Pena, Shepard take 'CHiPs' off the TV block
<h3 class="briefHead">Pena, Shepard let the 'CHiPs' fall</h3>
Actor/director/writer Dax Shepard and Chicago actor Michael Pena breezed into the Windy City earlier this month to promote their new comedy "CHiPs," based on the NBC TV series that ran from 1977 to 1983.
The movie also stars Shepard's wife, Kristen Bell, plus Vincent D'Onofrio, Ben Falcone and Maya Rudolph. It opens Friday, March 24. I asked the two a few questions:
Q. Mr. Shepard, what was the best part about making this movie?
DS. I got to work with two of my favorite living actors, D'Onofrio and Pena.
MP. What about Kristen?
DS. She's my wife! I'm not that impressed! (Chortling)
DS. To watch an actor you love say the words you wrote a year before in a hotel room, there's a real high to that. A really unique experience. It was really fun.
MP. I was amazed by how sure of himself he was.
DS. (Cackling) Hoooo-hooo-hooo-heeeeee!
MP. We didn't have like a second-unit director, so he was basically directing that. For his first big-budget movie, I thought he was fantastic. Hats off to that guy!
He's really motivating and he wants you to do really well. So he was able to be a director through-and-through and not be in competition with you. Know what I mean?
DS. When I was in prep, what I was losing nights of sleep over wasn't the personal relationship between Michael and I. We had rehearsed, and I knew we would blow through that. It was how do I do a tracking shot of a motorcycle going upstairs?
It was an incredibly complicated jigsaw puzzle to shoot. To shoot six action sequences in 45 days, then the rest of the movie. All the prep and labor was in the stunts. We had a really modest budget for the amount of action.
Q. Mr. Pena, did you have any trepidations about creating a hard-R-rated comedy out of a popular television show that the baby boomers still remember fondly?
MP. The original script that Dax had given me was like "CHiPs" on steroids. Which it had to be because it would have been tough to make just as a family drama. I'm not even sure I'd want to see that movie. You need to up the ante just a bit.
Q. Mr. Shepard, you and Kristen Bell worked together in your 2012 comedy "Hit and Run." Will this be a permanent arrangement?
DS. Any time I'm working, she'll be working. I won't do a movie that she's not in. She's my favorite person I go to work with!
MP. It was one of those movies where everyone was in it to have some fun, and we actually did have some fun. We had a lot of laughs.
The time went by really quickly. At the end, it was sad to see new friends go. But me and Dax have kept in contact, so, hopefully, there's more to come!
<h3 class="briefHead">After Hours examines the age of 'Aquarius'</h3>
The After Hours Film Society presents "Aquarius," a character study about a 65-year-old retiree (Sonia Braga), targeted for harassment by a developer who wants her out of her apartment so he can replace the building with a modern high-rise.
"Aquarius" will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 27, at the Ogden 6 Theaters, 1227 E. Ogden Ave., Naperville, instead of the After Hours' usual venue at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Go to afterhoursefilmsociety.com.
<h3 class="briefHead">Catlow celebrates 90 years with film festival</h3>
If you're a Northwest suburban filmmaker and you've got a movie less than 30 minutes in length, you can enter it into the Barrington Area Local Film Fest, slated for May 20 at The Catlow Theater, 116 W. Main St., Barrington. The fest celebrates the Catlow's 90th anniversary.
May 7 is the deadline to get your movie transferred to a thumb drive and dropped off at the Catlow or Boloney's cafe next to the theater. (Mark it to the attention of Tim Troemner, please.) A top prize will be awarded. Go to thecatlow.com.
<h3 class="briefHead">'The Hammer' nails Naperville appearance </h3>
Former Northwestern football player, professional football star, TV actor and movie star Fred "The Hammer" Williamson comes to the Hollywood Palms in Naperville to meet fans and introduce two of his films this weekend:
"From Dusk till Dawn" at 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 25, and 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 26.
"Original Gangstas" at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, March 25, and 5 p.m. Sunday, March 26.
Williamson has kicked butt in more than 80 movies after playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs. Go to hollywoodpalmscinema.com for details.
<h3 class="briefHead">Downstate locales star in new gothic thriller </h3>
Wisconsin-born filmmaker Hunter Adams explained to me why he traveled down to the southern tip of Illinois to shoot his new gothic thriller "Dig Two Graves."
"It was exactly what we were looking for! It's weird and wild! It's got swamps. It's hilly. It's a perfect backdrop for a gothic thriller."
Adams and his crew spent four weeks shooting in a cold January of 2014, then came back for a few weeks during July and August to finish the summer scenes.
"Anywhere I pointed the camera looked cool!" Adams said. "Southern Illinois is so different from the rest of Illinois. It has this wild feel to it. It's really hard to screw up the shots because it's so gorgeous!"
"Dig Two Graves" will be released Friday, March 24, on iTunes and at the River East 21 Theaters in Chicago.
Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Friday in Time out!