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Good times on set yesterday with Kato_Kaelin @JamieKennedy and Mike Williams. #occasionalactress

#occasionalactress

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'Gangster Squad': Director Ruben Fleischer on working with Sean Penn and Josh Brolin (...and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone)

by Jeff Labrecque

Tags: Emma Stone, EW Exclusive, Josh Brolin, movie, Movie Biz, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn

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Wilson Webb

Ruben Fleischer made his Hollywood bones with Zombieland, the clever and funny zombie apocalypse movie that famously offed Bill Murray. But for his next movie, the 37-year-old director is taking deadly aim at a more serious genre. “I love gangster movies like Goodfellasand Miller’s Crossing,” says Fleischer, “and L.A. noir films like Chinatown are also awesome.” Next fall’s Gangster Squad, an action-drama about the 1940s cops who battled Mickey Cohen’s mob for control of the City of Angels, is the perfect mesh of the two. Speaking from L.A., where he’s readying a violent shootout on Hollywood Boulevard on day 67 of filming, Fleischer discussed the humbling effects of filming at the city’s most famous landmarks, the amazing Sean Penn, and why audiences are ready to embrace Josh Brolin as a hero. 

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This is a totally different direction for you after Zombielandand 30 Minutes or Less. How did you go about convincing the studio that you were the right guy for this movie?  RUBEN FLEISCHER: I was just looking for an opportunity to try something new, and when I read the script, I was completely passionate about it. I think that passion and that love for Los Angeles and the love for this period of time and the love for this genre kind of swayed any misgivings the studio might have had. It’s been a real step forward for me. The size and scale and period — and just the L.A. of it — makes the movie singular and special.

One of the movies that really made me love film in the first place was Chinatown, and that pointed me towards other similarly themed films and books, like L.A. Confidential. What attracted you to this chapter of L.A. history ? I was an American History major in college, and I think that the post-war era is one of the most exciting times in American history. There’s just so much change happening and so much innovation. There was also a lot of transition. And I think L.A. at that time represents that better than anywhere else just because it was a new city. It was less than 100 years old in 1949, and there was a ton of soldiers and people moving to the city and the suburbs were expanding. So it’s just a great backdrop for the world of this movie.

The film is based in part on Paul Lieberman’s series of articles that ran in the Los Angeles Times in 2008. Does the film focus on a certain chapter or thread from his writings or are they just a leaping-off point for your movie? It’s a good leaping-off point. We’ve taken some creative license but tried to stay true to the original story and characters as much as possible. O’Mara (Josh Brolin), our lead character, has just come back from fighting the Nazis with all these ideals after seeing America at its greatest. And he’s come home and there’s a gangster running his city. While he was gone, Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) took over and he turned the streets of L.A. into a battle zone. In our story, O’ Mara takes the lead of the Gangster Squad, a vigilante police force that fights the gangsters on their own terms, and the battle between them is for the future of Los Angeles: whether it’s going to become corrupt and run by this bunch of gangsters or these guys who fought for these values and want L.A. to be the shining beacon on the west coast that it was always intended to be.

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You have an embarrassment of riches in your cast, from Sean and Josh, to Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, to Nick Nolte and Anthony Mackie. But at the heart is Sean. He’s become that guy that the next generation of young actors idolize and attempt to emulate. Did you get a sense of that on set? He definitely got a lot of respect, and I think the opportunity to work with Sean was an incentive for the guys to be part of the film, for sure. I was thrilled the first time I got to shoot with Sean and just actually hear him and see how he interpreted the character. I think Sean wanted to really make him his own. So he took pieces of the real Mickey that he connected with and then also filled in his own ideas of who the guy is. It’s not like an impression of Mickey Cohen but more a realization of him.

In the First Look photo, he seems to be surrendering to Brolin. Ultimately it’s the story between these two guys. It’s Josh and Sean who face off at the end after a big gun battle between the Gangster Squad and Cohen and his men. O’Mara catches up to Cohen and Sean mockingly says, “Okay, copper, take me in.” It ends in a fistfight between Cohen and O’Mara, and it was a pretty epic sequence to film between Josh and Sean.

Josh is probably best known for playing great heels, in films like Milk, True Grit, andAmerican Gangster. Do you think the audience will be surprised by his more noble character? No, I think he’s heroic. Like when I watch him in No Country for Old Men, he just has this confidence. He feels like such a strong leading man, so I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anyone just how amazing he is when people see the film.

You’ve also captured Gosling in the midst of a massive career moment, and he’s attracted enormous amounts of attention, both wanted and unwanted, I’m sure. How has that impacted filming, if at all? It really hasn’t effected how we work. He’s had an amazing year between Crazy Stupid Love,Ides of March, and Drive. Those are three really distinct and awesome performances, and a huge part of why I was so excited to work with him. But in our day-to-day, it doesn’t have much presence. There is paparazzi, but there is paparazzi wherever we go. I think that’s the nature of making a big movie in a big city. And it doesn’t seem, in any way, to have effected Ryan. He seems pretty focused on his character and his performance.

His character seems much more conflicted than Brolin’s O’Mara. Ryan’s character also went to war, but when he came back, he was a little disillusioned. So he’s more on the fence, hanging out in nightclubs and hanging out with guys who might be gangsters. He’s less clear on where he stands in terms of standing up against Mickey Cohen. But he finds himself in a love triangle with Cohen and Emma Stone’s femme fatale character.

Who you know well from Zombieland. There’s a reason why I was very, very eager to work with her again. She’s simply the best. Everyone as soon as they met her was taken by how cool and smart and funny and talented she is. I think she really transforms in this movie from being that sort of teenager or college kid that we’ve seen in movies into a real woman.

The city of Los Angeles seems like such an essential character in your story but I imagine it’s not always easy to recreate the Los Angeles of the 1940s. These places don’t exist anymore. We had to take blocks of streets and build period storefronts and recreate clubs that have been closed for years. The past two nights, we had a full tommy-gun battle inside the Chinese Theater with gangsters lighting off 50 rounds a minute. And then tonight and the next night, it’s going to bleed out onto Hollywood Boulevard as our Gangster Squad retreats. We’re going to have a full battle on one of the most famous streets in L.A. And staging a scene at the Griffith Park Observatory is just iconic because you instantly think of Rebel Without a Cause and all the great movies that have filmed there. On Monday, we were on the steps of City Hall with Nick Nolte. It’s like going in a time machine when you go to the set.

________________________________________

My most anticipated movie of the year since I read the script in 2011. Still a little bummed Bryan Cranston isn't part of the cast, though... 

#gangster squad #ruben fleischer #ryan gosling #josh brolin #sean penn #emma stone #la noir period piece goodness!

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The Batting Cage - Coming Soon to a Festival Near You!*

Yeah that's right, I produced this gem. I produced the hell out of it! Stay tuned, kiddies. 

*if you live near any of the festivals we submitted to.

#the batting cage #donte murry #kite flight films #gun street pictures #brian carmody #alex griffin #wendy tzeng #rachel aguirre

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We got matching neck tatties! (Taken with Instagram at Sailor Jerry Bar)

Whilst working the Avenged Sevenfold show this past weekend (aka making your night awesome, one drink at a time), a local tattoo shop (can't remember the name of the shop! Sorry guys! You were supposed to twitter me!) had a booth setup giving "tattoos"... One design. How could we resist? I owed her a tattoo date. And besides, I really just wanted a reason to say "cash rules everything around me (CREAM!) get the money, dolla dolla bills y'aaalllll" all night.

The thing is, EVERYONE thought they were real when they were in fact, very fake. Like, peeling-off-on-the-corners-and-wrinkly-fake. Didn't even notice all the real (and AWESOME) tattoos we had up and down our arms. An hour later, everyone's got $100 bills on their necks, taking pictures with us.

I also ran into a good friend I haven't seen in foreverrr and found out her boyfriend is in in Dose of Adolescence who was also performing that night. They're pretty fuckin rad and they put on a great show. Check em out!

Hit 2 more bars, came back to Long Beach, and ended our night at our local bar where the boyfriend works. And no, nobody there thought our neck tattoos were real.

Ah, the life of a Sailor Jerry girl. It's rough, I tell ya.

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Today: Makeup Assistant, UPM, and 5-0. I'm multi-talented. #chapman #grad #thesis #shoots (Taken with instagram)

#shoots #grad #chapman #thesis

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Straight Razors, who knew...

So I've always had a things for knives and guns since I was a kid (thanks Dad!). How many girls can say they remember their first pocket knife? Last year, he gave me a knife sharpener. I know, my Dad's awesome.

The one thing he and I both never really got into was straight razors. So since my Dad's birthday is coming up, I thought maybe I'd add a straight razor to his collection.

Then I got stuck on eBay.

Then on Straight Razor Place.

Then I ended up adding two straight razors to my knife collection, plus a miniature pocket knife shaped as a pistol I made into a necklace...

Throw in a Dremel I borrowed from a friend (thanks Leo!), some good old fashioned Googling, and before you know it - BOOM. New hobby/obsession. (Amateur) Straight Razor Restoration, bitches.

Clauss Fremont before...

...and after.

Griffon Carbon Magnetic 60 XX before...

#vintage straight razor #clauss #fremont #griffon #60 #xx #carbon magnetic #straight razor necklace

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Download a Gus Firing Mask for Halloween!

Don't drink the punch, kids.

#breaking bad #gus #firing #mask #halloween #kablooey!

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Modern day Princess Leia?

#princess leia

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Breaking Bad Season Finale? Fucking. Epic.

Of COURSE Gus stops to fix his tie before he falls flat on (half) his face... He really went out with a bang, huh?

OK, I'll stop. But really though, what a character. The writers nailed it, once again. We always see the villain and the hero battle it out, and the villain only loses because he slipped on a banana peel or something ridiculous. But not Gus - he's the man who thinks of everything. He'll walk into a hail of sniper bullets and fold his jacket so he can kneel on it while he vomits after he's poisoned half a dozen men. Smart, cool, collected, and a total psychopath. I'll miss you, but hey - Walt beat you fair and square. There they go again with that brilliant writing.

We do still have Mike, however. Speaking of Mike, in Episode 10 right before he gets shot, the boyfriend swears Mike was turning to shoot Jesse milliseconds before he got hit. After playing it back a million times, I'm beginning to think he might be right. Just throwing it out there...

Anyways, I'll miss Breaking Bad until next season, but guess what takes its time slot on AMC? SEASON 2 OF THE WALKING DEAD. Get excited.

#breaking bad #season 4 #season finale #gustavo's eyeball socket #giancarlo esposito #spoiler alert #WHAT OF MIKE?!!

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Drive - Possibly the Best Movie I've Seen All Year

Exceptional storyline, a whole new level of acting for Ryan Gosling, and to top it off, it looked fucking amazing. The cinematography was absolutely gorgeous, and although the director used a lot of clean (as opposed to dirty OST) shots for dialogue, it totally worked for me.  BTW, in case you didn't know, the director (Nicolas Winding Refn) is also the guy that brought you Bronson and The Pusher series. Good stuff, man.

To top it all off, it has an mind-blowing soundtrack. Check out A Real Hero by College Ft. Electric Youth as well as the gem I posted below.

Do yourself a favor and watch this movie ASAP.

For those of you who live under a rock and haven't seen the trailer, click here.

Then listen to this amazing song.

#drive #ryan gosling #kaminski #nightcall #ost #Nicolas Winding Refn

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Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad & the Last 16 Episodes

Bryan Cranston on Where Breaking Bad Is Headed and Why His Total Recall Will Be Better Than Arnold’s

Bryan Cranston as Breaking Bad's Walter White.

Photo: AMC

Here’s what Bryan Cranston can tell us about Breaking Bad’s season-four finale: “Walt takes another step in his desperation to do what he needs to do to protect his family.” In other words, Wait until Sunday, suckers! While Cranston couldn’t help us grapple with the big questions — Is someone going to die? Has meth mogul Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) seen his last bucket of chicken? Will Jesse and Walt finally kiss and make up? — he was able to offer insight into how dark his character will go. Plus: how he picks his movie roles, and why his Total Recall remake will be better than the original.

When you and Vince Gilligan talked about the role four years ago, did you imagine Walt would become quite so dark? What was explained to me was that he wanted to change a man from good to bad. From Mr. Chips to Scarface. And that’s something that has never been done on television. You risk having alienation from an audience to your lead character. And we were talking about it and he said, “Yeah, we don’t care, we are not out to … ” And I get that question a lot, like, “Boy, what is Walt doing now? Do people still really like him?” Well, we are not out to have people like him. We are out to have people understand him, relate to him, and watch his disintegration.

The series had a lot more humor in it in the beginning, especially between Walt and Jesse. Do you miss that levity? Um, no. I don’t. What we owe the audience is to be truthful in the telling of this story. And in the beginning, when the pressure was not nearly as great — our anxiety levels weren’t as high or the threat to lives was not as imminent — there was more room for natural comedy. As it twists and turns and the noose gets tighter and tighter around the characters’ necks, naturally you are gonna lose opportunities for reflective or comedic moments. And it is just the nature of the story, the way it has to be told in earnest. It’s forced into this dark place.

It’s hard to believe the ending of the series is in sight. We have sixteen more episodes. The likelihood is that they will split it [into two seasons]. You know, the whole business model is kind of upside down: Does eight episodes create a season? I don’t know. I guess so? It’s an arbitrary number. So they are going to go back into the writers' room in November and start looking at it from that standpoint, from what happens over the course of sixteen more episodes. And then I think if they get the final okay that we are gonna split the seasons, then [Vince] will cut it in half and figure out a good cliff-hanger for the eighth episode and how it picks up.

How closely did you follow the negotiations between Vince and AMC? I stayed away from it. I learned long ago to focus on things you can control and don’t even pay attention to things you don’t. So I occupy my time with other things and trust that they will collectively want to have a nice resolution, and they did, so that’s good.

Do you see yourself going back to comedy once you’re done playing Walt? Or do you think this show has cemented you as a dramatic actor? Well, it has taken me in a different direction, that is for sure. It is up to me now to bend it back towards comedy. That being said, I have been getting some wonderful offers to do dramatic roles that are very well-written stories; there is a lot more opportunity for me to do drama. But, conversely, there was the opportunity to do more comedies after Malcolm in the Middle. It is kind of the same old story: You are in a perplexing condition based on some successes that you find.

You had small supporting roles in Contagion and Drive this year. What is your criteria for choosing a film? Does it matter how big the part is, or how big the movie? It comes down to the material, if I find material and personnel that I have wanted to be with, like Soderbergh on Contagion. I wanted to work with him and it was an appropriate role, though there were scenes that were cut out of it and it diminished my final count … minutes, or whatever. That is always the case in television or film; you are susceptible to that sort of scrutiny and decision-making. And then Drive was a great experience. I knew it was going to be a small movie and it came down to a decision between doing Drive or a role on X-Men, which was a huge movie. And I chose the smaller movie.

Dean Norris [who plays Walt’s brother-in-law, Hank] has been busting your chops about the Total Recall remake you’re starring in. Were you aware? Yeah. Thinks it’s his show, ya know? He has that famous line, “You got a lot of nerve showing your face around here.”

How tough is it to remake a movie like that? It’s not necessarily a classic, but everyone knows it. I don’t think there is much of a challenge at all. I think the script is better. We certainly have a tremendous upgrade in our lead actor. That is less of a comment on Arnold [Schwarzenegger] and more of a comment on Colin [Farrell]. The special effects over the last twenty years have grown exponentially, so that is going to be a heightened experience. And I just think it is an exciting movie. You know it’s going to entertain — I can guarantee you that.

Source.

And just curious, who caught the Bridge on the River Kwai clip in episode 11 when Gus speaks to Hector? Kind of an obvious parallel to Walt, but at the same time, awesome movie choice.

#breaking bad #bridge on the river kwai #bryan cranston #got the boyfriend SO hooked on this show!

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OWS_W2D2-0418 by pweiskel08 on Flickr.

What They did not want you to ever find out is that your generation, the generation born between 1980-1995, actually outnumbers the Baby Boomers. They knew that if you ever turned your eye towards political reform, you could change the world.

They tried to keep you sated on vapid television shows and vapid music. They cut off your education and fed you brain candy. They took away your music and gave you Top Ten pop stations. They cut off your art and replaced it with endless reality shows for you to plug into, hoping you would sit quietly by as They ran the world. I think They thought you were too dumb to notice.

Indeed, I thought They had won. But I watched you occupy the capital of Wisconsin. I see you today as you occupy Wall Street. And I see a spark, a glimmer of the glorious new age that is yours. A changing of the guard, a guard that has stood for entirely too long and needs your young legs to take his place. I watch you turn away from what is easy and stand up for what is right. I see you understand we as a society are only as strong as our weakest link. I see you wise beyond your years. And I am proud. Give ‘em hell, kids. You are beautiful.

#NYPD #OurWallStreet #occupywallstreet #Occupy Wall Street

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#trueblood #fangtasia #AlexsBar (Taken with Instagram at Fangtasia)

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The Newest Edition to the Forever 27 Club

The newest addition to the "Forever 27" club, Ms. Amy Winehouse. Tell Jimi, Janis, Kurt and Mr. Morrison whats up for me. You and your sultry tortured soul will be missed. 

#amy winehouse #forever 27

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Walking Dead Season 2 Trailer

Just premiered at Comic-Con!

So. friggen. excited.

#walking dead #season 2 #trailer

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The homies haz skillz.

#swiss precise #kbh

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Came home to a photoshoot in the living room. Never knew all those lights fit in our place! (Taken with instagram)