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Week of March 13, 2006 |
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You can take "The Peacemaker," "Deep Impact," and "The Tuxedo." We'll take "Gladiator," "American Beauty" and anything else that didn't suck.
Emilio's 17
Yeah, like he needed all that overpriced crap anyway...
This lawsuit's going to make 'House Party' look like 'House Party Two!'
I told you... don't call me SENIOR!!
Maybe this is all a bad dream too?
Thanks Sharon, but I think I'll wait until this one comes out on DVD (so I can freeze frame of course)
There is absolutely, positively no nepotism in Hollywood. None.
You're good, baby, I'll give you that... but me? I'm magic.
This band will go down like a lead balloon
Well, Goodbye there Children...
They can't sell the Capitol Records building! What will be left to destroy in the next crappy 'end of the world' movie?
Same old Courtney - still sponging off Kurt
Panic on the streets of Austin
You're a fat, Botox faced, wig-wearing ninny! Oh yeah? Well your band has a dirty H addict as a lead singer!
Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, The Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd Enter Rock Hall
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01 |
THE BREAK-UP |
$39.17
$12759/av |
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02 |
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND |
$34.02
$9159/av |
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03 |
OVER THE HEDGE |
$20.65
$5170/avg |
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04 |
THE DAVINCI CODE |
$18.61
$4953/avg |
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05 |
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III |
$4.68
$1756/avg |
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06 |
POSEIDON |
$3.49
$1283/avg |
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07 |
RV |
$3.20
$1469/avg |
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08 |
SEE NO EVIL |
$2.04
$1607/avg |
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09 |
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH |
$1.36
$17615/avg |
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10 |
JUST MY LUCK |
$855K
$892/avg |
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E-MAIL THE AUTHOR
THE BOTTOM OF THINGS
By Michael Sampson
May 7, 2003
Famke Janssen leans forward, puckers her lips and pats her lap gently.
“C’mere. C’mon lick. Here. Right here. Oh yeahhh…that’s a good boy.”
Boy, this interview is going a lot better than I had hoped…
So begins a day full of interviews with the cast and crew of X2: X-MEN UNI—oh wait.
“No, that's NOT the title of the fucking movie. It's not X-MEN UNITED, it's called X2,” Singer grumbles before he even sits down. “Somebody better tell Fox…”
Okay… so to further avoid the wrath of Bryan Singer, we’ll just say X2. But beyond that short outburst at the start of our interview, Singer is remarkably staid as we continue to talk. Remarkable for the man notorious for a quick, mean temper and remarkable for any man on the verge of the biggest movie of his career.
Tim Burton once said that making BATMAN made him sick to his stomach and making BATMAN RETURNS drove him to the verge of a nervous breakdown. Bryan Singer will agree with the former but not necessarily the latter.
“I personally made a conscious decision not to let the whole process stress me out as much as it did the first time,” Singer explains. “More riding on it and somehow less `cause we already had success with the first film and now we could actually have fun with this movie and have something special that would take it to another level.”
Singer would not allow himself, or his cast and crew, to be done in by the pressure of a big-budget sequel of epic expectations. Like a crazy brave soldier, he threw himself on the grenade and absorbed the blast, keeping his actors free of any stress.
“I don't know exactly [how I did it]...I just consciously did it. It's GONNA be enjoyable. And then I still stress all the time but I keep my stress more contained in my trailer.”
Without the stress and with the success of the original film, Singer came to X2 armed with a little bit more of…well, everything. Especially, as Singer puts it, “having a little more time and a little more money.” He also talks about the creative freedoms afforded in the sequel. “I think it was having already gone through the process of defining these characters and getting a lot of the exposition out of the way, feeling more comfortable with the universe, the actors feeling more comfortable with their characters.”
It’s clear –- despite what you might have read (ahem…) –- his stars respect him and he respects them. It’s that respect and trust which Singer credits for delivering quality in these films.
“I think it's that they trust, frankly, my process and that I'll protect them and they protect me by micromanaging their characters. They're professionals. Right down to the kids; the little X-Men running around in the snow. They're all professionals.”
What exactly is it that the actors trust in Singer? What is his process that has worked so well for this franchise?
“[M]y philosophy was, from the beginning, look at it as serious science-fiction/fantasy. What if this happened in the real world?… It's not about realism, it's about believability. That comes from taking the universe seriously.”
Singer has now conquered the difficult task of creating a sequel that not only lives up to the original but surpasses it in quality. That success could continue on to X3 or 4 or 5, but at what point do comic book movies become oversaturated and complicate the process even further?
“I think as long as there are stories to tell and they are taken seriously, I think this universe could be explored for decades, as it has in the comic book,” Singer explains. “It's just when it starts to become trivialized it runs a risk of dying out or requiring revolution. But X-MEN more so than comic universes based on single individuals, there are so many characters and they are so enriching. It has a lot of potential.”
So does that mean Singer is back for X3?
“I think a lot about it. During the first one I thought about this one. In keeping with that there's thinking that's constant. There are things in this film that could suggest an evolution into a third film. Each film we seem to lose a character. In the first film we lost Beast. We lost Angel in this one I think. Again that's a character I've liked a lot. So somewhere in these characters and a few more I wouldn't want to mention, I might want to explore them. But that's where my mind's at possibly.”
One of the biggest problems about getting X3 together is getting the film’s two biggest stars, who aren’t contracted for a third, to return. Halle Berry has voiced her displeasure with the X-MEN franchise since day one (though Singer says she “couldn't have been more delightful” on set) and Hugh Jackman’s schedule is getting increasingly busy as his star rises.
When asked if Singer believes his two major stars will return, he is at first diplomatic. But when pressed, he elaborates a little bit. “I don't know about Halle because her character often functions more separate than the X-Men. She's the Earth mother, she's with the kids and stuff. It's also a decision about her career path. But on the other hand we had a lot of fun and got along well so it's a chance from doing high drama in MONSTER'S BALL to making 20 tornadoes. So it gives her some latitude in terms of what she can do.
With Hugh Jackman, he's more central to the story so I would probably be hesitant going into a third picture without Wolverine. Wouldn't you? So you can fill in those blanks of what would and wouldn't be required for yourself. But at the same time, I love this cast and doing stuff with them and working with them.”
Meanwhile, across town in Junketville...
Hugh Jackman strolls in looking nothing at all like his on-screen persona, Wolverine. Fresh off shooting on his next action-adventure epic, VAN HELSING, his hair flows down to his shoulders and there’s nary a bit of stubble on his face. But he was here, clearly enthusiastic about X2, and more than willing to talk in that cheery Aussie accent of his.
Jackman certainly agrees with Singer about the increased relaxation on X2 saying, “I have to say it was more fun for me than the first, because then I was pretty scared for about the first month. It took me about a year to admit, but I was pretty damn terrified…It was a lot of pressure on everybody, because it was this big franchise. So come the second one, I had time to get in shape, I had time to think about it, work on the script, feel ready to go from day one.”
One of the highlights of X2 is the raid on X-Mansion where we finally get to see a side of Wolverine that was lacking in the original film. Hugh says, “I've talked to fans and if there's one thing they've said to me it was, You don't kick enough ass. Come on, we want to see that berserker rage. Let's go for it!” Jackman himself agreed and was glad to see the big man get a chance to freak out, but lobbied Bryan Singer for even more.
“I kind of fought for a little bit more, in the mansion sequence particularly. There is a little more berserker rage there than there was originally [in the script].”
The other major action sequence involving Wolverine is the showdown with Lady Deathstrike, played by Kelly Hu. Jackman says, despite his co-star’s demure appearance, the girl can play with the big boys. “She asked for it, mate. I mean literally ASKED for it. She'd come in saying, Come on. Give it to me! I tell you, I've been in a few fights in my day and I don't think I've hit many people harder than I've hit Kelly. And she was like, Come on! You pussy!…I had to do this one scene where I'm down on the ground, and she runs - you see the camera fly from the top - and I have to turn, and stab her in the stomach. So effectively I have to punch her in the stomach, and she has to fold over it. She kept saying, Harder, harder, harder, harder! I can take it. I said, Just do me a favor. Will you wear a pad? She put a black pad on, and I turned around, and BAM, I hit her straight in the boob. Four takes without the pad I'd gotten right perfectly, and as soon as she gave me the target, bang. And I said, Did I get you in the...? And she goes, Yup. Just a little lower next time. Thanks Hugh. That was the only time she didn't ask for it harder.”
The Broadway trained actor (who will return to the stage this fall playing Liza Minelli’s former husband Peter Allen) returns to the big-budget blockbuster next summer in Universal’s tentpole VAN HELSING. It might seem odd that a classically trained actor would go straight from X2 to another action spectacular but Jackman couldn’t resist, saying he knew the project was “gonna be pretty darn good.” He further explains his choice saying, “I was just about to shoot [X2] when I signed onto it and I thought, I'm in the middle of a franchise. Do I need to slow down a bit? It was compelling because the script was so good. I knew all the people involved - or I found out about them - and it just seemed like a top-quality project.”
That’s it? You’re not going to tell us more about the movie? C’mon, Hugh…
“I just bit on a blood capsule about a week ago (laughs). All I can say is, it's gonna look unbelievably good. Those monsters are amazing, the fight sequences are out of this world and it is gonna be frightening enough and action-filled enough to just sneak under the PG-13 rating…I feel like I'm in an INDIANA JONES movie -- it's that big. I mean huge.”
Besides VAN HELSING and his return to Broadway, Jackman says he has considered riding the recent movie musical revival while it’s hot saying, “I would love a version of SWEENEY TODD to be made.”
And then, of course, there’s X3. When the inevitable question comes up, Jackman confirmes he isn’t contractually obliged but when asked if he would anyway says, “I'm pretty sure, yeah. I mean, I love it. I can't imagine myself giving it up.”
I’m trying to talk to Famke Janssen but she’s distracted.
“C’mon lick.” Hmmm.
I guess I should explain. Lick – aka Licorice – is Famke’s dog. A tiny little Boston Terrier that she, apparently, takes with her everywhere. Lick was a little uneasy and it took a lot of Famke’s time and attention to get him to calm down. All James Marsden – her interview partner – can do is muster a smile. He’s been with Lick all day…
Once Lick rested his head comfortably in Famke’s lap she got to talking about X2.
“None of the actors were particularly famous and the studio wasn't banking on any huge stars,” she says of the original. “So when it became a hit we were all very surprised and it was much easier the second time around having that in your pocket.”
Both Famke and co-star James “Jimmy” Marsden had makeovers in the second film, a welcome change for Jimmy, whose “Princess Leia” eyewear in the first film he describes as “so cumbersome.” The new glasses were “a bit more streamlined and a bit more refined and slicker so it just goes over the ears. That was nice…it was more comfortable.”
Famke added that much of the change came as a result of Bryan Singer. “I have to say the great thing about Bryan is that he is a perfectionist and he will always try to improve everything and make it better. He fought for that the whole movie long and he got it because of him.”
A simple pair of eyeglasses wasn’t the only major change for Jimmy and Cyclops. The character, whose screen time is reduced, gets a boost in the quality of his role, showing a bit more emotion than the standard superhero is required.
“I actually asked Bryan very early on if there was a way to breathe a little life into this character that adds another dimension. It was great because [Jean Grey's and Cyclops's] relationship takes a big step forward - or backward, whatever you want to call it - and we definitely do get into that love triangle a bit more and explore the emotion a bit more.”
Finally grouped together were Alan Cumming and Rebecca Romjin-Stamos, obviously so because of their shared experience wearing the blue makeup. For his role as Nightcrawler, Cumming spent four hours in makeup and Rebecca, five-and-a-half. Cumming says, “it was grueling…and cumulatively as the shoot goes on you get tireder and tireder.” He jokingly adds that “masturbation” was the best way to relieve the stress and boredom after long days in the makeup chair.
Rebecca adds her own horror stories explaining, “For me the maintenance of it was the worst cause they never leave you alone. You have an hour off and it's like, Do I wanna take a nap and go through another 45 minutes of touch ups, or do I just want to sit?’”
While both actors agreed the makeup application was difficult both agreed it was well worth it.
“Those costumes are really a work of art,” Rebecca says look at Alan. “For me, as grueling as it was, every time I'd look at it in a full-length mirror, I'd go, This is just a beautiful piece of work.”
The makeup process wasn’t the only thing the actors had to do to get into character. Cumming spent some time researching his character’s movements, as well as preparing to do the complex physical stuntwork.
“In the opening sequence, I did some flying. I did the flips. Did a bit of quadrapeddling. Worked with this guy named Teddy who taught me stuff about the language of physical movements. Then he had to teach the stuntmen the same sort of thing.” That’s in addition the “gazillions of old comics and stuff” Marvel sent to help get the comic neophyte in tune with his character.
With the complexities that come along with playing each of their characters in the X series, both agree they couldn’t do it much longer but Rebecca reminds herself, “we’re both signed for a third.” Cumming adds, “Contractually, yeah. But let's see how our mental state is after that.”
That’s all from the X2 junket in Pasadena. The film’s opening grosses were the fourth-highest of all time so you can rest assured you’ll see an X3 sometime in the future. Thanks to MPS’s own Chris Ryall and Michael Dequina for showing this Jersey boy a good time while out in the Golden State.
Coming up in the next Bottom: A review of the most recent draft of Universal’s remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD. Oooh, scary….
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