December 12, 2019 • 23 mins
Jumanji: The Next Level director Jake Kasdan talks about adding Awkwafina and some famous Dannys to the cast. Also: Host Lana Gay talks Bombshell with film blogger Sasha Stone, and movies to see at Christmas with Tanner Zipchen, plus trivia from the very first Star Wars movie.
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Lana Gay (00:04):
You're listening to Hello Movies, a podcast to get you
off the couch and into the theater. I'm Lana Gay.
Coming up, we talked to Jake Kasdan, the director of
Jumanji
Prof. Shelly O. (00:15):
Where's the jungle? This is a whole new thing. Nobody told us
we had to do a whole new thing.
Lana Gay (00:19):
We get a closeup look at the star- studded movie
Bombshell, about the scandal around Roger Ailes at Fox News.
Gretchen C. (00:26):
Someone has to speak up. Someone has to get masked.
Lana Gay (00:29):
Plus we've got Star Wars trivia, a look at why
people go to the movies on Christmas and a chat
with Tanner Zipchen of the Cineplex Pre Show about upcoming movies.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Make it short and spicy and if the main character
is a girl, make sure she's married by the end.
Lana Gay (00:43):
It's time to do a little listening before watching. Let's
get started.
Ruby Roundhouse (00:48):
We have some issues here. The game is busted.
Franklin Finbar (00:51):
It was a game. I'm not it. I'm going to be it.
Speaker 7 (00:56):
Welcome to Jumanji.
Lana Gay (00:58):
The next movie in the Jumanji franchise, Jumanji
Level, hits theaters December 13. The movie reunites stars Dwayne "
The Rock" Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black and Kevin Hart
and then mixes things up by adding Awkwafina, Danny Glover
and Danny DeVito. It's co- written and directed by Jake
Kasdan who sat down with Cineplex Magazine's Ingrid Randoja to
(01:20):
talk about the movie.
Ingrid Randoja (01:21):
Hi Jake. Thanks so much for taking time to talk
to us.
Jake Kasdan (01:24):
Yeah, good to be here.
Ingrid Randoja (01:25):
First of all, I really loved the first film. I thought it was so much fun.
It felt like Breakfast Club meets Romancing the Stone.
Jake Kasdan (01:34):
Oh, that's a great ... I love that. That's right in
the zone of the things we were going for us. That's
great to hear.
Ingrid Randoja (01:41):
Awesome, and so tell me, you're coming up with an
idea for a sequel. How do you top that or
what do you think? What do I need to bring to make the second movie
work and have that same energy as the first film?
Jake Kasdan (01:52):
We wanted to make sure that we weren't just repeating
ourselves. We really wanted to make sure that it could
stand up and be its own thing, that we weren't
just duplicating and we wanted to expand their world a
little bit and bring in some new people. And that was
the road that led us to the characters that are
played by Danny DeVito and Danny Glover. And the thought
(02:15):
of introducing them into our story was really what led
us all up and got us excited.
Ingrid Randoja (02:22):
The beauty of the film is you have the actors playing against type because they
have teenagers that are stuck in their body. So that's
so awesomely fun for actors because they get to do
opposite of what they are. It must have been fun
to direct that and to trust them to go over
there. Tell me a bit about that.
Jake Kasdan (02:39):
Yeah, that that part of it is a blast and is really the
central idea in these movies to me. And the big
idea with one has to do with the movie stars
playing these characters that are completely against their ordinary personas.
And I happened, luckily, to find just the perfect cast
(03:02):
for that on the first movie. And they've extended that
in new directions that are just as much fun and
just as much fun to direct in this one as
they were in the first one.
Dr. Smolder B. (03:13):
What the hell is this? Would you look at me? Now
I haven't looked like this since-
Franklin Finbar (03:22):
Never. You look like this never.
Dr. Smolder B. (03:23):
I think my eyes are a different color.
Franklin Finbar (03:25):
All of you is a different color.
Ingrid Randoja (03:27):
So what did Danny and Awkwafina, the two Danny's and Awkwafina bring to the
energy or the chemistry on set?
Jake Kasdan (03:36):
They were all three just wonderful additions. But in terms
of the actual filming that was infused with this incredible
new energy by having these two legendary guys that I've
loved and looked up to my entire career, two of
my absolute all time favorites with DeVito and Glover, completely
(03:58):
transformative in terms of what that was like for me,
for the crew that I worked with. And then Awkwafina
on the other side of it was really just this
seamless, perfect addition to this group that the other four,
they've become quite close over the course of these two
(04:19):
movies and the chemistry that you see and what they
put out to the world is absolutely genuine and exactly
what they're like. So they really have a great time
together and Awkwafina just hopped right into that with total
confidence and she is just fantastic. I loved working with her.
Ingrid Randoja (04:42):
One of the interesting things about this movie is you
go out of the jungle, you've got different vistas, right?
There's different places that you go. Where were some of
the places that you shot?
Jake Kasdan (04:51):
Yes, that was an exciting part of a sequel. But
this idea that the game is busted, that everything's going
to be different now manifests in a couple of different
ways. And one of them is that everybody's playing different
characters than they were in the first movie. And the other
is that the effect of busting the game has broken
(05:16):
down walls and now we're seeing parts of Jumanji that
we never knew even existed. So we returned to Hawaii
and the jungles that we spent most of the first
movie in. We were outside of Calgary, in the Kananaskis,
the absolutely spectacular mountain range where a lot of people
(05:37):
have gone to shoot. We were in New Mexico in
the desert and then we were in far Southern California,
near the border of Mexico in the Glamis Dunes. We
really go a lot of cool places in this movie.
Ingrid Randoja (05:54):
Is there a one scene that was really challenging to
shoot where you said, " Oh boy, I hope we get
through this. I hope we all survive this"?
Jake Kasdan (06:02):
Yeah, there was a moment up in Kananaskis where we
were shooting a quite central scene at the end of
the movie. Someone says, " Just keep doing what you're doing
but you should know that there's a storm coming and
there will be 40 to 50 mile per hour winds
and blizzard within a couple of hours. We're not sure when."
Ingrid Randoja (06:28):
Oh my gosh.
Jake Kasdan (06:28):
That was the moment where you think, " Are we going
to get through this?" And then it won't be blue
sky again for a week. So we sort of powered
through and got it. That was a moment where we
wondered whether we would make it and the movie gods
smiled on us and we did. The actors rose to
(06:50):
it and we just got what we needed and got down
and about five seconds later the storm hit.
Ingrid Randoja (06:55):
Oh wow, that's amazing. Do you think you learned about directing
watching your dad? I know you were on Big Chill
and Silverado as a little kid when he was making
those movies, Lawrence Kasdan, but did you watch him and
did you say, " I want to do this"? When did
that hit for you?
Jake Kasdan (07:12):
Yes, absolutely. He's the dominant mentor and teacher in my
life and career and we're very, very close then and
still. And when I was a little kid I got
to see what it was like to make movies and
that obviously made a huge impression.
Ingrid Randoja (07:30):
What do you want audiences or viewers to feel when they walk
out of seeing The Next Level?
Jake Kasdan (07:36):
I feel like the next level is a continuation of
what we started in the first one. But I am
happy to report at the end of this journey as
it's about to blast off another world that I really
do feel like we made a different movie than the
first one. It's a big ride and you laugh a
(07:56):
lot, and I think you'll love the people that you
get to know along the way.
Ingrid Randoja (08:00):
That's great. That's exactly what kind of movie I want
to go see.
Jake Kasdan (08:03):
Well, good. I've got one for you.
Ingrid Randoja (08:07):
Thanks so much, Jake. I'm a big fan of your
movies and your dad's movies.
Jake Kasdan (08:11):
Thank you. And I'll pass it on to him too.
Princess Leia (08:19):
Help me, Obi- Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.
Lana Gay (08:23):
Let's make some connections here. Jake Kasdan's dad, Lawrence, is
an Oscar- winning screenwriter who co- wrote four Star Wars
movies. The final chapter in the epic Star Wars movie
saga is about to hit theaters. So let's take a
look back all the way to the 1970s to the
movie nobody thought would be a hit. In fact, the
British crew working on Star Wars thought it was just
(08:44):
a kiddie movie. But George Lucas always knew he had
something special. That said, his original script was massively different
from what we saw on screen. It was a whole
lot longer too. When he realized he couldn't make a
movie that went on for so many hours, he took
the first third of it out and made that his
movie. The next two thirds would become the sequels, The
(09:06):
Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. There were
a lot of other changes Lucas made along the way,
which brings us to today's trivia question. I'm going to
give you four fun facts about creating the very first
Star Wars movie. Three are true and one is pure
science fiction. Use the Force to see if you could
figure out which one. One, Han Solo was going to
(09:28):
have green skin and gills. Two, Chewbacca's voice was to
be provided by John Travolta. Three, the dark side of
the Force was called the Bogan. Four, Jodie Foster was
going to play Princess Leia. We'll give you the answer
in a bit.
Kayla Pospisil (09:51):
I want to convince you that I belong on air,
Mr. Ailes. I think I'd be freaking phenomenal on your network.
Roger Ailes (09:57):
I could pluck you out and move you to the
front of the line. But I need to know that
you're loyal. I need you to find a way to
prove it.
Lana Gay (10:06):
Another big movie coming out this week is Bombshell. It's
about the sexual harassment scandals at Fox News that brought
down Roger Ailes. To talk about it we have film
writer at Sasha Stone. She's written for Variety and the
Hollywood Reporter and she's the founder and editor of the
website Awards Daily. Hi Sasha.
Sasha Stone (10:23):
Hey.
Lana Gay (10:24):
Can you first tell us the story behind the film Bombshell?
Sasha Stone (10:27):
Yeah, so Bombshell is produced by Charlize Theron who also
plays Megyn Kelly in the movie in an incredibly transformative
performance. People won't even recognize her. When I see pictures
of her, I think I'm looking at Megyn Kelly and
I get them confused. So she wanted to tell the
story of what she considers to be a film about
the Me Too era, but not necessarily told from the
(10:49):
left. It's the idea that the sexual harassment and the
culture of harassment and the protest against it can also
exist in a conservative environment. That's the thrust of the
film. So it's Charlize Theron, it's Margot Robbie and it's
Nicole Kidman, and then a huge cast of cameos playing
(11:09):
all the people you recognize on Fox News, like Geraldo
Rivera. As you're watching it, you'll see all the different
people that you recognize with actors dressed up to play them.
Lana Gay (11:20):
I was going to say because Director Jay Roach, he's part of
the project and he's known for comedic franchises like Austin
Powers and Meet the Parents, but also political films like
Trumbo and Recount. So this is a serious subject matter,
but it sounds like there are some comedic elements to
the film.
Sasha Stone (11:38):
Yeah, if you've ever seen Recount, it's very similar to
that. It starts out pretty funny, like Charlize Theron breaks
the fourth wall and speaks right to you and it
moves really quickly, but then of course it starts to
get more and more serious. And by the end, it's
become a very serious film about these women who felt
victimized by Roger Ailes and by the entire Fox News establishment.
Gretchen C. (11:58):
The attitude off camera was even worse. You're a man
hater, learn to get along with the boys. You're sexy
but you're too much work. I have a whole list.
Speaker 15 (12:08):
Will other women come forward?
Lana Gay (12:10):
It's interesting because you mentioned Charlize Theron breaking the fourth
wall and it feels like the way they're telling this
story, which obviously is a very hefty story and talking
about scandal and assault. It's interesting the actual way that
they have written the screenplay version of this story.
Sasha Stone (12:26):
It is and there's a documentary floating around about Roger
Ailes and if you've watched that you get, that has
a lot more information that I don't think that they
felt like they could put in the movie, but it
gives you good background information about some of the stuff
that the women were going through. But really, this is
a movie about Megyn Kelly's arc from going from someone
who was faithful to Fox News who really ... all these
(12:48):
women really just wanted to be journalists. They weren't in
it to be celebrities. They actually believed that they were
doing the kind of work that a journalist would do.
And so Roger Ailes, he made it a deal with
each of them as they came in and Megyn Kelly
was one of them early on in her career. And
the idea was you do what I want you to
(13:09):
do and you do what I want you to do
with other men or else, not only are you fired,
but I'll ruin your career.
Lana Gay (13:15):
Horrible.
Sasha Stone (13:16):
Yeah, and when you watch the Roger Ailes documentary, you'll
see a lot of the women who turned him down
whose careers were ruined because of that. They're not in
this movie Bombshell, but they're out there. And so this
is like a success story. It's a story about female
strength in the workplace. It's a story about people who
are reluctant to come forward because they, Megyn Kelly says
(13:36):
throughout, I'm not a feminist. This isn't my fight. But
her career is threatened. And the same with Margot, who's
the only one who's shown at the time to be
coaxed into a sexual predicament with Roger Ailes because she's
the young one and the other two have already, he's
already moved through them and moved on, but she's the
(13:56):
new one coming in and so it's actually her case
that ignites this whole thing because they start to see
that it's happening to other women and it won't stop
until they stop it.
News Reporter (14:07):
Fox News star and Gretchen Carlson dropped a major bombshell today.
Kayla Pospisil (14:11):
What is she doing?
Roger Ailes (14:11):
This could kill Fox News.
Lana Gay (14:14):
What did you like the most about this movie?
Sasha Stone (14:16):
Well, I liked the performances, especially Charlize Theron, and by
the way, she's really tall. She's like six feet tall
or even taller than that. And so her performance as
Megyn Kelly is so studied. It's one of those incredible
performances where an actor sometimes disappears into the role and
you see that a lot with men. You don't see
it a lot with women. And this is the second
(14:37):
time that she's done it because she did it with
Monster where she completely transformed herself and she won an
Oscar for that. But I think what I liked about it was that
it managed her to talk about the Me Too movement
and show the power of a lot of women coming
together and backing each other up.
Lana Gay (14:55):
It's been great to talk to you. Thank you for taking the time.
We appreciate it.
Sasha Stone (14:58):
Sure, no problem. I hope you like the movie.
Lana Gay (15:05):
Earlier in the podcast, we gave you four facts about
George Lucas's original plans for the first Star Wars movie,
but only three were true. Did you guess which one
wasn't? Here they are again. One, Han Solo was going
to have green skin and gills. Two, Chewbacca's voice was
to be provided by John Travolta. Three, the dark side
(15:26):
of the Force was called the Bogan. Four, Jodie Foster
was going to play Princess Leia. First, Han Solo was
going to have green skin and gills. Originally, he was
a tall, green, noseless alien. Also, Luke was going to
be a 60- year- old general or maybe a dwarf.
Also, his name was Luke Starkiller. Mark Hamill actually said, "
(15:46):
I'm Luke Starkiller here to rescue you," to Princess Leia
in that scene where they first meet and they had
to dub over that dialogue after they changed his name.
Jodie Foster as Princess Leia? Sure. They offered it to
her, but she was already booked on two Disney movies
and didn't have the time. PS, she's fine with it
and yes, the dark side of the Force was originally
(16:07):
called the Bogan. The light side, the Ashla, and thankfully
that was changed. So no, Chewbacca's voice was never going
to be provided by John Travolta. Sound designer Ben Burtt
chose a combination of bears with a dash of walrus
dog and lion thrown in for Chewie's voice. He toured
marine land to get inspired and saw a walrus stranded
(16:31):
at the bottom of a pool that had been emptied
for cleaning. When it moaned, he knew he found just
what he'd been missing. A tall, fuzzy star was born.
Bonus fact, the studio was concerned about Chewbacca's nudity and
wanted him to wear short. Okay, Star Wars fans, go
see the final chapter in the Skywalker saga on December
(16:52):
20th. I'm betting some of you even have your tickets
already. If you don't, head on over to cineplex. com
to get them. ( singing)
Speaker 17 (17:06):
Oh boy.
Lana Gay (17:06):
Do you like to go to the movies on Christmas
Day? If you do, you're not alone. Turns out Christmas
Day is one of the busiest days of the year
at movie theaters. One reason, there isn't a whole lot
of other stuff open, so if you don't celebrate Christmas,
it's something fun to do while everything else is closed.
If you do, you've probably wrapped up your celebrations by
the middle of the day and now everybody's going a
(17:28):
little stir crazy. I get it. One of my personal
Christmas Day favorites was watching La La Land, which I
thought was just a perfect holiday movie. Now, back in
1947, Paramount Pictures took a big risk and decided to
open a non- Christmas movie on Christmas Day. It was
the Road to Rio starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
as two out- of- work musicians named Scott and Hotlips.
(17:51):
The risk paid off. It was a huge box office
success and even nabbed itself an Oscar nomination for best
score. A new tradition was born. Since then, studios had
been releasing all kinds of movies around the holidays, hoping
to grab those Christmas crowds and make a play for
Oscar nominations before the end of the year. So we
wanted to know what movies have you gone to see
(18:12):
on Christmas? Maddie told us she and her family went
to see Lord of the Rings on Christmas Day. Each
of the three movies, three years in a row.
Gandalf (18:20):
Legend tells of a ring, created by an ancient evil,
that gave it's wearer the power to enslave the world.
Lana Gay (18:31):
Christmas- y. Elisa said her family has a running joke
about how depressing the movies are that they see on
Christmas, like Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd. " Really heartwarming uplifting
stories," she says. And MA told us about a study
in contrast. One year, she went to see Vice about
former vice president Dick Cheney. MA describes it as being
about a man with no soul or heart. Perhaps not
(18:54):
the best thematic choice for Christmas, but the year before
that her family went for something a little more on
point, the Post, about the Washington Post's attempts to publish
classified documents revealing US involvement in the Vietnam War. " That
was a good movie for a holiday," she says, " People
behaving honorably." But you know what those two movies have
in common, they were both about true life events, but
(19:16):
more importantly, they both scored themselves some major Oscar nominations.
The Post was up for best actress and best picture
and Vice was nominated in eight categories, including all the
big ones. Ask anyone who works at a movie theater
and they'll tell you that Christmas is a magical time
of year. People come with their families and perhaps to
take a break from them. Either way, it gets you
(19:37):
out of the house and doing something fun. If you
want to join in on the Christmas movie fun, you've
got tons of choices and to talk about a few
of them, here's Tanner Zipchen, host of the Cineplex Pre
Show. Hey Tanner.
Tanner Zipchen (19:48):
Oh. Oh, I've just arrived. Hi Lana.
Lana Gay (19:51):
Nice to see you. Do you go to the movies on
Christmas Day?
Tanner Zipchen (19:55):
Well, the thing is, I never leave the theater as
you know, so do I go to the movies on
Christmas? I mean, I just happen to be there because I'm always
there so yes.
Lana Gay (20:05):
I do enjoy going on Christmas Day. It's actually a
newer tradition for me.
Tanner Zipchen (20:09):
Really?
Lana Gay (20:09):
Yeah. My mom and I started going a few years
ago and it's really nice. Also, there's no stress really.
Once you're there, you just hang out. We eat popcorn.
Tanner Zipchen (20:17):
A good reason to get away from the family that comes
into town. Like I just got to run out and get a couple
of things.
Lana Gay (20:22):
For two-and- a- half hours.
Tanner Zipchen (20:23):
Exactly.
Lana Gay (20:24):
Depending on the movie. Well, let's talk about some movies that are hitting theaters
on Christmas Day. I like the new version of Little Women. Greta
Gerwig directing this one.
Tanner Zipchen (20:31):
Yeah, a bit of a reunion too with Saoirse Ronan. In
Greta's last film, Lady Bird, Saoirse was the star of
that. She's back in this, along with Emma Watson, Laura
Dern, Timothée Chalamet, a huge cast, Odenkirk, Bob Odenkirk, Chris Cooper,
Meryl Streep.
Lana Gay (20:45):
Meryl.
Tanner Zipchen (20:45):
Legendary Meryl Streep. Now this of course is not a
new thing on the big screen. This is the eighth
time that we've seen this story told for the big
screen, the first time with this cast, which is very
exciting. And of course, we're seeing a little bit of
a time jump here because this film jumps back and
forth in time. So we're seeing different versions of the
sisters' lives through adulthood, which is cool. But yeah, everyone's
(21:09):
excited about the cast here. Especially all those Chalamet fans.
Lana Gay (21:13):
Do they have a name?
Tanner Zipchen (21:15):
Chalamites.
Lana Gay (21:15):
The Chalamites, all right. And for a completely different vibe, there's 1917, co-
written and directed Sam Mendes.
Speaker 20 (21:25):
You have a brother in the second battalion.
Speaker 21 (21:28):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 20 (21:31):
They're walking into a trap.
Tanner Zipchen (21:32):
Yeah, actually based on a story or a story fragment
that Sam's grandfather told him about a messenger during the
war and he was so inspired by that story. They
ended up writing this film based on that. But yeah,
it's set around World War I, two British soldiers at
the height of the war and they've got to deliver
a message warning of an ambush and cross into enemy
(21:53):
territory. And with this comes some amazing massive scenes, these
long one- shots. Practical effects are absolutely incredible in this.
A great cast too, like Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch
in there and critics so far are loving it. One
of the highest rated films we've seen lately and some
are even saying it could be better than Dunkirk.
Lana Gay (22:13):
Well.
Tanner Zipchen (22:14):
That's a tall ... I mean, come on, Chris Nolan. That's
a tall order but we'll have to see.
Lana Gay (22:19):
Indeed. Well, thanks so much, Tanner.
Tanner Zipchen (22:21):
Thank you.
Lana Gay (22:27):
And that's a wrap. Thank you so much for joining
us for our very last episode of 2019. Happy holidays
and happy new year to all. If you have comments
or questions about anything you heard on the podcast, let
us know at hellomovies@ cineplex. com. Hello Movies is brought
to you by Cineplex Entertainment. Laurie Ulster is the writer
of our podcast. Colton Eddy is our producer. [ Philip Zivkov 00:22
(22:49):
is our sound designer and mixer. Our series consultant is
Jeff Ulster and our executive producer is Catherine Jheon. I'm
Lana Gay. Thanks for listening and see you at the movies.
You're listening to Hello Movies, a podcast to get you
off the couch and into the theater. I'm Lana Gay.
Coming up, we talked to Jake Kasdan, the director of
Jumanji
Prof. Shelly O. (00:15):
Where's the jungle? This is a whole new thing. Nobody told us
we had to do a whole new thing.
Lana Gay (00:19):
We get a closeup look at the star- studded movie
Bombshell, about the scandal around Roger Ailes at Fox News.
Gretchen C. (00:26):
Someone has to speak up. Someone has to get masked.
Lana Gay (00:29):
Plus we've got Star Wars trivia, a look at why
people go to the movies on Christmas and a chat
with Tanner Zipchen of the Cineplex Pre Show about upcoming movies.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Make it short and spicy and if the main character
is a girl, make sure she's married by the end.
Lana Gay (00:43):
It's time to do a little listening before watching. Let's
get started.
Ruby Roundhouse (00:48):
We have some issues here. The game is busted.
Franklin Finbar (00:51):
It was a game. I'm not it. I'm going to be it.
Speaker 7 (00:56):
Welcome to Jumanji.
Lana Gay (00:58):
The next movie in the Jumanji franchise, Jumanji
Level, hits theaters December 13. The movie reunites stars Dwayne "
The Rock" Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black and Kevin Hart
and then mixes things up by adding Awkwafina, Danny Glover
and Danny DeVito. It's co- written and directed by Jake
Kasdan who sat down with Cineplex Magazine's Ingrid Randoja to
(01:20):
talk about the movie.
Ingrid Randoja (01:21):
Hi Jake. Thanks so much for taking time to talk
to us.
Jake Kasdan (01:24):
Yeah, good to be here.
Ingrid Randoja (01:25):
First of all, I really loved the first film. I thought it was so much fun.
It felt like Breakfast Club meets Romancing the Stone.
Jake Kasdan (01:34):
Oh, that's a great ... I love that. That's right in
the zone of the things we were going for us. That's
great to hear.
Ingrid Randoja (01:41):
Awesome, and so tell me, you're coming up with an
idea for a sequel. How do you top that or
what do you think? What do I need to bring to make the second movie
work and have that same energy as the first film?
Jake Kasdan (01:52):
We wanted to make sure that we weren't just repeating
ourselves. We really wanted to make sure that it could
stand up and be its own thing, that we weren't
just duplicating and we wanted to expand their world a
little bit and bring in some new people. And that was
the road that led us to the characters that are
played by Danny DeVito and Danny Glover. And the thought
(02:15):
of introducing them into our story was really what led
us all up and got us excited.
Ingrid Randoja (02:22):
The beauty of the film is you have the actors playing against type because they
have teenagers that are stuck in their body. So that's
so awesomely fun for actors because they get to do
opposite of what they are. It must have been fun
to direct that and to trust them to go over
there. Tell me a bit about that.
Jake Kasdan (02:39):
Yeah, that that part of it is a blast and is really the
central idea in these movies to me. And the big
idea with one has to do with the movie stars
playing these characters that are completely against their ordinary personas.
And I happened, luckily, to find just the perfect cast
(03:02):
for that on the first movie. And they've extended that
in new directions that are just as much fun and
just as much fun to direct in this one as
they were in the first one.
Dr. Smolder B. (03:13):
What the hell is this? Would you look at me? Now
I haven't looked like this since-
Franklin Finbar (03:22):
Never. You look like this never.
Dr. Smolder B. (03:23):
I think my eyes are a different color.
Franklin Finbar (03:25):
All of you is a different color.
Ingrid Randoja (03:27):
So what did Danny and Awkwafina, the two Danny's and Awkwafina bring to the
energy or the chemistry on set?
Jake Kasdan (03:36):
They were all three just wonderful additions. But in terms
of the actual filming that was infused with this incredible
new energy by having these two legendary guys that I've
loved and looked up to my entire career, two of
my absolute all time favorites with DeVito and Glover, completely
(03:58):
transformative in terms of what that was like for me,
for the crew that I worked with. And then Awkwafina
on the other side of it was really just this
seamless, perfect addition to this group that the other four,
they've become quite close over the course of these two
(04:19):
movies and the chemistry that you see and what they
put out to the world is absolutely genuine and exactly
what they're like. So they really have a great time
together and Awkwafina just hopped right into that with total
confidence and she is just fantastic. I loved working with her.
Ingrid Randoja (04:42):
One of the interesting things about this movie is you
go out of the jungle, you've got different vistas, right?
There's different places that you go. Where were some of
the places that you shot?
Jake Kasdan (04:51):
Yes, that was an exciting part of a sequel. But
this idea that the game is busted, that everything's going
to be different now manifests in a couple of different
ways. And one of them is that everybody's playing different
characters than they were in the first movie. And the other
is that the effect of busting the game has broken
(05:16):
down walls and now we're seeing parts of Jumanji that
we never knew even existed. So we returned to Hawaii
and the jungles that we spent most of the first
movie in. We were outside of Calgary, in the Kananaskis,
the absolutely spectacular mountain range where a lot of people
(05:37):
have gone to shoot. We were in New Mexico in
the desert and then we were in far Southern California,
near the border of Mexico in the Glamis Dunes. We
really go a lot of cool places in this movie.
Ingrid Randoja (05:54):
Is there a one scene that was really challenging to
shoot where you said, " Oh boy, I hope we get
through this. I hope we all survive this"?
Jake Kasdan (06:02):
Yeah, there was a moment up in Kananaskis where we
were shooting a quite central scene at the end of
the movie. Someone says, " Just keep doing what you're doing
but you should know that there's a storm coming and
there will be 40 to 50 mile per hour winds
and blizzard within a couple of hours. We're not sure when."
Ingrid Randoja (06:28):
Oh my gosh.
Jake Kasdan (06:28):
That was the moment where you think, " Are we going
to get through this?" And then it won't be blue
sky again for a week. So we sort of powered
through and got it. That was a moment where we
wondered whether we would make it and the movie gods
smiled on us and we did. The actors rose to
(06:50):
it and we just got what we needed and got down
and about five seconds later the storm hit.
Ingrid Randoja (06:55):
Oh wow, that's amazing. Do you think you learned about directing
watching your dad? I know you were on Big Chill
and Silverado as a little kid when he was making
those movies, Lawrence Kasdan, but did you watch him and
did you say, " I want to do this"? When did
that hit for you?
Jake Kasdan (07:12):
Yes, absolutely. He's the dominant mentor and teacher in my
life and career and we're very, very close then and
still. And when I was a little kid I got
to see what it was like to make movies and
that obviously made a huge impression.
Ingrid Randoja (07:30):
What do you want audiences or viewers to feel when they walk
out of seeing The Next Level?
Jake Kasdan (07:36):
I feel like the next level is a continuation of
what we started in the first one. But I am
happy to report at the end of this journey as
it's about to blast off another world that I really
do feel like we made a different movie than the
first one. It's a big ride and you laugh a
(07:56):
lot, and I think you'll love the people that you
get to know along the way.
Ingrid Randoja (08:00):
That's great. That's exactly what kind of movie I want
to go see.
Jake Kasdan (08:03):
Well, good. I've got one for you.
Ingrid Randoja (08:07):
Thanks so much, Jake. I'm a big fan of your
movies and your dad's movies.
Jake Kasdan (08:11):
Thank you. And I'll pass it on to him too.
Princess Leia (08:19):
Help me, Obi- Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.
Lana Gay (08:23):
Let's make some connections here. Jake Kasdan's dad, Lawrence, is
an Oscar- winning screenwriter who co- wrote four Star Wars
movies. The final chapter in the epic Star Wars movie
saga is about to hit theaters. So let's take a
look back all the way to the 1970s to the
movie nobody thought would be a hit. In fact, the
British crew working on Star Wars thought it was just
(08:44):
a kiddie movie. But George Lucas always knew he had
something special. That said, his original script was massively different
from what we saw on screen. It was a whole
lot longer too. When he realized he couldn't make a
movie that went on for so many hours, he took
the first third of it out and made that his
movie. The next two thirds would become the sequels, The
(09:06):
Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. There were
a lot of other changes Lucas made along the way,
which brings us to today's trivia question. I'm going to
give you four fun facts about creating the very first
Star Wars movie. Three are true and one is pure
science fiction. Use the Force to see if you could
figure out which one. One, Han Solo was going to
(09:28):
have green skin and gills. Two, Chewbacca's voice was to
be provided by John Travolta. Three, the dark side of
the Force was called the Bogan. Four, Jodie Foster was
going to play Princess Leia. We'll give you the answer
in a bit.
Kayla Pospisil (09:51):
I want to convince you that I belong on air,
Mr. Ailes. I think I'd be freaking phenomenal on your network.
Roger Ailes (09:57):
I could pluck you out and move you to the
front of the line. But I need to know that
you're loyal. I need you to find a way to
prove it.
Lana Gay (10:06):
Another big movie coming out this week is Bombshell. It's
about the sexual harassment scandals at Fox News that brought
down Roger Ailes. To talk about it we have film
writer at Sasha Stone. She's written for Variety and the
Hollywood Reporter and she's the founder and editor of the
website Awards Daily. Hi Sasha.
Sasha Stone (10:23):
Hey.
Lana Gay (10:24):
Can you first tell us the story behind the film Bombshell?
Sasha Stone (10:27):
Yeah, so Bombshell is produced by Charlize Theron who also
plays Megyn Kelly in the movie in an incredibly transformative
performance. People won't even recognize her. When I see pictures
of her, I think I'm looking at Megyn Kelly and
I get them confused. So she wanted to tell the
story of what she considers to be a film about
the Me Too era, but not necessarily told from the
(10:49):
left. It's the idea that the sexual harassment and the
culture of harassment and the protest against it can also
exist in a conservative environment. That's the thrust of the
film. So it's Charlize Theron, it's Margot Robbie and it's
Nicole Kidman, and then a huge cast of cameos playing
(11:09):
all the people you recognize on Fox News, like Geraldo
Rivera. As you're watching it, you'll see all the different
people that you recognize with actors dressed up to play them.
Lana Gay (11:20):
I was going to say because Director Jay Roach, he's part of
the project and he's known for comedic franchises like Austin
Powers and Meet the Parents, but also political films like
Trumbo and Recount. So this is a serious subject matter,
but it sounds like there are some comedic elements to
the film.
Sasha Stone (11:38):
Yeah, if you've ever seen Recount, it's very similar to
that. It starts out pretty funny, like Charlize Theron breaks
the fourth wall and speaks right to you and it
moves really quickly, but then of course it starts to
get more and more serious. And by the end, it's
become a very serious film about these women who felt
victimized by Roger Ailes and by the entire Fox News establishment.
Gretchen C. (11:58):
The attitude off camera was even worse. You're a man
hater, learn to get along with the boys. You're sexy
but you're too much work. I have a whole list.
Speaker 15 (12:08):
Will other women come forward?
Lana Gay (12:10):
It's interesting because you mentioned Charlize Theron breaking the fourth
wall and it feels like the way they're telling this
story, which obviously is a very hefty story and talking
about scandal and assault. It's interesting the actual way that
they have written the screenplay version of this story.
Sasha Stone (12:26):
It is and there's a documentary floating around about Roger
Ailes and if you've watched that you get, that has
a lot more information that I don't think that they
felt like they could put in the movie, but it
gives you good background information about some of the stuff
that the women were going through. But really, this is
a movie about Megyn Kelly's arc from going from someone
who was faithful to Fox News who really ... all these
(12:48):
women really just wanted to be journalists. They weren't in
it to be celebrities. They actually believed that they were
doing the kind of work that a journalist would do.
And so Roger Ailes, he made it a deal with
each of them as they came in and Megyn Kelly
was one of them early on in her career. And
the idea was you do what I want you to
(13:09):
do and you do what I want you to do
with other men or else, not only are you fired,
but I'll ruin your career.
Lana Gay (13:15):
Horrible.
Sasha Stone (13:16):
Yeah, and when you watch the Roger Ailes documentary, you'll
see a lot of the women who turned him down
whose careers were ruined because of that. They're not in
this movie Bombshell, but they're out there. And so this
is like a success story. It's a story about female
strength in the workplace. It's a story about people who
are reluctant to come forward because they, Megyn Kelly says
(13:36):
throughout, I'm not a feminist. This isn't my fight. But
her career is threatened. And the same with Margot, who's
the only one who's shown at the time to be
coaxed into a sexual predicament with Roger Ailes because she's
the young one and the other two have already, he's
already moved through them and moved on, but she's the
(13:56):
new one coming in and so it's actually her case
that ignites this whole thing because they start to see
that it's happening to other women and it won't stop
until they stop it.
News Reporter (14:07):
Fox News star and Gretchen Carlson dropped a major bombshell today.
Kayla Pospisil (14:11):
What is she doing?
Roger Ailes (14:11):
This could kill Fox News.
Lana Gay (14:14):
What did you like the most about this movie?
Sasha Stone (14:16):
Well, I liked the performances, especially Charlize Theron, and by
the way, she's really tall. She's like six feet tall
or even taller than that. And so her performance as
Megyn Kelly is so studied. It's one of those incredible
performances where an actor sometimes disappears into the role and
you see that a lot with men. You don't see
it a lot with women. And this is the second
(14:37):
time that she's done it because she did it with
Monster where she completely transformed herself and she won an
Oscar for that. But I think what I liked about it was that
it managed her to talk about the Me Too movement
and show the power of a lot of women coming
together and backing each other up.
Lana Gay (14:55):
It's been great to talk to you. Thank you for taking the time.
We appreciate it.
Sasha Stone (14:58):
Sure, no problem. I hope you like the movie.
Lana Gay (15:05):
Earlier in the podcast, we gave you four facts about
George Lucas's original plans for the first Star Wars movie,
but only three were true. Did you guess which one
wasn't? Here they are again. One, Han Solo was going
to have green skin and gills. Two, Chewbacca's voice was
to be provided by John Travolta. Three, the dark side
(15:26):
of the Force was called the Bogan. Four, Jodie Foster
was going to play Princess Leia. First, Han Solo was
going to have green skin and gills. Originally, he was
a tall, green, noseless alien. Also, Luke was going to
be a 60- year- old general or maybe a dwarf.
Also, his name was Luke Starkiller. Mark Hamill actually said, "
(15:46):
I'm Luke Starkiller here to rescue you," to Princess Leia
in that scene where they first meet and they had
to dub over that dialogue after they changed his name.
Jodie Foster as Princess Leia? Sure. They offered it to
her, but she was already booked on two Disney movies
and didn't have the time. PS, she's fine with it
and yes, the dark side of the Force was originally
(16:07):
called the Bogan. The light side, the Ashla, and thankfully
that was changed. So no, Chewbacca's voice was never going
to be provided by John Travolta. Sound designer Ben Burtt
chose a combination of bears with a dash of walrus
dog and lion thrown in for Chewie's voice. He toured
marine land to get inspired and saw a walrus stranded
(16:31):
at the bottom of a pool that had been emptied
for cleaning. When it moaned, he knew he found just
what he'd been missing. A tall, fuzzy star was born.
Bonus fact, the studio was concerned about Chewbacca's nudity and
wanted him to wear short. Okay, Star Wars fans, go
see the final chapter in the Skywalker saga on December
(16:52):
20th. I'm betting some of you even have your tickets
already. If you don't, head on over to cineplex. com
to get them. ( singing)
Speaker 17 (17:06):
Oh boy.
Lana Gay (17:06):
Do you like to go to the movies on Christmas
Day? If you do, you're not alone. Turns out Christmas
Day is one of the busiest days of the year
at movie theaters. One reason, there isn't a whole lot
of other stuff open, so if you don't celebrate Christmas,
it's something fun to do while everything else is closed.
If you do, you've probably wrapped up your celebrations by
the middle of the day and now everybody's going a
(17:28):
little stir crazy. I get it. One of my personal
Christmas Day favorites was watching La La Land, which I
thought was just a perfect holiday movie. Now, back in
1947, Paramount Pictures took a big risk and decided to
open a non- Christmas movie on Christmas Day. It was
the Road to Rio starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
as two out- of- work musicians named Scott and Hotlips.
(17:51):
The risk paid off. It was a huge box office
success and even nabbed itself an Oscar nomination for best
score. A new tradition was born. Since then, studios had
been releasing all kinds of movies around the holidays, hoping
to grab those Christmas crowds and make a play for
Oscar nominations before the end of the year. So we
wanted to know what movies have you gone to see
(18:12):
on Christmas? Maddie told us she and her family went
to see Lord of the Rings on Christmas Day. Each
of the three movies, three years in a row.
Gandalf (18:20):
Legend tells of a ring, created by an ancient evil,
that gave it's wearer the power to enslave the world.
Lana Gay (18:31):
Christmas- y. Elisa said her family has a running joke
about how depressing the movies are that they see on
Christmas, like Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd. " Really heartwarming uplifting
stories," she says. And MA told us about a study
in contrast. One year, she went to see Vice about
former vice president Dick Cheney. MA describes it as being
about a man with no soul or heart. Perhaps not
(18:54):
the best thematic choice for Christmas, but the year before
that her family went for something a little more on
point, the Post, about the Washington Post's attempts to publish
classified documents revealing US involvement in the Vietnam War. " That
was a good movie for a holiday," she says, " People
behaving honorably." But you know what those two movies have
in common, they were both about true life events, but
(19:16):
more importantly, they both scored themselves some major Oscar nominations.
The Post was up for best actress and best picture
and Vice was nominated in eight categories, including all the
big ones. Ask anyone who works at a movie theater
and they'll tell you that Christmas is a magical time
of year. People come with their families and perhaps to
take a break from them. Either way, it gets you
(19:37):
out of the house and doing something fun. If you
want to join in on the Christmas movie fun, you've
got tons of choices and to talk about a few
of them, here's Tanner Zipchen, host of the Cineplex Pre
Show. Hey Tanner.
Tanner Zipchen (19:48):
Oh. Oh, I've just arrived. Hi Lana.
Lana Gay (19:51):
Nice to see you. Do you go to the movies on
Christmas Day?
Tanner Zipchen (19:55):
Well, the thing is, I never leave the theater as
you know, so do I go to the movies on
Christmas? I mean, I just happen to be there because I'm always
there so yes.
Lana Gay (20:05):
I do enjoy going on Christmas Day. It's actually a
newer tradition for me.
Tanner Zipchen (20:09):
Really?
Lana Gay (20:09):
Yeah. My mom and I started going a few years
ago and it's really nice. Also, there's no stress really.
Once you're there, you just hang out. We eat popcorn.
Tanner Zipchen (20:17):
A good reason to get away from the family that comes
into town. Like I just got to run out and get a couple
of things.
Lana Gay (20:22):
For two-and- a- half hours.
Tanner Zipchen (20:23):
Exactly.
Lana Gay (20:24):
Depending on the movie. Well, let's talk about some movies that are hitting theaters
on Christmas Day. I like the new version of Little Women. Greta
Gerwig directing this one.
Tanner Zipchen (20:31):
Yeah, a bit of a reunion too with Saoirse Ronan. In
Greta's last film, Lady Bird, Saoirse was the star of
that. She's back in this, along with Emma Watson, Laura
Dern, Timothée Chalamet, a huge cast, Odenkirk, Bob Odenkirk, Chris Cooper,
Meryl Streep.
Lana Gay (20:45):
Meryl.
Tanner Zipchen (20:45):
Legendary Meryl Streep. Now this of course is not a
new thing on the big screen. This is the eighth
time that we've seen this story told for the big
screen, the first time with this cast, which is very
exciting. And of course, we're seeing a little bit of
a time jump here because this film jumps back and
forth in time. So we're seeing different versions of the
sisters' lives through adulthood, which is cool. But yeah, everyone's
(21:09):
excited about the cast here. Especially all those Chalamet fans.
Lana Gay (21:13):
Do they have a name?
Tanner Zipchen (21:15):
Chalamites.
Lana Gay (21:15):
The Chalamites, all right. And for a completely different vibe, there's 1917, co-
written and directed Sam Mendes.
Speaker 20 (21:25):
You have a brother in the second battalion.
Speaker 21 (21:28):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 20 (21:31):
They're walking into a trap.
Tanner Zipchen (21:32):
Yeah, actually based on a story or a story fragment
that Sam's grandfather told him about a messenger during the
war and he was so inspired by that story. They
ended up writing this film based on that. But yeah,
it's set around World War I, two British soldiers at
the height of the war and they've got to deliver
a message warning of an ambush and cross into enemy
(21:53):
territory. And with this comes some amazing massive scenes, these
long one- shots. Practical effects are absolutely incredible in this.
A great cast too, like Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch
in there and critics so far are loving it. One
of the highest rated films we've seen lately and some
are even saying it could be better than Dunkirk.
Lana Gay (22:13):
Well.
Tanner Zipchen (22:14):
That's a tall ... I mean, come on, Chris Nolan. That's
a tall order but we'll have to see.
Lana Gay (22:19):
Indeed. Well, thanks so much, Tanner.
Tanner Zipchen (22:21):
Thank you.
Lana Gay (22:27):
And that's a wrap. Thank you so much for joining
us for our very last episode of 2019. Happy holidays
and happy new year to all. If you have comments
or questions about anything you heard on the podcast, let
us know at hellomovies@ cineplex. com. Hello Movies is brought
to you by Cineplex Entertainment. Laurie Ulster is the writer
of our podcast. Colton Eddy is our producer. [ Philip Zivkov 00:22
(22:49):
is our sound designer and mixer. Our series consultant is
Jeff Ulster and our executive producer is Catherine Jheon. I'm
Lana Gay. Thanks for listening and see you at the movies.
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