By Aaron Hillis

A quick refresher for the six of you who need it: "Mumblecore" (c. 2005 - 2007?) is the hastily designated catch-all for a loosely allied circle of young American filmmakers utilizing a low-budget, documentary-esque shooting style for their talky DIY indies. Regardless of whether you like any of the individual films, odds are you're either (a) tired of hearing that overhyped word, (b) have never heard it before now, or (c) one of the Duplass brothers. Actor/filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass — whose witty road-trip dramedy "The Puffy Chair" became one of the first m-word successes — are quite comfortable with their association to that so-called movement/genre/clique, and why shouldn't they be, considering Sony Pictures Classics has released their follow-up feature? (Talk about mumble-score, har har!)

"Baghead" stars Steve Zissis, Ross Partridge, Greta Gerwig and Elise Muller as four friends and wannabe thespians who hole up in a cabin for a weekend of collaborative screenwriting on their dream project... until a mysterious stalker with a paper bag on his head shows up. Reminiscent of the Duplasses' inventive shorts about relationships, their unusual new genre mash-up is prankish one moment, scary and suspenseful the next, and it's for the best to give nothing else away. Mark and Jay occasionally finished each other's sentences while yakking about lovable losers and the meta-aspects of promoting their film, but let's get down to brass tacks:

How do we destroy the word "mumblecore?"

Mark Duplass: With the movie "Baghead?" We'll smoke it with a simple bag. [laughs] I don't know. We'll keep saying "mumblecore" as long as the New York Times writes about it. We don't really care if people call us mumblecore. Little films need attention. If people want to write about it, that's totally fine. We don't necessarily feel like [we're making] mumblecore movies. They share some aesthetic traits of what people call the movement, but our movies are mainstream movies that look like independent films.

Jay Duplass: We don't feel particularly pigeonholed by it, although we might be crying in a year or two with the backlash. We're just continually making the movies we want to make, and whatever people want to call them, that's fine — as long as they don't call them a big piece of poo.

Did you intend "Baghead" as a spoof of mumblecore, as some journalists have suggested?

MD: We certainly don't like the word "spoof" because that implies making fun of someone. We've made a career out of making fun of ourselves. We see "Baghead" as more of a love song to the life of a desperate actor, as opposed to, "look how stupid these people are, so let's make fun of them."

There is, however, one character you rightfully tease in the beginning: the pretentious indie filmmaker at a post-screening Q&A.

MD: The film festival Q&A is so ripe for the picking because they're these giant circle jerks where the filmmakers are basically bragging about themselves, and people are trying to come up with the most interesting, poignant questions...

JD: ...to show how brilliant they are that they truly understand a director's vision. But we're not trying to make a scathing satire. It's funny, but we love it, too. We're aware that we're going up there to get worshipped, and we try to elicit that worship as much as possible. [laughs] It's ridiculous, but at the same time, it's great.

MD: We're doing it right now.

That explains why I'm only asking you brilliant questions. Seriously though, have you had any weird occurrences while standing on stage after a screening?

MD: When we were at Sundance with "The Puffy Chair," we had an 8 a.m. screening, and a lot of the local Salt Lake population came out. I think they felt that the movie was more real than it was. They started attacking me and the lead actress, Katie Aselton, because they thought we were actually dating when we shot the movie. They were wondering why we hadn't yet gotten married in real life.

There's a po-mo self-awareness to the film in that it features actors playing actors discussing acting. What did you want to explore with this conceit?

JD: Honestly, we didn't want to actively explore this meta-aspect of the movie. We knew it was going to be there, but we were trying to focus more on the individual plights of the actors. Mark and I are completely desperate to try to succeed and not be total failures. We spend a lot of time on the film festival circuit, and I think the epitome of it for us is the desperate actor. They're like the white knight going into battle; they know they're going to lose, but they go in anyway...

MD: ...and get slaughtered over and over again. It's better than "Rocky." We've always loved the lovable loser, and it's just the perfect subject for us. They're ridiculous and normally someone that you would make fun of, or even despise. But we love them, so we hope people feel the same way.

"Baghead" is only now being released in New York and L.A., after first appearing in Austin and Portland. Were you involved in that unusual distribution strategy?

MD: It was a discussion in general, like everything with Sony has been. The Austin and Portland thing was to start the movie out in places we thought would be most receptive. [The alternative would be to] show up on the first weekend in New York and L.A., compete against Batman, maybe not make a killing and then have to go away because of the rules of competitive theatrical releasing.

Are you affected by all the scuttlebutt concerning the indie film world's demise?

JD: We don't see it as much with this movie, because we were lucky enough to have somebody swoop in and give us money. But it's a little scary to think that the middle is falling out of the industry and these kinds of deals might not be around next year. This business changes so much from day to day, and everyone who knows anything knows that they don't know anything.

MD: Our job is to make good movies, and we're trying to just limit it to that. If people want to pay a lot of money for them, then we'll buy boats. If they don't want to pay a lot of money...

JD: ...then we'll make "Daddy Day Road Trip."

MD: It's pretty healthy when we're doing interviews, but then when we're lying in bed at night, it gets a lot more scary.

Your film has its plot twists, but the biggest rug-puller is a thing of genre identity. Now that you're promoting the film instead of making it, how difficult is it to talk about without giving away surprises?

MD: We've gotten very good at evasion techniques, and now we're ready to run for president. We know what it means to say a lot without saying a goddamn thing. [laughs]

Do either of you have any acting gigs coming up?

JD: I have a little part in Joe [Swanberg] and Greta's next movie.

MD: I did a movie with [Austin writer-director] Geoff Marslett -- it's an adventure comedy along the lines of "Romancing the Stone," but animated. I acted in this other movie called "True Adolescence" that should be coming out early next year, and I just did a movie last month with filmmaker Lynn Shelton and our other friend, actor Josh Leonard. Acting rules! It's less pressure, and more fun. [laughs]

I know you're biased, but who's scarier: your baghead, or Jason Voorhees when he wore a burlap sack over his head throughout "Friday the 13th, Part II?"

MD: I have not seen Jason in "Friday the 13th II." Have you?

JD: I don't even think I have either. I'm pretty sure that one's scarier, though.

MD: It's gotta be!

JD: We're not horror film fans, and we try not to reference other movies when we make our own movies. But we have become aware of the constant iconography of [bagheaded] people in cinema.

MD: We're certainly not claiming to be the first people to use bags, but goddamn it, we'll be the last.

JD: We're the first to use grocery bags. I think we can claim that. Maybe.

[Photos: "Baghead"; directors Jay and Mark Duplass - Sony Pictures Classics, 2008]

"Baghead" is now playing in Austin and Portland; opens in New York and Los Angeles on July 25th.