Preview: “America: The Motion Picture”

This could be amusing or insufferable — but I have a sneaking suspicion I will be laughing like an inebriated hyena throughout most of it. Thank you, Netflix, for the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sequel I didn’t know I needed.

The logline: “In this wildly tongue-in-cheek animated revisionist history, a chainsaw-wielding George Washington assembles a team of rabble rousers — including beer-loving bro Sam Adams, famed scientist Thomas Edison, acclaimed horseman Paul Revere, and a very pissed off Geronimo — to defeat Benedict Arnold and King James in the American Revolution. Who will win? No one knows, but you can be sure of one thing: these are not your father’s Founding… uh, Fathers.”

The voice talent: Channing Tatum as George Washington; Jason Mantzoukas as Samuel Adams; Olivia Munn as Thomas Edison (well, why not?); Bobby Moynihan as Paul Revere; Judy Greer as Martha Washington; Will Forte as Abraham Lincoln; Raoul Max Trujillo as Geronimo; Killer Mike as Blacksmith; Simon Pegg as King James; Andy Samberg as Benedict Arnold.

Simon Pegg is smokin' in Kill Me Three Times

OK, I admit: I was leaning toward seeing Kill Me Three Times next week at the Toronto International Film Festival even before I got a look at this animated poster, since Simon Pegg is a personal fave. But the poster has more or less sealed the deal. Yes, I'm that easy.

 So what's it all about? Well, according to the TIFF catalog:

KILL ME THREE TIMES is a darkly comedic thriller from rising star director Kriv Stenders (Red Dog). Simon Pegg plays the mercurial assassin, Charlie Wofle, who discovers he isn't the only person trying to kill the siren of a sun drenched surfing town (Alice Braga). Charlie quickly finds himself at the center of three tales of murder, mayhem, blackmail and revenge. With an original screenplay by James McFarland, the film also stars Sullivan Stapleton (as a gambling addict that attempts to pay off his debts through a risky life insurance scam), Teresa Palmer (as a small town Lady Macbeth), Callan Mulvey (as a wealthy beach club owner simmering with jealousy), Luke Hemsworth (as a local surfer fighting for the woman he loves) and Bryan Brown (as a corrupt cop who demands the juiciest cut). Kill Me Three Times was produced by Laurence Malkin and Share Stallings (the team behind Death At A Funeral and A Few Best Men) and Tania Chambers.

Just one question: Wouldn't it be more gramatically correct to describe Sullivan Stapleton's character as "a gambling addict who attempts to pay off his debts..."?

Don't worry, Edgar Wright: I won't spill the beans about The World's End

Went to a private screening of The World's End last night -- real private, in the sense that I was the only person in the theater besides the enthusiastic publicist, who laughed almost as much I did -- and a funny thing happened when I walked into the lobby: I was handed a personal note from my close, personal friend, director Edgar Wright:

To Whom It May Concern:

Thank you for coming along to the screening. We would love the audience to experience this film as you do and would really appreciate it if you didn't reveal some of the surprises, twists and actors that do not feature in the trailers. Forgive me for asking, as I know you would never dream of doing such a dastardly thing. Thanks for your co-operation and I hope you enjoy the movie.

Edgar Wright

Well, OK. Mind you, the major plot twist that kicks in after the first half-hour has already been revealed in the trailer, most of the summer-preview feature stories (including my own), and, oh, I dunno, about 30 or 40 trend-spotting articles that have included it among the summer's crop of  "Apocalypse, Wow!" movies. But never mind.

I plan on driving to Austin this weekend to interview Wright, co-star and co-writer Simon Pegg, and the lovely and talented Nick Frost. (And, of course, while I'm there, I'm going to visit The Original Hoffbrau, one of my favorite steakhouses in the whole wide world.) So far be it from me to reveal that Rosebud turns out to be a sled, everybody stabs the victim in the sleeping car, Pegg's character is lying about his mother being alive in the back of the motel, Sean Connery makes a cameo appearance as King Richard, and...

Oh. Wait. Damn. Think I'll quit now while I'm behind.

Simon Pegg: Just playing, nothing personal

In How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Simon Pegg plays Sidney Young, a cocky Brit journalist who thinks he's being ever so clever -- but comes across as obnoxiously pushy and socially maladroit -- while condescendingly questioning showbiz celebrities for a glossy U.S. magazine. (The film is loosely based on the real-life misadventures of transplanted Londoner Toby Young during his less-than-spectacular stint as a Manhattan-based contributing editor for Vanity Fair.) So I had to ask Pegg: Did he think of his performance as a kind of sweet revenge on real-life reporters he's encountered?

Not really.

"Fortunately," Pegg told me a few days ago, "I’ve never had to contend with a Sidney Young myself. I mean, Sidney as a journalist is kind of self-defeating, because I imagine the skill behind interviewing as a journalist is the ability to inspire conversation. To make sure your subject opens up. Rather than just interrogating the subject into shutting them the hell up. And I have to say, I have been interviewed by people who have asked me stupid questions, or have been a little too prying. But in that instance, you just sort of deflect. Because, look, you do interviews because you have to promote your product in order to get people to see it. So you have to treat every interview as being important.

"But, yeah," Pegg allowed, "it was interesting to be on the other side of it."

You can read my entirely non-condescending interview with Simon Pegg here.