Will Harris was recently invited to New York City to take part in the press junket for Focus Features’ new thriller, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” and along with partaking in some roundtables with the cast and crew, he also got a chance to sit down for a one-on-one interview with star Gary Oldman. Though the veteran actor had plenty to discuss regarding his role as iconic spy George Smiley, he also had something interesting comments about past performances as well, like how he based the character of Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg from “The Fifth Element” on Bugs Bunny and Ross Perot, and this entertaining story about creating the look of Drexl Spivey for “True Romance.”

You know what? There’s a story behind that. I was putting together that character, and I had no rehearsal and…I was on another movie, so I actually finished on a Sunday evening, drove home, and started Drexl the next day. And I had to kind of put him together, I had to work on him while I was doing something else. Because there just wasn’t the time to meet with Tony (Scott). I wrote him a letter, sent him a note, saying, “I would like dreadlocks. What do you think?” And he said, “Yeah, great.” So I knew Stuart (Artingstall), who had been the wigmaker on “Dracula,” so he made me that wig in about 48 hours. And I went to a dentist – I was working here in New York – who made the gold teeth, and I got the eye from the prop department at the…well, it was one of the eyes I wore for “Dracula”! And I put ‘em all together and walked on the set and hoped Tony liked it.

Be sure to read the full interview on Bullz-Eye, as well as Will’s other “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” interviews with co-star Colin Firth and director Tomas Alfredson and writer Peter Straughan. And when you’re done, don’t forget to check out our celebrity spy feature, “They Were Spies.”

* It’s not quite on the level of finding a mysterious monolith on the moon but it comes close. AICN has it that EFX pioneer genius Douglas Trumbull has said that 17 minutes of lost outtakes from Stanley Kubrick‘s “2001: A Space Odyssey” have been found in a salt mine in Kansas. It’s important to remember this story, such as it is, originates from a message board and perhaps isn’t the best sourced item to ever hit the ‘nets. But what better place to store outtakes than a salt mine in Kansas? A pepper mill in Encino?

* Since the story’s been out since the beginning of the week, by now you’ve no doubt heard the news that Jon Favreau has walked away from “Iron Man 3” in what we’re being assured was an entirely amicable split motivated primarily by his desire to make the Disneyland themed “Magic Kingdom.” As a lifelong Southern Californian and a current resident in good standing of the city of Anaheim, I love the Happiest Place on Earth as much as the next guy. However, as the premise for a movie, I’m hugely skeptical and wondering just what it is that is getting people of the caliber of Favreau and Guillermo del Toro on board with this these theme-parked based projects. (I’m much less skeptical of the Fincher “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” because, well, it’s based on a beloved book of my childhood as well as a pretty cool Disney flick, not a ride.)

* More old news too interesting to pass over, especially in light of what appears to be an impending box office success for “The Fighter.” Eminem/Marshall Mathers may be returning to films in the company of “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter with the boxing tale, “Southpaw.” I have to admit to having lost track of the rapper’s recordings along with most contemporary music, but I’ve always thought the guy was, if nothing else, an incredibly talented writer even if he occasionally let his creative id get the better of him. Should be interesting.

* Film Comment has made if official, Olivier Assayas’ massive “Carlos” is the cinephile flick of the year. #2 on the list was “The Social Network.”

* The Chicago Film Critics have issued their awards nominations. Not much we haven’t seen here before though a nice win for that singular twin, Arnie Hammer.

* David Schwimmer is the latest filmmaker to take on the MPAA’s rating system. Good lord, there needs to be some kind of reform of this thing. On that point the Ebert speaks and points out the absurdity of the current rules on language, in particular:

Mr. Valenti was correct that the MPAA should not evaluate a film as a critic might. In theory, the ratings board should have no opinion on whether “Blue Valentine” is good or not. It should stick to bean counting. But counting beans has led to another controversy that the Weinsteins are currently embroiled in. Their film “The King’s Speech,” the fascinating personal and historical story of George VI’s work with a therapist to overcome a stutter, was rated R because of one scene involving use of the f-word. To be sure, it was used a lot, but probably not more often than the average teenager hears it in a day. Once you’ve heard one f-word, you’ve heard them all.

* Speaking of Roger Ebert, I’m delighted to report that he’s returning the concept of intelligent movie reviews to a TV set near you starting this January.

* Another story I’m a bit late to, but still want to mention: I’ve been following the progress of the Joel & Ethan Coen screenplay for a remake of the fun sixties caper flick, “Gambit,” for some time. The latest is that the current movie king of England, Colin Firth, is in talks to star as the larcenous lead. Meanwhile, the Independent reminds me that Firth is more surely going to be featured in the new film verson of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by my favorite spy author, John Le Carre. I think I need to re-read that one.

* As a native born Angeleno and a reader of crime fiction from time to time, I am ashamed to admit I’ve never read any of Michael Connelly’s books with or without his most famous gumshoe, Harry Bosch. Considering how long his character’s been around I have no excuse. And, if you’re wondering why he hasn’t shown up in the movies or the television box yet, Deadline — at the end of a busy week — has that covered as well.

And now, you’re moment of gumshoe.

* Not silly at all and quite possibly tragic. It appears there was a very serious stunt-related accident on the set of “Transformers 3,” or perhaps it was a not so stunt-related “freak accident,” says Nikki Finke.

* L’affaire Depardieu et Binoche est tres bizarre. (If my French is incorrect and it almost certainly is, please send complaints to the UCLA languages department.)

* The concept art from the canned Pixar film, “Newt,” is beautiful. Maybe someday we’ll get to see the abandoned footage. Their discards are probably at least twice as good as most finished films.

* I have a feeling we’re going to hear a lot about “The Black Swan” through Oscar season. It apparently wowed them in Venice though the thoughtful and quirky cinephile critic emeritus J. Hoberman of Village Voice finds it “borderline risible.” To me, remaking “The Red Shoes” with a dash of Dario Argento and even DePalma (not my favorite) sure sounds pretty cool.

* Christopher Rosen may be a doubter, but I say keep hope alive, Kristen Bell!

* Director Tomas Alfredson, who did such a great job on “Let the Right One In,” is shifting genres from very young vampires to depressive real-world style spooks like George Smiley (Gary Oldman this time ’round) in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Michael Fassbender, however, left to be a superhero so now Tom Hardy of “Inception” is stepping in. That should work okay, too. (I finally saw “Inception,” by the way, and…I’m too tired to talk about it now, which is sort of how I felt as I was watching it, actually.)

* Is “Hunger Games” really “The Running Man” with teens or more like “Battle Royale” made safe for an American audience? Sam Mendes, Gary Ross and David Slade duke it out to see who’ll realize whatever it is. Interesting to see the name of the talented writer Billy Ray involved here.

* Crocodile Dundee may now roam free in the Outback — I mean the branch of the steakhouse chain in Burbank.