Making an independent movie on a modest budget with some big name actors working well below their pay scale would be hard for anyone. One would think that being related to a huge name in filmmaking like Michael Mann would help out quite a bit, but Ami Canaan Mann had to make her second feature film (and first in the director’s chair since 2001) with the same struggles, production woes, and butterflies as everyone else.

For her latest film Texas Killing Fields (now available in Canada as a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack), Mann, screenwriter Don Ferrarone, and an all star cast including Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jessica Chastain, and Chloe Grace Moretz tell the story of a pair of cops in Texas City, Texas investigating a series of murders all leading to a notorious plot of land where all locals fear to tread.

Mann talked to Dork Shelf recently about the challenges of making a true crime thriller based on a story that’s still evolving, getting together a cast of heavy hitters, and what it’s like working with family.

The film is based on a real life series of cases. How did you come across the story and how did the script come to you?

Yeah, it’s a series of over fifty cases. Some of them were solved, some of them were not, some of them the bodies haven’t even been identified. These are cases that have happened since 1969 in the same area and the last crime was the murder of two prostitutes in 2006 or 2007.

How did you come to focus on the one particular time period in the case instead of trying to include everything going back to the beginning?

Yeah, I think that was a really smart decision made by Don (Ferrarone) to tell the story. This is something he wrote ten or eleven years ago, and unless you’re doing a really in-depth documentary of everything that’s happened, there’s no real way to do any of these stories true justice. The solution was to pick and choose elements from certain cases and then focus on giving an impression of the phenomena of crime that’s occurred over the past 40 years. That was a really smart way to approach. There are certain parts of certain crime scenes where it’s an amalgamation of the real life events.

You worked on this film with a couple of family members. Your father produced and your sister Aran worked even more closely with you as a production designer.

My sister is brilliant. She did such an incredible job because all our locations were practical. We were never on a stage, and many of them were completely gutted out houses that had barely any floors, animals living in the ceiling, and insulation coming down, and she built the kitchens, the bathrooms, the living room, and made every little tchotchke that you see in the house. She’s just got an incredible eye for detail and an amazing ability to do research and then pull it all together with very little money and very little time because it was very much an independent film. She’s terrific.
You’ve assembled quite the cast for the film and it seems like you caught everyone at just the right time in their careers. How did the cast come together?

I feel very lucky to have this cast. It’s just full of incredible, incredible talents. You know Don had spent quite a bit of time on the script and when we were happy with what we had, we sent it out, and the first person to read it was Sam (Worthington). So I sat down and met with him two weeks after Avatar had come out, so he was literally in what was about to become the highest grossing film in the history of cinema and he agreed to do this tiny little movie with a completely unknown director, for which I will be forever grateful.

Everyone else came through really interesting ways. Chloe Moretz auditioned for me and I knew immediately within fifteen seconds that she was the one. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was someone I wasn’t really familiar with his work, but just from meeting him he had this warmth and gravitas that I thought was a perfect ancillary component to Sam who has kind of this brusqueness. Jessica (Chastain) had done a lot of work, but none of her movies had come out yet. The only film of hers that I had of her’s to watch was this little film called Jolene and I thought she was perfect, so we talked on the phone and she agreed to do the film, but I had no idea. Tree of Life hadn’t even happened yet. All of them, I got very lucky to get them.

This is actually quite a different role for Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and he does a really excellent job in the film.

Yeah, I mean, he’s got a lot of charm, and a lot of his other work shows that, but what I like about what he did here is that he lets himself be quiet, and strong, and angry. For me I think his character was incredibly powerful, but without a lot of bravado. He did a great job letting that come across.

Did you have Sam or Jeffrey do anything in particular to prepare for their roles in the film?

(laughs) Oh my God, we did so much it would be, like, hours to talk about it all. The brief recap is that I took them to the LA morgue and had them spend some time with LA homicide detectives, particularly retired sheriffs and people who specialized in paedophilia. We did go to actual crime scenes, and we got lucky one day when two bodies were discovered in an SUV. I think it was in either City of Commerce or in LA, and we got to watch them work the crime scene, which was fascinating and incredibly helpful. Then Sam got to spend some time in Texas City, and eventually we all did, and we got to spend some time with the two real detectives we were basing the film around and we even talked to some Texas City ex-cons. Then we spent some time in Louisiana, because crime in the South and crime in Los Angeles are totally different, as are the detectives. It’s about getting the real subtle differences in these cultural techniques. I think we went to three different facilities to talk to different wardens, cops, and inmates. We did a lot.

Even Chloe, James (Herbert), Sheryl (Lee), and I all went to a safe house for people that used to cook meth. Not that it’s ever really mentioned in the film, but that was sort of their back story and to get to know it and how it pertains to the South and Louisiana because that’s a specific kind of animal there. We did a lot of research and I was really happy to have the kind of cast and crew that was willing to do this kind of research that doesn’t exactly show up on the screen, but it does give a sense of accuracy of tone. We really just wanted to pay respect to the reality of the world we were trying to create. We were very aware that we were telling a story of real people that had suffered through real tragedy. We just wanted to respect that as much as we could.

I have to bring this up, since you directed my favourite episode of one of my favourite television shows of the past twenty years, Friday Night Lights. (She directed season four’s tenth episode titled “I Can’t.”) What are the differences for you between working on television and working on film, particularly since with this one you find yourself telling a very different story taking place in Texas?

Thanks for the compliment, by the way. It was great doing that episode and I felt lucky I got that story. You know, it’s strange, for some reason on television I tend to have shorter time frames. On that episode, we had to shoot it in five days, which is a real testament to that whole Friday Night Lights crew that I never once felt pressed for time. As you know, there’s some really big scenes in that episode and we got them all. That was just an amazing crew.

In terms of production, I feel lucky that I had that experience because that was exactly the kind of pace we had to have on Texas Killing Fields. On this film, the mood is hopefully something that sneaks up on you. It sort of starts slow and hopefully in the first third you get caught into the flow of the film, but when you break it all down and go to shoot it, there wasn’t a day where we didn’t have a car chase, or someone getting stabbed in the chest or being set on fire, or a small child being assaulted, and there are all these production logistics that made for some really tight days. And again, it’s a testament to that crew that we were able to bring it all in on budget. But the pacing in terms of shooting for television and doing this film was really similar. It was an easy transition.

You have worked with your father quite closely on some of his productions in the past. Was there every anything that you took away from him or took to heart when you started making films of your own?

You know, weirdly enough, I think the biggest advice I ever got from him was just actually coming through just being so close to him and just watching him work. It was less what he said and more watching what he did. You know, it’s funny. There’s some professions where you see other people do your job, but with directing and writing you rarely get such an opportunity to see other people do it when you’re just starting out. I’ve been lucky. I got to work with Robert Redford, who’s a very different kind of director, on A River Runs Through It when I was in college, and then I got to work a year and a half on Heat, and I got to watch Michael make that movie from the beginning and all the way to the end and through the release. I feel really fortunate where I had those experience to be close enough to observe their methodology and their techniques and their attitudes towards storytelling and their persistence of vision. That was really the best learning experience I could ever have.

The 2008 comedy/action movie Journey to the Center of the Earth was one of the key titles that introduced modern 3D to audiences that was thankfully red/blue headache free. The adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure story was a hit, proving that Brendan Fraser could mug for the camera in a whole new dimension. Now that film has become a franchise with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Another Verne novel (conveniently titled The Mysterious Island) served as the inspiration this time out with Josh Hutcherson’s precocious, adventurous teen returning for another reality-bending adventure, this time joined by the likes of Michael Caine, Luis Guzman, Vanessa Hudgens, and of course Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

It’s another slice of over-the-top 3D action spectacle very much in keeping with the first film, only this time with a new director. Gander, Newfoundland native Brad Peyton got the call to helm the blockbuster sequel after a string of family hits on TV and his previous 3-D and effects based work on Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore. Dork Shelf recently got a chance to chat with the Canadian family filmmaker, delving into subjects like the challenges of shooting underwater, adapting Jules Verne, being in awe of Michael Caine, and getting The Rock to play the ukulele.

You’re very experienced in directing films for children. Did Journey 2 fit into that category naturally or did you have to alter it at all?

It has the right sensibilities. My taste luckily isn’t about being gratuitous or anything, especially for this type of movie. Even when I did really dark stuff, it was the heart behind the darkness that was interesting to me; the juxtaposition between sensitivity and darkness. For me a movie like this is a rollercoaster ride. It’s fun. It’s an adventure film. Could it get scary for a little kid? Maybe, but then I’ll make you laugh five seconds later and that’s the balance. That juxtaposition is what’s interesting to me. And when you look at adventure film, it’s probably the most interesting aspect of them. Harrison Ford falls into a pit of snakes and then goes, “Why did it have to be snakes?” In real life, tension creates comedy. You know what I mean? A lot of times when people are in danger they crack jokes because they’re just so tense. So, I tried to…it sounds a little bit silly because it’s a big fun adventure film, but you try to make it a little bit human. You try to ground it. You try to have real emotions. And I said this to the producers early on, the more ‘popcorn’ the movie is, the harder we have to work to make it an emotional story and ground the characters. Otherwise its just spectacle and no one will care.

So, I guess the Indiana Jones movies were a major influence in that respect?

Yeah. To me, I loved Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, and I found those to be inspiring movies because I cared about Indiana Jones. After Indiana Jones gets punched 400 times, what do they do at the beginning of the third act? They shoot him. And that shows the audience he can get hurt. So what do I do? I break Josh’s ankle. And it’s funny because you go to the meeting and say, “I want him to break his ankle” and they say, “Well, how’s he going to finish the movie?” Exactly. That’s the question you want the audience to ask. So that kind of interplay is the interesting aspect of making a movie like this. That’s what allows you to try and make it a little more specific and less generic.

How did you approach entering this franchise that was already in swing?

I looked at the movie as an opportunity not just to do a sequel, but to try and reboot a franchise. So you look at Journey to the Center of the Earth and you go, “Ok what did it do well?” It had great 3D, it was fun, it had a great tone. But I want to make a movie that would inspire audiences in the same way I was inspired when I saw Indiana Jones. So that’s why I said, “Ok, let’s get off the sound stage and go to Hawaii so we can shoot there as long as possible.” You know, put the actors in the dirt, make it as real as possible. Give the island a character and also get a scope and scale that you just can’t get on a sound stage. So I had to do all those things like bring a great 3D experience, but I had to kind of make it my own as well. And then obviously we lucked out and got this amazing cast, so then you have this snowball effect where it’s like, ok now we have a real shot now of making a movie that’s going to pop out. It’s weird, but for me since the 80s they haven’t really made these fun adventure films as much. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are probably the closest thing. Pirates is four times the size of our movie though. Their budget is just massive, massive, massive. But, I’m pretty ambitious and wanted to see if we could make a movie like this that harkens back to a classic adventure film with the money we had.

Did you have to teach The Rock how to play the ukulele or did he come to the set with that skill?

The Rock is not going to be taught anything. Here’s the thing with Dwayne. You meet Dwayne and you realize right away that he’s Superman. He’s the nicest guy in the world, but if you punch Superman he’s going to get angry. He’s also 6 foot 5, 270 pounds. If you think about the history of wrestling arena, how few guys have gone from being at the top of that game and successfully become legitimate movie stars? Not many and you wonder, what are the attributes it takes to do that? Dwayne is incredibly passionate, incredibly driven, when he does something, he commits to doing it 100%.

When Dwayne came on the movie, he was like “Brad I want to pitch you this 3D idea.” In my head, I’m like “Is he going to say punch the camera?” And then he describes the pec pop of love. He’s sitting there waiting to see how I’d react and I’m like, “Oh my god that’s amazing!” I never thought he would say that in a million years and that’s the take away scene of the movie for a lot of people. You’ve just never seen that before. And Dwayne’s a big 3D fan so he’s like, “If I’m going to do a 3D movie, I’m going to do it Dwayne Johnson-style.” He brings himself into the movie that way.

And the ukulele scene, to get back to your question, is the same thing. It was Dwayne saying, “You know, I love playing guitar, I love ukulele, I wonder if we could do that?” I was already looking for a scene where we could bond the characters and so I thought, “This is great.” And what’s interesting about that scene is that it’s almost the perfect analogy for this type of family film or adventure film. You get this totally disarming scene playing into the charisma of a movie star where it’s this little tiny guitar and a really big guy. But what the scene is really about is Dwayne and Michael and Josh revealing the fragileness of their characters and getting on the same page. The last shot of the scene is the push in on Michael Caine where he realizes that he hasn’t been there for Josh, but Dwaye has, the same guy who he’s been criticizing for the whole movie. That’s the theme of the movie and that scene completely makes you absorb that without being heavy handed at all. And that’s the joy of doing an adventure film. You can say these things and do these things without people even realizing. It’s meant to be subtle. It doesn’t need to be overdone. By the way that shot where Michael Caine acted that made me feel like a giddy five year old. It’s pure Michael Caine acting. I went up and was like, “Wow! Look what you just did!” and he was like “Oh, ha ha ha, I do that all the time.” I’m like, “Cool, I don’t.”

How much of the banter between the characters was improvised. Were they playing off each other at all?

Most of it was written. 90% of their stuff was written, though my process with the actors was to get them to Hawaii, get them to the hotel, and get through their scenes. I’d break down the script for each character and then do a morning with just Luis and Vanessa and their scenes. Then I would get some time with just Josh and Dwayne and just do their scenes. So I was looking at the movie just through those individual character’s story arcs and making sure they all played. A lot of the improvisation and the discovery was done in those sessions.

By the time we got to the set, thankfully we’d already had those discussions. We’d gone through the exploratory stage with the actors. And it also allowed for a certain comfort on the set. We’d walk through it and say, “We’ve done this scene.” You know there’s a sense of familiarity with the scenes already, so all we were doing was blocking it for the camera. Once you get it up on its feet, really emotionally up on its feet, then it’s just about tweaks. You know, “Maybe we should change this line, maybe we should break this line in half.” Those little moments you can only do when you’re there watching the
scene.

Was it nice to have a talented cast who you could depend on to play with the material like that?

For me, working with a cast like this ultimately comes down to collaboration. They’ve done it so many times and the only way that I can figure out how to excel as a director is to work with people who have done it more and are much better. So, I like to collaborate and I make rules. Like early on my rule with Luis Guzman was that we’d always do one take for fun. I’d do six or seven takes for me and then he’d get one for fun. And that immediately takes the tension out because he knows that no matter what, he has an opportunity coming where he can contribute an idea. That frees them up. And they know I respect them and value them and I’m not there to wag my finger and make them do what I want. I find that’s how you get the best out of people.

So Luis Guzman added a lot to his character?

Oh yeah. The thing about Luis is that he’s a real character actor. Whether it’s comedy or whether he’s playing a thug or whatever, Luis understands people. He understands comedy. Louis and I completely hit it off. We’re friends and when I go to New York, I hang out with him now. He’s a good dude. He’s a really good guy and he accesses people in an honest way. He really commits to his characters, no matter what you’re asking him to do whether it be the over-the-top comedic guy or the thug who never blinks. It was a great experience and I needed to use [his character] Gabato in two ways. He’s the comedic relief, so he’s in a way the broadest character in the movie. But I also needed him to really get scared, to really run when the monsters are chasing him. But I had to still make it real on some level and Luis is perfect for that because you can say to him, “You’re really scared here. I know you’re playing it funny, but let’s do one where you’re really scared.” And he’s like, “Ok, I can do that.” So he is able to make it both broad and funny and grounded in the same time.

The movie has a lot of intense action, was there anything particularly difficult to shoot?

Yeah, this is the type of movie where there isn’t a small day, like “Oh I can’t wait to shoot that little lizard chase. That’s going to be really easy.” Everything in it was pretty complex. The hardest stuff was probably the underwater photography. That’s really tough. The communication level is just ridiculous. We build a 700,000 gallon tank and we put it on a stage in North Carolina. It’s about 2.5 stories tall and there’s a deck on top of it. So I’m up there with a crane arm that we built with a case that goes under the water. Then I’ve got the top underwater camera operator in the world down there with a second camera. Then I’ve got 20 ex-Navy Seal scuba guys as a safety crew. Then I have the deck of the Nautilus that I built and had lowered in there. Then I’ve got decks of lights we had to try and figure out the best location for so that I don’t have to move them underwater. Then I’ve got the cast down there, submerged for a minute to two minutes at a time with no goggles and guys swimming up to give them oxygen so they can stay down there.

So with all that, I’m communicating through a stunt coordinator who’s communicating through a mic in the water to the cameraman. We had to develop a complex system to talk to the actors just to do one take. I’m so impatient, so it was a real pain to sit there and set it up and then to get the shots right. Plus we had to get the harpoon hit and the Vertigo shot. I wanted to get the first 3D Vertigo shot so I had to shoot it a certain way to get the green screen in certain way and ugh! You’re just like, “Holy crap, this is going to take forever!” But it’s funny because the movie was shot in 62 days and if you go to research how much time Michael Bay takes to shoot Transformers, you can triple that number.

How do you approach making a film of this scale over such a tight schedule?

Part of what I brought to the table as a director is efficiency. I’m ambitious but that’s a funny word because it’s normally only used for failure. How many times have they said, “Oh it’s ambitious” and they succeeded? So I looked at it like, “I am going to try and achieve a lot with the budget I have, with the time I have, and with the cast I have, because we need to be the younger brother to Pirates.” That’s the attitude you have to have when you go into a movie like this. You’ve got to maximize the opportunity. So whatever the challenges were, you have to be able to step up to the plate and have a plan that no one is eventually going say, “That was ambitious, but you had seven days and you couldn’t do it.” I’m not like that. I pre-visualize and I’m constantly looking at my iPad to try and find shots to cut. I try to figure out what I think will end up on the cutting room floor and then not shoot that. So when a producer says, “Oh we lost a day” I’m like, “No worries.” And they’re like “What do you mean, normally directors are panicking?” and I’m like “No, I saw this coming and I’ve already dumped a scene in my head.” And you know, that’s just one of the difficulties that comes with shooting a big movie.

With all of the technical demands, how much were you actually able to shoot on location?

Pretty well the whole thing. 70% of the movie was shot in Hawaii and 30% was shot in North Carolina. The only green screen sequence was with the bees.

Right, that would have been tough to do practically.

Yeah, it’s pretty tough to get gigantic bees in a studio or find them at all. But you know, we shot the actors on a stage and then we went out and shot the backgrounds ourselves in Hawaii with a little helicopter camera that actually ran into a tree. I still have that take on my computer. But anyways, it was very much Return Of The Jedi-style. I will say this though, trying to make a movie that has a reality to it when there’s nothing real on the screen is a tough challenge, and we’ve all seen movies where you just don’t buy it. One of the things that I had conversations with the physical effects team about was that everyone has seen that moment in a movie where the guy is riding on a motorcycle and the bike leans and then he leans afterwards. That happens and you’re like, “What the hell? That wasn’t real!” So I had them design the bucks that stood in for the bees so that in order to turn them, the actors had to do it themselves. So you see this reality. When Dwayne leans on the buck, he really has to lean. It was about finding a way to make even the most unreal situations in the movie seem real. So even when the bee is put in and all the backgrounds are there, all of the digital fanciness is added, there’s a certain level of humanity in some part of the acting and the action.

Why did you decide to re-imagine this particular Jules Verne classic?

Well, part of the Journey brand is Verne. So it’s not like I can ignore that. I kind of have to develop from that. This franchise promises two things, a really great 3D experience because the last one was the first modern live action 3D movie and then Jules Verne. And that’s what separates us from other blockbusters: understanding what Verne represents and looking at his work not as a retelling, but as a reference point. Hollywood already did an adaptation of The Mysterious Island. It’s from the 60s and it was a great movie with a great score from Bernard Herrmann. I respect that stuff, but I’m not trying to do that again. I’m trying to build on the mythology that he wrote, but under the pretense that it was real on some level and the story can grow from there. So you’re using it as an inspiration point. I feel like as long as I can be respectful to Journey to the Center of the Earth, the book, the original source material, and the movies that came before me, then I’m ok to venture off into my own version. You’ve got to respect it, but you’re not tied to it in any particular way.

So which was more difficult, this movie or wrangling those Cats And Dogs?

I’ll say that was. I’d much rather direct Dwayne Johnson in anything than a bunch of cats and dogs. That’s more difficult. A lot more.

With the second season premiere of the sword & sandals epic Spartacus just around the corner, we had the opportunity to talk with Australian actress Viva Bianca, who plays the manipulative Roman aristocrat Ilithyia on the Starz series.

We discussed the untimely passing of Spartacus star Andy Whitfield, the show’s second season, its depictions of sex and violence, and even had a little time to talk about Punky Brewster.

Dork Shelf: First we’d like to express our sincere condolences on the passing of Andy Whitfield. He was insanely talented and a huge part of the show obviously, part of what made it such a big hit. He seemed like a hell of a guy.

Viva Bianca: Thank you. Andy is an exceptional person and quite clearly a highly talented and charismatic actor. It’s a great loss personally and also a great loss for the industry.

DS: Agreed. So you character, Ilithyia, is one of my personal favourites on Spartacus. Tell me a little bit about how you joined the show. What drew you to the role initially?

VB: Aw… thank you. Of course, that was a little while back now when we first started making the show it was 2009. I was cast from Australia and it was the biggest production I had ever been on. It was very exciting, but at that stage we didn’t even really know what the show was going to be. I’m told that that’s often the case with new series, particularly cable series on a network like Starz. So it was really kind of falling into the unknown.

With regards to Ilithyia , I had no idea that she would emerge as the villain that she did emerge as. As you might recall she began as this bratty princess on the show, but the part just kept growing and twisting and unravelling. The great thing about season two is that audiences can expect to see even more complexity in the character, and even some vulnerability.

DS: Watching Ilithyia in the second season so far, I’m reminded of some of the great TV villainesses of the 80s and 90s. That clear villainess who is always making power plays and scheming in the background. Have you drawn any inspiration from some of those classic archetypal characters?

VB: No, I haven’t conciously at least. But I watch film,TV, and go to the theatre a lot, so I think subliminally you’re bound to draw inspiriation from various past performances. I think I’m always drawn to complex, strong women, but with any kind of character like that I would want to explore vulnerability, fragility, and softness. On the contrary, if I were to be playing a more vulnerable, fragile character, I’d always be looking for the strength or the dark side. So to me, it’s about creating the most well-rounded, realized, and complex human being.

DS: Well you’re certainly achieving that in season two. What can you tell us about the new season? What can viewers expect?

VB: In season three the stakes have risen across the board. Every single character wants something desperately and every single character is seeking vengeance. It’s highly dramatic. For Ilithyia in particular, it’s a seriously epic rollercoaster. She’s fallen from grace, and she’s grappling for her very livelyhood and survival. So she’s a woman on the edge.

DS: Okay, we’re going to talk about some spoilers here, so reader beware. Ilithyia is pregnant, is it safe to say that Spartacus be the daddy?

VB: That’s a cheeky suggestion! We don’t know that yet, but that’s obviously a big question and a big secret to be revealed in season two, so stay tuned.

DS: You and Lucy Lawless’ character are growing much closer this season. The roles have almost flipped, now Ilithyia has become the manipulator. There’s a great scene in episode two where Lucretia sacrifices the goat and you’ve got the knife, and there’s that palpable tension. Are we going to see more of this new dynamic?

VB: The relationship dynamic between those two women just becomes more co-dependant and complex. The writers gave us so much material to work with, so we were very fortunate. In addition to that, Lucy and I really took full advantage of one another, we had a great chemistry together and have become great friends off-screen. So it was a real delight playing through the drama in that relationship.

I think what’s really fundamental here is that Ilithyia becomes the doma of the house, of assiartus, and Lucretia has lost all of her power in that situation. Both characters find themselves in totally new territory.

DS: You seem like you’re constantly surrounded by burly fighting men on the show, do you ever get the desire to get in on that action? Duck into the writer’s room and ask if Ilithyia could maybe take up a sword every once in a while?

VB: Oh no, I love being princess-y and pretty! Sitting on the lovely Persian cloth-covered loungers, sipping on wine and eating cherries. I’m quite happy with the decadence in which my character dwells, thank you very much. But not to spoil anything too major, there is a little bit of crossing of worlds for Ilithyia in the upcoming season. She doesn’t stay entirely clean, but that’s all I can say.

DS: Right on, that’s something to look forward to! Not related to that, but obviously at the forefront of the show is the nudity. It almost always helps drive the story forward, but what’s your take on how it’s handled on the show?

VB: First and foremost, whenever the prospect of nudity arises on the show in a particular scene or episode, there will always be a meeting about it with the director or the producers. What’s always discussed is the relevence of that scene to the story. The nudity and the sex scenes have to be driving the story forward in order for them to be appropriate and justified. I think that for all of the actors in the cast, that’s kind of the unanimous philosophy.

But doing sex scenes and doing nudity is never easy and never comfortable. It must be dealt with in the most clinical, professional, and respectful manner. And on this show it absolutely is, we’re really protected.

DS: The nudity never feels excessive or just there to be there. It’s also very balanced. I’ve seen far more male genitalia in that season alone than I’d seen in my life up to that point.

VB: That’s a really good way of looking at it. You could never say that the show is objectifying women for the male gaze, because it certainly goes both ways. And another thing, the female characters on this show are ballsy and empowered and scheming. They’re often the ones who are manipulating their husbands to get what they want. Ilithyia is a perfect example of that. She’s an incredibly empowered and sophisticated lady in a world where women really didn’t have much power.

DS: Behind every strong man is a strong woman. Ilithyia is the powerhouse in that relationship. The Praetor may strut around puffing his chest, but you can tell that Ilithyia is the one scheming and pulling the strings. As did Lucy Lawless’ character when the roles were reversed.

VB: That’s correct. The fun thing for me in season two is that I have my husband around. Glaber, played by the great Craig Parker, becomes the man of the house. I get to explore a wonderful character dynamic with Craig. The marriage between Ilithyia and Glaber is extraordinarily complex; passionate, but also manipulative and destructive. It goes down a really dark path in season two.

DS: Oenomaus looks like he’s going to play a big role in the return of the House of Batiatus. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on there?

VB: Oenomaus is one of my favourite characters, he is so noble and stoic. Of course, played by the great Peter Mensah, one of my dear friends from the cast. He brings such a sophistication to the show that we’re all so grateful for. He plays a note that none of us provide. His storyline stands apart from everyone elses, he’s a solitary man that doesn’t take easily to the rebellion and Spartacus’ cause.

DS: It’s certainly nice to see him return to the House of Batiatus. So we have to wrap up here, but we have to ask what is on your Dork Shelf?

VB: This is a really hard question! Well, I must say that I’m gypsy so I don’t have a home as such right now. I have a series of collectible dolls from my childhood that I’ve never thrown away. I’ve got an array of Barbie dolls and antique dolls, but I’ve recently started collecting little figurines of characters. For instance, I have a Punky Brewster doll that I’ve had since the late-80s when I was a little girl. For some reason I think it’s very cool.

DS: Punky was of course the first true independant woman for a generation.

VB: Punky rocked! The different coloured shoes, the pigtails, the freckles, the thing around her knee. She also had the phone that was a hamburger.

DS: Thank you for your time, Viva. It has been wonderful chatting with you.

VB: Really nice to meet you. Ciao!

You can find more Viva at VivaBianca.org and her official Twitter and Facebook pages.

Spartacus: Vengeance premieres at 10 PM on tonight on Starz in the United States and January 29th on The Movie Network in Canada.

It takes a special kind of guy to take on an assignment like the family sports film Real Steel. The job has to go to someone who’s familiar with family films, someone who knows the ins and outs of sports movies, and they have to know how to bridge that gap to make the film accessible to both audiences. Combine that with the fact that it’s also a Steven Spielberg produced, special effects heavy story of a father and his estranged son competing together in the futuristic sport of “robot boxing” and the degree of difficulty goes up considerably.

After meeting with Spielberg himself, the directorial duties for last fall’s crowd pleasing Real Steel – out on DVD and Blu-ray this Tuesday – Night at the Museum and Date Night director Shawn Levy set out to make the film as a bit of a departure for himself. Filled with more dramatic weight, more visual effects, and working in a genre slightly outside of a comfort zone, Levy has gone on record numerous times as saying that the Hugh Jackman starring film has been his most satisfying experience to date.

The enthusiastic and candid Levy talked to Dork Shelf from Atlanta to talk about the DVD release of the film, including an incredibly in-depth commentary track that takes viewers through numerous featurettes and production stills using Disney’s new Second Screen technology, allowing viewers to access special features from a synched up laptop or iPad without stopping the movie on their screen. It’s like an in home film school for those who would much rather be studying the inner working and attention to detail found in genre fare.

Andrew Parker: I actually got a copy of the Blu-ray tonight, and I really have to say that this is one of the most amazingly in-depth commentary tracks I’ve heard in quite some time, and a lot of that has to do with the technology being used for it.

Shawn Levy: Thanks! It meant a lot to me because it was a fascinating process to make the movie and to learn as much as I did making it. Frankly, I remember being a film student and watching DVDs or Laserdiscs with Criterion Collection commentary and it was like a dream to get inside the process of the filmmaking and I wanted to give that to the full extent that I could on Real Steel.

AP: Now was this kind of your idea to try this Second Screen technology for the commentary track or was this something that Disney came to you with early on?

SL: They came to me when I was editing the movie and they said they had this great new technology for the future, this Second Screen technology, and they told me what it could offer fans of the movie, but that it would require a tremendous amount of work in terms of turning over behind the scenes footage and images and then for me to really walk the audience through how we made that aspect of it. I was just so intrigued by the ability to give that insightful and profound a behind the scenes look that I totally committed to it, as did my whole team, and it was amazing to be a collaborator in the shaping of it.

AP: In the commentary, your eagerness and love for the material comes across, and it also explains how in many ways you’re still a student of film and always keen to learn new things as you go along. This is your first sports movie, your first film that isn’t an outright comedy, and on top of that you’re working with technology that you haven’t had to use before. What was something that you were most comfortable with going into the film and the thing you felt you had the most to learn about?

SL: I guess the area of comfort had to do with bringing the heart to the story. And I’m used to bringing a warm-hearted quality to the comedies I directed, so I was comfortable in finding in the screenplay, the rewrites, and in the direction the moments of real humanity and warmth within an action drama. So that was comfortable for me, as well as working with actors, which will always remain my favourite part of the job.

What was newest was that I literally knew nothing about motion capture technology, and I certainly knew less than nothing about the Simulcam technology. Partly because I had never worked with it before, but also partly because half of it didn’t exist pre-Avatar. So I had to learn this entire technological paradigm from scratch, and that was daunting at first, but eventually very, very gratifying.

AP: The look of the film is something unique. It takes place in the not too distant future of 2020 and it has this really retro-forward feel to it. Was there anything you particularly looked to when trying to get the feeling right to use as a template?

SL: For the aesthetics of the film we used still images more than movies. My production designer, Tom Meyer, pulled such an eclectic group of stills from literally landscape books and photography books, boxing magazines, architecture books. You know, anywhere we saw an image that inspired us we literally created this hundred page visual manifesto, and in my first meeting with the cinematographer I shared that with him and it was very clear because it was all in those images.

AP: You’re a very collaborative filmmaker that likes to encourage everyone on the set, not just the actors, to impart their thoughts on the project. What’s something you look for in a potential collaborator when you start casting and hiring people?

SL: Intelligence. Intelligence.

AP: Which is key.

SL: Oh, it is key, but people often don’t realize it. When you look at stars that I’ve worked with, and even several that I’ve worked with repeatedly – Steve Martin, Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, Hugh – these are very, very smart, inventive, collaborative types and I want an all star team. So if you cast not just rightness for the role, but also intelligence, you’re giving yourself such strong partnerships that will just make the work better. I learned that early on working with Steve Martin and it’s a lesson that really stayed with me.

AP: And that’s a great guy to learn a lesson like that from, an old pro who’s been around for that long.

SL: Yeah, he’s a pro, but he’s also a real intellect. I’m here in Atlanta right now producing Neighbourhood Watch with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, and these guys are so fast and so quick, and every day we’re in it solving problems together and figuring out the best ways to do scenes together, and I really love that brotherhood.

AP: Going back to another casting question that ties into what you were talking about before when you said you didn’t know much about motion capture technology, how did you cast the people who would play the robots in parts where you couldn’t use your practical effects or traditional CGI?

SL: My stunt coordinator and fight choreographer, Garret Warren, he selected and suggested and basically cast each robot with a professional fighter. Some were boxers, some were MMA fighters, some were stuntmen who were amateur fighters, and some of his choices were perfect, and in some of those cases, when we got in the boxing ring and it… and I don’t want to bum anyone out by naming names, but some of the robots were played by fighters who weren’t the right match. They didn’t have the swagger or the right form to their punches, so in some cases we replaced certain fighters mid-stream until we found the human fighter that had the movement and mojo that we wanted each robot to have.

AP: I imagine that would be something that’s tough to find on a production like this because you have to spend all this time meticulously designing the look of these robots before you even shoot any of the film, and you absolutely have to have that match between the look and the movement.

SL: That’s exactly right. In the case of Zeus (the champion robot of the boxing world), we had a fighter playing him and after doing one round of the fight with Atom (the hero robot), we could see that the brawn and stability and undefeatable intimidation of this character wasn’t being expressed in the right way by the human, so we changed humans.

AP: There are a lot of really big set pieces with a lot of great attention to detail in the movie. Which one posed the greatest challenge to you as a filmmaker?

SL: Well, the one I would answer with would be the one at The Zoo, and I tell this anecdote on the DVD. That fight between Atom and Metro was supposed to be on the roof of a bowling alley. We looked for months and we couldn’t find one. Then it was supposed to take place on an abandoned riverboat. We changed the scene to an abandoned riverboat and at the last minute we couldn’t get a permit to film on the water. So now we’re frantically running around wondering where the hell we’re going to have this fight. Then at the eleventh hour we found this abandoned zoo, and it became one of the defining scenes in the movie. That’s a great example of how in the midst of problem solving, and in the midst of challenge, you often come up with your best solutions.

Real Steel arrived on DVD and Blu-ray from Walt Disney Home Entertainment on Tuesday, January 24th.

Sometimes when going to an interview or a press conference for a film, you run into people involved with the production that you aren’t scheduled to talk to. On the way to a press conference for Disney’s The Muppets at a Toronto hotel I ran into the film’s writer and co-star Jason Segel. He was someone I had interviewed earlier in the year over the phone and there was a brief exchange about what we had talked about the last time we spoke.

“Are you here to interview me again?” he asked.

“No, I’m actually here for Kermit today.”

In that one moment, Segel’s eyes lit up and it was infinitely apparent just how much his work on The Muppets means to him. He went from someone who looked weary from weeks of travel to someone filled with impish glee.

“You’re here for the real legend, then.” He saw the smile on my face and returned it. I might have blushed a little since Kermit has been a personal idol since boyhood. Across numerous television appearances and films, no man, woman, child, or animal had ever made being equal parts sensitive and funny as cool as Kermit the Frog did. I doubt anyone has ever been as equally quick with quips and hugs as Kermit has.

I sat in a room full of jaded members of the press who normally don’t bat an eyelash when it comes to such media cattle calls, but the air was different in that ballroom. There wasn’t a single person without a smile on their face. A few of the reporters even brought their equally happy kids.

I was worried I might not be able to remain professionally objective when Kermit made his way into the room. I had a billion questions I could’ve asked, but I was afraid that I would just sit in slack-jawed awe of Kermit and no words would come out.

Then from under the table, seated next to host Richard Crouse, a small green flipper came up as Kermit propped himself onto the chair in front of his microphone.

“Hi everybody!”

OH MY GOD KERMIT’S HERE.

What about this particular project intrigued you so much?

Kermit the Frog: Well, I think part of it was because it was called The Muppets. That kind of drew me right in. And then Jason gave me the script and as soon as I read it about halfway through it said “Kermit the Frog enters.” So I though, well, that’s me. I think I have to do it, you know?

Kermit and his significant other, Miss Piggy

You and Piggy are a couple. What has it been like working together over the years?

KTF: Well, I don’t know how many of you guys have actually worked with your spouse, but it can be tricky. Piggy and I aren’t married, but we’re definitely significant others, and when your significant other is a pig, there are challenges. For instance, you have to remember not to eat bacon. That’s very important. We work together knowing that she’s a pig, and pigs require certain things. Like, you always want to make sure there are truffles in the dressing room because pigs like those. It’s always tough to work with someone you’re close with, but it can be wonderful. You can bring all that magic to the screen, you know?

Jason Segel has been known for doing more traditionally adult fare. Were there any hesitations about working from his script knowing what he had done in the past?

KTF: Well, I have to tell you the truth because most of our films are for family audiences, but the truth is that if you’ve seen the opening to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, that was something I actually inspired for Jason, so I’m afraid I might have started that, actually.

You are often playing a version of yourself on screen, what are the differences between Kermit the character and Kermit the Frog?

KTF: That’s easy for me to answer because I’m both! So it would be very easy for me to tell you. Well, in real life I don’t really think of myself as a big star. I’ve been doing this for a long time, mostly because I love it. But the character of Kermit is similar because I’m always surrounded by all these crazy Muppet guys, but in the movie we haven’t been together for a long, long time, but that’s not actually the truth in real life. We work together all the time. We just did Bohemian Rhapsody on the internet last year. I don’t know how many of you have seen that, but that was a huge thing. We did a lot of television. It’s just been a lot of years since we were on the big screen. But there are differences. I’m probably a lot quieter and less outgoing than the Kermit you see on screen.

The film ties in heavily with your old TV show. Is this a reboot of The Muppet Show series or of the franchise in general?

KTF: Well, reboot is a funny word if you’re a Muppet. When you get rebooted, you usually go flying through the sky! Actually, I don’t think so because we haven’t really gone anywhere. We’ve been around all these years, just off working on other stuff. I mean, I guess, it might be a reboot in the sense that we haven’t been on film in a long time. I don’t mind getting rebooted like that. It’s nice if young people get to see us and learn who we are. I think that’s fun. But most important for us Muppets is to just be who we are, so if it’s a reboot for a franchise it’s nice to be the guys that we’ve always been.

Has filmmaking changed a lot for you guys since the last time you were on screen?

KTF: It sure has because no one shoots on film anymore. It’s very weird. These days it’s actually high def video. I mean, some people still do, but this one we shot on High Def. Fine with me. Brings out my green.

What are the best reasons to see The Muppets?

KTF: Well, one really great reason is the popcorn. Another great reason is that I’ll get to make more movies. If people don’t go see it, then that probably will never happen. But also, we worked very hard on it and hopefully other than just make another movie was to bring lots of people together. Because that’s what we like to do. Most of our Muppet movies are kind of about family getting together to do all these crazy and fun things, and in this case to save our theatre, but it’s about coming together, which I think is important in the world.

What were some of your favourite moments on set?

KTF: Usually every day at lunch. Those are my favourite moments. You know, it’s free when you work on a movie!

What’s a typical lunch for you?

KTF: You know, I eat the stereotypical typical frog stuff. Flies, mosquitos, worms are nice. I actually kind of have a hankering for fried chicken sometimes. But no pork products.

You’ve been friends with Fozzie Bear for a while now. Have you ever had the heart to break it to him that he might want to consider a career outside of comedy?

KTF: Well, (winces) I try to be as gentle as possible. It’s funny with the Muppets because all these years we’ve done all the crazy things we’ve done and yet and awful lot of the guys just aren’t very good at what they do. It’s very strange. I mean, I like to sing, but let’s face it, I’m no Frank Sinatra. Miss Piggy is an actress who’s sort of not that great of an actress. Fozzie’s not really a funny comedian except for when he’s not trying to be funny. Gonzo’s a horrible stunt guy who always gets hurt. I guess you could say that we’re excellent failures. I guess that’s a good lesson in itself.

You’ve worked on some projects here in Toronto in the past. How does it feel being back here?

KTF: I love being back here. I think I was first in Toronto in about 1973. I mean, I’m not as young as I look. We did a lot of Muppetland specials back here like The Frog Prince, and then we did The Jim Henson Hour, which was fun. Then there was Fraggle Rock, which I wasn’t on the show, but I was sort of a creative consultant, so I was around during those years. It’s great to be back. I have to say I prefer this time of year right now before it gets any colder. Being a frog and not having a winter coat, I don’t want to go dormant too soon.

A big part of the movie hinges on television executives telling you The Muppets aren’t relevant anymore. How do you feel about people saying that.

KTF: Well, I hope it’s not true. I mean, I hope we’re still relevant. We’ve got the movie and we’ve got our target demographics. That was something we mostly put in for the movie because it increases the dramatic weight for our big ending. But I have a feeling that parents that grew up with us over the years were introducing us to their kids long before this movie came out and I hope that they just reinforce that and that they all love it.

You are working with a lot of the old Muppet show crew and joining up with newer cast members like Rizzo and Pepe who aren’t in the film as much. Was there any sort of contention between the new and old guard?

KTF: No, I mean, Rizzo was around a bit during The Muppet Show, but Pepe sort of took an executive producer role in this one, so he was mostly behind-the-scenes. It wouldn’t surprise me if we do another film, and I really hope we do, that you would see a lot more Pepe. He wouldn’t stand for it otherwise. I love Pepe. He’s great. When he’s out there he wants to be the star of the whole thing, so for him to be behind the scenes it’s a very humbling thing for him. He’s a good publicist. He likes to go out and get the female stars to be in the film.

Kermitt the Frog, Jason Segel and Miss Piggy

How hard was it getting all the cameos for the film?

KTF: Well, I don’t think it was that hard because many of them had seen us growing up on TV and seeing a lot of our films. And Jason Segal knows a lot of people. So we had to make a few phone calls and I think most of his friends were happy to be on board. I mean, we have Mickey Rooney in our film! He’s only in there for a moment, but that was awesome.

How have you grown as an actor since the early days?

KTF: Well, I was young. My tail had just fallen off. I was just out of tadpolehood. I don’t even think my feet had webbed yet. They were like these awful club feet. I went through a bit of a two collar phase. I didn’t really start when I was super young, but I always dreamed of being a singing, dancing, talking frog in show business, and I think I’m one of the only ones. I mean, there’s the Budweiser frogs. They’re great guys to invite over. You know, we all evolve and change, but I try to keep current and relevant.

Would you say Ranbow Connection is your favourite song? What are some of your other major musical influences?

KTF: I have many, many musical influences and I love Rainbow Connection as a song that I was able to sing, which was written by a really great friend of mine named Paul Williams. I love working with Paul and he’s done a lot of music for us. Coincidentally we wear the same sized clothing. We trade off. We just did a song and video recently with the band OK Go, and that was great. I think the new music in the film is great because it’s done by several different composers, where in the past it was mostly done by a single person like Paul, which is a good way to experiment.

What was it like revisiting Rainbow Connection again for this film?

KTF: That was really great and I think it will bring back a lot of memories for the adults who remember it from way back in 1979. I think the meaning of that song still holds a lot of weight today. It’s about following your dreams, following yourself, and letting a little bit of magic into your lives. I think it’s the message of pretty much everything we do.

Michael K Williams, who most famously portrayed the iconic stick-up boy Omar Little in HBO’s The Wire, was in Toronto this week – and we were lucky enough to sit down with him to talk about Boardwalk, his upcoming role on NBC’s Community, and his love for Game of Thrones.

Click here to view the embedded video.

With Carmen on guitar and vocals and Andy on drums, the pair pack a whopping punch. Carmen’s vocals make her sound like she’s been transported through time to an era of old movies, but she’s got the confidence to take her to another level. Her electric guitar playing is raw and exposed, while Andy’s drumming is quick, flexible and light. Close to the Bone is an introduction to this duo we won’t forget, from the melodies, the wails, the changing pace and so much rich energy in tracks such as “The Power,” “Cold & Alcohol” and “Always.”

Seeing Army Girls live is a big part of their dynamic. You can catch them this weekend (Saturday, the 10^th) at the Arts & Crafts TIFF showcase at the Drake Hotel with The Darcys, Rival Boys and Samantha Savage Smith. They go on at 8.

Now, get to know Army Girls with our Q&A:

How and when did you start the band?

We started playing together February 2010 under a different name. The first year we started playing together we only did a handful of shows. In the winter of 2011, we recorded our first album and came up with a name and have been performing that way ever since.

Tell us about Close to the Bone. What is it about? What does it mean to you?

Close to the Bone is a collection of songs written in the aftermath of a lot of change. Primarily, I wrote it in response to a deeply awful couple of years. As it happens, it turned out to be less therapeutic and more hopeful for me. I won’t speak for Andy, but for myself, writing this EP has been about coming to grips with bad situations and turning them into raw energy.

What was it like making your first Army Girls EP?

It was really fun. We came at it with a pretty ad hoc approach. We cold called Ben Cook (who is fantastically talented in many, many respects) and set a time and place, showed up and made a rough n’ rushed album in 4 hours. It was a new experience for me. Until this EP was recorded, every recording process I had been a part of took days or weeks or months. This fell together so quickly and turned out pretty much exactly how it should have.

What struck you as a really good idea?

The best idea we had was contacting Ben. It’s rare to find someone who can exactly transfer a sound you envision into hard copy. It’s like asking a stranger to tell you what to wear, they don’t know your taste, your style, your wardrobe… how are they supposed to guess? We were so pleased it worked out so well.

What are you thinking about for future recordings, whether it’s to change something or what you’d like to explore?

Next we would love to do a full length. Unfortunately, for new bands it isn’t always easy coming up with enough money or material to make a first album a full length. We are hoping to go to New York to record the next one; to get lost in a bigger city, maybe and see where we find ourselves.

Do you feel that the music you make in this band is similar to what you make with other projects, or are you going for a certain style?

I think Army Girls is unique to Army Girls. The way we’ve worked until now is not very similar to the other bands we play in, or have played in.

How would you describe your live dynamic?

I think our live shows have a lot of energy. We never play a show without sweating buckets, we always get off the stage feeling winded. We have been described as raw – I like that description a lot because it really neatly sums up how much effort we put into propelling each song.

What venues or areas do you like to play in and why?

Almost anywhere in Toronto is an amazing experience to play. Anything from the Horseshoe to someone’s small grungy basement. Toronto has an amazing selection of alternative spaces which can make that special occasion that much more special.

What’s it like to be a musician in Toronto? How do you draw from the scene?

Being a musician in Toronto is amazing. There are so many good bands in this city to feed off of and play shows with. Starting a new band here after playing for many years in other bands made it easy to get shows and build from there.

You named your band after a random girl you saw walking down the street. Does city imagery or attitude often affect your work?

Definitely. We are both very visual people. Always looking. Noticing the smaller details.

Where do you want to take this band? Carmen, you’ve said how you’ve taken yourself into new territory as a musician by getting louder, so what else would you like to do?

I would like to take this band as far as possible. I want to refine the songs and write many more. I would like lots of people to hear this music and I’d like to play shows with other fantastic musicians. I see possibilities in this band like a mechanic does in the rusted shell of a restorable car; I can see us polishing and adjusting it until it runs beautifully.

Is there anything else we should know about Army Girls?

We will be putting together a new photo blog next month with our new camera from Lomography in Toronto. We are very excited for that!

Follow Army Girls on their official site here.

Like all good things, Fan Expo 2011 eventually had to come to an end. The four day extravaganza featured everything a dork could possibly want: horror and sci-fiction, comics, video games, anime and even nerd speed dating (more on that later)! The whole team had a blast at this year’s convention, coming away with tons of swag, a unhealthy dose of con flu and some great interviews for your viewing pleasure.

In honour of DC Comics’ much touted Fall relaunch, we figured it would be best to kick off our post-Fan Expo coverage with some interviews related to storied publisher, namely, artists Shane Davis and Wes Craig.

Davis has been with DC Comics since 2005 with his most recent work being the penciller for the divisive Superman: Earth One.

Fan Expo 2011 Interview – Shane Davis

We also had a chance to speak with artist Wes Craig, known for his work on DC’s WildStorm line and on the upcoming T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents relaunch due out in November.

Fan Expo 2011 Interview – Wes Craig

Stay tuned for more interviews in the coming days, including newly minted Marvel Editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, writer Matt Fraction and more.

With the premiere of HBO’s epic fantasy series Game of Thrones less than two weeks away, the hype surrounding the show contiunues to increase. The sprawling TV adaptation, based on author George R. R. Martin’s revered A Song of Ice and Fire novels, is already winning rave reviews from critics and fans alike. The Shelf had the opportunity to see the first two episodes of the show earlier this week and came away very impressed.

Today we were lucky enough to speak with actor Kit Harington (in Toronto filming Silent Hill: Revelation), who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. As the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark (Sean Bean), Snow is the black sheep of his family. In an effort to find his place in the world, Jon joins the Night’s Watch; a once proud order of warriors dedicated to defending the northern reaches of the kingdom from an unknown threat. We discussed the audition process, the character of Jon Snow, the sprawling and illustrious cast, Thrones fan sites, and what he keeps on his dork shelf.

Viewer beware: there is a potential spoiler at 11:10 in the interview.

Special thanks to all the folks who submitted questions for Kit via email! Sorry that we couldn’t get to them all.

Game of Thrones begins April 17 at 9 PM on HBO Canada and HBO.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the creative team behind the original Saw, director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell. The two were in Toronto promoting their new film Insidious, a movie that can be best described as a love letter to classic haunted house films like The Exorcist and Poltergeist. With Wan in the director’s chair and Whannell once again handling writing duties, the Australian duo hope to recapture the spirit that made Saw such a runaway hit.

We discussed Insidious, the horror genre, their film inspirations and influences, their favourite Toronto haunts and the dark secrets that their respective dork shelves undoubtedly hold.

Insidious is due in theatres on April 1st, and stars Patrick Wilson (Little Children, Watchmen) and Rose Byrne (Sunshine, Damages).

Sam Huntington, Meaghan Rath and Sam Witwer of Being Human

We caught up with the cast of SPACE and SyFy’s new supernatural dramedy Being Human this afternoon in Toronto. The series is adapted from a BBC3 show of the same name about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost who share a flat.

We joined Sam Huntington (Superman Returns, Fanboys), Meaghan Rath (15/Love) and Sam Witwer (Smallville, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed) to talk about the show, their respective schools of vampirism, lycanthropy and poltergeisting, shooting the show in Montreal, and what they have on their dork shelves.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can read our review of the first two episodes here.

Being Human airs Mondays on SPACE at 10:00PM ET and SyFy at 9:00PM ET.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A very big thanks to Mr. Granov for taking the time to speak with us.

You can see more of Adi’s work at his official website AdiGranov.net