Smile of the Week: New “Written by a Kid” Series with Dave Foley and Joss Whedon
Posted on July 23, 2012 at 8:00 am
Could Joss Whedon be any more lovable? He creates smart, provocative, and funny television shows with strong and fascinating female characters. He directed one of the biggest movies of the year, “The Avengers.” And now he stars as an action hero in “Scary Smash,” the first in a new “Written by a Kid” series on Felicia Day’s “Geek and Sundry” YouTube channel. The short film also features Dave Foley in a tragic role as The Milkman and Kate Micucci as a member of the “S.Q.U.A.T” team.
Be sure to check out the behind the scenes “making of” videos on Geek and Sundry, too! Cheers to director Daniel Strange, animator Evan Larson, and the wonderful Felicia Day and I can’t wait for the next one
Interview: Jade Pettyjon of the New American Girls Movie: McKenna Shoots for the Stars
Posted on July 22, 2012 at 3:48 pm
I absolutely loved the new American Girls movie, McKenna: Shoots For The Stars. Based on the stories about the American Girl of the Year doll for 2012, a young gymnast. So it was a treat to get to interview the girl who plays McKenna, Jade Pettyjohn. Her co-stars include Nia Vardelos of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” who plays her mother, and real-life gymnastics champion Cathy Rigby, who plays her coach. In the movie, McKenna’s challenges include an injury and a learning disability but her family and friends provide a lot of support. I especially appreciated the way that kids with disabilities are portrayed — in addition to McKenna’s learning issues, her tutor is in a wheelchair — it is frank and sympathetic but not at all condescending or marginalizing.
I have one copy of the DVD to give away! If you want to enter, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “McKenna” in the subject line and tell me your favorite doll. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only.) I will pick a winner on July 28.
What was your audition like? And how did it feel to get the part?
It wasn’t a gymnastics movie when I did the audition. They didn’t want to give away the idea, so I thought it was a dance movie. They gave me lines to memorize and had me read them with the casting director. I was in the car when I found out I got the job and so I couldn’t jump up and down but I was super-excited! And it shot in Canada and that was really exciting because I had never been out of the country before, so that made it even better.
My favorite thing in the movie is the way it portrayed the friendships between the girls, even those of different ages and those who were competing against each other. Are your friends like that?
My friends don’t have as much drama! But I liked that the characters in the movie all made up in the end and were better friends. And the girls on the film had a lot of fun together on set and off set. We would invite each other to where we were staying and watch movies and have classes with my mom and we celebrated Canada Day and watched the fireworks!
It was great to see disabled characters in the movie. Do you have disabled friends?
I knew gymnastics was hard but I did not know how much hard work and dedication it takes. I was amazed by it. I did a little bit before. I could do cartwheels and a few things but they flew me out a few weeks before so I could learn the gymnastics. One thing me and my character have in common is that we both love to make something come out right and work until it is perfect — for me it’s acting and for her it’s gymnastics.
What movies do you like?
It changes but right now I love “We Bought a Zoo.” And I love “The Help.” And the “Step Up” movies. I am so excited for the new one!
You wore some great clothes in this movie!
I loved my characters outfits and stuff. They were amazing! I loved the dress at the end. But it was really hectic on set and I had seven or eight costume changes in one day!
Did Cathy Rigby give you any pointers?
She is so amazing! She is my role model. I love her! She helped with double cartwheels and splits — it was really cool to work with her.
What’s the best advice you ever got about acting?
It is really important to understand every word in the script. I’ve learned a lot of new vocabulary words that way!
What do you want people to learn from this movie?
I want them to learn that it is important to have balance, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. You can’t do just one thing because you might stop loving it and getting fun out of it.
The Olympics have inspired a lot of great (and not-so-great) movies, both fact-based and fictional. Which ones can you identify?
1. A warm-weather country competed in a cold-weather sport in which fact-based Disney film?
2. Which Oscar-winning movie was the story of two Olympic runners?
3. There are two different movies about which real-life Olympic champion runner?
4. Which Olympic decathlete played himself in a movie based on his life?
5. Athletes from rival countries fall in love in this movie that is fiction in more ways than one — it has America competing in an Olympics that in real life the US boycotted.
6. One of the wildest Olympics movies ever made has a team from an almost-bankrupt country where all the citizens have super-athletic ability. Which classic comedian starred?
7. Animals compete in the Olympics in which animated feature?
8. Who stars in a movie about a gold medalist who defects who has to fight for his life when his former coach comes after him?
9. Which real-life Olympic star appeared in one of the biggest musical movie flops of all time and now appears in reality television?
10. Which movie is the tragic story of one of America’s greatest Olympic athletes being stripped of his medals?
11. Which Olympic medalist appeared in a movie about an athlete starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy?
12. Which movie about the Olympics featured Cary Grant?
Bonus question: Which Olympic and world champion became one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood?
One of the most fascinating documentaries of the year is “Searching for Sugar Man,” the extraordinary story of musician Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, who made two albums in the 1970’s and then disappeared from performing. It is a moving reminder that each of us has the potential for influence far beyond our ability to imagine.
From the film’s website:
In 1968, two producers went to a downtown Detroit bar to see an unknown recording artist – a charismatic Mexican-American singer/songwriter named Rodriguez, who had attracted a local following with his mysterious presence, soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics. They were immediately bewitched by the singer, and thought they had found a musical folk hero in the purest sense – an artist who reminded them of a Chicano Bob Dylan, perhaps even greater. They had worked with the likes of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, but they believed the album they subsequently produced with Rodriguez – Cold Fact – was the masterpiece of their producing careers.
Despite good reviews, Cold Fact was a commercial disaster and marked the end of Rodriguez’s recording career before it had even started. Rodriguez sank back into obscurity. All that trailed him were stories of his escalating depression, and eventually he fell so far off the music industry’s radar that when it was rumored he had committed suicide, there was no conclusive report of exactly how and why. Of all the stories that circulated about his death, the most sensational – and the most widely accepted – was that Rodriguez had set himself ablaze on stage 4 having delivered these final lyrics: “But thanks for your time, then you can thank me for mine and after that’s said, forget it.” The album’s sales never revived, the label folded and Rodriguez’s music seemed destined for oblivion.
This was not the end of Rodriguez’s story. A bootleg recording of Cold Fact somehow found its way to South Africa in the early 1970s, a time when South Africa was becoming increasingly isolated as the Apartheid regime tightened its grip. Rodriguez’s anti-establishment lyrics and observations as an outsider in urban America felt particularly resonant for a whole generation of disaffected Afrikaners. The album quickly developed an avid following through word-of-mouth among the white liberal youth, with local pressings made. In typical response, the reactionary government banned the record, ensuring no radio play, which only served to further fuel its cult status. The mystery surrounding the artist’s death helped secure Rodriguez’s place in rock legend and Cold Fact quickly became the anthem of the white resistance in Apartheid-era South Africa. Over the next two decades Rodriguez became a household name in the country and Cold Fact went platinum.
n the other side of the globe, in South Africa, Rodriguez had become as popular as the Rolling Stones or Elvis Presley. But he never knew of that success. He never saw a penny in royalties from it, and he spent decades doing manual labor to make ends meet and raise his three daughters. It wasn’t until fans in South Africa, trying to verify rumors he was dead, tracked him down through the Internet and brought him there to perform to adoring multitudes, that his career was resuscitated.
“This was the greatest, the most amazing, true story I’d ever heard, an almost archetypal fairy tale,” said Malik Bendjelloul, the Swedish director of “Searching for Sugar Man,” a documentary that opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles. “It’s a perfect story. It has the human element, the music aspect, a resurrection and a detective story.”
Responding to the Shooting at “The Dark Knight Rises” in Colorado
Posted on July 20, 2012 at 10:37 am
An excited and happy crowd bought tickets to the first showing of one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year, “The Dark Knight Rises,” in Aurora, Colorado. A half hour into the film, a man in a gas mask and a bulletproof vest came in through the exit door, threw out a canister of tear gas, and started shooting. At first, some members of the audience thought he was connected to the film in some way. But his guns were real. At this writing, twelve audience members are dead, including a six year old and a baby, and others are hospitalized. The suspect is 24-year-old John Holmes. It seems clear that he acted alone and was not connected to any terrorist groups and there is no indication that any other theaters or audiences will be at any additional risk. Warner’s has cancelled the high-profile premiere of the film in Paris and police are adding extra security in some locations.
The predictable immediate responses are coming in already — vague expressions of sympathy and support from politicians, statements from both sides about access to guns. It is another powerful reminder of how vulnerable we are. If we cannot find a way to keep weapons out of the hands of unstable people, we may find going to the movies or the mall is like going to the airport, with scanners and searches.
It is also a reminder of how vulnerable even the most well-established brands are. Batman has been around for a long time and this incident will not prevent the film from becoming one of the biggest box office hits of the year. But the storyline concerns massive terrorist attacks and audiences may find it harder to enjoy the comic book pleasures of the more destructive action sequences and brutally heartless villains. Next week’s action comedy release starring Ben Stiller was originally titled “Neighborhood Watch,” but has been re-named “The Watch” to minimize any connection to the Treyvon Martin shooting by self-styled neighborhood watcher George Zimmerman.
It would be nice if there really was a Batman to come to the rescue and prevent these tragedies. Without a superhero, we will need to have some difficult conversations about what we can do to make sure that the scary things that happen when we go to the movies are only on the screen.
. Based on the stories about the 
– was the masterpiece of their producing careers.