Extract director finds humor in office space
SAN DIEGO – “Beavis and Butt-Head” creator Mike Judge brought office humor to new heights in 1999’s “Office Space.” A decade later, he’s returning to workplace comedy in “Extract,” out today.
In “Extract,” Jason Bateman plays Joel, the owner of an extract plant. He deals with difficulties with his wife and employees in this latest Judge film.
“I worked in cubicles, actually right here in San Diego, and so ‘Office Space’ was kind of based on that,” Judge said at Comic-Con International. “And then when ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ happened, for the first time I had people working for me. I went from always being the employee complaining about the bosses to suddenly having 30 to 90 people working for me and going, ‘Man, these people are hard to baby-sit.’”
Judge said that new role made him sympathetic toward his old bosses, which is where the idea for “Extract” began.
Bateman said Judge’s sense of humor is part of what drew him to the project.
“He doesn’t beg the audience to laugh,” Bateman said. “He doesn’t pander to the audience. He never hits anybody in the face with a pie. There’s no winking.”
An accident in which a sensitive part of a character’s anatomy is blown off gets the plot moving, as a grifter-type character, Cindy (Mila Kunis) finds out about the accident.
“She reads about this guy who’s going to get millions of dollars” and has suffered the unusual injury, “so she gets kind of excited about that,” Judge said.
Judge said “Extract” mostly was privately financed, after his difficulties getting his last film, “Idiocracy,” released.
“We wanted to make a movie like ‘Office Space’ without all the interference and all the people telling us what’s commercial and that kind of thing,” Judge said. “So, I definitely learned that lesson from doing ‘Idiocracy’ and the weird release of it.”
Judge also was pleased to return to comedy based in the working world.
“There were moments when I was making ‘Office Space’ where I felt like it was just like what I was born to do,” Judge said. “This is a return to that workplace, more character-driven stuff.”
Bateman said Judge’s comedy comes from the characters, and the drama is found in the situation.
“I won’t put you to sleep with a bunch of actor crap, but he doesn’t ask you to do a lot of performing; it’s a lot of acting,” Bateman said. “The humor comes from that. Good comedy feels very similar to doing good drama.”
Ben Affleck plays Joel’s slacker friend Dean. Judge said he particularly enjoys Affleck’s take on character roles.
“I know he’s this huge star and everything. But I love when he’s a character actor, which he hasn’t done in a while, like in ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and even ‘Good Will Hunting,’” Judge said. “He had this way of doing the character that was kind of based on a high school friend of his, and it was just a pleasure. We were all on the same page.”
Judge was asked whether a smart person beset on all sides by idiocy was a particular theme of his work, and if so, why.
“I don’t know why that is,” he said. “Maybe that’s how I feel in the world. But sometimes I’m the dumb guy, too.”
By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
When Superman met Wonder Woman: Voice actors Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt at Comic-Con
Husband and wife voice actors Yuri Lowenthal (Superman in “Legion of Superheroes”) and Tara Platt (Wonder Woman in “DC Vs Mortal Kombat”) took a few minutes to talk to me at Comic-Con International about their upcoming book, Voice-Over Voice Actor, available for pre-order at BugBotPress.com.
- Matt Price
Get your War Machine on: Don Cheadle talks about role in Iron Man 2
SAN DIEGO – The War Machine armor worn by James “Rhodey” Rhodes made its debut in a film clip shown at Comic-Con International, and “Iron Man 2″ co-star Don Cheadle got his first look at the armor along with 6,000-plus screaming fans.
“It was pretty incredible,” Cheadle said of the experience. “I hadn’t seen any of the footage cut together, I didn’t know what to expect. … And even as good as that looked, that’s still not the end result. That’s not totally finished. So it’s like, wow, it’s going to really be awesome.”
Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Rhodes in the “Iron Man” sequel set for next summer, but says there’s no bad blood between him and Howard about the change in roles.
“Terrance has been a friend for a while. I produced ‘Crash’ and put him in ‘Crash,’” Cheadle said at an interview at Comic-Con. “And, I was his friend before that, too, so he knew there was no beef. I didn’t snake a part from Terrance. He was cool with me.”
Cheadle said Howard was the first person to wish him good luck on the film, and by the time he came on, Howard “was already not doing the movie.”
Cheadle researched his role by checking out the comic-book history of Rhodes and War Machine. The 
character first appeared in the January 1979 issue of Iron Man and was created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton. Rhodes took over as Iron Man temporarily, starting with “Iron Man” No. 170 from 1983. Rhodes first donned the War Machine armor in 1992.
“I went back and looked at a lot of different (comics),” Cheadle said. “There’s so many different iterations of James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in the comic books. It was hard to go, well, I want to be the one in 1982. It’s like, which one am I picking?”
Cheadle said he tried to go with the common denominator of Rhodes’ friendship with Tony and how it’s affected when Tony reveals to the world that he is Iron Man.
“I am in the military, and there’s a chain-of-command that I have to follow, but (Tony is) working outside of the military,” Cheadle said. “That was the strain, that was the tension that was between their relationship that drives the whole movie, for our characters.”
Cheadle said rather than try to match directly with what Howard did in the first movie, the filmmakers worked with him to create a performance that worked for the story in “Iron Man 2.”
“That’s why I liked how we kind of just dealt with it right up front, first scene, first moment that I was here on screen, say something about it and then just move on,” Cheadle said.
Cheadle said he had no trepidations about signing on to be in possible sequels or spin-offs from “Iron Man.”
“Well, what I know is that no matter what you sign, if the movie isn’t successful, it doesn’t matter how many movies we decide we were going to do, the public will say, ‘We don’t want any more,’” he said. “So, you want them to be successfulm and if they are successful, then, good, why wouldn’t you want be in more?”
“Iron Man 2″ is scheduled for release May 7. The collection “Iron Man: War Machine,” available now, collects Rhodey’s first appearances in the “Iron Man” armor. War Machine appears in an ongoing series from Marvel Comics, written by Greg Pak (”World War Hulk”). The first five issues of the current “War Machine” series are collected in “War Machine: Iron Heart,” released in July.
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Iron Man 2 promises more heroes, villains
SAN DIEGO – Sequels often promise bigger, faster, more. “Iron Man 2″ is no exception, offering an introduction of even more heroes and villains from the pages of Marvel Comics. But, star Robert Downey Jr. says, the filmmakers also wanted the story to be a logical outgrowth of the events of the first film.
“We … tore our eyebrows out to try to find the best way to express the complexities of what really would happen (in this film),” Downey said. The filmmakers, including Downey and director Jon Favreau, wanted a realistic emotional take on what would happen to Tony Stark.
Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark.
“No sooner has he said, ‘I am Iron Man,’ than he is wondering what that means. And if you have all this cushion, like he does, and the public is on your side, and you have immense wealth and power, I think he’s way too insulated to be OK.”
Downey certainly had the public on his side at his recent Comic-Con International appearance, where about five minutes of footage from the “Iron Man” sequel were played for several thousand screaming fans.
When Downey appeared at Comic-Con two years ago to promote the first “Iron Man,” the character was a lesser-known Marvel Comics character to the general public. Now, “Iron Man 2″ is a hotly anticipated sequel that was many comic fans’ most anticipated panel of the convention.
“It all started here,” Favreau told the Comic-Con crowd, after walking out to riotous cheers as the song “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath played.
“Nobody cared before you guys did.”
Robert Downey Jr. at Comic-Con International (AP)
Fans got a look at Nick Fury, director of a shadowy government agency, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared in the after-credits sequence of “Iron Man.” Also making an appearance in the preview footage were Garry Shandling, as an anti-Stark senator; Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes; Mickey Rourke as Russian inventor Ivan Vanko; Scarlett Johannson as the Black Widow; and Sam Rockwell as rival arms dealer Justin Hammer. Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard in the role of Rhodes. Fans at Comic-Con got the first look at Rhodes’ variant of the Iron Man armor, called War Machine.
And that’s not the only new tech in “Iron Man 2.” Vanko develops his own mechanized weapon and apparently has a grudge against Stark.
“I think the footage has tipped the fact that (Stark is) struggling with some sort of contamination of his own system,” Downey said. “And he has a very formidable guy saying, I don’t care what everyone thinks about you, I know that you come from a family of murderers and thieves and I’m going to take you out of your misery. And maybe he almost half wants that to happen.”
Hammer, meanwhile, appears ready to take on some of the arms work that Stark is refusing.
Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., and Jon Favreau at Comic-Con panel. (AP)
“Justin Hammer is ready to step in and fill Tony’s shoes, and say ‘Hey dude, just let me do it for you.’ But if you look at Justin Hammer and you look at the way Sam Rockwell plays him, you’d be like, ‘Not you buddy. You are a jerk. I don’t trust you.’ And maybe he should have trusted him, or maybe he’s more trustworthy than Tony thinks.”
Stark’s problem in this film is his self-reliance. It worked for him in the first film, as he was able to build an armor that saved his life, but Downey said Stark has to learn he can’t solve everything simply by putting his mind to it.
“I think that’s the big lesson in this film, is that he has to utilize not only all of his own resources, but the resources of those close to him and then resources from somewhere he never ever ever could have imagined.”
“Iron Man 2″ is scheduled for release May 7, 2010.
By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Extended Geoff Johns clip with Jimmy Fallon
Check out the longer version of Jimmy Fallon pitching Geoff Johns on his “Recharger” idea. In addition to the humor, Johns talks about The Flash being the first character he gravitated toward. Also available online are longer clips with Dan DiDio and Stan Lee.
- Matt Price
Comic-Con Top 5s
There’s tons of Comic-Con info all over the web, but here’s my boil-it-down take on some of the highlights.
TOP 5 BUZZ FILMS
1. District 9 – went from “What is this?” to “Must-See.”
2. Twilight 2 – I have no interest, but you can’t downplay the buzz of 2,000 people camping out overnight.
3. Iron Man 2 – The footage drove everybody bananas, and geeks love Favreau and RDJ.
4. Sherlock Holmes – Speaking of RDJ.
5. 9 – Good reaction to what was shown at the con of this animated tale.
TOP 5 COMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS (in my opinion)
1. Marvel gets Miracleman rights.
2. Jeff Smith will create more comics in the Bone universe.
3. Geoff Johns will continue on Flash; Sterling Gates to write Kid Flash
4. Jim Shooter to revive Gold Key characters, including ones he previously worked on at Valiant Comics.
5. Return of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City as a monthly
TOP 5 COOL THINGS I SAW
1. Iron Man 2 footage and cast.
2. Two Supermen in one day: Tom Welling and Yuri Lowenthal.
3. 4,000 people reciting the Green Lantern oath.
4. Geoff Johns telling the story of wrecking Richard Donner’s car
5. Cast members of Lost at the Lost panel, including one former star I really didn’t expect to see.
- Matt Price
Marvel anime videos from Comic-Con
Check out these videos, shown at Comic-Con, of anime versions of Iron Man and Wolverine.
You can check out my report on the anime portion of the Marvel animation panel at NewsOK.
- Matt Price
Comic-Con montage of footage from the show floor
Filmed by the amazing Annette Price, this montage edited by Kyle Roberts shows some of the costumes, sights and excitement of Comic-Con International.
Iron Man 2 among Comic-Con highlights
Matt Price talks to Dave Morris about Comic-Con International in San Diego, and about Sam Rockwell, star of “Moon,” who was at Comic-Con promoting “Iron Man 2.”
Jimmy Fallon goes to Comic-Con
Last night on Jimmy Fallon, the host showed his Comic-Con journey, which included pitching his character the Recharger to a host of Comic-Con notables, including Geoff Johns, Dan DiDio, Stan Lee, John Favreau and the producers of Lost. Check it out at about the 5 minute mark in the above video from Hulu.
- Matt Price
