10/28/2010

Videointerview: Has 'The Walking Dead' Cast Been Reading The Comics?




Norman : "It's good that [Daryl Dixon] isn't in the comic book, because I'm such a freak I would try to find out when I die."

10/26/2010

THE RUB

Norman Reedus about his Films:
They’re all very artsy-fartsy weird things and they are all totally different.


Norman Reedus's brilliant second film, a short entitled 
"The Rub", is a shocking and grotesque fairy tale about the listnessness of anonymous sex in which Nixon sleeps with a hooker and then brutally kills her.

The movie is sametimes filled with beautiful colors and shocking eroticism

The filming technique is awesome (sure, it’s made by an awesome artist)

Everytime watching I find something new astonishing in.

This movie is like a painting of Dhali; surreal and facinating.

It breaks the laws of 'how to be a movie has to be' (in my opinion)

This one you have to look again and again.

Nobody needs to know






Lovestory to New York and its people,starring Norman Reedus and Tricia Vessey, mostly shot before the city lost two prominent buildings and innocence.


Bound together by the voice of Lamont (Alvin Seme), a young black man pushed by the constant surveillance of his everyday life to discover the real power is off-screen. Lamont uncovers a living and breathing New York City with his new found power. At the same time, actress Iris (the enigmatic Tricia Vessey ) refusal to die in an audition spurs her to get out of the pretentious grind of being in. She becomes the focus of Lamonts camera as he follows Iris into her psychological descent, while her roommate Mira (Liz Stauber), is desperate for fame no matter the price. The truth of the moment comes when the stars of the film Norman Reedus and Matt Boren step away and the real nobodies (the audience) take control.

10/22/2010

E.Wallace /Nylon Interview 2nd part

Nylon:In Six Ways To Sunday, your character is a "nice guy" who murders and rapes. You've acted in other violent movies as well. In picking roles, do you take issue with violence at all?



Norman: I remember when we had rehearsals for that. The first day, we had to read through the script, and the first thing that [costar] Debbie Harry said about the script was,"You're not going to take out any of the violence, are you?" I thought that was great. Because you know what? It's just a movie. The movie was pure fiction. It had a lot of humor to it, besides the murders. I didn't have any problem with the violence.

Nylon: In that picture, you also have a kinky relationship with your mom, played by Debbie Harry. Did you get flak at all about the incest issues?





Norman: I'm having a hard time. I've done a slew of independent movies and even some studio films that have been pushed back [for release] because test audiences were confused. Like,"We're trying to rework the ending for our test audiences in Omaha. In Orange County, California, we showed it it 15 students, and they had problems" To these directors, I say:"Make the movie you intended to make! Don't be coerced into changing your movie because some test audience had a problem with the violence in that scene, or the mother-son issues." It pisses me off! Just be ballsy and be punk rock and make the movie that you intended to make.

The bartender arrives with our vodka tonics and asks, interested, about a music magazine that's one our table.

"We 're selling these magazines for just $9.95 apiece." Reedus jokes, like a mischievous teenage boy. He the returns to the topic at hand, violence in movies: "Everybody's a fucking critic. Everybody's in film school. Everybody wants to be an actor, a director, a writer. But take a movie like The 400 Blows. I'm sure that movie got a lot of flak whe it came out - and that movie's genius.
Taxi Driver got lots of shit. Midnight Cowboy got lot of shit. Those are my favorite movies. It's frustrating for me. I like what I do, I believe in what I do, I sign on to a project because I believe in the story, or I believe in the director or the writer or the other actors involved."



Reedus always had star quality, even before he found success as an actor, remembers as an old friend from Los Angeles.
One afternoon years ago, says the friend, she went with Reedus to Malibu, and stopped by an animal feed store with a petting zoo in the back. They found a pig in one cage and a goat in another, separated by a cage wall.
Reedus put his finger through the wire, playing with one of the animals. All of sudden,the pig and goat were fighting each other, vying for the attention of Reedus.
"I realized at that moment", says his friend, "his appeal goes so deep. He's one of those people who shines so brightly. You know he's going to be a star."
It was just a few years later that he was plucked bay Miuccia Prada and the celeb wranglers at Vanity Fair.

Reedus says he love acting, but he's smart enough to know that it's more than just a job. He's already bee pursued by the paparazzi and gossip columns. In fact, a few days before we meet, he and Christensen are mentioned in the New York Post's Page Six for having canceled a cover they did together for Toronto's FW magazine, because they'd reportedly broken up.

"I've never heard of FW magazine," Reedus says. "That never happened. They just make it up. It's completely fictional. It's to sell papers, I guess. I've been in the Post a few times, and I think one time, it was the actual real story."

Nylon: Like many actors, you seem to have a conflicted relationship with the press. But what about the press you choose to do for publicity?

Norman: It's good to a point because it gets you exposure, but I think it's nice as an actor when people don't know who you are. To do an interview about a movie, or what it's been like making movies, that makes sense, but to go on Conan O'Brien and say, "Ooooohh, I was on the cover on Vanity Fair," or "I met Mira Sorvino!" - what's the point of that?

Nylon: Right. And what about this, the magazine to which your fiancee contributes?

Norman: I sort or pushed this interview back, like, "We'll do it this issue...no, we'll do the next issue...no, we'll do the next issue." Because it's Helena's magazine, and I don't want people to think, "Helena got him an interview in this magazine." But we talked about it. She was like, "If you were doing a magazine, I'd do it for you. You know, support what I do, and I support what you do." And that's really what it's about it. In the end, she's the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. Whatever she does, I'm going to support."

Nylon:You've been together two years, but you know that you want to spent the rest of your life with her?

Norman: She's amazing. it's really nice. When we met, it was just perfect. I met her through a friend of mine, a DJ and an artist in L.A., at a birthday party downtown at this Japanese restaurant. Some mutual friends of ours were like, "You should meet this girl, you'd love this girl, you guys would hit it off." When she came into the restaurant, I didn't wanna look at her. She was sitting right across the table and I didn't want to look at her, because I knew if we started up a conversation, it would be serious from that time on. I was just cowardly.

Nylon:And now you are expecting your first baby?



Norman:s Yeah! Didn't you see her belly? [referring to when we ran into Helena at their apartment] We're very excited. We couldn't be happier. Everything's really nice right now.

--Elizabeth Wallace

The Beatnicks Review and more

If you like artistic independent films and unique scripting, The Beatnicks, is right for you!

But first lets take a look at the word & the movement 'Beatnick'

word origin
The word "beatnik" was coined by Herb Caen in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958. Caen coined the term by adding the Russian suffix -nik after Sputnik I to the Beat Generation.

definition
media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s
was a synthesis of the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s into violent film images, a cartoonish misrepresentation of the real-life people


 Now about the Film

it was a largely ignored indie film that leveraged social media and viral marketing to generate an online fan base over over 20,000 who demanded a release.
Reminds to The Boondock Saints-funny couse Norman Reedus is one of the main characters here too

Plot
The Beatnicks is about a poet, Nick Nero, played by Norman Reedus & a musician, Nick Beat played by Mark Boone Jr 

They’re two guys who try to carve the truth out of life and make it their own.  Things aren’t looking too good as they owe rent and can’t find a gig.  That is until they find a magic box on the beach that creates an odd beat that completely inspires Nero to create riveting, artistic prose.  Yet, even though the box seems to be the answer to their prayers, it’s just the beginning of a true trip of self-discovery for both of them.




The Beatnicks is one of the strangest and most unique indie films I've seen in a long time. Its dreamlike sequences and quirky characters definitely makes it a must-see for anyone!!

Norman Reedus is outstanding in his role as Nick Nero-well, he's outstanding in everything!

He possesses that rare ability to superbly deliver a well placed comic turn with existential angst and seduces us with his wise-beyond-his-years whisper of beat poetry

"I walked into your ocean, freed like a slave, Lay down in your waters, like a shallow grave".

This is such a beautifully made film created very much in the European cinema tradition but with a story that is firmly rooted in the slightly altered but seductively sublime united states of The Beatnicks. 

Check it out. It's well worth it.

10/21/2010

E.Wallace /Nylon Interview 1st part

Whether test audiences in Omaha like it or not, actor NORMAN REEDUS wants to make really good films. ELIZABETH WALLACE finds out only.

 
When Norman Reedus arrives at the upscale, downtown Manhattan hotel lobby on this steamy early evening, the actor(and one-campaign Prada model, but don't peg him as such) looks appropriately SoHo anti-fashionista. With heavily faded blue jeans, an army-green uniform shirt, newish Puma sneakers, and hair that's intentionally shaggy, he's the picture of a "hot young actor" - but don't label him that way either.

After a few minutes in the hotel, it's clear that the atmosphere is too formal for this meeting. Reedus is wary of becoming a "movie star." He'd just as soon forget the pretense and go across the street, to the cheep, noisy Irish pub crawling with patrons. Once there we have to wait for a table, which makes me nervous(this interview is temi-limited, I assume) causing me to accidentally drop my tape recorder on the floor, smashing it in two. Reedus laughs; during a magazine interview the day before, the reporter's tape recorder broke, too.


"It must be me," he says earnestly, the offers to let me use his tape recorder, which is at his apartment a few blocks away, Modern-day gentleman I think. Finally we head to the third venue - a dark, reddish subterranean bar on Houston Street that's empty and icily air conditioned.
The 30-year-old Reedus may be recognizable to art house film fans as the murderous Oedipal son in "Six Ways to Sunday" or for his first role as a sewer worker in 1997's Mimic, but his image is ready to explode.
He appears in several movies on the verge of release: Adam Coleman Howard's Dark Harbor with Alan Rickman; Let The Devil Wear Black, directed by Stacy Title and starring Jacqueline Bisset and Mary Louise Parker; Davis Guggenheim's Gossip, with Kate Hudson; Preston Tylk, directed by John Bokenkamp and starring Luke Wilson; William Roth's Floating, with Chad Lowe; and Troy Duffy's Boondock Saints with Willem Dafoe and Sean Patick Flanery, in which Reedus is a trechcoat-wearing shotgun wielder (bad timing, he admits, in the wake of the Columbine shooting)
Plus, Reedus is coproducing a movie called Whitey, about white boys dancing across the US (not to be confused with Danny Hoch's recent Whiteboys)




In no danger of slowing down this year, Reedus has just been in Mexico City filming a feature with Courtney Love on the Beat Generation. His career isn't the only thing giving birth.

He's expecting a baby with his fiancee, Helena Christensen (yes, Nylon's Creative Director - more on that later) Indeed, Reedus may give Brad Pitt and Edward Norton a fight club of their own.

10/10/2010

NYCC: ‘The Walking Dead’ Panel

The Walking Dead’ panel at the 2010 New York Comic Con is such a big deal that it was nearly a riot just to get in




AMC’s adaptation of The Walking Dead is undoubtedly one of the biggest attractions at the 2010 New York Comic-Con, as evidenced by the near-riot that took place outside the theater where the panel was being held.
Fans were led through a maze of cow herders, but unlike the stoic bovine meant to be led through those partitions, Walking Dead fans went berserk, knocking down the herders to make an every-man-for-himself dash for the theater door.

After a twenty-minute delay spent re-establishing order or curtailing potential violence, fans were finally admitted to the IGN theater so that The Walking Dead panel could get underway.
The first big announcement of the panel: six minutes of exclusive from Walking Dead episode 2!

Cast in attendance included Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes), Laurie Holden (Andrea), Steven Yeun (Glenn), Jon Bernthal (Shane), and Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon)

The footage starts with Rick Grimes trapped in a tank surrounded by “Walkers” (the zombies). He got a call on the comm line from a mysterious benefactor who advised him to “make a run for it.” Rick arms up with a Beretta and a grenade and makes his run for it. Gore and mayhem ensue...

Hurd denied the claim that “Zombies are the new vampires.” She said, “Zombies are better than vampires.” Darabont said he’s worn out with vampires. An audience member yelled “Too Sparkly!” Darabont responded “Too sparkly – too sexy!” He then apologized for going overboard..

Norman Reedus' presence was interesting because he plays a character named Daryl Dixon who isn't even in the book. "I'm not in the comic," he said, leading Darabont to tell him that apparently he might be now.


Norman Reedus described his character with an analogy of angels acting like devils and devils acting like angles when the world is ending. “Zombies aren’t the only enemy.”

"That would be dope, though I'd probably just look ahead to see how I die," Reedus laughed. His brother on the show is played by Michael Rooker, though Rooker's not a regular in the series.

10/07/2010

Stan Lee Foundation Launches

Stan Lee Launches Foundation to Support Literacy, Arts and Education

October 7th 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm 






Legendary artist and writer, Stan Lee, will attend the launch of the Stan Lee Foundation at the NASDAQ Marketsite event space in New York City. The launch celebration will feature an exhibit and live auction of Stan Lee and one-of-a-kind items from Lee’s personal collection as well as a chance to bid on a custom-designed guitar graffiti artist from John “CRASH” Matos. The evening will also feature the announcement of the TALENTHOUSE competition winner for the Stan Lee Foundation logo design.

Guests:
Norman Reedus ,  Dr. Neil Rouzier , Funnyman Mario Canton ,....


I'll update this post asap-at the moment these are the only informations i got...

10/06/2010

MOVIELINE - 09.99 - Norman Reedus

Up-and-coming young actors can often gauge their heat in the industry by the grief other young actors give them.

By that measure, Norman Reedus, who splashed big as one of Prada's actor/models and won impressive reviews for his performances in the indies 
"Six Ways to Sunday" and "Floating", should consider himself hot.

"I've caught bull from four out of five young actors with cool exceptions like Adrien Brody and Adam Goldberg," 
says 30-year-old Reeus. 
"But,hey, I think there's enough jobs to go around. Besides, I don't need to make $20 million a movie." 

Maybe not, but Reedus, who's currently house-hunting in L.A. with his girlfriend, model-turned-photographer Helena Christensen, reportedly stands out so spectacularly among such young lookers as James Marsden and Kate Hudson in the new Joel Shumacher-produced campus drama "Gossip" that he could soon have Hollywood paying big.. 



"Gossip turned out really good", 
he says, "even though it was weird for me coming from a world where I usually get one take, two if we're lucky. 
On this film it was like, 'Take 35! OK, hold the glass a little higher this time.'" 

Reedus, who is also an accomplished painter, seems refreshingly clearheaded about the movie business. 

He was a contender for the cast of "Starship Troopers" until, upon reading a chunk of the script, he announced rather presciently, 
" This is going to suck." 

Right now the actor is hoping director Penny Marshall will pick him to star with Christina Ricci in a movie in which he'd play a tragic guy who descends into drug addiction and ages from his teens to his 60s. 

"I haven't taken acting lessons," 
he says,
"but I'm grateful for life experience, because I left home at 12, lived in Japan and London, and , until a few years ago, 
was making, like, $7.50 a week in a motorcycle repair shop in Venice, California, where I mostly shoveled pit bull shit." 

The actors Reedus most admires emit a similar been-there-and-back worldliness:

"I love the chance to learn from really great people like Willem Dafoe, Debbie Harry, Isaac Hayes," 

he declares. 

"They're devoted professionals who've seen so much, yet they've remained punk in their stance. 
They don't let the weight of it get to them. 
That is so cool".

10/05/2010

Norman Reedus &Jonathan Tucker bout Meskada

COLONELSCRYPT: Norman, it’s good to see you again.

NORMAN REEDUS: Same here Scott. 

CC: The last time was pretty crazy at the BOONDOCK SAINTS II premiere.

NR: Yeah, the cops showed up. We had about 2000 fans that had to  be turned away. I thought it was all for Michael Jackson.

CC: Jonathan, it’s nice to meet you.

JONATHAN TUCKER: Thanks, nice to meet you as well. 

CC: Now we’re talking about MESKADA. How were you approached for the film and what was it about the film that made you want to do it?

NR: I liked the story. I like to be part of an ensemble cast. I liked all of the actors involved. The shoot was only a train ride away from my house too (laughs).
JT: I was a big fan of WINTER SOLSTACE (Josh Sternfeld’s first feature film). The script came with Josh attached. The quality of the script and the actors attached made it easy to say yes.

CC: Who do you play in MESKADA?

JT: I play a character named Shane Loakin who is one of the two fellows who gets involved in this break in where the child dies. I keep from getting arrested, found out, and killed throughout the rest of the film.

NR: I play Dennis Burrows who is the father of a child who needs an operation. I’m married to Shane’s (Jonathan Tucker) sister. He lives in their house and he’s a disgruntled, blue collar worker who ends up finding out who committed the crime and with some of the townspeople tries to cover it up.

CC: The film really captures that small town life and the struggling economy on how people do stick together in times of tragedy. Did that theme juxtaposed with the crime element really strike you in making the film?

NR: I didn’t really think of that message to be honest with you. We all know what it’s like to look for work you know, but that wasn’t the key that brought me to the film. I can see how that could be the factor. I liked the tone of the film and how the pace of the script went more than the message but it’s definitely a factor in the film for sure.

JT: Well we’re here in New York City and it’s only a train ride away to the Catskills where we shot the film and it’s a very impoverished area. There’s some beautiful areas but that’s the other side of New York state that people don’t know of or don’t talk about. That disparity in itself was interesting to see and to be a part of when you’re working there. The same thing is reflected in the film, different communities that are next to each other; one wealthy, one working class. I’m sure Josh worked hard to get all those nuances but he just had to grab a camera and shoot because those communities were very hurt. 


CC: You’ve done a few studio films but you’ve done a lot of independent films. Being that MESKADA was shot on such a low budget and you play such interesting characters, what is it about the independent spirit you like so much?

JT: (Laughs) Honestly I’d love to make an INDIANA JONES. You know, you get jobs and jobs get you. With a film like this in particular, nobody made any money on this movie. This was by far the lowest budgeted film I’ve been a part of. People can talk all day about being there for the right reasons. You’re not there for any other reason to make a movie. There’s just no money to be made. I’ve been on projects where people have made sixty grand for a few months which is a lot of money for some of these actors and they’re like “I’m just here for the movie.” You can say that and I’m sure for the financial scheme of it that might be the case but there was NO money on this so being a part of something where everyone is there for the right reasons is very rewarding.


NR: I’ve worked on a ton of independent films and just as Jonathan said, there’s no money in it. I like getting in there with a bunch of actors and acting. A lot of times you do a bigger budget films and there are moments where you’re acting and there’s moment where you’re just in the know. There are other things that are in the movie that are larger than the people that you’re looking at. I love independent films. I’m a big fan of independent films and I’ve done a bunch of them. They’re all sort of dark and creepy. My mom keeps saying “Can you please do a fucking romantic comedy with Jennifer Love Hewitt or something,” and I’m like, “Just don’t put me in those movies.” I like hanging out with actors. I think you have to have big jumbo balls just being an actor in the first place so it’s nice to all get into the same tent so to speak.

JT: My mom wants me to play a nice Jewish doctor. I’m like “Sorry mom, that’s not going to happen.”

CC: Obligatory question time. How was the premiere last night here at Tribeca?

NR: It was great. Tribeca is one of my favorite festivals by far. I like it better than all of them pretty much. I like that it’s in New York. I like that I see people I know at it. I love the vibe. I mean, Tribeca started because of 9/11 to bring the community together, that’s awesome.

JT: And this has been a big year for them because the director of programming from Sundance, Geoff Gilmore, came over here. I think this is his big coming out party being it’s his first. I’ve had four films here and it’s great to be a part of New York. It’s great to be part of a city and it’s great to have it interwoven into the city. 

NR: And it’s gotten better every year. A lot of festivals started out small and Tribeca has just stayed cool.

CC: You’re a New York guy Norman.


NR: Yeah and like Jonathan I’ve had a lot of films at Tribeca as well. It’s different than other festivals where it’s all about schwag and people showing up for a photo op. This is actually about movies and directors.

JT: Yeah we don’t want free shit. We’re not movie stars. We want a Starbucks Mocha (laughs)

CC: How did the premiere go last night?

JT: The response was really good. I thought the response was really good. I just can’t believe that I’m sitting here doing this interview about this movie to be honest. I don’t think the budget was more than $500,000. I think it turned out very well. To know you can make a good film on such a small budget I think will inspire some folks. It’s a great story.

NR: The response was great. I had a lot of people telling me it looked pretty, the story was great, the acting was great and I agree with them. Yeah, it was definitely a ghetto shoot at times but I think it came out great.

CC: Being that you said MESKADA was shot on a relatively small budget and was shot in 35mm, there are a lot of films with smaller budgets that are shot on quality equipment. How do you feel about the accessibility of this equipment and the the digital age where movies can look great and be made for a lot less than they would 20 years ago?

NR: I’m not mad at it. I think it gives a lot of people opportunities to do stuff that they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. I also shoot pictures with 35mm sometimes. I like both but I really like the fact that a lot of people can do cool stuff and have the opportunity to do it. I think it’s cool.

JT: We all have stories to tell and democraticizing this medium first of all is good for us as actors. It allows us to work with different storytellers, people who might not be able to get their hands on the best equipment like the Sony Red or something. The thing I like about New York is that there are so many artists to be able to shoot something great and can edit it on their Mac computer. It’s great. 

CC: Do you find it harder for people to break into the industry with that method because it seems everyone is trying their hand at it?

JT: No because it’s just got to be good. You make a good movie it will show.

NR: It’s funny because you go somewhere like Los Angeles and you ask someone “What do you do?” and they’ll say they’re a photographer.
“So what are you working on?”
“I worked on the Chili Peppers video in 1992.”
I’m like “What are you working on now?”
In New York, I guess everyone is moving forward. If you have the will to do it, you’re going to do it whether it is shot on film or digital.

CC: What’s coming up for both of you?

NR: I just did THE CONSPIRATOR with Robert Redford about the assassination of Abe Lincoln. I did the pilot of HAWAII FIVE O. I leave tomorrow morning for Berlin to do a film with Christian Alvart, who I did PANDORUM with, cool German dude.

CC: I guess they’re allowing flights in Europe now with the damn volcano.

NR: Yeah it’s weird because I was supposed to go to Bottrop, Germany in three weeks and they cancelled this thing because they felt the volcano next to the one that erupted is about to blow. It’s a strange situation. It’s almost like that the Mayans were right.

CC: It’s sounding like it.

JT: People would be bitching if there weren’t any flights for six months. Can you imagine what the world would be like if you couldn’t fly?

CC: It’d collapse.

JT: It’d be unbelievable. 

CC: Jonathan, what is coming up for you?

JT: I’m doing a movie called THE NEXT THREE DAYS, a Paul Haggis movie with Russell Crowe. I have a very small role in that. I’m shopping the rights for a really great script that I’m hoping to shoot this summer called THE DEPLORABLE DEEDS OF DARIUS DAY.

NR: I have a script I’m supposed to direct. It’s in the early production stages and it’s called I WAS A WHITE SLAVE IN HARLEM about Margot Howard Howard, she was a tranny here in New York in the 1970s. It’s based on a book.

JT: Big studio pic.

NR: Definitely.

CC: I ask this question, speaking about films, if you were both to show people the history of film, what films would you show?

JT: Oh man, I have to say no comment. I really have to sit down and think about that one. That’s a really big question man. It’s good but I’ll tell you though, I’ve been going back and seeing older movies that I haven’t seen in a while and a lot of them really stands up. I watched MARATHON MAN recently and it still stands up. THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR also stands up.

NR: I watched it too. I love THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR.

JT: I didn’t think it would stand up at all. What made you watch it again?

NR: I was going to work with Redford, I had to.

JT: Awesome.

NR: Thinking about your question, I’m thinking of BEN HUR. I’d show some old Buster Keaton films. APOCALYPSE NOW and such. There’s a bunch but ask me in 30 minutes and I’ll choose five new ones. 

JT: I’m going to watch some old movies later. I think I’m going to watch CASABLANCA. In the past five years I’ve watched that movie like twenty times.

NR: Every time I get depressed, I watch PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE. That has nothing to do with your question but it’s super weird, almost like it’s crazy in a way.

CC: I’m told I’m out of time. It’s been a pleasure gentlemen and best of luck with MESKADA and everything else. Thank you for the time.

NR: My pleasure man.

JT: You’re welcome.