Tag: 14th

Dale Dye is currently playing the role of Porter in TNT’s new show “Falling Skies”. Dale is also co-starring in this summer’s “Larry Crowne”, directed by Tom Hanks.  If you have seen a movie in the war genre, it is most likely that he has worked on the film as the Military Technical Advisor.  He supervised such films as “Platoon” to “Saving Private Ryan”.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Dale about “Falling Skies” and working in the business.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your role as Porter in TNT’s “Falling Skies”?
Dale Dye: Porter is a recently retired professional military officer.  He is a native of Boston. He has been called on to be the professional head of a resistance group that has formed around the Boston area.  He has organized a of guys together into a milita group. It is like volunteers who arm themselves and undergo a little training and attempt to get some resistance going against the alien invaders.

MG: What drew you to the role?
DD: I guess it is typecasting at its best [laughs]. I am a former professional military guy for almost all my adult life, before I got into the weirdness that is show business.  Of course I know Steven Speilberg very well from previous projects that I worked with him on.  It just seemed like the the right role.  It was an opportunity to be the steady guy in this absolute mess of aliens invading the earth. I thought here is a hero shot, it is a chance to be the old, wise and sage professional mentor to a bunch of guys who are doing there best to resist against this situation.  I don’t want to say it was a no-brainer but I can definitely say it appealed to me.  I could see myself for real in that role.

MG: Even though the show is about alien invasion, do you feel the show is realistic and focuses on the character development?
DD: It really does.  Anytime you are talking about science fiction of this calibur with guys like Steven Speilberg and his team.  There is always the tempation of just making a jaw dropper and make it all about the spectical and to hell with the story and the characters.  I am not too interested in those types of projects.  When you have Steven Speilberg producing, I can guarantee you that is not doing to be the deal.  He is a consumate storyteller and I knew that coming on.  For this project, I saw he was going after those human emotions or elements that make the story so appealing. It was all there in the scripts.  Even though, I knew it was going to be a hell of a spectacle…the human story was still there.

MG: Tell us how has bit been working with the rest of the cast?
DD: It is always great to walk on the set and see a mixture of seasoned pros along with really anxious and talent younger actors.  That is what makes this project so appealing. You got guys like Noah Wyle, he has been around for a while and is a really good actor.  Will (Patton) also along with Noah were really pros.  You have people like Moon (Bloodstone) and some of the other younger actors, I think their best performances are brought out when they are working with old pros. Everyone was excited about working on this show.  We were shooting in Toronto.  I could sense that excitement while walking on the set.  This was a set in which there was a syngery going between both the veterans and the new actors, who were really trying to make their mark.  That is the way that film business should be by my perspective.

MG: You have taken on the role of Military Technical Advisor on many projects, do you enjoy this task?
DD: That is a awful long story [laughs]. It was among my believe that Hollywood wasn’t treating military characters and war in general in an appropriate impactful way.  You can do a lot of things when you are ignorant that people tell you can’t do.  I came out and said I wanted to find a fix it.  I was able to convince people how to get these things done.  We succeeded very well in my first project which was with Oliver Stone in the film “Platoon”. Oliver let me do it my way and we won four Academy Awards including Best Picture. In Hollywood, nothing succeeds like success.  I began to have people watching me train actors. They began saying “He is pretty convincing.  Maybe if we put him in front of the camera, then he can do it on film”  I guess they found some hidden talent in me somewhere.  It is kind of like Oliver told me when I appeared as Captain Harris in “Platoon”, he told me “If you ever take an acting lesson, I will never hire you again”. So there must be something there, I guess I have been a performer in my life in one way or another.

MG: Do you have a favorite film in that genre?
DD: There are couple that stand out for me, “Platoon” will always have have a soft spot in my heart.  This is due to the film success and the way I discovered to train actors and bring a certain performance to the screen.  It was also my big break.  I also love “Saving Private Ryan”.  In the television world, I love “Bands of Brothers” and “The Pacific”.  I think those films definitely stand out for me.

MG: You are featured in this summer’s “Larry Crowne” with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, tell us about working on that film?
DD: Tom has been a good personal film as well as a professional colleague. He kind of admires what I do.  I am always whinning to him how typecast I am.  I tell him “I can be a doctor, lawyer, or a politican…why am I always able to be stuck playing the military officer”.  I think Tom listened to it for a while and said “Hey listen, you get those roles because you are good at it”. I said “Yeah Yeah but…Yeah Yeah but…”  Eventually it came around that Tom wanted to see if I could do other things.  So when “Larry Crowne” came around I got a call and he said “Listen I got something for you” and I said “Ok, what uniform do I have to wear now”.  But in the film, I play his boss and I get to fire him in a wonderful little scene. It is ironic because he was hiring me.  “Larry Crowne” is probably one of the best written romantic comedies that I have ever seen and Tom is a tour de force in it.  I am glad to have a little shot at it.

MG: You are currently writting and directing your first film “No Better Place to Die”, what can you tell us about that?
DD: We are able to start shooting.  I am making my feature directorial debut. It is, naturally, a WWII D-Day film about the fight that the 82nd Airborne Division had at a very critical bridge in La Fiere. I am looking forward to it. I have done a lot of second unit directing.  I am also usually staging and choreographing combat.  This is a story I wrote and everyone is very excited about the script, so I guess it is good [laughs]. We will see whether or not I have learned over last 20 years from guys like Steven Speilberg, Tom Hanks, Oliver Stone, Robert Robert Zemeckis and many others.  If you are going to go to school, you definitely want those guys as your teachers.

MovieMikes has prided itself in speaking with some of the great voice talent behind many of Walt Disney’s beloved characters. From Winnie the Pooh to many of the classic Disney Princesses, our readers have asked and we’ve delivered. And if you’re talking about beloved Disney characters, there is none bigger or more known around the world then the one that started it all, Mickey Mouse.

Mickey Mouse has been voiced by four different men. Walt Disney himself provided the voice from the character’s introduction in 1928’s “Steamboat Willie” through 1947. He also provided Mickey’s voice during the 1955-59 series run of the original “Mickey Mouse Club.” Jimmy McDonald succeeded Disney and voiced the character until 1977 when he was replaced by Wayne Allwine. When Mr. Allwine passed away in 2009 he was replaced by Bret Iwan who, like Disney and McDonald before him, dreamed of being an animator long before he discovered his vocal talent. Born in September 1982, Iwan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Ringling College or Art and Drawing in 2004. Shortly after graduation he sent off his portfolio, hoping for a job with the Walt Disney Company. While he was offered an internship at Walt Disney Imagineering he also received an offer of a full time position at Hallmark Cards. He took the Hallmark offer and soon found himself moving to Kansas City, coincidentally the city that stood home to Walt Disney’s first animation studio. As he approached his fifth year with Hallmark he learned from a friend that phone auditions were being accepted to voice Mickey Mouse. After several days of practice, Iwan called in, recorded his audition and waited for a phone call. Several weeks later, that call came and, after a few more auditions, Iwan was named the fourth official voice of Mickey Mouse.

While back in Kansas City to attend a fund raiser for the “Thank You, Walt Disney,” an organization created to help save the building that housed Disney’s original “Laugh O’ Gram” studios,” Iwan took some time out to talk with MovieMikes about his career and his unique opportunity.

Mike Smith: Since you used to live here I guess I can say “welcome back” to Kansas City.
Bret Iwan: Thank you. It’s great to be here.

MS: You studied to become an artist. What made you choose that path as a career?
BI: Early on what inspired me was watching the old classic Disney cartoons. My parents were always putting them on for me, everything from Mickey Mouse to Pinocchio. And while watching them they really caught my attention…how the drawings were coming to life. And so as early as I can remember I wanted to be an artist…more specifically I wanted to be an animator. So from grade school through high school through college that was my goal. That’s what I focused on. I didn’t quite make it there in the capacity I dreamed of but I did make it to Disney, which was a major part of that dream.

MS: How did it work at Hallmark? Would they give you the written copy for a card and ask you to design it?
BI: It worked a couple of different ways. That was one way. Other times the creator would have a specific card and a specific image in mind that they would come to us and ask us to create. And other times we would have an open brainstorm free for all! The illustrators would come up with concepts on their own or with concepts for whatever upcoming holiday they were working on at the time and then submit them to the designers for them to pick and choose from. So there never really was oneconsistent way of working. They always kept us on our toes. It was a lot of fun.

MS: What was the oddest or most memorable card you designed?
BI: It wasn’t one that I designed. I got to pose. I modeled for a card one time. I was holding two glasses of wine so it was just my hands. It was for Hallmarks’ “RED” card line (NOTE: the company’s RED card line was created to raise money. The proceeds from the cards were spent to combat AIDS in Africa.Mr. Iwan’s card caused some notoriety when a Delaware woman tried to have it pulled from shelves, claiming it promoted promiscuity). They went around the room and they chose me. I guess I had the nicest hands at the time. That was my one and only modeling job ever.

MS: What did your audition consist of to become the voice of Mickey Mouse? Did you have scenes to read, or did they just say “do Mickey happy…do Mickey sad?” Not that Mickey Mouse is ever sad.
BI: He could be. (laughs) The audition was basically a voice match. They provided an MP3 of clips from a couple of Walt’s cartoons and a couple of Wayne’s cartoons. And the audition was to do the best you could to match those voices. Walt’s clips included lines from “The Brave Little Tailor” and Wayne’s had clips from “The Three Musketeers” and also some stuff from the intro to the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” that was currently on the air. So there was a great variety from where Walt had started and where Wayne had taken Mickey.

MS: Did you ever meet Wayne Allwine?
BI: No, sadly, I did not. When I auditioned they were looking for somebody to serve as an understudy for Wayne. So I auditioned thinking I was going to get to meet him and to learn from him. Get some good tips and techniques from him. Unfortunately that didn’t happen because in the midst of the process of finding an understudy he passed away. It was somewhat unexpected. I took over about twoweeks after he passed away.

MS: I know you’ve voiced Mickey on several video games. Is there any talk of bringing Mickey back in a full length feature film?
BI: I would love for that to happen. And I know a lot of the other voice cast members would as well. I haven’t heard anything official. I have heard from my fans on Twitter that there was an interview with one of the story men at the Walt Disney Studios where he mentioned that he had pitched a feature length 2-D animated movie featuring Mickey, Donald and Goofy. I don’t know what the future is for that but I would love for it to come to fruition so I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I think that would be great.

MS: In your short time doing this, what is the most unusual or strangest thing you’ve ever had to voice as Mickey Mouse?
BI: Hmmmmmm….well I don’t know if it’s the strangest but voicing for the “Epic Mickey” video game was interesting because there’s NO dialogue in the entire game. It’s all noises and reactions. So it was strange trying to communicate a plethora of emotions and actions just by little noises. That’s probably the oddest and most challenging that I can think of.

MS: Let’s say the proposed upcoming Mickey Mouse feature comes along and they’re going to do the animation the old fashioned way. If they offered you a job as an animator would you do it?
BI: I would love to. I would love that. That would be a complete dream come true. I’d have a lot to learn…I’m by no means an expert at animation. But with that being the driving force behind my initial dream I would love to be a part of that process.

For information on how you can get involved with the “Thank You Walt Disney” organization please click here.

Tim Roth is well known for his role of Mr. Orange in “Reservoir Dogs”. He also steals in the show in “Pulp Fiction”. Tim is really good at playing very different and interesting roles in his films. He plays villains in the the “Planet of the Apes” remake and the “The Incredible Hulk”. Tim is currently starring in Fox’s TV series “Lie to Me”, which is heading into its third season. Movie Mikes had a chance to talk with Tim to discuss his hit TV show and go through his amazing roles that he has played.

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Mike Gencarelli: Tell us how you originally got involved with Quentin Tarantino?
Tim Roth: I have only just arrived in LA and really didn’t know anybody. My agent at the time had me look at this script. I think Quentin had seen me in “Vincent & Theo” and “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead”, since he is very film savvy. He knew the stuff I had been doing over in Europe. I think the note on the script originally said to look at Blond or Pink characters. I looked at it and loved Mr. Orange. I knew he was on to something special and I quickly reached for the phone. We met and got along very well. Then him and Harvey Weinstein were trying to get me to read and I wouldn’t do it. I am really bad at auditioning. I will meet anybody but I won’t read for them. Eventually Quentin got me drunk and I ended up reading every character like five times in my apartment. Faced the fear. And that was that. I think it was a very great relationship we made, along into “Pulp Fiction” as well.

MG: Between “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”, both huge cult classics, do you have a favorite?
TR: I think “Pulp Fiction” is a comedy. It is a brilliant stylish comedy. I think “Reservoir Dogs” is a much more serious film. I find them both very different film and love them both. I was watching “Pulp Fiction” the other day and thought it was hilarious. At first I would have to say though “Reservoir Dogs”. Since that when we were all very much raw…trying out new things and experimenting. “Reservoir Dogs” is also the beginning of me not taking myself so bloody seriously as an actor and just enjoying myself.

MG: Tell us about working on “Planet of the Apes”, was it a difficult shoot?
TR: I had the best time doing that film. It was fantastic work with Tim (Burton). We really didn’t get to make the film we wanted to make. It should have been a very dark and twisted film, but we were under a lot of constraints. The makeup started out at around five hours but got it down to around two and a half, which isn’t bad. But that was just to get it on. The shoot I believe was five months long and I ended up getting the flu. I would just put myself into the mood, fool around and enjoy myself and it would distract me from what was actually happening. I really enjoyed making that film.

MG: How do you feel about the prequel that is doing CG apes?
TR: I suppose that is just reflects what today is with films. It is great we have the technology to do that. There is something about the original film especially and even the TV show, the fact that it is a person in makeup that makes those films special. I just don’t known if with it all CG if it will be as special.

MG: How was it working “The Incredible Hulk”, it seemed like a pretty intense role?
TR: I really really had a great time [laughs]. I just enjoyed myself. I did it really for my kids. I wanted to be in a movie that they would get a kick out of when they see it. Originally I know what they planned to do and it would have made it a better film. There was some very good sequences that I think the audience would have loved. I usually like to throw myself into these things. I like the idea of doing very different things as for as being an actor. Experimenting with different kinds of film and now working on TV, I enjoy that.

MG: Tell us about your hit show “Lie to Me”, what can we expect for season three?
TR: I think we have the strongest of the writers from last year stepping up. Alexander Carey is now taking over the running of the show with David Graziano. They form a very solid team. The script this season shows a great consistency of that. They feel like little movies for TV. There is a lot of looking into Lightman’s relationship and the things with his daughter. There is also new women in Lightman’s life as well, it kind of opened up everything really. We have a lot of fun stories. We have all kinds of different stuff which is what good about the character, you can really go anywhere with it.

MG: How was it been playing Dr. Cal Lightman?
TR: What is interesting about doing TV for me is that I didn’t I would like it so much. But I am really enjoying it and a lot of that comes down to these two guys that are running the show. The character is season one is quite different and he gradually gets built up from season two to now season three. In the one end, you are playing the same guy but he is changing all the time. That is what is refreshing about doing TV, you can expand the character as you go. I know he is a bit of a dick but I quite [laughs] love him really. I just do not know how he survives. I would imagine him getting shot pretty quickly. Unfortunately for the bad guy, I get away with murder. I just find him fun to play and he makes me laughs a lot. I just sort of build on the guy from week to week.

MG: What is the best part of working on the show?
TR: I like the hours. Well actually not so much the hours, more so that you are working so much. Where in film you are doing three pages a day, we are doing seven here…just running at it. I actually like that. I do like a day off occasionally though, which happens very rarely. You are busy all the time and I really enjoy that. Working with the writers and working as a producer, I sort of enjoy that as well. I found it very difficult to adjust to at first. Gradually as I have met people that are talented and passionate about it, it has become a lot more pleasurably.

MG: Any other projects in the works?
TR: I have a couple of films I want to direct. So hopefully after this TV show is done, I will have a little bit of money in the bank. Then I can take some time off and direct…cause their is no money in that. There are a couple of really good scripts, that I have come across. They are very unusual and interesting. I do not want to say what they are but they are very well written and hopefully will have some time to do those.

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Adam Green has become on of the biggest names in Hollywood in what seems like overnight. He directed “Hatchet” starring Kane Hodder as the instant horror icon, Victory Crowley. The film has become such a cult classic already that Adam make “Hatchet II”, which will be in theaters on October 1st unrated and uncut, courtesy of AMC Theaters. Adam not only cares about his job, he takes pride in it. This show in the fact that “Hatchet II” is actually better than its predecessor, which is rare for a slasher flick. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Adam about his road to stardom and his work on his “Hatchet” films.

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Mike Gencarelli: When you originally made the first “Hatchet”, did you think it was going to be as successful as it has been?
Adam Green: Absolutely not! It was the type of thing that we got a bunch of friends together who liked this type of stuff. It was a very selfish movie because we made the type of movie we wanted to see. The reaction in the industry to the script was interesting. My agency at the time was sure if it was funny or scary. They didn’t really understand the tone of it. I told them it is both, it is just a fun movie. They said nobody is doing this type of movie any more and that it went out of style in 1989. They sent it around and one of the first major studios to respond said “We really enjoyed this. The writing is brilliant. However this movie is not going to get made because it is not a remake, not a sequel and not based Japanese film.” I used the rejection letter as part of the poster in the festival tour. For a lot of fans that is what drew them in.  Once the movie actually came out though, Anchor Bay took that off the poster and really pushed it as really serious scary movie. I wasn’t happy about that. We premiered at Tribeca and all of the sudden our  slasher movie was getting good reviews. Audiences were standing up and cheering. We were winning awards. It was crazy. It was a dream come true.

MG: With the sequel “Hatchet II”, you were able to get an unrated and uncut theatrical release, that must feel good to get that great accomplishment?
AG: It does and it doesn’t. With “Hatchet” when they gave it an NC-17, we were absolutely shocked. We keep re-cutting and re-cutting and they kept giving us an NC-17 for violence. I eventually went to trial against the MPAA because I didn’t feel we were being treated fairly. During my trial, I sited a lot of other movies that were out at the time. My biggest one was “The Hills Have Eyes” remake, which I really liked. But I was saying to them though, here is a movie that has a scene where a women is raped in front of a baby, they sucked on the mom’s tit till she lactates only to shoot her in the head, bite the head off of parakeet then drink its blood and follow-up by running off into the night with a stolen baby they are going to eat while daddy is outside crucified and on fire….and that is ok? But a swamp monster with gas-powered self sander killing a bunch of comedians like Monty Python is too much? I asked them where are there standards? The fact is we were an independent movie.  We weren’t paying their salaries.  That is their jobs to keep the studios films in the spotlight and bury films like ours. They will deny it but it is true. There is a great film by Kirby Dick called “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”. If you see the movie, those are the exact people I had to deal with. When we submitted “Hatchet II”, they gave us an NC-17 again for violence. I cut two whole minutes out of the movie just of gore and told them I wasn’t going to fight with them again. They still gave us an NC-17. So then Dark Sky Films, who was distributing, brought the movie to AMC because they knew the head of AMC was a “Hatchet” fan and is in the Hatchet Army. They showed him the movie and he loved it. They asked him how would you feel if none of the kills were in the movie.  He said “You can’t do that”.  It was really them who made the decision to release to the movie unrated. It hasn’t happened with a horror movie is over 25 years. It is very exciting. But I am officially like a marked man by the ratings board. I didn’t want any of that, I was just standing up for myself. It would really mean a lot if the fans actually show up and support this movie. What the industry looks at is those per screen averages. If we make enough noise and enough people see this, it is going to start blowing the winds of change at the ratings board. This is a very pivotal movie in the history of cinema. I wish it wasn’t my movie. I wish it was somebody elses because then I would be campaigning like a fucking politician. But I have to watch what I do because I do not want to be conceived as a car salesman, who is just trying to show his product. Hopefully the fans show up. If they like it hopefully they go twice or three times and bring their friends. They need to cast their vote that they agree with what we are doing.

MG: I know the second film is just coming out but do you think we will see Victor Crowley again?
AG: I am personally looking to make other films. Pretty much what I did after “Hatchet”, I did “Spiral”, I produced “Grace” and I did “Frozen”. Then I was ready to do “Hatchet II”. They wanted a sequel right away but I needed sometime to spread my wings and do other things.  So I wanted to come back to this with the same excitement and passion that I had the first time around. We will see what happens, if “Hatchet 3” ends up taking several years to make, maybe I will come back to helm. If they want to go right away, I will most likely pass the torch and stay as producer and hopefully hand pick who they will choose to carry on the series. I kind of feel like I have done my part with this at this point. Victor Crowley can always come back. One of the cool things about the 80’s slasher franchises is that we saw so many great writers and directors got their first chance by doing some of those sequels. I would love to watch someone elses career get started with a “Hatchet” movie. At the same time I know for a fact that “Hatchet II” is better than the first one and if they make “Hatchet 3”, I would want it to be better than this one. I would love to have a slasher franchise that actually gets better as they go and not just spiral out of control.

MG: Most of the films you directed are from your own script, do you find that easier as a director?
AG: As a director, I get more excited about the things I write because I am writing them for me to direct. I get submitted scripts all the time from my agents with offers to direct them. Even though they are good scripts, I just don’t get that feeling. I already have like ten of my own things that I am working on and that I am much more invested in and excited about. There are other directors out there and all they do is direct and look for that good material. I am not really the guy to be sending stuff too. One of the hardest things of writing and directing, it was also one of the best lessons from “Hatchet II”, was at some point the director has to take over. The writer in me is always so concerned about the script and not cutting anything. I am always making sure the character arcs the way I designed them. At some point you have to trim and edit and it is so hard to do that when you know that it is hurting the writing but in return making the playability of the film better. Joe Lynch is one of my best friends, he is also a director. He saw “Hatchet II” a couple of time and I told him I know there are a couple of moments that I know the film is dragging but if I cut those the characters do not have the same arc. He said “Dude it is “Hatchet II”, no matter what…nobody is going to respect the writing…no matter how good it is”. He told me to go for playability and make the movie move as fast as I can without completely sacrificing it. I cut like four minutes of dialogue and character stuff out and it really helps the movie flow better I feel.

MG: Ok, I need to ask about this crazy fact I read, how did you end up posing as Dr. Zaius on the cover art for Fox’s Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary box set?
AG: That was one of my highlights of everything that has happened so far. At once point Robert Pendergraft, who did the makeup effects for “Hatchet I & II”, he was working at a shop that was hired to high resolution of the apes for the “Planet of the Apes” Blu-ray release. A lot of the actors are not around anymore, though. Maurice Evans who played Zaius is dead. He told me that from looking at the costume, it looks like the same size as me. He asked me to come in and try it on and he said “if it works, we will put you in the makeup”. They told me I couldn’t tell anybody because they want the fans to think it is Maurice Evans but I will be in his costume.  So there I am like two days later, they are pulling out all of the old costumes and prosthetics. It was like a five hour makeup job. You can tell when you look at the eyes, it is me.  Somebody finally at Fox admitted it was me and now it is out there. It was such an honor to have worn that man’s costume. I am such a huge “Planet of the Apes” films and I can’t even tell you what that day was like for me.

MG: Tell us about what your next film will be?
AG: Due to the success of “Hatchet”, if I have a movie that could be marketed in that genre, people are always throwing money at you to make it. I hoping that something like that happens with the film I have coming up called, “Killer Pizza”, which is a kids adventure movie. I am working on it with Chris Columbus. Hopefully that will open some more doors for me. In a perfect world, I would do a big movie and then come back and do something like “Hatchet”. Independent movies are our movies. I get to work with the same crew. I get to work with my family. On a studio movie you really do not get that. I am very picky on what I am going to do. As much as I get calls to come in for these big budget remakes and things. I am not going to do one unless it is something I really want to do and believe in it. I am very fortunate that because of “Hatchet”, I do not have to base my decision purely on finances. I do have my own company and I can make my own films. I actually have people that want to finance these now. “Killer Pizza” was definitely the right one at the right time. Just getting the chance to work with 1492 and Chris. I mean Chris Columbus is giving me notes on my script…that is just so amazing.

Click here to purchase Adam’s movies