Since you won't see "The Interview," we have a recap of the film, and two critics weigh in on whether the movie is worth all this drama; The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach has the first solo U.S. museum exhibition of the contemporary Cuban artist, Esterio Segura; and we end our #ColbertCountdown.
Normalizing U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations may paint a new picture for artists
With President Obama’s recent announcement to re-establish diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana, Cuban artists and their art might travel more easily to the United States. But for some Cuban artists, such as Esterio Segura, 50 years without diplomatic relations between the two countries have set them back.
“It’s ridiculous that up to this time in the 21st century, I’m living around the corner of this country ... and for very [ridiculous] things, we weren’t able to make the whole thing under control,” Segura says.
His new exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach was pushed back because transporting the artwork from Havana took longer than expected. (Artwork is exempt from the embargo because it’s “informational material,” but it’s still thoroughly inspected when entering the U.S.)
Segura’s collection at MOLAA is comprised of different projects he's worked on over the years. The work provides windows to life in Cuba, as Segura highlights migration, culture, government and censorship issues — something U.S. audiences do not often see.
“The visual arts scene and the performing arts scene in the United States has been lacking the presence of Cuban art,” says Stuart Ashman, president and CEO of MOLAA.
Ashman, who grew up in Cuba, has been following the art scene there for years. When he collaborated with Segura on a previous project, he approached the artist with the museum exhibition opportunity.
“He’s definitely one of the top three Cuban artists,” Ashman says.
This is Segura’s first solo museum show in the U.S. And although he’s not the first Cuban artist to exhibit his art in a major institution such as MOLAA, Ashman says, “it’s rare to see this.”
“I think it’s important to make a connection with the [United States],” Segura says. “We are only a half-an-hour difference from the States and people here don’t really know much about Cuba. For people in Cuba … we have a very old idea about what the United States is.”
For Segura, his work is his communication tool.
“How to get together, how we have to understand each other, how we should be able to share ideas,” he says. “And for me, this [embargo] is one frustration about the possibility to talk to people [with] whatever I want to say.”
Esterio Segura's solo exhibition is on display at MOLAA through Feb. 15.
Everything you need to know about 'The Interview' in 4 minutes
Sony Pictures this week cancelled the release of “The Interview,” a comedy about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The cancellation was made because of threats to theaters that were scheduled to begin screening the film on Christmas Day. Those threats came from the group that has claimed responsibility for hacking into Sony Pictures' computer system.
So, as a public service — or disservice, depending on how you feel about the film — we’ll tell you what you’re missing. Listen here to a synopsis prepared by Abraham Riesman from our partners at Vulture.com.
Is 'The Interview' movie really worth all this drama?
"The Interview" might have gotten a bit too much exposure recently, but even before it was at the center of an international controversy, it was the subject of a major advertising push by Sony.
Billboards, TV ads, decals on the sides of trains — Sony was setting up an immense amount of hype for the film's Christmas release.
Well, sometimes things don't quite work out as planned, and now "The Interview" may not ever see the light of day. Now, it's actually something of a privilege to have seen this movie, given its place in a debate about free speech, artistic censorship, and giving in to the demands of terrorists.
We wanted to pull back the curtain on "The Interview," so we talked to two people who have seen the film.
Justin Chang is the chief film critic at Variety.com, and Silas Lesnick is the associate editor at ComingSoon.net. Both have seen "The Interview," so we asked for their thoughts about the movie, the possibility of a chilling effect in Hollywood, and what it was like on the set during filming.
Interview Highlights:
Justin, let's start with you. What did you think of the film?
I did not think much of it, frankly. I don't agree that this could never have been a good movie, but I really just think that they did not go far enough or were subversive enough with the concept, which is a little sad to me because so many employees have suffered for the sake of this movie that is now never going to see the light of day, or so it seems at this point in time.
And at Variety you have to forecast whether the film would be commercial enough. Do you think this film was going to do any box office?
I think it could have. A lot of people were saying that this whole hacking scandal around Sony has been some sort of publicity stunt, and while I think it's quite clear now — if it wasn't already, that that is not the case — all that attention, negative though it may have been, certainly would have focused attention on the film. And I think it made a lot of people really excited to see it. A lot of people are really excited to see it now because it's taken on this mystique of this ... it's like the lost cut of "The Magnificent Ambersons" or something.
Silas, what about you, what was your take on the film?
I actually quite liked the film. I thought it was not quite as good as "This is the End," but it has the same kind of subversiveness to it. I do agree they could have gone even further, but I was laughing the entire time.
And you were also able to visit the set, so I'm curious if Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, the film's directors, knew that they were getting close to anything resembling this controversy?
I don't think so at all. It was last December, about a year ago, actually, and the tone was very optimistic. They were filming in the town they grew up in in British Columbia. If anything, there was a really wholesome attitude on set.
Justin, do you think this might make people less willing to take on difficult or problematic subject matter, even if it's not quite on the level of assassinating a world leader?
I do, and I'm very concerned about that. Even though I'm not a big fan of "The Interview," I certainly do applaud those involved for trying to do something a little outside the box and a little daring and audacious. God knows that's incredibly lacking. One of the big stories out of Hollywood this year was DC Comics and Marvel lining up this cavalcade of superhero movies that we're going to be getting from here to eternity, but this is quite chilling because you don't know all the repercussions of this, you don't know everything that will be stifled as a result. Daring, independent voices are already marginalized, and it's quite sad.
We've already heard that, just in the wake of this, New Regency has shelved its Steve Carrell movie that was set in North Korea. Silas, I want to come back to you. ["The Interview"] screenwriter Dan Sterling, who came on our show earlier this week, said he was kind of reacting to the blandness of studio comedies, where you see the same things again and again: people are switching bodies, or men dress up like women. So even if this movie wasn't completely successful critically, was it trying to do something bold? As a film viewer and film reviewer, do you think it's going to encourage people to be a little less daring?
Yes and no. I think that the intention with this film was just to make a good, creative film; I don't think there was ever a thought of targeting a certain type of controversy. I think that this story is far from over, and while we're being told now that we're not going to see the film released, I can't believe in a creative world that just allows something like that to be completely silenced. I suspect we're going to hear something soon.
Justin, as somebody who has seen the movie, are you now going to be the center of attention at every holiday party, where people are going to come up to you asking about "The Interview"?
It's very funny, because I took a couple friends with me to the screening. We knew about the controversy around it, of course, but now we feel like we've been privy to this rare and privileged kind of event. I think people are going to be very curious, and I do have to say that while I wasn't rooting for this film before, I do hope that in some way, shape, or form people will get to see it at some point.
Silas, what about you?
I'll say this: even if the movie was terrible, even if it was an awful piece of film, it's still something that we should be standing up for and fighting for.
Colbert Countdown: Back to the beginning with Colbert's first head writer
For our final segment on our Colbert Countdown, we wanted to go back to the origins of the show and talk with someone who was there at the start. Allison Silverman was a writer on "The Daily Show" and Conan O'Brien before she got the call to be one of Stephen Colbert's first head writers.
The challenge of writing a character who was a parody of other talk show hosts proved exciting to Silverman, and she ended up being co-head writer for "The Colbert Report" from 2005-09. Along the way, she became the show's executive producer as well.
We asked Silverman about the challenges the team faced at the start of "The Colbert Report," how they convinced guests to come on the show, and that icy reception to Colbert's presentation at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006.
Interview Highlights:
When the show was just getting started, how did people react to Stephen Colbert's character?
I remember that [Congressman] Barney Frank, who we'd interviewed for the "Better Know a District" series before the show even went on the air, was completely confused and baffled by what was going on. The fact was, though, that we kind of enjoyed that. We didn't always feel like we had to be completely clear, and Stephen especially didn't feel like he had to be completely clear. I tended to want to be more clear than he did, but the mystery of it was very fun.
Do you remember what it was like getting guests on at the beginning of the show? And are the people who said "no" repeatedly now knocking down Stephen's door to get on?
[laughs] Well, the show has an amazing booker who's also a great producer on the show, Emily Lazar, and she comes from the news world. At first, we really needed to use the contacts that she had gathered over her years in the business, so I think she was a real conduit. She could talk to these people and they really trusted her and understood that she was not leading them astray. And then people who have a lot of power — Hilary Clinton, all these political leaders who would go on "The Daily Show" — originally were giving us the cold shoulder, and it definitely was satisfying once the tide turned.
One of the signature elements of the show is that, unlike other talk shows where people come up to the desk, Stephen runs from behind his desk and does his unusual greeting. Did you guys come up with that from the beginning?
I'm excited that you mention it because that was one of my particular contributions to the show, and it came as a result of talking about how self-centered this character could be — he would even steal the one moment that's given to his guests. It was also based on trying to figure out how our set was going to work and the practicalities of that.
I also wanted to mention one last thing about guests, specifically guests that came on the show where it was surprising that they came on. For a long time, when we got a big guest, someone who was maybe older and not in our wheelhouse, it was often because they had a kid that loved the show, or they would say, Oh, my grandson told me I had to be on the show. So we had a great debt to pay to young people who were convincing their very distinguished uncles to give us a shot.
I can just imagine those conversations: "Mom, Dad, you've gotta go on this and make all my high-school friends happy!"
Yeah, exactly. [laughs]
You were also with Stephen when he emceed the White House Correspondents Dinner. I think it holds up beautifully in retrospect, but at the moment it must have been excruciating. Were you in the room with him?
I was in the room! We had gone down [from New York to Washington] on the train that day, and I'd written the speech onto little index cards so it would be easier for him to read at the podium. We practiced it in front of the hotel workers in the afternoon and they loved it. And then, in the evening, I was sitting with Stephen's family at a big circular table. There were a lot of folks who came over and greeted the family, and then once the speech actually started things seemed to get quite tense in there. It did not feel good at all.
One of the things I actually love about the C-Span coverage that I remember is that there are just a lot of very awkward cutaways to people. There's a table where Larry Fishburne and Jeffrey Wright are sitting and they're just having a wonderful time. [laughs] God bless them, because no one else [would] crack a smile. It was quite awkward, and tough!
I remember afterwards, [Colbert] asked me what I thought, and the first thing out of my mouth was, "I thought it was an incredibly brave performance." And I don't even mean politically; I just mean from the standpoint of being a performer and continuing, having that commitment and powering through this devastating energy.
The show is about to go off the air. What's it been like to watch it as a viewer, now that you're no longer with the show?
At first it was hard, because I feel...well, I'm actually about to have a baby any moment. But I've been thinking about this show ending, and while I have a daughter who's three now, that show was the biggest experience until I had a child. And the two actually share a lot in common, in terms of the joy and the frustration and everything. So when I decided to leave — and Stephen was wonderful and accepting of that — it still was very hard to watch it for a while, because, of course, I missed it. But now it's lovely.