ScreenCrave.com » Anna Kendrick

Paranorman has a Spooky Trailer

Damon Houx — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:20:19 +0000

From fairy tales on, the supernatural and scary elements of children’s entertainment has long been celebrated and decried. It all depends on the kids, but for every scaredy cat, there’s the child who wants to watch Tim Burton‘s Nightmare Before Christmas on a loop. ParaNorman is the latest entry in the genre of macabre children’s tales, and like Nightmare and Coraline before it, it’s stop motion animated. And now there’s a trailer, check it out…

Like Coraline, this comes from Laika studios, though without the direction of Henry Selick. Coraline was a hit for them, and it looks like they’re going to make a go at a steady stream of stop motion animation. ParaNorman is obviously very important to them, as it’s a make or break film that doesn’t have someone like Selick behind the wheel. They are building a brand, and they need to have a couple of wins under their belt. Here’s the trailer:

I like what I’m seeing, and you can hear the voices of Anna Kendrick, John Goodman and star Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film also features Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck and Leslie Mann, and is scheduled to open August 17. That’s a smart date for them. If it works, and competition is light, they may be able to play into the Halloween season. Frankenweenie is scheduled to open October 5, and it will be interesting to see who wins in the battle of ghoulish stop motion children’s entertainment.

ParaNorman Vs. Frankenweenie – Who do you think will win?

50/50: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:00:09 +0000

Here’s the problem with this 50/50, the marketing sets it up for failure. They’re so busy trying to get people into the theaters by making them think that it’s a comedy, that they’re setting up the wrong expectations and therefore forcing the film to be unable to achieve its goal — telling a true to life story. There are some laughs, some love, some beautiful moments, some sadness, fear, all the things that go into real human life, which is what makes it so great. So avoid the ads and go into this film knowing you’re getting a solid drama with a few chuckles…

The Player:

Director: Jonathan Levine
Writer: Will Reiser
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard

The Plot:

A 27-year-old guy gets diagnosed with cancer and turns to his friends and family who all provide him with a variety of different kinds of support.

The Good:

Levitt: He’s on a roll and with this film he keeps on rolling. He’s at his best in film’s of this nature, as opposed to Inception, where yes he looked good and did well, in this film he’s open, vulnerable, he’s so raw that you never know what he’ll do next and you care about him throughout everything he does. You not only follow his journey with eyes wide open, but care about him the entire way.
The Women: Anna Kendrick is absolutely adorable, the chemistry between her and Levitt is honest and real, overall she brought some much needed light to this film and was a joy to watch. Bryce Dallas Howard, I hated, which is a testament to her acting and how well she played the character. She played the kind of woman that we all hate and did it so damn well. It was a risk and it paid off. Having Anjelica Huston stop by is never a bad thing either. Nicely done ladies!
Skeletor: These are one of those small, but important moments of humor and it’s fantastic.
Relationships: From parents to son, boyfriend to horrible girlfriend, guy to guy, to patient to therapist, there’s a number of interesting relationships in this film that though only on screen for a limited time, really show you the heart of what loving someone, in a variety of different ways means, and how pretending to do that, never works.

So So:

Rogen: There were times where he played up the slap-stick side of comedy a bit too much. He needs to move away from the heavy, asshole comedian, because when he settles, he’s laying up the comedy a little bit too much!

The Bad:

Not Much: There was very little to complain about coming out of this film. Though I didn’t love it, it had a number of great qualities and is an easy film to appreciate.

Overall:

It’s a touching, poignant film that deals with a difficult topic in a very palatable way. It’s the not the feel-good film of the year, the comedy of the year, or the drama, but there’s something about it that’s honest, that you can relate to, that makes it one of the most human films of the year.

Rating: 7/10

50/50 hits theaters September 30th.

Photo Gallery:

What did you think of the film?

Anna Kendrick Stars As A Shape Shifter in Music Video

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:57:23 +0000

It doesn’t matter how under the radar you are, if you have a celebrity by your side, you’re bound to make some headlines. LCD Soundsystem decided not to appear in their latest music video and instead allowed for a story to develop and a celeb to star. Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick played a “shape shifter” in LCD Soundsystem’s “Pow Pow.”

Being a music video girl is a first for Kendrick…

“It sort of came out of nowhere,” she said, “David [Ayer] came up with this idea and asked me to do it. I’ve never done anything like this at all, so I was really excited about it. It’s been really fun.”

In “Pow Pow” Kendrick hits places like the high-rollers club Drai’s at the W Hotel in Hollywood, all to collect the souls of wicked men. It’s sort of ironic how much power this tiny girl has over huge, tough men.

David Ayer, the music video’s director, called Kendrick a “real deal” in regards to her talent. She might be petite, but she sure is a rock star. “Pow Pow” debuted on MTV last Thursday. Watch the video below…

Does Anna Kendrick makes a good music video girl?

1-1 Interview: Anna Kendrick for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Mali Elfman — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:00:01 +0000

This week, Edgar Wright‘s extraordinary comic-book adaptation, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World will finally be in theaters. The film stars Michael Cera (check out our interview with him as well!) and has an extraordinary supporting cast which includes the Academy Award nominated actress, who broke out last year and keeps coming back with more, Anna Kendrick. I had the chance to speak with Anna over the phone about working with Wright on making this film.

Find out what it was like working with Wright, why Keiran Culkin is an asshole “in the best way” and more below…

Where you able to make it to any of the Comic-Con screenings?

Anna Kendrick: Yeah. I’d seen [Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World] before. I’d seen it a couple of times, but obviously not with that audience, like none of us could be happier with how it was received.

Edgar Wright picked a style and he picked what he was going to do and went 100% with it. What was that like when you got to see it onscreen and also being on set. Were you aware of everything?

AK: More or less. Some effects kind of went in and out to try to get the perfect balance because you don’t want to do it in every shot, but you definitely want to make your mark and make it so like — graphics are something that exists in this universe and — from the get go show that, that’s something that is going to be happening in the movie, so get use to it. It was definitely a specific shooting style, so you had to be aware of what was going to happen in the shot because you had to work the limits of what was going to be onscreen with you.

You kind of got to be the much needed normalcy in life and the one that kind of says the realistic things and dealing with life, love, relationships and all that type of stuff. How do you feel about your character and the importance of it within this crazy universe?

AK: I been a disapproving younger sister my entire life so I think it’s incredibly important aspect for everybody. It’s nice to be the voice of reason for Scott and try to be his moral compass. I’m like the little voice in the back of his head saying, “You know that you shouldn’t be doing this, but I know that you’re going to do it anyway.” You can’t learn somebody else’s lessons for them so Scott just has to go through it anyway.

Can you talk about working with Edgar Wright on set?

AK: It’s great because nobody is more excited to see the movie than he is. He’s been behind the monitor, very excited and very supportive. It’s definitely not like he’s putting an unreasonable amount of pressure on anybody, it’s just like he’s enthusiastic about what the finish product is going to be. He’s enthusiastic for you.

What about working with some of your other cast?

AK: We did a lot of separate shooting but then there would be times when we be in like the background of a scene and we would be just hanging out, in the background, not doing anything. You form relationships with people. Kieran Culkin and, I would say this to his face too, but Kieran’s a total asshole, but in the best way.

What should audiences be looking for?

AK: I think that this is one of the most original films out there. I think that every film in the next year is going to completely rip it off. If you don’t see it, you’re going to be left out of the conversation. It’s one of those movies where you need to see it so you can say, “I was there when that movie came out. I saw it the opening weekend and it blew me away, and the audience freaked out.” I’m excited for people to see it, like my friends who haven’t seen it, I tell them you are in for a treat. It’s this fun experience — I’m like jealous of people who haven’t seen it yet because I’m excited for them.

Is that part of the reason why you took the role in the first place?

AK: Definitely. The script. The script itself was actually a little psychotic. When you read the script, on paper, it looks like, it’s so dense and it’s so tight that it’s like reading “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” where you feel that you’re inside the mind of an insane person. I was a little bit confused about how it was all going to come together but I just had too.

It seems like it would be a hard script to read?

AK: You can’t read as fast as some of these visual gags happen, so you’re not really sure how it’s going to work. That was one of those leaps of faith where you just have to think like I know this is going to be amazing because I know how talented these people are.

What’s the difference between working with someone like Edgar to some of the director’s you’ve worked with in the past?

AK: Working with Edgar was definitely unlike any experience I’ve had before but I think that’s because of the specificity of it. That shooting style is not what your traditional wide/medium/close shooting style. It’s like, this is the shot where going to use for this line, this is that shot were going to use for this line, and there’s no cutting back and forth because it’s meant to look like a new panel of a comic-book every time they change the frame. It’s not like you’re editing between three shivas. That made it kind of nerve racking because as an actor, you don’t have as much room for error. It’s nice to be challenged that way.

Which was you favorite scene to watch onscreen?

AK: My favorite scene, the first piece of footage of the finished film that I ever saw while I was shooting it (they shot this scene before) and Edgar showed me this little scene was when when Michael finds out that Ramona went through a “phase” and he says this line, “What is she talking about?” Which isn’t a funny line in it and of itself, but the way he says it is so funny to me. I laughed so hard the first time I saw it. It’s still my favorite moment in the film. It’s not even a joke, but it’s still the funniest for me. It’s like Michael Cera is making a joke about making a joke. That’s when you just think like Michael you’re a genius. There’s a reason why you’re in the position that you’re in.

Could you speak a little bit about how important it is for the relationships, in this film to be believable again?

AK: There’s a scene — I just kind of make fun of him and give him a hard time through the movie, but there’s a scene where things have gotten really bad for Scott and like I wanted it to come across that I cared about him, his family. But at the same time not have it be a mushy scene. The way I interact with my bother, I think the closest we’ve ever come to having a big mushy corny moment is slapping each other on the back. That’s the way that I interact with my brother and so I wanted to keep that all grounded in the world were their young. The most caring that Stacey is toward Scott is when she offers a piece of tried and true advice, you know. There’s somebody out there for you and that’s as good as it gets for her. But I think, in their relationship, that means the world. In those moments it’s important to show as much as you can, quickly. Like in real life, just immediately snap back into it by giving each other a hard time.

Check out Scott Pilgrim in theaters this Friday, August 13th!

Photo Gallery:

Trailer…

Comic-Con 2010 Live Blog: Scott Pilgrim vs the World Panel

Laura Aguirre — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:11:51 +0000

We’ve got a full house here at Universal’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World panel at Comic-Con 2010. Director Edgar Wright and graphic author Bryan Lee O’Malley, are joined by cast members Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Kieran Culkin, Satya Bhabha, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, Mae Whitman, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza to answer questions about the upcoming action-comedy that looks like it’s going to be as enjoyable as Kick-Ass! Here we go…

6:10 pm: Scott Pilgrim is about to start. They just showed the trailer and some behind the scenes footage.

6:11 pm: Edgar Wright just walked out. It looks like he got a haircut. Nothing big, just a nice trim. He said they have 13 guests coming out!

6:12 pm: Wright is moderating the panel and he’s asking himself a question. Bryan Lee O’Malley just walked out onto the stage.

6:15 pm: Wright just made a major announcement (sarcasm) “On August 13th Scott Pilgrim will be released in 2D. At regular ticket prices. How do you people feel about watching a film without sunglasses on!?”

6:16 pm: Here comes Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza and Kieran Culkin. Nerdgasm!!

6:18 pm: Wright’s asking them how much they disapprove of Pilgrim‘s actions in the film on a scale of 1 to 10, they said 5, 7, and 10 respectively.

6:19 pm: Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, and Mae Whitman have taken the stage. Why does Jason look like he’s about to solve a mystery? He has a huge mustache here! Old school Sherlock Holmes anyone?

6:21 pm: Holy crap!! Wright just brought out Simon Pegg and Nick Frost! The crowd is going insane. They literally walked on, waved, and walked off. Booo!!!

6: 23 pm: It’s time for Michael Cera. He just walked out on stage dressed like Captain America! lol

6:27 pm: Brandon Routh was just asked which did he like better, playing Superman or a villain. He said the Man of Steel, then the fan tried to follow up with another question about him guest starring on “Smallville” and Wright playfully interrupted her and said, “No second questions!” She slowly backed away from the mic. She knows what’s good for her.

6:31 pm: It’s really hard to take Cera seriously on stage with this costume on.

6:32 pm:Cera says he wants the Arrested Development movie to get made. He said, “I think it’s going to.”

6:32 pm: It’s official Jason Schwartzman looks like Ringo Starr! Walk Hard got it right!

6:39 pm: Kieran’s talking about how it felt to do a man-on-man kissing scene. He said Wright wanted to break the ice for him so he asked him to come over one day and he laid a huge kiss on him out of nowhere. Wright chimed in and said he doesn’t mind taking one for the team.

6:42 pm: Nope, I changed my mind. Jason looks like a young Dustin Hoffman.

6:43 pm: Jason and Michael keep saying their favorite scene to shoot in the movie was a steamy shower sequence that took 2 weeks to film. Apparently we have to go out and watch the movie to find out if it made the final cut.

6:45 pm: Michael Cera was just asked by a fan how he maintained his trademark figure after all the training he did for the movie. He said, “Is that an insult or a compliment?”

6:46 pm: Wright just announced that they’re going to screen the movie for free on Friday and Saturday at 6:30 pm. But there all about to march out of the hall to go to an exclusive 45 minute screening of the movie right now!

6:50 pm: They’re playing a music clip from the movie and the director and the cast just walked off the stage. They were like thieves in the night. Damn, Edgar Wright really knows how to make an exit.

Off on the pilgrimage they go!

Like what you read? For more fun, check out our top stories from Comic-Con…

Stewart, Mulligan, Cover Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue

Krystal Clark — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:47:10 +0000

Vanity Fair has released the cover of their annual Hollywood issue and it features several actresses who are described as the “fresh faces” of the new decade. Too bad the majority of them have been around for years, but main stream media is just now catching on to them. Kristen Stewart and Evan Rachel Wood lead the pack of nine that headline the issue. Here’s the full photo…

There are several problems with the cover choices for this issue with the first one being the tagline. It states that these are the new faces of the decade, but will all of these ladies be around ten years from now with thriving careers? I remember a few years back when Lindsay Lohan was on the cover of the Young Hollywood issue and we all see how she turned out. Also, where are the actresses of color? Not just African American, but Latino, Asian, give me Native American or something. They usually stick someone in there to make a difference, but this time they didn’t even try.

And last but not least, how fresh faced are Evan Rachel Wood and Kristen Stewart supposed to be? Granted they’re young, but those girls have been around for a while, and the same could be said for Abbie Cornish and Rebecca Hall. They haven’t been front and center of any blockbusters but they’re not new to the game. I could have sworn that Amanda Seyfried and Stewart were already featured on one of these “special Hollywood issues” last year, yet they’re coming back for more?

This year’s layout is boring and unoriginal. Dig deeper Vanity Fair.

(L-R) Abbie Cornish (Bright Star, Guardians of Ga’Hoole), Kristen Stewart (Twilight, The Runaways), Carey Mulligan (An Education, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), Amanda Seyfried (Jennifer’s Body, Dear John), Rebecca Hall (Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, The Town), Mia Wasikowska (Defiance, Alice in Wonderland), Emma Stone (Zombieland, Easy A), Anna Kendrick (Twilight, Up in the Air), Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler, The Conspirator).

What do you think of Vanity Fair’s choices for their latest Hollywood issue?

Anna Kendrick Joins James McAvoy in Cancer Comedy

Krystal Clark — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:19:42 +0000

A while back we told you about Seth Rogen‘s upcoming comedy, I’m with Cancer. It’s a semi-biographical film about a friend of his who battled the disease at a very young age. Scottish actor James McAvoy was cast in the lead role as the cancer-stricken twenty something, with Nicole Holofcener on board to direct. Unfortunately, a few things have changed since the last time we reported on the film including the title, director, and the cast.

At the moment I’m With Cancer has been reduced to being untitled and is now referred to as the “cancer comedy.” Director Holofcener also decided to leave the project over location differences, which put a huge damper on the production. According to THR, The Wackness director Jonathan Levine will take over helming duties instead and actress Anna Kendrick has joined the cast. Kendrick will once again take on a role where her character bites off more than she can chew.

McAvoy stars as a 25-year-old who learns he has cancer, a character based on the real experiences of screenwriter Will Reiser who was diagnosed with cancer in his mid-20s and successfully battled the disease over several years.

In the film, Kendrick will star as a young psychologist assigned to handle the young man’s case despite her lack of real life experience. Wow, a psychiatrist at 23? Amazing. He will be an interesting match up for her as an actress, because McAvoy is talented beyond his years. Rogen will co-produce the film and also appear in a supporting role.

What do you think of Anna Kendrick starring opposite James McAvoy?

Up In The Air: Movie Review

Krystal Clark — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:30:52 +0000

Jason Reitman once again tackles comedy and drama with his latest film entitled, Up in the Air. The film stars Oscar winner George Clooney and features Twilight co-star Anna Kendrick as his naive young sidekick. Up in the Air is a refreshing look at a career driven man and his inability to connect with those around him. The film offers a humorous yet relevant take on how technology effects people’s ability to have healthy, normal relationships.

Check out our review below…

The Players:

Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Walter Kirn (novel)
Cast: George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey

The Plot:

Up in the Air follows Ryan Bingham, a man who fires people for a living. He travels the majority of the year and has an estranged relationship with his family because of it. As one of his company’s top employees he’s asked to mentor a recent college graduate named Natalie, but he’s reluctant to do so. The duo are polar opposites and aren’t very fond of each other. Throughout their trip across the country they learn multiple things from one another that end up changing their lives forever. Natalie shows Ryan that love and family isn’t such a bad thing, and he shows her how to live a little.

The Good:

Vera Farmiga: Farmiga has always been a great actress, and as Alex she pulls off a level of confidence that not many women could. She’s very strong but laid back, and in opposition to Clooney almost comes off as the alpha male in their relationship.
Screenplay: This story is unpredictable. The majority of the film you think it’s going in one direction and it turns and becomes something else. It’s rooted in reality, where things don’t always go according to plan. That random action is what makes the screenplay so refreshing.
Opening Montage: The editing, the music, and the visuals used for the opening sequence in the film gets you in the mindset of the journey you’re about to take with the characters. It establishes the setting in an entertaining way that sticks with you even after the movie has ended.
Direction: Reitman did an excellent job at shooting a film that’s supposed to take place in multiple cities and airports around the country. You get a feeling for each location and identify with them even though their only covered for a short period of time.
Anna Kendrick: At first glance you may see this actress as someone who could get eaten up by the persona of Clooney, but she holds her own. She stays strong in some very intense scenes, yet manages to show vulnerability at the same time.

The Bad:

Nothing: It was that good.

Overall:

Up in the Air can easily fall in line with Jason Reitman’s previous work, yet it can also stand on its own merit. The story is amazing, the performances are outstanding, and the direction is beautiful. The film gives a subtle social commentary about people using their careers, the internet, or even cell phones to fill a void that can only be satisfied with human connection.

Up in the Air hits theaters in limited release on December 4th and wide on December 25th.

Rating: 10/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Anna Kendrick’s Breakthrough is Up in The Air

Krystal Clark — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:30:59 +0000

Anna Kendrick will get her chance to shine this weekend when her latest film Up in the Air hits theaters in limited release. It’s a dramedy that’s written and directed by Jason Reitman, and co-stars George Clooney and Vera Farmiga. As a Hollywood newbie, the past two years have been a whirlwind of success for the actress. She landed a part in the vampire phenomenon that is The Twilight Saga, as well as a starring role opposite Clooney, what more could a girl ask for?

We recently spoke to Kendrick about her part in Up in the Air and she discussed the differences between working on a teen centered franchise like Twilight and an adult themed indie drama. With a background in musical theater the young actress from Maine reveals to us how working on Up in the Air gave her the chance to play at “the grown ups table.”

Check out our interview below…

Even before Kendrick got her big break starring as vapid Jessica in Twilight she was a theatrical pro. She’s the second youngest actress to be nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the play High Society, and we wanted to know if it was difficult making the transition from a successful stage actress to working in film.

I actually got really lucky there, the first film I ever did was a film called Camp, which happened to be about kids in musical theater. The director came from the Broadway world and all the actors came from a theater background. We were all non-union so every single person was showing up to set with the same kind of ‘What does that do? Why do I have to stand here? Why do I have to look there?’ That made it a really safe environment to kind of ask questions and figure out what the hell was going on.

On how she landed her gig in Up in the Air…

I just got the script from my agency and was told to go in and read for it and I fell in love with the script, it’s so beautiful. I went in and read for Jason [Reitman] and I was in the room for about 10 minutes, and I thought I blew it. Then I got offered the job after one audition, which confused the hell out of me. Jason told me that he had started writing Natalie with me in mind after seeing Rocket Science, which is a film I did a couple of years ago.

Coming from such a humble beginning, you’d thing it would be a shock to have so much face time with George Clooney in a feature film. Kendrick tried to keep a cool head when word spread that the Oscar winning actor might be her future co-worker.

Jason was telling me all about how excited George was to do it and I was, you know, trying to play it really cool. Like, ‘Of course I’m going to be working with George Clooney everyday, why wouldn’t I?”

Up in the Air and Twilight are based on novels of the same name. In Kendrick’s case she decided to stay away from the source material, which ended up helping her portrayal of both characters.

[Regarding Up in the Air] I’m not in the book at all. I totally realize that you would have basically spent an entire movie watching George Clooney’s face with his inner monologue. In a way I kind of act as something that’s forcing him to explain himself and explain his philosophy of life. I just tried to challenge him as much as I could in order to kind of justify that.

As for her role as Jessica in Twilight…

With Twilight I didn’t read the books until after I was cast and I was kind of glad that I didn’t because Jessica’s so traditionally catty in the novels. When I auditioned I just kind of figured the only believable way for somebody like me to be pretending that she’s the most popular girl, or she’s the queen bee is to play up how needy that is, and how desperate that actually is. I think that’s what they liked about it, and what made it funny. I’m glad that I didn’t read the novels beforehand.

It must be an interesting dynamic to jump from one end of the movie spectrum to another. Not just in terms of genre, but the entire filmmaking style of Jason Reitman strongly contrasts with anything you’d find on the set of Twilight. The actress actually enjoyed the differences between the two projects, which she filmed simultaneously.

I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I’m a part of this thing that is such a big deal to a lot of people but then I completely recognize that I don’t play a very instrumental part of. Then I got to go and play at the grown ups table, and act as though I wasn’t completely out of my league. It was nice to even shoot them at the same time, people have asked if that was challenging but I liked shooting them at the same time because it meant that I kind of got to leave the rigid Natalie world and play this incredibly vacuous high school girl for a couple of days and then go back into Natalie mode.

Speaking of her Natalie mode, the character is somewhat of a control freak and has a plan for everything. We wanted to know if Kendrick shared any of the same goals or theories about life that her alter ego does.

I’m sure that I have a lot of silly and unrealistic expectations for lots of things but love is not one of those things. I certainly never expected to be married with a baby at 23, and I don’t have those really specific ideas about love but there’s something about Natalie’s specificity that I really love. [I] sort of cherish that she knows what she wants and she’s almost embarrassingly unapologetic about it.

Up in the Air hits theaters on December 4, 2009 in limited release and December 25th nationwide.

***Be sure to check out our interviews with director Jason Reitman as well as co-star Vera Farmiga.***

LFF: Up in the Air Press Conference – Reitman, Farminga, Kendrick

Mali Elfman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:21:16 +0000

Director Jason Reitman is on a role! First with Thank You for Not Smoking, then Juno, and now Up in the Air, he’s proved that all three times can be a charm. If you liked either of his previous works, than you’re going to love his latest film, Up in the Air starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, with a number of amazing supporting roles by Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifianakis and more.

Sadly, at the press conference for for the film at The London Film Festival, Clooney was unable to show up because (as always) he was busy working away on another one of his many projects. But! We were graced by the extremely humble and hilarious, Jason Reitman who is just as charming and funny as his films, the gorgeous and talented Vera Farminga, and the adorable new-comer who will blow you away Anna Kendrick.

You can read my first response to the film or check out what they had to say about the film below in one of the most laid back and entertaining press conferences I’ve ever been to…

Up In The Air is based on a book. If I were to read the book, would I recognize it in the film?

Jason Reitman: Yes and No. The book is about a man who fires people for a living and is about a man who obsessively collects air miles, but if I had directed the book exactly as if was, these two lovely ladies next to me would not be here because their characters are not in the book. The way I use source material, I see it as a tool box. There’s a story that I want to tell, and I’m looking for the right words. I’ll read a book or i’ll read an article and suddenly it will just be the language that I’ve been looking for to say something that I mean to say, or ask something that I’ve been meaning to ask. At that point it just becomes a tool box of ideas that I can either follow literally or sometimes I take someones dialogue and give it to someone else, or in this case I really chose a main character that would ask the questions that I wanted to ask.

Jason, I read that you wrote the role with George Clooney in mind. Is that true?

Jason: Yeah, I wrote the role with him in mind and with Vera and Anna in mind as well. It’s easier for me to write when I know who I’m actually writing for. That’s often how I identify the voice of the character. I had met Vera before and I’d seen many of her films. I knew the things that she was able to do that no other actresses is capable of doing. It was because she was able to walk that very fine line of being aggressive and feminine at the same time that I was able to write balance for what I did. It was because I saw Anna in “Rocket Science” and knew the sparkle and brilliance of her mind and how fast she is that I was able to write Natalie the way I did. If you’re going to make a movie about a guy who fires people for a living and you still want to like him, that actor better be dam charming and I don’t think there’s a more charming actor alive than George Clooney. I was very lucky he said yes.

What if he’d say no?

Jason: I would probably just ended my career right there and then. The story is actually kind of funny. I had been writing it for six years and I told his agent, “Look I’m about a week away or a month away from finishing this screenplay. In the middle of that I’m going to Italy on vacation with my wife,” and he said, “Well if you’re going to go to Italy you should just go see him.” I said, “That sounds like an awful idea, I don’t want to go see him if he hates my screenplay,” and he’s like, “No, no. Just go, he’ll love to see it.” I told him that I would send him the screenplay and if (George) enjoyed it, I would drop by. So I get to Italy and I call his agent up and ask him if he liked it and he told me to go see him.

We drive there and get to his house in Como. One of the first things he asks me is, “So what are you working on these days?” It’s a screenplay, it’s called Up In the Air and he says, “Oh I got to find that, I got to read that.” I was just trying to prove that I was a man to George Clooney. I played basketball with him; I hand’t done that since 8th grade. I never drink; I tried drinking with George Clooney. He opened four bottles of wine and I don’t know how I didn’t die of alcohol poisoning. Finally, around the end of the second day, he disappeared for a while and we walk into a room and he said, “I just read it, it’s great. I’m in.” Those are the words that changed my life and one of the greatest moments I’ll ever remember from my career.

Where the interviewers in the film authentic fired people?

Jason: When I started writing the screenplay seven years ago, the economy in America was very different. We were basically at the table end of an economic boom and I decided to write a corporate satire of a man who fired people for a living and wrote comedic scenes in which people lost their jobs. By the time it came to shoot this film, it just wasn’t funny anymore. I couldn’t go about shooting these scenes as written. We were scouting in St. Louis and Detroit, and the idea just came that we should try to use real people.

So we put an add out in the help wanted section saying, “We’re making a documentary about job loss and we’re looking for people who would go on camera and talk about their experience.” We got an overwhelming amount of response and we brought in 100 people. 25 are in the finished film, so the outside the people you recognize like J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifianakis, and Tamala Jones, everyone else who loses their job in this movie is a real person who came in and sat down at the table with an interviewer and for about 10 minutes answered questions about what it’s like to lose your job in an economy where really there is nothing available and you have to consider some very dire decisions.

After then we would fire them and asked them to respond the way they did the day they lost their job, or whatever they wished they had said. This would turn into improv scenes in which they would pelt our interviewer with all sorts of questions that he did not know the answer to. Their severance about why they lost their jobs instead of Jeff and they just went on. Some people were really angry. Some people got emotional and cried. Some people were really funny and I’m so grateful for their participation in the film. I could of never written the type of things that they said.

Jason you have a history of writing strong female characters. Do you think there’s a shortage of those in Hollywood right now?

Jason: Yes. I like to write original films and many of the men stories have been told and so many of the women stories haven’t. I’ve fallen in love with many really smart women over the course of my life. The most recent and personally the last one being my wife. I enjoy spending time with my wife, talking about these things. The best scene I’ve ever written and I only wrote half of it and that’s the scene in this movie where Vera and Anna talk about what they look for in a man at each of their ages. The only way I could write that is I asked my wife to have a conversation with herself at 18-years-old about what she looked for in a man. Everything they say is true to her, which breaks my heart every time she watches an audience because they laugh at her for five minutes. I enjoy writing for women and I enjoy working with actresses and I’ve just very fortunate. I’ve made three movies now and throughout all of them from Maria Bello on Thank You for Smoking and then with Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner on Juno and then not only Anna and Vera, but also Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey — I’ve just been surrounded by great actresses. I just hope I can work for more and more.

Vera, how did you access your character when you first read them?

Vera Farminga: I didn’t have the luxury of reading the script without knowing what happens in the end. It was challenging to play a woman who is very much like a man. Often times when a women behaves this was it can be interpreted as — it was difficult for me to — it was a fine line, I found, to thread to have the softness and yet take control of her sexuality. I really like the male perspective of heartbreak.

In the nude scene, was that really you?

Vera: I had about six pounds more chunk on badonka donk. I was pregnant. And I did do the scene. I think my bottom half had become too large. I did attempt to do nudity. I got to choose my body-double and I thought that Jason did a good job in selecting someone that was pretty accurate.

Jason: [Joking] I studied her films to make sure that it was the exact representation. I’m a very specific director, both actresses will tell you that.

Anna, what in particular appealed to you about your character?

Anna Kendrick: First it’s that sort of rare thing. This girl who is so intelligent and complicated and her character does not revolve around a romantic story line. That was enough to make it fascinating in itself because it just doesn’t happen, you don’t read scripts like that. I was normally so timid in real life that I’m really excited my character is someone who gets to tell people off and I’m telling off George Clooney, which is pretty awesome.

Anna, how did you feel when you got this role?

Anna: I was shocked beyond belief because I thought Jason hated me. My audition was very plain and I think Jason was trying to suck me out by showing any kind of enthusiasm, but I thought he hated me. When I got the job I was so shocked and I thought he we just like that, he’s just going to be a time rack on set. But he’s very, very nice. I was surprised. I was thrilled beyond words. the script is so beautiful. And I didn’t think that George was doing it, for whatever reason I just assumed it was just too good to be true for a script to be this good and to be working with George Clooney, I just thought it was one of those things were it was rumored. And then Jason told me the Italy story and I got really excited. That was one of the funnest parts, seeing him, eating lunch with him, trying to act like, “Oh right, of course, you knew me,” because I’d do that kind of thing.

Why did Anna think you hated her Jason?

Jason: Well look, one, I’m a mean guy (laughs), but two — I wrote the role for Anna and Anna auditioned against thirty of the best actresses of her generation and I needed to know that she could actually do it. I basically saw her in one movie, and she’s great, but I needed to see her actually read the lines. When she walked in, I didn’t want her to get psyched out by saying, “Hey, I wrote this role for you,” because then she would probably freak out because it would become hers to lose. Since I’m a horrible actor myself, in trying not to show that I was already a huge fan of hers, I probably wasn’t as nice as could have been. It’s like when you meet a pretty girl and you don’t want to show her that you think she’s pretty so you’re trying to act as discreet as possible, and not yourself, and pretty soon you’re acting like a jerk.

The Up In The Air script was 7 years in the making. How did your timeline work?

Jason: The time line is that no one would make Thank You for Smoking. So I started looking for something else to write and direct. I found this book, fell in love with it, and I started writing it. Then out of nowhere, a millionaire, one of the creators of PayPal, who had sold PayPal to Ebay for $1.5 billion with his partners decided he wanted to make movies. He read my script, he got it form a friend, and called my agent and said, “Hey, I’d love to make this movie.” He wrote a check for $6.5 million and made Thank You For Smoking and all of a sudden I wasn’t writing Up In The Air anymore.

I made Thank you For Smoking, went back to writing Up In The Air and then Juno came into my life and it was this irresistible screenplay that I knew if I didn’t direct, I would regret for the rest of my life. The interesting thing was that I basically finished the screenplay after Juno, out five years into it, I basically got to the end of the script having never gone back and reread what I’ve been writing and as I read from start to finish, I watched myself grow up.

Over the course of the six years that I wrote the script, I became a professional director, I bought a home, I got married, I became a father. In the first act, we have a cynical guy in his 20s who’s really just a satirist and over the six years I became a bit more sophisticated as a writer, but I also realized that this was important in my own life and that really changed Ryan’s journey as I continued to write.

What was your experience having to do emotional scenes in the middls of airports?

Anna: Well actually it was a hotel lobby and it was a little uncomfortable. It was still just the space and the extras and even though their a part of the film, you don’t know them. It’s still sort of embarrassing. On that particular day, it was less about other people, it was more about the space.

Vera: What was most amusing for me was the fanaticism that George attracts and that was overwhelming and so odd. For me, no one ever knows who I am, they always think I’m a producer of the film. But watching George have to deal with that and having just to simply open the door and close it and there’s a standing ovation that goes lost, and he’s so gallant and gracious and takes his bow.

What was the overall experience like shooting in so many public places?

Jason: It’s a total pain in the ass. Shooting in airports is very difficult. We shot in four international airports. There was actually a fair amount of access and because American Airlines partnered in this film basically our trade was that they were our airline and hay gave us access to all their checking gates, as well as their departure gates. But still all the actors had to go through security, everyday, on the way to the set. They would put George through as much security as they possibly could. We had to bring in our own electricity and the wire from our generators through an airport. It was really tricky. We are the first film to actually shoot the TSA — it’s this thing of going through security — usually if you see that in a movie, you’re looking at metal detectors that were thrown at a convention center hallway or something. This is the real thing and all of the people on camera were real TSA security people who volunteered their time.

Anna: They were really picky about what they did and didn’t want to do onscreen. You had to talk this woman into crossing off the name and then stamping the thing. She was like, I don’t wear gloves. Her supervisor had to come over and tell her it was okay.

Is this the first time you and your father have worked together? How was it?

Jason: This is the first film that my father and I have actually worked on together. I avoided doing it in the first movies. I wanted to make a name for myself. And once I made a couple films, there’s nothing that made me more proud. My father wrote one line in this movie and that line is, “Oh that’s like firing people on line.” It’s a monster line. It’s a really proud moment for me it’s as if we were in a baseball game and he just showed up and was like, “Oh you want me to hit one? Sure.” [Home-run expression]

How to you get distinguished actors to do such small roles, how much explanation do they need?

Jason: Once I give a great role like the ones I gave to Vera and Anna, I presume that on the next film, they’ll come in for free and offer four lines of dialogue each. I’ve begged all of them to come in and do those roles and they’ve all been very gracious. I try to keep a strong relationship with them so that when I ask to come back and do these roles. When I started my career, my thing in school was I wanted to be a director that actors want to work with. Actors make movies, not only fiscally, but they make them work and I knew that the only way I would ever be a successful director in the way that I want to be a filmmaker would be if good actors actually wanted to work with me. I’m slowly trying to work my way towards that. And I look at people like Sam Elliot, who show up for a day, and that makes me more proud than anything.

Jason can you talk about your choice in your films?

Jason: I start putting together my Itunes library while I’m writing a screenplay and I’m very specific about music and it’s a very personal thing for me. I originally thought that this movie was going to be done to Hank Williams music and then I got into the edit and realized I was wrong and started moving into folk music. But it’s very personal for me.

The film balances between the darkness of everybody getting fired and the optimism of these people finding new jobs and the cherry on top of that was the song that came in at the end of the credits. How did that come about?

Jason: That was dumb luck. After Juno, I’d gotten use to teenagers sending these songs. The idea of them appearing in one of my films, but I’d happen to be speaking in a college in St. Louis, where we were shooting, and a man in his mid-50s came to me with this song and that was unusual. He handed me a cassette tape. So first off I had to find a please to actually listen to this. We find a car and sat back and I was ready for something ridiculous and instead along came this voice, which is in the credits now, and he introduced himself, explained how he had lost his job. He was now in the middle of his life trying to figure out the purpose of his life. He started to singing a song that had never been written, but it’s an authentic song.

I guess my feeling was that we’re in the middle of one of the worst recessions on record in America and about a million people have lost their jobs in the last year. But we really don’t experience who these people are, they’re often just numbers on newspapers, percentages. And he was a guy who was able to sing very authentically about how he felt and I thought what a better tribute than to end the movie. And I new halfway through listening that it was going to be in the credits.

The film will be hitting theaters December 25th.

Up In the Air Five Meals Clip

Krystal Clark — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:42:53 +0000

A new clip has been released from the Jason Reitman film Up in the Air that’s headlined by Oscar winner George Clooney, and the lovely Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. In the latest promo video, we have a scene from the film that features Clooney and Kendrick at dinner. He’s explaining to the trainee the joys of dining on the companies’ dime.

Check out the clip from Up in the Air…

After watching that clip, Clooney’s character really seems like a bitter tight wad doesn’t he? With the release of the video comes some news about the film’s distribution. Previously it was stated that Up in the Air would open on November 13th for a limited release, and November 25th for wide. Those dates have since been changed. Now, there will be a limited release on December 4th, expanded release on December 11th, and wide on December 25th. Yeesh, how many films are opening on Christmas this year?!

What do you think about the latest clip from Up in the Air?

LFF: Up in the Air First Look

Mali Elfman — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:01:11 +0000

Just walked out of an LFF screening for Up in the Air and had the feeling of “finally.” The film stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, and Jason Bateman, in a story about a guy who travels around the US firing people and becoming a master traveler.

Overall the film used ideas that we had seen before, but in a new and fresh way. There was the guy that travels and refuses to settle down, a young plucky employee shoving out the “old guy”, and a problem that must be solved. The ending you could see a mile away, but the feelings that came with it was not what you would expect. In a way Jason Reitman the director/writer found a new way to use cliches, making them a new form of non-cliche-cliches. To top that off, he finally gives a good reason for a man running through at airport to get to a woman, so for that I thank him.

On the surface the film can seem a bit depressing. It deals with people being fired due to the economy and the reality behind, which is hard to watch and yet in a strange way, optimistic. It’s difficult to imagine this being so but my hats off to Reitman for successfully portraying it to an audience.

Although it’s lead by slightly depressing subject matter, the way that they dealt with it was what made it so successful. It felt real. They finish telling their story, and yet there’s no package with a bow on top. It’s a complete thought without being over indulgent or self important.

In the end, it’s not the people who loss their jobs that are left with nothing, it’s the people who just… keep… going for no reason. A nice final little touch from the filmmaker comes at the very end of the film. If you stay through the credits you’ll see how getting fired and following your passion can open doors for you in ways you probably never thought possible at your “safe” job…

Some of my favorite points:

The Script: Well written and executed. The dialogue was some of the best I’ve heard in a long time. Just as funny as it is smart and poignant.
Real Life: The honest portrayal of people of all ages and at all stages of their lives.
The Ending: Although in ways predictable for the worn movie-goer, it was still alive and refreshing.

Of course I’ll write out my full review when the film is release, but for now it’s safe to say that the movie does leave you feeling optimistic while at the same time a bit up in the air about your own life and your own choices.

The film will be hitting theaters December 25th. Perfect for the holidays, especially those who might be having a rough year and need a realistic pick me up.

About to head off to the press conference so I’ll be back soon with more!

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