Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds On Set Interview THE CHANGE-UP
by Matt Goldberg Posted: May 31st, 2011
This year, we’re getting two Jason Bateman movies and two Ryan Reynolds movies, and that is reason to celebrate. Both actors have superb comic timing, and can carry a movie on their own. The thought of them playing off each other is exciting, but their chemistry in The Change-Up becomes even more of a thrill when you realize that they’ll be playing against type. While the beginning of the movie might have shades of Michael Bluth and Van Wilder sharing the screen (as if anyone would hate that), their characters Dave and Mitch switch bodies after peeing in a fountain and suddenly Bateman gets to go broad and Reynolds does more of a sardonic tone. This may throw some audiences for a loop but fans of Reynolds and Bateman already know that both actors can excel at these kind of roles and the real hook is watching them share the screen.
On my visit to the set of The Change-Up, I spoke with the actors about filming in Atlanta, how they’re playing their roles, alternate takes, the hilarity of child endangerment, and much more. Read this interview and you’ll instantly get a sense of how well Bateman and Reynolds play off each other. The Change-Up opens August 5th. http://collider.com/jason-bateman-ryan-reynolds-interview-the-change-up/93542/
Collider Goes to the Set of THE CHANGE-UP
by Matt Goldberg Posted: May 31st, 2011
Several years ago, Georgia passed legislation promoting generous tax incentives to studios and producers, and as a result the filmmaking industry in the state has been booming. Films shot here include Zombieland, The Crazies, Fast Five, Hall Pass, and the upcoming R-rated comedy The Change-Up. This past January, I traveled to Powder Springs, GA with some fellow movie bloggers to visit the set of the film. While director David Dobkin made a slight detour in 2007 with the family film Fred Claus, what I saw on the set convinced me that The Change-Up is going to be the worthy successor to Dobkin’s smash 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers. The movie is an R-rated take on the classic body-switching premise that was best used in Freaky Friday. The interplay between stars Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds looked terrific, we saw some great jokes that had us struggling to suppress laughter so we could be quiet on the set, and as someone who has spent most of his life in Atlanta, I was pleased to learn that my hometown will actually be in the film as Atlanta.
Hit the jump for to read about my visit to the set of the film (and don’t worry—I’m not going to spoil any of the jokes). The Change-Up opens August 5th. http://collider.com/the-change-up-set-visit/93028/
Men in Black III Long Island Set Photos
May 31, 2011 by Brian Gallagher
http://www.movieweb.com/news/men-in-black-iii-long-island-set-photosHugo Weaving To Play Six Different Characters In The Wachowskis' Cloud Atlas
published: 2011-05-31 13:34:09 Author: Sean O'ConnellHugo Weaving’s IMDB page boasts such mouthwateringly villainous roles as Agent Smith, Megatron and the Red Skull. But according to the actor, he’s about to add six new characters to his resume, though they’re all part of one film.
The movie, in question, is Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of David Mitchell’s sci-fi novel that tells six-separate-yet-somehow-interlocked stories that stretch through opposing times and spaces. Weaving joins Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent for a production that’s being co-directed by his Matrix collaborators Lana and Andy Wachowski, as well as the visually creative Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run).
"That's a project that's really exciting because all the actors will be playing more than one role," Weaving told the Herald Sun while promoting the film Oranges and Sunshine in Australia. "I actually have six characters in the same film and they are all different people in six different stories."
Seeing as how Atlas tells a science-fiction story, accepting such a narrative schism shouldn’t require a leap of faith. And the fact that the Atlas team is going with gifted character actors like Weaving, Hanks, Sarandon and Broadbent gives me hope that all six stories will hold out interest. The film currently has a May 4, 2012 release date, so we’ll bring you more information on this intriguing film as it develops. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Hugo-Weaving-To-Play-Six-Different-Characters-In-The-Wachowskis-Cloud-Atlas-24982.html
Set Visit Report: Ryan Reynolds And Jason Bateman Get Raunchy In The Change-Up
published: 2011-05-31 10:41:31 Author: Katey RichIf you find yourself seeing The Change-Up this summer and envying the house occupied by Jason Bateman and Leslie Mann's characters- the big kitchen counters, the lushly carpeted bedroom, the giant cushy couch-- keep in mind that the neighborhood isn't so great. Not only is there a burly grip or sound guy standing just outside pretty much every wall, but there's a dusty prop storage area right next door, and even though we're in Georgia, it's still January, and it's still freezing in there.
Because the house, of course, is just one of the many enormous sets that Universal has built at an old warehouse just west of Atlanta, where The Change-Up had been shooting for nearly three months when I visited the set in early January. The film is actually set in Atlanta, unlike a lot of productions that shoot there, and the production had already visited local landmarks like Turner Field and Piedmont Park-- a good time for them to wrap outdoor shooting, since a giant ice storm set in on the city the day we left the set. And even though this January day would be one of the last the crew spent in Atlanta, stars Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds and Leslie Mann were at work on a scene that comes early in the film, in which Reynolds's slacker friend character visits their lovely home and provides some, well, slightly inappropriate advice to their five-year-old daughter.
Just what that advice was varied from take to take. We watched director David Dobkin take Reynolds through dozens of different versions of the short scene, in which the little girl asks "Uncle Mitch" to attend her dance recital and he responds with everything from "Only if it's exotic dance" to "Absolutely not. Now go upstairs and do something with your hair." The young actress was a champ, hitting her cue each time, allowing Reynolds to toss her ludicrously (but safely) high in the air, and even faceplanting perfectly on cue every time he pushed her up the stairs at the end of the scene. Mitch, as you can probably tell, isn't really the most responsible uncle, and like a lot of things in movies by Wedding Crashers director Dobkin, it's a scene that wouldn't be funny in real life but hopefully will wind up hilarious onscreen.
"If you’re doing anything that you hope is worth doing, hopefully you’re making somebody uncomfortable, right?" Dobkin said later when the six of us visitors sat down with him at the big kitchen table on set. And the unexpected discomfort in The Change-Up actually starts with the premise, which takes the classic PG-rated notion of the body-switching comedy-- think Freaky Friday-- and transplants it to the foul-mouthed world of Dobkin and screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who also wrote a little R-rated comedy called The Hangover. Where characters in other body-switching comedies get switched by a magical wizard or toy, Dave (Bateman) and Mitch (Reynolds) switch after a night of drinking that ends with them peeing in a magic fountain. And The Change-Up is like other comedies in the genre, seeing its characters caught in wacky situations, it's probably got more sex and poop jokes than all the others combined. All of it was on display in the scene we saw them shoot, despite the fact that two twin infants were on hand in their high chairs as Mitch joins Dave and his wife in the kitchen while the boys prepare for their night out. Mitch and Dave are longtime friends who have grown apart in recent years, as Dave spends time with his wife and three young kids while Mitch continues living a raucous bachelor lifestyle. In this scene we see Mitch arrive at the house, flirt shamelessly with Dave's wife (Leslie Mann) right in front of him, and usher Dave off to a night at a Braves baseball game-- a night that ends with them getting drunk, admitting they're each jealous of the other's life, and peeing in that magic fountain. The next morning they wake up in each others' bodies, and all kinds of hell breaks loose from there. In fact, why don't you check out the red-band trailer below as a reminder of just what's in store.
The director, writers and the cast were all wary of letting loose any jokes or gags beyond what you're seeing in the trailer, and understandably so-- comedies, especially raunchy comedies like The Change-Up, always rely on taking you by surprise. So when we talked to Dobkin, Lucas, and then Bateman and Reynolds together in breaks between scenes, we mostly focused on the bigger picture-- what it's like to make an R-rated comedy in this post-Hangover era, how to keep pushing the envelope without making it totally absurd, how to adapt the squeaky-clean PG kind of body-switching story into this raunchy comedy style, and of course, the eternal hilarity of hitting kids.
Tomorrow we'll have our conversation on the set with Bateman and Reynolds, including details about their years-long friendship that led them to team up in the film and what we learned about their characters by snooping around the sets that act as their bedrooms. Today, though, check out what Dobkin and Lucas had to say about deciding to team up on the film, where they see the future of R-rated comedy, and as Lucas puts it, why "if you learn anything in this movie, we’ve failed." The Change-Up hits theaters on August 5.
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read more; http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Set-Visit-Report-Ryan-Reynolds-And-Jason-Bateman-Get-Raunchy-In-The-Change-Up-24978.html
Angelina Jolie Says She Doesn't Want To Portray Cleopatra As A Sex Symbol
published: 2011-05-31 00:39:29 Author: Eric EisenbergWhile I can't see myself ever advocating a remake of Cleopatra, if there's a modern actress better suited for the part than Angelina Jolie I will eat my shoe. A true beauty in every sense of the word, it makes sense that the project has become a passion for the actress since being attached last year. Now Jolie has started openly talking about what direction she'd like to see the project go in, and what's strange is that her ideas would seemingly make her an unwise choice for the part.
Sitting down with The Telegraph, Jolie began to discuss researched elements about the real Cleopatra that she wants to be part of the film, calling the Egyptian queen "very misunderstood." For starters, the actress wants to cut out the elements dealing with her as a glamorous beauty and instead wants to focus on the stronger parts of her personality, mentioning that she was, "a very strong mother, she spoke five languages and she was a leader." Unable to get Elizabeth Taylor's blessing for the film before she died, Jolie even admits that her performance won't be "as lovely as Elizabeth’s" and won't explore the character as a sex symbol. Completely upending everything we think we know about the Cleopatra, Jolie then put out this interesting tidbit:
"Even this idea of her having many lovers – it was possible that it was only two. She is very interesting, but she wasn’t a great beauty."So here's my question: if Cleopatra wasn't actually a great beauty, why exactly should the part belong to Jolie? Shouldn't it go to somebody that hasn't repeatedly been named as one of the sexiest women in the world by multiple magazines and news outlets? I don't think I'd be alone in laughing if Jolie's script suggestions ended up with her losing the job. That would be pure, unadulterated irony. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Angelina-Jolie-Says-She-Doesn-t-Want-To-Portray-Cleopatra-As-A-Sex-Symbol-24974.html
