Interviews

By Scott W. Perry

Joan Jett defines awesome. There’s no other way to describe it.

A true pioneer in the music industry, Joan has been in the music scene for 35 years and is one of the most recognizable, and biggest selling female artists in the history of rock. Her seminal hit “I Love Rock N Roll” is one of Billboard Magazine’s highest charting singles ever and at age 50, still sells out shows worldwide...

By Scott W. Perry

In the mid 1990s, director Floria Sigismondi exploded onto the music video scene with visually striking, intense visuals that took the art form to a high. Probably best known for Marilyn Manson’s iconic music video "The Beautiful People," Sigismondi has made arrestingly striking videos with the best artists in the field, including David Bowie, The White Stripes, Christina Aguilera, and The Black Eyed Peas.

Her extensive background in this field led Sigismondi to helm her first feature film, a biopic/coming of age film The Runaways, about the title band of teenage girls who in 1975 formed a group and become a rock sensation before the pressures of being famous so young led to the band’s breakup...

By Scott W. Perry

In the past decade, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart grew up before our eyes on screen to become the most successful child stars of the decade. Now grown up, Fanning, 16, and Stewart, 19, enter the new decade with their most challenging and ambitious work yet in capturing the essence of the two main members of The Runaways, Cherrie Curie and Joan Jett respectively.

For Fanning, being the same age as Cherrie Curie was during the height of The Runaways success was beneficial to truly portray the accuracy on screen, and Fanning portrays the transition from innocent David Bowie fan to an out of control rock star with strong conviction...

Juliet Landau has now released her second film (her first was the dark music video Hero) Take Flight – a documentary focusing on actor Gary Oldman making a music video for the Jewish hip hop band 'Chutzpah'. Landau, who has appeared on the Tv series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood, was asked to shoot a ‘making of’ for Oldman, a friend of hers, and the resulting footage became an experience all its own. Over 50 hours of footage, from a cell phone with POV shots to 3 cameras at once, were cut into this short.

We're happy to have Landau back with us again, discussing Take Flight along with her upcoming films The Yellow Wallpaper and Haunted Echoes...

Interview by Stacie Ponder

Given my enthusiastic response to the film, when the ladies of Bitch Slap walked into the interview room it was a little difficult for me not to turn into some awful parody of that old Chris Farley character. "Ooh, ooh, that part? Where you punched her in the boob? That was awesome. And that one line was so funny- can you say that one line? Man, I liked this movie. And then? When you're all wailing on each other? Ummm...you're pretty." Thankfully, I managed a quick moment of meditation to focus my mind so I could actually, you know, ask some questions of actresses Erin Cummings, America Olivo, and Julia Voth...oh yeah, and stunt coordinator Zoe Bell...

Emily Booth, British TV presenter (‘host’, if you’re American) and actress (Evil Aliens, Doghouse, Pervirella), is unleashing a new horror hosting personality for the U.K. horror magazine GoreZone DVD series called Emily Booth’s GoreZone Movie Massacre, in which she’ll give us a very funny show. If you’ve ever seen her as the title character in the crazy fantasy/horror film Pervirella, you’ll understand her unique brand of humor that she describes as "silly impressions and a heavy dose of slapstick". She brings that, and a love of horror films, to her Princess of the Demons character.

"We’re definitely tongue-in-cheek, so for my character I’m tapping into my most cheeky self to bring camp comedy into it. We’re not highbrow; we’re not the bloody culture show – its all about having fun with the beloved genre – sex, horror and comedy – all essential parts of life..."

Daybreakers has all the pieces of a great film. Its sole and constant disappointment is that it does not behave like one. The writer-director team of Peter and Michael Speirig diligently assemble a darkly brilliant vision of a future ruled by vampires, but the narrative that inhabits it is built from bombastic lines and cliché drama fitting a blockbuster action flick. They take a piece of art and use it for a newsstand-caliber comic book.

One of the artists lending a grim shine to the film is Ethan Hawke, who I interviewed at the SLS Hotel. The SLS was an ideal venue for Daybreakers-a stark setting with blank, geometric furnishings that suggest both luxury and sterility-and Hawke conveys this aesthetic of chill immortality well in the film. A dramatic actor, his resumé finds him at the center of artistic visions such as Waking Life and Gattica. In Daybreakers, he is a striking model for both the timeless, retro imagery of the vampire world and for the agony of resurrection that the story of humanity's rebirth requires.

By Kayley Thomas

CineTel announced a few months ago that they would begin filming an updated version of the ever-controversial I Spit On Your Grave, bringing on Steven R. Monroe as director. My first thought was one shared by many: why in the hell would anyone want to remake this movie? My initial reaction didn’t arise, however, from the spirit that the original film evoked in some – and undoubtedly Monroe’s take will too.

I recently spoke with Sarah Butler (you may have seen her in the horror webseries Luke 11:17), the young actress cast as 'Jennifer' in the new film. She provided some excellent insights into the motivations behind the remake, how Monroe makes this film his own, her own experiences with such a difficult role, and how she thinks - or hopes – that modern audiences will react to this story...

-Interview by Nic Brown-

The saying goes "Don't mess with Texas!" and although she may be based out of Chicago now, you'd still be well advised not to mess with native Texan Deneen Melody! She's played everything from an assassin to one of the devil's daughters. This former ballerina-turned-horror actress is not just an actress; she's also a model who's learning to do her own stunt work! Now Deneen is taking a break from learning how to fight on screen to talk with Pretty Scary about her new projects, why she gave up ballet, and why some people may call her a nerd (but not to her face, remember she's learning to fight!)...

-Interview by Nic Brown-

The Saw franchise has been going strong now for six films. Every Halloween since 2004 the killer Jigsaw has returned to play his games with hapless victims. Now actress, model and musician Jon Mack is ready to play as she joins the series in Saw VI. Of course there is more going on in this multitalented performer's world than just solving Jigsaw's puzzles; she's got two new films coming out on the SyFy channel and her band, Auradrone, is shaking things up musically with their album Whitelite Britelite. Now Jon takes some time out of her film and music career to talk about some her new projects, how she feels the internet has changed things in the music business, and why you may find her down at the gun range choosing between her Glock and a shotgun!