"It was huge in Russia."

By Alison Willmore on 07/02/2008

The world in quotes:

"I definitely reached a point in my career where I felt confused about where I was going and felt somewhat stuck in rut. So I took a break, but [I] never did any sort of announcement about stopping or quitting and just sort of tried to keep doors open. I think I was somewhat creatively spent after a film that I did in Russia that took a year. It was never actually distributed here. It is called The Barber of Siberia, and it was huge in Russia. But I took a break to really try and throw the creative balls back up in the air, and try and find roles that were different for me in terms of coming back in. I fell in love and got married and had a kid, participated in setting up two different NGOs that deal with different things."
       —Julia Ormond on where the hell she went, at Premiere.

"I'll be honest, it's all about selling. If I have Werner Herzog and Nic Cage and Eva Mendes, I can go to market and say, 'Hey, Mr. German Guy, I know this is a dark movie, but you get Nic Cage and Werner Herzog and all I need from you is $2 million. When the German guy says yes--because it's a good deal for him--then I go to the French guy and the Italian guy and the Japanese guy. They all say yes and if I add up the numbers and it's more than the cost of the movie, with a little tax benefit from Louisiana, where we're shooting, then I'm a happy guy. It's as simple as that."
       —Producer Avi Lerner on why he got involved with the "Bad Lieutenant" remake, at the LA Times.

"You're credited as one half of the first inter-racial screen kiss on US TV. Do you think that moment and indeed Star Trek as a series, helped to break taboos and bring down boundaries?
Yes, I do think Star Trek had influence in that area. It also apparently influenced a lot of people in making serious decisions about their lives."
       —William Shatner takes questions from the crowd at BBC News.

"My aim was to have the audience 'experience' the protagonist's internal confusion instead of the thrill or suspense on the exterior. We who were involved in the creation of this film called this feeling a sense of 'intoxication' or 'drunkenness.'"
       —Satoshi Kon on his 1998 film "Perfect Blue," at Kaiju Shakedown.

"I'm really pleased with the changes. There are so many comic book in-jokes in the book that wouldn't make sense for a general audience. And I think having costumed characters that are unknown to the general public is a hard sell, especially when it's an R-rated movie. Everyone knows who Spider-Man and Superman are. So it was a good idea to get rid of the costumes and just focus on the core story, which the director did. He actually shot scenes directly out of the book, from looking at the scenes that I drew."
       —J.G. Jones, the artist who with writer Mark Millar created the graphic novel on which "Wanted" was sort of based, at the Chicago Tribune.

[Photo: Julia Ormond in "The Barber of Siberia," Intermedia, 1998]

+ Phoenix Rising: Julia Ormond Returns (Premiere)
+ 'Bad Lieutenant' makes a comeback (LA Times)
+ William Shatner answers your questions (BBC News)
+ Satoshi Kon interview (Kaiju Shakedown)
+ Q&A: J.G. Jones (Chicago Tribune)