Interview: Tom Berenger of “Lonesome Dove Church”

Posted on March 23, 2015 at 3:12 pm

Tom Berenger stars in Lonesome Dove Church, available March 24, 2015 on DVD. He spoke to me about the role and why Westerns have such enduring appeal. And I have a copy of the DVD to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Dove in the subject line and tell me your favorite Western star. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on April 3, 2015. Good luck!

How did a kid from Chicago learn how to act in cowboy movies?

I’ve been doing Western since 1978 (Butch and Sundance – The Early Days), and that was a big one and it was three months and it was just constantly on horseback, all kinds of terrain. It was in the mountains, it was in snow, it was on rocks, it was on ice, it was in rivers, it was full gallop, so just a little bit of everything. The first time I learned to ride a horse was bareback and it was fine, yes, it was okay, no reins so you just jerk the mane one way or the other. He always tried to rub me off on a tree but I didn’t let him, so I learned about controlling them. In this one, I drove a buckboard.

You play a preacher in this film. What is he like?

He is pretty much upbeat. He is a real upbeat character that does not allow himself to get down too much despite whatever the situation. And so he is not given much to moods or depression or anything like that. He’s not overbearingly joyous of course but he is pretty well grounded in his beliefs as well so he’s an anchor. He’s starting a new church in Missouri in the 1850s and so it’s right before the Civil War. And in the opening scene he talks a bit in his Sunday sermon about that, about his concern that the country could be torn asunder over slavery. And as far as people in the congregation I would say half maybe are for slavery and half against. So remember if it’s Missouri it’s a border state. He of course is anti-slavery and when you’re in Missouri you are also next to Kansas and the Civil War actually started out there. No we don’t see this yet but it was pretty, pretty bad out there, pretty vicious and it actually really sort of begun before war was declared.

Do you typically read a lot of the history before you work on a project or did you know all of this before?

I knew all of that beforehand and I remember talking to the prop guys about certain rifles and things like that, because they hadn’t developed repeating rifles as yet, and all that sort of thing.

The conflict in the film is also personal as your character has to be there for his son, who has made some bad mistakes and gotten in trouble.

Well, you know teenagers. I’m sure this was true in Roman times as well. Romeo and Juliet were teenagers. So you just sort of brace yourself for it and kind of remember what you were like as well. Certainly my character is pretty patient and understanding but frustrated about his son’s behavior, getting in trouble. He doesn’t want to see him get killed, he doesn’t want to see him go to prison. And he just wants him to get in touch with his religion and society. He loves him a lot as a parent.

Well I guess the West was something we had that nobody else did. In Europe all the borders were established forever. There were wars constantly but there was nowhere to go when it got too crowded or you ran out of farmland or it became so established that you never could improve yourself classwise. So here there was always a West where you could go and try it again. The whole country was like that to begin with. All these people get a chance to get away from their problems and start all over again with a clean slate.
And I’m not saying it was easy but like every wave of immigrants there was some hope that they could lift themselves up and be accepted and not be stuck in a class system. There are still many big open spaces if you drive through there. Endless opportunities. But not easy. You can see those old photographs of farmers out there and you can see how exhausted they were.You see them emaciated from hard work.

What’s the best advice you ever got about acting?

I worked with Richard Brooks. He started as a writer but he was a real character. He looked like a Marine with that haircut and the way he dressed. He looked like some guy on the cover of Field and Stream magazine or something. He smoked a pipe and drank black coffee and wouldn’t go out to lunch. I was the same way, I wouldn’t eat lunch and he and I would sit around and talk about stuff. He said, “Lunch is the worst American habit. Watch it, they will come back in and they will be slow, they are digesting their food, the are daydreaming, somebody will get hurt. And that happened, too, just as he predicted.

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Contest: Win a DVD of “Bankstas”

Posted on March 15, 2015 at 11:06 pm

“Bank$tas” is a wild, raunchy comedy about a couple of guys trying to outsmart the crooks running a corrupt investment bank. Alan Thicke, Laura Vandervoort, and Joe Dinicol star, and I have a copy to give away!

To enter, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Bankstas” in the subject line and tell me your favorite movie criminal. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on March 24, 2015. Good luck!

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Interview: David Milchard of Russell Madness — Plus Copies to Give Away!

Posted on March 9, 2015 at 3:27 pm

David Milchard stars in “Russell Madness” as the father of a family who inherits a wrestling arena. But I think he would agree that the real stars of the film are the talking monkey and dog.

He took the time to talk to me about making the film, which is a lot of fun . I have copies to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Russell in the subject line and tell me your favorite movie dog. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on March 16, 2015. Good luck!

They always say that actors don’t like to work with animals or children. You managed to do both in this film so tell me a little bit about what that was like.

A dog and a monkey! A monkey is an animal but some people will say it is also a human. And I work with CGI which means there’s nothing there at the time. So I feel like I can do anything. I have been through the hurricane class of acting. Crystal is the name of the monkey. I like Crystal. She was fantastic to work with. It was a great experience; it was actually funny; the very first day on the set, I hadn’t met the monkey yet. And we were kind of in an important scene in terms of like how to get it done so it was a crash course on how to handle a monkey. Getting the monkey up on my shoulder and then acting as though I always had the monkey upon my shoulder, like it is totally normal. And then every now and then a monkey does what a monkey does which is like really screech loudly in your ear. But for the most part Crystal was a professional. Very well behaved and it was super fun to work with Crystal. And then I learned that if you ignore the monkey just a little bit they adore you more. So that is what I did.

What was it like to work with CGI, or, rather, to pretend that what would be inserted via CGI was there?

We were moving very quickly so sometimes they would film the dog and then they would remove the dog. The dog would do some crazy flip. And then you had to react to a dog flipping but there was no dog. So it was challenging but it was fun and working with the Director, Robert Vince, was great because he was very honest. If it was working, he would be like “Perfect, great!” If not, he would say, “No, we are going to do that one again,” and then he would explain if I was looking in the wrong spot or whatever but it was really great. After that, I’m definitely capable of handling anything right now. Give me any sort of situation actingwise, I am ready.

Your co-star is John Ratzenberger (“Cheers”), and I know he loves to improvise.

Yes and I love to do improv, too. I actually performed in a place called the Vancouver TheaterSports League and that’s where I get my chops for improv over the last, I guess 10 or so years and it was great. Yes, John and I would mess around a little bit. He kept me on my toes for sure.

You were very believable as a dad. What did you do to help the kids in the film get comfortable with you?

It was lots of fun. Working in the “Conversations With” Web Series was very helpful because it is not shot like a traditional TV set or anything like that. And being an improviser I have worked with lots of kids on stage in front of a live audience, which is very exciting and dangerous if you will. And so I felt quite prepared when I got on set and the kids were great. I mean everyone was super fun and Mason Vale Cotton was a consummate professional. He was very prepared. And he was also very adaptable. I mean it is hard acting with the dogs and animals and stuff but he was patient and he was fantastic.

I’m glad you mentioned the very funny “Conversations With” on YouTube, where you played the role of a 2, then 3, now 4-year-old, saying exactly what she said to her father. Tell me how you psych yourself into that role.

I think there is more kid in me than I realize. I always want to try and get what I want when I want it. And so I definitely tapped into that. But basically, being an improviser you just sort of say yes to situations and also you observe a lot. So I spent a lot of time watching my brother raise his two kids and like I said I taught improv as well so I have worked with kids in that way. And then just watching Coco, I studied her sometimes and see what she does. And then I take some creative license.

I like the way you capture the temperament of a child without having to use an exaggerated baby voice.

Yes, Matt Clark, my friend and my partner in crime in the series, we talked about that at length actually when we were starting. We were like “Well, how much like a kid do I play it?” We try to find a fine line about what makes the most sense. Sometimes I do act like a kid because it feels right and then other times I feel like no, this is an adult moment, this is when maybe Coco’s exploring the world of what it is like to be older.

One of the things that I particularly enjoyed in the “Russell Madness” movie was the set. It was just gorgeous.

When I walked on to that set, I was like, “Oh my goodness! I’m in a real movie!” The set was amazing. And we were all really sad when we had to go to the modern version, but that was amazing too. Everyone loved it. And then we were all kind of like joking that we could just leave it up and start a wrestling league here. We were all sad when we had to leave that set.

What do you think families will talk about after they see the film?

I think people are going to love this movie because it has got a great little story. The parents will be happy with the family message: family first, family is the best tag team. And I think that is a great element of it. The monkey talks and we hear the monkey and that is super fun. And then of course we have got the dogs so if you like dogs, you are in. If you like monkeys, you are in. You kind of got it all and the kids were both talented obviously and super cute. So it is fun.

Contest: Win a Flintstones WWE DVD/Blu-Ray — Stone Age Smackdown!

Posted on March 8, 2015 at 11:07 am

When Fred Flintstone has an idea to make money that involves putting Barney in the ring with the Stone Age WWE all-stars, what can possibly go wrong? This week, we find out in The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown, featuring John Cenastone (John Cena), Rey Mysteriopal (Rey Mysterio) and even The Undertaker, along with Mr. McMagma (Vince McMahon), The Boulder Twins (Brie and Nikki Bella) Marble Henry (Mark Henry) and Daniel Bry-Rock (Daniel Bryan).

I have a copy to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Smackdown! in the subject line and tell me your favorite Flintstones character. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on March 12, 2015. Good luck!

Contest: Win a PBS Kids Prize Pack! Peg and Cat, Caillou, and WordWorld!

Posted on March 2, 2015 at 11:04 pm

PBS Kids has three magnificent new DVDs, and I have two prize packs to give away!

Peg + Cat: Peg Rocks features seven stories from PBS KIDS’ popular PEG + CAT series. Solving problems is even more AWESOME when music is involved! This new toe-tapping DVD features fun-filled musical escapades, including “The Girl Group Problem,” in which Peg’s girl group, the Pentagirls, has its biggest show ever, and “The Mega Mall Problem,” which features Peg and Cat searching the mall for the teens, so they can all enter the Zebra Guy dance contest! Each PEG + CAT adventure features a story in which Peg and Cat encounter an unexpected challenge that requires them to use math and problem-solving skills in order to save the day. While it teaches specific math lessons, the series also emphasizes resilience and perseverance.

Caillou’s Can Do Collection is a 3-DVD collection featuring 30 classic stories which will have any preschooler taking on life’s small challenges and feeling they Can Do with Caillou. The three fun-filled DVDs featured within this set are “Big Kid Caillou,” “Caillou, The Everyday Hero,” and “Caillou’s World of Wonder.” Lovable four-year-old Caillou has a boundless imagination that makes every experience an opportunity for fun and play. By sharing in his incredible adventures, children can “make believe” along with Caillou and find new ways to understand and enjoy the world around them. CAILLOU is designed for preschoolers and focuses on role-playing and “make-believe.”

Wordworld: Birthday Party This fun-filled DVD includes five birthday-themed adventures, the first of which, “Happy Birthday, Dog,” features a surprise party for WordWorld’s friendly canine. Can Frog get the C-A-K-E safely to Dog’s party without ruining the surprise? Also included on this DVD is “Bugs to the Rescue!” In this story Ant builds Bear a hot-air balloon for her birthday. When Dog accidentally floats away in the B-A-L-L-O-O-N, Ant gets help from other insect WordFriends to save the day. Join the lovable WordFriends for these and three other educational birthday adventures as they playfully demonstrate the connections between letters, sounds, words, and meaning in order to empower children to advance from learning letters to learning how to read. “WordWorld,” which won the 2009 Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding children’s animated program, is designed to introduce, support, and foster literacy skills in children ages three to five. Young children explore the colorful, vibrant world of words with the lovable, legible WordFriends – animals whose bodies are made up of the letters that spell the word they represent. In each story, the WordFriends go on adventures and face challenges that can only be resolved with the right word. That word is built letter by letter, sound by sound. Once the word is built it “morphs” to become the spelled item – C-A-K-E, becomes a cake!

To enter the contest, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with PBS in the subject line and tell me your favorite PBS show. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on March 10, 2015. Good luck!