Category: Interviews (Page 47 of 69)

My Most Memorable Interviews of 2008

December 30, 2008 /

I recently went back and counted up how many interviews I’ve done for Bullz-Eye since I first came aboard the site, and I was astounded to find that – counting both one-on-one conversations as well as teleconferences – the number tops 200. Wow. Anyone who thinks that I don’t work hard for my money, I say to you that the figures speak for themselves. Looking back at the list of folks with whom I’ve chatted during the course of the past year, I find myself thinking the same thing I think every day of every year: it might’ve sucked to do all of that unpaid freelance writing for all those years, but it was totally fucking worth it. And with that bold statement, allow me to present a list of the interviews from 2008 that still remain fresh in my mind…for a variety of reasons.

* Best-received interview of the year:

Tom Smothers. I’m used to hearing from my friends when I do an interview that they enjoy, but I heard from several complete strangers that really loved the conversation Tom and I had about everything from the censorship of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” to the night John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were thrown out of the Brothers’ show at the Troubadour.

“Harry comes in with John Lennon. Well, he told John Lennon, ‘Tom likes hecklers. It helps him. It gets him through his show.’ And every time there was a silence, they were hollering out things like, ‘God fucks pigs!’ I mean, it was really filthy! Blows were thrown, and it just got wild. The next day, I got flowers and all kinds of apologies from Lennon and from Harry Nilsson.”

* Most politically-incorrect interview of the year:

Tony Clifton, the former alter ego of Andy Kaufman that’s now being performed by Bob Zmuda. To say that Clifton works a little blue is the understatement of the century, but it’s more than just dirty jokes; his whole act is one where he unabashedly says things that he knows will piss people off…and if you don’t know it’s an act, then it’s really gonna piss you off.

“Some people say that, with the repertoire I’ve got and with the rapport between the band and me, a few people have quoted it as being like Buddy Rich. I call ‘em like I see ‘em, just like Buddy. But Buddy was coked up most of the time, and I don’t do that. I prefer the Jack Daniel’s. I’m fucked up most of the time during the show. I have fun with the band. I call ‘em niggers. And I got a few Japs in there, I call ‘em Nips. I got everything mixed up in that band, like I say. I call ‘em the way I see ‘em. Listen, lemme tell ya this: you know why I get away with it? ‘Cause I got black people in my family. Yeah. And I’ve got the rope to prove it. Look, the blackies are good. They’re good for the sports and for the music. See, the Jews are good at making the money…or at taking the money from you.”

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Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Interviews, Movies, TV, Year in Review

Bullz-Eye’s Best and Worst Movies of 2008: Senior Editor David Medsker’s picks

December 30, 2008 /

With mere weeks to go, I had no idea what my list for favorite movies of 2008 was going to look like. More accurately, my list contained several movies that my inner critic told me had no business whatsoever in a year-end top ten list. There were a lot of movies that I liked (as you’ll soon discover), but not a whole lot that I loved. Starting about December 1, though, that changed dramatically. Whew.

Oh, and if you just read fellow BE critic Jason Zingale’s list before checking out mine, your eyes do not deceive you. Unlike, say, EW’s Owen Glieberman and Lisa Schwartzman, who seem to go out of their way to run lists as dissimilar as possible, JZ and I are pretty much on the exact same page this year. A meeting of the minds, or a lack of options? A little of both, I suppose.

Best movies of 2008

1. The Dark Knight
I’m not sure how Christopher Nolan is going to top this. This is so much bigger, smarter, darker and bleaker than any other superhero movie ever made that it’s insulting to lump it into the superhero category.

2. WALL·E
Repeated viewings of this since its release on DVD have elevated it towards not just the top of my list of 2008, but on the list of Pixar’s finest work. The dancing-in-space sequence is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
As a longtime David Fincher fan (his video for Madonna’s “Oh Father” still gives me chills), I’ll be the first to admit that his reputation has loomed larger than the quality of his work. He puts his money where his mouth is here. The last ten minutes are devastating.

4. Frost/Nixon
The only man who can give Samuel L. Jackson a run for his money at saying the word “motherfucker”: Richard Milhous Nixon.

5. Iron Man
Let that be a lesson to you: always take the Humdrum-vee over the Fun-vee.

6. RocknRolla
My pet theory: the name of Gerard Butler’s character One Two is a reference to the Specials’ song “Little Bitch.” Can anyone confirm this?

7. Slumdog Millionaire
Do you think that guy that won all those “Jeopardy” episodes was tortured like this movie’s hero was?

8. Let the Right One In
If you see one vampire movie this year…it ain’t “Twilight.” This Swedish import combines the lure of the undead with the hell that is junior high school. The ending to this movie is sadder than any I’ve seen all year, even the one with the dead dog.

9. Revolutionary Road
Only Leo and Kate could make a movie about two miserable suburbanites so watchable.

10. Tropic Thunder
“Now let’s make a movie!” *Clank* “Oh.” *BOOM* Nothing all year made me laugh harder.

Honorable mentions:
The Wrestler
Choke
The Wackness
Burn after Reading

I Was a Middle-Aged Teenager, Part Deux

I’m 40 years old, but some of my favorite movies – or scenes – came from movies that were aimed squarely at my inner 20-year-old.

Step Brothers
If we were to update our Movie Tunes piece, the “Sweet Child o’ Mine” scene would easily be in our Top 20.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
It had what most Apatow-related movies sorely lack: balance. And hot damn, how awesome is Mila Kunis?

Sex Drive
Rumspringa! WOOOOOO!

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
If anyone is thinking about seeing if this will work in real life, we beg you, STOP. The world has enough bad amateur porn as it is, and your friend isn’t a tenth as hot as Elizabeth Banks.

Wanted
I’d debate whether Morgan Freeman’s character was telling the truth in the movie’s final bloodbath, but does it really matter? This was big, dumb, silly, and an absolute blast.

Pineapple Express
Between this and “Choke,” I’ll never think of anal beads the same way again.

Role Models
Finally, a Seann William Scott movie that didn’t make me want to drown kittens.

Docs that rock

Man on Wire
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

The Kids Movies Are Alright

Kung Fu Panda
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Horton Hears a Who

Appealing to a man, but made for a woman

What Happens in Vegas…
Definitely, Maybe
Baby Mama
27 Dresses

Worst movies of 2008 (that I saw)

1. The Love Guru
Not even Justin Timberlake could save this from being the unfunniest movie of the year, if not all time. It’s like a bunch of teenagers came up with dick joke punch lines, then worked their way backwards for setups. Painfully bad.

2. Meet Dave
It’s over, Eddie. The next time you have a thought about a family movie comeback vehicle, let it go.

3. Over Her Dead Body
The only Eva worth watching this year is the one in “WALL·E.”

4. Untraceable
Screen Gems makes “Saw Lite,” tries to equate gawker’s block on the highway with willingly contributing to the death of another human being. Uh, sure.

5. Mad Money
Note to self: get job at Federal Reserve. If Diane Keaton can steal from them, so can I.

6. Deception
Hearing Michelle Williams say “fuck and suck” might be the funniest thing I heard in a movie all year.

7. Nim’s Island
Someone once asked Elijah Wood why he did the movie “Flipper.” His answer: to swim with dolphins for six months. Now we know why Abigail Breslin did “Nim’s Island”: to play with sea lions. We forgive you, sweetie. Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler, on the other hand, have some ‘splaining to do.

8. Made of Honor
Made all the more sickening by the fact that this will stand as Sydney Pollack’s final performance. He steals the movie, but the movie he’s stealing isn’t worthy of his presence.

9. Married Life
A black romantic dramedy that’s neither dark, nor funny, nor romantic.

10. The Spirit
“NO EGG ON MY FACE!” Um, I don’t know how to tell you this, Sam, but this movie is one giant piece o’ egg on your face.

Well made, but repulsive in every other regard

Funny Games
Few movies will make you angrier than this self-serving cheat of a film. It’s basically two hours of director Michael Haneke saying, “Fuck you America, you violent, brutish thugs.” America responded by (rightly) ignoring his film. I guess we’re not as brutish as you thought, Michael, and what does it say about you that you tried to profit from our supposed misery? Douchebag.

My co-workers saw them so I didn’t have to

Meet the Spartans
Strange Wilderness
Disaster Movie
88 Minutes
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins

Bonus points to that last movie when cast member Mike Epps gave us quite possibly the worst interview ever.

“Snakes on a Plane” award for Movie Title of the Year

“The Midnight Meat Train.” And surprise, it actually wasn’t that bad.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Documentaries, Horror Movies, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, Reviews, Year in Review

Tom Cruise returns to “Today”

December 15, 2008 /

Did you really expect him to act crazy again? A humbled and controlled Tom Cruise appeared on “Today” this morning for another interview with Matt Lauer.

Actor Tom Cruise is still willing to talk about the controversial religion he practices, but he acknowledged Monday that his 2005 rant about Scientology on TODAY came off as “arrogant,” and said he regretted that.

“I’m here to entertain people,” the actor told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Monday in New York. “That’s who I am and what I want to do.”

Some 3½ years ago, Cruise and Lauer engaged in a pointed and intense debate about psychiatry and antidepressants in the same TODAY studio. At one point, Cruise told Lauer, “You’re glib” — a line that launched a thousand tabloid headlines.

Cruise called his comments on that day a mistake. “I learned a lesson,” he told Lauer. “I think I learned a really good lesson.”

Actors, Celebrities, Interviews, Movie Dramas, Movies, Video

A Chat with Ashley Williams (“Novel Adventures”)

December 10, 2008 /

Even though she spent her youth as a cast member of “As the World Turns,” it never occurred to Ashley Williams that, after going to school and getting her theater degree, she’d be able to come out to Los Angeles and get cast in the first show for which she auditioned. But that’s what happened, and that’s how she burst onto the scene as the female lead in NBC’s “Good Morning, Miami.” It wasn’t necessarily the greatest experience for her, given her lack of a comedic background, but it was certainly a learning experience…and what she basically learned was that, all things being equal, she’d rather not have to deal with the hassle of carrying a series on her shoulders. Since then, she’s been picking and choosing smaller parts at her leisure – you may have seen her on “Monk” or “Psych” or her stint in Season 1 of “How I Met Your Mother” – and, most recently, she’s been having a ball as part of the ensemble of CBS’s original online series, “Novel Adventures,” about a decidedly unique book club. We spoke with Ashley about how much fun it was to film the series, how she found her way into her current method of choosing roles, and whether she’d be willing to be the “Mother” if she was asked.

Stay tuned for…

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Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, New Media, News, Reviews, TV, TV Comedies

A Couple of Questions with…Miss Piggy?!?

December 5, 2008 /

The Muppets are returning to NBC this holiday season, offering up a new special: “A Muppet’s Christmas: Letters to Santa.” In addition to the usual mob of guest stars (pun not intended, even though Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa from “The Sopranos” join such other notables as Uma Thurman, Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Jesse L. Martin, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg), old-school Muppet fans will be pleased to hear that the music for the hour-long program has been written by the one and only Paul Williams, a.k.a. the man who brought you “The Rainbow Connection.”

Remember how excited my wife was about my getting to interview Matthew McConaughey? You should’ve seen my 3-year-old daughter when she found out that NBC was giving Daddy a chance to speak to Miss Piggy about her latest Muppet endeavor. Alas, it was a packed call, so I was only able to ask her a pair of questions, but it was enough to make me the coolest Daddy in the world…for, y’know, the duration of those questions, anyway.

Bullz-Eye: Hello Miss Piggy. It’s a pleasure.

Miss Piggy: Yes, it is.

BE: I couldn’t help but notice that you’re in the beginning of the special and you’re at the end of the special, but you’re not so much in the middle. And there were some rumors about possible…well, I don’t want to say diva actions, but, I mean, was it just a mere scheduling conflict?

MP: Well, I am very busy. I’m, you know, highly in demand. But really, you know, the movie kind of takes a turn and it becomes more of an action film. And, you know, I just…I don’t do my own stunts. And, you know, I really thought it best if I just stayed put while everybody else went off to deliver these letters to the North Pole. And, plus, it’s really cold at the North Pole, and I’m not really into cold. I don’t know about you, but I like to be warm. That’s why I didn’t go out to do this interview with you. That’s why I’m doing it from home. Because it’s just too darn cold outside. But it was my choice, really. It was my choice. I talked to the writers. I said, you know, keep me where it’s warm and I’ll be happy. And I can just come back…I just can come in at the end of the movie, save the day and take all the credit…and, you know, leave everybody with the last impression. That’s the secret. Nobody remembers the middle anyhow. Now, really, movies have famous opening shots, right?

BE: Right.

MP: Right? Like “Touch of Evil” or “The Player,” or…I don’t know if you’re a film buff?

BE: I am, yes.

MP: Yes. You know, but…and they have famous end shots, too. But can you think of a famous middle? No.

BE: No?

MP: So what’s the point?

BE: Fair enough.

MP: Why be in the middle? Okay.

BE: And you mentioned the writers. Have you by any chance…or the rest of the Muppets…had any meetings with Jason Segel yet? I understand he’s in talks to write a new Muppet movie.

MP: That’s what he’s telling everybody. Yeah. You know, he hasn’t called me. I haven’t…so I have no idea. I have no idea. Maybe he’s writing a movie, you know. I’m writing a movie too, though. So who knows? You know, maybe the next Muppet movie will be penned by moi?

BE: Fair enough.

MP: It could happen.

BE: Sure. Thank you very much, Miss Piggy.

MP: You’re welcome!

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, TV, TV Comedies

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