Emily Maynard debuts as The Bachelorette May 14, and we’re starting to piece together the coming season of the long-running ABC guilty pleasure. The Bachelorette spoilers revealed thus far show that the men competing from Emily mostly range in age from 25-35, and are Caucasian. Shocker! She’ll meet a teacher, a gym owner, a model, a bunch of of executives, a big-name race car driver (seriously) and a Jef with one “f” (also seriously). Emily Maynard , 25, won Brad Womack’s season of The Bachelor, but that didn’t work out. She bested Ashley Hebert, the previous Bachelorette star. As he did then, Reality Steve has been digging like a madman for spoilers on the upcoming season for those of us who can’t wait until the summer. What has he found out through his mysterious unnamed sources? Quite a bit, and his track record would suggest it’s more than a little accurate. Come along as we reveal the men who will vie for the North Carolina native’s heart – and the final four who are left standing! Who are the lucky fellas? Follow the jump and let’s get this party started! Here’s a roster of the men Emily meets on the season premiere May 14: Ryan Bowers , 31, Evans, Ga., gym owner. Jef Holm , 27, St. George, Utah, CEO of People Water. Doug Clerget , 33, Tacoma, Wash., vice president at Kidder Matthews.
You already know you’re in for a twee-fest packed with richly colorful characters and a healthy dose of quirky charm in Wes Anderson ‘s period kid romance Moonrise Kingdom , so watching these six newly unveiled clips from the film probably won’t spoil all that much. Instead, they give us more of what we’re already expecting: Game turns by Anderson regulars like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman as well as Bruce Willis , Frances McDormand , and Ed Norton , the hazy muted palette of the isolated New England countryside as if filtered through Instagram, and our two preternatural adolescent heroes, plotting their summer camp flight through the wilderness in the name of love. Obviously, avoid the below clips if you’d like to go in completely spoiler-free. While I’m guessing the scenes in question occur in the below order in the film, who knows? The charm of Moonrise Kingdom promises to be in the performances (get a fun glimpse of Tilda Swinton ‘s ball-busting turn as Social Services, for instance), though I will add this spoiler: Moonrise Kingdom ‘s dolly shot budget appears to have been quite high. “New Penzance” “The Most Important Decision in Your Lives” “Were You Followed?” “Loaded Question” “I’m Deputizing the Little Guy” “Juvenile Refugee” Official synopsis: Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, MOONRISE KINGDOM tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle. Bruce Willis plays the local sheriff. Edward Norton is a Khaki Scout troop leader. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl’s parents. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the boy and girl. Moonrise Kingdom debuts at Cannes and opens in limited release May 25.
Seacrest will make $15 million a year through 2014 season. By Gil Kaufman Ryan Seacrest Photo: Getty Images Ryan Seacrest learned many lessons at the foot of his late mentor, Dick Clark . One of them appears to be: Don’t rock the boat. Especially if it’s a eight-figure million luxury yacht. That’s the long way of saying that Seacrest has inked a two-year deal to stay with “American Idol” for a reported cool $15 million a year. “For the last 11 seasons, I’ve had the privilege to be a part of one of television’s most iconic shows. It’s been a wild ride, and I’m excited for my journey with ‘American Idol to continue,” Seacrest said in a statement. “The legions of fans, amazingly talented contestants, judges, and producers, along with the hard working ‘Idol’ crew, impress me every time we go on air and make hosting the show a dream job.” Seacrest has hosted the show since its launch in 2002 and though the judging panel has undergone a series of overhauls over the past four seasons, the genial entrepreneur has been the one constant in the mix. “Ryan is one of a kind,” said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment at Fox. “His ability to engage the viewers, keep the contestants at ease during intense moments and adapt to any situation, especially during the live shows, solidifies him as the absolute best in the business. He is an integral part of why ‘American Idol’ is a true phenomenon, and we can’t imagine doing this show without him.” Of course, Seacrest has multiple irons in the fire besides his “Idol” gig, from the various Kardashian-related shows on the E! network, to his hosting and producing gig on “E! News,” red carpet awards show coverage, morning radio show and an upcoming pact to launch his own entertainment cable channel this summer called AXS TV . He’s also finishing up a deal with NBCUniversal that will include a gig as part of this summer’s Olympics coverage. Related Photos Most Shocking ‘American Idol’ Exits
I am not posting this because I am an Imogen Thomas fan…I barely know who she is and I think she’s got a really stupid fucking name….I am posting this because one of my favorite things in the summer is a surprise rain…even if in Imogen Thomas’ case….there is no such thing as surprise rain….just publicity stunt opportunities…..now the reason I like surprise rain is the same reason I am posting these pics of some chubby bitch Imogen Thomas….and that is that there is always a percentage of bitches who get stuck…in white….and sometimes with no bra on….leading to an unwanted white t-shirt contest for them and a welcomed wet t-shirt contest for me….and all it took was forgetting their fucking umbrella….that’s why everytime I see it raining on what was a sunnuy day a few minutes earlier I run outside…Some of the hardest nipples I’ve ever seen happened this way…..and that’s why Imogen Thomas has a post of her very on on this site…even if she’s virutally unknown….proving all she has to do is keep up publicity stunt hustle. TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICS FOLLOW THIS LINK
British actress Emily Blunt has traveled both the studio and indie route during her career, most recently appearing in Lasse Hallström’s specialty feature Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and starring this week opposite Jason Segel in Universal’s romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement . Meanwhile, another project Blunt is promoting in New York, writer-director Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister , joined Engagement as part of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, still underway in Manhattan. The smaller of her two Tribeca titles, Sister proved something of career déjà vu for Blunt, who told an Apple Store audience that her experience working on the feature reminded her of her very first film feature role. “The whole time I was shooting my first film My Summer of Love [2004], I was terrified because it was all improvised,” Blunt said at the event, co-hosted this past weekend by Indiewire . “I hadn’t worked that way in years, so I was [eager] to do it again. It’s daunting, but I was excited.” Your Sister’s Sister co-stars Blunt as Iris, who sends her good friend Jack (Mark Duplass) to her family’s island following the death of his brother. After he arrives at the island getaway, he has a surprising encounter with Iris’s sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), which unleashes a revealing stretch of antics over the course of several days. While the film is intended to be dramatic, comedic elements surface even in surprising ways for the actors. “I almost felt sorry for my character because when I was playing her, I was thinking very seriously,” said DeWitt, commenting on audience laughter during some scenes with her character. “But I think that when people laugh, they’re seeing themselves in the character,” Blunt added. Filming Your Sister’s Sister , Shelton worked with Blunt, DeWitt and Duplass as collaborators, in a working style she calls “collaborative and improvisational” — reminiscent of Shelton’s more recent feature Humpday (which also starred Duplass) and her debut feature We Go Way Back (2006). “I like to attach the actors first and then get the script together,” Shelton said. “The studio way is to have a script first, then you get the actors.” Shelton added that her methodology for making a film is akin to a playdate: “My way is to get friends together and say, ‘Let’s make a film this summer.’ It’s hard to do that with the studio system.” Shelton will next put her approach to the test with her upcoming — and comparatively larger-budgeted — Touchy Feely . The film will have a 20-day shoot boasting an ensemble cast (including DeWitt and Ellen Page) and many story lines, a departure from the more streamlined plot in Sister . “I’ve made five features in my cheap way, so I think I deserve this,” Shelton said. As for Blunt, the rising star will continue to promote The Five-Year Engagement , in which she stars opposite Segel as a bride-to-be chasing a fleeting wedding day, and has a number of other projects waiting in the wings. “I love the variety and choices out there,” said Blunt. “I want to do all things. As an actor, you want to have a bag of tricks that you never get to the bottom of.” Your Sister’s Sister opens June 15 in limited release from IFC Films. Read all of Movieline’s Tribeca 2012 coverage here . [Top photo: Getty Images; middle photo of (L-R) Blunt, DeWett, and Shelton: Movieline]
Looks like Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux are planning a wedding thousands of miles away from Tinseltown, possibly this summer, according to reports. No, this is not just some made-up tabloid story in response to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie getting engaged. Jen really was seen recently scouting places in Crete . Sources connected with the Elounda Beach Hotel in Crete, an island south of Greece (where Jen’s dad was born) say she was there to check the place out. She also mentioned a possible July wedding, apparently. The hotel website boasts a wedding package that includes a dedicated consultant, a civil or religious ceremony and various decorations for just $2,300! Somehow we’re guessing Jen would add more extravagant touches … if she even has it there. One hotel employee says she hasn’t settled on his hotel. At least not yet. Jen is still considering other places on the island as well. As he put it, “She has connections on the other side of the island as well.” It pays to have those for possible wedding venues in Crete. [Photo: Fame/Flynet]
Oh to be young and in love and periodically a flesh-rending creature of globular, hairy, throbbing pulp. That’s the curse heaped upon the eponymous romantics in Jack and Diane , one of the more anticipated — and more disappointing — features in Tribeca 2012’s narrative competition. It’s hard to be too down on such lean passion; Jack and Diane ‘s premiere Friday night amounted to the culmination of nine years of work by filmmaker Bradley Rust Gray, whose acclaimed 2010 drama The Exploding Girl served as sort of a hetero prelude to the lesbian body horror/romance mashup swamping his latest: Diane (Juno Temple) is a hot British teen mess visiting her aunt in New York City, all babydoll dresses, knit watermelon halter tops and purple knee socks, rocked by the hormonal lighting strike that is butch, brooding Jack (Riley Keough). The girls club, they kiss, they bond, they exchange vaguely sweet Manhattan banalities (“I have a Metrocard if you want it”), and then… I don’t even know. On the one hand it’s not worth spoiling; jumpy genre reveals are involved, hinted at by customarily grisly animation by the Brothers Quay. On the other hand, Jack and Diane is too much of a mess to spoil, suffocated in the dynamics of longing without even the hope of dramatic — or even darkly comedic — satisfaction. It’s a movie whose shadowy genre overtones — a girl! In a bathroom! With a bloody nose! And a monster! — surrenders to the same auteurist A.D.D. that sank The Exploding Girl . For once, I would like to see Gray’s New York not refracted surveillance-style through long lenses and the fraught nubile wits of characters whose doe eyes and costumes connote virtually the whole story. Temple’s expressive genius — all matted blond hair and mischievous (and monstrous) pixie — goes only so far against Keough’s near-total blankness, getting most of its mileage out of a single early, affecting confessional between the star-crossed girls. Ultimately, though, it’s hard to know just how seriously to take Jack and Diane , with all its sinewy portent and bizarre porn digressions and tragicomic pube-shaving and actual straight-faced dialogue such as, “Do you have to take a shit? Try to do like I do and fart it out.” Viewers familiar with The Exploding Girl might realize after a while that they’re only staying with Jack and Diane for the promise of more B-list hipster-goddesses losing control; then it was Zoe Kazan’s simmering epileptic panic, and now it’s the viscera-devouring prospect of sapphic passion — in one case featuring Elvis Presley’s grandaughter (Keough’s mother is Lisa Marie Presley) and Kylie Minogue in a heavily tattooed cameo. It is what it is, and it never feels like much more. Nevertheless, there is at least one glint of salvation in Jack and Diane , though it has nothing to do with its filmmaking or performances (and here I should issue a spoiler alert): Keough and Minogue make out to the strains of Shellac’s rare and entrancing hate-punk ballad ” Doris ,” which I suppose means that someone somewhere has a clean MP3 of the notoriously vinyl-only single. Rejoice! Can I have a copy? Read all of Movieline’s Tribeca 2012 coverage here . Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
This past week, Movieline has spotlighted a number of Tribeca Film Festival filmmakers and trailers of their fest premieres. This weekend, we’re sharing more. If you’re in New York and want to see some films at the festival (or if you are looking for a taste of Tribeca from afar), here is a sneak glimpse of more of this year’s offerings from the festival’s World Narrative Competition and World Documentary Competition . Today’s spotlights include two features from Tribeca’s World Narrative Competition, Jack and Diane as well as Yossi . And from the World Documentary Competition, Movieline is featuring Downeast , Wavumba and The World Before Her . Be in the know and check them out — and share your thoughts on these and other Tribeca films. Jack and Diane by director Bradley Rust Gray – U.S. [World Narrative Competition] Synopsis : Tomboy Jack and bubbly Diane fall head over heels in love one hot summer in New York City. But neither Jack’s tough exterior nor Diane’s demure innocence prepare them for the intensity of their feelings. When Diane reveals she must leave the city for school in Europe at the end of the summer, Jack pushes her away. As Diane struggles to maintain their budding romance, she must also try to conceal from Jack the increasingly dark and violent visions that have begun to plague her. [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Bradley Rust Gray… Jack and Diane quick pitch : Girl eats girl. Girl feels sorry about eating girl. Girl misses girl. There’s some gum chewing in the middle. …and why it’s worth seeing at Tribeca : It’s quite likely the only film playing in New York next week which has an animated vagina in it. Thoughts about the trailer : We were trying to capture that awkward budding moment when two people have just exposed their hearts to each other; they feel vulnerable, sensitive, and excited – all feelings which the film re-engages with in different ways. [Read Movieline’s review of Jack and Diane here .] Yossi by director Eytan Fox – Israel [World Narrative Competition] Synopsis : Returning to the role that won him TFF’s Best Actor award in Eytan Fox’s Yossi & Jagger in 2003, Ohad Knoller gives another extraordinary performance as Yossi, a closeted gay man living a solitary existence in Tel Aviv. A perennially sad, workaholic doctor, Yossi has his quiet world shaken when a middle-aged woman walks out of his past and into his examination room. Their brief but emotionally charged reunion unnerves Yossi enough to make him spontaneously leave Tel Aviv. On the desolate roads of southern Israel, a chance encounter with a group of lively soldiers ignites Yossi’s desire to awaken from his emotional slumber. [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Eytan Fox… Yossi quick pitch : Yossi is a follow up to a film I made 10 years ago. It’s a character study of Yossi, of his psyche and soul. As the film starts, he is still suffering from post-traumatic stress due to the death of his lover during the war. He remains in the closet, so he is also at war with himself. As a cardiologist, he has essentially exchanged one army for another, because being a doctor also involves consistently dealing with crises and difficult issues. You even have a uniform! Ultimately, the film is about Yossi eventually processing the horrible things that have happened to him, things he has long repressed, and finding ways to escape the very difficult places that he has been in for years. He finally discovers a new way to define himself and create a new life. …and why it’s worth seeing at Tribeca : This is our world premiere for Yossi . I would say people should see it for Ohad Knoller’s performance. I’m just so impressed and moved by what he did with the character of Yossi again, ten years later. I don’t want to insult any other actors of mine or characters of mine, but I don’t think I’ve ever loved a character as much as Yossi as played by Ohad. Thoughts about the trailer : I think most American films are big on taglines, so I have some for Yossi . “It’s never too late to start your life” or “It’s never to too late to start again.” These might seem like clichés, but it takes a lot of hard work to change your life. You have to understand what you need to change, be brave and work to love yourself. Downeast by directors David Redmon and Ashley Sabin – U.S. [World Documentary Competition] Synopsis : The slogan on the ‘Welcome to Maine’ sign leading into Gouldsboro reads “Open for Business,” but the recent closure of the sardine canning factory has brought this small coastal town to a total standstill. Its laid-off residents — mostly 70-year-olds — just want to get back to work, so when Italian immigrant Antonio Bussone arrives from Boston aiming to open a new lobster processing plant, most of the local labor welcomes him with open arms. After all, they’re sick of sending their lobsters to Canada when there’s a ready-and-willing workforce to process them at home. So why is tapping into federal relief funds to finance the plant turning into the biggest struggle of Antonio’s life? [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments provided by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin… Downeast quick pitch : Downeast is a poetic exploration of Antonio Bussone’s tireless efforts to build a factory amidst conflict, navigate a faceless banking system, and employ a stagnant workforce that resides on the coast of Maine. …and why it’s worth seeing at Tribeca : The economic crises played out in the streets and suites of New York City. Downeast shows its impact on the lives of every day workers and those who press forward against the odds. Thoughts about the trailer : The trailer shows the tensions involved in opening a factory when multiple interests are involved. Wavumba by director Jeroen van Velzen – The Neterhalnds [World Documentary Competition] Synopsis : Mysticism and color reign in this stunning documentary, steeped in the fishermen lore of Kenya. Dutch filmmaker Jeroen van Velzen explores his visceral memories of an early youth spent in coastal Kenya, where a reverence for the sea reigns high. Via the locals’ enigmatic recitation of a well known folktale, we are introduced to a spirit-filled island, to which a fisherman’s visit has the magic to alternately bless or curse his bounty. [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Jeroen van Velzen… Wavumba quick pitch : Wavumba is a film about an old fisherman, Mashoud, who wants to catch a big shark as he did in the old days. Mashoud brings me into a world where fantasy, belief and reality cannot be differentiated from one another. …and why it’s worth seeing at Tribeca : Not everyone has a childhood like mine, but every child grows up with amazing stories or myths he believes in. That makes this film more than just my personal discovery. By bringing you into the Kenyan reality, which is bound to other laws than ours, I want to wake up that feeling of magic you had as a child. Thoughts about the trailer : In the trailer I want convey the main story lines of the film. The reasons for heading back to Kenya and making the film are personal, but by following Mashoud on his quest to catch a big shark and by listening to myths told by an old Kenyan story teller I want to take people on a journey with me back to the world which inspired me. The World Before Her by director Nisha Pahuja – Canada [World Documentary Competition] Synopsis : Young, beautiful, and ambitious, Ankita and Ruhi compete in the Miss India pageant for the chance at a career in the beauty industry, one of the few opportunities for women to find success and empowerment in contemporary India. On the opposite end of the spectrum from Miss India is Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the Hindu fundamentalist movement. Filming for the first time within a Durga Vahini camp, director Nisha Pahuja offsets the pageant narrative with that of camp leader Prachi, a fiery and compelling figure expressing a very different voice in the debate over women’s issues. [Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival] Comments by Nisha Pahuja… The World Before Her quick pitc h: The World Before Her looks at The Miss India beauty contest and a Hindu fundamentalist camp for girls — two competing ideas of India playing themselves out on the bodies of young women. …and why it’s worth seeing at Tribeca : There’s a lot more to the film than women in bikinis and women with guns – what’s happening in India really is a mirror that shows the West back to itself. We deal with two of the most critical and defining issues of the day – fundamentalism and capitalism. We also look at the struggles that women in India continue to face. Thoughts about the clip : In this clip you will meet Prachi our key fundamentalist character. She has a very complex relationship with her father and in this clip she expands on that relationship. In so doing Prachi points to the larger reality of female infanticide – still practiced in India. Read all of Movieline’s Tribeca 2012 coverage here .
Early chatter indicates a film in the vein of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ with both farcical and ‘full-bodied horror’ elements. By John Mitchell Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer in “Dark Shadows” Photo: Warner Bros. The death of actor Jonathan Frid , the original Barnabas Collins, makes this a sad week in the “Dark Shadows” -verse. The 87-year-old, classically trained actor passed away at a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, on April 13 after a fall at his home. Frid cameos in Tim Burton’s big-screen adaptation of the ’60s soap opera, which hits theaters on May 11. It will be his final screen appearance. “Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch ‘Dark Shadows,’ ” the film’s star, Johnny Depp, told the LA Times in an e-mail from the Arizona set of “The Lone Ranger.” “His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one forever more. When I had the honor to finally meet him … [he] generously passed the torch of Barnabas.” We hope Frid, who maintained a long, loving and appreciative relationship with “Shadows” fans , had a chance to see at least a rough cut of the anticipated flick. Some early reviews trickling out indicate it is quite different from what the trailers, TV commercials and print advertisements would have us think. Two weeks back, after hearing Burton regular Danny Elfman’s menacing score and noting that it in no way lined up with the gonzo comedy the trailer seemed to be selling, we wondered if maybe the clip was cut to appeal to the broadest possible audience without much regard for the tone of the film itself. After all, a Gothic horror-comedy with a deep and dramatic back story is a much harder sell than a broad and cartoonish farce about an 18th Century vamp trying to get used to the electronic contraptions, female doctors and cars of the 1970s. If the early buzz is any indication, we were right. In a series of tweets (which have since been pulled down; lucky for us others cleverly snapped them up ), Entertainment Weekly senior writer Anthony Breznican, who has seen the movie, shared his thoughts and they reveal a more complex and ambitious film that is alternately dark and absurd (in what sounds like a great way). “I’ve seen final cut of ‘Dark Shadows.’ Tone similar to Burton and Depp’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’ — lots of humor, but with menacing, atmospheric edge,” Breznican wrote . “In ‘Dark Shadows,’ there’s an absurdist bent to the monster element. The creatures of the night are adrift in the self-obsessed world of 1970s … In typical Burton fashion, humans are scarier than the fiends. If u want ‘Interview w the Vampire,’ that movie exists. This is a more wry take.” Most telling though, Breznican wrote, “If you dig screenwriter [Seth Grahame-Smith’s] style w Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter then ‘Dark Shadows’ will be to your liking, too.” Grahame-Smith is a master of mixing comedy and drama with thrills and chills, as his books “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” display. It’s a fact seconded by an anonymous source from Hollywood Elsewhere , who’s also seen the film. “While it has ‘Beetlejuice’ elements, this is not a broad comedy. It’s a gothic romance with strong farcical elements, but the trailer makes it seem like ‘Love at First Bite’ and it definitely is not,” Hollywood Elsewhere wrote. “The anachronism-based humor does work quite well. The film is funny, but it also has full-bodied horror elements,” the tipster continued. “In short, there’s more of the Burton ‘Sweeney Todd’ than the trailer implies. This is not Burton’s ‘Addams Family,’ but a successful amalgamation of his comedic and gothic horror styles.” The tipster also adds that three-time Oscar nominee Michelle Pfeiffer is a standout, calling her performances as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard “her strongest work in years.” So there you have it. Fans of the show can breathe a sigh of relief, because it’s sounding more and more like justice has been done to their beloved cult soap opera. Burton maniacs can go back to being excited for his return to the darker, more Gothic terrain where he’s done his best and most interesting work. My “The Fabulous Baker Boys,””Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Age of Innocence,” “One Fine Day,” “White Oleander” and “Stardust” all-day Saturday marathon can proceed as scheduled. And, of course, the talented Jonathan Frid’s final screen appearance will be a fitting and appropriate return to the story he seemed to love so much. Fans of the show, does buzz that the film has a darker side than we’re seeing in the ads make you feel any better? Let us know in the comments below and tweet me at @JohnMitchell83 with your thoughts and suggestions for future columns! comments! Check out everything we’ve got on “Dark Shadows.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Director Jay Roach tells MTV News the comedy takes win-at-all-costs politics to an ‘absurd degree.’ By Kevin P. Sullivan Zach Galifanakis and Will Ferrell in “The Campaign” Photo: Warner Bros For the past few years, Jay Roach , the director of the “Austin Powers” series, has alternated between making comedies and true-life political films for HBO. His latest effort, “The Campaign,” combines those two very different genres. In “The Campaign,” which hits theaters on August 10 Will Ferrell plays a popular incumbent North Carolina congressman who suffers a scandal and faces a political opponent for the first time in year, played by Zach Galifianakis . We spoke with Roach for our Summer Movie Preview and learned just how ridiculous politics can be and what it’s like to have Ferrell and Galifianakis on set together. MTV : You’ve been switching between political films and comedies recently. What’s it like to combine the two? Jay Roach : That’s been an enjoyable part of this one. I’ve been working on some more serious films at HBO, but Will and Zach and Adam McKay came up with this idea and asked me to get involved about two guys running against each other for a congressional seat and mentioned that it would mostly be about how the win-at-all-costs approach to politics these days could be taken to an absurd degree. It might be funny. I pictured those two guys, Zach and Will. I’ve worked with both of them briefly on other films, and the idea of those two going up against each other in a super, super negative campaigning situation made me laugh. It would be a chance to delve back into some of the political issues but in a very comedic format. MTV : Do you find politics funny? Roach : It’s funny, but it’s painful. It’s painful that it does get absurd. There’s definitely humor, but when you’re doing it about real-life situations, it makes me anxious. It’s uncomfortable. I spent a fair amount of time to put people back into uncomfortable situations that they, in a certain way, wish to avoid because they already happened. I’m trying not to let them forget about them. It’s a painful thing to ask the audience to go through. It’s a little therapeutic in a different way to laugh through it, as opposed to cry through, because I found myself crying through the other stories. This one, I’m laughing. MTV : Did doing those political films before help you make this political comedy? Roach : It did help that I had a little bit of a background and had done a little bit of research. I’m still very na
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