Jason Mewes talks about films "Noobz" and "Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie"

Jason Mewes is known best for playing half of the comedic duo team Jay and Silent Bob with Kevin Smith. He has worked on with Kevin Smith on his films from “Clerks 1 & 2”, to “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”. Jay is starring in the new gaming film “Noobz” with Blake Freeman, Matt Shively, Moises Arias, Casper Van Dien and Zelda Williams. Jay and Kevin Smith also recently announced the new animated film “Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat movies, video games and what he has planned next.

Mike Gencarelli: Let’s talk about how you got involved with the project “Noobz”?
Jason Mewes: The director, Blake Freeman, said he was thinking about me when he wrote the character. When they were getting ready to go into production, he contacted me and sent me the script. I thought it was awesome and that was that man!

MG: This is a really fun role for you. What did you enjoy most the role?
JM: Awesome thanks man. I am really psyched about the movie and how it turned out. I will always love the Jay character. It is me playing me. It is working with Kevin (Smith) and we have been doing it for so many years now. But besides those things, I definitely have to say I really had a lot of fun on it and really felt strong about the whole concept. Hopefully people dig it as much as I have.

MG: Are you a gamer in general?
JM: Yeah man, I probably play a little too much. I go through phases. I get addicted to gaming. For a while I was addicted to “The Lord of the Rings: Battle from Middle Earth” on the PC. Back then, I was with my girlfriend (now wife) and we would make plans to go out but I would be caught up playing and completely space. So I stopped playing for a little bit. Then I started playing “Call of Duty” and “Halo” and that got me back into it. Now I try to keep it at a happy medium…but I still get yelled at by my wife [laughs].

MG: You are currently touring with Kevin Smith with “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old”; what do you enjoy most about this?
JM: I love doing this. For one it has been a big help to keep me sober. I talk about 20 years of working together with Kevin. 25 years of our friendships with all the ups and downs. I talk about things that are going on in my life. And talking about it helps because it reminds me that I don’t want to go back to the way I was. Not to mention, it helps because when I walk into a Starbucks and people tell me they watch the podcast and ask how many days that I am up to now being clean. I like that. No one wanted to hire me because they thought that I was messed up and now I am getting out there and talking about it. It is really great and helping me stay sober. Most people seem to respect that. Also we have been traveling all over for it, so that has been great as well. We went to Australia and I have been there before. I have never been to Scotland, Ireland, Vancouver and we went there with this show. We have just gone all over the place and it has been awesome.

MG: Let’s talk about your new cartoon movie “Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie”, what can we expect?
JM: We are hoping to have that done by April. This started as something I told Kevin about when I first got sober that I really wanted to try directing. So I went out and directed a music video and I would still love to direct a short film or small independent movie. But I told him I would also like to get into producing. He then told me that he had a script that was sitting on his shelf and he gave it to me thinking that I would go home and just toss it on my table. But I read it, started calling some animators and began figuring out how much it would cost. My wife and I got a sound stage together and put together a group of people and then showed Kevin the first ten minutes. He loved it and then started giving us a list of people that we needed to get. So that was how he became part of it and it is really coming together. So hopefully April, we will be able to start showing it to people.  We want to tour with it like Kevin did with “Red State”. So hopefully people are going to dig it.

MG: Also now with “Clerks III” on the horizon, did you ever think that while making “Clerks” almost 20 years ago you will still be playing this role today?
JM: No, definitely not man! Definitely not with “Clerks”, Jay and Silent Bob are not even on the poster. Kevin is on it but he is in normal clothes as the director not his character. It wasn’t really till “Mallrats” that people really started asking “Hey, who are these characters?” Even after “Mallrats”, “Chasing Amy” and even “Dogma”, I had no idea that too this day we would be having all these plans, including doing the cartoon film and more comics.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: bobs, cartoon, films, groovy, jason, jay, ...

Zelda Williams talks about the film "Noobz" and her love for video games

Zelda Williams is daughter of actor and comedian Robin Williams. She co-stars in the new film “Noobz” alongside Jason Mewes, Blake Freeman, Matt Shively, Moises Arias and Casper Van Dien. She is also known for appearing in Nintendo’s television commercials for the Nintendo 3DS game “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Zelda about how she got involved with the film, her love of gaming and what she has planned next.

Mike Gencarelli: How you were approached to co-star in “Noobz”?
Zelda Williams: It was like any audition really. I met the director and talked with him about what I liked about the character and the idea to get paid to play video games [laughs]. The cast/crew are really a fun group. With them being such gamers as well, it was like looking for a kindred spirit. So it was a lot easier having that aspect in place.

MG: Tell us about preparing for you role of Rickie?
ZW: [laughs] Thankfully it was pretty easy. Pretty much everyone in the film played a more debauched version of themselves in real life. Rickie is sarcastic and silly but pretty much fairly normal, actually. It was interesting to play the straight man to everyone else goofing off. I really enjoyed it. Especially being able to be the chick gamer in it was also quite fun. Otherwise [laughs], there really wasn’t much prep needed.

MG: Being a gamer yourself, what are you currently obsessed with in the video game world?
ZW: I like playing “Assassins Creed”. I don’t play as much when it is the busy season in L.A. because you can just lose yourself. I was one of those people that would play for 8-9 hours and it doesn’t help you be productive. I still loves games though.

MG: Having a father like Robin Williams, do you feel that comedy comes natural?
ZW: No, not at all [laughs] I think I am really happy that I got his wits. I am quick and snappy but funny is a hard gig. I am happy that I don’t have to be the goofy funny one. I am not speaking a mile a minute and expected to make people roll in their seats. There is a lot pressure in that and it is something that I have avoided for a while. Growing up with comedy, I have an enormous amount of respect for it but is not something that I set out to do.

MG: How was it hosting of the live show “The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses”?
ZW: It was wonderful. I met them because of the Nintendo commercials I did and they asked me if I would be interested in hosting. I had no idea that they had a symphony behind this show, besides seeing it at E3 briefly a few years ago. It was fascinating to me but also scary as hell. I have really bad stage fright. But it was really wonderful. Music has such a connection with nostalgia. It was also great to see parents, who are fans of the game, now bringing their kids. Fans were attending all dressed up. People wouldn’t have assumed that when this game originally came out in the 8-bit world that it would played in front of an audience with a full symphony orchestra. It is interesting to look back and just think that they would have had no idea!

MG: I also a big fan of your Nintendo commercials for “The Legend of Zelda”
ZW: It is actually quite funny; doing the Nintendo commercials we actually had the opposite backlash than you would have expected. I really loved working with Nintendo and I think they are such wonderful people. A lot of people loved those commercials. But the gaming community took the other side of it and immediately starting complaining that I was pretending to be named after the game etc. It was very bizarre since half of the community went up in arms about it. But I found it very funny. They are the same people that I don’t think want to see comedians and fun people acting like gaming competitors in “Noobz”. I get it that the gaming community is very elitist but it is just really funny to me.

MG: Are you able to talk about your role in the third season of MTV’s “Teen Wolf”?
ZW: I am not sure I am able to talk about that just yet. I am good friends with Colton (Haynes) and he let that out a little early [laughs]. But next time we talk I will be able to discuss that more.

MG: Can you tell us about your film “Never”?
ZW: “Never” is a wonderful film. Thanks to Kickstarter, it got its post-production funded. I have never had a project do that and I think it is really great. I have a lot of faith done in crowd-funding if it is done properly. The film itself is really different from projects like “Noobz” or “Teen Wolf”. I play a lonely lesbian character living in Seattle, who is in a band. I get to sing three songs in the film. But it is not a musical though; it is more like “Once” where there is a reason why they are singing. But in this film, a straight guy falls in love with her. They become best friends and that’s where things get complicated. So a lot of it has to do with dealing with their friendship and feelings.

MG: What else you have for 2013?
ZW: The rest of 2013 is just working and writing. I am now writing scripts. I am very lucky to have found the team that I did to work with, since they are pushing them along well. Hopefully I will be going into production on one of my scripts soon.

 

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Casper Van Dien talks about role in "Noobz" and "Mortal Kombat Legacy 2"

Casper Van Dien is known best for his role of Johnny Rico in “Starship Troopers”.  He recently steals the show in the new gaming film “Noobz”, where he plays a comedic version of himself.  Great movie, check it out! He also takes over the role of Johnny Cage in season two of “Mortal Kombat Legacy”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Casper on these roles and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us how you got involved playing yourself in “Noobz”?
Casper Van Dien: I met Blake (Freeman) a couple years before and we hit it off. He told me he wanted to right me into one of his movies. So one day he calls me up and asked me to do a cameo in this gaming movie he was making. He told me he wanted me to just play myself. So I read it and I thought this is a friend of mine and this is what he thinks about me [laughs]. See the movie to understand why. I really think I need to get therapy and look into it if this is the way my friend sees me as. [laughs]. But I agreed and it was really fun.

MG: It’s not always easy play yourself [laughs].
CVD: I had to go to my acting coach cause I was afraid they might recast me [laughs]. I was warned several times but I guess my performance was good enough since they kept me on.  So I guess I lucked out.

MG: Are you a gamer yourself?
CVD: I think I used to consider myself a gamer until I met Blake and his friends. When I go over to hang out and talk shop, Blake and all his friends/business people are all playing online video game tournaments. We will do the meetings while they are playing. So I realized there is a difference between gamers and people that play video games. I also got to meet some of the really serious gamers that we had on “Noobz” with us that actually get paid for this. Robert Paz was in it and he became a friend of mine too. Those guys really know how to play video games and it is a art form to them. But overall, I have always loved video games and have since I was a little kid.

MG: Do you plan on working with Blake again?
CVD: I also just did another movie with him called “Mucho Dinero”. It stars Blake, Eddie Griffin and myself. That one he wanted me to play someone completely different than in “Noobz”. Funny story though, one of the grips came up to me during filming and he said “You ruined ‘Starship Troops’ for me, I’ll never be able to watch it again” and walked away. I am not doing to give details, you have to see it to find out why. I don’t know man, I am either doing something really right or I am really screwing up [laughs]. I am thrilled to be working with Blake again. He is a good pal and I love his awful sense of humor about me and life in general.

MG: Tell us about playing such an iconic character like Johnny Cage in “Mortal Kombat: Legacy”?
CVD: Yep, I just got to Johnny Cage in Kevin Tancharoen’s web series. There are several episodes this year that he is in. I think that Matt Mullins did a great job in the first season. I think he softened it up for me to do more as well. I don’t know what they are trying to say though, since Johnny Cage is a D-list actor, has a bit of an attiude and is a little conceded. So I am not sure why they wanted me and told me that I was perfect for it [laughs]. I had a blast doing this though. There are a lot of incredible marital artists. I fight a lot but nothing like these guys. Another thing is that my character gets into a girl fight. Johnny Cage in a girl fight. You have to see it man, it is very cool!

MG: Any plans you will be involved with the upcoming feature film also?
CVD: You know I would love to be involved. It is up to the director. If he wants me then I would love to do it. If he wants to do something else, either way I will fully support it. I appreciate him wanting me in the web-series in the first place. I had a blast. So we will see what will happen.

MG: It’s been over 15 years since “Starship Troopers”; yet the series is still very alive with “Starship Troopers: Invasion”, which your executive produced. Why do you think this franchise resonates with fans?
CVD: I get more tweets every day with quotes from that film on my Twitter page. I get dozens every day and then when it airs I get hundreds a day. It is just unbelievable how much fans love this movie. It is awesome to have been involved with a film that people quote you from. The film just has some many awesome quotes. Ed Neumeier is an incredible writer. Paul Verhoeven is an amazing director. This film has just had such an amazing life and so many fans.

MG: I love how active you are on Twitter and interacting with your fans.
CVD: Yeah, I love it. I wasn’t announcing that I was playing Johnny Cage because I was asked not to. But one day I went on Twitter and someone wrote “Fucking Johnny Rico is Fucking Johnny Cage. Fucking Awesome”. It was one of the coolest tweets I got last year. I was super excited by that and that is how I found that Warner Bros had released the news.

MG: What else do you have planned for 2013?
CVD: Well like I said I got the movie “Mucho Dinero”. It was a fun film to shoot and it is really funny as well. Blake wrote, produced and directed this one as well. I am going to shoot a film this weekend in Oklahoma, which is another action/thriller. I shot a Hallmark Christmas movie last year that that did really well called “Baby’s First Christmas”, so that was really cool. I have been doing this for 25 years and it just keeps getting better and better!

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: 2, casper, dien, kombat, legacy, mortal, ...

DVD Review "Noobz"

Actors: Blake Freeman, Casper Van Dien, Jason Mewes, Moises Arias, Matt Shively
Directors: Blake Freeman
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Big Air
DVD Release Date: January 29, 2013
Run Time: 100 minutes

Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to expect with “Noobz” but Hollywood shit where did this film come from? This movie is a riot and what a fantastic cast! It is great to see Jason Mewes getting a leading role. Casper Van Dien is a complete riot playing a hysterical version of himself, I wish he was in this more. Lin Shaye has a nice cameo and get some good laughs. I was not familiar with Blake Freeman, who also directed, but this guy is riot and I am sure we will be seeing a lot from him in the future. Matt Shively is also very funny, you may know him from “Paranormal Activity 4”. Moises Arias from “Hannah Montana” is all grown up and is awesome as well. Lastly, if you thought Jon Gries was funny in “Napoleon Dynamite”, he is 10x funnier in this film. If you are a gamer, especially “Gears of War”, then this is definitely for you. Jam-packed of funny gaming references that will have you rolling.

Official Synopsis: Noobz is the first big, outrageous comedy to capture gamer culture from the inside. Four friends hit the road to LA to compete in the Cyberbowl Video Game Championship but will they be able to compete with the worst hangovers of their lives?
 
Cody has just lost his job and his hot wife is leaving him because he can’t stop gaming. Game store clerk Andy (Jason Mewes, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) convinces him to get the Reign Clan together, including sexually confused Oliver (Matt Shively, Paranormal Activity 4) and asthmatic teen “Hollywood” (Moises Arias, Ender’s Game, TV’s “Hannah Montana”), and head to California to win prize money and meet Andy’s online gamer-girl crush Rickie (Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams). Nothing, not a Mom armed with mace or a bunch of bodacious strippers or a mulleted arcade game champion stuck in the ‘80s (Jon Gries, Napoleon Dynamite) or even Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) will stop this unlikely team from getting their frag on and bringing their A-game to the stiff competition.

The special features on the DVD are quite decent. There is a super funny audio commentary track with Blake Freeman and Jason Mewes, must listen. “One on one with Jason Mewes” is an in-your-face feature with the funny man himself. “Meet Director Blake Freeman” introduces us to this funny guy, who directed and starred in this film. “A chat with Casper Van Dien” shows you a new side of this guy and he is one funny son bitch. Lastly “Fun with Matt Shively” is very funny and a little weird…but still a riot. Overall, I am surprised that this little film has received such a nice DVD release. Overall, I recommend this little film for sure…gamer nerds spread the word!

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Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: dvd, noobz, review
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