Blogzarro Q&A: Director John Harlacher

I first met John Harlacher 11 years ago in a Brooklyn College news writing class after I interviewed him for a writing assignment. He told me about blowing up a school building and his plans to take over the world. At the time I didn’t really believe his story. Then I got to know him, and wondered why he hadn’t blown up the entire city yet. Harlacher, 30, is now breaking laws as a filmmaker. He recently wrote and directed his first movie, “Urchin,” a bizarre and thought-provoking fantasy about a homeless kid from the underground world of Scum-City. With little money and few resources he was able to put together a stylish, professional movie and, of course, break some laws in the process. Harlacher filmed many of the movie’s scenes on the streets of New York and in the subway without permits, dodging and outwitting the authorities at every turn. Check out “Urchin” (urchinthemovie.com), which is now available on DVD. But before you do, read the interview below.

Tell me about Urchin.
When I came up with “Urchin,” I wanted to make a movie that had the feel and tone of a fantasy film, but no supernatural elements. It’s the story of a nine-year-old boy who lives in a place deep under NYC called Scum-City. The Old Man who rules that place convinces everyone that he’s from a paradise in the hollow earth called Agharta. The story follows the Kid’s journey from believing in this tale to finding some reality for himself. Essentially I took the hero’s journey that “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” are based on and inverted it. So instead of the hero learning to trust the wise teacher and merge with the universe, he learns to stop being a sap and think for himself.

Are you calling Harry Potter a sap?
I’m not afraid of his wand, if that’s what you mean. I’d pit my kid against him, Michael Vick style, anytime. “Urchin” takes place in a wrinkled version of reality. Harry Potter takes place in a full-blown alternate universe. If magic and Quidditch exist, Harry Potter makes sense, and I enjoy the story. In reality, a kid who literally believes in channeling powers outside himself and that some wise person will teach him about life will be ripped of by various people. He will wind up going to the Landmark Forum and smiling all the time to conceal his confusion.

What was the inspiration for “Urchin”?
My mom was clinically insane, and when I was ten and my brother was younger, we fled New York. She took us out of school and we ran around the country living out of our car. The Nazis were after us, she explained, and all the food was contaminated, and we could only eat very few things. So I would steal food from stores to feed my little brother and myself. “Urchin” was an emotional expression of that time’s desperation and hunger and strange myths presented as real, filtered through the realities of our tiny budget. I made a list of the things we had or could get, and commanded my subconscious to make use of them, and wrote the script in three weeks. That’s basically what we wound up with.

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Posted in Interviews, Movies | 20 Comments »

Blogzarro Q&A: Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless has been proving that she’s much more than a warrior princess. She showed the world she could belt out tunes with the best of them after placing second on last season’s “Celebrity Duets.” She continued her brilliant role as the Cylon Number Three on the third season of “Battlestar Galactica.” And next up, she appears on Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” voices Wonder Woman in the animated movie “Justice League: The New Frontier,” and takes her singing career a step further with three shows in New York this weekend. It seems blondes really do have more fun.

We recently chatted with Lucy and she gave us the scoop on a few things — including a possible return to “Battlestar Galactica”; working with Larry David; and doing a live-action Wonder Woman movie.

How did you get the role of Cylon Number Three (D’Anna Biers) on “Battlestar Galactica”?
[Battlestar Galactica producer] David Eick, who used to work on “Hercules” with my husband [Robert G. Tapert]…we stayed in touch and he wanted me for the role. And I wanted to do it and it was magic. I loved being that character.

You left “Battlestar Galactica” to star in the pilot “Football Wives.” Though your “Battlestar” character was “boxed,” the door is open for her to return. Are there plans for you to come back to BSG?
I’ve heard whispers of it. But I was all gung-ho to go off and do my own thing on “Football Wives,” but it didn’t get picked up. So I don’t know. I’m kind of weighing all sorts of interesting options at the moment.

We hear that you appear as yourself in the upcoming season of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” What was it like doing the show?
Oh my God, so good. To me, that was the ideal working situation. It is all unscripted, but everyone is totally relaxed. Larry David is such a doll. I so enjoyed working with him, and we had a good time…. I seem to make him laugh. I don’t know why. (more…)

Posted in Interviews, News, Television | 19 Comments »

Blogzarro Q&A: Comic Book Rocker Ray Wall

Ray Wall is single-handedly championing what he calls Comic Book Rock. He first burst on the scene with the “Fantastic Four Song” in 2005 and the song rivaled the actual “Fantastic Four” movie soundtrack on iTunes. He followed that up with the ambitious “X-Men Song: A Super-Hero Rock Opera,” which Wall describes as “a nine-minute state-of-the-art journey deep into X-Men territory which includes voice actors, choirs, multiple music styles, special effects, and more.” Now, the Wharton MBA is working on another FF song called “Silver Surfer Rises.” You can hear a clip on his MySpace page (his songs are also available on iTunes). In a Blogzarro exclusive, Ray announces another project, this one involving a certain web-slinger (see below for more details). And with Marvel announcing a Spider-Man musical, Ray Wall might find himself at the forefront of a thriving genre.

What is comic book rock?
Comic book rock is a new genre of music that we are trying to introduce and define. It’s an innovation that allows contemporary music to intersect with some of the more imaginative aspects of our popular entertainment culture. That means comic books, yes, but it also includes many of the fanship communities that center around science fiction, fantasy, video games, anime, and similar pursuits. All of these popular works have been successful in print, art, TV, and the movies. What I am saying is that comic books and these other things can also be expressed in music in a way that’s new and exciting to fans of all stripes. Comic book rock is real deal, fan-based, content-true music that talks about superheroes by name, their powers, what they do, their arch-enemies and so on. Generic songs about courage or novelty tunes that devote one line to Superman don’t qualify. At its best, and with time, comic book rock may become as grown-up and engaging as any other genre music out there. Combining music with superheroes can be a powerful and fun listening experience.

What spawned the idea for comic book rock?
Like many people these days, I’m a big fan of today’s state-of-the art superhero movies. But as the movies themselves were evolving and getting better I felt that the pop/rock soundtracks that accompanied them were getting worse. Having 15 otherwise fine bands on a superhero soundtrack that were playing music that had absolutely nothing to do with the movie seemed to me to be just an exercise in record label artist promotion and blunt economics rather than giving movie fans a way to enhance and prolong their experience of their favorite superheroes through music. In plain English, if I go to a Spider-Man movie, sing me a song about Spider-Man! Is this rocket science? After we put out “The Fantastic Four Song” in 2005 and especially “The X-Men Song: A Super-Hero Rock Opera” a year later, my hunch that people would be interested in comic book rock was confirmed. MySpace and iTunes were instrumental in giving this feedback. (more…)

Posted in Comic Books, Interviews, Music | 2 Comments »

Critic Mike Mayo Talks Summer Movies

Movie aficionado Mike Mayo gives Blogzarro his two cents on this summer’s movies. Unlike me, Mike knows what he’s talking about. He’s one of America’s foremost movie experts, contributing to television, radio, print, and online outlets. He was the co-host of the long-running radio show “Max and Mike on the Movies.” And his next book, “American Murder,” about real crimes and the movies that they have inspired, will be published in early 2008. You can check him out online at MaxAndMike.com. But before you do, see what he has to say about the movies coming this summer…

What makes a good summer movie?
A good summer blockbuster is two hours away from reality. It’s unashamed entertainment; your brain is not going to be overtaxed. But the best Hollywood summer movies aren’t going to be aggressively, insultingly stupid either. It’s going to be highly polished with really good special effects, terrific bad guys, maybe a pinch of sex (but just a pinch), and lots of stuff is going to blow up.

This summer is packed with high-profile movies, but which will be best?
“Ocean’s 13″ shows a lot of promise. The trailers are terrific, but then, so were the trailers to the abysmal “Ocean’s 12,” one of the great stink bombs of our young century. I also like what I’ve seen of “Live Free or Die Hard” (if I can just get the images of those Mac ads out of my head). But I predict that the best movie of the summer is going to be “The Bourne Ultimatum.” It’s got all of the original creative team on both sides of the camera. The premise still has some potential and the “realism” that these films bring to the genre is still fresh. (more…)

Posted in Interviews, Movies | 3 Comments »

Blogzarro Q&A: Geekscape’s Jonathan London

If geek is the new cool, Jonathan London is Fonzie. Jonathan launched Geekscape.net, a mega-geek site that’s part social bookmarking, part fanzine, part podcast, on Christmas Day 2006 and has seen the site grow faster than Bruce Banner’s biceps after he gets angry.

As the host of Geekscape’s video podcast, he covers geek culture and gets to interview some of the biggest names in the world (if you consider Lou Ferrigno and David Faustino big…and I totally do). Outside of geekdom, he’s a director, whose credits include music videos for such bands as Reel Big Fish, Hellogoodbye, Reggie and the Full Effect, and The New Amsterdams. His 2004 short “Gay by Dawn” won several film festival awards. And to boot, his little brother is WWE star Paul London, and he coined the mysterious term “funnelfish.” Blogzarro forced Jonathan to take a few moments from his busy schedule for a little thing I like to call the Blogzarro Q&A…

What is Geekscape’s mission?
To explore the Geek-cosmos of movies, video games, music, comics, and more through discussion, community, and collaboration! We want to build a home and community for anyone who has ever gotten excited about something only to look up and find a room full of blank stares or ridicule. At Geekscape, we not only GET what you’re talking about with that vague comic book or movie reference…we celebrate it!

You seem incredibly busy, running Geekscape, directing music videos, and getting beat at Mario Kart DS by 14-year-olds. How do you find the time?
I don’t. I’ve been cloning myself and bending space-time for the past couple of months. Did you see “The Prestige”? I know that the machine in there was fictional, but the design was pretty close. My friend Vijay and I built one over Christmas break. The space-time thing, [my friends] Graham and Gilmore figured out. They killed their first test subject so I’m gonna wait till they get a little further before trying that one. Still, it’s a pretty busy schedule. My comics stack is out of control because I never get a chance to read more than one a day.

Is it hard to score with women when they know you’re a geek?
You’ve just got to find the right ones and be sincere with them. Don’t ever fake the funk, and wear your strengths proudly. You’ve got to be honest with her from the start that this is the way you bring and will continue to bring it. If you scare ‘em off, you didn’t want her anyways. If her eyes get all big and she starts quoting scenes from “Halloween 5″ or telling you about their favorite episode of “Star Trek,” you know you’re good to go. Those girls are definitely out there. Don’t be afraid to ease them in but definitely be honest. I make sure to wear my Daredevil boxers on any date where I think they might be seen by a second party. If she runs away, then whatever. Shrug it off and “back to comics.” If she sticks around, then you’re good to go. Who knows? Maybe she’s got a cool guys-in-tights fetish. I’ve experienced weirder things. (more…)

Posted in Interviews | 5 Comments »