where did each of you go to school and what did you study?

JD: I actually started off in school at the University of Iowa. I didn’t like the direction I was going in so I transferred to NYU Film School and got my degree there. I think it was a smart move for me as well.

DD: I went to the University of Michigan and received my degree in business there, which has translated over to me using my knowledge to help keep the budget balanced on production of the movies.

DL: Moving right along, what was your first project that you worked on together?

JD: That was actually the first movie I ever made and it was titled “The Dry Spell”. It was an interesting project because I worked on the movie the entire time we were filming and Drew had very little input into the subject at the time.

DD: That’s true! I spent only a few days with everyone on the set and just saw how things were done and helped John with some of the areas he might have had problems and fixed the budget to make the movie work. I think we can both agree that after that experience we decided that we enjoyed the process and working together so much that we should attempt to continue doing this in the future.

DL: I believe you found a niche audience with your movie “The Poughkeepsie Tapes” and then that led to a larger audience with “Quarantine”. Do you believe “Devil” will cause people to check out your older films?

JD: Another good question and I think we are lucky to be the first film to be part of M. Night Shyamalan’s production company The Night Chronicles. He actually wrote the story for the movie, but he didn’t write the screenplay. He looked at all the dailies, but we filmed away from him and didn’t send anything over the internet which took longer yet still kept the film in secrecy.

DD: This film is something that is really exciting to us due to the story involved. This movie will make people think so many different things about who might the person that is terrorizing the five people trapped in the elevator, and at the end it’ll make sense and just shock people with the whole experience.

JD: I want to add to this by saying the methodology of this movie is nobody can get out and nobody can get in. We used a strong score to develop the story as well – the score becomes another person in the elevator and draws the audience in with more dramatic effect. I like to consider this to be the type of thriller like “The Shining” where there is no way in and no way to get out. The difference in this is it could be ANYONE and the secret will not get out until the end.

DD: We also like how M. Night has taken control and basically told the studio to not release anything that might give hints about the ending. [Rick Swift likes this] We had a problem when Quarantine was released, the studio told us that the ‘payoff’ scene would be its calling card and they showed it in the trailer. The studio said that was going to draw people into see the movie and it really hurt the integrity of the film. “Devil” is upholding its integrity and just allowing the story-line to grab people’s interest, but the movie itself will not be given away.

DL: I am really excited about seeing “Devil”, and the five minutes we were shown just sparked my interest more – who could it be? And do you think the movie grows on that even more?

JD: This movie, we believe, does a great job of casting a spotlight of suspicion on everyone that is in the elevator. The viewer can believe that it is one person and a few minutes later change their mind and say it’s another person entirely.

DD: I agree with John on this subject. Fact is, there are only five people in the elevator and that limits the possibilities of who it could be, if it is anyone of them at all. We’re not going to even say that it is someone in the elevator; you have to see the movie to know the secret. That is also why the studio is not showing any advanced screenings of the movie. We want to keep the secret intact and not let it get leaked out which might take some of the interest away.

DL: I recognized some of the actors in the movie; what made you decide on your casting choices?

JD: We actually like comedic actors and putting them in a different environment, and they also like working on these films because it takes them out of their comfort zone. We had the actors working for two solid weeks, 12 hour days in an elevator! After that amount of time, it can become very psychologically challenging and started to get to them as well.

DD: This movie is so psychologically bending and also has so many issues that it becomes something so much more. I agree with what John said, because we filmed in such a small place and with everything going on in the movie, even though the actors had a script it still got to them.

JD: Yeah, it really allowed the actors to stop acting and start playing off on their own fears and nerves that they were dealing with in the elevator. This movie took a whole different shape in the fact that the tensions grew and the actors became the characters they were portraying without even trying.

DL: I was just wondering with so many movies having sequels now, do you think this movie will have a sequel?

JD: Interesting question, and we can tell you this movie has a definite ending. There always seems to be a way to have a sequel for movies, but when this movie ends – the viewer will know we got what we wanted out of the story.

DL: Now you said in the Q&A session, “Devil” was originally supposed to be released in February, but the studio pushed up the date to September 17th, 2010. Do you believe this is a better release date for this movie, or would you rather have had more time?

JD: We finished ten days ago, putting this all together. We both found it humorous that we were still finishing the movie and already seeing the trailer for it gave us goosebumps and made us work harder to make sure we had the product we wanted to deliver ready to go.

DD: I was happy with the date change, because this seems to be a more fitting time to release this movie, the interest is there, now.

DL: I was curious if both of you knew that the History Channel has a new series about the Portals of Hell starting in the next week or so, and could this be a reason why the studio pushed up the date of release?

JD: I had no idea about that.

DD: I didn’t either, and the fact that you bring that up – it might spring even more interest in “Devil”.

DL: I have time for one more question, and I will ask what your favorite movie of all time is, and why?

JD: I would say “The Shining” is an all time classic. The elements involved and everything that the film gave the viewer was ahead of its time and can still be considered so today, even by modern standards. “Devil” incorporates a lot of the same psychological intrigue as “The Shining”.

DD: Mine would have to be The Big Lebowski. I just love that movie and how everything spins out of control and in the end you sit back and just say “WOW, what did I just watch? That was AWESOME!”

DL: Well, I thank you both for your time and talking about “DEVIL” which comes out September 17th. I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing it.

JD: Thank you! And we can’t wait for everyone to see this film.

DD: Thank you, David and we hope you get the thrills and experience watching the movie that we got making it.

David Limacher recently sat down with Aaron Schneider whose Feature Film Directorial Debut is coming out this week, “Get Low” starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, and Sissy Spacek among others. David sat down in Chicago and talked about an array of things such as Aaron’s hometown, how he got into making movies, winning a Academy Award, and his first Feature Film.

DL: Aaron, I just wanted to start off by saying that Get Low was my favorite movie I have seen this year, and it really was a warm welcome change from the CGI films we have become accustomed to.

AS: Thank you very much. This movie was such a pleasure to work on, and the people involved made the experience of directing my first feature film that much easier. I agree that this film offers a change from the CGI that is in most movies now, and I hope people enjoy the film for what it is.

DL: I read that you grew up in my hometown area of Peoria, Illinois. Is there anything you miss from the small town life?

AS: I really miss certain restaurants. We are in Chicago that has so many different choices for places to eat, but I still miss certain restaurants I grew up enjoying. Other cities don’t have those local places.

DL: I understand that, and speaking of restaurants I did some research on you and found out that you originally started going to college at Iowa State University studying in Engineering. I read that you were through your sophomore year at school and really didn’t like the direction your future was headed. While on vacation, in Florida, you were in a restaurant with your family explaining to them that you wanted to do something else – when you saw . . .

AS: . . . Billy Crystal, of all people. I was talking to my mom and she told me that I should go and talk to him about how to get my start in the film industry. I worked up the courage and introduced myself and told him that I really like special effects, and I was wondering if he had any advice on how to start a career in the film industry? He looked right at me and said “Film School. Go to a good film school and learn everything that you possibly can learn about the industry.” I took his advice and transferred to USC film school that fall. It really opened my eyes to all the aspects I might have taken for granted, and it also helped open a few doors for me.

DL: I would say it did!  Looking at some of the projects you worked on in your past.  You worked with a few acclaimed directors and producers and used what they taught you to win an Academy Award in 2004 for Best Short Film. What was that like for you to win an Academy Award?

AS: (Sarcastically) It was terrible! It was just awful, I mean nobody wants that high an acclaim! (Seriously, this time) It was unbelievable. It is really a good feeling that something you put your time and hard work into was so well received that the highest award in film is granted to you for your work. The only down side becomes asking the question ‘Where can I go from here?’ The answer was of course feature films and doing my best work to win the Best Film Academy Award.

DL: Now ‘Get Low” is your feature film debut. What was it like working on a feature film with such a good cast like Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, and Sissy Spacek?

AS: It was an AMAZING experience. Robert has his own style of preparing for a role. He takes everything very seriously. Robert invited me out to his ranch to talk so he could get a better understanding of the character and what he felt I wanted to do with the character of Felix. We exchanged notes, and when it came time to film he was ready and all about the character of Felix. Billy, on the other hand, was just as you would expect him to be – he’s a joker. He was the nicest guy in the world who would help the crew move their equipment into place, and just had fun with everyone on the set. We had a production assistant who was a short little thing and he would pick her up over his shoulder and ask “Now where does this go, Aaron? I want to make this shot PERFECT so I need to know where this goes?” He was just a funny guy. Sissy was just fabulous to work with as well. She was much grounded and has such a good grasp on her craft that she just was fun to work with. I felt that the people I worked with on this movie made my experience that much better for everyone involved.

DL: I saw that you weren’t only the director of this movie, but you were also the editor as well. What was that experience like for you?

AS: I was lucky that it wasn’t just me working on editing the film. The producers would come in and help me with the process and also the Director of Photography helped out quite a bit himself in making sure our best was released, and I feel as if we did that.

DL: I will tell you again that I really enjoyed the movie and liked how it was like a big, humorous puzzle where slowly all the pieces started being put into place. I especially enjoyed at the end how everything that happened over the course of the movie all came together and made sense.

AS: I am glad you enjoyed it so much, and I get the feeling that you “got” the movie. This movie isn’t something of a mystery where people will easily get lost watching it, but like you said it has it’s pieces and they all come together to make sense at the end. There are scenes that make you think one thing, only later you realize what you might have thought was the wrong thing, but it still fits and makes sense.

DL: Now Get Low has the very interesting concept of a “Living Funeral”. I was wondering how this concept came about?

AS: It is actually loosely based on a True Story. There really was a man named Felix Breazeale who held himself an actual Living Funeral in the 30’s. We changed some of the details around, but the story was based on a true story.

DL: Well Aaron, the Movie opens in New York City and Los Angeles on July 30th, and Chicago and other locations on Aug. 6th. I was wondering if you wanted to say anything else to possibly get our readers to want to see ‘Get Low’?

AS: I just would say that I really loved making this movie, I feel that it is great for audiences to just go to the movies and laugh and have their heart strings pulled on as well. The story is something new and different that people may not have seen in a while or ever . The thing that might get people talking the most is the WONDERFUL acting by Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, and Sissy Spacek . This movie really brings out each of their talents and is, once again, a showcase for the talent that each of them has to offer.

DL: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sitting down and talking with me about yourself and “Get Low”, and once again how much I enjoyed everything about the film.

AS: Thank you, David. It was great talking to you about everything, and I’m glad you enjoyed the movie as much as I did making it.

To see what questions Aaron had for David Limacher, you have to join our Facebook fan page – exclusive content awaits.  Here’s a hint, click the lower-case “f” at the top right in the blue box - genius!