April 2005

The Woodsman

As a film, The Woodsman is somewhat unfulfilling (outside of it’s excellent performances all around) as it’s episodic narrative and periods of utter silence are at times heavy-handed and repetitive, but it’s a powerful film about the need for redemption for those things inside that aren’t always under our control. It’s a moody and haunting film that doesn’t attempt to reach a conclusion as much as it seeks only to open a window into a world we don’t necessarily wish to see.

The Woodsman
3 & 1/2 Stars

A film with a convicted pedophile as it’s sympathetic main character is a pretty hard sell, even with the critical acclaim of Michael Cuesta’s L.I.E. and Todd Solondz’s Happiness, which makes Nicole Kessel’s The Woodsman all the more effective.

Kevin Bacon stars as Walter, a recently released pedophile who spent 12 years in prison for molesting little girls, and who’s transition to outside life is weighed down by more than just the trials and tribulations any released con might experience. Kyra Sedgwick plays the rough and tumble co-worker who’s persistent and accepting enough to make a place for herself in his otherwise solitary life. Walter’s crimes (and the impulses that created them) aren’t something that can be willed away or easily suppressed, and everyday is a constant struggle to achieve some semblance of a normal life. Outcast from his family and friends and viewed with justified suspicion by a concerned cop (an excellent Mos Def), Walter spends his days alone with his thoughts and desires.

Bacon gives what may well be one of the best performances of his career as the tortured Walter. Each and every look, sigh, and action is burdened with an almost physical sense of shame and regret. He’s haunted by his actions, and is palpatably fearful of what he may yet do. Less a story than an extended look into the mind of an individual who’s mere existence is an affront to all we hold dear as a society, The Woodsman never passes judgment, as Walter does so to himself over and over again. The roots of his desires are left murky (as are the specifics of his crimes), so all we are left with are the questions of how anyone can stop those thoughts that come unbidden to our mind. Bacon’s performance is certainly a riveting one. His face has never been so expressive as those moments when his eyes convey a man just inches away from an impossible abyss.

As a film, The Woodsman is somewhat unfulfilling (outside of it’s excellent performances all around) as it’s episodic narrative and periods of utter silence are at times heavy-handed and repetitive, but it’s a powerful film about the need for redemption for those things inside that aren’t always under our control. It’s a moody and haunting film that doesn’t attempt to reach a conclusion as much as it seeks only to open a window into a world we don’t necessarily wish to see.

The Woodsman is certainly no party film (unless your parties often turn into think pieces about child molestation), but it’s exceptional cast and compelling subject matter will certainly generate discussion after viewing. A study of a man constantly at war with himself, The Woodsman makes for an excellent foray into worlds we’re uncomfortable contemplating.

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House of Flying Daggers

Taking place in 9th Century China, the story revolves around a group of underground revolutionaries and the agents out to stop them from overthrowing an incompetent Emperor. Takeshi Kaneshiro (who I hadn’t seen in a film since the absolutely perfect Chungking Express by Wong Kar Wai) plays a government officer who goes undercover to win the trust of Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a blind courtesan (and martial artist, of course) with ties to the titular House of Flying Daggers, in the hopes that she’ll lead him to the groups mysterious leader. As they try to outrun the government forces at their back, Kaneshiro’s Jin falls for the deadly beauty putting him at odds with both sides, which results in a myriad of lavishly staged fight sequences. Every character has a second agenda, and ultimately each must decide whether their alligiances lie with their individual causes or their hearts.

Overall, it’s beginning to looks as if Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon didn’t set the epic romance/martial arts film bar high as much as he blew it out of the atmosphere, where no other filmmaker can manage to meet it. House of Flying Daggers gets closer to that standard than Zhang Yimou’s Hero, but until he remembers how he made all those incredible character-driven films of his early career, Zhang’s action films won’t be able to lift themselves beyond Hollywood-esque eye candy.

House of Flying Daggers
3 Stars

I missed Zhang Yimou’s (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Duo, The Story of Qui Ju, Shanghai Triad) newest film, House of Flying Daggers, in the theater, so I was looking forward to sitting down with our advance copy of the April 22nd DVD release.

Zhang’s earlier work was powerful stuff, and he was exceptional at slipping political and social commentary past the strict government censors. For almost 10 years, Zhang was an absolute powerhouse of China’s “Fifth Generation” filmakers. After a light road movie (The Road Home) and a so-so comedy (Happy Times), Zhang moved into epic action territory with 2002’s Hero, a star studded history lesson wrapped in a visually sumptuous (but ultimately unfulfilling) swords and romance film. Zhang’s exceptional eye for color and setting combined with gorgeous action sets wasn’t enough to fill out a film that was cold and dispassionate, despite the intricate and powerful relationships of it’s characters.

While the upcoming DVD release of 2004’s House of Flying Daggers shares Hero’s stunning color palette’s and sweeping cinematography, it also stumbles over the same pitfalls, unable to make it’s characters’ passions as vibrant and engaging as the scenery and costumes.

Taking place in 9th Century China, the story revolves around a group of underground revolutionaries and the agents out to stop them from overthrowing an incompetent Emperor. Takeshi Kaneshiro (who I hadn’t seen in a film since the absolutely perfect Chungking Express by Wong Kar Wai) plays a government officer who goes undercover to win the trust of Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a blind courtesan (and martial artist, of course) with ties to the titular House of Flying Daggers, in the hopes that she’ll lead him to the groups mysterious leader. As they try to outrun the government forces at their back, Kaneshiro’s Jin falls for the deadly beauty putting him at odds with both sides, which results in a myriad of lavishly staged fight sequences. Every character has a second agenda, and ultimately each must decide whether their alligiances lie with their individual causes or their hearts.

Hot Sword on Sword Action

This is indeed a gorgeous film to look at, but I was struck by how Hollywood it felt. Sweeping camera work (Oscar nominated, no less), copious CGI, the inevitable multiple death-bed confessions, and reveals left me thinking that had you transposed the setting, this could have been a Tom Cruise vehicle. For characters in the throes of emotion strong enough to shatter their obligations, House of Flying daggers was noticably berift of any real passion. The fight sequences, while well staged, were too bogged down with needless slow-motion shots and an overemphasis on CGI. To be sure there are two stand-out moments: an early showcase of Zhang Ziyi’s skills in a circle of drums was acrobatic treat. And the final confrontation between to men fighting for Mei’s heart was intensely powerful and compelling. But that wasn’t enough to stifle my ‘Oh, come on!’ as each hidden agenda was revealed.

Though that does bring up something I noticed by the end of House of Flying Daggers. Between Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers, I’ve come to one powerful realization: Zhang Ziyi is absolute poison. Drop dead gorgeous, lithe and acrobatic, yes. But you get emotionally involved with one of her characters and you might as well stab that dagger straight into your own heart. She’s trouble I tell ya.

Okay, so she’s worth the trouble

As a DVD release, House of Flying Daggers has two “Making Of” featurettes, commentary by Ziyi and Yimou (Which felt somewhat perfunctory, though entertaining), storyboard comparisons, the Kathleen Battle version of the film’s love theme, photo galleries, and my favorite, the costuming sketches. That’s right, I said it. I liked the costumes. They were just gorgeous to look at it. Elegant, cool, and exotic as hell. So there. Nyah-nyah. For a single disc, this DVD has a decent collection of special features which should allow viewers to get their fill of this sumptious eye-candy. As for the look and sound of the DVD, I was very happy with the Dolby Digital mix, which was put to excellent use in a couple of scenes. Clear speech and effects, with music never overpowering the actors , it was easy for my poor battered rock ears to distinguish the sounds. The picture was crystal clear on my television, and the colors were super crisp.  My only real complaint would be the sub-par box art, for which Hollywood’s air-brush interns finally got a chance to go hog wild.  Here’s a hint, guys:  Zhang Ziyi does NOT need your help looking good.  Dress her in burlap and polyester and she’d still be knock-out.  Her skin is already flawless, so keep your airbrushing to yourselves next time.

Overall, it’s beginning to looks as if Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon didn’t set the epic romance/martial arts film bar high as much as he blew it out of the atmosphere, where no other filmmaker can manage to meet it. House of Flying Daggers gets closer to that standard than Zhang Yimou’s Hero, but until he remembers how he made all those incredible character-driven films of his early career, Zhang’s action films won’t be able to lift themselves beyond Hollywood-esque eye candy.

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Sahara

Pure guilty pleasure, Sahara has good looking heroes and plenty of action to keep everybody happy. If scientists could cross bread James Bond and Indiana Jones with a good old southern boy, then Dirk Pitt would be the prize to their efforts. Sahara is completely silly and way out of touch from reality, but then again what do we go to the movies for; it’s a perfect date night film.

Sahara
3 & 1/2 Stars

Pure guilty pleasure, Sahara has good looking heroes and plenty of action to keep everybody happy. If scientists could cross bread James Bond and Indiana Jones with a good old southern boy, then Dirk Pitt would be the prize to their efforts. Sahara is completely silly and way out of touch from reality, but then again what do we go to the movies for; it’s a perfect date night film.

(Release Date: April 8)

Nothing but guilty pleasure here boys and girls. Sahara is an action packed comedy adventure that will take you on an adrenaline high. It’s James Bond meets Indiana Jones, it’s Laurel and Hardy for today. Steve Zahn as Al, the ever comedic sidekick, and Matthew McConaughy as Dirk Pitt, the handsome save the day and the chick lead, is a duo that is made for the big screen; humor roles between the two of them as if they have been pals forever. Pals forever is the point behind all of this, their relationship in the film should look like they have been on hundreds of adventures before this and will be on even more afterwards and it works. The duo is accompanied by William H. Macy as Admiral James Sandecker, as usual William is right on the mark, and Penelope Cruz is there too, she plays Dr. Eva Rojas, Pitt’s love interest and common do-gooder.

Sahara will take you from the Civil War to a battle between a brutal African dictator and his people in Mali; actually it was filmed in Morocco, but you can’t tell. Pitt and Al are deep-sea treasure hunters that spend the whole film on land looking for a non-existent Civil War battle-ship, along the way their paths cross with Dr. Eva Rojas who is going in the same direction trying to solve a sudden plague that is killing the people of Africa. Then we go from plague and treasure hunts to full-on nuclear waste is going to destroy the world mode; by the way the waste is getting into the water supply and causing the plague. As Sahara moves along, at a very rapid pace, the most unbelievable events happen to it’s characters. Awesome and ah inspiring things like a high-tech speed boat chase that is like no other you have seen on the big screen and a final battle between a helicopter and a rusted bucket with a few rusty hundred year old cannons. Many critics whined about the fact that the events and happenings in Sahara was so unreal and couldn’t happen; let me give you a clue, it’s a movie and it’s suppose to be unreal, DUH!

They didn’t Sink The Titanic this time, so stop your moaning Cussler. Clive Cussler wrote Sahara in a series of Dirk Pitt novels, it is the eleven adventure he has sent the duo on. I have never read the books myself, but if there was a flaw in the film it was from the story end of it; of course that might not have been completely Cussler’s fault, there was 4-screen writers on staff. Maybe there was too many hands in the pot. I’ll give mad props to first time director Breck Eisner, he did a great job under the pressure of big named stars and plenty of sand storms and African heat.

Like I said at the beginning, Sahara is pure guilty pleasure and is a hell of a ride. I enjoyed it and liked the fact that I could sit through a film and not cry or want to kill myself at the end. It’s a non-thinker, just for fun go out and have a good time type of film.

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Stephen Chow Knows Kung Fu

I absolutely adored this movie. Everything about it was top-notch entertainment, and I was wonderfully surprised with its final direction. Kung Fu Hustle is tremendously good fun. Endearing, positive, and filled with the kind of mind-blowing action sequences that Michael Bay can only dream about, this movie is a must see for fans of Kung Fu action and good comedy. Here’s hoping Sony Pictures Classic can manage to give Stephen Chow the American attention and accolades he so richly deserves. Do yourself a tremendous favor and go see Kung Fu Hustle this weekend. You will not be disappointed.

Kung Fu Hustle
4 & 1/2 Stars

As any observant Transbuddha reader will know, I’m a huge fan of Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer, so my anticipation for his new (to the U.S. at least) Kung Fu Hustle was nearly sky high. With high hopes and giddy excitment, I hit the advance screening hoping, wishing, expecting to be blown completely away.

Guess what? I was.

Kung Fu Hustle didn’t meet my expectations, it completely shattered them. Funny, endearing, fast, action-packed, and inventive as all get out, Kung Fu Hustle deserves your money.

Seriously, go see this movie.

Writer/Director/Star Stephen Chow may be one of the most famous entertainers you’ve never heard of. His films are blockbusters in China and Asia in general, and his previous effort (Shaolin Soccer) broke every box office record in Hong Kong. Miramax picked up Shaolin Soccer and then sat it on a shelf for two years, only to release a dubbed and re cut version into a staggering 6 theaters. Word of mouth and region-free DVD’s created a cult following here in America, and Miramax finally did the right thing and released an uncut, subtitled version on DVD. His newest film, Kung Fu Hustle, blew past Shaolin Soccer’s box office take, and managed to sweep the Hong Kong version of the Oscars.

Kung Fu Hustle tells a story of the epic battle between the residents of Pig Sty Alley, home of the poorest of the poor, and the notorious Axe Gang, a vicious band of thugs who’ve taken over the local gang scene. Doing triple-duty again, the ever charming Stephen Chow plays Sing, a wannabe gangster who (in his ill-conceived attempt to run protection racket in Pig Sty Alley by posing as a member of the Axe Gang), inadvertently brings the attention of the real gang to the not-so-helpless denizens of the slum. This forces three disguised Kung Fu masters to fight off the gang, and all hell breaks loose as the three seemingly harmless men just decimate the gang. Unwilling to accept a beating, the leader of the Axe Gang recruits his own kung fu masters to take revenge which of course escalates into a miniature war of superhuman proportions.

While that may read as your run-of-the-mill chop-sockey plot of conflict and revenge, Kung Fu Hustle stands apart with it’s deft balance of humor, plot, and jawdroppingly amazing action. It’s a testament to his filmmaking prowess that the jokes in Stephen Chow’s films manage to get through the translation to subtitles. It’s funny where it’s supposed to be funny for non-native speakers, and that’s a rare treat in most foreign films. Sure he’s not averse to the occasional sophomoric or low-brow sight gag, but mostly the humor comes from the seemingly incongruent actions of his characters and his exceptional eye for casting. There’s more than a few laugh-out-loud moments in the film, and I found myself grinning for most of the 95 minute running time. So much so that my jaw actually hurt as I was leaving the theater, and for once that wasn’t due to Milk Dud consumption.

While most action film plots are threadbare things just there to propel you from one fight sequence to the next, Kung Fu Hustle inserts some serious thought about personal responsibility and the consequences of our actions (which results in a couple of subtle Spider-Man references, no less), without resorting to treacle or preaching. Chow’s action films all share a common message about the underlying meaning of Kung Fu and how it should be used to better our lives, not end others, and that message makes it’s expected (but not obvious) appearance.

While the characters at first seem like crude stereotypes, they’re endearing enough to make you care about their fates and mourn for their losses. Super high marks must be given to Wah Yuen (the Landlord) Qiu Yuen (the Landlady), and Siu Lung Leung (the Beast), as these three grandparent age actors were simply a joy to watch onscreen. Not only accomplished fighters, their interactions were among the highlights of the film. A pre-battle conversation between them was at once both charming and forbidding as each (in their outlandish costuming and graying hair) managed to convey a perfectly realized sense of barely contained power and vitality. Delusional hobo-clad Leung especially managed to deliver a performance that was funny and brimming with gleeful malice. And as always, Stephen Chow put his odd looking cast to the best possible use.

Stephen Chow is a self-confessed Bruce Lee fanatic and it shows in every gesture and expression on his face. He’s a perfect heir to Lee’s charm and magnetism, and Sing’s eventual spiritual transformation neatly captures Lee’s trademark power and grace. He manages to sneak a not-so-subtle dig at Keanu Reeves’ Neo that only underscores why the Matrix films ultimately failed to connect. A hero shouldn’t exist just to fight, and Chow knows that.

But the fights! Oh, the fighting!  Sweet, beautiful Kung Fu madness leaps from nearly every frame of this movie. This the world of wire-fu, and the blissful disobedience of the laws of physics is ratcheted up a notch with each successive fight. Bodies fly through the air, everyday objects become weapons of mass destruction, and its an even race for what’s more in danger of being destroyed; the fighters or the world around them. While the fantastic elements of these battles remove some of their visceral impact, these fights get downright brutal. (Though for all it’s violence, Kung Fu Hustle remains a fairly blood & gore free movie.) Characters are literally pounded into the ground if they’re not being flung into the air like rag dolls. Famed fight choreographers Yuen Woo-Ping and Sammo Hung once again prove their worth as the architects of this ballet of violence. Chow seems to be enjoying his bigger budgets with more refined and seamless CGI effects, which put the Matrix sequels to shame. Unlike the almost masturbatory slow-motion shots seemingly designed to make stars look cool, Kung Fu Hustle knows that speed wins in the end, and so it reserves it’s slow-motion for sequences that deserve the attention. It’s the action that will bring this movie it’s attention from non-Hong Kong savvy filmgoers, and in that regard it should deliver above and beyond the normal expectations.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I absolutely adored this movie. Everything about it was top-notch entertainment, and I was wonderfully surprised with its final direction. Kung Fu Hustle is tremendously good fun. Endearing, positive, and filled with the kind of mind-blowing action sequences that Michael Bay can only dream about, this movie is a must see for fans of Kung Fu action and good comedy. Here’s hoping Sony Pictures Classic can manage to give Stephen Chow the American attention and accolades he so richly deserves. Do yourself a tremendous favor and go see Kung Fu Hustle this weekend. You will not be disappointed.

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Sahara on the Road

Experience a road trip with Matthew McConaughy. While he was camping in high style near Kansas City, Matthew took a break at a picnic table to talk to some local critics about his most recent adventure in Sahara.

Sahara
N/A

What’s it like to be Matthew’s travel partner?

First of all you will be traveling in class. A fully loaded Streamline camper with wireless internet, satellite television, electrical generator, gas bar-b-q grill, fridge, stove and a shower. You will get up bright and early, possibly woke by a Jehovah’s Witness or an interesting character camping nearby. While riding along the open road you will be plenty entertained by the faces of shock and surprise from the people passing by. The fellow travelers can’t believe that Matthew McConaughey is actually driving the truck and trailer himself. While in the cab you can listen to the ramblings of ideas has he records his thoughts into a mini-recorder or sit back and groove with the sounds of James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards, Dennis Brown, Hishka, or Willie Nelson. Stopping at gas stations are always a treat meeting new people, shaking hands, and signing autographs. Can’t leave out the fishing, nature hikes, and gatherings around the fire at night.

For more details be sure to check out his journal at MTV.com and read about his six week experience.

Matthew McConaughey has been touring around with his Streamline all decked out in Sahara glory. He is camping out and visiting with the people; promoting what he truly believes to be an awesome action adventure comedy success. A group of local press met up with him at Basswood Country Inn and RV Park in Platte County. Honestly, I think most of us here in the midwest were a little shocked to see such a big named talent come talk to us about his film; we don’t get a lot of attention here. After meeting Matthew dressed in jeans and work boots, looking as if all he was missing was a fishing pole and some bait, it’s easy to see why he’s out meeting the people. He’s a laid back easy going country boy, who loves his job and believes the best way to be good at what he’s does is to live it. We sat around three picnic tables watching and listening to a very animated and proud actor about his upcoming and future adventures with Sahara. What follows is a talk he gave to local reporters…

Matthew: The road trip was all my idea. I wanted to do a little camping and I thought why not promote Sahara while I’m at it. Something different than interviews in a stuffy hotel room or tight conference spaces, instead interviews in the wide open. I called up the studio execs at Paramount and presented my idea. I don’t think they took me serious, so I called them back the next day just to remind them to get the advertising up and going on the Streamline camper. From there Gus Gustawes (Executive Producer) and I looked over a map and pick the first spot and off we went.

The first spot turned out to be Daytona where I went to the Grand Marshals from there it was just common sense that we would head northeast from Orlando to Atlanta, Nashville, Virginia, Maryland, Baltimore, College Park, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Kansas City, Denver and then to Los Angeles for a junket in which we will be in that hotel room; the truck and trailer will be parked right out front. Then from LA to Austin, back to LA where we will pull up to the premier on the fourth of April and get out of the trailer and walk straight onto the red carpet.

I’ve done many cross country trips before, but not with my Streamline. Last year I drove from Los Angeles to Florida and back up thru Colorado and thru Kansas City and back for about a forty day trip, for my own pleasure just my dog and I. So this ones a bit of the same, because my lifestyle is how I’m making my living and vice versa, just minus the dog. He got cancer last year and passed away after the last trip. It’s what I like to do, I’m able to get out, see new faces and new places; having little Bar-B-Qs like this or Grand Marshalling in Daytona, to hitting military bases and college campuses to premier the film. Even pulling over and getting gas at the truck stop is exciting, getting to meet truckers and passing out hats and T-shirts. That’s what it’s all about, living life not just mimicking it on screen. The people pull up beside us and see what it’s all about and then the biggest kick they get is to see that I’m driving.

Being the Executive Producer on Sahara comes with responsibilities, I want the film to be successful and the best way to do that is get it out to the public. Let them know what it’s all about and show them I am just as excited about promoting the film as I am about the film. If you have a vested interest in something, either personal or financial you want it to work.

Sahara started with me about seven years ago; I went to Clive Cussler (author of the book) and started lobbying for the part of Dirk Pitt. I went to his home in Colorado and went to see him two more times in Arizona and finally got his approval and at the same time the script and the finances just came together. So I was involved with it for a long time. I didn’t actually produce Sahara, but the legwork, now that I was doing. Did I actually sell it, no; but I put a great deal of work and research into the part. As an actor for hire, yes I go do pre-production work for myself; my job is to show up and give the best performance I can, and not complain about sandstorms and long days on the set.

Many sit downs were conducted talking about the tone of the script, the creativeness of the story; is it an action adventure and a comedy or is it an action comedy with adventure? Let’s talk about humor, does it have a lot of humor in it? So what’s the humor and where does it come from? Is there a sitcom episodic event coming from each scene? Does the humor come from jokes in each scene or is it in the meeting of interesting characters and the irony that happens along the way and the way they react to similar and complete different situations. We agreed it was the latter.

We talked about wanting Sahara to be a franchise picture and we’re going to do more than one film; it would be smart to make more than one since there are multiple books. Whether you’ve read the books or not you need to have the feeling of what the book is about, not that the characters just met for the first time and now they are saying goodbye at the end of the film; but they have been on 20 or so adventures before this and we’ll be on 20 or so adventures after this. This way the audience will have the familiarity amongst the characters and their relationships seem more genuine and real.

After the tone of the script and the way the characters were to be betrayed we started talking about casting, it’s very important part to pulling off the belief that these characters know each other and have a history. That’s who returns every time in every book. I’ve been a fan of Steve Zahn for a long time; I would see him in a film and would want to see more. We sent him a letter and the script, he loved it and it was on after that; he plays the Dirk’s child hood body and sidekick Al. The casting of Penelope Cruz was one of the first things we talked about, there is an international lineage to these stories; it’s not just an adventure down here within the states, it’s always off in some exotic land. We thought Penelope would add just the right touches to Eva Rojas, World Health Organization official.

All this time we were bringing in writers trying to make the script better, building the action and strengthening the story. The best thing I knew to do was to look at what’s really working and if you shine a light on what’s really working, tone, humor, action, logic so on then you are making a better script already. Then you start looking into the things that bug you about the script and decide wether to fix or scrap those parts. Of course all of this means long meetings with writers. It’s funny how you can sit and talk about parts of the scripts and send them off to write and it comes back almost if you had been sitting in a whole other meeting.

As an actor it’s my job to show up on set on time and do my job, that’s just who I am and part of my work ethic. If you show up and contribute 110%, it makes it easier on the director, producers, and everybody involved. A good actor works hard and works long; being the lead actor whose there everyday, getting the call sheets, setting the tone, being glad to be there, not gripping because the sand storms are coming because what are you going to do about it anyway? Trying to find solutions to challenges instead of sitting back gripping about them, it’s the best way to contribute and making a film successful. Everyone’s out there, you’ve got a circus of over 300 people and everybody’s trying to get it made. You’re all on an adventure anyway so let’s do our homework on pre-production and on production follow the plan, but also loosen up a bit and let the magic happen that we didn’t plan on. Would I be out here doing this if I wasn’t an actor? Maybe, maybe not I don’t know.

Now that casting, writing, producers and team members are picked and primed, we go to location. I had traveled to Mali before this film and had the opportunity to meet and hang out with Ali Farka Toure, an African bluesman. While there, I met a guy who was a brilliant guide, he and I took off hiking; we camped out and stayed out there for two and half weeks. We would come across a tribe every week or so. First you meet the chief-who met you at the property line, look you in the eye and if he liked what he saw, he’d give a soft handshake and you’d come in. While there you receive the hospitalities of a mattress on the roof, a cooked chicken and they walk you down to the cleanest part of the river so you can bathe and wash your teeth while they keep an eye out for you. There you are, don’t speak any of the language, but all of a sudden after two weeks of it, you’re getting every joke and who the joke is directed towards. You can’t help but find that common rhythm that’s the common denominator of mankind. I was there for three weeks. It was nice to be familiar some what familiar with the location we were to be shooting the film.

Now onto the fun part, STUNTS. I probably did a little bit more than the insurance company wanted me to do. Doing some of the stunts myself adds to the fun and buzz of being an actor. I like to play sports, but on a film like this it’s not what you typically think of a sport. On any given day I could be leaning back horizontally to the ground doing 40 mph across the desert and that’s the buzz; that’s the extreme sport of it all. If I’m not focused and in good shape everywhere else, stretched out etc., I could get hurt. Racing the camels at 40 mph against a train and driving a speed boat in and out of places was awesome. That’s what I call, getting paid to be 8 years old, why do you think I love my job?

As for making a second to Sahara, well we are not sure yet. We would love to make another, but it all depends on April 8th. Sahara opens up in theaters at noon and by midnight we’ll know if Dirk will be heading out on his next adventure into the unknown. But on that night we’re just going to sit back and let it ride.

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