Seven year on from his anointment as a movie star with “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” (and fifteen from his first appearance on screens in “Freaks & Geeks,” and Seth Rogen is still riding high. Sure, there have been moments when his projects didn’t work out (“The Green Hornet,” “The Guilt Trip,” but for the most part, he’s continued to make smart choices, and particularly in the last couple of years, as he’s taken his career more into his own hands (and those of writing/producing/directing partner Evan Goldberg), and set out to make lower budget movies that have turned out to be hugely profitable, as well as critically acclaimed.
Last summer “This Is The End,” which served as Rogen and Goldberg’s directorial debut, was a big hit, and this summer’s “Neighbors” (in which Rogen starred and the pair produced together) was even bigger. And they’re not hanging about, as this fall will see the release of their second film as directors, “The Interview,” in which Rogen once again teams up with pal James Franco.
The duo play a successful talk show host (Franco) and his producer (Rogen) who score an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un (Randall Park), only to be tasked with the CIA with killing him. Lizzy Caplan and “Veep“‘s Timothy Simons both star, and now we get our first look at the movie thanks to a new trailer, as well as the super-awesome poster you can see below.
“It’s our attempt to make our version of a big political spy thriller,” Rogen told us last month, “but starring me and Franco. It’s kind of the formula we always do which is we take a genre we like and add idiots to it. It’s like “This is the End” is a horror movie with idiots in it and “Pineapple Express” is an eighties action movie with idiots in it. So this is our “3 Days of the Condor” with idiots in it. And Kim Jong-un is one of the main characters in the movie, which is something that I’m curious about how people will react to.” Goldberg added “It’s really fucking crazy. I don’t know how to describe the tone. It’s based in a real situation, in a real place, with real characters. And we’re getting real news anchors to participate and play off real world politics. The thing at our company is make it a little smarter than your last one, but also way dumber. Always make it way dumber at the same time, and Franco is unleashed in this. I’ve never seen any actor do what Franco is doing in this movie. He just went fucking crazy. There’s some takes that are unusable because he went so far, but we always let him go as far as he could because at minute 6 he would be unbelievable.”
We were already on board, and after the trailer, we’re even more so. The film will open on October 10th, and you can check out the teaser below.
all the blabla and political crap asside i think this could be funny as hell
Wow.. more and more this site seems to prove itself to be populated by twenty-something fanboy bloggers thoroughly ensconced white middle class comic book culture. Whether or not the movie is any good (and it might be), the trailer itself is lightweight, inconsequential and entirely not funny. Not even "once-funny". I would tell you suburban kids over there at The Playlist to get off your laptops, put down the Tarantino dvd and read a book or two, join a gym or something, anything besides watching movies….. but even right now you can't understand what I'm saying, can you?
Ah well. Least as long as you're on your computer, you're off the streets.
This will start WW3, no question about it.
LOCK CHARMER REFLECTS MAGIC REALISM
By PRADIP BISWAS, THE INDIAN EXPRESS,INDIA
Natalia Smirnoss of Argentina makes a tremendous revelation by making her second feature film LOCK CHARMER. Set in Buenos Aires during a three-week span in 2008 when the city was said to be invaded by a mysterious fog, reason being unknown. The story unfolds 33-year-old Sebastian (Esteban Lamothe) who finds himself dealing with the double whammy of a quaint ability with the news that he may soon become a dad. The rumour appears to be a bombshell dropped by Sebastianâs casual stay of five months with Monica (Erica Rivas). The twist is that Monica is all against an abortion. She is psychologically prepared to raise the child on her own and has no interest in tucking up Sebastian into family life. We have here a power of womanâs empowerment. It upsets Sebastian to a great extent. Nevertheless, the situation forces Sebastian to confront his own baggage, a chronic inability to commit, and unravel feelings about his bohemian father (Sergio Boris), currently living quietly outside the city.
However, that low-key dramaturgy gets a little spark from Sebastianâs special power, which is never recognized by a logical explanation. It is to be noted that which everyone presumes is a strange side effect of the fog. Here is fog is metonym. Sebastian isnât too keen on the ability to attract wide attention but he canât stop himself from blurting out the truths whenever heâs absorbed in natural job. At such a time, he meets Daisy (a charming non-pro Yosiria Huaripata), a Peruvian housemaid who quits her job when Sebastian reveals that her boyfriend has been stealing from her boss. With nowhere else to go, she moves in with Sebastian and encourages him to use his talents to help people. Of course, the person he most needs to help is himself.
Although Natalia carefully dodges the complex ploy for a love triangle to develop, a magical mystery is planted with a touch of magical finess like that of fog which is never predictable. The film displays an easy odd-couple rapport in Sebastian and Daisyâs scenes together â including a quirky ritual involving an egg â which presents the filmâs primary pleasure. Lamothe acquits himself well enough as a likable leading man, but the role doesnât demand very much. It said each part and movement is steeped in some mystery occurrence. Some critics find it a âwisp of melancholy comedyâ. This critic fails to appearance of lingering fog that is set to set the ball rolling. Natalia makes his Locksmith imagine the simple concept â a locksmith gains the mysterious ability to intuit the secrets of his clients. The structure is finely patterned and is kept elliptical till the end. Natalia with a sincere work of course wins our kudos.