Ben Falcone opens up about directing his wife, Melissa McCarthy, in "The Boss"; Karyn Kusama made her new movie with support from a group of investors who fund movies made by women; N.W.A. injects some West Coast rap style into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Making indie thriller 'The Invitation' was 'a really rough road' for director Karyn Kusama
Filmmaker Karyn Kusama wrote, directed and produced her debut film, “Girlfight" at just 27 years old.
The movie finally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000 and put its star, Michelle Rodriguez, on the map. It also kicked off a directing career for Kusama, who went on to make "Aeon Flux" with Charlize Theron and "Jennifer’s Body" with Megan Fox.
Her new movie — her first in seven years — is an indie thriller called "The Invitation," which centers on a peculiar dinner party in the Hollywood Hills.
Kusama spent years raising the money to make this movie. In the end, she funded it with help from a group called Gamechanger.
"Gamechanger is a consortium of investors who are committed to financing films directed by women. They really put their money where their mouth is," said Kusama on The Frame. "It took me more than a few years to find financing for the movie and they were the ones who stepped up. Once they did everything else kind of fell into place."
Kusama stopped by The Frame to talk about independent filmmaking, how "The Invitation" came to her and how women have a harder time finding long careers in Hollywood.
Interview Highlights:
Were people unwilling to finance it because they didn't want a woman directing it or they didn't like the material? Because it's a very commercial idea.
I'm glad you think it is, I think it is too, I always did. I can't really speak to whether it has anything to do with me being female. I think what it is is that as a genre film, there's a demanding quality to the film. It's demanding patience of the audience. I think it pays off in a really big way, but that's not everybody's cup of tea when it comes to genre.
The writers and producers of this film are people you know pretty well, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Phil is also your husband. Were they always writing this for you? How did you come on to this project?
They were writing it thinking maybe they would direct it. Once I read the script I was so beguiled by it. There was an economy to it, a precision. The control you see up on the screen, that was on the page, too. There was a real sense of understanding that this film had to work in this notion of reversal and surprise territory, so that the audience could be kept guessing and engaged. That interested me so much that I sort of shot my hand up and said if you ever decide to not direct this project I hope that you'll consider me first in line. They relented.
The essential conceit of the movie is that a couple is hosting a dinner party. There are little things that are noticeable very early on in terms of foreshadowing in a way what's going to happen later, but it doesn't tip the hand to obviously. Is that part if what attracted you to this story?
For sure, there was a very careful revealing of detail over the course of the night...When I read the script initially, I never quite knew where it was headed and I felt really excited by the idea that could make a movie that might mirror that experience for the audience.
If you look at your film credits there are usually a big gap of years between Girlfight, Aeon Flux, Jennifer's Body, The Invitation. Is that a consequence of your choice or other factors?
I'd like to be making more films more frequently, but I do find that making movies for me has proven to be an extremely challenging road. No movie is easy, no movie has come together quickly. Once I recognized that I wanted to be making smaller, personal films, those movies take longer than the studio films to get up and running. They're just harder. After "Jennifer's Body" I had to take some years to stumble with a couple of other indies that couldn't get financing then finally succeed in getting financing for this one. It's a rough road, it's just a really rough road, that's the bottom line.
What is rough about it, because one of the things we have heard from other women directors is that the latitude that a woman has to succeed or fail is much narrower. If a woman directs a movie that is commercially unsuccessful she ends up in what is called director's jail, whereas a man gets out of jail free. Do you think that's true? What are the other issues?
I think there is really something we need to examine about the notion of careers, and are women encouraged and given the same opportunities to have vital healthy careers in which they are challenged by certain things, they try new things, they struggle, maybe they stumble, maybe they fail and then there's more room to succeed as well. That is what I think is missing for a lot of female filmmakers. I'm hoping to just one step at a time, make those changes for myself. It is different, I think, for women.
N.W.A., Steve Miller and others inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
It seems like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will never fully avoid controversy.
At Friday night's ceremony for this year's inductees, Steve Miller complained about the organizers of the event, the induction process in general, and how he couldn't get more than two tickets without paying $10,000 a pop.
Meanwhile, Gene Simmons opined that rap groups — this year, that would be N.W.A. — have no place in the Hall of Fame.
But those bumps in the road didn't seem to stop an otherwise enjoyable night at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn as Miller, N.W.A., Chicago, Deep Purple and Cheap Trick were inducted.
Stephen Battaglio writes about TV and Media for the Los Angeles Times, and he was at the ceremony. He joined us on The Frame to talk about the controversies and the importance of having N.W.A. join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Interview Highlights:
There were some controversies at the induction ceremony, so what was the general mood of the evening like? One headline described it as "marred by bad blood." Was that overly dramatic, or was that really the vibe?
That's a little bit over the top. It was really a great show for the fans. You had bands there with tremendously recognizable hits that made you light up as soon as you heard the first few notes — Deep Purple's "Hush," Chicago's "Saturday in the Park," Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle"... these are records that several generations have grown up with.
To hear them performed live was exciting, and the crowd was really charged up and they really enjoyed it. As for the backstage machinations, you sort of felt a little of it from the stage, but I think a lot of it came out more afterwards because we needed a story.
[laughs] Well, Steve Miller helped with that. Backstage, he complained about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, its induction process, and that he didn't get enough free tickets to the show. What was going on there?
He said he got two tickets as an inductee, and then every other ticket after that was going to cost him $10,000 [each]. Really, I think the issue is that he's a first-time inductee, but he's a guy that's been in the music business for 50 years. He's obviously been overlooked and he's 72 or 73 years old, and you tend to get cranky at that age. So it seemed like a confluence of a lot of issues for him that came out in his backstage rant.
He was maybe speaking more for himself than other people of the evening, so maybe he was the lone dissenter at an otherwise nice night?
If you saw the members of Chicago up there, thanking their wives of 49 years and things like that, it was very un-rock and roll, very sentimental, and kind of moving. I don't think there was any rancor that marred the evening in any way. And also, I think the fact that N.W.A. was there — unfortunately, they didn't perform — really brought a currency to the event that I don't think it would've otherwise had.
During N.W.A.'s acceptance speech, Dr. Dre said: "This is proof to all the kids out there, growing up in places similar to Compton, that anything is possible." That was part of N.W.A. addressing whether or not they were "rock and rollers." What was that issue about, and who were they responding to on that front?
Gene Simmons, a provocateur who can never get enough attention, suggested that hip-hop and rap didn't belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ice Cube very eloquently talked about how they certainly did belong there, and he explained why — rock and roll is an attitude, rock and roll is an expression of rebellion, no matter what you're rebelling against. That's what's defined rock and roll from the beginning, so I think they really won that argument hands-down.
'The Boss' director Ben Falcone won't let his kids watch his movies
"The Boss” stars Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell. The character is a business titan who is thrown in jail for a white collar crime. When Darnell is released, she moves in with her former assistant, played by Kristen Bell, and they both start a business selling girl scout brownies. It’s basically like the movie “Troop Beverly Hills” — if it were rated R.
“The Boss” was co-written and directed by Ben Falcone. He’s also an actor who you may remember as the federal air marshal in the hit comedy, “Bridesmaids," which featured McCarthy. Falcone spends a lot of time with the actress — they're married, and he directed her in the movie, “Tammy,” two years ago.
The Frame's John Horn spoke with Falcone about his relationship with his wife, both on- and off-screen, how he handled working with children during the gang fight scene, and why his kids aren't allowed to see this movie even though they're in it.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
You and Melissa McCarthy got married in early 2000's, but I wanted to know what your careers and relationship were like back then.
She was on a show and I was stopping by her house and hoping that she had sandwiches.
That's the foundation of every good marriage, right?
Yeah, right. She was nice enough to pretend that I was not there.
So is the payback that in every movie in which you guys are opposite each other, she gets to do something horrible to you? Like in this movie, hit you in the throat with a tennis ball.
I'll tell you this, I keep thinking that it's something that just keeps our marriage together cause she does enjoy hurting me on film. She really loves it. And then she comes home and she's just a delight. She's the nicest person I know.
Well you have something to do with this because you did co-write and direct "The Boss."
Yeah, you know what, she'll suggest something and it involves me getting physically damaged, but it's also very funny.
I want to talk about a specific scene in "The Boss" where it involves a pretty violent fight with a bunch of children involved. I mean, kids are getting clotheslined. When you shoot a scene like that and test it on audiences, what do you learn and why is that kind of framework to that scene important to the story?
Well, you know, Melissa pitched that and she said, "What if there's like a gang fight?" Because we felt like we needed a moment where [her character] Michelle Darnell gets kind of a win. Oddly, we wanted a scene where Michelle is bonding with Rachel -- the kid in the movie -- and then Melissa [says], "What if there's a giant 'Gangs of New York'-style gang fight with the kids?"
But we had those questions from everybody like, Could we do it? Should we try? So I shot it where there were violent things that happen, but it's clearly tongue-and-cheek and it's a movie. Then we tested that part really extensively, and the first time we tested it, I thought, Oh, man. We've gone too far. People aren't gonna go for this. We're gonna get a bunch of comments. What we found out is that we [hadn't] gone far enough.
Really?
Yeah, so I had a bunch more stuff. One of the things that I tried to make sure as I was watching it was that Helen — the leader of the Dandelions, played by Annie Mumolo — is the instigator. She has to strike first so that our Darnell's Darlings are the good kids standing up for themselves against the evil bullies, rather than Michelle and the kids roughing everybody up.
But it's not just the physical violence that makes this comedy unique, it's the kinds of things your wife's character says to other kids in terms of their appearance, like calling one of the girls a lesbian. What are the conversations you have with the young actors and their parents about the tone of the comedy that will be directed at these children?
Well, we found that the kids were actually like, We get it. Because we would be like, Guys, this is obviously just a movie. We want you to know that we respect everyone and we're sorry that we're doing... And they would be like, No, it's funny! Let's just do it!
You have young children. This is a R-rated film. Have your kids seen the movies that you've directed, like "Tammy"? And would they see "The Boss"?
No. Well they're eight and six and I'm hoping that they never, ever see "Bridesmaids." I'm wondering if there's a way that they'll just miss that one.
That's gotta be a little disappointing —you go off and spend a half of a year of your lives, if not more, and it's this thing that exists out there and your kids are like, Can't we see it? And you're like, No.
Well, eventually we really want to do something that they can see, because that would be really fun and they're actively campaigning.
Do you think that's in your DNA? Do you think you're able to make a kid's film?
For sure. It would be a blast, Things are such a product of timing, like, What are you excited about, What is the studio excited about right now? And the things that we've done so far have been rated R. Melissa wants to do a thriller and she's such a good actor, she can do anything. I want to do, I don't know, a fun mystical Christmas movie.
"The Boss" is currently in theaters.