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A chat with director Robert Luketic (“Paranoia”)

August 16, 2013 / Billy Tatum Jr.

Director Robert Luketic has worked with some of the most well-known actresses of our era, from Jennifer Lopez to Jane Fonda, and has directed them to box office gold. However, the Australian director known for rom-coms such as “The Ugly Truth” and “Legally Blonde” has his sights on taking over other genres. In the tech thriller “Paranoia,” Liam Hemsworth faces serious ethical questions while engaging in corporate espionage. The outspoken director sat down to discuss his journey in making the film, as well as his future career plans.

BE: One of the most mysterious characters in the film is Dr. Judith Bolton played by Embeth Davidtz. How’d you come across her?

ROBERT LUKETIC: She’s a friend of the producer, Alexander Milchan. I remember seeing Embeth in “Schindler’s List.” She’s just a nice, classic, kind of WASP-y woman. It’s very much what the character is based on. I wanted someone who could be icy and evil, but not tip the hand too much. I wouldn’t want a person that we really couldn’t read. I met her for tea in Beverly Hills. When I walked in… you know when you read something and that you imagine in your mind? I said, “You actually look like Judith.” I called her Judith from that day on.

BE: You’ve done films like “Legally Blonde,” but you’ve also done films like “21.” As a director, is it hard to switch genres?

ROBERT LUKETIC: I started out in film school making dark, thriller kind of stuff. Finally, I made a musical comedy and that sort of branded me, which is what this town does. The next 15 years, it became all light and fluff and screaming girls and wedding dresses and stuff, which really isn’t me. I’ve been fighting for many years to break that and get out of that. It’s a challenge. It’s like they don’t think of my name when a studio gets a new script and goes, “We’ve got to get Robert Luketic for this thriller. Yeah, the ‘Legally Blonde’ guy. We’ve got to get him.” (LAUGHS)

BE: What kind of movies would you like to make?

ROBERT LUKETIC: I want to see what it’s like to make those movies that those big budget guys get. The ones where there are no limits. Those people that get unlimited resources, like whatever they have here they can put up there. That would be such an incredible experience because my movies have been generally on the smaller side in terms of budgets. What you find is that it’s constantly compromising. Everything is a compromise. Every goddamn thing is a compromise and that hurts, ya know? That gets you after a few years. I’d love to know what it’s like to do an “Avengers” or “Dr. No” or something.

Entertainment, Movies

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Drink of the Week: The Clover Club (The Hess/Craddock Take, Modified)

August 16, 2013 / Bob Westal

Sometimes the difference between one drink and another is miniscule. Take a Martini and put a cocktail onion in it instead of an olive or a lemon twist and it is miraculously transformed into a Gibson. On the other hand, recipes for the same basic cocktail can have vary so dramatically that you wonder how the results can even be compared, much less go under the same name.

That’s what I’m realizing right now as I’ve been spending the week trying variations on a recipe I first found in Robert Hess’s 2008 The Essential Cocktail Guide and then found in Harry Craddock’s 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book. Things got interesting when, too late for today’s post, I turned to my old pal Google and found that there is another version of today’s drink that might be a completely different taste experience entirely because of a difference in one key ingredient. I can’t dismiss it either because all signs point to it being every bit as much a classic, whatever that may mean, as today’s recipe. So, I guess we’ll have to revisit today’s drink again next week, except it won’t really be the same drink. Work, work, work.

In the meantime, here is my take on a drink which apparently goes back to a club for gentlemen — presumably no ladies allowed — in pre-Prohibition Philadelphia. As far as I’m concerned it’s a crime to deprive either gender of this liquid delight.

The Clover Club Cocktail (Craddock, Hess, Westal)

1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice or 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce grenadine
1 egg white

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake without ice to properly emulsify the egg white. Then add ice and shake again to properly chill the concoction. Strain into a frosty-cold cocktail glass and toast the endless wonder and complexity of life and cocktails.

***

The Craddock recipe calls for the juice of 1/2 lemon or an entire lime — and goodness knows why bartenders in the day thought that was an acceptable instruction given the obvious reality that lemons and limes don’t all yield the exact same amount of juice. The vastly more recent Hess recipe calls for simply 3/4 of an ounce of lemon juice, but that came out a lot more tart than I like. It was time to play around with the proportions.

While using a mere 1/4 ounce lemon juice yielded too simple a drink, I found that 1/2 an ounce was darn nice. On the other hand, a full 3/4 ounce of less aggressively tart lime juice was the nicest of all. I could have gone for a slightly sweeter drink, but I found that cutting the lime juice down to 1/2 an ounce only resulted in a less lively beverage.

At least that’s what I thought. I certainly would never discourage anyone from adjusting the lemon or lime juice upwards or downwards to their taste. I will say, however, that you have to use some lemon or lime juice because, if you don’t, you’ll have a Pink Lady on your hands. I’m saving that one for some time when out of citrus completely.

Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

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Movie Review: “Kick-Ass 2”

August 15, 2013 / Jason Zingale

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey, John Leguizamo, Morris Chestnut, Donald Faison

Jeff Wadlow

The superhero movie was given the punk-rock treatment in Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass,” an irreverent satire of the genre that scored with critics and audiences alike. But while the film was a mild success commercially, the chances of a sequel seemed pretty unlikely, especially for anyone who read the darker and more sadistic second volume of Mark Millar’s popular comic book series, which is borderline distasteful in its attempts to raise the stakes. Thankfully, director Jeff Wadlow (replacing Vaughn) tones down many of those more questionable moments by mining them for laughs instead of shock value, and it works for the most part, creating a sequel that, although it lacks the provocative originality of its predecessor, maintains the same sense of fun and over-the-top absurdity that made the first “Kick-Ass” such a blast.

Two years have passed since Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl took down mob boss Frank D’Amico, and in that time, hundreds of new superheroes have begun to pop up across the country. Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) continues to wage Big Daddy’s war against crime, but when her guardian Marcus (Morris Chestnut) makes her promise to stop playing vigilante and live a normal childhood as Mindy Macready, Dave (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is left without a partner. As Mindy endures a “Mean Girls”-like nightmare at high school, Kick-Ass joins a superhero team called Justice Forever, led by a former mob enforcer turned born-again Christian named Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). Meanwhile, Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) plots his revenge against Kick-Ass for killing his dad, rebranding himself as the world’s first-ever supervillain, The Motherfucker, and assembling an army of criminals and crazy devotees to wreak havoc on the city, which ultimately forces Mindy out of early retirement.

Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Chloe Grace Moretz Christopher Mintz-Plasse Hit-Girl Jim Carrey Kick-Ass 2 Kick-Ass 2 review

Product Review: Smooth Naturals Moisturizer

August 14, 2013 / Paul Eide

You’re 30 years old — you’re not seriously going to consider using Noxzema again, are you?

You’re a man now. And since you’re a man, your use of Noxzema should’ve gone the way of Teen Lines, Debbie Gibson and friendship bracelets… 20 years ago.

Don’t know what to use to moisturize that dried out piece of roast beef that looks like it’s seen the rise and fall of a million suns, AKA your face skin? Well, dummy, it’s not hard to figure out. If my neighbor Bill can figure it out, that means you can too.

Bill is a man’s man. He operates a crane for a commercial construction company. Sometimes he has to sit in the crane for so long, hundreds of feet in the air, that he has to bring an empty bottle to piss in because once he’s up there, he’s fuckin up there. This is a man we’re talking about here, guys, not dudes like you or I — a fuckin MAN.

So, the other day, I’m leaning on my chain-link fence between our yards, talking to Bill and we’re smoking, and he says to me, “Paul, in less than a year I’m gonna be 60 years old. Can you believe that?”

I say to Bill, “Hell nah, man. I don’t believe you.”

Bill seriously looks 40, tops. You would never guess that shit.

“Oh yeah buddy, I could easily be your dad,” he says. “But that’s not my point. My point is this: you wanna age gracefully, you gotta use moisturizer. Paul, I wouldn’t shit you.”

“As you age, your body generates less and less of everything, but in this particular example, your face generates less and less oil, so your skin dries out faster and stays dry longer than when you are young.”

Bill casually put out his cigarette with two fingers and flicked it into the street.

“So, that means as you get older, you’ve got to start using moisturizer. A lotta guys don’t figure that out until it’s too late.”

“Whoa,” I said, flummoxed at all the new data entering my brain, synapses firing away. “I have been such a fool.”

With that, Bill hopped on his Harley and sped off into the crisp, clean, early Saturday night evening air.

The next day, I checked the mail and a small package arrived from Smooth Naturals. And guess what was in the package? MOISTURIZER.

The mentholated smell in said moisturizer from Smooth Naturals was outstanding, almost as good as a menthol cigarette at dawn. I didn’t know whether to smoke it or apply it to my face.

After I applied it to my skin, the tingly sensation of a billion tiny menthol fingers cascaded across my face and sent a chill down my spine.

I can only hope that when I’m 60, I look as good as Bill.

For more information, check out the Smooth Naturals Facebook page.

Grooming, Lifestyle

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The Light from the TV Shows: A Chat with Lennie James (“Low Winter Sun”)

August 14, 2013 / Will Harris

Lennie James is a familiar face to fans of cult and comic-book-inspired TV series, having been a regular in “Jericho” and guesting on “Human Target” and “The Walking Dead,” but now he’s trying his hand at an American cop drama, starring in AMC’s “Low Winter Sun.” James’s career has also featured several notable film roles as well, and he was kind enough to chat about a few of those, too, most notably reflecting on the passing of his “Snatch” co-star Dennis Farina. First, though, we dove into discussion about how he came by his current gig, the difference between how his character’s written and how he plays the part, and his fondness for AMC’s way with surprises.

Bullz-Eye: So were you actively looking for a series gig, or did “Low Winter Sun” just kind of fall into your lap?

Lennie James: Um…I’m trying to remember how it went around! I think it was… I’d gone home to Britain to do a television series over there, and then when I got back, “Low Winter Sun” was… [Hesitates.] Oh, that’s actually what happened. I was just about to lie to you. I’ll tell you the truth now.

BE: The truth is always preferable when I can get it.

LJ: Yeah! Well, I shot a pilot that didn’t go, and the script for “Low Winter Sun” kind of came in, and…it was very conventional: I read it, I liked it, and then went and met on it, and it happened.