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Rock on Board: Philip Seymour Hoffman (left), Rhys Ifans (center) and Richard Curtis on location for PIRATE RADIO

Richard Curtis had a death in the family. I’d flown in to London to do the interviews for my PIRATE RADIO coverage, and the director was at the top of my list. Some things, though, take precedence over spending fifteen minutes with a dumpy New York journalist, and for Curtis, this had to be one of ‘em.  I had no argument there. I did my sessions with actors Tom Sturridge, Talulah Riley, and Nick Frost instead (you can hear them in Part 1 of this series) and silently wished Curtis well.

Three weeks later, he and I finally had our sit-down. Frankly, I’m not sure I could’ve scraped it all together in so short a time under such conditions, but I was grateful he did. That conversation wraps up this installment, along with my exclusive one-on-one with Bill Nighy — who plays the paternal, impeccably dressed, and seemingly gay (he’s one of the few characters who doesn’t get it on in the course of the film) proprietor of the pirate broadcaster Radio Rock — and the roundtable interview with “The Count” himself, Philip Seymour Hoffman. You’ll learn a little about Nighy’s inner wild man, Hoffman’s experiences as the sole American in a cast of Brits, and Curtis’ decision to trim PIRATE RADIO (nee THE BOAT THAT ROCKED) by some fifteen minutes (or more — reports vary) for its U.S. debut.

Click on the player above to hear the show.

MMP on PIRATE RADIO:

(Almost) Live from London: PIRATE RADIO vs. THE BOAT THAT ROCKED

Part 1: Nick Frost, Talulah Riley, Tom Sturridge

“The F-Word”

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www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/pirate_radio

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Catching Up with the Past

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A retiree (voice of Barry Otto) learns that guardian angels (Geoffrey Rush) aren't always all that's advertised in $9.99

What with all the “family-oriented” animation that we’re going to be saddled with over the next few months, Tatia Rosenthal’s debut stop-motion animated feature, $9.99, comes as a welcome change. Based on the stories of Etgar Keret — who for the indie film crowd is probably best known for writing the seed story that became WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY — the film is a tart, funny, and ultimately moving examination of people’s quest for meaning in their lives. And since those people include a widowed retiree being hounded by a singularly surly guardian angel (played fantastically by Geoffrey Rush), a commitment-phobe who spends his days entertaining a  trio of two-inch tall frat boys, and a guy who falls in love with a model with some rather extreme preferences in her beaus, Rosenthal has more than enough opportunity to let her animation process spin some weird ‘n’ wonderful visuals.

Here’s my interview with Rosental.

Trailer

www.9dollars99movie.com

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And Now, For an Alternate View

Continue reading »]]> Not so much a classic, dry martini as one of those newfangled drinks that get whipped up in upscale bars — you know, the kind of beverage made with exotic liquors and maybe one of those faux, LED ice cubes for a bit of dazzle — EASY VIRTUE takes one of Noel Coward’s earlier plays and turns it into a smart, snappy bit of entertainment for the twenty-first century. Considering that the story is about a clash of cultures between a progressive, 1920′s American woman (Jessica Biel), her fiancee (Ben Barnes), and his veddy British, very traditional family (headed up by Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas), the contemporary tweaking gives the film an interesting, meta twist.

This episode features MMP’s first three-on-one. Get your mind out of the gutter — that just means that in addition to speaking with director Stephan Elliott, we also hear from his co-writer Sheridan Jobbins and the film’s composer Marius de Vries. Consider it our version of a Memorial Day blow out. Beats hawking mattresses.

Trailer

www.easyvirtuefilm.com

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Meet the More Romantic Coward