Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with some words from the one, the only Sam Jackson from his appearance at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Moon Yun was there, to bat her eyes and win the heart of Jackson so he would spill all while up on stage doing his press conference. He talks a lot about AFROSAMURAI, STAR WARS, BLACK SNAKE MOAN and more. As a bonus, we have Dan Bloom who fills us in on the goings on at the Taiwan fest GOLDEN HORSE FF. Enjoy!!!
Moon Yun signing in from Hawaii…I have written an article on Samuel L. Jackson’s visit to Honolulu to pick up HIFF Achievement in Acting Award. AICN fan Dan Bloom of Taiwan has submitted a roundup of the Golden Horse Film Festival.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON
You know there’s a big movie star in town when the actor’s handlers can actually request to have the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) extended so Samuel L. Jackson can come down to accept the festival’s first Achievement in Acting Award.
And that’s what happened. Jackson couldn’t get the festival in time because he was wrapping BLACK SNAKE MOAN so HIFF held a special awards ceremony five days after the festival officially closed on Oct. 30.
Jackson turned out to be, like his persona, a cool dude. You could almost hear the music to SHAFT playing as he glided across the stage in his grey designer suit, grey beret, sneakers and dark shades. Shot full of attitude and not afraid to tell it like it is, he was a joy for reporters during the morning press conference and for fans during that evening’s Q & A. Jackson was so appealing because he would spend a lot of time talking about a topic and making people laugh.
“It’s an incredible honor to be receiving an award for doing something that I seem to take for granted and enjoy so much. It means a lot to know that my works seems to have a lot of resonance outside of the entertainment value…that I have reached a lot of people and have crossed cultural boundaries,” said Jackson during the morning press conference which he’ll say something similar during that night’s award ceremony.
The plot to BLACK SNAKE MOANS involves a white nymphomaniac who must be “cured” of the disorder by an older, black bluesman. Upon hearing about the plot, Jackson was asked what ran through his mind before accepting the role as Lazarus.
“I don’t know how to play guitar ran through my mind,” said Jackson. He eventually found a guitar teacher to help him prepare for the part.
“The script itself is a very complex and interesting story. When I read it I was totally intrigued by that particular character who had gotten away from music and had to find his way back (and) who had some interesting dilemmas to solve. He just lost his wife and his brother. He finds this young, white nymphomaniac beaten and left on a road and he takes her to his house. He ends up chaining her to a radiator in his house trying to reform her,” said Jackson of the movie directed by Craig Brewer.
Not being able to resist, Jackson added: “I guess there’s going to be a big debate about this film when it comes out. Maybe we’ll find out who all the nymphomaniacs are because they’ll start to protest it or support it in some kind of way.”
One of his co-stars is I-got-punk'd-and-cried-on-TV pop star turned actor, Justin Timberlake. Now, I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who don’t believe this guy can act and it’ll be even more glaring opposite such thespians as Morgan Freeman and Jackson. When asked about this, I don’t know if Jackson was pausing to come up with something diplomatic to say: “I guess this may be his third or fourth film. He has the film EDISON that he did with Morgan and Kevin Spacey. He just did ALPHA DOG before he came to this particular film. I spent the majority of my time working with Christina (Ricci). I only have one real scene with Justin which turned out well. I do the majority of talking in that scene also. It’s sort of a monologue scene (where) he’s looking at me with a gun on me. It’s kind of fun to do that – intimidate young actors. I think Justin is going to be OK. He has a real hunger to learn the craft and he’s connected to someone (Cameron Diaz) who’s successful in it. Hopefully she can give him tips and guide him through it as he makes his way through this milieu that we call acting.”
Boy, if he was acting through that, I say definitely give him the award.
STAR WARS
It’s been widely reported that Jackson was offered a role in STAR WARS after mentioning on a UK TV show that he’d like to work for George Lucas.
A self-described “huge fan” of the original STAR WARS, Jackson initially said to Lucas something along the lines of: “Look man, I’ll be a storm trooper. Honestly, I’ll put on that white helmet and white suit and no one has got to know I’m in it but me. I’m cool with that.”
He had no idea what he’d be doing even after he got to the studio in London because the script was a guarded secret. He went to his dressing room and there was a Jedi costume hanging in there. He finally got his portion of the script – only three pages – but to his amazement he read he’ll be talking to Yoda.
“It was a real joy to be able to be a part in it. To be asked to pick a light saber – ‘Yeah, I’m there!’”
From that point on, Jackson said he was very careful to stay out of Lucas’ way. He made sure he knew his lines, hit his mark and did all the things to make sure Lucas wouldn’t want to kill him off – yet. It apparently worked and Jackson’s role as Mace Windu got bigger to the point where he went out in flames in “this great light saber battle” in Episode III.
“I could’ve taken him (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine) out but it wasn’t in the cards,” he quipped.
Jackson said he could give a long, deeply involved explanation as to why he had a purple light saber. Instead he admits that the real reason for him was so that “I can myself in that big ‘ole battle.”
In Episode II, there’s a battle scene in the arena where about 200 Jedi Knights are fighting and a whole lot of things are going on. Jackson thought, “How am I going to find myself?” So he asked Lucas for a different colored light saber not telling him the real reason. Instead he said it’s because he’s high on the Jedi council.
PULP FICTION
After Jackson didn’t get a part in RESEVOIR DOGS, he ran into Quentin at Sundance Film Festival and the director told him not to worry because he’s writing another part with him in mind, which later turned out to be PULP FICTION.
The onscreen chemistry between he and Travolta was palpable partly because Tarantino liked to have his actors spend time together off-set so they look like they have a real familial relationship onscreen. Jackson said he and Travolta became instant friends. They went to a lot of dinners together and watched movies at Tarantino’s house. They also rehearsed a lot so by the time they shot the film, they were prepared.
Jackson describes Travolta, who he calls a close friend, as “the sweetest and giving actor you can work with.”
Jackson said of his experience shooting the film: “During the shoot of PULP FICTION, it was very bizarre for me because we did the diner scene first. Then I was off for two months. They had to shoot Bruce (Willis) out because he was on his way to Baltimore to shoot TWELVE MONKEYS. And they had to shoot Uma (Thurma) out because she was on her way to shoot something else. I did the diner scene and John and I didn’t see each other until the end of November and then we did all the rest of the movie together.”
Okay, all you aspiring filmmakers. If you’re dreaming of one day having your script made into a movie, this is what Jackson looks for in a script (he produces too): “Good story first. I have a hard and fast rule: I wouldn’t do a film that I wouldn’t pay my money to see me in because I always do.” He still views himself as an audience member because he sees a lot of movies but it’s not like he calls the theaters to say, “I’m coming.”
When asked which of his movies – there’re 80+ films – he’s bought tickets for, he said with sincerity: “All of them. On opening weekend on most of my films I take a thousand dollars and buy tickets and pass them out. I know my movies don’t make a thousand dollars every weekend.” His films have combined worldwide grosses of almost 4 Billion Dollars, more than any other actor in film history.
AFROSAMURAI
Jackson said, “They’re doing the animation right now. That portion of AFROSAMURAI (the animated series) will be on Spike TV next year hopefully. We’re now in the process of hiring a writer to do the live action script.”
GOLDEN HORSE FILM FESTIVAL in Taiwan screenings
Prepared by Dan Bloom in Taiwan
A fan of Ain’t It Cool News in Taiwan, Dan Bloom, has prepared a brief roundup of some of the films shown, as reported in the Taipei Times. The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan's answer to the Academy Awards and sometimes called the Asian Oscars, ran for 14 days in November.
With more than two 200 art-house, feature and short films shown Taiwan's biggest movie festival attracted floods of film lovers to screening venues at the Warner Village Cinema complex in the trendy Xinyi district of Taipei City. After the primary screenings in Taipei, the festival will tour until mid-December, stopping in the cities of Keelung, Kaohsiung, Changhua, Taichung, Hsinchu and Hualien.
The "Master Class" section presented a collection of works by internationally esteemed directors such as Ingmar Bergman, Peter Greenaway, Jim Jarmusch, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders from Germany and Raoul Ruiz, Alain Cabalier and Manoel di Oliveira from France. Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach and Ermanno Olmi joined together to make ''Tickets'', a triptych composed of three interconnected stories which take place on a train journey from Central Europe to Rome.
''Changing Times'' by veteran director Andre Techine teamed up two of France's national treasures, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, and told the tale of two aging lovers coming to terms with long-lost love. Also worth watching was ''Filmman'', a poetic documentary about a filmmaker's relationship with his camera, by French director Alain Cavalier.
''The Wild Blue Yonder'' by Werner Herzog was a space fantasy which fused images from outer space and underwater scenes to convey the director's views on humankind and the universe.
There was also 85-year-old Ingmar Bergman's final work ''Saraband'', Jim Jarmusch's Cannes winner ''Broken Flowers'' and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's second Cannes' Golden Palm Award winner ''The Child''.
Another film, "Lemming'', the opening film of this year's Cannes International Film Festival, was about a dead rodent in the drain which triggered the collapse of a couple's once ideal and orderly life.
In ''Housewarming'', the Taiwan filmgoers got a chance to see icy-looking French beauty Carole Bouquet playing a lawyer who danced and sang her way through the French comedy.
''Blood and Bones'' by Japanese director Sai Yoiachi depicted the harsh and bloodstained life of a Korean immigrant moving to Japan on the eve of the World War II.
Another film that attracted attention was ''The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes'' by the Quay Brothers, returning to feature films after a decade to present a fable set in a completley mechanized era. The film mixed animation with puppetry and bizarre costumes.
A big winner at this year's Cesar Awards in France, ''L'Esquive'' offered a refreshing look at a 15-year-old boy's life in the suburbs of Paris.
In addition, a category called "Global Vision" presented 38 films from 32 countries in Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa and Europe. Cannes winner ''The Forsaken Land'' from Sri Lanka followed the story of a woman and a man burdened by love and guilt. ''A Stranger of Mine'' traced the lives of five characters in a neurotically funny take on modern life in Japan. ''Woman of Breakwater'' from the Philippines brought to light for Taiwan filmgoers the cruel, sometimes unbearable, stories of people living below the poverty line.
''Battle in Heaven'' and ''Japon'', both desolate cinematic landscapes crafted by Carlos Reygadas, a rising star of world cinema from Mexico were also hits at the festival, according to industry sources.
''Orlando Vargas'' from Uruguay was a stylish, beautifully composed film about the disappearance of a disheartened businessman.
''The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael'' from the UK was a highly controversial work that put ''A Clockwork Orange'' by Stanley Kubrick to shame, according to one local critic.
''The Death of Mr. Lazarescu'' employed a documentary approach to tell of a 63-year-old man's attempts to receive medical attention on a Saturday night. The film offered a poignant view on the absurdity of modern medical and social welfare systems.
