Guys:

Here's the rest! And I vow only to do this once a year, HENCEFORTH!

POSTED BY: JORDAN HANNA 12/05/2007 AT 08:51 AM
HEY JOE, ANY CHANCE OF CLOONEY JUMPING BACK INTO THE WJ SADDLE EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE STRIKE?

Jordan:

Unfortunately, no. I think everybody has moved on. I know I have.

POSTED BY: DANE 12/05/2007 AT 09:11 AM
I'M JUST WONDERING HOW YOUR UPBRINGING OR GENERAL PHILOSOPHY IN LIFE HAD TO DO WITH YOUR CAREER AND ATTITUDE TODAY.

Dane:

My upbringing was, for most of my youth, probably lower middle class. We didn't have a lot of money and I grew up in an agricultural community where if the crops were good, people paid on time and if the crops sucked, then I'd ride around with my dad, trying to collect on bounced checks (He ran his own market and butcher block when I was a wee lad) and I think coming from a background where we didn't have a pot to piss in, was pretty helpful in keeping my feet planted. I didn't see any real money until I got into my 30's and worked bulls*it jobs like everybody else and that experience is never that far from my recollection. I keep it there on purpose, to remind myself. There are people that get up every day and break their asses doing brutal, manual labor. I'm lucky I'm not one of 'em. I was a below average student in high school and if my guidance counselors had been laying odds, they would've bet the farm that I'd be digging ditches somewhere, killing a case of Bud a night and rocking a third trimester pot gut. And you never know. One minute you get crowned King Sh*t and the next you're getting dumped with the dead and sprinkled with lye...so I don't take a thing for granted.

POSTED BY: WENDY 12/05/2007 AT 09:16 AM
I ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION. I'M A FAN OF VLADIMIR KULICH AND ENJOYED SEEING HIM IN "SMOKIN' ACES" EVEN THOUGH HIS ACTUAL SCREEN TIME WAS RATHER LIMITED. I WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY PLANS OR IDEAS ABOUT WORKING WITH HIM AGAIN IN THE FUTURE?

Wendy:

I love Vladimir. I wanted to get him into the prequel but it was really tough for us to slot him in. He's such a unique actor and one of the nicest guys out there. I will most certainly work with him in the future.

POSTED BY: ZACH F 12/05/2007 AT 09:52 AM
HEY, I WAS JUST CURIOUS WHEN KIND OF A RELEASE DATE YOU GUYS ARE THINKING OF FOR THE SMOKING ACES PREQUEL?

Zach:

We're looking at April/May to get that out. Hopefully (although it looks dismal right now) the strike will be settled and we can get back in there. The first pass that Universal did at the budget was WAY over what we want to spend so we've got to get pretty creative in order to make the film for a price. We've started to put out the word to actors though, so it's definitely moving forward.

POSTED BY: MUZZLEFLASH 12/05/2007 AT 10:17 AM
JOE, WITH YOUR RECENT FONDLING OF THE OLD RED, DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO SHOOT COMPLETELY DIGITAL SOMEWHERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE, MAYBE EVEN ONE OF YOUR BANNER PROJECTS LIKE KB OR WJ?

Muzzle:

It's funny you should ask me this. I really want to do a great deal of KP on the Red or another digital format that gives me the same kind of freedom that that particular system grants. We took it out in Sacramento and shot all over the place with it and I was just amazed on how simple the set-up was. Now I don't think the Red can handle low light like the Genesis. Not yet at least. I think around 1000asa was where we were most comfortable with it. BUT, in its handheld configuration, it's probably 10-12lbs lighter than the Genesis and that's huge. It's ease of use is unsurpassed as far as I'm concerned.

POSTED BY: JUSTIN 12/05/2007 AT 10:46 AM
HOW DID YOU FIND THE TRANSITION FROM NARC, A TINY CHARACTER DRAMA, TO ACES, THIS SPRAWLING PIECE WITH SO MANY ARCS TO FOCUS ON AND COVER?

Justin:

Filmmaking is like drawing or painting or playing music. There are so many different variations and ways of plying those variations. I'd rather venture out on something a flame out spectacularly with ferocious intent, rather than repeating myself, time and again. I find some folks have pretty narrow perspective on artists and it's an oft-cited, bitch of a pet peeve of mine. I like trying new things and experimenting and experiencing the work. I think what happens is we get into these frames of mind where if the Coen Bros. do something like 'The Hudsucker Proxy' then everybody shrugs it off, only feeling comfortable if they're working in the milieu of crime like 'Fargo' or 'No Country.' 'Punch Drunk Love' is my favorite romantic comedy of all time. It's how I would do that genre of film and I think it's a credit to PT Anderson that he goes out of his way, to avoid making the same film twice.

POSTED BY: JERRY F 12/05/2007 AT 12:30 PM
WHAT ABOUT THREESOMES? NAMES APPRECIATED , BUT NOT NECESSARY. TWO GIRLS, OR TWO GUYS ACCEPTABLE. THANKS BIG JOE

Jerry:

I so wish you were a 'Jenny' asking me that question. Then we'd have somewhere to take it!

POSTED BY: RTA 12/05/2007 AT 02:30 PM
WHEN YOU SHOOT A COMMERCIAL (LIKE SAY THE ALLSTATE "TEDDY BEAR", OR THE LATEST "CADDY" SPOT) HOW MUCH INPUT DO YOU HAVE, OR IS IT MORE JUST PUTTING YOUR STYLE ON THE AD AGENCY STORY BOARDS, OR IS IT YOU JUST FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF THE AGENCY?

RTA:

The road dogs always get love man, even the belated ones! I think commercials are a double-edged sword. One on hand, you get to do certain things and try certain techniques that might be too risky for a film. This is the pro. On the other, it's really out of your hands after you do your edit. I shot a Rolex spot in Rome about a year and a half ago and they're still dicking around with that thing. We had an incredible cut of it too. Didn't matter. You are ultimately subjected the creative whims and demands of the agency and beyond that group, the client themselves. There's a Honda spot out now with a bunch of guys having a watergun fight. I shot that and my friend edited it and they didn't change a frame. They did however spoil the set-up by not allowing us to keep those guns in the shadow at first and then reveal them to be squirt guns. That was a case, again in my opinion, of the creatives being worried that Honda would can the spot if it was deemed too risky. Sometimes in commercials, everybody winds up crawling up their own ass for reasons that, upon reflection, really wouldn't have mattered in the end. And in that way, it's no different from working on a feature or a tv show.

POSTED BY: THE INDIAN 12/05/2007 AT 04:08 PM
WILL YOU ADOPT ME?

Indian:

I'll have the papers drawn up immediately and call a press conference thereafter. Make yourself as cuddly 'third world' as possible. I need the media on my side.

POSTED BY: WIZ 12/05/2007 AT 05:05 PM
WHAT IS THE TRUE VALUE OF PI ?

Wiz:

Ask Darren Aronofsky.

POSTED BY: THE INSIDER 12/05/2007 AT 05:10 PM

JOE, IF YOU COULD BE ANY ROCK STAR, WHO WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?!?

Insider:

I'd be 'Diamond Dave' David Lee Roth, cuz I'd be able to rip 'Hot For Teacher'
and blade kick the high-hat at the same time. Never has there been a voice in
Rock and Roll, more suited for a sound. I'm glad Eddie and Dave patched things
up. I'm seeing 'em next week!

POSTED BY: STEVEN W 12/05/2007 AT 05:48 PM
HOW DO YOU PERSONALLY FEEL ABOUT WORKING WITH THE ART DEPARTMENT IN EACH OF YOUR FILMS, AND DO YOU LET THEIR IDEAS INFLUENCE YOUR SHOT SELECTION OR DIRECTING ANY WAY IF IT HELPS THE STORY OR CONTINUITY?

Steven:

I think the Art Dept. on any film is a huge part of a director's creative process, they've certainly been a big part of mine. If they're inspired and good at what they do then they can be an endless supply of ideas and options and solutions to problems. Yes, they can affect your directing style because they can give you new ideas that you may not have come up with on your own.

POSTED BY: ALEX DANIELS 12/05/2007 AT 08:32 PM
"I WISH I WAS HALF -MAN, HALF-______"

Alex:

Half-man, half-Liger. Which would make me a quarter lion and a quarter tiger as well.

POSTED BY: THOMAS 12/06/2007 AT 03:18 AM

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SHOOTING SCENE IN A MOVIE AND WHY? DO NOT SAY SMOKIN' ACES OR ANY OF YOUR MOVIES, OF COURSE :)

Thomas:

Nice! You got in here! The two that pop immediately to mind are the gunfights in 'Heat' and 'Taxi Driver.' 'Heat' because it still frees incredibly fresh, twelve years removed and 'Taxi Driver' for it's unabashed, unapologetic ugliness and viciousness. They are both timeless in their own weird ways.

POSTED BY: SCOTT 12/07/2007 AT 02:20 PM
QUESTION, HAVE YOU EVER SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED OR TOYED WITH DOING AN ADAPTATION OF THE MITCH RAPP SERIES OF NOVELS BY VINCE FLYNN OR THE STORY OF ARMS DEALER VIKTOR BOUT? BOTH SEEM TO LOOK LIKE THEY WOULD FIT INCREDIBLY WELL WITH YOUR STYLE.

Scott:

We were actually going to fictionalize Viktor Bout for MI3. I find him to be one of the more fascinating criminal figures out there. And the fact this guy has been operating so long and doesn't seem to have much of a public profile is testament to his skills 'keeping it under the radar.' I hope I get a chance to bring a guy like that to the screen. Anybody not familiar should do a Goggle search and check him out. You'll be reading for hours...

JC